Monday, March 13, 2023

So, How did you do on your ballot?

(I didn't do so well - 12/23)


Today is National Napping Day, the holiday is observed the day following the return of daylight saving time.



National Napping Day provides everyone with the opportunity to have a nap (by themselves or with a friend) and catch up on the hour of sleep they lost due to the spring forward time change. (Just don't invite Ricky Gervais to help you nap.)


National K9 Veterans Day, March 13, is a day set aside to honor commemorate the service and sacrifices of American military and working dogs throughout history. The Army began training for its new War Dog Program, also known as the "K-9 Corps" on this date in 1942, according to American Humane, marking the first time that dogs were officially a part of the U.S. Armed Forces.



The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender.


Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring.

Spring is a week away!


March 13, 1949 -
Donald Fauntleroy Duck's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, the day his debut film was released, but in The Three Caballeros, his birthday is given as simply Friday the 13th. In Donald's Happy Birthday, the cartoon gives his birthday as March 13. (The best guess is this would be Donald's 107th birthday.)



Things that make you go hmmmm - Donald doesn’t wear pants but when he comes out of the shower, covers himself with a towel.


March 13, 1954 -
It's Rocky's third appearance in a Bugs Bunny cartoon (and the funniest) - Bugs and Thugs, premiered on this date.



Near the end of the film, Bugs' office has a sign that says - "Member- Detective Guild, Local 839". Local 839 of the IATSE was the Animation Guild, whose members made the cartoon.


March 13, 1956 -
One of John Ford's greatest westerns, The Searchers, starring John Wayne (giving his finest performance) premiered on this date.





Reportedly this film was seen in a theater in Texas by Buddy Holly and his friends in the summer of 1956. They were so impressed with Ethan's (John Wayne) repeated use of the phrase "That'll be the day" that they used it as the title for their now standard rock song, which they composed soon after.


March 13, 1968 -
The Beatles release the single Lady Madonna in the UK on this date.



The Beatles recorded Lady Madonna at the same time they were recording its promotional film. In the video for this song, The Beatles are actually singing Hey Bulldog (for the most part). They went in to shoot Lady Madonna and John changed it at the last minute to Hey Bulldog. If you watch the video montage for Madonna closely, there's even footage from the Get Back sessions thrown in.


March 13, 1979 -
A spin-off from the Three's Company series, The Ropers, starring Norman Fell and Audra Lindley premiered on ABC TV, on this date.



When the network proposed the spin-off of Three's Company, focusing on the Ropers, Audra Lindley was excited and wanted to go ahead, but Norman Fell wasn't too keen on the idea. Fell felt that you couldn't do a series with 'only' the running gag of Mrs. Roper being undersexed. The network assured him the show would have more substance than that, and furthermore, if the show didn't make it a full season, he and Audra could come back full time to Three's Company as the Ropers. So it was after six months of convincing, Norman Fell finally gave in. The Ropers made it a season and a half before it was canceled, As a result, ABC Network was not obligated to take them back to Three's Company, because their contract had passed the one year mark, so Norman Fell and Audra Lindley were out of work. However, despite their hard feelings they did reprise their roles as guest stars on Three's Company as Mr and Mrs Roper one last time before their characters were retired for good.


March 13, 1982 -
William Shatner, donned his man girdle once again when T.J. Hooker, costarring Adrian Zmed, premiered on ABC-TV, on this date.



The series was originally to be titled The Protectors, which would be the title of the show's pilot. Creator Rick Husky originally developed the show as a newer version of his previous series The Rookies, and intended the show as an ensemble series. Noting William Shatner's prominence in the pilot, it was decided to make Hooker the focus of the show, and title the series after the character.


March 13, 1993 -
Eric Clapton’s LP Unplugged hit No.1 on the Billboard charts — and stayed there — becoming the most successful and best-selling live album of all time.



It was nominated for nine Grammy Awards in 1993 and won six, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.


March 12, 1999 -
Cher's single Believe hit No. #1 on the Billboard singles chart on this date and stayed there for four weeks, make Cher the oldest woman to top the Hot 100, (it's very rude to ask how old.)



Many great songs were written and recorded very quickly in short bursts of inspiration. This wasn't one of them. About six years in the making, this song was the result of the painstaking efforts of six songwriters and at least three producers attempting to create a massive hit for Cher.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
March 13, 1781 -
Scottish astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus (which he named 'Georgium Sidus,' in honor of George III,) on this date, which he first mistook for a comet



It is the first planet discovered with the aid of a telescope. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is named after the Greek god Uranus, who was a god of sky.

(Twice in one week, I've mentioned Uranus, feel free to guffaw like a small child.)


March 13, 1881 -
An anarchist Nikolai Rysakov, from the radical group People's Will threw a bomb which disrupts Czar Alexander II's motorcade. Startled but unharmed, Alexander thanked God for his deliverance, another anarchist Ignacy Hryniewiecki, yelled "It is too early to thank God" and throws a second bomb, causing severe injuries from which Alexander bled to death several hours later.



(Nicholas II, Alexander's grandson, was one of the unfortunate witnesses to Czar's gruesome death.)


March 13, 1877
The first US Patent (#188,292) for earmuffs was issued to teen-aged Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine on this date.

Think about this as you venture out during the winter.


March 13, 1911 -
Today is the birthday of L. Ron Hubbard (the "L" is for Lafayette.) Mr. Hubbard invented Dianetics, which eventually led to Scientology, causing Scientologists and Personality Tests.

Scientologists are easily distinguished from Jehovah's Witnesses in that they don't ask you subscribe to The Watchtower and they can often be seen in major motion pictures.


Today on Oh That Wacky Russian Revolution:
March 13, 1917 -
The imperial guard, acting on the orders of the dissolved Duma, which had not been dissolved, took the Tsarina and her children (who had measles) into custody. A day later, England and France acknowledged the Executive Committee of the Duma as the official government of Russia.

Meanwhile, Nicholas II had taken a train to Pskov. He knew the revolutionaries would be unlikely to pursue him somewhere so difficult to pronounce.

That evening in St. Petersburg, the Executive Committee of the Duma met with the Petrograd Soviet and agreed that the Russian Cabinet should be dissolved, and also the Tsar.

They established a joint government, with Prince Grigori Lvov at its head, nicely countering the Czar's difficult pronunciation ploy. They put the Russian Cabinet in prison, next to the Russian Credenza.


March 13, 1964 -
A young woman, Kitty Genovese was murdered in front of multiple witnesses, all of whom fail to help her, in an incident which shocks the world and prompts investigation into the bystander effect. (This story have been proven a lie; many of her neighbors in fact did attempt to help. Only two people, who actually witnessed the attack did nothing.)



Winston Moseley was found guilty of Genovese’s murder. He was initially sentenced to death, but that was commuted several years later and changed to life in prison, where he died in 2016. At the time of his death, Moseley has spent more time in the New York prison system than any other prisoner.


Pope Francis has been on the job for ten years now.



The Pope is still giving them a run for their money at the Vatican.



And so it goes.


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