Why am I here? What was I meant to be?

December 7, 1945 -
Universal Pictures released the horror film House of Dracula, directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Martha O’Driscoll and Lionel Atwill, on this date.



This is the only film in which Lon Chaney Jr.'s character Lawrence Talbot sports a mustache.


December 7, 1958 -
Tim Butler, bass player and co-founder of the Psychedelic Furs was born on this date.



We'll let him serenade Joan, the birthday girl. (It would be very rude to ask how old she is?)


December 7, 1960 -
MGM released the science fiction film Village of the Damned, directed by Wolf Rilla and starring George Sanders on this date.




The eerie effect of the children's glowing eyes was created by matting a negative (reversed) image of their eyes over the pupils when they used their powers.


December 7, 1979 -
Paramount Pictures released the science fiction film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise and starring a bunch of TV actors on this date.



The producers and the cast were very worried about their appearance after being away from Star Trek for ten years. Special lighting and camera tricks were used to hide the cast's aging, and William Shatner went on a near-starvation diet prior to filming. However, in all subsequent Star Trek movies it was decided to make the aging of the crew part of the story.


Today's holiday special: Do people still wear stove top hats?

Today in History:
December 7, 43 BC -
Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his errors.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, famous Roman writer and orator, literally gets his head handed to him on this date, when soldier in Marc Antony's army chopped off his head and right hand then displayed them in the Roman Forum.

Now there's a holiday display you don't see that often.


December 7, 185 -
Emperor Lo-Yang of China took a stroll on in his imperial garden on this evening and saw a Supernova.



What he was doing listening to Oasis is anybody's guess?


December 7, 1907 -
Christmas seals first went on sale in the United States went to raise funds to treat tuberculosis, after Emily Bissell, a social worker and activist, read about the program in an article by Jacob Riis.

In 1903, Einar Holbøll, a Danish postal clerk developed the idea of adding an extra charitable stamp on mailed holiday greetings during Christmas. The money raised could be used to help children sick with tuberculosis.


It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor. The attack came after the United States had frozen Japanese assets and declared an embargo on shipments of petroleum to Japan.

On the morning of December 7, soldiers at Pearl Harbor were learning how to use a new device called radar, and they detected a large number of planes heading toward them. They telephoned an officer to ask him what to do. The officer said they must be American B-17s on their way to the base, and he told the soldiers not to worry about it.



A sailor named James Jones, who would go on to write the novel From Here to Eternity, was in the mess hall that morning.

There were ultimately 2,390 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor and 1,178 wounded. Two days after the attack, the Navy passed out postcards to the survivors and told them to write to their families, but not to describe what had happened. Some families did not get their postcards until February.


December 7, 1949 -
It's Tom Waits' birthday today.

Martha -




Frank's Wild Years  -




Hell Broke Luce -




And the Acme Co. always happy to sponsor that Christmas Classic, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis -



Let's all get drunk and sing really sad songs in a raspy voice in his honor.


December 7, 1968 -
The Rolling Stones released their album Beggar’s Banquet in the US (one day after it was released in the UK,) on this date.



They soon filmed a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. After reviewing the program, the Stones felt that they were upstaged by the Who’s performance and the film was shelved until 1996, when it was finally released officially.


And so it goes.



There are 9 days until the start of Hanukkah.

There are 18 days until Christmas.