For you and I are past our dancing days

January 29 1595 -
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.









William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet was probably first performed on this date (unless it wasn't).

I don't know, I wasn't there, were you?


January 29, 1959 -
With a budget that exceeded $6 million, Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



Second only to Dumbo (who didn't speak at all), Sleeping Beauty had only about 18 lines of actual dialogue throughout the entire film in which she only appears in the film for 18 minutes


January 29, 1964 -
Introducing us to saving our precious bodily fluids and the rule about no fighting in the War room, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was released in the United States, on this date.



George C. Scott was reputedly annoyed that Stanley Kubrick was pushing him to overact for his role. While he vowed never to work with Kubrick again, Scott eventually saw this as one of his favorite performances. Many fans consider it some of his best work on-screen.


Today in History:
It's Thomas Paine's birthday today. He was born in 1737.



You could commemorate the occasion by reading (or rereading) Common Sense. You could also commemorate the occasion by piercing your navel or waxing your car or bleaching someone's rectal area.

I don't care, it was just a suggestion.


January 29, 1886-
Karl Benz patented the "Benz Patent Motorwagon", on this date, which looked much like a tricycle with a cushioned seat; this was the first gas-powered car.

Making a gas-powered car had been a long-time dream of Benz, who had originally started tinkering with engines in his spare time as a bicycle shop owner.


January 29, 1954 -
Oprah Gail Winfrey, the most influential (and one of the wealthiest) woman in the world, is another year older.



Once again, Oprah got snubbed for an Oscar nomination this year.  I just want to remind those folks in Hollywood, Oprah could get enriched uranium in a human heart beat.


January 29, 1979 -
Brenda Spencer fired repeatedly at the school across from her residence in San Diego, killing two and wounding eight children, using the rifle her father had given her as a gift.



I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day. -- The reason she gave inspired the Boomtown Rats song.



Remember: guns don't kill people, it's the damn gifts our father's give us.



And so it goes.