Jack-a-mo fee na-na

Bon temps roulez, mes amis - It's Mardi Gras!







No one needs to disrobe, it's much too cold and we've got plenty of beads (unless you like to disrobe in public.)


Today is also know as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, which heralds the beginning of fasting in Lent. On this day (so the historians say) there were feasts of pancakes to use up the supplies of fat, butter and eggs... foods that were forbidden during austere Lent.



In England there are several celebrations on this day but perhaps the best known one is the Pancake Day Race at Olney in Buckinghamshire which has been held since 1445. The race came about when a woman cooking pancakes heard the shriving bell summoning her to confession. She ran to church wearing her apron and still holding her frying pan, and thus without knowing it, started a tradition that has lasted for over five hundred years.

Keep flipping them pancakes


Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year celebration, known as the Son-in-Law Day (also it the first time of the new year to worship the God of Land.)



It's the day that many married women return to their mothers' homes.



Some believe that the second day of the new year is also the birthday of all dogs and reward them with special treats.


There's an excess of celebrations today
It is Toothache Day,



Bathtub Day and



Bagels and Lox Day today.



I'm not quite sure why?


February 9, 1933 -
Based on the Mae West play Diamond Lil, She Done Him Wrong, opened in general release on this date. This was one of the last films to be made before the introduction of the Production Code.



Mae West was signed by Paramount in 1931 to make a film adaptation of her stage play. They then spent the next two years trying to figure out a way of getting the material past the censors. The battle over Diamond Lil led to the head of the Production Board, James Wingate, quitting and being replaced by the much more hardline Joseph Breen who was prompted to set up a fairly stringent and moral Production Code.


February 9, 1971 -
All in the Family aired what TV scholars believe to be the first positive portrayal of a gay issue on American television on this date.



Guest stars Anthony Geary and Philip Carey both went on to play long running roles on popular ABC Soap Operas. Geary as Luke Spencer on General Hospital, and Carey as Asa Buchannan on One Life to Live.


February 9, 1976 -
Paul Simon's song, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, hits number 1 on this date.



Paul Simon has never gotten around to listing the other ways to leave but poking around the internet, I have discovered the other 45 ways:

6. Post her nude pics, Dick.
7. Delete him from your phone, Simone.
8. Block his digits, Bridget.
9. Keep him in the dark, Mark.
10. Keep blowing her off, Kristoph.
11. Just have the chat, Pat.
12. Make her break up with you, Stu.
13. Stop having sex with her, Jessic… er.
14. Give him an ultimatum, Tatum.
15. Change your address, Jess.
16. Tell the whole truth, Ruth.
17. Just get up and leave, Steve.
18. Tell her you’ve “grown apart,” Bart.
19. Tell him “It’s not you, it’s me,” Bree.
20. Don’t give him a second chance, Lance.
21. In a public place, Chase.
22. Tell her “we’re turning into our parents,” Clarence.
23. Get back together with your ex, Lex.
24. Let yourself be the villain, Dylan.
25. Throw dishes and yell, Belle.
26. Start being mean, Gene.
27. Get really quiet, Wyatt.
28. Give up the fight, Dwight.
29. Get caught in the act, Jack.
30. Forget her birthday again, Glenn.
31. Just cut him loose, Bruce.
32. Pretend you didn’t know you were supposed to be “together,” Heather.
33. Tell her you’re married, Larry.
34. Say “It’s moving too fast,” Cass.
35. Tell him you “don’t like rules,” Jules.
36. Tell her you “don’t like labels,” Mabel.
37. Just disappear, Greer.
38. “Lose your phone,” Joan.
39. Text “We need to talk,” Brock.
40. Just be too busy, Lizzy.
41. Say you “need space,” Grace.
42. Say, “we’re just taking a break,” Jake.
43. Say, “I think I might be gay,” Ray.
44. Say, “I think I might be straight,” Nate.
45. Admit to your affair, Blair.
46. Get a restraining order, Porter.
47. Tell her “It’s me or the drinkin,” Lincoln.
48. Fly off the handle, Randall.
49. Blame everything on him, Tim.
50. Say “I don’t deserve you,” Drew

Next up - 50 ways to Love your Liver or 50 ways to lose your luggage


February 9, 1997 -
The Fox cartoon series The Simpsons became the longest-running animated series in cartoon history when it aired it's 167th episode on this date.



"I can't believe we've been annoying people for this long," executive producer and show creator Matt Groening told the Associated Press.


Today in History -
On February 9, 772, Adrian I was elected pope. His election was won largely due to strong Frank support. (This Gaelic support system was the precursor to French support, which remains anything but Frank.)

Adrian worked closely with Charlemagne, also known as Carolus Magnus (Big Chuck), the inventor of France.

So now you know.


William Henry Harrison was born on February 9, 1773. Mr. Harrison was the Ninth president of the United States.



He died after 32 days in office, although historians are quick to point out that it has never been adequately proven that he was alive prior to his inauguration.


February 9, 1825 -
John Quincy Adams became the Sixth U.S. President, despite losing the popular vote.  Adams was elected by the House of Representatives on this date after the Electoral College could not arrive at a majority.



His appointment was largely due to the influence of Henry Clay (then Speaker of the House and also a candidate for the presidency in 1824), whom Adams later appointed as his Secretary of State.


The Great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky died on February 9, 1881.



He died of natural causes in Moscow, and over 40,000 mourners turned out for his funeral but what the hell do you care, you didn't read him anyway.


February 9, 1894 -
Chocoholics everywhere rejoice!



Milton Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company (just in time for Valentine's Day) and began experimenting with a process mastered by the Swiss - mixing milk with chocolate on this date.


February 9, 1909 -
The first federal law prohibiting the importation of opium was enacted, The Opium Exclusion Act of 1909 on this date.

It is aimed not particularly at the ravages the drug was having on American society but as a discriminatory act against  the Chinese (note: white people weren't using opium in large quantities at the time.)


February 9, 1942 -
The former French cruise ship Normandie, launched in 1935, burned in New York Harbor during its conversion to an Allied trip transport ship on this date.



It was once regarded as most elegant ocean liner ever built. In 1947, the remaining wreckage was cut up for scrap.


February 9, 1950 -
Senator Joseph McCarthy announced he has a list of 205 State Department employees who were Communist Party members on this date.



He did not mention that J. Edgar Hoover liked to wear a bustier and leather pumps.


February 9, 1964 -
The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date. Approximately 74 million viewers (about half of the American population) watched the group perform on the show.



I wonder if Stephen Colbert can still hear the ghost of those little girls screaming inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre.



And so it goes.

I'm not too old to accept a red envelope

The Lunar New Year starts today, and it's the Year of the Monkey, but which one? In Chinese astrology, each year is associated with a Chinese zodiac animal sign and one the Five Elements: Gold (Metal), Water, Wood, Fire, or Earth. Both the sign and element of your birth year are said to affect your personality and destiny. This year is the Fire Monkey



(Please be aware that once again, Mr. Teeny and  I will be celebrating Chinese New Year especially recklessly this Year of the Monkey, by shooting firecrackers in public locations for the next two weeks. Please also remember that people in China don't call it Chinese New Year, it's Lunar New Year; other countries celebrate Lunar New Year as well.)

Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on the Lunar Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality.

This year is the Year of the Monkey. People under the sign of the Monkey are wise, intelligent, confident, charismatic, loyal, inventive and have leadership. Celine Dion, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Halle Berry, Christina Aguilera, Diana Ross, Daniel Craig, Nick Carter, Patricia Arquette, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Nick Jonas and Selena Gomez were born in the Year of the Monkey.



According to superstition, those born in the Year of the Monkey tend to be enthusiastic, self-assured and sociable but can also be jealous, suspicious, cunning, selfish and arrogant. It is also believed that the Monkey is most compatible with the Ox and the Rabbit, but least compatible with the Pig and the Tiger.



The world’s largest annual human migration is now well underway as 2.8 billion trips are made across China in what is known as chun yun, when students, migrant workers and office employees living away from home will make the journey back to celebrate with their families.

Gong Hey Fat Choy!


February 8, 1910 -
Today is Boy Scout Day.

Boy Scout Day celebrates the birthday of Scouting in America.

On this date, Chicago publisher William Dickson Boyce filed incorporation papers in the District of Columbia to create the Boy Scouts of America. Oh wait a minute, these may not be the right pictures.


February 8, 1936 -
Warner Brothers released the classic film The Petrified Forest starring  Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart on this date.



Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart had played the same roles in the stage version. Warner Bros. wanted to put Howard in the film but replace Bogart with Edward G. Robinson. Howard insisted on Bogart, and Robinson was happy to step aside from yet another gangster role. Bogart would later name his second child with Lauren Bacall Leslie, in honor of Howard, the man who gave him his first big break.


February 8, 1968 -
Planet of The Apes premiered in NYC on this date, confirming Charlton Heston's position as one of the greatest "One Note Actors" of his generation.



All the ape actors and extras were required to wear their masks even during breaks and in between shots because it took so much time to make them up. Because of this, meals were liquefied and drunk through straws.


February 8, 1976 -
Martin Scorsese's elegy to the swiftly disappearing squalid of 70's New York, Taxi Driver premiered on this date.



Paul Schrader wrote the script for Taxi Driver in ten days via two drafts, one after the other. As he was writing, he kept a loaded gun on his desk for motivation and inspiration.


Today in History:
February 8, 1587 -
After some 19 years in prison, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded on this date. She had spent the last hours of her life in prayer and also writing letters and her will. She expressed a request that her servants should be released. She also requested that she should be buried in France. The scaffold that was erected in the great hall was three feet tall and draped in black. It was reached by five steps and the only things on it were a disrobing stool, the block, a cushion for her to kneel on, and a bloody butcher's axe that had been previously used on animals. At her execution she removed a black cloak to reveal a deep red dress - the liturgical colour of martyrdom in the Catholic Church.



The execution was badly carried out. It is said to have taken three blows to hack off her head. The first blow struck the back of her head, the next struck her shoulder and severed her subclavian artery, spewing blood in all directions. She was alive and conscious after the first two blows. The next blow took off her head, save some gristle, which was cut using the axe as a saw.



Various improbable stories about the execution were later circulated. One which is thought to be true is that, when the executioner picked up the severed head to show it to those present, it was discovered that Mary was wearing a wig. The headsman was left holding the wig, while the late queen's head rolled on the floor. Another well-known execution story concerns a small dog owned by the queen, which is said to have been hiding among her skirts, unseen by the spectators. Following the beheading, the dog rushed out, terrified and covered in blood. It was taken away by her ladies-in-waiting and washed, but it did not survive the shock.



All of this must have been a pretty sight.


February 8, 1861 -
The southern states which had seceded from the United States agreed to reunite in The Confederate States of America.



This caused the Civil War, a period of unprecedented bloodshed in American history, which surely could have been avoided through a rigorous U.N. regimen of plantation inspections.


Co-incidentally, or not
February 8, 1915 -
D.W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation (The Clansman) premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



It is widely believed that after viewing this film in the White House, President Woodrow Wilson remarked that it was "like writing history with lightning." However, the reality is that Wilson disapproved of the "unfortunate production". It is believed by some of Wilson's aides that the apparent endorsement and approbation was a ruse generated by Thomas F. Dixon Jr., the author of the original novel.


February 8, 1924 -
Breathe deeply.

The first person to die in Nevada's new gas chamber was Chinese born Gee Jong on this date for the murder of Tom Quong Kee, a member of a rival gang. His lawyers had fought a long battle in the courts to show that the gas chamber was a "cruel and unusual punishment" and as such was illegal under the Eight Amendment to the Constitution.

The execution commenced at 9:30 a.m. when Gee Jong was led from a holding cell and secured to the chair within the chamber. He appeared to struggle a little after the gas was manually pumped in and then lapse into unconsciousness but as no external stethoscope had been used he was left in the chamber for 30 minutes to ensure death.



February 8, 1942 -
Robert Klein, comedian and actor, was born on this date.





Please stop writing him, Mr. Klein run run of records starting with the letter B.


February 8, 1960 -
Beer heir Adolph Coors III (who was ironically allergic to beer), was killed after a failed kidnapping attempt in Colorado on this date. By October, Joseph Corbett Jr. was arrested in Canada after an national manhunt.

Corbett was convinced and sent to prison. He was pardoned in 1978. Mr Corbett committed suicide in 2010, still maintaining his innocence in the crime.




I guess Mr. Corbett didn't get his deposit back.


February 8, 1968 -
Gary Coleman, actor, security guard, perp and corpse was born on this date.



What else is there to say.



And so it goes.

North Korea may be ready to launch a rocket sometime today

Some of you may actually be watching the Super Bowl later today



According to the Hass Avocado Board, over Super Bowl weekend, approximately 129 million pounds of guacamole will be eaten. To shovel that guac into gaping maws, approximately 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips are chomped on.



This year, the National Chicken Council predicts that folks will wolf down on 1.3 billion chicken wings – (that's a 3% increase in the number of wings consumed last year.)



Americans will be washing down those snacks with over 325 million gallons of beer.

enjoy the game


February 7, 1908 -
Buster Crabbe, Olympic athlete, actor and swimming pool sales man, was born on this date.







Crabbe is the only actor who played Tarzan, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers - the top three comic strip heroes of the 1930s.


February 7, 1914 -
Charlie Chaplin first appeared as The Tramp, in his first film Kid Auto Races at Venice which was released by Keystone Studios, on this date. The Tramp, as portrayed by Chaplin, was a bumbling but usually good-hearted character who was most famously presented as a vagrant who endeavors to behave with the manners and dignity of a gentleman despite his actual social status.



With only a small number of exceptions, Chaplin would play only The Tramp (or slight variations on the character) on film until The Great Dictator.


February 7, 1940 -
Walt Disney's second feature-length movie, Pinocchio, premiered at the Center Theatre in Manhattan on this date.



Figaro was Walt Disney's favorite character. Disney pushed for the kitten to appear in the film as much as possible. After the film, Disney swapped Minnie Mouse's little cocker spaniel with Figaro.


February 7, 1962 -
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard, stand-up comedian, dramatic actor and until recently an executive transvestite, was born on this date.







Long time readers of this silliness may have realized that I am very partial to Mr Izzard, Executive Transvestite.


February 7, 1965 -
... Every now and then I'm in a situation where someone doesn't recognize me, and I experience racism. Things like not being buzzed into a store or sitting in first class on a plane and having someone ask to see my ticket four times....







Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III, comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, director and not an executive transvestite was born on this date.


February 7, 1974 -
Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles opened on this date. Fart jokes gain a certain cache afterwards.



When the film was first screened for Warner Brothers executives, almost none of them laughed and the movie looked to be a disaster that the studio would not release. However, Mel Brooks quickly set up a subsequent screening for the studio's employees. When these regular folks laughed uproariously throughout the movie, Warners finally agreed to take a chance on releasing it.


Today in History:
February 7, 1812 -
Charles Dickens, English novelist, was born in Portsmouth, England on this date.



He was the quintessential Victorian author.


February 7, 1845 -
An 'intemperate' vandal, William Lloyd, entered the British Museum and smashed the irreplaceable Portland Vase into over 200 pieces on this date. The elaborate glass amphora was created when Augustus was Caesar and was about ten inches high (the vase, not the emperor.)



It took a lot of crazy glue and months to repair.


On February 7, 1898, the trial of Emile Zola began in Paris. He lost, but then eventually he won. He accused someone of something. Somehow, the actor Paul Muni was involved. Or vice-versa. Long story.



It all began in the backwoods of Illinois... no, that was Lincoln. Never mind


February 7, 1964 -
It was 52 years ago today, The Beatles arrived at JFK International Airport to begin their first tour of the United States. They helped bring about a social revolution whose effects can be felt to this day. They had nothing to declare but their genius.

The Beatles came from Britain, sometimes known as England, a little island in the North Atlantic from which many people have come to the United States over the years, some of them without guitars.



The British (or English), like so many other Europeans, have a long and storied history. Although it took the French to perfect the guillotine, the English (or British) made up for in zeal what they lacked in technological savvy, and next week is the anniversary of three British (or English) queens having their heads hewn from their shoulders.



On February 8, 1587, after nineteen years in prison, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded.



On February 12, 1554, Lady Jane Grey, Queen for nine days in 1553, was beheaded.

On February 13, 1542, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's Vth wife, was beheaded.



If you can get to an English (or British) pub next week, order a beer with extra head and see if they get the joke. Be prudent, however, as people will sometimes react in unexpected ways when asked for any kind of head at all.)


February 7, 1968 -
It became necessary to destroy the town to save it. -

This was a quote attributed by Peter Arnett (written on this date.) to an anonymous American major speaking about the town of Ben Tre, the main town in Ben Tre province, Vietnam, after the Americans had heavily bombarded it.


February 7, 1990 -
The Soviet Union's Communist Party agreed to let opposition political parties compete for control of the country, thereby giving up its monopoly on power.

They were forced to sell of most of their properties on Baltic Avenue to the Russian mob.



And so it goes.


Before you go - Valentine's Day is in a week - play it safe



Even though it's cold, start shopping now.

Isn't up and it isn't down.

Today is halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, which is the scientifically correct way of saying it's the middle of winter, such as it is in the Northeast.



I'm hoping the second half doesn't hold any more unexpected treats.


Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand. This celebrates the February 6, 1840 signing of "The Treaty of Waitangi" by representatives of the British Crown and leading Maori chiefs in Waitangi. The treaty preserved many Maori rights while making New Zealand a British Colony.

Given the confused and confusing state of things, I must recommends that America join her Kiwi friends in celebrating Waitangi Day. There's no particular logic to this, but it's fun to say "Happy Waitangi Day." We could all wear funny hats and buy each other Waitangi presents.



Sound silly?



Just four days ago we were all waiting for a stupid rodent to crawl out of a hole and look for his shadow. In the Southern Hemisphere, Summer is winding down, which might have something to do with why today is Waitangi Day down there.)


February 6, 1921 -
The Kid, starring Charlie Chaplin and 6-year-old Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester), was released in the US on this date.



For the scene in which the Kid is taken from the Tramp and nearly carted away to a workhouse, Charles Chaplin stated in his autobiography that the young Jackie Coogan was made to cry by his father, who told him that if he would not cry in the scene, he would be sent to an actual workhouse.


Today in History:
February 6, 1911 -

That great American, Ronald Reagan, who appeared in such films as Jap Zero, Girls on Probation and Bedtime for Bonzo, was born in Tampico IL on this date.



It should be a national holiday (or a day of great national shame.)


February 6, 1917 -
A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he's finished.



Zsa Zsa Gabor, Queen of Outer Space was born in Budapest on this date. Party girls everywhere are celebrating their patron saint's day. They wanted to donate blood for her but her doctors thought better of it.


It was on this date in 1919 that the German constituent assembly met in Weimar for the first time to declare itself The Official German Government For The Time Being.



This Weimar Republic, as it came to be known, should not be confused with the Weimar Republic fashion clothing outlet found in many American malls. The former caused an economic depression, Hitler, and the horrors of the Second World War. The latter caused a slight dip in sales at Banana Republic and Old Navy.


February 6, 1943 -
In like Flynn.

Omnisexual, neo-nazi, actor Errol Flynn was acquitted of raping an adolescent on this date. The woman had actually tried this shakedown with other celebrities and wasn't quite an adolescent despite her testifying with pigtails and a lollypop.


February 6, 1945 -
Bob Marley, musician, singer-songwriter and Rastafarian was born on this date.



How can your day not be a little brighter.


February 6, 1952 -
Elizabeth II became Queen upon the death of her father George VI (who had been ill for some time and died in his sleep from a  coronary thrombosis), on this date (she has been on the job for 64 years.) At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.



Talk about bizarre ways you can land a job - Elizabeth went up a tree a princess and came down a Queen.


February 6, 1971 -
Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard becomes the first person to hit a golf ball on the Moon on this date.



Near the end of the second moonwalk and just before entering the lunar module for the last time, Shepard attaches a six-iron to the end of a sample collecting tool and hits two golf balls. The first lands in a nearby crater. He hits the second one squarely, and, in the one-sixth gravity of the Moon, Shepard says that it travels “miles and miles and miles.”



And so it goes.

Poor Marilyn

She has now been reduced to the punchline of a Snickers bar commercial



Willwm Dafoe has pretty good looking but hairy gams.


Today is National Weatherman’s Day. It is observed on February 5 to commemorate the birthday of John Jeffries, one of the first people in America to begin observing the weather in a scientific way.





The day was created to celebrate meteorologists, the men and women who predict those snow apocalypse that strike the northeast every now and then.


February 5, 1927 -
Buster Keaton's movie The General premiered on this date. Keaton's picture received both poor reviews by critics and weak box-office results when it first opened.



The General was Keaton’s favorite film and is now considered a late great of the silent era though was poorly received at its release. The cold reception the film received meant it was the last film in which Keaton had such artistic control over his content.


February 5, 1936 -
Charlie Chaplin Little Tramp makes his final silent-film appearance, Modern Times, was released on this date.



This was one of the films which, because of its political sentiments, convinced the House Un-American Activities Committee that Charles Chaplin was a Communist, a charge he adamantly denied.


February 5, 1953 -
Walt Disney's 14th animated feature, Peter Pan, opens at Roxy Theater, on this date. This was the last Disney film released through RKO, as Walt Disney established his own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution, by the end of 1953.



Though the film was extremely successful, Walt Disney himself was dissatisfied with the finished product, feeling that the character of Peter Pan was cold and unlikable. However, experts on J.M. Barrie praise this as a success, as they insist that Pan was originally written to be a heartless sociopath.


February 5, 1956 -
Don Siegel subversive take on 50's Communist paranoia, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, premiered on this date.



Kevin McCarthy and author Jack Finney have always denied the rumor that the story is a statement against McCarthyism and Communism; they just saw it as a thriller. Director Don Siegel, however, believes that the political references to Sen. Joseph McCarthy and totalitarianism are inescapable, even though he tried not to emphasize them


February 5, 1967 -
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour premiered on CBS-TV, on this date.



Mom actually liked both of them equally.


Today in History:
Today is Liberation Day in San Marino. Americans remain woefully misinformed about San Marino.

(American remain woefully misinformed about most countries that aren't located between Canada and Mexico, but today is only Liberation Day in San Marino, so let's not get off-topic. But, it's also the feast day of St. Agatha -

patron saint of breast cancer survivors, but again, I digress ...)

About seventeen-hundred years ago, during an epic game of hide and seek, Marinus the Stonemason ran up Mount Titano in Italy to hide from the Roman Emperor Diocletian. It was a good hiding spot and he was never found. He started his own country to pass the time, and the Republic of San Marino survives to this day, an island of foreign nationals in the middle of Italy.

Citizens of San Marino are not San Mariners. They are Sammarinese.

The population of San Marino is about 25,000. The population of San Marino, California, is about 13,000.

The California town was named in 1878 by James de Barth Shorb, who had built his home there and didn't think people would go for Shorbtown. Instead, he named it after the Maryland town in which he'd been born.

That was reportedly San Marino, Maryland, which the California town's website claims to have been named "for the tiny European republic."

There is no Maryland town named San Marino. (If there is, they haven't yet made their presence felt on Google.) Foul play is obviously afoot.

Proceed with caution.


February 5, 1783 -
A large earthquake in Calabria, Italy leaves 50,000 dead on this date.

Luckily none of my wife's or a good friend of mine forebearers were involved or they wouldn't be here.


February 5, 1816 -
Rossini's opera Barber of Seville premieres in Rome on this date.







It was one of the earliest Italian operas to be performed in America and premiered at the Park Theater in New York City on November 25 1825.


February 5, 1914 -
William Seward Burroughs II, junkie, novelist, murderer, painter, professional sodomist and performer was born on this date.



Except for a couple of blots on his CV, he is my hero (well him and Julia Child.)


February 5, 1919 -
Four of the leading figures in early Hollywood: Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith, incorporated to form their own company to better control their own work as well as their futures. The company was United Artist.



MGM reacquired its 100% stake in United Artists in 2011.


February 5, 1940 -
Hans Ruedi Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer best known for his design work on the film Alien, was spawned on this date.



He had a very happy childhood.


February 5, 1941 -
The SS Politician wrecked off the coast of the Isle of Eriskay in the Hebrides on this date. It carried some 20,000 cases of whiskey, which the natives hid from customs agents.



The story was told in the 1947 book Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie. The book was made into a film in 1949. According to official files recently released by the British Home Office, there was nearly 290,000 ten shilling notes on board as well (this would be the equivalent of several million pounds at today's prices), not all of which was ever recovered.


February 5, 1958 -
A B-47 returning from a simulated combat mission suffered a midair collision with an F-86, on this date. A Mark 15 Mod 0 hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb was purposely jettisoned by the crippled B-47 bomber off  the coast of Savannah, Georgia, and has yet to be recovered.

The bomb, whether or not it contains a plutonium detonator (the Air Force has been hazing on this fact), has not been found: to repeat - a large object with some enriched uranium surrounded by four hundred pounds of TNT has gone missing for 58 years. (This is essentially a dirty bomb - a dirty bomb resting just off the shore of a vibrant United States port.)



Recovering the bomb and the enriched uranium inside would be a coup for any nation looking to skip a few steps to becoming a nuclear power, so one could return the Tybee Bomb, definitely no questions asked.


February 5, 1971 -
Apollo 14 manned lunar module Antares lands near the Fra Mauro region of the Moon, on this date.



Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the fifth human to walk on the moon with astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell.



And so it goes.

Once again, it's 'I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing.'

In the next in the series of fantastic segments, James Corden's Carpool Karaoke picks up Chris Martin hitchhiking his way to the Superbowl



His show could just coast with one of these bits every week


February 4, 1977 -
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album was released 39 years ago on this date - it's hard to believe.



The album shot to the top of Billboard's chart staying there for 31 weeks. More than 17 million copies have been sold in the U.S.

This was another album my sister and I wore the needle on the record player out on.


Today in History:
February 4, 1861 -
State delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a Confederate government on this date.

They elected Jefferson Davis as president of Confederacy.



Do you think Hallmark has a card commemorating this event?


February 4, 1889 -
Harry Longabaugh was released from Sundance Prison in Wyoming, thereby acquiring the famous nickname, The Sundance Kid on this date.



Kids, this was the film Brokeback Mountain during the 60's


February 4, 1902 -
Isolationist, racist, neo-nazi and early environmentalist Charles Lindbergh, first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, was born on this date.



Kind of complicated guy, don't you think.


February 4, 1912 -
Franz Reichelt (alias the flying tailor) designed an overcoat to fly or float its wearer gently to the ground like the modern parachute. To demonstrate his invention he made a jump of 60 meters from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower, at that time the tallest man-made structure in the world.



The parachute failed and Reichelt fell to his death.



The jump was recorded by the cameras of the gathered press. Winner of the 1912 Darwin Award.


February 4, 1913 -
Each person must live their life as a model for others.



Rosa Lee Parks, civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Alabama started the Civil Rights Movement, was born on this date.


February 4, 1918 -
Nobody fucks with Ida Lupino





Ida Lupino, actress, director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers was born on this date.


February 4, 1948 -
Vincent Furnier (Alice Cooper), rocker and avid golfer, was born on this date.



Yes, we're all not worthy.


On February 4, 1972, Senator Strom Thurmond sent a secret memo to William Timmons (in his capacity as an aide to Richard Nixon) and United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, with an attached file from the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, urging that British musician John Lennon (then living in New York City) be deported from the United States as an undesirable alien, due to Lennon's political views and activism.

The document claimed that Lennon's influence on young people could affect Nixon's chances of re-election, and suggested that terminating Lennon's visa might be "a strategy counter-measure"


February 4, 1974 -
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun, and bought it.



Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, 19 years old, was kidnapped in Berkeley, California, by the Symbionese Liberation Army on this date.


February 4, 1983 -
Karen Carpenter died of anorexia nervosa on this date. She frequently took laxatives and induced vomiting to prevent weight gain.



At the time of her death she was pencil thin. Lead graphite thin.


February 4, 1987 -
Pianist/jewelry wearer Wladziu Valentino died in Palm Springs, California due to complications from AIDS on this date.



Nobody ever suspected the man was gay.


February 4, 1999 -
In NYC, plainclothes police officers fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo, a Bronx street peddler and immigrant from Guinea, who was unarmed in front of his Bronx home. Police were searching for a rapist and Daillo was killed with 19 gunshot wounds.

Officers Kenneth Boss, Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon and Richard Murphy were later indicted (but ultimately cleared) for 2nd degree murder.


February 4, 1998 -
Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates was assaulted with a direct hit by a fluffy cream pie during a three-pronged attack in Brussels. He was in Belgium attending meetings with industry and government leaders.



Rumor is that the attack was engineered by Noel Godin, infamous for his other pie throwings at government officials.


February 4, 2004 -
Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University student, launched "The facebook", as it was originally known, on this date; the name taken from the sheets of paper distributed to freshmen, profiling students and staff.



Within five years of its founding, Facebook had more than 500 million users.


On February 4, 2008, at 00:00 GMT, NASA transmitted the Beatles song Across The Universe in the direction of the star Polaris, 431 light years from Earth. The transmission was made using a 70m antenna in the DSN's Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex, located outside of Madrid, Spain. It was done with an "X band" transmitter, radiating into the antenna at 18 kW. (This may be on the test.)



In case our overlords on Nibiru are Beastie Boys fans, here's a tune for them



Now that David Bowie has returned to his home, Planet X, he will hopefully plead our case to our overlords, should they come from there.



And so it goes.

And when I touch you I feel happy

February 3, 1964 -
Just prior to the Beatles invasion of the US, Meet the Beatles became 'gold' on this date.



Meet the Beatles! was The Beatles first "official" album in America, released on January 20, 1964 by Capitol Records, the sister company within EMI to their British label, Parlophone.


February 3, 1944 -
Robert Stevenson's classic presentation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, premiered in NYC on this date. (Look for Elizabeth Taylor in an uncredited role in the film.)



Orson Welles did enough work behind the scenes that the production company offered him a producer credit, which he turned down. Welles' official reason for this is a belief that a person who is not directing the film shouldn't be "just" a producer.


February 3, 1945 -
Walt Disney's The Three Caballeros, premiered in the US, on the date.



The premise of the film is that it is Donald Duck's birthday and his friends give him a tour of Latin America as a gift. The date of the birthday is given as "Friday 13th" with no month specified. The later animated short Donald's Happy Birthday is also set on Donald's birthday and gives the date as "March 13th".


February 3, 1951 -
Another great Sylvester cartoon, Canned Feud, premiered on this date.



This cartoon is particularly violent for the series and for a Sylvester cartoon in particular.


February 3, 1956 -
It's Nathan Lane's birthday today.








Pound for pound, one of the funniest guest on a talk show.


It's Elmo's Birthday!



Remember, Elmo didn't do a damn thing


Today in History:
February 3,  1637 -
Considered the first major speculative bubble, the sale and collection of tulips in the Netherlands reached extraordinary heights before collapsing spectacularly on this date.



At the height of the tulip mania, one bulb could sell for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.  And you could not smoke that crap.


February 3, 1468 -
About 600 years ago a child was born in the city of Mainz, in what is today Germany. His name was Johannes Gutenberg. He worked as a goldsmith and gem cutter until finally converting a wine press into a printing press.



He printed 200 copies of the Bible and gradually went broke. He died on this date.

Lesser known to history is the name of Edgar Weasle-Puck, the Englishman who developed a printing press at around the same time as Gutenberg. Instead of printing Bibles, however, Weasle-Puck ran off 500 copies of Lewde & Graffical Engravingf of Perfonf Not Wearing Any Clothef. He made a small fortune, changed his name, purchased an Earldom, and moved to southern France, where he spent the rest of his days eagerly awaiting the invention of the lower-case "s."


February 3, 1882 -
P.T. Barnum purchased the elephant Jumbo on this date. He kept him for three years until the animal's skull was crushed by a train.

After his death, Jumbo's skeleton was donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The elephant's heart was sold to Cornell University. Jumbo's hide was stuffed by William J. Critchley and Carl Akeley, both of Ward's Natural Science, and the mounted specimen traveled with Barnum's circus for a number of years.

In 1889, Barnum donated the stuffed Jumbo to Tufts University, where it was displayed until destroyed by a fire in 1975, coincidentally a fate that befell many of Barnum's exhibits during his own lifetime. The great elephant's ashes are kept in a 14-ounce Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar in the office of the Tufts athletic director.

I could not make this up if I wanted to do so.


February 3, 1913 -
In one of the blackest days in U.S. history, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this date. This amendment created the income tax.



Please check on your tea bagger neighbor; they might do themselves harm on this day.


The United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany on February 3, 1917. The Germans were very upset by this and tried to make America jealous by flirting with Mexico. Britain overheard Germany's sweet talk and told America everything she'd heard. Unfortunately for Germany, however, it didn't make America jealous. It made America angry. A few months later the United States declared war on Germany.



(Less than two years later, World War I ended with Germany's defeat. This made Germany upset again, and they spent the next two decades planning how they'd get even. Eventually this led to World War II, which also ended, once again, with Germany's defeat. Germany remains upset to this day, but, having been deprived of an army, poses no serious threat to anyone but France.)


February 3, 1927 -
Lucifer is the patron saint of the visual arts. Color, form-all these are the work of Lucifer.





Kenneth Anger, American underground avant-garde film-maker, author of the book Hollywood Babylon and professional Dan Rather impersonator, was spawned on this date.


February 3, 1959 -
The Day the Music Died:



A small plane carrying The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Buddy Holly and Richie Valens crashed near Mason City, Iowa, while en route to a show in Fargo, North Dakota. Richardson had developed a case of the flu during the tour (erroneously thought to have been caused by riding on the unheated bus) and asked one of Holly's bandmates, Waylon Jennings, for his seat on the plane; Jennings agreed to give up the seat. According to an account by Jennings years later, when Holly heard about this, his reply to Jennings was, "Well, I hope your ole bus freezes up!" to which Jennings replied, "Well, I hope your damn plane crashes!" This exchange of words, though made in jest at the time, haunted Jennings for many years afterward.



Dion DiMucci of Dion & The Belmonts, who was the fourth headliner on the tour, was approached to join the flight as well; however, the price of $36 was too much. Dion had heard his parents argue for years over the $36 rent for their apartment and could not bring himself to pay an entire month's rent for a short plane ride.


February 3, 1971 -
New York Police Officer Frank Serpico was shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn on this date and survived to later testify against police corruption.



Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.


And so it goes

In Alaska, it's Marmot Day

Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives.

It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.



If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.



BTW, it's going to be unusually warm later this week - both the damn vermin Phil and Staten Island Chuck, apparently his cousin, saw their shadows (who couldn't see their shadow with all of the camera lights around them,), so stop trying to figure out the forecast from rodents!!!


February 2, 1973 -
The regular run of the musical series, Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



Among the acts that appears on that first show were The Byrds, Ike and Tina Turner Revue, Rare Earth and George Carlin.


Today in History:
Congestion Advisory:
In 1626, Dutchman Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan for $24. People often joke about that, but twenty-four bucks wasn't such an unreasonable price. It was a lot of money back then, and it's not like Mr. Minuit just turned around and built Times Square. Manhattan was a big rock in the middle of cold rushing waters and the weather was awful, even for a Dutchman. It wasn't even a city until February 2, 1653, when it became New Amsterdam. It had a population of 800 at the time.



Eventually it was renamed New York, which, according to the 2010 census, has a population of more than 8.3 million. This represents an increase of more than one million percent. At this rate, by the year 2319 New York will have a population of over 80 billion.

Anticipate more traffic.


February 2, 1793 -
Czech composer Franz Kotzwara, who penned The Battle of Prague, visited a prostitute in Vine Street, Westminster named Susannah Hill. After dinner with her in her lodgings, Kotzwara paid her two shillings and requested that she cut off his testicles. Hill refused to do so. Kotzwara then proceeded to tie a rope around the doorknob and then his neck and proceeded to have vigorous sexual intercourse with Hill. After it was over, Kotzwara was dead.

His is most likely the first recorded death from erotic asphyxiation.

Kids, don't do this at home, unless you have adult supervision.


February 2, 1826 -
Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (b.1755), French lawyer and epicure, died on this date.

His famous work, Physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste), was published in December 1825, two months before his death.


James Joyce was born on February 2, 1882. Mr. Joyce was one of many drunken Irish geniuses who got the hell out of Ireland as soon as he could afford a passport.



Mr. Joyce wrote Ulysses, a famous book perhaps most notable for the fact that few people ever actually read it, was published on this date in 1922.

Gertrude Stein was born a day later, eight years earlier, than Mr. Joyce, in 1874.



She wrote books that were much easier to read than Mr. Joyce's yet made even less sense.


February 2, 1901 -
Following a custom she maintained throughout her widowhood, Queen Victoria spent Christmas at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She died there from a cerebral hemorrhage on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81. At her deathbed she was attended by her son, the future King, and her oldest grandson, German Emperor William II. As she had wished, her own sons lifted her into the coffin. She was dressed in a white dress and her wedding veil. Her funeral was held on this date and after two days of lying-in-state, she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park. Since Victoria disliked black funerals, London was instead festooned in purple and white.



When she was laid to rest at Frogmore Mausoleum, it began to snow. Victoria had reigned for a total of 63 years, seven months and two days - at the time, the longest of any British monarch.


February 2, 1913 -
The new Beaux-Arts style Grand Central Terminal in New York City opened on this date.

The cost to construct Grand Central Terminal was a staggering $43 million. The price was offset by the sale of "air rights" over the enclosed facility.



Many majestic buildings were constructed including the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. For many years, the elevators in these buildings would be powered by third rail current provided by the New York Central.



The railroad needed to invest in electrifying its rails, and carve deep into Manhattan's bedrock (workers would ultimately excavate 2.8 million cubic yards of earth and rock).



And if your lucky, my brother might have just driven your train into the station.


February 2, 1964 -
The GI Joe doll made its debut on the market as a popular American toy on this date.



It would be several years before GI Joe would be released with his Kung Fu grip. Even though GI Joe is 12" of fighting machine - Joe is genital-less - so the grip is useless.


February 2, 1971 -
Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda on this date, taking the government from President Milton Obote. One of his favorite pastimes seems to have been eating the brains of live prisoners. Also while in office, he reportedly ate one of his own sons.

How lovely.


February 2, 1979 -
John Simon Ritchie, better known as Sid Vicious, bassist for the Sex Pistols, died in his sleep of a heroin overdose on this date.



He was waiting to stand trial for the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.



And so it goes.

... sometimes it seemed like the longest

... Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November.
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one.
Except Leap Year; that's the time
When February's days are twenty-nine.

According to the Gregorian calendar, February is the second month of the year, and also the shortest month. February has 28 days until Julius Caesar gave it 29, and 30 days every four years. According to tradition, Augustus, the Roman emperor, took one day off to add one day to August, the month named after him.

Damn those freakin' Romans.



We now have February with 28 days, and 29 on leap years, like this year. Sweden had a February 30 in 1712. They tried it but didn't didn't work out. February begins on the same day of the week as March and November in a common year, and on the same day of the week as August in a leap year.

Sorry but there's no rhyme to remember that.



In the northern half of the world, February is a very cold month. There are usually sunny days that show Spring is not too far off. The Southern hemisphere usually enjoy midsummer weather during February.

February Month Observances
* African American History Month (Black History Month)
Remember the joke that Black History Month occurs during the shortest month on the year
* AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
Making it very difficult to read this posting
* American History Month
Which is sponsored by National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (who probably did not vote to share the month with Black History Month.)
* Bird Feeding Month (Wild Bird Feeding Month)
(most cats prefer the taste of wild bird over domesticated bird)
* Cat Health Month (US National)
(which is caused by cats celebrating 'Bird Feeding Month' a little too much.)
* Candy and Chocolate Lovers Month
(Secretly sponsored by Hallmark and the American Dental Association.)
* Children's Dental Health Month and Dental Month
(What did I tell you.)
* National Pet Dental Health Month
(a slightly scary thought that All the dentist are in collusion)
* Condom Month, Creative Romance Month and An Affair to Remember Month
(Also secretly sponsored by Hallmark and the American Dental Association.)

Remember kids - There will be a quiz.


February 1, 1953 -
Private Secretary (Susie, in syndication), starring Ann Sothern, premiered on CBS-TV on this day.



(This is not the first episode, sorry.)

The show ran during the regular TV seasons on CBS, and last show was September 10, 1957. It ran on NBC-TV in the summers of 1953 and 1954. The original title sequence has not been viewed since Private Secretary's original run.

Sorry, I can't find it either.


February 1, 1976 -
Irwin Shaw's Rich Man, Poor Man mini-series premiered on ABC-TV, on this date .



The mini series is based on the novel by Shaw; it was originally published as a short story in Playboy Magazine.

Hey, so some people actually read Playboy.


February 1, 1982 -
Late Night With David Letterman debuted on NBC-TV on this date, where it stayed for 11 years.



Besides Bill Murray, one of Dave's first guests was Don Herbert aka Mr. Wizard.

I wonder how Dave is doing in his retirement?


Today in History :
February 1, 1861 -
Texas seceded from the Union, becoming independent once again. Since the articles of statehood passed by the U.S. Congress give Texas this right, it is perhaps the only state whose secession was legal.



According to a Public Policy Poll from December 2012, 25% of GOPers support secession following President Obama’s re-election. Another 19% of self-identified Republicans said they were unsure.

Once again, ask yourself: are the Dallas Cowboys really ready to stop being America’s Team?


February 1, 1893 -
Thomas A. Edison opened the world's first motion picture studio, his Black Maria, (on account of its resemblance to a police patrol wagon,) in West Orange, New Jersey. The studio had a roof that could be opened to admit sunlight for illumination, and the building itself was mounted on a revolving pivot so that the structure could be constantly repositioned to keep it aligned with the sun.



Edison built a glass-enclosed rooftop movie studio in New York City and the Black Maria was closed in January 1901. Edison demolished the building in 1903. The U. S. National Park Service maintains a reproduction of the Black Maria, built in 1954 at what is now the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange.


February 1, 1896 -



The opera La Boheme, written by Giacomo Puccini, premiered in Turin, Italy on this date.



Who knew all Cher had to do to win an Oscar 94 years later, was tweeze her eyebrows and cry while she watched this opera.


February 1, 1951 -
TV station KTLA broadcast of an atomic explosion was the first to be seen publicly on television on this date.



The event was captured by an NBC camera on Mount Wilson, 300 miles away from the test blast at Frenchman Flats, Nevada.


February 1, 1964 -
Governor Matthew Welsh of Indiana declares Louie, Louie by the Kingmen "pornographic".



And while the FCC couldn't figure out the lyrics, the governor's move backfires by making the song one of the most covered titles in existence.


February 1, 1968 -
In Saigon, South Vietnam's national police chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan summarily executed an accused Viet Cong spy with a bullet to the head on this date.



Unfortunately for the general, he happened to shoot him right in front of NBC cameraman Vo Suu and Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams.

Oops


February 1, 1970 -
US Government report reveals that 31% of college students have tried pot.



Now that legalized pot has been so successful, there is a possibility that Colorado will make over $66 million dollars in taxes surplus.


February 1, 2003 -
The Space Shuttle Columbia blew up on re-entry, with its debris hitting homes and businesses in Nacogdoches, Texas on this date.



Oops


February 1, 2004 -
During the MTV-provided halftime show of the Superbowl, former boy band member Justin Timberlake conducts an obviously pre-scripted move to expose Janet Jackson's right bosom on this date, which oddly sports a ninjitsu-style throwing star as a pasty.



The nation is shocked, simply shocked, that a pristine, noncommercial event such as the Superbowl could be ruined by a Jackson.



Oh don't worry folk, CBS doesn't have enough money to show Beyonce's nipples this year.


And so it goes.