So, today is Frank Zappa Day, eh?
Have you heard the news?
Today, Dec. 21, 2009, is Frank Zappa Day.
Mayor Sheila Dixon issued the proclamation, which makes it official. Why today? Well, today was his birthday, and he was born in Baltimore.
I did have one question, however: Is Frank Zappa Day just today? Or every Dec. 21 from now on?
So I called Scott Peterson, the mayor's spokesman, and asked him. His response was pretty funny ...
"That's a good question," he said. "I don't know how those proclamations work. ... If every Dec. 21 could be, it should be."
Amen to that, Scott.
Scott put me in touch with Jeanette Garcia, Mayor Dixon's deputy director of correspondence and constituent services, which is a really long and boring way of saying Garcia, among other things, helps issue proclamations like this one.
Interesting fact: There are no permanent So-and-So days. Every year, somebody somewhere has to file a formal request to have a certain day made into Frank Zappa Day or Billie Holiday Day.
This isn't the first Frank Zappa Day, and probably won't be the last. The first one was in the summer of August 2007, when Zappa's son Dweezil was in town to play his dad's music. The second one was Dec. 21, 2008.
Garcia hopes to have every Dec. 21 from now on designated Frank Zappa day. I do too.
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
Make sure your create some yellow snow, just for Frank today.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 21, 2009 5:12 PM
Sam, any chance did a posting under "Frank Zappa statue to go near Highlandtown library" inspired this particular topic?
Inqiring minds wanna know!
Posted by: GDA | December 21, 2009 6:56 PM
Zapa or Zappa? Methinks you have a headline to correct........
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | December 21, 2009 10:15 PM
If Zappa didn't exist we would have to invent him.
Posted by: Owl Meat Gravy | December 22, 2009 8:07 AM
Shiela was overheard saying "Who da heck be Frank Zappa?, some cracka, wheres my paycheck? OK THEN, TODAY BE FRANK ZAPPA DAY!"
Posted by: Anonymous | December 22, 2009 10:23 AM
Alexander D. Mitchell IV,
Sam doesn't need to check the spelling.
Zapa is something else entirely.
Posted by: GDA | December 23, 2009 9:12 AM
Ah, but the original headline, up for at least an hour or so, said "Frank Zapa Day".........
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | December 24, 2009 5:53 PM
Is it me or does Zappa look like Poe?
Posted by: Rube Goldberg | December 25, 2009 12:02 AM
Anonymous, if you want to create an effective racist patois, you might want to leave the word "heck" out of it next time.
Posted by: Owl Meat Galleta | December 25, 2009 9:48 AM
I really don't see the Poe/Zappa resemblence. Spiritually they might have a connection...
I saw Mr Zappa in concert a number of times, and it was always a great show. Top musicians, alot of fun. I miss Frank.
Posted by: Billzappa | December 28, 2009 11:03 AM
Perhaps there's a fleeting resemblance to Poe in the sunken eyes with hooded lids and heavy brows. But the above portrait mostly reminds me of the frontispiece from a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.
Posted by: Leonora | December 28, 2009 1:02 PM