You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline

Today we can celebrate American Beer Day, as opposed to National Beer Day, which is celebrated on April 7.



While beer is not my go to beverage of choice, I'm happy to down a frosty cold one or two.


Today is Diwali, the Festival of Lights, one of the biggest and brightest of all the Hindu celebrations. An ancient festival celebrating the triumph of light over dark and good over evil; the day is also significant in other religions including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word, “deepawali”, meaning “row of lights”. The day is also the beginning of the Hindu New Year.


October 27, 1954 -
"... It was all started by a mouse." Walt Disney's first TV show, Disneyland, premiered on ABC-TV on this date



All of the ABC episodes were filmed in color, even though they aired in black and white. In general, ABC did not broadcast in color until the mid 1960s. During the years on ABC, the show went by the title of Disneyland, with one of four weekly sub titles, either Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland or Tomorrowland, depending on the category of that week's show.


October 27, 1955 -
The quintessential 50s movie (although quite startling at the time,) Nicholas Ray's masterful, Rebel Without a Cause, was released on this date.



Jim Backus, who played James Dean's father and was the voice of Mr. Magoo, taught Dean how to do the Mr. Magoo voice, which Dean then used to deliver the line, "Drown them like puppies."


October 27, 1964 -
Another Paddy Chayefsky scripted classic from the 60s (although unappreciated), The Americanization of Emily, starring James Garner and Julie Andrews, premiered on this date.



The majority of the male main cast members, who play US Navy officers or NCOs, James Garner, Melvyn Douglas, James Coburn, William Windom, Edward Binns, and Alan Sues, were US Army veterans. Douglas served during World War I; Windom, Sues and Binns served during World War II; and Garner and Coburn served during the Korean War.


October 27, 1966 -
The third Charles Schultz Peanuts special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, (directed again by Bill Melendez,) premiered on this date.



Actress Cathy Steinberg had almost finished recording all her lines of dialog as Sally when the producers received a phone call from Steinberg's mother informing them that one of Cathy's teeth was loose. Fearing that a sudden lisp would ruin the continuity dialogue, the producers rushed the young actress into the studio to finish recording her lines. Just as Steinberg was speaking her last line, the tooth came flying out of her mouth.


October 27, 1998 -
R.E.M appeared on The Jools Holland Show, Later, which was recorded at BBC TV Centre on this date.



Two days earlier, R.E.M. played almost the identical concert for BBC Radio 1 at the Radio Theater at Broadcasting House in London for an audience primarily consisting of fan club members and contest winners.


Nope, I didn't read this book, but ...


Today in History:
On October 27, 312, on the eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine had a vision assuring him of victory in the name of the Christian God.

As emperor, Constantine served as a patron for the church, contributing to its rapid growth in the fourth century. (So just that I have this right - if sunglasses had been invented and he didn't have sun glare in his eyes, most of the world would still be engaged in wanton sodomy.)


October 27, 1553 -
Michael Servetus, noted theologian, was honored in Switzerland for his discovery of the pulmonary circulation of the blood, on this date by being burned at the stake just outside Geneva with what was believed to be the last copy of his writing chained to his leg. Historians record his last words as: "Jesus, Son of the Eternal God, have mercy on me."

John Calvin is given a good deal of credit for having arranged these honors, which may have had something to do with his own gratitude to Mr. Servetus for having raised an important theological question.

Throughout history, such important theological questions have caused almost as much bloodshed as important theological answers. That doesn't mean theology's an especially bloody field - there's been just as much carnage from philosophy, political science, economics, linguistics, and the rest of the humanities.

It's probably all that blood that puts the 'human' in the humanities or as one of my faith readers put it, the 'hard' in hard science.


October 27, 1682 -
The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was founded on this date. In 1681, as part of a repayment of a debt, Charles II of England granted William Penn a charter for what would become the Pennsylvania colony. Penn's ship anchored off the coast of New Castle, Delaware, on October 27, 1682, and he arrived in Philadelphia (which did not exist at the time, if you are following along, the Lenni Lenape Indians certainly didn't call this place Philadelphia) a few days after that.



He expanded the city west to the bank of the Schuylkill River, for a total of 1,200 acres. Streets were laid out in a gridiron system. Except for the two widest streets, High (now Market) and Broad, the streets were named after prominent landowners who owned adjacent lots.  And no cheese steaks were involved.


October 27, 1858 -
Rowland H. Macy opened R.H. Macy Dry Goods on the corner of Sixth Ave. and 14th St. in New York City on this date.

First day sales were $11.06 but by the end of the first year, sales totaled almost $90,000. By 1877, R.H. Macy and Co. had become a full-fledged department store occupying 11 adjacent buildings.


October 27, 1904 -
The Interborough Rapid Transit Subway, New York City's first underground subway line opened officially 115 years ago today. It ran from the Brooklyn Bridge uptown to Broadway at 145th Street with a fare of one nickel.



It was the first rapid-transit subway system in America.  The ride currently costs $2.75 (and with any luck, they will have completed the repairs on the L line within my lifetime.)


October 27, 1939 -
John Cleese, actor, writer and all around funny guy was born on this date. (Oh yeah, I think he was in a comedy group in the late 60s, early 70s.)



I hope John continues being funny and stops giving his opinion on how terrible it was to have been in Monty Python.


October 27, 1962 -
The British comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe, written by and starring Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett opening in NYC on this date.



This show is often seen as the beginning of the British satirical comedy of the 60s and many of the members Monty Python found this show highly influential.


October 27, 1964 -
In a private ceremony, Sonny and Cher exchanged rings in Tijuana (on this date) and told others they were married,



they were not legally married until 1969.


October 27, 2013 -
I don't think anybody is anybody else's moral compass. Maybe listening to my music is not the best idea if you live a very constricted life. Or maybe it is.



Music legend (and general major pain in the ass) Lou Reed died on this date



And so it goes.


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