I'm glad I wasn't in Chicago at the time

Chicago was just one of several cities to pass an "unsightly beggar" ordinance — what came to be dubbed an "ugly law." The trend started in San Francisco in 1867, only two years after the end of the Civil War, and spread throughout cities in the West and Midwest from 1870 to 1880. At the time, reformers viewed these laws as ways to better their communities. In his book The Welfare Debate, Illinois Wesleyan University professor Greg Shaw explains that the county poorhouse model (think: Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist) that was supposed to keep the poor off the streets and in work turned out to be too expensive and too corrupt to maintain.



The wasn't repealed until 1974. When interviewed by a local paper at the time, a co-sponsor of the repeal, Ald. Paul T. Wigoda, said simply, "It is cruel and insensitive. It is a throwback to the Dark Ages."


December 7, 1945 -
Universal Pictures released the horror film House of Dracula, directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Martha O’Driscoll and Lionel Atwill, on this date.



Most of the sets for this Universal movie were filmed with low lighting. The reason for this, was to conceal the low budget.


December 7, 1960 -
MGM released the science fiction film Village of the Damned, directed by Wolf Rilla and starring George Sanders on this date.



Originally begun in 1957 as an American picture, writer Stirling Silliphant said he wrote it with Ronald Colman in mind, but at the time producer Milo O. Frank Jr. was saying he wanted Glenn Ford to star. MGM had this scheduled for US filming in Spring 1958 and Spring 1959, and postponed both times. Coleman was gravely ill and housebound, dying soon after the script was completed. In an odd twist, his replacement was George Sanders, who had recently married Benita Hume, Colman's widow. Glenn Ford was one of MGM's few contracted big-named stars at the time and was in high demand for other MGM projects.


December 7, 1963 -
Instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast during Army vs Navy Football Game at Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia on this date.



When CBS re-played a one-yard touchdown run by Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh, the station's switchboard was inundated with calls from confused viewers asking if the player had scored a second time.


December 7, 1976 -
The Eagles released New Kid in Town on this date, which became the group's third US No.1 in February the following year.



Don Felder, who was the Eagles guitarist at the time, has commented that once the concept of the album Hotel California was established, some other songs fell into place, including this one. Said Felder: "Once you arrive in LA and you have your first couple of hits, you become the New Kid in Town, and then with greater success, you live Life In The Fast Lane, and you start wondering if all that time you've spent in the bars was just Wasted Time. So all of these other song ideas kind of came out of that concept once the foundation was laid for Hotel California."


December 7, 1969 -
Another Rankin/Bass production, Frosty the Snowman, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Directors Arthur Rankin, Jr., and Jules Bass wanted the Christmas special to look like a greeting card. In order to achieve the look they wanted, they commissioned greeting card artist Paul Coker, Jr., to do the background and character drawings.


December 7, 1979 -
Paramount Pictures released the science fiction film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise and starring a bunch of TV actors on this date.



The producers and the cast were very worried about their appearances after being away from Star Trek: The Original Series for ten years. Special lighting and camera tricks were used to hide the cast's aging, and William Shatner went on a near-starvation diet before filming. However, in all subsequent Star Trek films, it was decided to make the aging of the crew part of the story.


December 7, 1979 -
Kurtis Blow's Christmas Rappin' by becomes the first rap song released on this date, by a major label - Mercury Records.



It sells about 400,000 copies and provides the template for his next single, The Breaks, which becomes the first rap Gold record.


December 7, 2001 –
Steven Soderbergh's remake of Frank Sinatra's 1960 summer vacation movie, Ocean’s Eleven, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts opened in US theaters on this date.



Don Cheadle is uncredited despite having a major role. This is due to a dispute over his billing. Cheadle wanted above the title billing alongside George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. When he was refused, he refused to be credited at all. Cheadle received above the title billing in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
December 7, 43 BC -
Always do the right thing... that which is legal... that which is honest, open and fair...keeping your word... telling the truth... and treating everyone alike.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, famous Roman writer and orator, literally gets his head handed to him on this date, when soldier in Marc Antony's army chopped off his head and right hand then displayed them in the Roman Forum.

Now there's a holiday display you don't see that often.


December 7, 185 -
Emperor Lo-Yang of China took a stroll on in his imperial garden on this evening and saw a Supernova.



Who knew he was such an Oasis fan?


December 7, 1907 -
Christmas Seals first went on sale in the United States went to raise funds to treat tuberculosis, after Emily Bissell, a social worker and activist, read about the program in an article by Jacob Riis.



In 1903, Einar Holbøll, a Danish postal clerk developed the idea of adding an extra charitable stamp on mailed holiday greetings during Christmas. The money raised could be used to help children sick with tuberculosis.


December 7, 1910 -
... and life goes on without me

Louis Prima singer, actor, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on this date.







We'll let him serenade Joan, the birthday girl. (It would be very rude to ask how old she is?)


It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor. The attack came after the United States had frozen Japanese assets and declared an embargo on shipments of petroleum to Japan.



On the morning of December 7, soldiers at Pearl Harbor were learning how to use a new device called radar, and they detected a large number of planes heading toward them. They telephoned an officer to ask him what to do. The officer said they must be American B-17s on their way to the base, and he told the soldiers not to worry about it.



A sailor named James Jones, who would go on to write the novel From Here to Eternity, was in the mess hall that morning.

There were ultimately 2,390 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor and 1,178 wounded. Two days after the attack, the Navy passed out postcards to the survivors and told them to write to their families, but not to describe what had happened. Some families did not get their postcards until a few years ago.


December 7, 1949 -
It's Tom Waits' birthday today.

Ol' 55 -




Jersey Girl -




God's Away On Business -




Take One Last Look -




And the Acme Corp. is always happy to sponsor that Christmas Classic, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (One of our loyal bunkies pointed out that there is no Euclid Ave in Minneapolis, but we won't hold it against Mr. Waits.) -



As always, let's stay up all night, get the piano drunk and sing really sad songs in a raspy voice in his honor.


December 7, 1968 -
The Rolling Stones released their album Beggar’s Banquet in the US (one day after it was released in the UK,) on this date.



They soon filmed a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. After reviewing the program, the Stones felt that they were upstaged by the Who’s performance and the film was shelved until 1996, when it was finally released officially.


December 7, 1972 -
Apollo 17, the sixth and last Apollo moon mission, was launched from Cape Canaveral on this date.



It will land on the Moon December 11 and Flight Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, will be the last men to step on the Moon for decades to come.

And so it goes