Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.

Today is the Twelfth Annual Giving Tuesday. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and standing in stark contrast of the shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday is a movement to create an international day of giving as a response to commercialization and consumerism.



#GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.


It's National French Toast Day



Eating your French Toast (Pan Perdu) as you are served it, is always the best bet.

Enjoy


November 28, 1944 -
Vincente Minnelli's gift to his future wife, Judy Garland, the musical film Meet Me In St. Louis, opened in NYC on this date.



In Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland refused to sing the grim original lyric, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last" to little Margaret O'Brien. The star's creative opposition inspired songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane to form the more optimistic lyric, "let your heart be light."


November 28, 1951 -
The British film Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol,) starring Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley, Mervyn Johns, Jack Warner, and Patrick Macnee, premiered in NYC on this date. (One of our favorite versions.)



The word "humbug" is misunderstood by many people, which is a pity since the word provides a key insight into Ebenezer Scrooge's (Alastair Sim's) hatred of Christmas. The word "humbug" describes deceitful efforts to fool people by pretending to a fake loftiness or false sincerity. So when Scrooge calls Christmas a humbug, he is claiming that people only pretend to be charitable and kind in an effort to delude him, each other, and themselves. In Scrooge's eyes, he is the one man honest enough to admit that no one really cares about anyone else, so for him, every wish for a Merry Christmas is one more deceitful effort to fool him and take advantage of him. This is a man who has turned to profit because he honestly believes everyone else will someday betray him or abandon him the moment he trusts them.


November 28, 1969 -
The Rolling Stones released their eighth British album Let It Bleed on this date.



It is the follow-up to 1968's Beggars Banquet and the last album by the band to feature Brian Jones as well as the first to feature Mick Taylor.


November 28, 1974 -
John Lennon makes his last-ever concert appearance when he joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden, reciprocating for Elton's appearance on Whatever Gets You Thru The Night and making good on a bet he lost: Elton wagered that Whatever Gets You Thru The Night would hit #1 in the US, and when it did, Lennon owed the appearance.



The pair perform that song and also do The Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds that evening.


November 28, 1978 -
Atlantic Records released the album Briefcase Full of Blues, the debut album by The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) on this date.



The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and went double platinum. It is among the highest-selling blues albums of all time.


November 28, 1981 -
The short-lived series (only 12 episodes were shot), Open All Night, starring George Dzundza, Susan Tyrrell, Sam Whipple, Bubba Smith, Jay Tarses, and Bever-Leigh Banfield premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The US TV version of the show was somewhat based on the hugely successful British sitcom, Open All Hours which ran for four seasons on the BBC. The American series was cancelled after 10 episodes.


November 28, 1984 -
Prince releases the song, I Would Die 4 U, on this date



On the Purple Rain tour, this was a showcase song for Sheila E., who served as Prince's opening act and also joined him on stage. Her live percussion on I Would Die 4 U compensated for the beats that couldn't be generated outside of the studio, due to Prince's use of a drum machine to create the rhythm on this track.


November 28, 1985 -
Ahmad Rashad proposed to Phylicia Ayers-Allen on live TV during NBC's halftime coverage of the Detroit Lions-New York Jets football game, on this date.



Ayers-Allen, was in New York for NBC's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, was rushed to network's New York studio and looked at Rashad over a video monitor and simply said, "Yes." On December 14, 1985, at the Church of the Master in Harlem, Ahmad married Phylicia. The marriage ended in divorce in 2001.


November 28, 1987 -
Coming out of the surprise hit film Dirty Dancing, the Jennifer Warnes' duet with Bill Medley (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, went to No.1 on the US singles chart on this date.



Jennifer Warnes compared singing with Bill Medley to dancing with Fred Astaire. While Bill Medley is best known for being one half of the Righteous Brothers, Warnes also has experienced her biggest success with duets. In addition to this song, she had another American chart topper in 1982 with Up Where We Belong, a duet with Joe Cocker from the An Officer And A Gentleman soundtrack. She also had an American solo hit in 1977 with Right Time Of The Night.


November 28, 2012 -
Peter Jackson's first of the Hobbit film series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, starring Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen, premiered in Wellington, New Zealand on this date.



The production team returned to the same shooting location for Hobbiton as they used in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The land is part of a farm, which the owners allowed to be transformed into the Hobbiton set by The Lord of the Rings production crew in the late 1990s. After filming wrapped on the first trilogy, the farm's owners turned the land into a Tolkien tourism spot, offering guided tours of the Hobbiton set. With the crew from The Hobbit trilogy making improvements and additions to the aging Hobbiton set, the farm owners were happy to temporarily close down their tourism business, so filming could take place there again.


It's here - Welcome to the start of our 16th Annual Holiday Spectacular.


History Today -
November 28, 1895 -
The first American automobile race, The Chicago Times-Herald race, took place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea's Motorized Wagon won in approximately 10 hours. (The average speed was 7 mph. )



Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald, the race was held in Chicago, attracted 80 entries but only had six starters: four cars and two motorcycles. The race created considerable publicity for the motocycle, which had been introduced in the United States only two years earlier.


November 28, 1922 -
The first use of skywriting for advertising happened when Captain Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force flew over New York City, spelling out, “Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200,” on this date

Within just a few hours, 47,000 people had done just that. And of course operators were standing by at Vanderbilt 7200 to take their orders although no one had any idea what was being sold.


(Sorry boys and girls but it's not all a pleasant day OTD) -
November 28, 1942 -
A fire at the overcrowded and sleazy Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killed 491 people on this date. Flammable artificial palm trees aided the spread of the fire.



The numerous dead were crushed, burnt, and asphyxiated, all within minutes.

There's a lesson here boys and girl - sleazy nightclubs kill!!!


November 28, 1943 -
Randall Stuart Newman, singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist was born on this date.







Newman has been nominated for twenty Academy Awards, winning twice. He has also won three Emmys, five Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy. (Even though it is his birthday, he didn't murder anyone (as far as we know) then eat their liver with a fine chianti. He probably shouldn't be listed here today.)


November 28, 1953 -
Frank Olson, government scientist, has a particularly bad dream and jumped to his death from the Statler Hotel in New York City on this date.



It was later revealed in 1975 that Olson had been administered LSD by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb in a CIA experiment.

That really must have been one bad trip.


November 28, 1962 -
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.



Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, comedian, television host, political satirist and formerly, America's most trusted newscaster, was born on this date.


November 28, 1966 -
One of most famous parties of the 20th century, Truman Capote’s Black & White Ball was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on this date.



The masquerade ball was held in honor of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and cost Capote a total of $16,000. The Black and White Ball was credited with starting an immediate upsurge in masquerade and costume parties.


November 28, 1981 -
A drunken Natalie Wood toppled off her yacht near Catalina Island and drowned. Her husband Robert Wagner and melodramatic friend Christopher Walken, were on board and unaware of her predicament, apparently having some sort of argument in the cabin -



possibly about whether or not a drunken Natalie Wood could float (you know that's still an awful joke.)


November 28, 1994 -
Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death with a broomstick by inmate Christopher Scarver while cleaning the prison bathroom.

(Bunkies, here's a tip from your old pal - don't go poking around for photos about Jeffrey Dahmer, there are some sick pixs out there. I'm going to disinfect my eye balls.)

Dahmer's brain was to be preserved in formaldehyde at the request of Mom, but a court ordered its destruction in late 1995.

There's yet another lesson here boys and girls, dirty prison bathrooms kill!!!

Before you go: Today's moment of Zen. (We're going to take a short break from our usual look into the cupboard to facilitate the holiday spectacular. But don't worry we'll be back peeking into the cupboard soon enough.)



And so it goes