Can they be any cuter?

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Sea otters hold hands when they sleep so they don’t drift away from each other.



This is a method mostly used by a mother and her pup to prevent them from separating. Other than holding hands, they may also wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting away.


Last night was the unofficial start of London’s holiday season, when the annual lighting ceremony of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is held on the first Thursday in December.



The tree is a gift given to Britain by the people of Norway as a thank you for support during the Second World War. The tradition has been ongoing since 1947. The Lord Mayor of Westminster Councillor Jonathan Glanz hosted the Mayor of Oslo and the Norwegian Ambassador. (They also lit the tree in Boston Commons last night but more about it on Sunday.)


December 4, 1937 -
Another great early Bob Clampett/ Chuck Jones (rarely seen) B & W Looney Tunes, Porky's Hero Agency, premiered on this date.



The line of people turned to stone include many of the Looney Tunes/ Merry Melodies animators including Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.


December 4, 1942 -
Henry King directed the swashbuckler, The Black Swan, starring Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, Anthony Quinn, and George Zucco which premiered in the US on this date.



To help out the war effort, the actors tried hard to keep the number of takes low so as to conserve film. Roughly 30 of the scenes were done in one take.


December 4, 1956 –
On this day in 1956, during a Carl Perkins recording session with Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Elvis Presley visited the studio and jammed extensively while the tapes rolled.



A newspaper reporter who was present dubbed it “The Million Dollar Quartet,” offering a rough guess as to what the salaries of the four men would have been, and the name stuck.


December 4, 1965 –
The Byrds song Turn! Turn! Turn! reached no. 1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



Before he recorded this song with The Byrds, Jim McGuinn (who later went by Roger) played acoustic 12-string guitar on Judy Collins' 1963 version, which appears on her album Judy Collins #3. He also worked up the arrangement with Collins.


December 4, 1971 –
The Sly and the Family Stone song, Family Affair, reached no. 1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



Sly & the Family Stone was indeed a family affair, with Sly Stone's younger siblings, brother Freddie and sister Rosie, all part of the band. The rest of the group, including bass player Larry Graham, were like family, at least in the '60s, when they rose to the top with the hits Everyday People and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).


December 4, 1981 -
Falcon Crest premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Jane Wyman and Lorenzo Lamas were the only actors that were part of the main cast through out the entire series. Lorenzo Lamas was the only actor who appeared in all 227 episodes.


Oh, Christmas TV


Today in History:
December 4, 1783 -
At Fraunces Tavern in New York City on this date, General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.

Many of his subordinates were quite emotional until they realized that George stuck them with the check.


Our old friend, Francisco Franco was born 128 years ago today.

Franco graduated from the Spanish military academy at Toledo and became the youngest major in the Spanish army at the age of 23. By the age of 34 he was a general, and by 41 he was Commander of the Spanish Army.

Eager for war but lacking an enemy, the ambitious young Spanish commander-in-chief declared war on Spain in 1936 and defeated her in just three years.

The war was so successful and exciting, it inspired World War II, and Franco's rise to power foreshadowed the ascension of other evil bastards in Europe.

After his victory Franco named himself Generalisimo (villainous bastard) to better distinguish himself from the Fuhrer (maniacal bastard) in Germany and Il Duce (vicious bastard) in Italy.

Franco ran the country until shortly after his death in 1975.

The General, heroically, remains dead (although not in his original resting place. As with most Evil Bastards, the current government had finally had enough of his deceased fascist ways, and sent him packing.)


The Panama Pacific International Exposition was the 1915 Worlds Fair held in San Francisco, California. Taking over three years to construct, the fair had great economic implications for the city that had been almost destroyed by the great earthquake and fire of 1906. The exposition was a tremendous success, and did much to boost the morale of the entire Bay Area and to help get San Francisco back up on its feet.



Architects and designers went all-out for the design of the fair's buildings. There never before had been a fair whose architectural focus had been so all-encompassing. 76 city blocks had been cleared or filled to set the stage for the exposition, and its final size was 635 acres, which allowed for the hundreds of buildings that were built. The spectacular palaces, courts, state and foreign buildings at the fair were made of a temporary plaster-like material, designed to only last for the duration of the fair.



The fair ran from February 20th until December 4th, 1915 - and was widely considered to be a great success.


December 4, 1954 -

The first Burger King, originally called Insta Burger King, was opened at 3090 N.W. 36th Street in Miami, Florida on this date.



Not to be gross but many of those first patrons still have their first burgers lodged deep within their digestive system.


December 4, 1955 -
Cassandra Wilson, jazz vocalist extraordinaire, songwriter, and producer, was born on this date.

A Day In The Life Of A Fool -




Last Train to Clarksville -




I Can't Stand The Rain -




December 4, 1958 -
Robert Timm and John Cook took off from McCarran Airfield in Las Vegas, in a used Cessna 172, registration number N9172B, on this date.



Sixty-four days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and 5 seconds later on February 7, 1959, they landed at the same airfield setting the world record for flight endurance; the record still stands.


December 3, 1971 –
During a Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention concert in Montreux, Switzerland, someone shoots off a flare gun which hits the wooden roof and quickly spreads. It eventually reaches the building’s heating system, causing an explosion. Luckily, everyone escapes.



The incident is later immortalized in the Deep Purple song Smoke On The Water.



A bizarre coincidence: On this date in 1993, Frank Zappa lost his battle with prostate cancer.


And so it goes

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