Vote!

Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters. - Abraham Lincoln

Don't forget - if you're in NYC, there are 4 ballot measures you should vote on - go to the other side of your ballot.



Just Vote - you have no excuse today. Remember that voting is one of the only civic responsibilities you have as a citizen.


Today is International Tongue Twister Day. (Or at least I think it is, there seems to be some controversy on the date.) Tongue twisters have technically been around since as early as the 19th century when John Harris published Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation, which included a twisty tongue tango for every letter of the alphabet. And while the book was meant to help children learn the fundamentals of speech mechanics, its titular twister garnered quite the attention and inspired a lot of lore about its namesake.



Try saying - Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons—balancing them badly..


November 8, 1949 -
Robert Rossen's adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer winning novel, All The King's Men, starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, and Joanne Dru, premiered in New York City on this date.



To prepare for the role of Willie Stark, Broderick Crawford watched newsreels of Huey Long, the former Louisiana senator and governor on whose life the novel was loosely based. But, according to Broderick Crawford, "During the filming, we never mentioned the name of Huey Long on the set. That was the unspoken law at the studio."


November 8, 1962 -
Lewis Milestone's second major Hollywood telling of the Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris, premiered on this date.



Richard Harris agreed to take a third-billed role in this film purely to work with Marlon Brando. However, Brando's on-set behavior soured his adoration of the star. Harris would later describe the production as "nightmarish" and "a total fucking disaster".


November 8, 1964 -
Judy Garland and her daughter, Liza Minnelli appeared together at the London Palladium on this date. The program was broadcasted in the UK and U.S. on December 1, 1964; and the album Live at the London Palladium became a classic on Capitol Records.



The show marked Judy Garland's final public appearance, and her only live appearance with daughter Liza Minnelli.


November 8, 1971 -
Led Zeppelin released their untitled fourth album, on this date.



And kids remember, according to the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly, if you play Stairway to Heaven backwards, you can hear:



So, don't play you albums backwards (many of you have no idea what albums are.)


November 8, 1975 -

David Bowie makes his US television debut on the CBS variety show Cher, on this date.



Bowie performed both on his own as well as with Cher, which included an odd and interesting six and a half minute duet medley.


November 8, 1978 -
Richard Attenborough's masterful adaptation of William Goldman's thriller, Magic, starring Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, and Burgess Meredith premiered in the US on this date.



Gene Wilder was the original choice for Corky, and director Richard Attenborough and writer William Goldman wanted him, but producer Joseph E. Levine refused, on the grounds he wanted no comedians in the movie to distract from the serious nature of the story.


November 8, 1979 -
The program, The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The show was planned to be temporary, but it evolved into Nightline in March of 1980.


November 8, 1989 -
Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, Henry V, starring Kenneth Branagh, Paul Scofield, Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, Alec McCowen, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Brian Blessed, and Christian Bale, premiered on this date.



Kenneth Branagh was the last actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for his role in a Shakespearean film until Denzel Washington was nominated for his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth, 32 years later. Branagh and Washington worked together on Much Ado About Nothing, another Shakespearean film.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
November 8, 1431 -
Vlad III the Impaler (Vlad Dracula), Transylvanian prince, inspiring the name of the vampire in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, was probably born on this date.



People had better things to do back then (like find something to eat or keep warm) than keep track of the birth date of some sadistic royal person.


November 8, 1519 -
The Aztecs and their leader, Moctezuma, foolishly welcomed Hernando Cortez and about 300 Spanish soldiers, 18 horses and thousands of Mexico's native inhabitants who had grown resentful of Aztec rule marched unmolested into Tenochtitlán, the capital city of the Aztec empire, on this date.



The Aztec ruler Moctezuma, believing that Cortez could be the white-skinned deity Quetzalcoatl, whose return had been foretold for centuries, greeted the arrival of these strange visitors with courtesy--at least until it became clear that the Spaniards were all too human and bent on conquest.

Oops.


November 8, 1789 -
Elijah Craig, a Baptist minister, from Georgetown, Kentucky, distilled the first sour-mash whiskey for public sale on this date.

His customers from the surrounding area called his product Bourbon County Whiskey - after the county of its origin.


November 8th, 1895 -
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays on this date, when he discovered treated cardboard he was using in routine experiments glowed in certain situations – the result of radiation hitting the surface.



During subsequent experiments he found that objects of different thicknesses interposed in the path of the rays showed variable transparency to them when recorded on a photographic plate.


November 8, 1917 -
And now another episode of That Wacky Russia Revolution!

In late autumn 1917 The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky started the November Revolution (in October), overthrew the provisional government and announced that Russia was a socialist country.



On this date in order to celebrate that the November Revolution was firmed ensconced in November, Lenin was chosen as President of Russia, the world's first communist leader. One of his first acts as its leader was to sign a peace treaty with Germany that ended Russia's participation in the First World War.


November 8, 1923 -
Adolf Schicklgruber, failed artist and World War I veteran, launched his first attempt to seize power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, that came to be known as the Beer-Hall Putsch. He proclaimed himself chancellor and General Erich Ludendorff dictator.



No one really taken him too seriously at the time. Unfortunately, he wasn't joking.


November 8, 1949 -

I've been lucky enough that I can gather all sorts of experiences and find inspiration by traveling around and by spending time with people I admire.







Bonnie Raitt, American blues singer, guitarist, songwriter, was born on this date.


November 8, 1950 -
The world’s first battle in which a jet plane shoots down another jet plane took place on this date, early in the Korean War during a raid near the Yalu River, which separates Korea and China. A group of about ten Soviet MiG-15 jet fighters approach the American bombers and were confronted by the four U.S. fighter jets escorting the bombers, Lockheed F-80 “Shooting Stars.”



Within about five minutes one MiG was destroyed, another was damaged, and the rest were in retreat. None of the U.S. jets were damaged. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Robert Brown was credited with being the first pilot to take down another jet fighter.


November 8, 1954 -

I always felt like my future was at stake every time I stepped on stage and that was kind of hair-raising. At some point I just went, don't be frightened, you can't do anything wrong, it's your show.







Rickie Lee Jones, The Duchess of Coolsville, two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist, musician, songwriter and producer, was born on this date.


November 8, 1957 -
Britain tested its first hydrogen bomb, called Operation: Grapple X, over Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, on this date. (The U.K. had become an actual thermonuclear power with the detonation of Grapple X.)



It was a bit more powerful than they expected and caused infrastructure damage and destroyed some buildings on the island. I'm guessing this finally answers the question for me: No, I do not wish to spend Christmas (or any time for that matter) on Christmas Island.


November 8, 1994 -
Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy.



Michael O'Donoghue writer for National Lampoon magazine and the first head writer for Saturday Night Live, died on this date, of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 54, after a long history of what were thought to be chronic migraine headaches.


Before you go - The English supermarket chain, Asda released their annual holiday advert, (it seems to be early this year, but I always say that.)



Asda has recruited Buddy the Elf, in a very clever use of footage from the Warner Bros. movie Elf.

(For those of you in the know, it's 67 days until someone's birthday.)



And so it goes