We don't know them all, but we owe them all.

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. - Joseph Campbell





Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action.



One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.


Today is Towel Day.

Remember a towel is "about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have."



Towel Day is celebrated every May 25th as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams. On this day, fans carry a towel with them to demonstrate their love for the books and the author, as referenced in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.



(How cool was that)



So don't panic.

Let your Geek Pride Show!

Geek Pride Day is May 25, and here's what you need to know about the celebration for nerds worldwide.



The date was reportedly chosen to coincide with the first Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope, which was released on May 25, 1977. The day also marks Towel Day, which is celebrated by fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams. Fans carry a towel in his honor. Lastly, the day also marks The Glorious 25th of May, which fans of author Terry Pratchett's Discworld celebrate, often with a sprig of lilac.



So whether you’re hoisting a towel, wielding a lightsaber, or pinning lilac to your coat - you’re among fellow geeks and dreamers today.


May 25, 1934 -
The classic 30s detective film, based on the Dashiell Hammett novel, The Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, premiered on this date.



W.S. Van Dyke often did not bother with cover shots if he felt the scene was right on the first take, reasoning that actors "lose their fire" if they have to do something over and over. It was a lot of pressure on the actors, who often had to learn new lines and business immediately before shooting without the luxury of retakes, but Myrna Loy credited much of the appeal of the film to Van Dyke's pacing and spontaneity.


May 25, 1940 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Gander at Mother Goose, directed by Tex Avery, debuted on this date.



Showing Jack covered in lipstick kisses is about as much as the censors would allow at the time. There was a major hint at some hanky panky going on up the hill.


May 25, 1946 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Hair-Raising Hare, directed by Chuck Jones,and starring Bugs Bunny and Gossamer, debuted on this date.



Bugs Bunny's hunched-over walk and eyebrow-wagging are imitations of Groucho Marx. The evil scientist is a caricature of long-time character actor Peter Lorre.


May 25, 1953 -
Universal-International released their first 3-D feature film, It Came from Outer Space, directed by Jack Arnold (and based on a story written by Ray Bradbury,) starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake in the US, on this date.



The Universal-International make-up department submitted two alien designs for consideration by the studio executives. The design that was rejected was saved and then later used as the Mutant in Universal-International's This Island Earth.


May 23, 1957 -
The Looney Tunes short, Piker's Peak, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemate Sam, debuted on this date.



The rescue dog (a send up of the St. Bernard with its cask of warming liquor for stranded travelers) makes what appears to be a shaken (not stirred) martini, five years before the launch (>Dr. No) of the James Bond film series...and a year before Ian Fleming first published the novel of the same name.


May 25, 1966 -
Norman Jewison's Cold War comedy, The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming, premiered on this date.



Ordinary townspeople were used as extras in the film. They were so thrilled to be a part of production that the rushes were shown at the end of each day in a local theater. The townspeople went every night, bringing their entire families with them.


May 25, 1966 -
Robert Bresson's classic, Au Hasard Balthazar, starring Anne Wiazemsky, and François Lafarge, was released in France on this date.



In an interview, Bresson said he was inspired to make the story after reading a passage in Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot, in which the main character the Prince mentions his special fondness among animals for the lowly donkey.


May 25, 1977 -
Even Satan took pity and released them from their eternal damnation when ABC TV aired the last episode of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour aired on this date.



Maureen McCormick (Marcia) had become bulimic and developed addictions to cocaine and Quaaludes, which caused mysterious bruises on her arms and legs and made her behavior erratic. She began calling in sick, arriving late to rehearsals, refusing to come out of her dressing room, showed up for work at the end of a 72-hour bender, and once completely missed the taping of the majority of an episode. Gradually, Geri Reischl (Jan) began having to learn McCormick's part in addition to her own so she could take over a scene if McCormick didn't show up.


May 25, 1977 -
In a time long ago and in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas began legally printing money with the release of the first Star Wars movie, which for reasons only know to George was titled - Stars Wars IV: A New Hope.



George realized that he did not have enough money so he released Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on this date in 1983.



George Lucas fired his friend and producer of the previous two Star Wars movies, Gary Kurtz, before production began (although some sources say he simply quit on his own) as Kurtz disagreed with Lucas' assertion that audiences didn't care for the story but for the spectacle.


May 25, 1979 -
Twentieth Century Fox released the science fiction film Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto, and John Hurt, on this date.



It was conceptual artist Ron Cobb who came up with the idea that the Alien should bleed acid. This came about when Dan O'Bannon ran into a wall with the screenplay in how to handle the last half of the movie. He needed a good reason for why the crew members don't just shoot the thing and kill it but still not make it an indestructible monster that can't be killed. The acid blood was the idea that solved this problem.


May 25, 1985 -
Wham!'s single, Everything She Wants, hits the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Charts in the US, on this date. The single made them the first group since the Bee Gees to have three #1 hits from the same album.



While George Michael dismissed much of Wham's material once he began his solo career, he remained proud of this song. Along with I'm Your Man, it was one of two songs from Wham's repertoire that he continued to perform on solo tours. He later referred to it as his favorite Wham! song.


May 25, 1999 -
The final episode of Home Improvement, The Long And Winding Road aired on ABC-TV on this date.



The character Wilson was based on Tim Allen's childhood memories of when he was too short to see over a fence, and was therefore unable to see his neighbor.


May 25, 2017 -
Patty Jenkins' film, the first superhero film directed by a woman - Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, premiered in Los Angeles, on this date.



Gal Gadot got her part shortly after she decided to give up on acting, being unsuccessful at landing roles and tired of regularly taking 15-hour plane rides back to Israel. However, when she was invited for a screen test, she was not told what the film was about and she agreed as a kind of final fling before she quit. The screen test consisted largely of reading relatively anonymous dialogue and she left afterward to return to Israel. However, she received a call-back and only then was she told that she was short-listed to play Wonder Woman. Gadot was floored at the idea of playing the iconic superhero and she eagerly agreed to participate further.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
May 25, 528BCE - (How anyone knows this precise date is way above my pay scale.)
Let the earth witness my achievement



Under a Bodhi tree, Siddhartha Gautama defeated the demon Mara, and attained nirvana (the “blowing out” of the fires of ego-centered attachment which are the source of suffering,) becoming the Buddha (the Awakened One), on this date.

But what the hell do you care?


May 25, 1521 -
Charles V, a Holy Roman Emperor (Who was neither holy or a Roman - he was just a German King) issues the Diet of Worms edict (which neither comprised of non-arthropod invertebrates nor helps you lose weight,) on this date.



Martin Luther, German monk and all around killjoy, couldn't stomach this diet (as it declaring him an outlaw for not eating worms, banning his writings, and requiring his arrest) and goes off to start the Protestant Reformation.


May 25, 1793 -
The first Catholic priest, Father Stephen Theodore Badin, was ordained in the United States and sent on a mission in Kentucky, on this date.

Though Catholicism existed in the US before Badin's ordination, it was mostly in Maryland, and no priest had actually been ordained on American soil. Badin's ordination was a landmark in the spread of Catholicism in America.


May 25, 1803 -
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on this date. Emerson whose original profession, a Unitarian minister but secret calling was as, an amateur plumber, left the ministry to pursue a career in writing and public speaking.



Emerson became one of America's best known and best loved 19th century figures, writing such works as Trust Thyself and carry a self-threading snake and Bacchus on the chamber pot.


May 25, 1895 -
Lax laundry standards in Victorian England helped convict British playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons," to wit: buggering some rent boys. Some of the evident against Wilde was presented by a hotel housekeeper who stated that she had seen young men in Wilde’s bed and noticed that there were fecal stains on his bed sheets.



For his crime, Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labor in Reading jail. Perhaps, he should have taken up forgery instead.


May 25, 1925 -
John Scopes was indicted for violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, on this date, which prohibits the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools. Evolution was a theory put forth by Charles Darwin, whose boat was named "the Beagle." People objected to this theory, which put forth the proposition that mankind had evolved from life forms with hairy red asses.



This resulted in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial, in which Spencer Tracy gave a long monologue that changed everyone's minds even though it was so darn hot in the courtroom.

It is now commonly accepted as fact that mankind evolved from life forms with hairy red asses, a proposition that anyone who's been to the beach lately shouldn't find too hard to accept.


May 25, 1950 -
The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, the longest-continuous, underwater-vehicular tunnel (measuring 1.7 miles long between portals) in North America, opened in NYC, on this date.



A parade of dignitaries led by Mayor William O’Dwyer and Robert Moses, head of the newly created Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, traveled by motorcade through the tunnel where they were welcomed by a cheering crowd on the Manhattan side.


May 25, 1961 -
President John F. Kennedy proposed to Congress on this date, a goal for the U.S., "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth."



The USSR had become the first country to send a man into space the month before, and Congress embraced Kennedy's plan.


May 25, 1986 -
Ken Kragen, part of the USA for Africa charity group, organized Hands Across America, a more or less unbroken human chain queued up from Southern California to New York, linking up nearly seven million people through seventeen states. Where the line stretched over depopulated land, it was symbolized by yellow tape, and everywhere else people linked up arms to sing We Are the World, on this date. Many participants donated $10 each to reserve their place in line. The proceeds were donated to local charities to fight hunger and homelessness and help those in poverty.



As a fundraiser, Hands Across America was not a great success: it cost $17 million to put together and fell short of its target of $50 million (raising only $15 million), despite generous donations for several corporate sponsors.


May 25, 1996 -
The body of Bradley Nowell was discovered in his room at San Francisco's Ocean View Motel on this date.



Nowell, lead singer for radio trio Sublime, was killed by an accidental smack overdose.

Oops.


May 25, 2001 -
Erik Weihenmayer was the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on this date. He also completed the Seven Summits in September 2002. His story was covered in a Time article in June 2001 titled Blind Faith.



He is author of Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye can See, his autobiography.



And so it goes.

All you need is love... and a tiara.

May 24, 1819 -
Today is International Tiara Day in honor of Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria was born as Princess Alexandria Victoria at Kensington Palace, London on this date. Through a series of accidents, debauched living and bad planning on the part of her uncles, she became Queen. She reigned for 64 years, and lent her name to an era best remembered for its prudery and chastity.






Remember, this was the time when one put skirts on piano legs for fear of arousing the passions of young men. This pent up frustration resulted in so many citizens having to stay home and care for their children, since Victoria's reign also saw the largest population explosion in British history.


May 24, 1941 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Hollywood Steps Out, directed by Tex Avery, debuted on this date.



The ending scene where Clark Gable finally caught the blonde girl whom he had continually followed was originally longer. When Gable attempted to kiss the "girl" only to realize it was Groucho Marx in drag, he then looked at the camera saying, "I still want what's coming to me, and I'm gonna get it!" and then proceeded with his kiss. In reality, Gable had seen the short and feared that this particular sequence would ruin his career, so, at his request, the ending scene was shortened for the Blue-Ribbon reissue and instead faded out after the reveal of Groucho.


May 22, 1952 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Beep, Beep, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Wile E, Coyote and the Road Runner, debuted on this date.



Those eagle eyed bunkers will probably have noticed the subtle product placement of Acme brand rocket roller skates, aspirins and matches in this short.


May 24, 1964 -
The Beatles performed You Can't Do That from the set of A Hard Day's Night in a taped segment on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date.



Ironically, You Can't Do That would be cut out of the finished film.


May 24, 1968 -
The Rolling Stones released Jumping Jack Flash, in Britain, on this date.



Bill Wyman wrote some of this song, but it was still credited only to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which Wyman was never happy about. He explained: "We got to the studio early once and... in fact I think it was a rehearsal studio, I don't think it was a recording studio. And there was just myself, Brian and Charlie - the Stones NEVER arrive at the same time, you know - and Mick and Keith hadn't come. And I was just messing about and I just sat down at the piano and started doing this riff, da-daw, da-da-daw, da-da-daw, and then Brian played a bit of guitar and Charlie was doing a rhythm. We were just messing with it for 20 minutes, just filling in time, and Mick and Keith came in and we stopped and they said, 'Hey, that sounded really good, carry on, what is it? And then the next day we recorded it. Mick wrote great lyrics to it and it turned out to be a really good single."


May 24, 1969 –
The Beatles with Billy Preston hit No. 1 with Get Back, where it stayed for the next month. (It is the Beatles' only single that credited another artist at their request.)



Get Back was going to be the title of the album and the documentary film about making it. The Beatles stopped touring in 1966 and were worn thin by 1968, but they rekindled their passion for performance after shooting the Hey Jude promotional film in September that year before a live audience. Energized by the effort, they agreed to the documentary; the concept was The Beatles "getting back" to their roots and playing new songs for a live audience without any studio tricks.


May 24, 1974 -
The final episode of The Dean Martin Show was aired on NBC on this date. The show had been on the air for nine seasons.



Dean Martin's contract stipulated that he was only required to work on Sundays. This necessitated that blocking the camera setups and rehearsals be done on Saturdays. It also meant that guest stars rehearse with Lee Hale standing in for Martin. On Sundays, Martin would usually work less than four hours and leave the set before taping was wrapped.


May 24, 1989 -
The third movie in Steven Spielberg's salute to Saturday afternoon serials, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, premiered nationwide on this date.



Steven Spielberg is on record as saying he made the film for two reasons: 1) to fulfill a three-picture obligation he had with George Lucas, and, 2) to atone for the criticism that he received for the previous installment, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.


May 24, 1991 -
Alek Keshishian documentary film covering the Blond Ambition World Tour, Madonna: Truth or Dare, starring, Madonna (surprise,) went into general release in the US on this date.



Madonna and Warren Beatty were no longer an item by the time this premiered. Some of the phone conversations Madonna recorded for inclusion in the film had Beatty saying 'I love you' but she had to edit them from the final cut when he threatened legal action.


May 24, 1991 -
MGM released Ridley Scott's controversial (at the time) take on the 'buddy movie', Thelma & Louise, starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, on this date.



Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster were originally chosen for the leads and accepted the roles, but preproduction took too long and both actresses had to drop out due to other commitments. Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep wanted to make a movie together and Thelma & Louise was one of the scripts they considered. Ultimately, they decided to star in Death Becomes Her instead.


May 24, 1993 -
The firm of Sugarbaker & Associates closed their doors when the final episode of Designing Women was aired on CBS TV on this date.



During Delta Burke's falling out with the ladies on the show, she privately apologized to everyone. But it took over a decade for Delta and Dixie Carter to make amends. Burke apologized to Carter (who at the time of the falling out between the two of them, sided with producers over Burke's on set behavior.) in 2002 and made an appearance on Carter's show Family Law and all appeared well between the two during the 2003 designing women reunion, and looked even better during the 2006 reunion. Burke and the ladies were heartbroken over Carter's death as well, and in one media photo Burke is seen having to be held up by husband Gerald and co-star Annie Potts.


May 24, 1999 -
The last episode of Mad About You, The Final Frontier aired on NBC on this date. (The re-boot of the series can be seen on Amazon TV.)



The series exists in the same universe as Friends and Seinfeld. Ursula Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), the waitress, is Phoebe Buffay's (Lisa Kudrow) twin sister, from Friends. Paul's old apartment is rented out to Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) from Seinfeld.


Another record from the discount bin at The ACME Record Shoppe today


Today in History:
May 24, 1610 -
Buggery was criminalized for the first time in North America by Sir Thomas Gates, when the Virginia colony declares that "no man shall commit the horrible, and detestable sinnes of Sodomie upon pain of death."

I've uncovered that the actual punishment for breaking this new law was - Whipping -a good strong bare butt whipping. Hmmm, I see. (This is what came from the lack of good lubrication in the early colonies.)


May 24, 1626 -
Peter Minuit was the director-general of the Dutch colony of New Netherland who was credited with the purchase of the island of Manhattan on this date.

According to legend, he persuaded the natives, perhaps a Metoac band of Lenape known as the Canarsee, who were actually native to what is now Brooklyn - to "sell" the island for a handful of trade goods worth approximately 60 guilders (appx. $24.)



I've often said that there are those in Congress looking to give New York back to the Indians.


May 24, 1686 -
Gabriel Fahrenheit was born on the date. Mr Fahrenheit did pioneering work in the field of temperature. It was his dream to develop a more sophisticated temperature measurement system than the accepted worldwide standard of his era, which consisted of only seven gradations: brr!, cold as hell, chilly, warm, hot, hotter than hell and ow!.

Hard at work on the same problem was his colleague Anders Celsius. Mr Fahrenheit eventually discovered the "degree." It took 32 of Mr Fahrenheit's degrees to freeze water and 212 of them to boil it. Mr Celsius, meanwhile, had discovered a different kind of "degree."

It took only a hundred of his degrees to bring water to a boil, and, even more impressively, he discovered that water would freeze without any degrees at all.



By requiring fewer degrees to get things done, and less tick marks on thermometers, Mr Celsius's system was more compact and economical than Mr Fahrenheit's. This made it a natural for the crowded lands of Europe, where storage came at a premium. In the great unsettled expanse of the New World, however, space was not an issue and Mr Fahrenheit's system took hold.


May 24, 1844 -
Samuel F. B. Morse formally opens America's first telegraph line, when he demonstrated a magnetic telegraph, sending a message from the chambers of the Old Supreme Court courthouse in Washington D.C. to his partner, Alfred Vail, at the Mount Clare Depot of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in Baltimore, Maryland, on this date.



Vail responded by retransmitting the same message back to Morse. The message, "What hath God wrought?" was the first message sent on a commercial telegraph line.


May 24, 1856 -
A small gang led by abolitionist John Brown murdered five unarmed pro-slavery homesteaders in Franklin County, Kansas, on this date, hacking them to pieces with swords.



The event comes to be known as the Pottawatomie Massacre.


May 24, 1883 -

The Brooklyn Bridge (originally the New York and Brooklyn Bridge), one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, stretches 5,989 feet (1825 m) over the East River connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn opened for business today. On completion, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first steel-wire suspension bridge. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York Skyline and is still considered one of the Wonders of the Modern World.



The first person to jump from the bridge was Robert E. Odlum (and not Steve Brodie) on May 19, 1885.



Robert, a swimming teacher, made the jump in a costume bearing his initials. He survived the pre-announced jump, but died shortly thereafter from internal injuries. Apparently, no one told him taking the high dive off the bridge would get him killed.

This showed him.


May 24, 1920 -
Senile French President Paul Deschanel fell off a train bound for Montbrison, and was later discovered wandering along the track in his pajamas. The Station master's wife later commented that she knew he was a gentleman because he had such "clean feet."



Soon afterwards, Deschanel walked out of a state meeting, straight into the fountains at the Rambouillet chateau, fully clothed.

As I mentioned yesterday, The French, they are a strange race.

(Interesting side note - the actress Zooey Deschanel is related to the former president.)


May 24, 1927 -
The final levee breach of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 occurred at McCrea, Louisiana, on the east bank of the Atchafalaya levee. The flood, which began several weeks earlier, along the Mississippi killed some 500 people and displaced thousands.



The levee system broke in 145 places and caused 27,000 square miles of flooding in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.


May 24, 1928 -
The airship Italia, commanded by General Umberto Nobile, crashed while attempting to reach Spitzbergen, during its return flight from the North Pole on this date.



Nine men, including Nobile survived the initial crash.


May 24, 1941 -
Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham Zimmerman, a young boy from a small shtetl called Duluth, in the great state of Minnesota, don't ya know, who has been a major figure in popular music for nearly six decades, was born on this date.







Even Zigman and Anna's grandson, Shabtai can still write a good song, now and then.


May 24, 1941 -
During the Battle of the Denmark Strait (World War II,) the German battleship Bismarck sank the HMS Hood on this date.



More than 1,400 crewmen died; only three survived.


May 24, 1962 -
Scott Carpenter becomes the second American to orbit the Earth when he is launched into space aboard NASA's Aurora 7 space capsule, on this date.



Carpenter circles the globe three times, reaching a maximum altitude of 164 miles before his spacecraft splashes into the Atlantic Ocean about 1,000 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral about five hours later.


May 24, 1976  -
In France, on this date, two California wines won a tasting event over several French classics for the first time. Stephen Spurrier, English owner of a wine shop and wine school in Paris, held a competition tasting of French and American wines.



The best red wine was a 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. The best white wine was a 1973 Napa Valley Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena, owned by Jim Barrett.


Don't forget - Tomorrow is Towel Day,

you know what you need to do - DON'T PANIC!



And so it goes.

Making progress only when you sticks your neck out.

Today is World Turtle Day. The purpose of World Turtle Day, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.








It's celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles to saving turtles caught on highways, to research activities.


May 23, 1929 -
Walt Disney released the ninth film in the Mickey Mouse film series, The Karnival Kid on this date



This is first cartoon in which Mickey Mouse speaks. His first words are "Hot dogs!"


May 23, 1936 -
The Looney Tunes short, Fish Tales, directed by Jack King, starring Porky Pig, debuted on this date.



Porky wears Disney-like white gloves in this short, as did many of his fellow castmates at the time, a likely wink at the rival studio.


May 23, 1942 -
The Looney Tunes short, Nutty News, directed by Bob Clampett, and narrated by Elmer Fudd, debuted on this date.



Due to his narration in this short, this is the first appearance of Elmer Fudd, at least vocally, in the Looney Tunes series.


May 23, 1942 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Lights Fantastic, directed by Friz Freleng, debuted on this date.



The scene involving the tomato can-can dancers was re-used animation from Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries produced the previous year.


May 23, 1953 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Much Ado About Nutting, directed by Chuck Jones, debuted on this date.



The squirrel breaks the fourth wall, but only with its expression. So does the coconut!.


May 23, 1959 -
The Looney Tunes short, A Mutt in a Rut, directed by Bob McKimson, starring Elmer Fudd, debuted on this date.



This is one of two Looney Tunes shorts that include the Acme Wild Cat. In both cartoons, the box the cat is in is set behind the intended target, a rope is thrown over a branch of the nearest tree, the perpetrator then runs off into the distance with the end of the rope, hides, then pulls the rope to open the box. The cat's eye are shown, then as the box says, it comes out of the box going wild, but then runs off and attacks the perpetrator that freed him instead of the target.


May 23, 1966 -
The Beatles released the single Paperback Writer on this date



At the time, The Beatles were about to cease touring and couldn't make many TV appearances to perform the song. This made it very difficult to promote the single, so they commissioned a film clip that could be shown on these programs, unwittingly creating one of the first music videos. The clip was shot at Chiswick House in London, which is famous for its lavish gardens. The setting made an interesting backdrop, but the focus was on the band, with the guys getting lots of close-ups and appearing in various cool poses. A video for the flip side of the single, Rain, was shot at the same time.


May 23, 1969 -
... A son! A son! A son! ....



The Who released Tommy in the UK, the first rock opera on this date. Somehow this may or may not be connected with the fact, that The BBC gave the go-ahead for 13 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus-



Truly a brief glorious reflowering of the British Empire occurred on this day


May 23, 1973 -
Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn and in his film debut, Bob Dylan, premiered in New York City, on this date. (While his acting as a knife-wielding stranger named Alias is derided, Dylan scores a hit with the Knockin' On Heaven's Door.)



A bent flange on a lens of one of the Panavasion cameras caused all the shots made with that one camera (all of them master shots) to be out of focus on the right side, and thus rendering them totally unusable. Because MGM had refused Sam Peckinpah's request for a camera mechanic to be on duty during the shoot in Durango, and because all the footage was first sent back to Los Angeles for processing, the crew didn't discover the problem for several weeks. Only after the faulty lens was replaced, did MGM send a camera mechanic down; and by that time, the film was several days over schedule, and several hundred thousand dollars over budget.


May 23, 1980 -
Stanley Kubrick's classic horror thriller The Shining, opened on this date (I remember seeing it at the midnight showing on this date in Time Square.)



Because Danny Lloyd was so young, and since it was his first acting job, Stanley Kubrick was highly protective of the child. During the shooting of the movie, Lloyd was under the impression that the film he was making was a drama, not a horror movie. In fact, when Wendy carries Danny away while shouting at Jack in the Colorado Lounge, she is actually carrying a life-size dummy, so Lloyd would not have to be in the scene. He only realized the truth several years later, when he was shown a heavily edited version of the film. He did not see the uncut version of the film until he was seventeen, eleven years after he had made it.


May 23, 1984 -
Sergio Leone's epic crime drama, Once Upon a Time in America starring Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, and Treat Williams premiered at the Cannes Film festive on this date.



A few days before the film's premiere in 1984, Treat Williams found out the two-hour version, not the three hour and forty-nine minute version, would be shown in theaters. He was heard to have said that no one would understand the movie in the shortened version. Indeed, the film did not do well at theaters, and was shut out of the Oscars, and received no nominations.


May 23, 1984 -
Steven Spielberg/ George Lucas' theme park thrill ride film, Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom, opened on this date.



D.R. Nanayakkara, cast as the Indian village Shaman, did not speak a word of English. He delivered his lines phonetically by mimicking Steven Spielberg who was prompting him off-camera. The pauses in his dialogue were therefore not for dramatic effect, but rather waiting for his next line.


May 23, 1997 -
Steven Spielberg's monster movie sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park opened nationally, on this date (this date must be a lucky day for Steve.)



Steven Spielberg had to attend an early screening for Swingers in order to give approval for the use of the Jaws theme. He was so impressed by Vince Vaughn that he offered him a part in this movie.

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


Today in History:
May 23, 1430 -
The French, they are a strange race.

A little french shepherdess goes out into a field for a picnic. And instead of getting food poisoning, which was common, heard the voice of God, which is not.



Joan, heeding God's command, heads the army of France to rout the English and help crown a new French King. And for her troubles, Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundians today at Compiegne, who sold her to the British. The British, known for their sense of humor, gave Joan the ultimate hot foot.



This is what comes from being the messenger of God.


May 23, 1498 -
(Even more lives of the Popes, although it more of a renaissance feel this time.)
What a day for an auto da fé...

Religious fundamentalist Girolamo Savonarola was executed in Florence, Italy, on this date, for his many heresies, after being excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI. The Catholic Church had already excommunicated the Dominican friar the year before, but Savonarola continued to preach for radical reforms. Among other things, he held bonfires of the vanities for his parishioners' worldly possessions, because they competed with the word of God for attention.



Brother Savonarola was first hanged along with two accomplices and their bodies burned. He was burned on the same spot as his famous 'bonfire of the vanities.'

This is what comes from trying to follow your own understanding of God's words. (Karma's a bitch.)


May 23, 1618 -
In what is later called the Second Defenestration of Prague, (yes there was a First) three men representing the soon-to-be Emperor Ferdinand II were thrown from a window in the Hradshin Palace by Protestant noblemen.



Luckily for the imperial emissaries, they land on a large pile of manure and survive (Catholics immediately proclaimed that God’s angels had saved them from certain death.) But when Ferdinand assumes the throne the following year, all hell breaks loose in Europe, starting with Bohemia.



Thus begins the horrific religious conflict that comes to be known as the Thirty Years War. Shockingly, given the European sense of time, the war actually lasted 30 years. It is generally agreed that the war set back the continent a full century.


May 23, 1701 -
Captain William Kidd was hanged in London on this date. After the first attempt fails when the rope snaps, Kidd was brought right back to the gallows and the process repeated. After death, the body is slathered in tar, chained up, and suspended over the Thames where it remains for years as an example to others considering a life of piracy.



Again, the British and their sense of humor.


May 23, 1734 -
Friedrich Anton Mesmer was born on this date.

Mr. Mesmer was a physician and hypnotist who developed a peculiar method of therapy-by-suggestion that bears his name to this day: Antonism.



(Antonism should not be confused with antonyms, an antonym for synonyms. Synonyms should not be confused with cinnamon, which is used on hot buns. It will spare embarrassment at the breakfast table if hot buns are confused with hot buns.)


May 23, 1873 -
The Northwest Mounted Police were founded on this date. The Northwest Mounted Police was one of the first police forces in the Northwest Territories - present day Alberta and Saskatchewan - and the predecessor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, also known as the Mounties.



Please rise for the playing of the Mounties Anthem



Yes, this has nothing to do with that fine organization but isn't your day just a little better for having heard this again?


May 23, 1900 -
Sergeant William Harvey Carney from Company C of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, was the first African-American soldier to receive the Medal of Honor, on this date, (although he did not get his medal until nearly 40 years after the battle.)

Carney was a soldier in the Civil War, and received the medal for saving the Union flag during a fierce battle, the Battle of Fort Wagner outside of Charleston, S.C. on July 18, 1863, despite the fact that he was severely wounded.


May 23, 1911 -
More than one million books were set in place for the official dedication of The New York Public Library (on Fifth Avenue on the site of the old Croton Reservoir and the largest marble structure in the US) on this date – exactly 16 years to the day since the historic agreement creating the Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations had been signed.

The ceremony was presided over by President William Howard Taft and was attended by Governor John Alden Dix and Mayor William J. Gaynor.

Please, all of you who forgot to return your books from the opening day, return them. All is forgiven.

No questions asked.


May 23, 1934 -
A group of FBI agents and police officers from two states ambush the notorious Bonnie and Clyde on a highway near Gibsland, Louisiana, on this date.



The men open fire as the bank robbers drive past the concealed posse, unloading hundreds of rounds into the car.


May 23, 1985 –
A lunar transient phenomena (LTP) “Flash” was seen on/just above the moon.

Probably a reflection of an artificial satellite or, less likely, a meteor hit. No one knows for sure. Our galactic overlords want us to know that it definitely was not aliens.


May 23, 2005 –
Today in pharmaceutical history -



Tom Cruise famously jumped around on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes.



And so it goes.