Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Oh , Happy Day!

Elvis Costello and Elmo together at last.



Now if only they can bring Van Morrison and Oscar the Grouch together.


October 18 is Alaska Day in the U.S. state of Alaska, observed on this date. Previously, they tried celebrating Alaska Day in Hawaii on this date. A general feeling of confusion ensued.

It is the anniversary of the formal transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russia to the United States which took place at a flag-raising ceremony at Fort Sitka on October 18, 1867.


October 18, 1961 -
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' film version of Broadway musical, West Side Story, premiered in New York City on this date.



The stage version was originally planned as a story about a Catholic boy falling in love with a Jewish girl. The working title was "East Side Story". After a boom of Puerto Rican immigration to New York in the late 1940s and 1950s, the story was changed, and the show opened on Broadway in 1957 as "West Side Story".


October 18, 1967 -
The 19th animated feature and the first film Disney Studios released after Walt Disney's death, Jungle Book, premiered on this date.



When Gregory Peck was the President of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Science, he tried his hardest to get a full-length animated feature film (most notably the The Jungle Book) not only nominated for Best Picture Academy Award but actually win the award. He resigned as President in 1970 when other members didn't agree with him about animated films being nominated for the award. It would be over 20 years later before the Academy would reconsider, allowing Beauty and the Beast to be nominated.


October 18, 1988 -
Poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, sex, menstruation, birth control, teenage pregnancy, masturbation, obesity, abortion, race, social class, domestic violence, and homosexuality - some of the topics dealt with on the series, Roseanne (which premiered on this date.)



Not only did two actresses play Becky (Alicia Goranson and Sarah Chalke) but there were also two D.Js (Sal Barone and Michael Fishman), two actresses playing Dan's mother Audrey Conner (Ann Wedgeworth and Debbie Reynolds), three actors playing Crystal's son Lonnie (Josh C. Williams, Luke Edward and Kristopher Kent Hill) and two actors playing DJ's best friend Todd (Troy Davidson and Adam Hendershott.) All three of Roseanne's husbands (Bill Pentland, Tom Arnold and Ben Thomas) made at least one guest appearance on the show.


Today in History:
October 18, 1767 -
The border between Maryland and Pennsylvania was settled on this date. Dubbed the Mason-Dixon line, it became the unofficial boundary between North and South.



Bad confederates, bad.


October 18,1898 -
The United States took control of Puerto Rico one year after Spain had granted self-rule to the Caribbean nation. Since1917, people born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens.



So class, that makes all Puerto Ricans - U.S. citizens.


October 18, 1931 -
Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors (and evil businessmen) in history, forgot to file a patent on avoiding death so he died in West Orange, N.J., at the age of 84.



Bad Grim Reaper, bad.


October 18, 1945 -
The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for America's plutonium bomb, courtesy of secret agent Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Bad spy, bad spy.


October 18, 1959 -
The Soviet Union announced an unmanned space vehicle had taken the first pictures of the far side of the moon.



Remember kids, there is no dark side of the moon - it's all dark.


October 18, 1968 -
A police with the help of two sniffer dogs, named Yogi and Boo-Boo, raid the apartment of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and finds a very small amount of pot. The couple is fined £150 .



Bad Beatle, bad Beatle.


October 18, 1974 -
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, based loosely on Ed Gein's story opened in theatres on this date. At the time of release, the film was so strongly criticized for its content that it was eventually banned in various countries around the world, including Australia and the United Kingdom.



The human skeleton in the house at the end of the movie was a real human skeleton. They used a real one because a human skeleton from India is far cheaper then a fake plastic skeleton.

Bad psycho killer, bad psycho killer.


October 18, 1974 -
The jury in the Watergate cover-up trial heard a tape recording in which U.S. President Richard Nixon told aide John Dean to try to stop the Watergate burglary investigation before it implicated White House personnel.

Bad Dick, bad.


October 18, 1984 -
U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered an investigation of a CIA handbook for Nicaraguan rebels that suggested assassination as a political tactic.

Bad - oh forget it, he's dead.


Before I forget, America has spoken and here is the worst commercial currently on the air:



It's just so delightfully wrong on so many levels.



And so it goes

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