It's nice when you can remember something

I have been trying to remember this Nick Drake song, Pink Moon, for ages.  It's been playing for a while, in my mind, like a radio in another room.



This isn't so bad an ear worm to have.


November 19, 1959 -
The first episode of Rocky & His Friends aired on this date.



Many of you know this famous line, Hey Rocky want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat? But what you probably don't know is the line was originally, Hey Rocky, want to see me pull a hamster out of my ass?

TV censors were not amused.


November 19, 1975 -
One of Jack Nicholson's greatest performances, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, opened in the US on this date.



Louise Fletcher was signed a week before filming began, after auditioning repeatedly over six months; director Milos Forman had told her each time that she just wasn't approaching the part correctly, but kept calling her back.


November 19, 1980 -
It fails so completely that you might suspect Mr. Cimino sold his soul to obtain the success of The Deer Hunter and the Devil has just come around to collect. - Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Michael Cimino's 'tainted masterpiece', Heaven's Gate premiered on this date.



33 years later - By all means see it on the big screen if only to appreciate the enormity of Mr. Cimino's efforts.  A fascinating artifact and a monument to Mr. Cimino's towering ambitions, as much for himself as for his art. He sought to recreate the Old West in the film, but the greater marvel is how he tried to replicate Old Hollywood and a dream world that once was - a world that these days is often made in computers. – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times


Today in History:
November 19, 1581 -
Russian Czar Ivan The Terrible killed his son, Ivan The Merely Petulant on this date. The younger Ivan interrupted the elder Ivan, who was beating Ivan Jr's pregnant wife because of her inappropriate garb. Still in a fit of rage, dad smote his son with a staff, killing him dead.



This is what passed for family life amongst the Royals in the Middle Ages in Russia.


November 19, 1620 -
A group of maniacal religious fanatics reached North America and stepped ashore on Plymouth Rock on this date. Because America did not yet have a Puritan Government, they developed the Mayflower Compact while still at sea. (William Bradford had argued for a Sporty Coupe, but the more practical John Alden had carried the day.)



Eventually the descendants of these frugal and passionately religious people would invent apps that enable the downloading of pornography to your smart phones around the world at light speed.


November 19, 1703 -
The Man in the Iron Mask died in the Bastille on this date.

He was a prisoner of Louis XIV, forced to wear a black velvet mask, and his identity has never been revealed.


Seven score and ten years ago today (November 19, 1863) -
President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on this date.



The speech remains an important part of American history on account of its having been written on the back of an envelope despite stringent postal requirements that addresses be printed clearly on the front.


November 19, 1954 -
Driving to Los Angeles, Sammy Davis, Jr. was in a serious automobile accident in San Bernardino on this date.



He lost his left eye, but the resultant publicity greatly accelerated his career.


November 19, 1961 -
Michael Rockefeller, 23 year old son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (later Vice President), was last seen while searching for Asmat wood carvings in the jungles near Atsj, Papua New Guinea on this date.

He was probably eaten by the Asmat. Hence the motto, "Eat the Rich".



And so it goes

There are 10 days until Thanksgiving and the start of Hanukkah.
There are 36 days until Christmas.