GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

Happy Friday the 13th. This is the first “Friday, the 13th” for the year of 2015. In 2014 there was only one “Friday the 13th”. There will be a total of three this year.

According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, NC, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business on this day. “It’s been estimated that $800 to $900 million is lost in business on this day..” source John Roach.

According to Wikipedia, the actual origin of the superstition appears to be a tale in Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil – a gathering of thirteen – and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as “Witches’ Sabbath.” source: Charles Panati, Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things.

The APHC show this week is another show with guest host Chris Thile. I, for one, thought that he did a good job last week. For a minute I thought that he was even going to try doing the News From Lake Wobegon, but he simply introduced another story teller. Special guests this week include bluegrass all-stars Jerry Douglas and The Earls of Leicester, singer, violinist, and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens and story teller Elna Baker. Plus the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman. Enjoy the show.

“The years teach much which the days never know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson