Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Todays moment of zen

Buddy I have a bone to pick with you;

this is not how I imagined coming back.


March 29, 1943 -
You initially become funny as a kid because you're looking for attention and love. Psychologists think that's all to do with mother abandonment. I think John Cleese has his depressions, and Terry Gilliam's the same. All of us together make one completely insane person.



Eric Idle, comedian and composer, made his first public appearance at Harton Hospital, South Shields, England on this date. (Eric and John Cleese are presently on tour in Australia.)


March 29, 1959 -
Billy Wilder 's film, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, premiered on this date.



Supposedly when Orry-Kelly was measuring all three stars for dresses, he half-jokingly told Marilyn Monroe, "Tony Curtis has a nicer butt than you," at which point Monroe pulled open her blouse and said, "Yeah, but he doesn't have tits like these!"


March 29, 1975 -
Labelle's song Lady Marmalade (psst, it's about New Orleans prostitutes) hit no. #1 on this date. (Please clear a space around your desk, while watching this clip; you will immediately feel the need to shake your groove thing and might injury yourself otherwise.)



The chorus of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir" is French for "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" When Labelle performed this on television, broadcast standards of the day prohibited them from singing the chorus as written. It was changed to "Voulez-vous danser avec moi ce soir" (do you want to dance with me).


Today in History:
Georges Seurat
died on March 29, 1891. Mr. Seurat was a dotty artist who painted the world as he saw it.



Sadly, his eye condition was never treated.


March 29, 1932 -
A vaudeville comedian made his radio debut, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Jack Benny talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, 'Who cares?' "



The eternally 39 year old Benjamin Kubelsky premiered on his weekly radio show which ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1948 to 1955 on CBS, and was consistently among the most highly rated programs during most of that run.


March 29, 1951 -
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were both convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage on this date. While Julius probably pass along secrets to the Soviets, recently declassified documents show that none of them lead to the development of the Russian nuclear weapons.



Ethel, unfortunately, is another matter. The same declassified document show that the government never believed that Ethel had anything to do with the case and the prosecution led by the lovely Roy Cohn wanted to use her as a 'lever' to pressure Julius into giving up the names of others who were involved.

She was mainly convicted on the testimony of her brother David Greenglass, a co-defendant in their trial. Greenglass was spared execution in exchange for his testimony. In late 2001, Greenglass recanted all of his testimony against his sister and claimed that he had committed perjury when he testified about her involvement in the case. Greenglass said he chose to falsely testify against his sister in order to protect his wife, who in fact was spying for the Russian.

Isn't sibling love grand?


March 29, 1977 -
Lee Harvey Oswald's best friend, and coincidentally a friend of both Jackie Kennedy and George HW Bush, Dallas socialite George de Mohrenschildt died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the mouth, on this date.



It is likely he was going to be called to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.


March 29, 1979 -
A U.S. House of Representatives committee report finds that John F. Kennedy's assassination was the result of a conspiracy.

D'uh


March 29, 1992 -
Arkansas Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Clinton told the New York Times on this date: "When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale, and never tried it again."



Strangely, the POTUS and Monica Lewinsky had an 'encounter' on this date in 1997. It would be their final 'liaison'.

But remember, he did not have sexual relations with that woman.



And so it goes.


Before I let you go - Here's yet another moment of zen:



Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street perform the Warren G and Nate Dogg classic, Regulate.

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