Dead presidents we can fold

We should wish George Washington, a very happy birthday,

but they've moved his birthday a couple of times and he's quite dead -  so why bother


It's Peppermint Patty Day - No, not this one

This one



It's minty chocolatey goodness. (Great bar bet - her real name is Patricia Reichart.)


February 11, 1960 -
Jack Paar, temperament host of the Tonight Show, in a fit of pique, walks off his TV show when he is not allowed to tell a very lame joke about W.C. 's on this date.



Yes Jack, there is a better way to make a living than this, nowadays, you would be allowed to broadcast live while you are getting a colonoscopy.


February 11, 1970 -
The film version of the Terry Southern novel, The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo, and featuring the music of Badfinger, premiered in New York City on this date.



Peter Sellers gave Stanley Kubrick a copy of the original novel during the filming of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, in the hope Kubrick would want to direct an adaptation. While Kubrick passed on the idea, author Terry Southern became a key contributor to the Dr. Strangelove script, as Kubrick changed his approach from drama to comedy.


February 11, 1975 -
One of the most iconic films of the 70s, Shampoo, directed by Hal Ashby, written by Robert Towne and starring Warren Beatty was released on this date.



The lead character was based on actual hairdresser Jay Sebring and Jon Peters.


February 11, 1975 -
NBC-TV premiered the TV movie Sarah T: Portrait of A Teenage Alcoholic, directed by Richard Donner starring Linda Blair, Larry Hagman, William Daniels and Mark Hammill, on this date.



While Richard Donner was on a talk show discussing Superman, which he had recently directed, and was asked questions about his early directorial work. However, he couldn't remember the name of this film. He ended up calling it Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, which was directed by Randal Kleiser.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
On February 11, 1573, Francis Drake saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time on this date, and this is noteworthy, since 100's of thousands of West Coast living indigenous Native Americans saw it before they went to bed the night before.

And he still had time to create those delicious little cakes.


February 11, 1650 -
Rene Descartes, mathematician, drunken fart and philosopher best known for his statement "I think therefore I am", stops thinking on this date.



Queen Christina of Sweden (remember - the boy queen - see December 18 ) persuaded Descartes to come to Stockholm. On this date, after only a few months in that cold climate, he died of pneumonia.

Kids let this be a lesson to you - never accept an invitation from transvestite royalty.


Friedrich Ebert was elected the first president of the German Republic on February 11, 1919.

President Ebert brought about the Weimar constitution that eventually resulted in Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

I bet he didn't see that coming.


February 11, 1929 -
The Lateran Treaty was signed on this date - Mussolini granted recognition to the Vatican in return for their support of his fascist dictatorship.

Kids, here's another lesson for you - entering a treaty with balding dictators can never lead to anything good.


February 11, 1948 -
BBC Television produced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term robot.

The show was a thirty-five-minute adaptation of a section of the play, performed live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios. The BBC had no professional facility for recording programs in those pre-war days, so save a few on-set publicity photographs and reviews in the press, all records of this production are lost.


February 11, 1962 -
Sheryl Suzanne Crow, singer-songwriter, musician and Michael Jackson backup singer survivor, was born on this date.





When sending birthday wishes, don' t bring up any of her exes.


February 11, 1963 -
American writer Sylvia Plath, committed suicide by asphyxiation from a gas stove (sticking her head in the oven) in London after her husband, English poet Ted Hughes, left her for another woman.



Assia Wevill, the woman for whom Hughes left Plath committed suicide 6 years later.


February 11, 1969 -
Our lady of the perpetual bad relationship, Jennifer Aniston, once again single, was born on this date.





Jennifer deserves to be well and happy (Greek girls always have a special place in my heart.)


February 11, 1979 -
Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile on this date.



But 43 million people in the US try to seek salvation by watching Elvis! on ABC-TV on this date.



Most do not find it because they forgot to place one hand on the TV screen and the other hand upon their damp nether regions.

When will the damned ever learn!


February 11, 1986 -
Frank Herbert, author of Dune, died from pancreatic cancer on this date.



If only he had access to the spice Melange.


February 11, 1990 -
Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, was freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa on this date.



In April 1994, he was elected president in the first all-race elections.  If only he had access to the spice Melange years earlier.


February 11,  2006 -
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot Harry Whittington, a major Texas Republican insider, in the face while bird hunting on this date.



Almost immediately after being released from the hospital, a shaken Whittington, apologizes to the Vice President for getting in his line of fire. After this event, no one in Washington D.C. messed with Dick Cheney.



And so it goes.


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