A Bissextile Day

Bissextile: a leap year in the Julian or Gregorian calendar

Today is the 29th of February – which only comes once every four years. What do you call today? Leap Year Day? You can call it "bissextile day," and everyone will think you're very smart, or a show-off.

Today is a coworker's birthday. It's his 10th birthday. This reminds me of a favorite musical (many things remind me of a musical), The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. Frederick was mistakenly made an apprentice to pirates until he reaches 21. On his 21st birthday he leaves the pirates determined to bring them to justice. His piratical comrades tell him that he cannot kill them because he is still apprenticed to them until his 21st birthday, and because he was born on February 29th, according to his birthday he is only "five, and little bit over."

Please enjoy this number from the movie "The Pirates of Penzance" with Kevin Kline as The Pirate King, Angela Lansbury as Ruth, and Rex Smith as Frederick.

(Sorry about the subtitles, they are little annoying.)



Happy 10th birthday, Mike!