[Linked Image from i.ytimg.com]
Quote
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. It has two eyes and four pairs of arms and, like other cephalopods, it is bilaterally symmetric. It has a beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms. It has no internal or external skeleton (although some species have a vestigial remnant of a shell inside their mantles), allowing it to squeeze through tight places. Octopuses are among the most intelligent and behaviorally diverse of all invertebrates.
Wikipedia.

Octopuses (or Octupii, Octopodes), are amazing creatures of the deep. They are quite intelligent and adaptive, kind of like the month of October. Oh, and
Welcome to the Reader Rant Roundtable for October 2016


October, of course, is the eighth month of the year, hence the name. "What," you say, "why do I put '10' in the date block, then?" - Calendars change, like the colors of an Octopus... If you were a Roman, of course, it would seem natural, and boring. October simply meant "the eighth month". It is a "transitional" month, marking the end of the growing season, and the start of the harvest period. It was also the end of "fighting season" (would that it were still so), as it began to be cold, and foraging animals was no longer an option. So, naturally, the Romans thought it was a good time to kill them: October Horse (Equus October), on the "Ides of October",was an annual celebration where a chariot race was conducted and the winning horse was killed - such an honor! (I'd certainly throw THAT one!) Romans were weird.
[Linked Image from spiritualspectra.files.wordpress.com]
In the "Olden days" it was the month that ended with Samhain, a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year.
Quote
Traditionally, it is celebrated from the very beginning of one Celtic day to its end, or in the modern calendar, from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November, this places it about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Similar festivals are held at the same time of year in other Celtic lands; for example the Brythonic Calan Gaeaf (in Wales), Kalan Gwav (in Cornwall), and Kalan Goañv (in Brittany).
Wikipedia. Of course, today, that is "Halloween" - but the concept hasn't changed all that much.

The Celts, or "Gaels" were the iron age occupants of nearly all of Europe (about the time the Egyptians were building their pyramids and until Rome arose in Italy). Their artwork was distinctive: [Linked Image from upload.wikimedia.org]and their existence was ubiquitous. They were the Gauls the Romans fought, the Gaels (Picts) of the Isles, The Bretons of Brittany, the Illyrians and Dalmatians of the Balkans, and the Galatians of the Bible, among many others. Their language remains in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Corwall, Manx, and Brittany as "native tongues."

And, I can't depart Oktober without mentioning Oktoberfest, the world's largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling funfair).
Quote
Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first weekend in October, with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often called the Wiesn, after the colloquial name for the fairgrounds (Theresienwiese). The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modelled after the original Munich event.
Any excuse to drink...
Tchuss!

A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich