Guess what day it is?

Old John Brown left Kansas before the blood had dried
And as he rode his head did shine like the sun in mid-July
In a tiny farm house by Brunswick B & O
He warmed his boots by the fireplace and read aloud from Samuel

David rose to meet the Philistines with five smooth stones and a sling

One October morning his army did approach
The armory that sat between the Potomac and Shenandoah
The engine house flung open with report of several guns
When it was done he looked upon the bodies of his dying sons

David rose to meet the Philistines with five smooth stones and a sling

-- Clutch, David Rose. Hidden song on The Elephant Riders. Also compiled on Evolution's Finest Hour.

They just don't make violent, raving, evangelical Fundamentalists like they used to, do they?

John Brown bought his first class, one-way ticket on the crazy train today in 1856. His actions... namely, the wholesale slaughter of his pro-slavery neighbors, followed by a failed attempt to seize an armory with which to outfit his budding abolitionist army, capture, and subsequent hanging... was one of several catalysts that finally initiated the then already inevitable American Civil War.

Kansas was pretty embarrassed when it happened, but they've got monuments to the guy, now. Just goes to show.

So if you've got the time today, take a little break and read up on your pal and mine, John Brown. Maybe pour a little something out on the curb, in appreciation of all of the fabulous lunatic bastards in history who ever suffered for being right before their time. And wonder aloud why no one's thought to make little beanbag dollies of the guy.

Hell, I'd buy one.

I've got an Edward Scissorhands dolly.

They could fight.