Hey Bunkies, be like Popeye

Eat your greens - it National Spinach Day. Not only does spinach provide iron, it’s also an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, and vitamin C — not to mention manganese and magnesium!



Probably tastes even better if it's fresh and not canned. I'm just saying ....


March 26, 1942 -
Up in the sky, look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!



The Bulleteers, part of the Fleischer Superman animated series, was released on this date.


March 26, 1953 -
One of Martin Scorsese's favorite films, Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (the original title, Ugetsu Monogatari,) starring Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo and Kinuyo Tanaka, premiered in Japan on this date.



Regarded by critics as a masterpiece of Japanese cinema, the film won the Silver Lion Award at the 1953 Venice Film Festival.


March 26, 1969 -
The TV movie which launched the Marcus Welby M.D, series, A Matter of Humanities, starring Robert Young, James Brolin, Anne Baxter, Susan Strasberg, Lew Ayres, and Tom Bosley, premiered on ABC TV on this date.



Tom Bosley's appearance was a last minute emergency replacement for an actor who had been involved in a car accident. Bosley was filming the Eyes segment of the Night Gallery pilot film at Universal, and when delays came up during the filming of that, the producer of the Welby pilot asked if he could borrow Bosley for two hours to do the scene. Bosley was able to do it without losing any time on the Night Gallery pilot.


March 26, 1971 -
Balding, middle-aged, and portly (hey I better watch out, that's starting to describe me) - the Cannon pilot with William Conrad premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Frank Cannon was originally a policeman, but he quit the force after the tragic death of his wife and infant son in an automobile accident. The tragedy drove Cannon to become a top private investigator.


March 26, 1977 -
Hall & Oates have their first of six chart-toppers when their single Rich Girl hits No. #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, on this date.



Daryl Hall was shocked to find out that the infamous serial killer David "Son Of Sam" Berkowitz claimed he was inspired to murder by this song. It is unlikely that this song actually compelled Berkowitz to kill, as it was released after he started his killing spree, and Berkowitz cited many influences, including his neighbor's dog, when asked why he killed. Nonetheless, it was very disturbing for Hall & Oates to have their song associated with Berkowitz, and they made reference to this in their 1980 song Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices) from their Voices album in the lyrics: "Charlie liked The Beatles, Sam he liked Rich Girl."


March 26, 1977 -
Less Than Zero, the debut single from Elvis Costello, was released by the newly formed Stiff Records in London, England on this date.



When Costello appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1977 (filling in for the Sex Pistols, who were denied entry into the US), it was decided that he would perform this song. Elvis, however, had other ideas. After playing some of Less Than Zero, he halted the performance and played the unreleased Radio Radio instead, earning him a ban from the show that lasted until 1989, when he returned as musical guest.


March 26, 1987 -
Nike begins airing a commercial using the Beatles song Revolution, marking the first time an original version of a Beatles song is used in an ad.



The commercials caused a huge backlash from Beatles fans who felt that Nike was disrespecting the legacy of John Lennon, who likely would have objected to its use, but the ad campaign, called "Revolution in Motion," was successful, helping Nike expand their market by featuring ordinary joggers, gym rats and cyclists. "We're trying to promote the concept of revolutionary changes in the fitness movement and show how Nike parallels those changes with product development," the company stated. "Because of this 'revolution,' we were able to draw a strong correlation with the music and the lyrics in the Beatles song."


March 26, 1989 -
The science fiction series, Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



Scott Bakula was the first actor cast, and thus was asked to read with actors under consideration for the role of Al Calavicci. Bakula immediately felt a connection with Dean Stockwell during his audition, and lobbied the producers to cast him as Al Calavicci.


March 26, 1994 –
Soundgarden's fourth studio album Superunknown, debuted on the Album chart at #1 on this date.



The band is named after a sculpture in Seattle called Soundgarden, and longtime speculation was that one of the songs from the album got its name from another Seattle sculpture called Black Sun by the artist Isamu Noguchi. (The piece is located in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. It looks kind of like a huge, black doughnut and is aimed so you can see the Space Needle through the middle of it.) Superunknown was Soundgarden's breakthrough album, earning the band international recognition


March 26, 1995 -
The pilot short for Johnny Bravo aired on Cartoon Network on this date.



According to creator Van Partible, Johnny Bravo's name originated from The Brady Bunch episode Adios, Johnny Bravo, where Greg was nicknamed "the next Johnny Bravo". The name was also derived from Partible's middle name, Giovanni Bravo, which is also an Italian name for Johnny.

March 26, 2005 -
The BBC revived the Dr. Who series on this date, which hadn't aired since the end of the 26th season in 1989, with the episode Rose, starring Christopher Eccleston as the new incarnation of the doctor and Billie Piper as Rose his new traveling companion.



Executive Producer Russell T. Davies stated that he chose to have Christopher Eccleston depict a new incarnation of the Doctor so he could have a fresh start for both the new viewers and the story lines he wanted to implant in the series, and because Eccelston was a good friend of his who wanted to help Doctor Who gain momentum to become successful again.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
March 26, 1199 -
All seemed right with the Medieval world. Richard the Lionheart was taking an evening stroll around the castle perimeter without his chain mail, investigating the progress of soldiers trying to destroy the fortress in which he was seeking refuge. Arrows were occasionally fired from the castle walls, but these were given little attention.

One defender in particular was of great amusement to the King - a man standing on the walls, cross bow in one hand, the other clutching a frying pan which he had been using all day as a shield to beat off missiles (this is what passed for amusement in 1199). He deliberately aimed an arrow at the King, which the King applauded. However, another arrow then struck him in the left shoulder near the neck. He tried to pull this out in the privacy of his tent, but failed; a surgeon, called a 'butcher' by Roger of Hoveden, (a 12th-century English chronicler,) removed it, 'carelessly mangling' the King's arm in the process. However, the wound swiftly became gangrenous.

Accordingly, Richard asked to have the cross bowman brought before him - the man proved a boy. This boy claimed that Richard had slain the boy's father and two brothers, and that he had slain Richard in vengeance. The boy expected to be slain; Richard, as a last act of mercy, forgave the boy his crime, saying, "Live on, and by my bounty behold the light of day," before ordering the boy to be freed and sent away with 100 shillings. Richard then set his affairs in order, bequeathing all his territory to his brother John and his jewels to his nephew Otto.



Richard died on Tuesday, April 6, 1199 in the arms of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine; it was later said that "As the day was closing, he ended his earthly day." His death was later referred to as 'the Lion [that] by the Ant was slain'. His last act of chivalry proved pointless: as soon as Richard was dead, his most infamous mercenary captain Mercadier had the boy who fired the fatal arrow flayed alive and then hanged.

So much for pardons.


March 26, 1812 –
A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette, created by Elkanah Tisdale, coined the term “gerrymander” (named after Governor Elbridge Gerry) to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win re-election.

On February 11, 1812, Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, signed legislation that created an oddly shaped voting district with its southern tip in Chelsea, then heading east to Marblehead, and north along the Merrimack River towns to Salisbury. In March, artist Gilbert Stuart stopped by the office of the Boston Gazette and noticed the new map of the new Essex district hanging on the office wall. He was struck by its peculiar shape, and turned to editor Benjamin Russel, an ardent Federalist, he said “There, that will do for a Salamander.” “Better say a Gerrymander” replied the editor Benjamin Russel, punning on the name of Governor Gerry.


March 26, 1827 -
German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven died in Vienna on this date. He had been deaf for the later part of his life, but said on his death bed "I shall hear in heaven."



I wonder what the first thing that he heard in heaven?


March 26, 1830 -
Joseph Smith published The Book of Mormon on this date, after translating it from golden plates turned over by the angel Moroni.



Smith maintained that the text contained in the tablets were written in Reformed Egyptian which he read by means of two magic stones from the Old Testament, the Urim and Thummim.


March 26, 1845 -
Drs. Horace Harrell Day and William H. Shecut receive U.S. patent No. 3,965 for an adhesive medicated plaster,

It took a few more innovations but it would be reformulated into the modern day 'Band Aid'.


March 26, 1920 -
Let the days move over—sadness and memory and pain recurred outside, and here, once more, before he went on to meet them he wanted to drift and be young. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

I don't know why I bother bringing this up but F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel was published on this date, bringing his talents into the spotlight.



The novel This Side of Paradise immediately launching 23-year-old F. Scott Fitzgerald to fame and fortune.

But what do you care, you don't read anything, anyway.


March 26, 1931 -
As if some cosmic force far greater than any of us can understand,



Leonard Nimoy was born four day after William Shatner.


March 26, 1953 -
Dr. Jonas Salk announced he had a vaccine for polio, on this date. Following Salk's discovery, a nationwide inoculation campaign began in 1955.



By 1957, the number of new polio cases dropped from 58 thousand to under six thousand.


March 26, 2233 - (There is some controversy surrounding this date)
James Tiberius Kirk will be born to Winona and George Samuel Kirk, Sr. in a small farming community in Riverside, Iowa. As the Captain will be quoted in the future, "I'm from Iowa, I only work in outer space."



Although born on Earth, he was apparently raised, at least for a time, on Tarsus IV, where he was one of only nine surviving witnesses to the massacre of 4,000 colonists because of utilitarian extermination by Kodos the Executioner so that the colony could survive a devastating famine.



And so it goes

People get lost in the jungle every day.

March 25, 1932 -
Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weismuller first stripped down to his leopard skin loin cloth - Tarzan the Ape Man premiered in NYC on this date.



Tarzan's distinctive call was either created by sound recordist Douglas Shearer from various sounds, or it was indeed Johnny Weissmuller doing the yell himself. Co-star Maureen O'Sullivan insisted throughout her life that it was Weissmuller doing the yell without any technical assistance.


It's the Feast of the Annunciation, which is not a holy day of obligation, (now a days known as The Solemnity of the Annunciation),



I'm not even going to try to explain this one to you.



While you're in church this afternoon, ask one of the old lady in the back saying her decades of rosary to explain it to you. (This is for extra credit,) today is also the feast of St. Dismas, the patron of undertakers and prisoners.

Dismas was the repentant thief crucified with Christ. (You can impress the old lady saying her rosaries with that fact.)


March 25, 1955 -
Richard Brooks's adaptation of Evan Hunter's novel, Blackboard Jungle, starring Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Anne Francis, and Louis Calhern, premieres in the US on this date.



The original novel was based on author Evan Hunter's own experiences as a teacher in New York City's tough South Bronx area. Hunter (who found fame as crime writer Ed McBain) said, "I thought I was going to give these kids who want to be motor mechanics Shakespeare and they were going to appreciate it and they weren't buying it. I went home in tears night after night."


March 25, 1967 –
The Turtles song Happy Together hit No. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.





Despite what the title implies, this is not a song about a couple in love. According to Gary Bonner, who wrote the song with Alan Gordon, the song is about unrequited love. Our desperate singer wants the girl to "imagine how the world could be so very fine," proposing what would happen "if I should call you up." The line in the fadeout, "How is the weather?" is when he realizes they will never be more than passing acquaintances, as he resorts to small talk to keep from bursting into tears.


March 25, 1968 -
The 58th and final episode of The Monkees, Mijacogeo (also known as The Frodis Caper,) aired on this date.



The four Monkees were each paid $450 per episode, raised to $750 for the second season. They received standard royalty rates for their recordings (and publishing, when they wrote the songs), but received virtually nothing for their merchandising. Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones sued Columbia Pictures in the late 1970s, but had to settle for a payment of only $10,000.


March 24, 1972 -
America's first single, A Horse With No Name, rides to No. #1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date.



America was formed in England by sons of US servicemen who were stationed there. Lead singer Dewey Bunnell wrote this when he was 19. Although the song is commonly misinterpreted about being on drugs, it is not: Bunnell based the images in the lyrics on things he saw while visiting the US.


March 25, 1972 -
ABC-TV aired the final episode of Bewitched, The Truth, Nothing But the Truth, So Help Me, Sam on this date.



Running for eight seasons, this was the longest-running of the so-called "fantasy sitcoms" that dominated the airwaves in the mid 1960s (for example, The Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, et cetera), as well as the last surviving example of the genre when it went off the air in 1972 (a year after All in the Family ushered in a new era of reality sitcoms).


March 25, 1973 -
The Carpenters' single I Won't Last a Day Without You became their ninth No. 1 hit on the easy listening charts on this date.



Paul Williams wrote this with Roger Nichols - it was the third hit they wrote for the Carpenters, after We've Only Just Begun and Rainy Days And Mondays.


March 25, 1975 -
Linda Ronstadt releases cover of the Everly Brothers' 1960 song When Will I Be Loved as a single on this date. Her version peaked at #2 on the Hot 100, and became her first #1 hit on the Country chart.



According to Rolling Stone, Phil Everly wrote this in his car, parked outside an A&W root beer stand. He took inspiration from his on-again, off-again romance with Jackie Ertel-Bleyer, the stepdaughter of Cadence Records founder, Archie Bleyer. Phil and Jackie got married in 1963 and divorced in 1972.


March 25, 1982 –
The police drama Cagney & Lacey premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



The screenplay for the pilot was originally written in the 1970s for a feature film that never materialized. After the success of Charlie's Angels, producer Barney Rosenzweig shopped an edited version of the screenplay as a possible television series. It took many years for the script to be produced, because the networks felt that there was no audience for a realistic show about female detectives.


March 25, 1986 -
We all got to meet Cousin Balki for the first time when Perfect Strangers, Knock Knock, Who's There? premiered on ABC TV on this date.



The producers originally developed the series to air in 1985. But Bronson Pinchot was already committed to Sara. When that series was cancelled, the producers quickly hired Pinchot and continued developing their series to air in 1986.


March 25, 1988 -
Pedro Almodóvar film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas was released in Spain on this date.



Pepa Marcos (the character played by Carmen Maura) lives on Calle Montalbán, which is two blocks away from Calle Antonio Maura, named after Carmen Maura's great-great-uncle (a five-time prime minister of Spain)


March 25, 2004 -
Showtime airs the final episode of The Chris Isaak Show, Suspicion, on this date.



Unfortunately, the entire series remains unreleased to DVD due to music licensing costs.


March 25, 2015 -
James Corden seemed to need to supplement his income from his Late Late Show gig, by driving singers around Los Angeles and pesters them until they sing along with him, their own hits on the radio.



Mariah Carey appears to be duped by James Corden for the first installment of Carpool Karaoke, on this date.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
Anne Brontë was baptized on March 25, 1820. She and her sisters Charlotte and Emily were avid writers. Women were not supposed to write books at the time because novels were still being written in the formal style, and it was feared that women would corrupt that classic form with their penchant for multiple climaxes. The Brontës therefore wrote under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.

Charlotte got to be Currer, which made the other girls jealous, because Currer was the handsome and swarthy sailor: Ellis was the stuttering librarian, and Acton was the simpleminded shepherd.


March 25, 1821 - (Για τους Έλληνες φίλους μου)
Today is the traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire on this day, which had been occupying and ruling it since the mid-1400s, (though the war actually began February 22, 1821.) The date was chosen in the early years of Greece's sovereignty so that it falls on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, strengthening the ties between the Greek Orthodox Church and the newly-found state.



The war for independence lasted nine years, and was only settled after significant intervention.



The Greek people were so exuberant that they proclaimed the country a republic on this day in 1924, and officially deposed King George II (of Greece) and stripped of his Greek nationality, and sent him packing. (As if I needed to remind you, our favorite itinerant Greek sailor, the late Philip Mountbatten was related to all the modern Kings of Greece as well as most of the remaining royal houses of Europe.)


March 25, 1911 -
It's the 113th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, the largest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York, causing the death of 148 garment workers who either died from the fire or jumped to their deaths. It was the worst workplace disaster in New York City until September 11th, 2001.



The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers in that industry.


March 25, 1915 -
During submarine maneuvers off Honolulu, Hawaii, USS F-4 (SS-23) sank on this day. Despite all efforts of naval authorities, all 25 of the crew members were lost.

This was the first major submarine disaster. An investigation board will later speculate that the lead lining around the vessel’s battery tank had corroded, leading to a leak that caused the crew to loose control during a submerged run.


March 25, 1942 -
The late great Aretha Louise Franklin (The Queen of Soul,) born in Memphis, Tennessee, on this date, was a singer, songwriter and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings, Franklin is adept at jazz, blues, R&B and gospel music.









Franklin has won eighteen Grammy Awards in total during her nearly half-century long career and holds the record for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance awards with eleven to her name.


March 25, 1947 -
Reginald Kenneth Dwight, singer-songwriter, composer and pianist was born on this date as well.









In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him as the most successful male solo artist on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists"


March 25, 1965 -
Today was the end of a march by 25,000 civil rights supporters from Selma to Montgomery, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after four days and nights on the road under the protection of Army troops and federalized Alabama National Guardsmen. They were refused permission to give a petition to Governor Wallace which said: "We have come not only five days and 50 miles but we have come from three centuries of suffering and hardship. We have come to you, the Governor of Alabama, to declare that we must have our freedom NOW. We must have the right to vote; we must have equal protection of the law and an end to police brutality."



During the rally that followed the refusal by the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated "We are not about to turn around. We, are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us."


March 25, 1967 -
As part of Operation Green Mist, the U.S. Army detonated explosive warheads containing the deadly sarin nerve agent at Upper Waiakea Forest Reserve on the big island of Hawaii.

The open-air tests are kept secret for more than 30 years.

Oops.


March 25, 1969 -
During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono started their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel on this date.



They'd married five days earlier at the British-owned Rock of Gibraltar in Spain.


March 25, 1975 -
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew during a reception at Ri'Assa Palace on this date.



The nephew was beheaded the following June: his head was displayed on a spike as a warning for all to see.

Kids don't let this happen to you - remember to immediately pass the Baba ghanoush when dining with your family.


March 25 1990 -
An intentionally set fire at the Happy Land Social Club in NYC killed 87 by smoke inhalation, on this date.



At the time, the fire set by a jealous ex-boyfriend, held the record for a mass murder in the U.S. (until, of course the World Trade Center disaster.)



And so it goes.

Wave goodbye to our fears and doubts

Happy Palm Sunday

The name Palm Sunday comes from the tradition for worshippers being given palm fronds which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem.



As always, we here at ACME wish to quote that great theologian, my mother, during this holiday season:

"I swear to God if you kids don't quit hitting each other with those palms, I will beat your asses all the way home with them, in front of all your friends. I don't care how embarrassed you are."

St. Monica of Hippo has nothing on the good doctor's mom.


A vaccine that prevented tuberculosis would merit a Nobel Prize, but it's just very difficult to develop. - Tom Frieden



Today is World Tuberculosis Day, commemorating the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the cause of Tuberculosis, the TB bacillus.



(also it is supposed to remind people that we must step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. A total of 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2022 )


It's National Cocktail Day (World Cocktail Day is on the 13th of May,)

And no, some of you may think, 'Every day is National Cocktail Day in your house'. I need to give my liver a break once in a while.

Geez!


Today is also National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day - a day to enjoy this tasty combination of chocolate and fruit. Chocolate lovers who like raisins, find the combination simply irresistible. Kids find them irresistible, too.



Just make sure nobody owns a rabbit (or a guinea pig, believe me, we know from personal experience) at the home where you are enjoying those Raisinets (TM).


March 24, 1939 -
... Murder, my dear Watson. Refined, cold-blooded murder. ...

Twentieth Century Fox's released on this date, the first of 14 films based on Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles.



While not entirely passive, Watson's original role was mostly as an observer of Holmes and the chronicler of his cases. With this film a new tradition began where Watson enjoyed equal billing with Holmes. In Nigel Bruce's hands the character became a comedic foil and a bit of a bumbler. Later interpretations would vary, but the character remained greater than literature's original enigma.

Oh Watson, the needle!


March 24, 1939 -
William Wyler's adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic tragic romance, Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, premieres in Los Angeles on this date.



Producer Samuel Goldwyn felt that script was too dark for a romance movie, so he asked several people to do a re-write on the script, including a young John Huston, who said that the script needed no re-write, it was perfect as it was.


March 24, 1946 -
The first cartoon to feature Sylvester the Cat, Life with Feathers, directed by Friz Freleng was released on this date.



Carefully rendered background details are shown, as was the norm for cartoons of this era. Lace doilies, wallpaper, baseboards, a radio, even the cookbook, are all drawn as these objects appeared at the time.


March 24, 1951 -
Scent-Imental Romeo, another funny Looney Tunes short starring (the soon to be banned) Pepé Le Pew, was released on this date.



This is the only Golden Age Pepe Le Pew cartoon in which Pepe does not continue chasing the cat (nor catches her) in the end.


March 24, 1973 -
The O'Jays' single Love Train (considered to be one of the first disco songs,) went to No. #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



The song was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, producers for the O'Jays. The team of Gamble & Huff would go on to write and produce over 170 gold and platinum records - and they also wrote Back Stabbers and For The Love Of Money, two more key songs in the O'Jays' career.



March 24, 1979 -
The Bee Gees's single, Tragedy started a two week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart, the group's eighth US No. 1, on this date. (Really sorry for the ear worm.)



The Gibb brothers wrote both Tragedy and Too Much Heaven (another American #1), in an afternoon off from making the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie in which they were starring. Then in the evening they wrote another American #1 single, Shadow Dancing for their brother Andy Gibb.


March 24, 1990 -
Sinead O’Connor album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got was No.1 on the UK and US album charts, on this date.



The album was released in March of 1990, by April, the single Nothing Compares 2 U from the album went to #1 in America and many other countries, thrusting 23-year-old Sinéad into the spotlight. The attention had some deleterious effects on the singer. O'Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and she struggled with the commercialization of her music.


March 24, 1993 -
TV executives at ABC finally woke up and realized how ridiculous the Steven Bochco/ David E. Kelley series premise was and aired the final episode of Doogie Howser M.D. on this date.



Steven Bochco wanted to to finish the series and write a "final" season, as opposed to ABC's abrupt cancellation of the show in its fourth season. In it he would have depicted a season-long story arc in which Doogie becomes disillusioned with medicine and in the end, becomes a writer.


March 24, 1999 -
The Blue Pill or the Red Pill ???

The Wachowskis mega-hit science fiction classic, The Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano premiered in Los Angeles, on this date.



The Wachowskis harbored their vision for five and a half years, working through fourteen drafts of the screenplay. Although most studio executives who read the script loved their ideas, they had extreme difficulty imagining how this would translate onto the screen. The Wachowskis then hired leading illustrators Steve Skroce and Geofrey Darrow, who created over 600 storyboards. Executives were reportedly sold immediately after seeing the bold vision on display, and green-lit the film.


March 24, 2005 -
NBC-TV allowed us to follow the goings on at Dunder Mifflin when The Office, starring Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling, and B.J. Novak premiered on this date.



John Krasinski and B.J. Novak went to high school together. They went to Newton South High School in Newton, Massachusetts, and they both graduated in 1997. They were even on the same little league baseball team.

Another book from the back shelves of The ACME Library


Today in History:
March 24, 1401 -
Tamerlane conquered Damascus on this date. Tamerlane (Timur the Lane) was a descendant of Ghenghis Khan, and one of the greatest Tater leaders ever, expanding the Mongol empire from the Pacific to the Mediterranean.

Tamerlane is best remembered for having built pyramids out of human skulls, owing to a faulty understanding of architecture which no one ever had the courage to correct.

Feel free to bring this up at the next cocktail party you attend, perhaps tonight, while you are celebrating National Cocktail day.


March 24, 1603 -
Tudor Queen Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen," died on this date. She had reigned from 1558-1603 and claimed never to have had a date. Her last words were apparently, "All my possessions for one moment of life."



Scottish King James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots and great-grandson of Margaret Tudor, who was Henry VIII's oldest sister, became King James I of England in the union of the crowns.


March 24, 1874 -
Harry Houdini, Erik Weisz (Ehrich Weiss) magician, escape artist, performed his first trick when he escaped from his mother's womb in Budapest on this date.



He is still working on perfecting his final trick of coming back from the dead.


March 24, 1895 -
Arthur Murray, American dancer who founded dance schools, was born on this date.



He proved to millions of Americans that they have no innate sense of rhythm.


March 24, 1944 -
76 Allied officers escaped Stalag Luft 3 on this date. In 1949, Paul Brickall wrote The Great Escape. The story of Jackson Barrett Mahon, an American fighter pilot, and the Allied POW escape from Stalag Luft III in Germany during WW II.



The 1963 film The Great Escape starred Steve McQueen, directed by John Sturges, was based on the true story.


March 24, 1958 - (Please note, you are about to see Elvis, stripped to the waist, in his skivvies. Should you need healing of any sort, please press one of your sweaty hand upon the screen and the other ever dampening palm upon your afflicted region.)
Elvis Aron Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee (serial number 53 310 761), on this date, and then spent three days at the Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, Reception Station.

While in the army, Elvis met his future wife, Priscilla, at a party. He left active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 5, 1960, and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on March 23, 1964.


March 24, 1975 -
Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn, England, died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies, featuring a Scotsman in a kilt attempting kung fu with his bagpipes on this date.



After 25 minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent The Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant. (And the address where they can send her check.)


March 24, 1989 -
Cold Fusion was announced 32 years ago yesterday.



To celebrate this amazing advancement in energy, Captain Joseph Hazelwood downed, in rapid succession, five double vodka on the rocks and piloted the Exxon tanker Valdez.



He ran the Valdez into a well-charted reef at Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil. An estimated 250,000 seabirds were killed.

Oops



And so it goes.

Toast, the ultimate comfort food that never disappoints.

Oh, frabjous joy, it's Melba Toast Day.



The toast so named for the the Australian Opera singer Nellie Melba by her great admirer (and world famous French chef Auguste Escoffier.)



but folks, get a grip, it's just toast.


Today is Earth Hour, a global event (organized by World Wildlife Fund) held usually on the last Saturday of March (this year it's the fourth Saturday in March.) Earth Hour is celebrated annually by asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.



Earth Hour 2023 will be held from 8:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. EDT. WWF is sponsoring in-person events, (Check out the linked website.)


March 23, 1910 -
Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Ran), was born in Tokyo, Japan on this date.



Kurosawa worshiped legendary American director John Ford, his primary influence as a filmmaker. When the two met, Ford was uncommonly pleasant to the younger Japanese filmmaker and afterwards Kurosawa dressed in a similar fashion to Ford when on film sets.


March 23, 1946 -
The last Merrie Melodies title Frank Tashlin directed (before switching to become a live action director,) Hare Remover, starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, opened on this date.



This was the second of only two Bugs Bunny cartoons directed by Frank Tashlin; the other being The Unruly Hare. Frank Tashlin is uncredited because he had left the studio before the short debuted, and Warner Bros. had a rule at the time that former employees couldn't be credited.


March 23, 1950 -
The nearly-forgotten B noir Anthony Mann film, Side Street, re-uniting actors Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell (who had appeared together in the 1948 film, They Live By Night,) premiered on this date.



Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell first appeared together in They Live by Night, filmed at RKO Pictures in 1947 but put on the shelf by new studio boss Howard Hughes. Former RKO Production Chief Dore Schary feared the picture would never be released, so he paired the actors again in Side Street at his new studio, M-G-M. Hughes learned of this and, wanting to beat Schary to the punch, finally released They Live by Night in the USA in November 1949, just a few months before Side Street opened nationwide.


March 23, 1963 –
Everyone get ready for a slow dance (remember to leave room for the Holy Spirit): Ruby and the Romantics' song Our Day Will Come hit No. #1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



Dionne Warwick recorded the original demo of the song for songwriter Bob Hilliard and she told him how much she liked it. Dionne recalls, "It was written during that period of time when I met Bacharach and David. Bob Hilliard wrote the song also and he said: 'I've got a good little song here and there's a new group called 'Ruby and the Romantics' and will you do the demonstration record?' I said: 'Of course. I'd love to. And I did. And I told him then that it was a really pretty song." In 1982 Dionne Warwick included it as her only cover on her 1982 album Heartbreaker.


March 23, 1967 -
The Star Trek episode The Alternative Factor first airs on CBS TV on this date. Unfortunately, many fans consider this one of the worst episode of the Star Trek franchise.

In it, the Enterprise encounters a scientist with the ability to shift between universes who claims to be pursued by a monster. 



John Drew Barrymore was originally cast as Lazarus, but failed to show up for the shoot. The director Gerd Oswald decided to shoot scenes which didn't involve his character. On the second day, it was decided to either shut down production and scrap the episode overall or find a replacement. Rob Brown was dragged in to the set, right after he agreed to play the role.


March 23, 1973 -
Gene Roddenberry's TV-movie/unsold pilot Genesis II, starring Alex Cord, Ted Cassidy, Lynne Marta, Percy Rodriguez, Titos Vandis and Mariette Hartley, premiered on CBS TV on this date.



The science fiction justification for Lyra-a (Mariette Hartley) and other Tyranians having two navels is that they have redundant circulatory systems. However, Gene Roddenberry joked that the behind-the-scenes reason was to make up for the covered navels mandated by network and studio censors during the production of Star Trek.


March 23, 1974 -
You had one last time to Get Happy, when The Partridge Family aired the last episode of the series, ...---...(SOS), on this date



Shirley Jones presented George Chakiris, who guest stars in the episode, his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for West Side Story.


March 23, 1982 -
The spin-off of the very successful series Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi, starring Erin Moran and Scott Baio premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Nobody loved this musical disaster, and it was cancelled after 19 episodes.


March 23, 1990 –
Garry Marshall surprise comedy hit Pretty Woman (which at one time was called $3,000,) starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere premiered in US theatres on this date.



Richard Gere improvised the scene where Edward snaps the necklace case down on Vivian's (Julia Roberts) fingers, and Roberts's reaction (laughter) was totally natural. The filmmakers liked it so much, they decided to leave it in.


March 23, 1999 -
Ricky Martin releases his single, Livin' La Vida Loca, onto an unsuspecting world, on this date. (Sorry for the earworm.)



Martin's first mainstream hit, this song took off after his triumphant performance of Cup Of Life at the 1999 Grammy Awards. He got a lot of media attention and expanded his fan base to an English speaking audience eager for songs they would Zumba to 10 years later. A notable supporter was Madonna, who did a duet with Martin called Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazón).

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


Today in History:
March 23, 1369 -
Pedro the Cruel, King and tyrant of Castile and Leon, was murdered on this date. Enrique, the illegitimate son of Alfonso XI of Castile, killed his half brother Pedro I in the Castilian civil war and became King Enrique I the Bastard of Castile.

Once again, I must ask, what the hell were people thinking when they named their children.


March 23, 1534 -
Pope Clement VII declared that the marriage between Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon was still valid, even though they'd been divorced the previous year and Henry had already married Anne Boleyn.

Henry decided to trump Clement with his extra I and invents his own religion and appointed himself as a more agreeable pope.


March 23, 1840 -
Englishman John William Draper becomes the first person to successfully photograph the Moon.

The image, a full moon, is a daguerreotype, precursor of the later photograph.


March 23, 1908 -
I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door.



Joan Crawford, actress (both legitimate films and porn), executive and child beater was born on this date.


March 23, 1912 -
Wernher von Braun, German - born rocket pioneer who led the development of the V-2 rocket during World War II was born on this date.





Von Braun was said to be the preeminent rocket engineer of the 20th Century.


March 23, 1919 -
Benito Mussolini founded his own party in Italy on this date. He had tried all the other parties, but he was an awkward young man and had a hard time getting to know people. His Fasci di Combattimento ("Evil Fascist Bastards Party") was extremely popular, however, and even the cool kids came.



It got so crowded that the neighbors started complaining, which ended up starting a big fight, and the rest is history.


March 23, 1925 -
Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signs the Butler Act into law, making illegal the teaching in public school "any theory that denies the story of divine creation of man as taught in the Bible", on this date.



Teacher John Scopes couldn't think of anywhere else to teach evolution, so he ignored the ban and was later prosecuted in what became known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, which resulted in an Oscar for Spencer Tracy.


March 23, 1956 -
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan became an independent republic within the British Commonwealth (from 1947 until 1956, it was referred to as the Dominion of Pakistan,) on this date. Following the fighting in Pakistan and India in 1947, Muslims moved to Pakistan, creating a country where 96% of the population are Muslim.



Pakistan was the first modern nation to call itself an Islamic republic in conjunction with a largely secular constitution. Currently Pakistan has the world's sixth largest population.


March 23, 1961 -
Valentin Bondarenko was a young cosmonaut who had been doing routine medical tests in a pressure chamber as part of an isolation exercise, on this date. He removed some biosensors from his body and used a cotton ball moistened with alcohol to wash the sticky stuff off his skin.

He tossed the cotton ball aside and it landed on an electric hot plate, where it caught fire. Because the chamber's atmosphere was pure oxygen, the fire spread quickly. Bondarenko was removed from the chamber alive, but he died soon after of shock. Bondarenko's death was kept secret for 25 years. The fatal Apollo 1 disaster could have been averted if NASA had been aware of the accident


March 23, 1965 -
NASA launched Gemini III, nicknamed the “Molly Brown,” from Cape Canaveral on this date. It was the United State’s first maneuverable two-man mission. The mission was crewed by astronauts Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young.



The flight was the first for Young, who breaks quarantine regulations by smuggling a sandwich into orbit to share with Grissom. Before the end of the mission, Young would become the first man to eat a corned beef sandwich in space. Crumbs from the "weightless" sandwich scattered throughout the Gemini 3 spacecraft, posing a potential, if unintentional, flight safety risk. This rules violation caused NASA to clamp down on what astronauts could and could not carry into space.


March 23, 1989 -
A 1000-foot diameter asteroid misses the Earth by only 500,000 miles on this date.

Astronomers did not see it until it passed. To commemorate the event, today has become known as Near Miss Day.

Oops


March 23, 1997 -
Five dead bodies were found arranged in a cross formation at the burned Quebec home of Didier Queze. They were members of the Solar Temple cult who in 1994 to 1996 had totaled 69 suicides in Europe and North America.

Interestingly, in San Diego, The Heaven's Gate suicides (completely different set of nuts) leave 39 dead, all wearing NIKE shoes and many of the male members of the pact had previously voluntarily removed their members.



I believe this is the corollary to Thoreau's 'beware of all enterprises that require new clothes' - NEVER join a cult that requires you to remove your genitals.


Before I forgot - here are the answers to yesterday's quiz


Before you go - Purim starts tonight -



The festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.”



It's sometimes referred to as the Jewish Mardi Gras or Halloween.

(I still like the Poppy seed Hamantashen more than the fruit filled ones - really, who but old people would put prunes in a dessert.)



Happy Purim to all, and to all a good...wait, wrong holiday.



And so it goes.

Any shortage of drinking water is a serious issue.

Today is World Water Day. Nearly two billion people are living without access to safe water, (and it could be a lot sooner than you think in this country.) World Water Day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



So remember, after your morning coffee (or tea,) please remember to recycle your 'precious bodily fluids' and then wash your hands.


March 22, 1895 -
Auguste and Louis Lumiere may have first demonstrated motion pictures in Paris using celluloid film. Unless it was March 19, 1895, or December 28, 1894, or cellulite instead of celluloid. And it may have been in Milan, or Warsaw, and it's possible it wasn't Louis and Auguste Lumiere, but Max and Emil Skladanowsky.





The first motion picture shown on a screen is presented by Auguste and Louis Lumière during a private screening for the Société d’Encouragement à l’Industrie Nationale on this date in 1895.



An invited audience of 45 spectators at the Rue de Rennes in Paris, France, viewed the silent documentary film La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumière (Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory and Exiting the Factory), a film they shot especially for the occasion.


March 22, 1937 -
The biopix of the showman Florenz Ziegfeld, The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy and Frank Morgan premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



Billie Burke never really rated the film much despite taking a personal interest in the writing of the script. She went to great lengths to make sure that writer William Anthony McGuire never besmirched the good name of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., hence the playing down of his infidelities.


March 22, 1947 -
Another glimpse into the 'early' pre-celebrity life of Bugs, A Hare Grows In Manhattan, premiered on this date.



The interviewer is meant to be Louella Parsons, a popular gossip columnist at the time. Bugs even calls her by her nickname "Lolly".


March 22, 1963 -
The Beatles' first album, Please Please Me, was released in the UK on this date. The album went to the top of the UK charts in two months and remained there for 30 weeks.



Please Please Me has been ranked in the top 50 of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" by Rolling Stone. In the US, most of the songs on Please Please Me were first issued on Vee-Jay Records' Introducing... The Beatles in 1964 and subsequently on Capitol Records' The Early Beatles in 1965.


March 22, 1975 -
B.J. Thomas' single, (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song, was the no. 1 hit on the Adult Billboard Chart on this date.



(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song was B. J. Thomas' second #1 hit, his other being Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head. The song is the longest-titled #1 charting song to date. He also scored many #1s on the Adult Contemporary and Country charts, being something of a cross-genre sensation. Still, this hit came after a long period of waning (though still considerable) popularity.


March 22, 1977 –
Yet another John Denver television special, Thank God I’m a Country Boy, premiered on ABC. TV, on this date.



John Denver had already earned his country cred with the crossover hit Take Me Home Country Roads in 1971. While that song was inspired by a longing to settle in West Virginia (neither he or the songwriters had actually ever visited the state), Thank God I’m a Country Boy literally hit closer to home as it was influenced by the singer's beloved Colorado, where he made his home in Aspen.


March 22, 1978 –
The seminal mockumentary about The Pre-Fab Four, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, directed by Eric Idle and Gary Weis and starring some people from Monty Python and some other people from SNL, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



Neil Innes, Ricky Fataar and John Halsey regrouped in 1996 to record Archaeology, their satirical response to the Beatles' Anthology. It consisted of tunes not used in the movie, rearranged Innes solo songs and one song penned as a spoof of Free as a Bird. Eric Idle didn't take part; Dirk McQuickly, the album's press materials explained, had quit the music business to become a comedian.


March 22, 1984 -
Queen filmed the video for I Want To Break Free at Limehouse Studio in London, England, on this date. Directed by David Mallet, it was a parody of the northern British soap opera Coronation Street with the band members dressed in drag.



Guitarist Brian May later claimed that the video ruined the band in America, and was initially banned by MTV in the US.


Another unimportant day in history


Today in History:
March 22, 1622 -
A band led by the Brothers of Powhatan slaughtered 347 settlers near Jamestown, a quarter of the population, in the first Native American massacre of European settlers on this date.



Just think if those indigenous people had just followed the thought all the way through ....


March 22, 1687 -
Classical music and vanity do not mix, if fact, they can really kill you.

In early January of 1687, Jean-Baptiste de Lully, court music and gossip to King Louis XIV of France and notorious buggerer (but that's another story ...) was conducting a musical piece, beating time on the floor with a long staff. This was the common practice at the time before hand-held batons became the norm. He slammed his big toe.



The wound abscessed and eventually turned gangrenous. He refused to have his toe amputated (as he first started as a court dancer) because he could not bear the thought of disfigurement. The wound turned gangrenous and the infection spread, killing him three months later, on this date.


Two leading lights of twentieth century musical theatre were born on March 22: Stephen Sondheim (1930), best known for his work on Gypsy, West Side Story, Company and Sweeney Todd and Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948), best known for Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Phantom of the Opera.













By some mysterious natural process of compensation, March 22 is also the birthday of Marcel Marceau (1923),



best known for Actor Trapped in a Role.


March 22, 1931 -
How do I stay so healthy and boyishly handsome? It's simple. I drink the blood of young runaways..



William Shatner, arguably the world's (or at least Canada's) greatest actor was born today on this date.


March 22, 1958 -
Michael Todd (nee Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen,) movie producer, (and one of the myriad of husband's of Elizabeth Taylor) and three other people were killed in the crash of Todd's private plane Lucky Liz, near Grants, New Mexico, on this date. In his autobiography, Eddie Fisher, who considered himself to be Todd's best friend (and another one of the myriad of husbands of Elizabeth Taylor,) stated that no fragments of Todd had been found, and that his coffin contained only his ring.



The Los Angeles Times reported in 1977 that Fisher's story was false - remains of Todd were indeed found and buried. His remains were desecrated by robbers, who broke into his coffin looking for the ring. The bag containing Todd's remains was found under a tree near his plot.

How big was that bag?


March 22, 1960 –
The first laser was patented (US Patent #2,929,922) by Arthur Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes under the title Masers and Maser Communications System.

There is no mention of whether or not drugs were involved in the creation of the laser or what album they were listening to at the time.


March 22, 1972 -
National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended ending criminal penalties for possession of marijuana on this date.



Follow along (this may be on a different test) -

As of November 2022, 21 states, two territories and the District of Columbia have enacted measures to regulate cannabis for adult non medical use. Voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota approved measures to regulate cannabis for non medical use.


March 22, 1978 -
One of the Flying Wallendas, 73 year old Karl Wallenda, plunges to his death on a cable strung between two hotels in San Juan, PR on this date.





Oops!


March 22, 1987-
The Mobro 4000 left New York with over 3000 tons of garbage looking for a port to take it, on this date.



No one would take the trash, so after 162 days, the barge returned, still fully loaded, to NYC. It seems, garbage out, garbage in.


March 22, 2006 -
Back in 1767, Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company, the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency, was given a gift of four Aldabra tortoises from the Seychelle Islands. Three soon died, but the fourth, named Addwaita, which means ‘one and only’ in Bengali, survived. He survived his master, who died in 1774. He was moved to a Calcutta zoo in 1875 and survived the end of the British empire.



Addwaita, much like the Energizer Bunny, kept going. He even survived the 20th Century. Finally as to all, Addwaita bought the reptilian ranch on this date.

Talk about live long and prosper.


Don't forget to check out today's quiz on the Russian Monarchy


Before you go - Today is the earliest day on which Easter Sunday (in the Roman Catholic faith) may occur,



not that it occurs on this date this year; Easter is April 9th this year.



And so it goes.