Does anybody really know what time it is?

(We're on the road, so today is an abbreviated version.)
Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19  -  There is no specific time zone at the South Pole.



This is because all the longitude lines on the planet meet up there (because the planet isn’t flat). The stations on the South Pole use the time zone of the country that owns them, meaning two stations near each other could be using two different time zones.


Today is Read a Book Day, which should not be confused with National Book Lovers Day, celebrated on August 9th.



I've just recently read Food in History by Reay Tannahill.


September 6, 1925 -
The silent-film The Phantom of the Opera, starring, Lon Chaney (who considered it his crowning achievement) premiered in NYC on this date.



Gregory Peck's earliest movie memory is of being so scared by The Phantom of the Opera at age 9 that his grandmother allowed him to sleep in the bed with her that night.


September 6, 1936 -
The classic screwball comedy, My Man Godfrey, premiered on this date.



Jane Wyman has an uncredited role. She can be seen standing at the back of the crowd in the Waldorf Ritz Hotel as Godfrey makes his speech condemning them all as "nitwits".


September 6, 1944 -
Billy Wilder's film-noir classic, Double Indemnity, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson, opened in NYC on this date.



Author James M. Cain later admitted that if he had come up with some of the solutions to the plot that screenwriters Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did, he would have employed them in his original novel.


September 6, 1958 -
Steve McQueen debuted in the western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive, on CBS-TV on this date.



Steve McQueen was hired after Jack H. Harris, who was producing The Blob gave him a glowing reference to Dick Powell (the head of Four Star Productions). Powell also asked for, and was granted, the opportunity to view a rough cut of that film.


September 6, 1967 -
One of the seminal documentaries of the 60s, Don't Look Back directed by D. A. Pennebaker was released in NYC on this date.



The scene where Donovan visits Dylan in his hotel was generally viewed as Dylan putting the young singer-songwriter in his place when he grabs the guitar and performs It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. But a 2015 Criterion Collection remaster, with improved sound, revealed that Donovan actually requested Dylan play that song for him. That gave the entire scene a new meaning and revealed Dylan and Donovan as more friends than rivals.


A book for every parent of an unexpected returning college student


Today in History:
September 6, 1776 -
American's first submersible, David Bushnell's egg-shaped Turtle, piloted by Erza Lee (after Ezra Bushnell, David's brother, the submarine's initial captain, died the night before) unsuccessfully attacked the British-vessel HMS Eagle in New York harbor on this date.



The bomb was released into the water and resulted in a frightening explosion. While the American Turtle failed to destroy its target, the British recognized the threat and moved the fleet. Royal Navy logged and reported from this period make no mention of this incident, and it is possible that the Turtle's attack may be more submarine legend than historical event.


September 6, 1901 -
While shaking hands at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, President William McKinley was shot twice in the abdomen at point-blank range with a .32 caliber revolver, on this date. He, unintentionally, became the first President to ride in an automobile as a motorized ambulance takes him to a hospital.



The assassin, an anarchist by the name of Leon Frank Czolgosz, concealed his gun within a handkerchief, actually was a lone gunman (for once). McKinley died a week later and became the third American president assassinated.


September 6, 1916 -
Clarence Saunders opened the Piggly Wiggly® grocery store (the first self-service market,) at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee, 103 years ago on this date. Piggly Wiggly's introduction of self-service grocery shopping truly revolutionized the grocery industry.

There were shopping baskets, open shelves and no clerks to shop for the customer – all unheard of at the time. There are still more than 600 Piggly Wiggly stores in the US today.


Although there can be no royalty in the United States, one young woman, is crowned each year as Miss America. The first such coronation was held for Margaret Gorman, on September 6, 1921.

Miss America reigns for one year, at which point she must retire-unless she removes her clothing, in which case she's deposed. (Or is that denuded?)


September 6, 1951 -
During a drinking party in Mexico City, author William S. Burroughs instructed his wife Joan Vollmer to balance a glass of gin on her head. He then takes careful aim with his new .38 pistol, and unintentionally blows her brains out in front of their friends. The Mexican authorities later charge Burroughs with criminal imprudence.

So kids remember, when a drunken Beat drug addict writer asks you to play "William Tell" - Just Say No!!!


September 6, 1966 -
Parliamentary messenger Demetrios Tsafendas assassinated Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, considered to be the primary architect of Apartheid, by stabbing him in his chest on the floor of the South African legislature.

While Verwoerd died shortly thereafter, Apartheid tenaciously clung to life until 1994.


September 6, 1976 -
Years after their well-publicized break-up, Frank Sinatra privately orchestrated a surprise appearance of Dean Martin on Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day telethon for the MDA. The two privately reconciled and maintained a relationship throughout the rest of their lives.



If only Sinatra could have knock off broads and booze long enough to deal with the whole Covid-19 situation.



And so it goes


Before you go: Kids, if it gives you any comfort, there are only 110 days until Christmas -



make good choices


136