No horse can go as fast as the money you bet on him

The 152th annual Kentucky Derby, usually held on the first Saturday in May, is surprisingly happening today (the first Saturday in May.)





Not that we've been following racing much this year - but we have a soft spot in our heart for Potente. (He was an adorable puppy btw.)


Ukuleles will get you through times with no money better than money will get you through time with no ukulele.







Today is Play Your Ukulele Day!


May 2, 1932 -
Walt Disney released another animated-cartoon, Mickey's Revue, on this date.



Goofy (then known as Dippy Dawg) makes his debut in this cartoon.


May 2, 1936 -
Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned by The Central Children's Theatre of Moscow to create a symphonic tale for children. Peter and the Wolf had its world premiere in Moscow on this date.



Prokofiev felt, in his own words, the work had an inauspicious opening at best: "...[attendance] was poor and failed to attract much attention."



If you listen very carefully you'd hear the duck quacking inside the wolf's belly, because the wolf in his hurry had swallowed her alive.


May 2, 1936 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Let It Be Me, directed by Friz Freleng, debuted on this date.



The rooster is based on crooner Bing Crosby, and like Der Bingle, he has an army of adoring female fans as well as jealous rivals.


May 2, 1942 -
The Looney Tunes short, Daffy's Southern Exposure, directed by Norman McCabe, and starring Daffy Duck, debuted on this date.



This is also Daffy's first solo short in the Looney Tunes series. He was previously paired with Porky for Looney Tunes shorts and had four solo Merrie Melodies shorts before this.


May 2, 1942 -
The Merrie Melodies short, The Wacky Wabbit, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, debuted on this date.



Lots of wartime references here, which audiences of the time would have appreciated. Early on there's a glimpse of an ad extolling people to buy war bonds. And the phrase V for Victory is sung several times.


May 2, 1946 -
James M. Cain's excellent film noir, The Postman Always Rings Twice, directed by Tay Garnett and starring Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames and Audrey Totter opened on this date.



The on-set sexual tension between John Garfield and Lana Turner was clear to all involved with the film. Their first day together, he called out to her, "Hey, Lana, how's about a little quickie?" to which she replied "You bastard!"



I guess the postman does really ring twice.


May 2, 1953 -
The Looney Tunes short, Southern Fried Rabbit, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, debuted on this date. This cartoon seldom aired on TV due to African-American stereotypes, Confederate imagery, and references to slavery.



In this cartoon, Sam is shown to be mostly bald with a few strands of hair and a liver spot on his head under his hat, unlike the other cartoons where Sam usually has a full head of hair when he is not wearing a hat.


May 2, 1957 -
The first color film from the Hammer studio, The Curse of Frankenstein, opened on this date.



For many years this held the distinction of being the most profitable film to be produced in England by a British studio


May 2, 1965 -
The Rolling Stones made their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on this date.



The Stones performed three songs: Little Red Rooster, The Last Time, and Everybody Need Somebody To Love.


May 2, 1979 -
The film Quadrophenia, based on The Who's album and featuring Sting, premiered in London on this date



John Lydon (the former Johnny Rotten) was originally approached for the role of Jimmy and even screen-tested for the role. However the distributors refused to insure him for the part and he was replaced.


May 2, 1997 -
New Line Cinema released Jay Roach's mega-hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery starring Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, and Michael York, on this date.



Mike Myers originally wanted Jim Carrey to play Dr. Evil, but Carrey eventually passed, due to scheduling conflicts with the film, Liar Liar. Myers then took the iconic role himself.


May 2, 2008 -
Jon Favreau's first dip into the marvel universe, Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub, Gwyneth Paltrow and a cameo by Stan Lee premiered in the US on this date.



Jon Favreau wanted Robert Downey Jr. because he felt the actor's past was right for the part. He commented: "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye. He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic book character having trouble in high school, or can't get the girl." Favreau also felt Downey could make Stark "a likable asshole," but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience.

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


Today in History:
On May 2, 1729, Catherine the Great was born. More than any Russian head of state before her, she embraced a closer union with Europe.



And please people, let's stop it with all this talk about the horses - she died of a stroke while sitting on the toilet.

Let's give the woman some dignity.


May 2 1863 -
At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot three times by his own men. Jackson's left arm is amputated and Jackson died of complications of pneumonia on May 10, 1863. In his delirium, his dying words were, "Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees." His body was moved to the Governor's Mansion in Richmond for the public to mourn, and he was then moved to be buried in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia. However, the arm that was amputated on May 2 was buried separately by Jackson's chaplain, at the J. Horace Lacy house, "Ellwood", in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania County, near the field hospital.



Upon hearing of Jackson's death, Robert E. Lee mourned the loss of both a friend and a trusted commander. The night Lee learned of Jackson's death, he told his cook, "William, I have lost my right arm" (deliberately in contrast to Jackson's left arm) and "I'm bleeding at the heart."


Baron Manfred von Richtofen was born on May 2, but in 1892. The World War I flying ace, better known to students of military history as the Red Baron, shot down over 80 enemy aircraft in World War I, sending dozens of handsome young men to fiery, terrible deaths and thereby earning himself a place in the Peanuts comic strip.



(Which hardly excuses Snoopy's reprehensible bloodlust. But then again, I've said this before, Snoopy was a sociopath with a multiple personality disorder.)


May 2, 1915 -
Clara Immerwahr, in 1900, was the first woman to ever receive a doctorate in Chemistry in Germany.



Her opposition of the war in Germany led her to clash with her chemist husband and German war supporter Fritz Haber. Clara took her life following an argument with her husband about his work on poison gases for the German war effort.


May 2, 1921 -
There's always some room for improvisation..



The eminent Indian film director, Satyajit Ray, was born on this date.


May 2 1946 -
Six prisoners attempt to escape the federal prison on Alcatraz island. They take over their cellblock but fail to gain access to the outside. One guard held hostage is executed by prisoners, and another dies in the attempt to retake the cellblock.



The Battle of Alcatraz ended only after the deaths of three prisoners, and two others are subsequently executed at San Quentin.

I bet there was a lot of angry after-riot prison sex that night.


May 2, 1957 -
Senator Joseph McCarthy died of hepatitis on this date, brought about by unabated alcoholism. Two and a half years prior he had been censured by the Senate for his "inexcusable" and "reprehensible" conduct during his highly-publicized Communist witch-hunt.



McCarthy eventually discovered that it was far more effective to have private industry oppress its workforce, rather than the government oppress its citizenry.


May 2 1957 -
Vincent 'the Chin' Gigante approached Mob Figure Frank Costello and shot him in the head, first shouting “This is for you, Frank,” on this date. Instead of killing him, the bullet circumnavigates between his skin and cranium, exiting through the original wound.



Costello retires from the Mafia soon thereafter.

The Mafia was practicing using 'magic' bullets.


May 2, 1972 -
World famous old paranoid drag queen and longtime G-man died in his sleep at the age of 77 on this date.



Most of Washington insiders breathe a huge sigh of relief. (During the Watergate hearings, it was subsequently revealed that the FBI had illegally protected President Richard Nixon from investigation.)


It's my friend Sharon's birthday today. And there is no truth to the rumor that she personally loaned Divine Mr. Hoover's cha-cha heels that she had purchased at a Baltimore Flea Market.



And so it goes.

The bridge between winter and summer

The month of May takes its name from Maia, the Greek goddess of growth and the mother of Hermes. Fittingly, May marks the height of spring’s renewal. It’s the fifth month in both the Gregorian and Julian calendars—a surprisingly consistent detail in the ever-shifting world of timekeeping.

Curiously, May carries an old superstition: it's considered an unlucky month for weddings. This belief is partly tied to the ill-fated marriages of Mary, Queen of Scots, who wed in May with tragic results. On the other hand, May seems to smile on U.S. presidents—none have died in this month, and two, Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy, were born in May.



Spring is in full bloom. Tender blossoms exude their sweet fragrance as winter's bitter frosts recede. The warming air and diaphanous mists incite the passions and thoughts turn naturally to the ardor of spring - to love, rebirth, renewal, and salad.



You may not have known it, but in the United States, May is National Salad Month. By an astonishing coincidence, the second full week of May is National Herb Week. It's a time to celebrate the verdure of the earth with verdure on a plate. Or in a bowl—salad is just that versatile!



Carnivorous readers disinclined to celebrate National Salad Month can choose from any of the following celebrations, all of which last the entire month of May:

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
National Smile Month
Digestive Diseases Awareness Month
National Barbeque Month
National Bike Month
National Egg Month
National Hamburger Month
More Than Just a Pretty Face Month


(Oops, I nearly forgot,) the First Friday in May appears to be No Pants Day.

If you are interested in recognizing the celebration of No Pants Day, then you should express yourself and go sans trousers today, always observed on the first Friday of May (because the US has to be difficult, it is also celebrated in January, which makes no sense.) Regular U.S. mail service and parking enforcement are still in place as this ridiculous day is not a U.S. national holiday.



No Pants Day, is believed to have been started by a group of students at the University of Texas who thought leaving the pants at home on the first Friday in May would be a fun way to end the semester. A winter spin-off was created called No Pants Subway Ride.


May 1, 1941 -

A young filmmaker, obsessed with his debut project, reportedly drank over 30 cups of coffee a day, pushing himself into caffeine poisoning. Switching to tea in hopes the brewing time would slow him down, he undermined the plan by having an assistant make it—so efficiently that he drank so much his skin reportedly changed color.



The once universally praised movie seems to have lost a little bit of it's glow, bizarrely slipping one notch below Pattington 2 on the Rotten Tomatoes rating scale - down from a 100% score to a mere 99%.



Orson Welles’ innovative film, Citizen Kane, a film about a man's unnatural love for his sled, opened in New York City, 80 years ago on this date.



Film making was never the same.


May 1, 1943 -
The Looney Tunes short, The Wise Quacking Duck, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Daffy Duck, debuted on this date.



When dressed as a fortune teller, Daffy is imitating comedian Jerry Colonna. He even begins with one of Colonna's signature lines: "Greetings, Gate. Let's osculate."


May 1, 1948-
The Merrie Melodies short, Nothing but the Tooth, directed by Arthur Davis, and starring Porky Pig, debuted on this date. This short is seldom aired on TV due to racial stereotyping of Native Americans.



A billboard placed by Warren & Foster (a reference to Warren Foster) is shown in the scene where the Native gifts Porky Pig a feather headdress.


May 1, 1954 -
The Looney Tunes short, No Parking Hare, directed by Robert McKimson, and starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date.



The product supplier of choice, Acme, is used by the construction worker.


May 1, 1957 -
The first film Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn made in color, Desk Set, premiered on this date.



This is the eighth of the nine films they starred in together. They did not make another film together (Spencer Tracey's last,) until nearly ten years later.


May 1, 1966 -
James Brown performed on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time on this date.



Unlike most solo acts, he brings his own band, which allows him to provide the full James Brown experience, including the cape bit where he drops to his knees but is soon revived.



The Supremes also appeared on the show that evening. Besides performing the song, More, they also sang their hit, Love Is Like An Itch In My Heart.


May 1, 1972 –
The Eagles' first single, Take It Easy, written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, was released on this date.



The Eagles played this live long before they recorded it. It was one of the songs they played when they were doing four sets a night at a club in Aspen, Colorado. By the time they recorded it, the song had more of a country feel.


May 1, 1974 -
The Columbia Pctures comedy The Lords of Flatbush, directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen F. Verona, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Perry King, Paul Mace, Henry Winkler, and Susan Blakely, opened in New York City on this date.



When Sylvester Stallone was making Rocky, the producers showed the studio this film so they could see who Stallone was. The studio mistook Perry King for Stallone and was excited about him playing Rocky. When the producers pointed out that the guy playing Stanley was really Stallone, the studio's excitement faded.


May 1, 1976 -
The seventh studio album from Led Zeppelin, Presence went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



Robert Plant and his wife were in a car crash while on holiday in Greece which broke Plant's ankle. Instead of touring the US, Plant and Jimmy Page wrote material for Presence, then recorded it at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany with Plant in a wheelchair. Plant got so excited while recording this that he fell and re-injured his ankle, similarly to the one of the album's song's namesake, Achilles. Achilles Last Stand was both an acknowledgment of Plant's broken ankle as well as to the mystic location in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco which inspired the lyrics.


May 1, 1978 -
The bio-pix Wilde, (about the Irish writer Oscar Wilde,) directed by Brian Gilbert, and starring Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma Jones, Judy Parfitt, Michael Sheen, Zoë Wanamaker, and Tom Wilkinson opened in the US on this date.



Stephen Fry admits he was nervous about the love scenes with his co-stars. He remarked that Jude Law, Michael Sheen, and Ioan Gruffudd were quick to put him at ease.


May 1, 1983 -
Viewers had the pleasure of watching aliens unhinge their jaws and swallow mice when V (the miniseries), starring Marc Singer, Faye Grant, Jane Badler, Michael Durrell, Peter Nelson, and David Packer, premiered on NBC TV on this date.



The series was intended as a literal retelling of the Nazi takeover of various countries, and the resistance movement against them. However, because of the popularity of the Star Wars saga and other science fiction hits, as well as the belief among network executives that U.S. citizens would not believe a fascist takeover, the network executives had the producers change it to a science fiction miniseries. Other ideas were also discussed, but discarded.


May 1, 1998 -
The under-rated adaptation of the Victor Hugo's classic novel, Les Misérables, directed by Bille August and starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes opened in the US on this date.



This version concentrates on the story of Valjean and Javert, with less emphasis on the romance between Cosette and Marius. Thénardier, a key character in the novel, appears in just one scene; his daughter, Eponine, is only seen in the background.


May 1, 1999 -
The Nickelodeon animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg, debuts on this date.



The show's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, was a marine biologist. When he pitched the show to Nickelodeon, he brought a fish tank into the boardroom, and explained what was living inside. He then placed a cartoon drawing of SpongeBob into the tank and said "This is SpongeBob, the star of your new show."


Another unimportant moment in history


Today in History:
Please rise, (or not.) Or take a knee, (or not.)



May 1 is recognized as May Day pretty much everywhere but the United States, Canada, and South Africa. Modern May Day celebrations throughout the world typically feature huge outdoor gatherings of people, brightly colored signs and banners, and a whole lot of tear gas.



The holiday has its root in the American labor movement of the 1880s, specifically the Haymarket tragedy of 1886. Depending on whom you ask, the Haymarket tragedy was either caused by overzealous cops with way too many guns, or overzealous anarchists with way too many bombs (i.e., one).

Actually, it no longer matters whom you ask, because all eyewitnesses would give you pretty much the same answer (i.e., none—they're dead).



Either way, nervous, well-armed cops and edgy, bomb-throwing anarchists are not a combination one encounters often in the annals of the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result, Americans ignore May Day and instead celebrate Labor Day, which features plenty of beer and barbecues and very little tear gas.



Call it complacency if you like, but when it comes to steak, we know exactly what we’re doing.


May 1, 1776 -
The Illuminati, modeled on the Freemasons, and formed to promote logic, science, and reason as opposed to any kind of tradition or dogma, was founded on this date.



The group was almost immediately outlawed when people got the idea that it was trying to infiltrate governments, and has been a staple of conspiracy theorists ever since.

But don't tell anyone you heard it from me.


May 1, 1851 –
Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace at Hyde Park in London, on this date. It was the first in a series of World's Fairs, exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century.



The Great Exhibition had 13,500 exhibitions and constituted at its time the largest assembly of people collected together for one purpose. Included was Britain’s first public toilets (“monkey closets”). Over 800,000 excited people spent a penny there.


May 1, 1888 -
Nikola Tesla received several patents relating to the alternating current (AC) synchronous motor, alternating current (AC) transmission, induction magnetic motor, and an electricity distribution system on this date. (US Nos. 381,968-70; 382,279-82)

He would later sell the rights to his rotating field motor to George Westinghouse.


May 1, 1915 -
A thoughtful German government took out advertisements warning anyone on ships flying British flags that they did so at their own risk.

That very day, the ocean liner Lusitania left New York, flying a British flag.



They bought their tickets, they took their chances.


May 1, 1930 -
The on again/ off again planet Pluto was officially named on this date. The name was suggest by an eleven year-old girl named Venetia Burney from Oxford, England.



The name was selected from three suggestions by a unanimous vote of the members of the Lowell Observatory. The other two possible names were “Cronus” and “Minerva.”

Hang on Venetia, it still may be a planet.


May 1, 1931 -

The Empire State Building in New York City was dedicated by President Hoover from the White House in Washington DC where he pressed a button that switched on the lights. The 102 story skyscraper, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in New York City, was the first higher than 1,250 feet. (I can see it just down the street from my apartment.)



Excavation had begun in January 1930, construction commenced in two months later, and its cornerstone was laid in September 1930. The steel framework rose at a rate of 4-1/2 stories per week. The building's construction was completed in a phenomenal one year and 45 days.





It reigned as the world's tallest skyscraper until 1954, but it still remains an icon for all things New York.


May 1, 1947 –
Unfortunately, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation deck of the Empire State Building and landed on a limousine, on this date.

A photography student named Robert Wiles took a picture of McHale minutes after her death. The photograph was published in Life magazine and the picture has left her known as 'The Most Beautiful Suicide'.


May 1, 1969 -
Fred Rogers, host of the longtime children's television landmark Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, appeared in Washington before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, on this date, to express his disagreement with a proposal by President Richard Nixon to cut federal funding for public broadcasting from $20 million to $10 million.



More than forty years later, Fred Rogers’ compelling words about the power of television to help children grow up, dealing sensibly and humanely with others even when they are feeling angry, still resonate in living rooms, school rooms, and neighborhoods nationwide.


May 1, 2003 -
President Bush announced that "major combat operations in Iraq" were over in a speech (commonly known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech) on the USS Abraham Lincoln on this day.



The speech sparked a lot of controversy in the following months as guerrilla operations continued in Iraq as the vast majority of casualties, both military and civilian, occurred after the speech..



Coincidentally, on May 1, 2011, exactly eight years after the speech, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. Navy SEALs had killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.



And so it goes.

The best words in the best order

Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day.

In 2002, as part of New York City’s National Poetry Month celebration, the Office of the Mayor, in partnership with the New York City Departments of Cultural Affairs and Education, initiated Poem in Your Pocket Day, a time for New York City residents to select a poem, carry it with them, and share it with others throughout the day.

(Please share yours.)


Today is Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night or Beltane Eve.) It is celebrated in most of Northern Europe the night of April 30 to May 1.



Legend has it, this night was the last chance for witches and various demons to stir up trouble before Spring reawakened the land.


April 30, 1938 -
Bugs Bunny first appeared, so to speak, in the cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt, released on this date. This short was co-directed by Cal Dalton and Ben Hardaway.



The cartoon had an almost identical theme to a 1937 cartoon, Porky's Duck Hunt, directed by Tex Avery and introducing Daffy Duck. Following the general plot of this earlier film, the short cast Porky Pig as a hunter against an equally nutty prey more interested in driving his hunter insane than running away. But instead of a black duck, his current prey was a tiny, white rabbit. Bugs Bunny introduces himself with the expression "Jiggers, fellers," and Mel Blanc gave the rabbit a voice and laugh that he would later use to voice Woody Woodpecker. In this cartoon, he also quoted Groucho Marx for the first time (from the movie Duck Soup): "Of course, you know, this means war!"


April 30, 1943 -
The classic RKO Pictures horror film, I Walked With a Zombie, directed by Jacques Tourneur, produced by Val Lewton, and staring James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, went into general release on this date.



Interesting coincidence - not only does this film's plot resemble Jane Eyre, but the character Mrs. Rand in I Walked With a Zombie and Mrs. Fairfax in the film Jane Eyre are both portrayed by Edith Barrett.


April 30, 1948 -
Universal Pictures' comedy The Noose Hangs High, directed by Charles Barton and starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Cathy Downs, and Joseph Calleia, opened on this date.



A & C's famous Mudder-Fodder routine is performed in this film, but strangely, Lou performs it with Leon Errol instead of Abbott. This could be an early reflection of the known animosity that the team was starting to feel toward each other.


April 30, 1948 -
Frank Capra's political drama State of the Union, starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, Van Johnson, and Angela Lansbury, premiered in the US on this date.



Adolphe Menjou was an ultra-right-wing political conservative who had eagerly co-operated with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), named names of persons he considered to be Communists and was a strong proponent of "blacklisting" those whose political beliefs he didn't share. Katharine Hepburn was decidedly more liberal and had been an outspoken critic of the blacklist. Menjou had made several comments accusing Hepburn of being a Communist sympathizer, and possibly a Communist herself, which angered Hepburn and her co-star/romantic partner Spencer Tracy. Frank Capra was so concerned about the tension that he closed the set to the press.


April 30, 1950 -
The film-noir classic, DOA, starring Edmond O'Brien, was released on this date. (Stick around for the whole movie.)



When Frank Bigelow registers at the Allison Hotel in Los Angeles, the name directly above his is Russell Rouse, one of the film's writers. Also on the register is director of photography Ernest Laszlo and assistant director Marty Moss.


April 30, 1952 -
Mr. Potato Head® became the first toy to be advertised on television on this date.



Over one million kits were sold in the first year. Mrs. Horned Melon or Mr. Cherimoya didn't sell so well.


April 30, 1958 -
The Looney Tunes short, Ready.. Set.. Zoom!, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, debuted on this date.



This is the first Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon with Wile E.'s evil face with the fangs and the sinister grin.


April 30, 1962 -
Tony Richardson's contribution to British kitchen sink dramas, A Taste of Honey, starring Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Murray Melvin, and Paul Danquah, opened in the US on this date.



Morrissey is a huge fan of this film and many lyrics from The Smiths's songs are inspired by this film. Listen to 'This night has opened my eyes' and 'Reel around the fountain'.


April 30, 1966 -
The Young Rascals' single Good Lovin' went to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart, on this date.



According to Rolling Stone magazine, The Young Rascals were surprised by the success of this track. Felix Cavaliere admitted, "We weren't too pleased with our performance. It was a shock to us when it went to the top of the charts."


April 30, 1975 -
Detectives David Starsky and Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, began to patrol the streets of Bay City (Los Angeles), when Starsky and Hutch debuted on ABC TV on this date. Even though the US broadcasts claims that it's not Los Angeles but "Bay City", the very first street sign they stop in front of in this pilot clearly reads "Los Angeles", 7 minutes into the show. This is why in many foreign markets, it takes place in Los Angeles, where it is evidently filmed.



On numerous occasions, Paul Michael Glaser has talked about how much he hated the car, as well as playing Starsky, and that he had campaigned to be released from his contract. He said, at the time, that he would have refused to continue with the series, had it not been canceled. Like many TV actors at the time, wanted to become a film director, however his attempts at directing Starsky & Hutch were unfruitful due to too many artsy shots that did not fit in tune with the series, the way it had originally been conceived.


April 30, 1977 –
Marvin Gaye's single Got to Give It Up went to No. 1 on the R&B charts, on this date.



By the mid-'70s, Gaye and his labelmates at Motown were feeling the pressure to record dance-floor friendly hits as disco was on the rise. Gaye resisted until he had an idea to parody the genre. Got to Give It Up was originally titled Dancing Lady as a response to Johnnie Taylor's Disco Lady.


April 30, 1997 -
Ellen DeGeneres' character came out of the closet on the sitcom Ellen on this date.



The show was the highest rated episode the series ever aired, with over 42 million viewers and won an Emmy for writing. Nonetheless, DeGeneres and her show quickly garnered criticism for being "too gay"; the series was canceled after one more season and DeGeneres and guest star Laura Dern faced career backlashes.


Another little known Monopoly card


Today in History:
April 30, 1789 -
George Washington was inaugurated and took office in New York as the first president of the United States on this date. He took his oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street and spoke the words “So help me God,” which all future US presidents have repeated.



Please note: The oath as prescribed by the Constitution makes no mention of God, or of the Bible.


April 30, 1803 -
The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, more than doubling the size of the nation. The price paid was fairly steep, 50 million francs ($262 million dollars in today's currency, roughly 4 cents an acre, for the 828,000 square miles.).



In addition to the city of New Orleans and western Louisiana, the purchase included Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; most of North and South Dakota; parts of Minnesota, New Mexico Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado (portions of Texas were included for ordering before 1804). President Jefferson had hoped to pay for the acquisition using beads, but the people of New Orleans already had so many beads they held a party each year to give them away.


April 30, 1900 —
John Luther “Casey” Jones was born on March 14, 1863, in southeast Missouri. While he was still a small child, his family moved to Cayce, Kentucky, which is how he got his nickname. As a boy, he liked trains - he really liked trains. In 1878, at the age of 15, he went to work for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad as an apprentice telegrapher. By 1890, “Casey” had reached the pinnacle of the railroad profession as a crack locomotive engineer on the Illinois Central Railroad.



In 1899, Jones was given a regular passenger run on the Cannonball route, which ran between Chicago and New Orleans. On April 29, 1900, Jones was in Memphis, Tennessee, having arrived from the northbound Cannonball, when he agreed to take the southbound Cannonball because the scheduled engineer had called in sick. He left Memphis at 12:50 a.m., 95 minutes behind schedule, but made up almost an hour between Memphis and Grenada, Mississippi, nearly 100 miles away. By Durant, 55 miles farther down the line, they were almost on time.



At Durant, Jones received orders to “saw by” two freights that had taken the siding in Vaughan. The two freights were too large to fit entirely into the siding, leaving one end on the main line. If the “sawing” maneuver had been done correctly, the freights would have allowed the approaching train to pass the first switch, and then the trains on the siding would move past the other switch. However, an air hose on one of the freight trains burst, applying the brakes on the freight cars behind the break and leaving them immobile on the main line. Meanwhile, Jones was traveling at excessive speed, possibly up to 70 miles per hour, and did not have enough time to brake. When a collision seemed imminent, Casey told his fireman, Sim Webb, to jump for it, but Jones rode the engine into the cars and was killed. It is believed that, because Jones stayed to slow the train, he saved the passengers from injury and possible death (Casey himself was the only fatality of the collision).



Popular legend holds that when Jones’s body was pulled from the wreckage of his train, his hands were still firmly latched onto the whistle cord and the brake.


April 30, 1900 -
Another file from: Thing my teachers never told me - A group of American businessmen, led by Samuel Dole (of pineapple fame,) had overthrown the traditional monarchy of Hawaii several years earlier and operated the island themselves, occasionally clashing diplomatically with the US.



The US Congress finally got around to lend a legitimacy to the coup by American citizens by passing the Hawaiian Organic Act on this date. The provisional government finally allowed Hawaii to become a US territory after receiving a guarantee that they would not be punished for the coup.

And that bunkies is how the US stole Hawaii.


April 30, 1904 -
At 1:06 p.m. President Theodore Roosevelt officially opened the St. Louis World’s Fair commemorating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. Although the Fair was originally scheduled to open in 1903, the opening was delayed for a year while the elaborate fairgrounds were completed. Visitors were awed by 142 miles of exhibits shown in palatial buildings like Festival Hall the centerpiece of the fair boasting an auditorium seating 3,500. Cass Gilbert designed the art museum in Foret park, the only building left over from the fair.



Other wonders seen at the St. Louis World’s Fair were the Liberty Bell, the largest pipe organ in the world, the introduction of ice cream cones, the invention of iced-tea, and the fair popularization of the hot dog with prepared mustard. The fair lasted 7 months and inspired the phrase "Meet Me in St. Louis."


April 30, 1939 -
On a very hot New York Sunday, The 1939 World's Fair had its grand opening, with 200,000 people in attendance. The April 30 date coincided with the anniversary of George Washington's inauguration as President in New York City. Although many of the pavilions and other facilities were not quite ready for this opening, it was put on with pomp and great celebration.



President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the opening day address, and as a reflection of the wide range of technological innovation on parade at the fair, his speech was not only broadcast over the various radio networks but also was televised. NBC used the event to inaugurate regularly scheduled television broadcasts in New York City over their station W2XBS (now WNBC). An estimated 1,000 people viewed the Roosevelt telecast from about 200 television sets scattered throughout the New York area.



Little remembered but equally important, the View-Master was introduced at the World's Fair that day.



Don't worry about those storm clouds overhead (it's just World War II).


April 30, 1943 -
The British submarine HMS Seraph dropped ‘the man who never was,' a dead man the British planted with false invasion plans (which indicated the Allies would not invade Sicily,) into the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain on this date.



German agents discovered the body of a non-existent RAF major, bought the ruse and were unprepared for the actual attack on that island.


April 30, 1945 -
Holed up in a bunker under the Reich Chancellery headquarters in Berlin (conveniently called the Fuehrerbunker), blushing bride Eva Braun had a hankering for Almond Roca. Finding none available, she decide to chew a cyanide capsule and commit suicide instead (she was impulsive.) Distraught honeymooner Adolf Hitler, never one to go it alone, decides to commit suicide himself by swallowing a cyanide capsule and (to gilt the lily) shoot himself in the head (he was having a very bad day for an Evil Bastard.)



Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich.

Guess that didn't work out for him.


April 30, 1975 -
With the coded message: The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising,” and the wistful strains of White Christmas played on the radio, the capital of South Vietnam - Saigon, fell on this date. Communist forces gains control of Saigon. The fall of the city was preceded by the evacuation of almost all the American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians. The evacuation culminated in Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation in history.



The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.

This was a really big Oops for America.


Before you go -

(It's the fourth anniversary of Mrs. Dr. Caligari rushing me to the hospital for emergency surgery. It's been a long strange trip and hopefully all my surgeries are behind me.

All in all, it's pretty nice to be here, for another year at least. (Not quite sure if Mrs. Dr. Caligari would do the same again, but I digress ...)



And so it goes.