All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity.

We here at ACME hope that you're enjoying your last hot dog and ice cold beer of the summer today, but let's remember that there is actual a point to Labor Day -



to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers.  Keep in mind, the first minimum wage was established in the USA in 1938 –



for all of 25 cents per hour (adjusted for inflation, that would be worth $4.19 today.)



And please, don't make John Waters unhappy - tomorrow don't wear white


September 3, 1965 -
Carlos Irwin Estévez, actor, recovering substance abuser and noted panderer is another year older today.



Say what you want about Charlie; he seems to know how to live on his own terms and makes it work.


September 3, 1973 -
The Rolling Stones released their hit, Angie, on this date.



The big rumor about this song is that it was written about David Bowie's wife, Angela, who wrote in her autobiography that she once walked in on Bowie and Mick Jagger in bed together - a story Jagger vehemently denies.


September 3, 1964 -
The Animals charted No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their hit The House Of The Rising Sun, on this date.



The melody is a traditional English ballad, but the song became popular as an African-American folk song. It was recorded by Texas Alexander in the 1920s, then by a number of other artists including Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and later Nina Simone. It was her version The Animals first heard. No one can claim rights to the song, meaning it can be recorded and sold royalty-free. This was the first song since 1962 by a British band to hit #1 in America that was not written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.


September 3, 1982 -
Cameron Crowe's coming of age teen comedy (directed by Amy Heckerling), Fast Times at Ridgemont High, went into general release on this date.



During shooting of the film, Sean Penn got so into character that he only answered as Spicoli. In fact, the door on his dressing room was labeled "Spicoli" instead of "Sean Penn".


September 3, 1983 -
One of the songs that defined MTV in the 80s, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics, giving them their only US chart topper.



In 1978, Squeeze had a UK hit with Take Me I'm Yours, which features the line "Dreams are made of this" in the chorus.



Marilyn Manson recorded the song in 1995, giving a much darker tone to the song.



(In Manson's auto-biography, he related to this song by mentioning that he met people who wanted to be abused by him; and who wanted to use him as well.)


Word of the day


Today in History:
On September 3, 301, during an epic game of hide-and-seek, St. Marinus the Stonemason ran up Mount Titano in Italy to hide from the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

It was a good hiding spot and he was never found.



He started his own country to pass the time and Most Serene Republic of San Marino survives to this day.


On September 3, 1189, Richard Lionheart, an enthusiastic french speaking sodomite (which was technical illegal in England,) was crowned King of England on this date.

The son of Henry II (no relation to Rocky II) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard spent most of his ten-year reign abroad. For two of these years he was imprisoned by the Holy Roman Emperor, who was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an emperor, but a nasty little man just the same.



When Richard finally returned to English soil he discovered there had been Intrigues, some of which involved his brothers. He therefore crossed the Channel and defeated France before dying from an arrow wound to the neck inflicted by an 11 year old boy.



He had only produced one son, and the most crushing defeat of Richard's tragic life was his discovery that the child was a little bastard.


September 3, 1838 -
Frederick Douglass escaped slavery disguised as a sailor on this date. Later he wrote about his experiences in a book called The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, the title of which may have diminished the effectiveness of his disguise.

(Publishers thought The Narrative Life of a Muscular and Barechested Black Guy Wearing Snug Fitting Sailor Pants with No Underwear would have limited appeal outside certain fetishist circles.)


September 3, 1935 -
Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive a car more than 300 miles per hour on this date.



Campbell achieved a speed of 301.337 miles per hour at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. It was also the first time traffic cop adds "Wow!" to the usual "Do you know how fast you were going?"


September 3, 1939 -
Germany continued its invasion of Poland even though Britain had asked it very nicely to stop.



This upset the British sensibility. They declared war on Germany. France followed suit six hours later quickly joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada, making this the official launch of World War II in Europe on this date.


September 3, 2004 -
A siege on a Russian school ended with more than 300 people dead, many of them children.  The school had been taken hostage by Chechen terrorists on September 1st.



To bring an end to the hostage situation, the Russian military (purportedly under direct order from President Vladimir Putin, who was able to use the crisis to consolidate more power for the Russian Presidency) stormed the school with explosives. 334 hostages died and several hundred others were injured or missing.



And so it goes


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