Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand?

It's Nirvana Day (for some people),

no, it's not the day you wear your flannel shirts and listen to grunge music; it's the day Buddha died and achieved bliss (Parinirvana.) Some celebrate the day on February 8, others in Bhutan, it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the Bhutanese calendar.


Today is also the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia.



This was a fertility festival in honor of the pastoral god Lupercus.


Hopefully you had a very nice time yesterday and didn't get any of these gifts:



Or perhaps, much like Lewis, you're not fond of the holiday



OK, swipe you nose, wash you face and get back out there.


February 15, 1950 -
Walt Disney's 12th animated feature, Cinderella was premiered in Boston, Massachusetts on this date.



Ilene Woods beat exactly 309 girls for the part of Cinderella, after some demo recordings of her singing a few of the film's songs were presented to Walt Disney. However, she had no idea she was auditioning for the part until Disney contacted her; she initially made the recordings for a few friends who sent them to Disney without telling her.


February 15, 1975 –
Linda Ronstadt's song You’re No Good went to No. # 1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



This song had been around for a while before Linda Ronstadt took it to the top of the chart. It was originally recorded by Dee Dee Warwick in 1963. Her version was produced by the famous team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, but it stalled at #117. Betty Everett had more success with her version, which went to #51 in 1964.


February 15, 1979 -
There's no real reason to post this except that it really occurred - The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra appeared on the Mike Douglas Show, on this date.



(In case you don't know, members Harold Bronson and Richard Foos are the founders of Rhino Records.) Hopefully that made your day a little better.


February 15, 1985 -
Don't you forget about me -

Universal Pictures released John Hughes' film (and introduced the Brat Pack to an unsuspecting world), The Breakfast Club, starring, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy on this date.



It was originally suggested that there would be several sequels to this movie, occurring every ten years, in which The Breakfast Club would get back together. This did not come to pass, due to the volatile relationship between John Hughes and Judd Nelson (John Bender). Hughes stated that he would never work with Nelson again. Also, it was unclear whether or not Hughes still held ill will against his oft-cast starlet, Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish). They had a falling out in the late eighties, after Ringwald decided to move on from the teen film genre to pursue more adult roles, thus severing her relationship with Hughes.


February 15, 1987 -
Broadcast over the course of seven nights, Amerika, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Amerika sparked much controversy from many camps long before it even aired. Many liberals dismissed the mini-series as right wing paranoia, while many conservatives complained that the Soviet brutality that was depicted was seriously underplayed. Several re-writes and production delays resulted. Many objected to it on the basis that it could damage American-Soviet relations. The United Nations publicly objected to the depiction of United Nations Peacekeeping Forces as a Soviet controlled occupying force.


February 14, 1998 -
The Fox Broadcasting Company aired the 914th episode of The Simpsons, Das Bus, on this date.

In the episode, Bill Gates offers to buy out Homer’s Internet start-up, Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net. Instead of actually buying the company, two of his goons trash the office.



To suggest that Microsoft would actual do such a thing is ridiculous, and dangerous.


February 15, 2005 -
The Norah Jones mellow, jazzy album Come Away With Me is certified Diamond for sales of over 10 million in America on this date.



The Come Away With Me album is a rare massive seller with no big hits. The only song to land in the Hot 100 was Don't Know Why, which made #30. The single, Come Away with Me was the third single, released in December 2002 after the album had been out for nine months. By this time, it has already sold millions of copies, but many were just discovering it.


Another album from the discount bin of The ACME Record Shoppe


Today in History -
Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564. He worked on the improvement of a telescope with which he later discovered craters on the moon, the satellites of Jupiter, and every luscious detail of the girl next door's nubile young form. Galileo's astronomical observations seemed to confirm Copernicus' theory that the Earth went around the Sun rather than the other way around. Unfortunately, Copernicus' theory was heresy and therefore not supposed to be confirmed.



The church was in a tough spot. Galileo was every bit as Bad and Heretical as Copernicus had been, but they didn't want to inspire a bunch of angry Germans to start another church, as Martin Luther's followers had not long after the church's previous brush with Astronomy.

High-ranking church officials pleaded with the astronomer: "Come on, Galileo." "Please, Galileo." "Knock it off, Galileo."

But he wouldn't stop talking about the Earth spinning around the Sun. He couldn't even be persuaded to talk about something else, such as sports, the weather, or the girl next door's nubile young form. So they threatened to kill him.



At this point Galileo remembered that the Sun actually did revolve around the Earth, and the church rewarded his improved memory by giving him free room and board for the rest of his life (a level of hospitality sometimes referred to as "house arrest".)


February 15, 1758 -



Mustard was first advertised for sale in America on this date, by Benjamin Jackson who had set up business in Globe Mills, Germantown, Philadelphia, selling mustard packed in glass bottles with his label on them.



In the Philadelphia Chronicle, he claimed to be "the original establisher of the mustard manufactory in American, and ... at present, the only manufacturer on the continent," and that he had brought the art with him from London to America. (And don't worry, I'm sure that clown is long dead by now.)


February 15, 1882 -
Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.....



John Barrymore, noted thespian and alcoholic, was born into the bosom of his famous theatrical clan on this date.


February 15, 1898 –

The battleship U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana Harbor on this date, commencing a splendid little war against Spain that ends with Cuba under martial law and the United States owning a colonial empire.



The situation is immortalized in the film Citizen Kane with the lines, "You supply the prose poetry. We'll supply the war."


The first teddy bear was introduced in America by two Russian immigrants, Morris and Rose Michtom, who own a toy and novelty store in Brooklyn, New York on this date in 1903.



While bear hunting in Mississippi in 1902, President Teddy Roosevelt decided to spare the life of a bear cub which had been orphaned during the hunt. The event was the subject of a cartoon in the Washington Post seen by the Michtoms. Inspired by the cartoon, Mrs. Michtom made a toy bear which became enormously popular with the public in short order.

Now you know.


February 15, 1933 -
President-elect Franklin Roosevelt escaped an assassination attempt in Miami on this date. Giuseppe Zangara, an unemployed New Jersey bricklayer from Italy, fired five pistol shots at the back of President-elect Roosevelt's head from only twenty-five feet away.



While all five rounds missed their target, each bullet found a separate victim. One of these was Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago. Gunman Giuseppe Zangara was executed a little more than four weeks later, on March 20, 1933.


February 15, 1936 -
At a speech in Berlin on this date, Hitler confronts German industry with the challenge of creating the Volkswagen.



Thus Ferdinand Porsche designed the Beetle which is now widely seen as the final solution to fahrvergnugen.


February 15, 1961 -
The U.S. figure skating team is obliterated when Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium on this date.



The crash was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 707 in regular passenger service.


February 15, 1995 -
Kevin Mitnick, at the time the most wanted computer hacker in history, was arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina for various offenses, one of which was breaking into security specialist Tsutomu Shimomura's computer on this date.

Mitnick now runs Mitnick Security Consulting, a computer security consultancy.

Kids, sometimes, crimes does pay.


February 15, 2005 -
You Tube, the video-sharing website, was launched by three former PayPal employees on this date. The first video was uploaded on April 23, 2005.



I can't confirm that most videos posted on You Tube are any more interesting than the one posted above.


February 15, 2013 -
Chubby Checker was awarded an undisclosed amount in a lawsuit against Hewlett Packard on this date, for naming a penis measuring app after him.



The settlement agreement was never disclosed, and neither side has accepted liability, but Hewlett-Packard has apparently agreed not to use the singer’s stage name, related trademarks, or likeness on their products.

(A personal aside to Mr. Evans - while ones name means everything, a large settlement can be a balm to you, in your retirement years.)


Before you go - you may not know this but -



It's Annoy Squidward Day. So, should you see him, remember to annoy him.



And so it goes.

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other

(I'm so sorry - an unedited version of this was accidentially posted last night.)

We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving.

Happy Valentine's Day bunkies





Remember to enjoy the day and don't eat too much chocolate. And don't forget in NYC, in order to change one’s party enrollment for any primary election in 2026, your application must be received by the board of elections no later than today (I'm sure that piece of news will put you in the mood.)


For those of you not in a romantic mood today:
February 14, 1931 -
Just in time for the Valentine's Day holiday, Universal Pictures released Tod Browning's horror classic, Dracula, on this date.



A Spanish-language version, Drácula, was filmed at night on the same set at the same time, with Spanish-speaking actors.


February 14, 1962 -
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, with her breathless voice, takes television viewers on a tour of the White House, on CBS TV, on this date. (Haven't you always found it strange that Marylin Monroe and Jackie Kennedy basically had the same voice?)



It was estimated that hundreds of millions of people saw the program, making it the most widely viewed documentary during the genre's so-called golden age.


February 14, 1963 -
Twentieth Century Fox releases the sci-fi film The Day Mars Invaded Earth, directed by Maury Dexter and starring Kent Taylor and Marie Windsor, to U.S. theaters on this date.



Filmed at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Two years after this film was made, The City of Beverly Hills purchased the mansion in 1965. It was made into a public park in 1971. Greystone mansion was also used in The Loved One, in which one portion of the grounds appeared as the swimming pool where John Gielgud's character hangs himself, and one of the property's garden walkways "portrayed" Poet's Corner in the massive cemetery called Whispering Glades.


February 14, 1969 -
The Star Trek episode Requiem for Methuselah first airs on this date. In it, the crew is confronted by a reclusive immortal on an isolated planet while searching for a cure to a rare disease. When the show repeated in September of that year, it was the last official telecast of the series to air on NBC during it's initial run.



This is one of many Star Trek productions resembling William Shakespeare's The Tempest and/or Irving Block's Forbidden Planet.


February 14, 1970  –
Sly & the Family Stone's song Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and it's 'double A-side' Everybody Is a Star hit no. #1 on the Billboard charts at the same time on this date.





Sly Stone wrote this because he was upset that people were not listening to the messages in his songs even though the band was more popular then ever. They were an integrated band and tried to spread the message of racial harmony, but Stone thought that message was getting lost. The lyrics are scathing and mostly directed at Sly himself, but once again, many people lost the message in the powerful groove.


February 14, 1972 -
Starting on this date, The Mike Douglas Show broadcast a full week, five shows, with co-hosts John Lennon and Yoko Ono.



Mike Douglas described the experience this way: "It was probably the most memorable week I did in all my 20-something years on air." Although it wasn't all fun and games, two weeks after the show aired, the Nixon administration’s Immigration and Naturalization Service ordered Lennon out of the country.


February 14, 1987 –
The Bon Jovi song, Livin’ On A Prayer, hit No. 1 on this date.



Jon Bon Jovi wanted to leave Livin’ On A Prayer off the Slippery When Wet album, thinking it wasn't good enough. But, a chance meeting with a group of teenage fans changed his mind and it was added to the album.



February 14, 1991 -
Another fine film for Valentines Day - The Silence of the Lambs, based on the book by Thomas Harris, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, premiered in the US on this date.



The real-life FBI's Behavioral Science Unit assisted in the making of this movie. Jodie Foster spent a great deal of time with FBI agent Mary Ann Krause prior to filming. Krause gave Foster the idea of Starling standing by her car crying. Krause told Foster that at times, the work just became so overwhelming that it was a good way to get an emotional release.


February 14, 1992 -
Besides learning that we are all not worthy of being in Alice Cooper's presence, we learned that "Milwaukee" is Algonquin for "the good land," when Wayne's World, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey premiered on this date.



Alice Cooper came to the set under the impression that he would be performing musically for the film, with one line. Upon arrival, he was surprised to be handed an entire monologue to memorize and shoot with a small amount of time to do so. However, Cooper is known to be a history buff outside of his music career.

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


Today in History:
February 14, 1400 -
... How some have been depos’d, some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed,
Some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping kill’d,
All murdered ...



King Richard II of England, who had been deposed in 1399, died mysteriously on this date.


February 14, 1779 -
English explorer Captain James Cook and some of his crew are slaughtered (and possibly eaten) by angry Hawaiian islanders, after he tried to take a Hawaiian chief hostage over a dispute regarding a stolen boat.



There was possibly a better way to get the deposit back on a boat.


February 14, 1823 -
In honor of the Duke of Wellington, England erected the first nude public statue since antiquity — an 18ft bronze Achilles, (created from the loot of the British victories in France, 33 tons of captured French cannons) — in London's Hyde Park on June 18, 1822.

It caused such uproar, a fig leaf was added on this date.


February 14, 1849 –
On this date, in New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

The daguerreotype was taken by famous photographer Matthew Brady. (According to some sources, after delivering his 1841 inaugural speech, President Harrison posed for a daguerreotype. Harrison died after only 31 days into his term. That photograph, if it existed, has since been lost.)


February 14, 1929 -
The Capone gang killed six members of the Bugs Moran gang and one other person at the S.M.C. Cartage company in Chicago, in an event known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Bogus police officers were used so that it appeared to be a routine police bust. Except for all the bodies.



The bloody St. Valentine's Day Massacre stirred a media storm centered on Capone and his illegal Prohibition-era activities and motivated federal authorities to redouble their efforts to find evidence incriminating enough to take him off the streets.


February 14, 1948 -
Raymond Joseph Teller (Teller) an illusionist, comedian and writer best known as the silent half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn and Teller, accomplished sleight of hand artist, painter, atheist, debunker, skeptic and Fellow of the Cato Institute was born on this date.



He legally changed his name to Teller and possesses one of the few United States passports issued in a single name.

Yeah, he can speak (you idiots.)


February 14, 1989 –
Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.



Still, 30 years later, threats against Salman Rushdie's life persist. Although mass protests have stopped, the themes and questions raised in his novel remain hotly debated.


February 14, 1990 -
The Pale Blue Dot photograph of planet Earth was taken on this date, by the Voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 3. 7 billion miles (6 billion kms).

In the photograph, Earth's apparent size is less than a pixel; the planet appears as a tiny dot against the vastness of space, among bands of sunlight scattered by the camera's optics.

We are truly but stardust.



And so it goes.

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