Today is the first Advent Sunday of this season.

Advent means 'Coming' in Latin. It is a time to "get ready" for the celebration of Christmas. (The first candle represents HOPE. I didn't just joke around at St. John's; once in a blue moon, I paid attention.)

Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas (those trying to figure out their Advent Calendars, you should have opened the first window on the First of December).


December 3, 1927 -
The first 'official' film of the great comedy team, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Putting Pants on Philip, premiered on this date.



Although they had appeared in several films together at this point, Stan Laurel considered this the first official Laurel and Hardy film.


December 3, 1948 -
John Michael Osbourne, rock star, 'Prince Of Darkness', drug use casualty and animal vivisectionist is born on this date.



Continue to ride the Beast, Ozzy!


December 3, 1968 -
Touch the screen and feel the healing powers of his 'hunka, hunka burning love' course through your lions.



St. Elvis appeared to his devoted acolytes on this date. The leather clad Elvis - not the sweaty holy Elvis. This is the "Elvis has left the building" Elvis.


December 3, 1976 -




During a shoot for the cover of Pink Floyds the Animals album, one of the props, an inflatable pig broke free due to a strong gust of wind (gaining a lot of press coverage). The pig, named Algie, floated above Battersea Power Station, then disappeared from sight within five minutes, and was spotted by airline pilots at forty thousand feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aircraft, eastwards from Britain and out over the English Channel, finally landing on a rural farm in Kent that night.



A few years ago to commemorate the special reissue of the entire Pink Floyd catalog, the band recreated the album’s cover. The original Algie could not be used because it was too leaky. (There is nothing worse than a leaky rubber pig.)


December 3, 1998 -
The romantic comedy film Shakespeare in Love, premiered in NYC on this date.



Judi Dench won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Queen Elizabeth, although she is on-screen for only about six minutes in four scenes.


December 3, 2010 -
Darren Aronofsky's intense psychological drama, The Black Swan, starring  Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder went into a limited release in the U.S. on this date.



Darren Aronofsky tried to pit Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis against each other during filming in an attempt to increase the on-screen tension between their characters. This included keeping the two actresses separated during filming and sending each of them intimidating text messages about each others performance that day. However, according to Kunis, this backfired; because they were already good friends before filming, whenever they would get wind that the other one was doing really well, they would respond in congratulatory support, not rivalry.


Another site along the lost highway (Today's holiday special honors St. Elvis)


Today in History:
December 3, 1552 -
Francis Xavier was a saint with a few too many fans. In the early 16th century, the Spanish missionary was sent to Asia by the king of Portugal to convert as many souls to Christianity as possible. Turns out, he was pretty good at the job.



Francis Xavier became wildly popular, and after his death in 1552, so did his relics.

In fact, demand out-fueled supply. Throughout several years and multiple exhumations, his body was whittled away.

Today, a piece of the venerated saint is in Cochin, India, while his humurus is in Malacca, Malaysia. One of his arms resides in Rome, and various other cities lay claim to his internal organs. The leftovers? They went to Goa, India.


December 3, 1890 -
Isaac Jordan, the U.S. Congressional Representative from the great state of Ohio, died after taking a drunken stumble down an open elevator shaft in his law offices on this date.

Remember to check if the elevator is there when entering, especially if you are drunk.


December 3, 1967 -
The first successful heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christaan Barnard at Capetown, South Africa, on this date. The patient, Louis Washkansky, lived 18 days with the new heart.



While a practical artificial heart may someday become a reality, transplants of real human hearts would become widely accepted surgery, with some patients living on new hearts for many years.


December 3, 1979 -
Festival seating anyone - At Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on this date, eleven concertgoers were trampled several dozen others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by The Who.



Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to the concern of people sneaking past the ticket turnstiles.


December 3, 1984 -
Methyl Isocyanate leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant located at a slum in Bhopal, India on this date. The gas killed 4,000 people and injured 200,000 others, many of whom were permanently blinded or disabled.



The event set a standard for industrial accidents that has yet to be equaled.

What else can one say.



And so it goes

1148


Before you go - Puddles does a nice acoustic version of a song I wasn't familiar with from the heavy metal band DIO - Rainbow In The Dark:



I'm guessing from the postings on the video that the DIO fans love it.