Our hearts were ringing

Do you remember the 21st Night of September?



... As we danced in the night ...


Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21st. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.



Given who the President of the United States is, it is insane how not close to peace we are this year.


Two giants of animation sharing the same birthday:

September 21, 1912 -
Chuck Jones, animator and director of Warner Brothers cartoons Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, was born on this date.



Chuck was close friends with both, Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Ray Bradbury.

September 20, 1920 -
Jay Ward, cartoonist (Rocky and his Friends, Bullwinkle), was born on this date.



Jay drove a sound-truck across the U.S. to gather signatures for a Statehood for Moosylvania campaign, and then tried to storm the White House with them, right at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis.


September 21, 1957 -
Our favorite nipple rouge wearing actor, Raymond Burr, had another go at episodic TV when Perry Mason premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Raymond Burr originally auditioned for the role of Hamilton Burger, but was chosen for the title role instead.


September 21, 1968 -
The police drama ADAM 12, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



In keeping with the reputation of Jack Webb's series being scrupulously accurate about police procedures, select episodes of this series were used in police academies as instructional films.


September 21, 1975 -
Sidney Lumet's amazing film, Dog Day Afternoon, starring Al Pacino and John Cazale, premiered on this date.



The entire film is mostly improvised, though around the script. After rehearsing the script for weeks with his cast, Sidney Lumet took the improvisations that were made while rehearsing and made that the official screenplay.


September 21, 1992 –
Parlophone Records released Radiohead’s debut single, Creep, on this date.



Yorke based this on a song called The Air That I Breathe, which was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood in 1972. After Creep was released, Radiohead agreed to share the songwriting royalties, so this is credited to Yorke, Hammond and Hazlewood.


September 21, 1993 -
The police drama NYPD Blue, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Prior to the show's premiere and immediately afterward there was enormous controversy over what was perceived to be high levels of offensive language and nudity. Many affiliates refused to air the show and several advertisers boycotted it. Steven Bochco negotiated intensely with the network for a certain amount of language and nudity to be allowed. He has said that because of the pressure on the network from this criticism the show would likely not have survived had it not been an instant hit.


September 21, 1993 –
Nirvana released In Utero, their third and final studio album while Kurt Cobain was still alive, on this date.



Initially, the album was going to be called I Hate Myself and I Want to Die - Kurt Cobain's typical response to "How are you?" The final title was taken from a poem written by Courtney Love.


September 21, 2001 -
A benefit concert organized by the four major U.S. television networks in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, America: A Tribute to Heroes, aired on this date. The program was shown on 35 separate broadcast and cable networks simultaneously.





Done in the style of a telethon, it featured a number of national and international entertainers performing to raise money for the victims and their families, particularly but not limited to the New York City firefighters. The telethon raised $150 million in pledges.

Don't forget to tune into The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour today


Today in History:
September 21, 1327 -
Former King Edward II came to a particularly painful end on this date.

Edward had been overthrown by his wife, Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer. Edward had pissed off Isabella royally for among other things, sleeping with men. Isabella and Mortimer had Edward II imprisoned, after his abdication in favor of his son, Edward III.



It was rumored that Edward had been killed by the insertion of a piece of copper into his rectum (later a red-hot iron rod, as in the supposed murder of Edmund Ironside - King Edmund II was murdered in a lavatory; stabbed in the bowels when he sat down to relieve himself). Murder in this manner would have appeared a natural death, as a metal tube would have been inserted into the anus first, thus allowing the iron rod to penetrate the entrails without leaving a burn on the buttocks.

As I have said in the past, sometimes it is NOT good to be the king.


September 21, 1897 -
The New York Sun ran its famous editorial that answered a question from 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon: "Is there a Santa Claus?"on this date.



Obviously, times were different back then given that The New York Sun was printing an editorial about Christmas in September.


September 21, 1915 -
With a winning bid of  £6,600, Mr. Cecil Chubb purchases Stonehenge and 30 acres of land at auction. He donates the monument to the British state three years later.



He donated the monument because he could not figure out how to reset Stonehenge correctly.


September 21, 1937 -
George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. of London published the first edition of  J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit on this date. It was illustrated with many black-and-white drawings by Tolkien himself.



The original printing was only a 1,500 run and sold out by December due to enthusiastic reviews.


September 21, 1950 -
The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with your enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself.





William James Murray, one of the funniest sentient human beings was born on this date


September 21, 1975 -
Self-proclaimed revolutionary Sara Jane Moore attempted to kill President Gerald Ford as he walked from a San Francisco hotel on this date.



A bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd but once again President Ford walks away unscathed.


September 21, 1981 -
On August 19 1981, President Reagan, who had pledged during the 1980 presidential campaign to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court, nominated  Sandra Day O'Connor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the retiring Potter Stewart. Ms. O'Connor was confirmed by the Senate 99-0 on this date and took her seat September 25.



In her first year on the Court, O'Connor received over sixty thousand letters from the public, more than any other justice in history.


September 21, 1983 -
In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on this date, Interior Secretary James G. Watt jokingly described a special advisory panel as consisting of 'a black ... a woman, two Jews and a cripple.'

Although Watt apologized, he later resigned .

Oops!



And so it goes.


Before you go - exploring the dark nether regions of the intraweb I came across this 2008 Prince performance of Creep at Coachella - it stopped me dead in my tracks.



Eric Clapton was once asked how it felt to be a legendary guitarist. He said, I don't know ask Prince.


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