Admit it, when you saw the headline of this week’s Rule of Three column, you thought it would be a long-overdue feature on the musical brilliance of Otis Day & The Knights, as depicted in the 1978 classic film, Animal House, right? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint; but, having teased you with that notion, how can I leave you without a taste of that iconic toga party scene? Ladies and gentlemen. . .Otis Day & The Knights!
Now, on to the serious business for which Rule of Three has been enlisted: highlighting the dramatic differences between daytime activities and nighttime activities, and attempts to “time-shift” certain activities.
Daytime activities and nighttime activities are pretty clearly delineated. Daytime is for work; nighttime is for sleep. Daytime is for nuanced discussion of important topics; nighttime is party-time! Daytime is for staid, conservative dress; nighttime is for. . .
Except that there are occasional efforts to flip the script, and engage in pursuits more suited for the other end of the day/night continuum.
Examples of these time-shifting events include:
Day drinking - according to alcohol.org, champagne leads the list of preferred beverages by day drinkers, followed by beer, vodka and tequila. In the evening, on the other hand, wine is the leader in the clubhouse, followed by whiskey, hard cider, and rum. This recap begs the question: Who is drinking hard cider, for Chrissake? Alcohol.org goes on to suggest that negative fallout from day-drinking includes “brutal hangovers” and “unanticipated hookups” - boy, if I had a nickel. . .
Day trading - the introduction of online trading platforms has enabled the opportunity for each of us to rapidly turn $10,000 in cash into $73.28 (what do you mean, those two numbers seem suspiciously specific? Don’t make this about me - I’m simply attempting to shed light on a growing trend). Investopedia.com outlines the basics regarding day trading, and does offer a word of caution: “. . .even the most seasoned day traders can hit rough patches and experience losses.” All I can say is: “That bit of advice would have been helpful six years ago.”
Day sex (a/k/a “Nooner”) - Oh, come on, don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about here - perhaps you’ve been engaging in a bit too much day drinking, and, have thankfully avoided “brutal hangovers,” but have inadvertently stumbled into “unanticipated hookups.”
Day sleeping (a/k/a “Naps”) - babies and toddlers are firm believers in the benefits of napping, and I am a firm believer in babies and toddlers - I believe we should take a page from their playbook, and up our napping game.
Daydreaming - perhaps this category should be a subset of the “Nap” genre covered just above - although, a significant amount of daydreaming occurs while awake - some might call it “mind wandering” - again, I’m a fan.
Daytripper - taken on its face, a day trip is one which can be completed all in one day - seems pretty harmless, right? Until you queue-up The Beatles classic, Day Tripper, which, according to both Paul McCartney and John Lennon was about sex and drugs - oh, those rascally Liverpool lads!
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In addition to these recognized day/night mashups, there are other occurrences which I believe also fit the bill, but are not as widely-reported. These activities include:
“Day dancing” - think Ellen DeGeneres - she was a fan of spontaneous dancing on her eponymous talk show. Dancing is generally practiced in the evening hours, but Ellen embraced its practice in the light of day. As you may recall, she admitted to creating a toxic workplace atmosphere on the set of her show - I think it may have sprung from her insistence on “day dancing” - hey, not everybody wants to dance, man!
“Day TV Viewing” - yes, I know that daytime television programming has been a staple for a very long time. But, broadcasters have long recognized that the real audience to be marshalled, and the real advertising money to be made was in the evening, which includes TV’s heralded “prime time.” And, daytime programming, with its soap operas and talk shows constitute a guilty pleasure for those who regularly sample its wares: no one wants to admit to watching General Hospital, or Days of Our Lives, or All My Children, even though I could turn on any one of those shows right now, and although I haven’t seen even one episode in nearly fifty years, instantly connect to the storylines playing out - the same ones which were in progress in 1978, although it would likely be Luke’s grandson pursuing Laura’s granddaughter, rather than the original couple. Note that this review of television viewing is itself largely academic, given the recent seismic shift to “content streaming,” and its implications upon time of day, type of device used, and the choice of snacks to be consumed while viewing.
“Day Eating” - you do know that it’s perfectly acceptable to eat during the day, right? In fact, two of your most popular meals are located right there, during the day: breakfast, and lunch. Yes, dinner gets all the buzz, when it comes to restaurant recommendations, recipe ideas, and combinations with theater offerings, but good things can happen at those other two meals: cereal can be quite delightful, and is typically served-up for breakfast, and just try eating grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner - can’t be done!
“Day theater” - this option, which was the object of foreshadowing (or, was it a portent?) in the previous bullet, has been mostly limited to children’s theater productions, enabling youngsters to experience productions which are typically presented past their bedtime. Broadway does offer matinees, which presents its own conundrum: What does one wear to a Broadway matinee? Should you dress as you would for an evening show? And, will there be wine and Raisinets for sale at intermission?
“Day baseball” - I don’t know about other venues, but at Wrigley Field, in Chicago, no more than thirty-five night games are permitted each season, which is higher than the original threshold of eighteen games, when lights were first installed at Wrigley Field, back in 1988 - that means that Cubs fans are promised at least 46 day games at Wrigley Field (a total of 81 home games are played at each ballpark). I could argue that baseball in the daytime is the way God intended, but then I would sound like an old fogey, and, think about all the other daytime activities highlighted in this column which would have to be sacrificed for the sake of day baseball.
Alright, enough about time-shifting nighttime activities to the light of day - what about the inverse (you know, things that typically happen during the day repositioned at night)? I can think of a few:
Night school - a non-traditional avenue to secure academic credentials not earned during the typical student learning timeframe, it’s easy to see how this “fish out of water” scenario becomes fodder for sitcoms and comedy films.
Night Court - you may be wondering, as I did, whether or not “Night Court,” which became a hit sitcom back in the 1980’s, and has recently been rebooted, is a real thing. According to distractify.com, there actually is a night court, which has operated in New York City since 1907. Apparently, this court operates between 5:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., and is intended as an accommodation for those who cannot easily attend court during normal hours. Wait, what? I didn’t realize that those charged with a crime (innocent until proven guilty) had the option of responding, “You know, a week from Tuesday is just not terribly convenient for me - how about, I come to court at midnight on the 17th?” Only in New York, eh?
Night sweats - no, I’m not talking about comfortable loungewear - night sweats are oftentimes indicative of an underlying illness or other health issue. Why have I chosen to highlight night sweats here? Given that it really has no relevance to the topic at hand? It has the word “night” in it - I thought that’s what we were doing here - please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding.
Night putting - I exercised tremendous restraint, I believe, in not turning to that old favorite, Caddyshack, and its scene in which the Chevy Chase character shares an anecdote with the Danny character about an acquaintance who was kicked out of college for “night putting” (with the dean’s 15-year-old daughter) - I don’t want to wear out Caddyshack’s welcome with you - I want to be able to turn to it again. . .and again. . .and again.
Having made it all the way to the end of this lively and informative piece, I’ll bet you wish that it actually had been a long-overdue feature on the musical brilliance of Otis Day & The Knights. Some days are like that. And, some days are like nights.
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