No static at all

Today is World Radio Day. World Radio Day raises awareness about the importance of radio and strengthens networking among broadcasters and listeners. Now in its 13 year, the celebration is bigger than ever. This year's theme, “Radio and Artificial Intelligence (AI),” emphasizes how AI can be used ethically to strengthen trust and innovation.

Created by UNESCO, World Radio Day was first celebrated in 2012, following its declaration by the UNESCO General Conference. It was subsequently adopted as an International Day by the United Nations General Assembly.


Sorry Bunkies, it's Friday the 13th.

In most large cities in the United States, many building don't have 13th floors. In Japan, they don't have 4th floors, because the word for four sounds similar to the word for DEATH! Some say that the modern basis for Friday the 13th phobia dates back to Friday, October 13, 1307.



On this date, Pope Clement in conjunction with the King Philip of France secretly ordered the mass arrest of all the Knights Templar in France. The Templars were terminated with extreme prejudice (burned to a crisp) for apostasy, idolatry, heresy, "obscene rituals" and homosexuality, corruption and fraud, and secrecy, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long.

Those wacky Knights were such party animals.



Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, author of 13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition, suggests in his book that references to Friday the 13th were practically nonexistent before 1907; the popularity of the superstition must come from the publication of Thomas W. Lawson's successful novel (of it's day,) Friday, the Thirteenth. In the novel, a stock broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on Friday the 13th.

If the thought of the day bothers you, unfortunately next month has another Friday the 13th in it.


Today is also National Tortellini Day



And it has something to do with Venus di Milo's belly button


February 13, 1932 -
The Our Gang short, Free Eats premiered on this date. This marked the introduction of George "Spanky" McFarland to the Our Gang comedies.



Spanky McFarland's career lasted a decade, approximately, as his career at Our Gang concluded in 1942 short, Unexpected Riches.


February 13, 1960 -
Reprise Records was founded by Frank Sinatra on this date as a part of his quest for more artistic freedom. Sinatra's launch of the label led to his nickname “The Chairman of the Board.”



It was sold to Warner Bros. three years later and went on to become a major player with signings or distribution deals with an eclectic roster of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, the Beach Boys, Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Fleetwood Mac, and Sinatra’s daughter Nancy.


February 13th, 1966 -
The Rolling Stones returned for their third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date.







Their performances had been taped the day before.


Febraury 13, 1970 -
Black Sabbath's self-titled debut LP was released on this date, which not coincidentally, came out on a Friday the 13th. It was arguably the first heavy metal album.



The band was playing clubs in Germany and using the name "Earth" when they realized another band had the same name. "Black Sabbath" was lifted from the title of a 1963 horror movie starring Boris Karloff that was directed by the Italian filmmaker Mario Bava. The group's lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and bass player Geezer Butler had seen the film, and decided to write a song with that title. When it became clear that the band needed a new name, they named themselves after this song.


February 13, 1972 -
Bob Fosse's film version of the musical Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey premiered on this date.



The character of Sally Bowles was based on Jean Ross, an aspiring actress, singer, and writer who had an abortion while working as a cabaret singer in Weimar Berlin. Ross was displeased with Christopher Isherwood's portrayal of her as apolitical and antisemitic. She was a member of the Communist Party and later was a war correspondent in the Spanish Civil War. Her partner in the late 1930s was Claud Cockburn, the father of journalist Alexander Cockburn, who described her as "a gentle, cultivated, and very beautiful woman, not a bit like the vulgar vamp displayed by Liza Minnelli." Claud Cockburn's granddaughter is actress Olivia Wilde.


February 13, 1996 -
The Fugees release their second and final album, The Score, on this date. The band broke up a few months later.



At the time of the release of the album, Lauren Hill was still taking classes at Columbia University; when their record company had her and her bandmates appear at a New York record store to sign copies of a single fom the album, she was shocked to see a line around the block. She was even more surprised to find out they were all there for the Fugees.


Another unimportant moment in history


Today in History:
On February 13, 1542, Henry VIII of England's Vth wife, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.



Given the track record of Henry's other wives, one would have figured out marrying Henry was not a career with a lot of advancement possibilities.


On February 13, 1883, German composer and posthumous Hitler idol Richard Wagner, best known for writing the soundtrack to Apocalypse Now, died on this date.







Almost exactly eleven years later (February 12, 1894), Hans von Bulow, German pianist and composer, and the first husband of Wagner's wife Cosima, also died on this date.


February 13, 1945 -
An estimated 135,000 people, mostly women and children, died in the firebombing of the 13th-century city of Dresden, a revenge bombing that had no real military justification, which had begun on this date.







Kurt Vonnegut was one of just seven American prisoners of war in Dresden to survive, in an underground meatpacking cellar known as Slaughterhouse Five.


February 13, 1953 -
Transgender Christine (nee George) Jorgensen arrived in New York with much fanfare on this date.



She had had sex change operations performed in Denmark by Dr. Christian Hamburger, becoming the first successful surgical transgender. Upon return, she became a cabaret actress.



The excess parts of George went on to become the other half of the famous East German TV Comedy Duo, Gunther and Smeckel.


February 13, 1959 -
Barbara Millicent Roberts, noted American Idol contestant, Ballerina, Fashion model, Movie producer, Movie star, Rock star, Radio City Music Hall Rockette, Aerobics instructor, Olympic gymnast, Olympic figure skater, Tennis star, WNBA basketball player, Dentist, Medical doctor, Nurse, Pediatrician, Surgeon, Veterinarian, United States Army officer, United States President, UNICEF Summit diplomat, Ambassador for world peace, Firefighter, Police officer, Canadian Mountie, Astronaut, Flight Attendant ( for both American Airlines and Pan Am ), NASCAR driver, Pilot, Cowgirl, Chef, Paleontologist, McDonald's Front Desk and Flight Attendant, etc. was introduced by Mattel in California on this date.



What have you done with your life? (There is some debate whether or not today or March 9th is actually her birthday.)


February 13, 1960 -
France conducted its first nuclear test, code-named 'Gerboise Bleue' (Blue Desert Rat). The day marked the beginning of a series of four atmospheric nuclear tests at the Reganne Oasis, in the Sahara Desert of Algeria.



The test also sets France on the path to building the country's nuclear capacity, acquiring nuclear aircraft, missiles and submarines. France is happy to remind it's neighbor, Germany, that she has the bomb and Germany does not.


February 13, 1961 -
Henry Lawrence Garfield (Henry Rollins), singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, stand-up comedian, author, actor, activist and publisher, was born on this date.





And he will mess you up if you don't believe that he is a sensitive soul.


February 13, 1971 -
Vice President Spiro Agnew hit three spectators with two errant golf shots during the Bob Hope Desert Golf Classic tournament, on this date.

Bob Hope had some good quips about the ordeal, including “He did play the last 15 holes in great shape and on the back nine he got a birdie, an eagle, an elk, a moose and a mason."


February 13th, 1983 -
Marvin Gaye sang the National Anthem at the 33rd National Basketball Association All-Star Game at The Forum in Inglewood, California, on this date. Gaye's rendition went on to become one of the most legendary performances of The Star Spangled Banner in sports history.



The performance unconventionally made use of a drum machine. The video of his performance went on to be the first video played during the premiere of VH1 on January 1, 1985.


February 13, 2004 -
Astronomers announced the discovery of the largest "diamond" in the universe on this date. The diamond was actually a white dwarf star which was found to be very similar in composition to a diamond.



It was nicknamed "Lucy" after the Beatles' hit Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.



And so it goes

Just in time for this weekend

About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year.

That’s the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas.


February 12, 1914 -
The first feature length film shot in Hollywood, The Squaw Man, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Oscar Apfel, premiered in the US, on this date.



The original studio facilities for Paramount Pictures grew out of a barn on the corner of Selma and Vine streets. When Paramount moved to its current site in 1926 (further east, off of Melrose Avenue), it brought the barn with them.


February 12, 1924 -
102 years ago today, George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York on this date.





It has become one of the most popular American concert works.


On this day in 1940, Superman appeared on a radio station (a Mutual Radio station WOR in New York City) for the first time, the first time in a non-print medium. It was the debut of the radio show called The Adventures of Superman and the episode was called The Baby From Krypton.



We don't get to hear Superman speak though until the second episode: Clark Kent, Reporter (February 14, 1940.)


February 12, 1943 -
Much of the cast of Citizen Kane/ The Magnificent Ambersons was reunited for the Action/ Thriller, Journey Into Fear, directed by Norman Foster and starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Rio, Ruth Warrick, Agnes Moorehead, and Orson Welles, opened in NYC on this date.



When production on Journey Into Fear began, co-stars Orson Welles and Dolores del Rio had been having an affair for several years. Del Rio ended the relationship shortly after the film's release.


February 12, 1955 -
Another in the series of Westerns director Anthony Mann collaborated with Jimmy Stewart, The Far Country, opened in NYC on this date.



James Stewart often said that his horse, Pie, a sorrel stallion was, "One of the best co-stars I ever had." Pie appeared as Stewart's horse in seventeen Westerns, and James developed a strong personal bond with the horse.


February 12, 1970 -
The BBC program Top of the Pops aired a performance clip of John Lennon's single Instant Karma! on this date, which was taped just the day before.



John Lennon wrote and recorded this song in one day, which was either January 26 or 27, 1970, depending on the source. It was unusual in the Beatles era for a song to be written and put into tape the same day. Lennon told Rolling Stone in January 1971 about the recording of this song and its quick turnaround: "I wrote it in the morning on the piano. I went to the office and sang it many times. So I said 'Hell, let's do it,' and we booked the studio, and Phil came in, and said, 'How do you want it?' I said, 'You know, 1950's.' He said, 'right,' and boom, I did it in about three goes or something like that. I went in and he played it back and there it was. The only argument was that I said a bit more bass, that's all; and off we went."


February 12, 1972 -
The Rev. Al Green's song, Let's Stay Together, went to the no. 1 spot on the Billboard Charts on this date.



You do not have to place your hands upon the screen when listening to the good reverend; just hearing his voice will send the healing power directly to your nether regions.


Another little known Monopoly card


Today In History:
February 12, 1294 -
... Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war! 



Kublai Khan, the conqueror of Asia, died at the age of 80.


On February 12, 1554, The sixteen year old Lady Jane Grey, puppet Queen of England for nine days, was beheaded in the Tower of London, on this date.



Questions arose as to where to bury this semi-queen, until it was decided to place her the garden of the beheaded former wives of Henry VIII.


Adolf Frederick was King of Sweden until he died of digestion problems on February 12, 1771 after having consumed a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sour cabbage, smoked herring and champagne, which was topped off with 14 servings of his favorite dessert: semla (a hot cross bun filled with cream) served in a bowl of hot milk.



He is thus remembered by Swedish schoolchildren as the king who ate himself to death.

Kids remember - push away from the dessert tray.


February 12, 1789 -
Ethan Allen died in a drunken sleigh accident while crossing the frozen Lake Champlain, reminiscing with friends and rye. Much of the circumstance remains a mystery.

The Spirit of Ethan Allen is Lake Champlain's largest cruise ship.

So kids remember, if you're lucky and you die while drunkenly crossing a frozen lake, you too can get a cruise ship or a line of furniture named after you.


Immanuel Kant, a real pissant, died on February 12, 1804. His last words were reportedly "It is good."



This is hard to believe, since Kant did not speak English.


It's the 217th birthday of both Abraham Lincoln, a man with only a years' worth of formal education and still became our 16th President



and Charles Darwin, the man who tried to ride a dog to the tropics and the uncle of most monkeys.



Go try preserving a union and question people's fundamental religious beliefs in their honor.


On February 12, 1894, Hans von Bulow died, (yes, Klaus is related to him).

He was a popular pianist and composer, and the husband of composer Franz Liszt's daughter, Cosima, who screwed around behind Hans' back and ultimately left him for Richard Wagner, (more about him tomorrow)


Emperor Pu Yi of China's Manchu dynasty abdicated on February 12, 1912, allowing the establishment of a provisional republic under Sun Yat-sen, eventually causing Red China.



And the makings of a fine movie.


February 12, 1912 -
With pilot Frank Coffyn flying the plane, American Press Association photographer Adrian C. Duff, shot the first ever film of New York City from overhead on this date.



By doing so, this made Duff the very first airplane passenger over New York Harbor. Mr Duff spent the next 10 years getting a full body cavity search from the TSA.


February 12, 1935 -
The 785-foot USS Macon, the last US Navy dirigible (ZRS-5), crashed on its 55th flight off the coast of California. After takeoff from Point Sur, California, a gust of wind tore off the ship's upper fin, deflating its gas cells and causing the ship to fall into the sea. Two of Macon's 83 crewmen died in the accident.



The U.S. Navy lost the airships Shenandoah in 1925 and Akron in 1933. Some considered airships too dangerous for the program to continue at that point, and work on them in the United States was halted temporarily.


February 12, 1967 -
Police in London arrested Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull on this date, after they discover amphetamine pills, cannabis resin, and Marianne scandalously naked but for a fur rug. (There has been rumors for years that either Paul McCarthy or George Harrison were at the party and were allowed to leave before the arrest were made - they were MBE's and it would have been awkward to arrest them at the time.)



The two Rolling Stones received jail sentences which were successfully appealed.

False rumours still persist - where exactly was that Mars Bar anyway?


February 12, 1976 -
Sal Mineo, film and theater actor, was stabbed to death in Los Angeles while coming home from a play rehearsal on this date.



A pizza deliveryman, Lionel Ray Williams, was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 57 years in prison for killing Mineo and for committing 10 robberies in the same area.


February 12, 2004 -
After 43 years together, Barbie and Ken, shocked the nation when they announced that they were breaking up on this date.



The couple had met on the set of their first television commercial together in 1961.



Don't worry, those crazy kids have patched things up and they're still going strong. But Bunkies, unless you live under a rock, Greta Gerwig would have you believe differently



And so it goes

No disrespect meant here but,

We should wish George Washington, a very happy birthday,

but they've moved his birthday a couple of times and he's quite dead -  so why bother


It's Peppermint Patty Day - No, not this one (but in case it comes up in conversation - her real name is Patricia Reichart.)

This one



It's minty chocolatey goodness.


February 11, 1960 -
Jack Paar, temperament host of the Tonight Show, in a fit of pique, walks off his TV show when he is not allowed to tell a very lame joke about W.C.'s on this date.



Yes Jack, there is a better way to make a living than this, nowadays, you would be allowed to have your colonoscopy live while you're hosting a program.


February 11, 1963 -
Julia Child opened America's appetite for better cooking when The French Chef premiered on this date.



In her first black-and-white episode, she made Boeuf Bourguignon, spending a half hour in the kitchen, recording the show live.


February 11, 1970 -
The film version of the Terry Southern novel, The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo, and featuring the music of Badfinger, premiered in New York City on this date.



After watching rushes from the first day of filming, Peter Sellers leapt to his feet and said "Thank God we caught it in time!" He felt his performance was so bad that the movie should be cancelled. He was eventually persuaded to continue.


February 11, 1975 -
One of the most iconic films of the 70s, Shampoo, directed by Hal Ashby, written by Robert Towne and starring Warren Beatty was released on this date.



The lead character was based on actual hairdresser Jay Sebring and Jon Peters.


February 11, 1975 -
NBC-TV premiered the TV movie Sarah T: Portrait of A Teenage Alcoholic, directed by Richard Donner starring Linda Blair, Larry Hagman, William Daniels and Mark Hammill, on this date.



While Richard Donner was on a talk show discussing Superman, which he had recently directed, and was asked questions about his early directorial work. However, he couldn't remember the name of this film. He ended up calling it Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, which was directed by Randal Kleiser.


February 11, 1982 -
Hal Ashby's film of the US leg of a 1981 concert tour of The Rolling Stones, Let's Spend the Night Together, opens in New York, on this date.



The movie features footage from three The Rolling Stones' concerts staged in November and December 1981. These included one concert at the Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (December 13th 1981) and two concerts at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey (November 5th & 6th 1981).


February 11, 1987 -
Morrissey's favorite Smiths' song went to No.1 in the UK indie charts with Shoplifters Of The World Unite, on this date.



The title alludes to the communist slogan "workers of the world, unite!" Morrissey has explained the meaning of the song as follows: "It's more or less spiritual shoplifting, cultural shoplifting, taking things and using them to your own advantage."


Another episode of ACME's Little Known Animal Facts


Today in History:
February 11, 55 (this is an approximate date, as the people involved were literally at a dinner party, drinking wine from lead lined cups.)-
The emperor Nero was hosting a dinner when his 13-year-old stepbrother and rival Britannicus keeled over and died as the water used to cool his wine had been poisoned (his taster forgot to taste it) on this date.

Nero dismissed the murder by claiming that the boy suffered from epilepsy. The other dinner guests faced a dilemma. Should they take no notice and carry on tucking into their meal or should they call a doctor and risk offending the paranoid emperor.

Moral: always think twice about dinner invitations from Roman emperors.


On February 11, 1573, Francis Drake saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time on this date, and this is noteworthy, since 100's of thousands of West Coast living indigenous Native Americans saw it before they went to bed the night before.

And he still had time to create those delicious little cakes.


February 11, 1650 -
Rene Descartes, mathematician, drunken fart and philosopher best known for his statement "I think therefore I am", stops thinking on this date.



Queen Christina of Sweden (remember - the girl king - see December 18 ) persuaded Descartes to come to Stockholm. On this date, after only a few months in that cold climate, he died of pneumonia.

Kids let this be a lesson to you - never accept an invitation from transvestite royalty.


Friedrich Ebert was elected the first president of the German Republic on February 11, 1919.

President Ebert brought about the Weimar constitution that eventually resulted in Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

I bet he didn't see that coming.


February 11, 1929 -
The Lateran Treaty was signed on this date - Mussolini granted recognition to the Vatican in return for their support of his fascist dictatorship.



Bunkies, here's another lesson for you - entering a treaty with balding dictators can never lead to anything good.


February 11, 1938 -
BBC Television produced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term robot.

The show was a thirty-five-minute adaptation of a section of the play, performed live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios. The BBC had no professional facility for recording programs in those pre-war days, so save a few on-set publicity photographs and reviews in the press, all records of this production are lost.


February 11, 1962 -
Sheryl Suzanne Crow, singer-songwriter, musician and Michael Jackson backup singer survivor, was born on this date.





When sending birthday wishes, don't bring up any of her exes.


February 11, 1963 -
American writer Sylvia Plath, committed suicide by asphyxiation from a gas stove (sticking her head in the oven) in London after her husband, English poet Ted Hughes, left her for another woman.



Assia Wevill, the woman for whom Hughes left Plath committed suicide 6 years later.


February 11, 1969 -
Our lady of the perpetual bad relationship and Aveeno spokesperson, Jennifer Aniston, once again single, was born on this date.





Jennifer deserves to be well and happy (Greek girls always have a special place in my heart.)


February 11, 1979 -
Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile on this date.



But 43 million people in the US try to seek salvation by watching Elvis! on ABC-TV on this date.



Most do not find it because they forgot to place one hand on the TV screen and the other hand upon their damp nether regions.

When will the damned ever learn!


February 11, 1986 -
Frank Herbert, author of Dune, died from pancreatic cancer on this date.



If only he had access to the spice Melange.


February 11, 1990 -
Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, was freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa on this date.



In April 1994, he was elected president in the first all-race elections. If only he had access to the spice Melange years earlier.


February 11, 2006 -
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot Harry Whittington, a major Texas Republican insider, in the face while bird hunting on this date.



Almost immediately after being released from the hospital, a shaken Whittington, apologizes to the Vice President for getting in his line of fire. After this event, no one in Washington D.C. messed with Dick Cheney.



And so it goes