When love is more desired than riches

November 20, 1921 -
The Famous Players-Lasky Company put the film, The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino and Adolphe Menjou, and directed by George Melford into general release in the US on this date.



The film helped established Valentino as the top male movie star and sex symbol of the day.


November 20, 1965 –
The Supremes song I Hear A Symphony hit No. #1 (their sixth No. #1 pop hit on Billboard Hot 100 chart,) on this date.



There isn't a full symphony orchestra playing on this song, but there is a prominent string section, arranged by Paul Riser, that implies it. Otherwise, the instrumentation is more typical, with a saxophone section and piano (played by Funk Brother Earl Van Dyke). The song evokes classical music in its structure though, building throughout to a kind of crescendo.


November 20, 1973 -
The third Peanuts holiday special, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Lucy has limited role in this special: she has her scene where she torments Charlie Brown by yanking away a football as the beleaguered hero attempts to kick it. But that opening scene is the only time we get to see Lucy.


November 20, 1976 -
Former-Beatle George Harrison appeared with Paul Simon on a Thanksgiving episode of Saturday Night Live on this date.



George Harrison seemed to have misunderstood Lorne Michaels offer of the $3,000 payment for his appearance; Michaels explained to George that the $3,000 was for all four of the Beatles - making the payment only $750 for him.


November 20, 1981 -
Milos Foreman's epic take on E.L. Doctorow novel, Ragtime, premiered on this date.



James Cagney had been advised by his doctors and caregivers that making a film at this point in his life was very important for his health. The actor never flew, so he and his wife took an ocean liner to London, where his scenes were filmed. Despite his numerous infirmities, he stayed on-set during his fellow actors' close-ups to give them line readings.


November 20, 1983 -
An estimated 100 million people watched on this date, the controversial ABC-TV movie The Day After, which depicted the outbreak of nuclear holocaust in the United States.



Twentieth Century Fox invited a group of scientists to preview this movie, to test their reactions to the "science" used in it. None of the scientists were impressed with what they saw, although most conceded that the movie was enjoyable nonsense.


November 20, 1998 -
The wonderful Irish comedy, Waking Ned Devine, starring Ian Bannen, David Kelly, and Fionnula Flanagan, opened in the U.S. on this date.



Writer/director Kirk Jones did not have time to cast the role of Father Mulligan before shooting began. On location, he asked gaffer Larry Randall if he would play the part. Randall agreed, and appears in the finished film.

If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and seek it out.


November 20, 1999 -
John Carpenter became the first world-wide winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, on this date. The $1 million question was, “Which of these U.S. Presidents appeared on the television series ‘Laugh-In’?”, with the choices being A) Lyndon Johnson, B) Richard Nixon, C) Jimmy Carter, and D) Gerald Ford.



He knew the answer and used his lifeline to call his father to tell him that he was winning a million dollars.


November 20, 2007 -
The debut album from Amy Winehouse, Frank, (the title refers partly to Frank Sinatra, an early influence on Winehouse,) was finally released in the US eight months after her second album (Back to Black,) and three years after its British release. (This will be on the test.)



It received generally positive reviews from most music critics and earned Winehouse several accolades, including an Ivor Novello Award for the first single Stronger Than Me. Although critically acclaimed and massively influential in her native UK, it fails to set the American charts on fire, reaching its peak of #33 only after the singer's untimely death in 2011.


November 20, 2015 -
Adele's third studio album, 25 album was released on this date. The album was the world's best-selling album of the year for 2015, with 17.4 million copies sold within the year



Adele and songwriter and producer Greg Kurstin were supposed to work together on music for 21, but it didn't work out. When they finally arranged to write songs for her follow-up record in 2014, the American producer couldn't help feeling nervous. But that changed once he set foot in the studio, and they started working on such tracks as Hello, Water Under the Bridge and Million Years Ago.


Another job posting from The ACME Employment Agency.


Today in History :
November 20, 1820 -
An 80-ton sperm whale attacked and sank the Essex, a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America, on this date.



First mate Owen Chase, one of eight survivors, recorded the events in his 1821 Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story.

So know you know.


November 20, 1913 -
The National Biscuit Co. sold its first Mallomars to a grocer in West Hoboken on this date.



Mallomars are only "in season" from September through March (it's to maintain tradition) and are manufactured in Toronto, but not sold anywhere in Canada, the home territory of Whippets.


November 20, 1917 -
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was held prisoner, whipped, and repeatedly raped by Turkish Army officers on this date. He apparently thoroughly enjoyed the experience.



50 Shade of Grey, indeed.


November 20, 1923 -
American inventor Garrett Morgan was awarded Patent No. 1475074 for the stoplight that included a third option in addition to "stop" and "go."



His invention was a major step forward in traffic safety. Besides the traffic light, Morgan is best known for his work on gas masks.


November 20, 1947 -
Princess Elizabeth married a ne'er-do-well Greek distant cousin, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, in a ceremony broadcast worldwide from Westminster Abbey on this date.



She was so happy that day that it seems to escape her attention that she related to everyone at the church, include the groom's mother.



45 years later, on this date, Liz and Phil (and all the Mountbatten-Windsors) were in the middle of their Annus Horribilis when Windsor Castle caught on fire, causing extensive damage.


It's the 49th anniversary of Generallismo Francisco Franco heroic fight to remain dead.



While he may still working at it today, he is not doing it in peace. A few years ago, he was disinterred from his elaborate mausoleum and reburied in a family plot.


November 20, 1984 -
McDonald's made its 50 billionth hamburger at 12:10 P.M. in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in New York City on this date.

It was eaten by Richard J. McDonald, one of the founders, who cooked burger No. 1 in San Bernardino, California, 36 years previously. That first burger and the 50 billionth are still lodged undigested in the colon of the corpse of Mr. McDonald.


November 20, 1985 -
Windows 1.0, a 16-bit graphical operating environment was released on this date. It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based operating environment on the PC platform. Windows 1.0 was the very first version of Windows launched.



If you think I'm going to make fun of Bill Gates, you're mistaken. (Steve Ballmer, throw him under the bus - he's only the 9th richest person in the US.)

Hooray for Big Brother!!!


November 20, 1986 -
The one billionth Little Golden Book was printed on this date.

The title was The Poky Little Puppy.

Perhaps, unwisely, this was the next book printed.


Before you go - I thought we were done with British supermarket chains - I forgot Tesco, one of the really big ones in England but relatively unknown here in the US unless you're a fan of British sitcoms, then they're ubiquitous. What would Christmas be without gingerbread? Well, Tesco imagines the world made of cookies.



Youth wants to know - what was in that tea? (You can wipe away the tear.)

And so it goes

Toilets - A Place For Peace

Today is World Toilet Day. The day is all about celebrating toilets for everything they do for us – from taking away our waste to protecting our health, safety and dignity.



Billions of people still don’t have a safe toilet. If you’re lucky enough have one, say thanks and give it some love!


November 19, 1942 -
The second (and last) Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth outing, You Were Never Lovelier, co-starring Adolphe Menjou and Xavier Cugat, premiered in NYC on this date.



Because all the sets on the Columbia lot were occupied, Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth rehearsed most of their routines in the nearby Hollywood Cemetery funeral parlor. They had to stop rehearsing to the upbeat music whenever a funeral procession arrived.


November 19, 1946 -
Edmund Goulding's adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel, The Razor's Edge, starring Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, and Herbert Marshall, premiered in NYC on this date.



Christopher Isherwood and Henry Channon are considered by many Maugham biographers to be the inspiration for the characters of Larry Darrell and Elliott Templeton, respectively.


November 19, 1959 -
The first episode of Rocky and His Friends aired on this date.



The first episode, Part One of the Jet Fuel Formula story arc, was recorded in February 1958. However, subsequent episodes were not recorded until February 1959, using a different soundtrack stock. This led to some notable changes in the performances of the voice cast - in Part One of Jet Fuel Formula the clarity of the voice cast is noticeably better than in subsequent episodes, particularly the voice performances of June Foray and Paul Frees; a close listen finds that the studio echo of the session bleeds into the soundtrack.


November 18, 1973 -
Emerson, Lake, & Palmer release their fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery on this date.



Karn Evil 9 became ELP's most popular song from their most popular album. The song is most commonly interpreted as ELP's take on a shortened history of the world into a futuristic tale.


November 19, 1975 -
One of Jack Nicholson's greatest performances, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, opened in the US on this date.



Jack Nicholson took a percentage of the profits in lieu of a small salary for a modestly budgeted film. The move paid off when the picture went on to gross well over $120 million.


November 19, 1980 -
File this under: the past is a different country - In 1980, Brooke Shields was just 15 when she filmed a series of controversial Calvin Klein television commercials.



ABC and CBS banned several of her Calvin Klein jean advertisement because of the highly suggestive question, “Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing,” on this date.


November 19, 1980 -
It fails so completely that you might suspect Mr. Cimino sold his soul to obtain the success of The Deer Hunter and the Devil has just come around to collect. - Vincent Canby, The New York Times.

Michael Cimino's 'tainted masterpiece', Heaven's Gate premiered on this date.



33 years later - By all means see it on the big screen if only to appreciate the enormity of Mr. Cimino's efforts. A fascinating artifact and a monument to Mr. Cimino's towering ambitions, as much for himself as for his art. He sought to recreate the Old West in the film, but the greater marvel is how he tried to replicate Old Hollywood and a dream world that once was - a world that these days is often made in computers. – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times


November 19, 1992 -
... is he fully bonded and licensed by the city?



Linda Ronstadt appeared on the famous Mr. Plow episode of The Simpsons, where she appears in a commercial for Homer's rival, Plow King (Barney Gumble).


November 19, 1994 -
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers played You Don't Know How It Feels and Honeybee on Saturday Night Live with Dave Grohl on drums (on this date,) who considers joining the band full time.



The Heartbreakers lost their drummer on October 2 when Stan Lynch was fired after a gig. The SNL appearance had already been booked, so Petty cold called Grohl, who was up to the task. "It was the first time I looked forward to playing the drums since Nirvana," he says.


November 19, 1995 -
The Beatles Anthology documentary series premieres in US on ABC-TV on this date. The entire series was shown over three nights that week.

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The series was released simultaneously with an accompanying album and book. The three surviving Beatles had heard that original drummer Pete Best had fallen on hard times and in order for Best to get some royalties from the Anthology sales, they included early original recordings that were made with Best on drums, most noticeably the January 1st 1962 Decca demos. The amount of Royalties Best received haven't officially been made known, but based on sales figures, they are believed to be between £1million to £4 million.


Another moment of Zen


Today in History:
November 19, 1581 -
Russian Czar Ivan The Terrible killed his son, Ivan The Merely Petulant on this date, or so history alleges. The younger Ivan interrupted the elder Ivan, who was beating Ivan Jr's pregnant wife because of her inappropriate garb. Still in a fit of rage, dad smote his son with a staff, killing him dead.



This is what passed for family life amongst the Royals in the Middle Ages in Russia.


November 19, 1620 -
A group of maniacal religious fanatics crossed the ocean after being kicked out of Europe and sighted North America, just off shore Plymouth Rock on this date. Because America did not yet have a Puritan Government, they developed the Mayflower Compact about week earlier, while still at sea. (William Bradford had argued for a Sporty Coupe, but the more practical John Alden had carried the day.)



Eventually the descendants of these frugal and passionately religious people would invent apps that enable the downloading of pornography to your smart phones around the world at light speed.


November 19, 1703 -
The Man in the Iron Mask died in the Bastille on this date.



He was a prisoner of Louis XIV, forced to wear a black velvet mask, and his identity has never been revealed.


November 19, 1863 (Eight score and a year ago today) -
President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on this date, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. He gave it at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.



The speech remains an important part of American history on account of its having been written on the back of an envelope despite stringent postal requirements that addresses be printed clearly on the front. Lincoln at the time thought it was a failure.


November 19, 1954 -
Driving to Los Angeles, Sammy Davis, Jr. was in a serious automobile accident in San Bernardino on this date.



He lost his left eye, but the resultant publicity greatly accelerated his career.


November 19, 1961 -
Michael Rockefeller, 23 year old son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (later Vice President), was last seen while searching for Asmat wood carvings in the jungles near Atsj, Papua New Guinea on this date.



He was probably eaten by the Asmat. Hence their motto, "Eat the Rich".


November 19, 1969 -
Please feel free to use this piece of information at your Thanksgiving dinner should you run out of conversation:



Apollo 12 astronauts, Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean, landed at the Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”) and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon on this date.


November 19, 1978 –
Philadelphia Eagles’ Herman Edwards returned a fumble for a touchdown with 31 seconds left to give Philadelphia a 19-17 victory over the New York Giants.



The play became know as the Miracle at the Meadowlands and the play vaulted the Eagles into the postseason for the first time in 18 years, while the Giants finished last in the division.


Before you go - I guess even a multinational corporation wants to tug at your heart strings during the holidays - Disney released their annual holiday advert for their British audience.



This was quite touching, in the way that Disney has mastered, but why wasn't child services called when someone noticed that a cephalopod had attached itself to a child's head.

And so it goes

I heard this word all summer

While not as famous as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), The Collins Dictionary has been naming their word of the year since 2013. This year they have chosen Brat as the 2024 Word of the Year.

‘Brat’, as defined by defined Collins Dictionary is ‘characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude’. Inspired by the Charli XCX album, ‘Brat’ has become one of the most talked about words of 2024. More than a hugely successful album, ‘Brat’ is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and ‘brat summer’ established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life.

The Collins Dictionary was first published in 1824 and now contains over 4.5 billion words.

So now you know.


November 18, 1928 -

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse (even though this is his third appearance in a cartoon.) There is an ancient buddhist saying, ' never argue with a corporation that has Darth Vader as a board member.'



Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, was released on this date.


November 18, 1931 -
The groundbreaking film, Mädchen in Uniform, premiered in Berlin, on this date.



The Nazi regime tried to burn all the copies of this movie. They couldn't, as prints had been distributed around the world, including the United States and Japan and many other nations, by the time they came to power in 1933.


November 18, 1956 -
Fats Domino appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on this date and performed Blueberry Hill. Before the song became a rock and roll standard it had been recorded by various artists including Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gene Autry and Jimmy Dorsey.



The version by Fats Domino was ranked No.82 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.


November 18, 1959 -
The Biblical spectaculars to end all spectaculars, Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York, on this date.



Kirk Douglas was offered the role of Messala but turned it down, because he didn't want to play a "second-rate baddie". Douglas wanted to play Judah Ben-Hur, whose Jewishness appealed to him, but he was too old and Charlton Heston had already been cast. The experience motivated Douglas to develop his own epic, Spartacus, which was partially designed to compete against Ben-Hur.


November 18, 1972 -
Steely Dan's first single Do It Again was released on this date.



This was the breakout hit from Steely Dan's first album. Like many of their songs, it's hard to make sense of the lyrics, which seem to be about some combination of addiction, second chances and the inevitability of fate. It's an example of a Steely Dan song that doesn't make literal sense, but creates a mood.


November 18, 1974 -
Genesis released the sixth studio album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (a double album,) on this date. It was their last to feature original frontman Peter Gabriel.



The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tells the story of Rael, a poor Puerto Rican boy from The Bronx. As "The Lamb," Rael goes on an adventure in New York City. The album was the basis for an elaborate stage production Genesis performed at concerts. It was on this tour that Peter Gabriel decided to leave the band.


November 18, 1983 -
The small film that has become a holiday classic, A Christmas Story, directed by Bob Clark, (based on the writings of Jean Sheppard,) and starring Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley, premiered on this date



Darren McGavin ad-libbed the profane rants while fighting with the furnace. He said he speaks gibberish the entire time because it was almost impossible for him to ad-lib angry words without actual profanity. He did this in order to ensure a PG rating.


November 18, 1987 -
Bernardo Bertolucci's magnificent take on Pu Yi, The Last Emperor, premiered in NYC on this date.



During filming of the immense coronation scene in the Forbidden City, Queen Elizabeth II was in Beijing on a state visit. The production was given priority over her by the Chinese authorities and she was therefore unable to visit the Forbidden City.


November 18, 1992 -
The Seinfeld episode, The Contest premiered on this date. It was a controversial episode which later won an Emmy and was named the number one episode of all time by TV Guide magazine.



The word "masturbation" (the subject of the episode) is never mentioned. The script originally did use the word, but Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David thought that the episode would be funnier and less controversial without it. David claims that if NBC had rejected the episode he would have quit. NBC received only 31 complaints from viewers.


November 18, 1992 -
The biopic of the influential Black Nationalist leader, Malcolm X, premiered on this date.



This was the first non-documentary film that was given permission to film in Mecca. The film's second unit filmed all the scenes there.


November 18, 2005 -
20th Century Fox bio-pix Walk The Line, based on the life of Johnny Cash, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, opened in US on this date.



The scene in which Johnny Cash pulls the sink off the wall was not scripted; Joaquin Phoenix actually pulled it off the wall.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
November 18, 1307 -
Next up on Dateline: Uri - After refusing to salute the Habsburg badge at Altdorf on Lake Lucerne, local child services authorities in Uri, Switzerland reported that a William Tell shot an apple off his son's head on this date.



- Charges may still be pending. Tell may or may not also have assassinated local tyrannical Austrian ruler Gessler, as well.


November 18, 1421 -
It was a lovely November, but a certain beautiful young woman walked about in a daze, heavy of heart and despairing of hope. She was betrothed to a rich and cruel young man who didn’t love her. Then she met a boyishly handsome young ruffian who loved her for who she really was. His every sentiment seemed to echo those in her own soul, sentiments that had gone too long unanswered; his smile radiated warmth and joy, and quickened her blooming young heart, which had withered too long from neglect; his touch sent shivers down her spine, which had always consisted of numerous vertebrae. They fell in love abruptly and completely.

Sadly, the sea broke through the dikes, and they were drowned along with 100,000 other less interesting people, in Dort, the Netherlands in the St. Elizabeth flood, on this date.


November 18, 1477 -
William Caxton published the first book printed in England, on this date. The book was a translation of The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, by Frenchman Guillaume de Tignoville. The translation to English was performed by Anthony Wodville, Earl Rivers, who had devoted a considerable portion of his life to the study of philosophers' dictes.

Wodville first formulated the theory that the length of a philosopher's dicte was less important than its thrust. He has also been credited with originating the theory that a philosopher's dicte was commensurate with his shoe size. Neither theory is given much credence by contemporary philosophers, most of whom appear to be dicteless anyway.


November 18, 1686 -
Louis XIV's, King of France, anal fistula was operated on this date, by surgeon Charles Francois Felix, with great success, in front of the horrified yet fascinated court. To prepare for the operation Felix practiced his surgery on anuses of the peasantry, with some fatalities at first but improving his technique in time for the royal bung.

This is what passed for entertainment at the french royal court.


November 18, 1922 -
Marcel Proust, a pioneer of the modern novel (A la Recherche du Temps Perdu), died at 51 on this date.

While it is generally agreed upon that he died of pneumonia and a pulmonary abscess, I believe he was crushed by the sheer weight of the unedited proof of his massive novel.



(Please feel pleased as punch with yourself that you've read about Proust twice in one week.)


November 18, 1963 -
Bell Telephone placed the touch-tone telephone in service to customers in Pennsylvania on this date. The phones were manufactured by Western Electric Manufacturing and feature ten buttons (not twelve) set into a round back so that they resemble the earlier rotary phone.



The company first revealed push-button telephones at the 1962 World Fair in Seattle after approximately two years of customer testing.


November 18, 1966 -
After this final "meatless" day of sacrifice, the American Roman Catholic Church would withdraw its edict forbidding meat consumption on Fridays.

No one knows how much the American Meat Institute 'donated' to the church on that day.


November 18, 1970 -
Singer/polygamist Jerry Lee Lewis divorced his third wife Myra Gail, after 12 years of marriage. Not only was she jailbait when they got married (being his 13-year-old third cousin at the time), but Lewis was married to Jane Mitcham at the time.

It's so hard to keep details like the number of wives you have straight in your mind.


November 18, 1978 -
Congressman Leo Ryan was slain at the People's Temple compound in Guyana, after which over 900 members of the cult led by the Reverend Jim Jones drank cyanide laced Flavor Aid (a Kool Aid knockoff), including over 270 children. It was probably not a pretty sight.



The Kraft Foods Company would like you guys to stop making those damn 'drink the Kool Aid' jokes

- it wasn't them.


November 18, 1985 -
Cartoon strips approached their zenith on this date.

The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson, was first published on this date. We first learn of Hobbes' love for tuna fish.


Before you go - Another department store is heard from - Argos, which is virtually unknown in the US, has a cute Christmas advert but I do have a thought -



Marc Bolan is probably spinning in his grave.

And so it goes