– Do you realise what today's date is, Rex?

– April the, er, 29th, why?

Something nuclear on International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

 

In a state of delirium, engineer Prokop chases his stolen chemical formula, worried it may be used for mass destruction

 

With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.

 

And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.

Eggs for Easter Sunday.

“The walls of the room seemed to hold stories untold, whispering in the quiet.”

– Doris Lessing, The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)

In a dystopian Britain, D (Julie Christie) survives while taking care of a sullen teenage girl, and visiting a mirage behind the walls.

Good Friday: an occurrence during a Friday or weekend.

 

During Holy Week, a count visits his sugar mill on the day one of his slaves has escaped. Reluctant, overseer Don Manuel picks twelve slaves to join the count at his dinner table for a lecture about the possibility of happiness in slavery, all made up to resemble the Last Supper, with the count as Christ and the slaves as his apostles. Then conversation picks up, and the slaved men request, and are granted, a day off on Good Friday.

“Sir Thomas Sheridan, Jacobite military secretary. Suffering advanced debility and loss of memory. Former military engagement, 56 years ago. Sir John MacDonald, Jacobite captain of cavalry. Aged, frequently intoxicated, described as 'a man of the most limited capacities.' John William O'Sullivan, Jacobite quartermaster general. Described as 'an Irishman whose vanity is superseded only by his lack of wisdom.' Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Jacobite commander in chief. Former military experience: 10 days at a siege at the age of 13.”

– narrator

Golf (or a tiger) in honour of Tiger Woods' 1997 Masters Tournament victory.

 

Reiko (Yoko Shiraki), a professional model – is groomed into playing the circuit by the editor of a golfing fashion magazine. The rookie's unexpected success draws in all sorts of fans, including the obsessive.

A manned spaceship for the International Day of Human Space Flight

“He began thinking about the innocence of machines, about how man had endowed them with intelligence and, in doing so, had made them an accomplice of his mad adventures. About how the myth of the golem — the machine that rebelled against its creator — was a lie, a fiction invented by the guilty for the sake of self-exoneration.”

– Stanisław Lem, Opowieści o pilocie Pirxie (1968)

Commander Pirx is sent out on a secret mission to evaluate “nonlinears” – androids – to determine if they can be used for future space flights. In a blind test, androids and humans form a crew for Pirx to investigate and identify.

Cheese or fondue for National Cheese Fondue Day (USA)

“Do you fancy a pizza? Come on, then! Come on, let's go! What the hell. We might as well go out in style. What's the point in worrying about it all?”

– Antonio Ricci

A unicorn for National Unicorn Day (UK)

“and in big, spidery writing, he wrote 'In search of unicorns.' The End”

– quote from “In Search of Unicorns”, written by Susannah York

Cathryn (Susannah York), a children's book author, works on a book called “In Search of Unicorns”. Her desk, and mind, are occupied with images from a obscure diegesis.

A film about Buddhism, or set in Japan, in honour of the birth of Buddha, celebrated in Japan on April 8 as 花祭り (Hana Matsuri, aka Flower Festival)

“Can't you see that whatever you do is futile? The armies of Britain and Japan can come and fight all they wish. Burma is still Burma. Burma is the Buddha's country.”

– old monk

While stationed in Burma, Mizushima disguises himself as a dhutanga, a wandering Buddhist monk, burying the remains of his fellow Japanese soldiers.