The snow seems to be over, you can come out now.

There were 8" of snow in NYC - time to start digging out.. Unless you plan to stay in until Monday morning.


It is Bathtub Day,



Toothache Day and



Bagels and Lox Day today.



I'm not quite sure why?


February 9, 1976 -
Paul Simon's song, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, hits number 1 on this date.



Paul Simon only listed five ways to leave your lover,  which are:

Slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy, just set yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
Drop of the key, Lee, and get yourself free.

We still await the other 45!


Today in History -
On February 9, 772, Adrian I was elected pope. His election was won largely due to strong Frank support. (This Gaelic support system was the precursor to French support, which remains anything but Frank.)

Adrian worked closely with Charlemagne, also known as Carolus Magnus (Big Chuck), the inventor of France.


William Henry Harrison was born on February 9, 1773. Mr. Harrison was the ninth president of the United States.



He died after 32 days in office, although historians are quick to point out that it has never been adequately proven that he was alive prior to his inauguration.


February 9, 1825 -
John Quincy Adams became the Sixth U.S. President, despite losing the popular vote.  Adams was elected by the House of Representatives on this date after the Electoral College could not arrive at a majority.



His appointment was largely due to the influence of Henry Clay (then Speaker of the House and also a candidate for the presidency in 1824), whom Adams later appointed as his Secretary of State.


The Great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky died on February 9, 1881.

He died of natural causes in Moscow, and over 40,000 mourners turned out for his funeral but what the hell do you care, you didn't read him anyway.


February 9, 1894 -
Chocoholics everwhere rejoice!



Milton Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company and began experimenting with a process mastered by the Swiss — mixing milk with chocolate on this date.


February 9, 1909 -
The first federal law prohibiting the importation of opium is enacted, The Opium Exclusion Act of 1909 on this date.

It is aimed not particularly at the ravages the drug was having on American society but at the Chinese (note: white people weren't using opium in large quantities at the time.)


February 9, 1933 -
Based on the Mae West play Diamond Lil, She Done Him Wrong, opened in general release on this date. This was one of the last films to be made before the introduction of the Production Code.



Mae West was signed by Paramount in 1931 to make a film adaptation of her stage success Diamond Lil. They then spent the next two years trying to figure out a way of getting the material past the censors. The battle over Diamond Lil led to the head of the Production Board, James Wingate, quitting and being replaced by the much more hardline Joseph Breen who was prompted to set up a fairly stringent and moral Production Code.


February 9, 1942 -
The former French cruise ship Normandie, launched in 1935, burned in New York Harbor during its conversion to an Allied trip transport ship on this date.



It was once regarded as most elegant ocean liner ever built. In 1947 it was cut up for scrap.


February 9, 1950 -
Senator Joseph McCarthy announces he has a list of 205 State Department employees who are Communist Party members on this date.



He did not mention that J. Edgar Hoover likes to wear garters and pumps.


February 9, 1964 -
The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date. Approximately 74 million viewers (about half of the American population) watched the group perform on the show.



If you listen very quietly, you can still hear those little girls screaming at the Ed Sullivan Theatre.


February 9, 1971 -
All in the Family aired what TV scholars believe to be the first positive portrayal of a gay issue on American television on this date.



Guest stars Anthony Geary and Philip Carey both went on to play long running roles on popular ABC Soap Operas. Geary as Luke Spencer on General Hospital, and Carey as Asa Buchannan on One Life to Live.


February 9, 1997 -
The Fox cartoon series Simpsons became the longest-running animated series in cartoon history when it aired it's 167th episode on this date.



"I can't believe we've been annoying people for this long," executive producer and show creator Matt Groening told the Associated Press.


Remember tomorrow is the start of Chinese New Year - The Year of the Snake. 

So that makes tonight New Year's Eve - please party responsibly.



And so it goes.