We're back home

(While the wedding was a lovely affair, and it was very nice to see SOS and Godzilla - I am left to wonder was it a wise move to travel a total of 1000 miles this weekend, 500 miles of them covered in a grueling 11.5 hour slog yesterday. I'm getting old.)


Right on the heels of yesterday’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 20th is National Rum Punch Day.

While not a huge fan of the cocktail - I say, why not celebrate!


September 20, 1946 -

The first Cannes film festival, the first great international cultural event of the post-war period, begins on this date. Among the selections that year were:




Brief Encounter directed by David Lean




Wet Paint directed by Jack King, produced by Walt Disney




The Bandit (Il bandito) directed by Alberto Lattuada




The Magic Bow directed by Bernard Knowles




La symphonie pastorale directed by Jean Delannoy




The festival was France's response to the world's first international film festival in Venice, Italy, in 1932. By 1938, the Venice festival had become a Nazi propaganda tool, and France decided to hold a rival event focused strictly on film. Its planned 1939 debut was delayed when World War II broke out.


September 20, 1955 -
Phil The Phil Silvers Show (originally broadcast as You'll Never Be Rich) premiered on CBS-TV on this date



Phil Silvers (Bilko) and Maurice Gosfield (Doberman) did not get along. In real-life, Gosfield was very much the slob that he portrayed as Doberman. He also had constant trouble remembering his lines, which frustrated the cast and crew. Despite this, Gosfield became the most popular cast member, and received more fan mail than Silvers, which Silvers resented.


September 20, 1975 -
David Bowie's Fame single hits #1 for two weeks on this date.



This was Bowie's first big hit in America, and also his first to do better in the US than the UK. He had a few UK hits before this, including Rebel Rebel, Life On Mars, and Diamond Dogs. In one of Bowie's first US TV appearances, he performed this on The Cher Show in 1975.


September 20, 1984 -
Tony Micelli first started taking care of Angela Bower's household when Who's the Boss premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



This was Judith Light's only foray into comedy; every other project has been a drama. She has said in interviews that while she tutored Tony Danza in dramatic acting he helping get her comedy chops up to speed.


Word of the Day


Today in History :
September 20, 1881 -
Chester Alan Arthur was sworn in as the 21st President of the United States following the death of James Garfield the previous day.



This is the first time the oath of office has been taken in the Vice President's Room of the Capitol. Two ex-presidents (Grant and Hayes) are present at the ceremony. (Also a great bar bet winner - it's the second time there were three Presidents within the same year; Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield then Chester A. Arthur. And even more amazing bar bet winner - Robert Todd Lincoln was at the bedside of three assassinated American Presidents; his father, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield and William McKinley.)


September 20, 1958 -
Rev. Martin Luther King was stabbed by Izola Curry, a deranged woman, during a book signing on 125th St. in Harlem on this date.



Dr. Aubre De Lambert Maynard successfully performed surgery on King who had a knife embedded in his sternum. Ms. Curry was found mentally incompetent to stand trial; ultimately, she was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic.


September 20, 1970 -
A jury in Miami, Florida found vocalist Jim Morrison guilty of profanity and indecent exposure for whipping out his mojo at a Doors concert in Coconut Grove the previous year.



Oh you naughty Mr. Mojo Rising ...


September 20, 1973 -
A Beechcraft D-18 charter plane crashes into a tree near Natchitoches, Louisiana, killing singer/songwriter Jim Croce, his lead guitarist, and the entire flight crew.



I guess if he could have put time in a bottle, the first real thing he would have done would be chartering a different plane.


September 20, 1973 -
On the same day, in their so-called 'Battle of the Sexes,' tennis star Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston Astrodome.



In recent years, a persistent urban legend has arisen (again,) that Bobby Riggs had thrown the tennis match against Billie Jean King, to pay off a purported $100,000 gambling debt he owed to the Mafia.

This is false: this scurrilous rumor should have been put to bed a number of times, not the least of which, when Mr Riggs passed a lie detector test denying that he threw the Battle of the Sexes.


September 20, 1988 -
Greg Louganis won the gold medal in springboard diving at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, one day after he struck and injured his head on the board in the preliminary round.



His comeback earned him the title of ABC's Wide World of Sports "Athlete of the Year" for 1988.


And on a personal note:

Happy Birthday Angela



And so it goes