But can she go to the bathroom outside of Britian

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - When Queen Elizabeth visited the set of HBO’s Game of Thrones and met with its producers and cast, she was actually barred from sitting in one particular chair.



When Queen Elizabeth II visited the set of Game of Thrones, she wasn’t allowed to sit on the actual throne there – according to an ancient tradition, the reigning English monarch is prohibited from sitting on a non English throne not even a fictitious one.


Today is the Feast of Saint Nicholas (yes, that St. Nick.)



Amongst other things, he is the patron saint of children and was known for his generosity. He's also known as the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, merchants, the falsely accused, prostitutes (Huh), repentant thieves, pharmacists and broadcasters.



The biggest gift he ever gave was to a poor man and his three daughters. The man had no dowry to pay for his daughters and was worried that if they never married they would have no choice but to become prostitutes. Hearing this, Saint Nicholas visited the poor man at night and anonymously threw three purses filled with gold through his window. Because of this, he became the patron saint of pawnbrokers. Traditionally, three golden baubles are hung in the window of pawn shops to represent the three purses of money.


December 6, 1940 -
MGM released the 10th Marx Brothers film, Go West, on this date.



The film opens with Horace Greeley's famous quotation, "Go West, Young Man, go west". In actuality, the words were spoken by John Soulé; Greeley spent the rest of his life disavowing them.


December 6, 1964 -
One of the first neurotic holiday Christmas specials, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, premiered on this date



When the film was first released, in 1964, the technology of using an articulated metal armature inside the figures was considered so amazing that TV Guide devoted four pages to the story. They failed to mention that the "new" technology had been pioneered 31 years before, most prominently inside the gorilla King Kong.


December 6, 1969 –
The group Steam hit No. 1 on the Billboard Charts with their song Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye on this date.



The song's lead singer Gary DeCarlo was asked not to reveal that it was him on the record, since there was a different singer performing it at live appearances. He says that his manager Paul Leka and record man Bob Reno placated him by promising to get him a hit as a solo artist, but that never happened.


December 6, 1969 -
Led Zeppelin made their debut on the US singles chart with Whole Lotta Love on this date, which eventually reached No.4 and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the US.



During the bands career, Zeppelin never released any singles in the UK.


December 6, 1977 -
Jackson Browne releases Running On Empty on this date, a live album compiled from performances at various stops on his summer tour.



Live albums typically rely on songs that have already been released, but this one features all new songs, the first major rock album to do so.


December 6, 1986 –
Ringo Starr becomes the first Beatle to use his name in an advertisement, for Sun Country wine cooler.



He was reportedly paid “in the seven figures.”


December 6, 1990 -
Twentieth Century Fox production of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest and Vincent Price (in his last role,) premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



The houses used in the film were a real community in Florida, completely unchanged, except for their garish exterior paint.


December 6, 1991 –
Nicholas Meyer's contribution to the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, starring, well you know who was in it, premiered in the US on this date.



Christian Slater wore the trousers made for William Shatner in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. "It was an honor to get into Shatner's pants", he quipped during a BBC interview.


December 6, 1994 -
Bush released their debut album Sixteen Stone on this date, which takes off in America but is largely ignored in their native England.



Around the time of the release of the album, Britpop acts like Oasis and Blur were huge in their homeland but struggling to break through in America. It was the opposite for Bush, who got hardly a listen in their native England (Sixteen Stone peaked at #42 on the UK Albums chart), but was embraced in the US. Much of this has to do with a cut from the album, Everything Zen. Despite Gavin Rossdale's accent, the song is very American, with a heavy grunge sound and lyrics about being young and disaffected.


December 6, 2005 –
The more frank remake of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee and starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, premiered in NYC on this date.



Heath Ledger declined to go to the one month cowboy camp that had been organized, as he had grown up on farms in Western Australia. Jake Gyllenhaal was required to attend, however, as he needed "roughing up".


Special night, beard that's white


Today in History:
December 6, 1768 -
The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for “British Encyclopaedia”) is published under the title “Encyclopedia Britannica, or, A dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan.”



The series will eventually become the oldest continuously published English-language encyclopedia. The first edition is published in one hundred installments, which will later be bound into three volumes.


December 6, 1877 -
Thomas Edison records his own recitation of Mary had a Little Lamb onto a cylinder wrapped with tin foil using his newly completed prototype hand-cranked phonograph at his Menlo Park Laboratory.



For all intents and purposes, it is the first recording of a human voice. (The audio is from a re-recording in 1927. The original 1877 recording was not saved and no longer exists.)


December 6, 1896 -
Ira Gershwin, lyricist (and major writer of the American Song Book) was born on this date.

Embraceable You -




I Can't Get Started -




Someone to Watch Over Me -




They Can't Take That Away from Me -




If you're of an age, it part of the music you hear in your head as you walk down the street.


December 6, 1917 -
On the morning of December 6, the munitions ship Mont Blanc exploded in Halifax harbor after being struck by another ship, the Norwegian ship Imo.



It is the largest explosion before the atomic age. The ship was carrying 200 tons of TNT, 61 tons of gun cotton, 35 tons of Benzyl, and 2,300 tons of picric acid; the explosion destroys 325 acres of the city, leaving 1,900 people dead and injuring over 9,000.



A nicer remembrance of the days tragic events is the official Boston Christmas tree lighting, which sits in Boston Common, which occurred Thursday night. The tree is a gift from the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has been sent every year since the 1970s. It is in recognition of the swift and sustained relief effort the people of Boston put together to aid Halifax after the explosion. (Nova Scotia doesn't complain anymore about the cost of their very generous gift - after all told the tree ends up costing the Nova Scotian government more than a quarter million dollars. The amount of positive international press Nova Scotia garners for its very magnanimous gift is priceless.)


December 6, 1955 -
N.Y. psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers won the top prize on the TV quiz show The $64,000 Question by correctly answering questions on boxing .



Dr. Joyce Brothers is the only person to win both The $64,000 Question and The $64,000 Challenge.


December 6, 1957 –
It wasn't a good day for the space program. A Vanguard rocket (TV3) carrying the first US satellite blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on this date.



It rose about four feet and collapsed. Its fuel tanks rupture as it fell against its firing structure, and the rocket topples to the ground on the northeast, ocean side of the structure in a roaring, rolling ball of flame.

Oops.


December 6, 1960 -
Domino's Pizza was founded by Thomas S. Monaghan on this date.



And the pizza still sucks.


December 6, 1969 -
A concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont ends in the death of a fan at the hands of the Hells Angels, who were hired for security. He was a fat hippie anyway. (Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name...)



(Contrary to a popular urban legend, Sympathy for the Devil was not playing while Meredith Hunter was being stabbed, rather, the song was Under My Thumb.)

And Mr. Hunter was not a fat hippie but an African American with a gun.)


December 6, 1973 -
House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the first unelected Vice President, succeeding US Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (under President Richard M. Nixon.)



Agnew, the only VP to resign in disgrace, resigned on October 10, and pleaded no contest to one charge of income tax invasion in return for the dropping of all other charges, and was fined $10,000 and given three year's probation.


December 6, 1989 -
Andy, Opie, make Aunt Bee another Rum Toddy.

Frances Bavier - "Aunt Bee" on The Andy Griffith Show died of heart failure on this date.

Suffering from advance stages of senility, Ms. Bavier became convinced that she was "Aunt Bee" (a role her grew to despise,) towards the end of her life.


December 6, 2002 –
Winona Ryder whose six-day shoplifting trial drew national attention and stirred tabloid frenzy, was found guilty on November 7, 2002, of grand theft and vandalism in a New York City courtroom.

She was sentenced on this date to 36 months of probation and 480 hours of community service after stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, California. She also paid restitution and a fine.


Before you go - Here's a Christmas Wish from Steve Martin -



So remember Peace on Earth and all that other stuff.


And so it goes

45

A stairway to paradise

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - There is a total of 1,710 steps in the Eiffel Tower.



Standing 108 stories tall, there are 1,710 steps to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower. However, guests are only allowed to climb the stairs until the first platform. From there, they must take a lift to the top. So now you know.


December 5, 1926 -
The film is widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time, Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin premiered in the US on this date.



The flag seen flying on the ship after the crew had mutinied was white, which is the color of the tsars, but this was done so that it could be hand-painted red on the celluloid, which is the color of communism. Since this is a black-and-white film, if the flag had been red it would have shown up black in the film.


December 5, 1940 -
One of film's most beautiful Technicolor fairy tales, The Thief of Bagdad, opened in NYC on this date.



Producer Alexander Korda was so demanding that he went through six directors during the production of this film, including his brother Zoltan Korda and leading art director William Cameron Menzies.


December 5, 1952 -
The local New York City affiliate of CBS-TV, WCBS begin carrying The Abbott and Costello Show on this date.



During filming, one camera was always kept on Lou Costello because he was constantly improvising. The funniest bits of business were then edited into the episode whether they had anything to do with the storyline or not.


December 5, 1963 -
One of the best romantic/ thrillers of the 60s, Charades, starring Cary Grant (at his late career best) and Audrey Hepburn premiered on this date.



According to Audrey Hepburn, the scene where Regina spilled ice cream on Alex's suit was based on a real-life accident where Hepburn spilled red wine on Cary Grant's suit at a dinner party.


December 5, 1973 -
Paul McCarthy and Wings released their third studio album Band on the Run in the US on this date.



Shortly after the Band On The Run album was released, Paul McCartney was asked if the album was a reference to Wings escaping from The Beatles, he replied: "Sort of – yeah. I think most bands on tour are on the run."


December 5, 1974 -
The last episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Party Political Broadcast, was shown on BBC on this date.



The sketch about the doctor making his patient fill in a form while bleeding to death was co-written by Douglas Adams, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


December 5, 1976 -
Hal Ashby under-rated bio-pix about Woody Guthrie, Bound for Glory, starring David Carradine, premiered on this date.



The first film to use a long Steadicam tracking shot as operated by its inventor Garrett Brown under DP Haskell Wexler's supervision.


December 5, 2007 -
The Diablo Cody written comedy-drama, Juno, directed by Jason Reitman and starring Elliot Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney and J. K. Simmons, went into limited release in the US on this date.



It was challenging to show all four seasons within a 30-day filming schedule. Solutions included digitally darkening spring cherry blossoms to look like summer flowers and having crew members off camera throw falling silk leaves for autumn. There was a fluke snowstorm (unusual for March in Vancouver) and three different shots were coordinated that day before the snow could melt. Since fake snow can be expensive to put in a shot, this saved the film considerable money for the winter scenes.


December 5, 2008 -
Ron Howard's adaptation of the 2006 Peter Morgan play, Frost/ Nixon, starring Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell, premiered on this date.



Frank Langella and Michael Sheen repeated the roles they created on stage. Ron Howard would only agree to direct if the studio would allow both actors to appear in the film version.

Don't forget to tune in to ACME's Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour today


Today in History :
December 5, 1484 -
Pope Innocent VIII released a papal bull to combat the spread of witchcraft and heresy in Germany, on this date, leading to one of the severest witch hunts in European history. He ordered that all cats belonging to witches scheduled to be burned, also to be burned.



The bull was, alas, less interested in fighting these affronts to civilization than in finding romantically-inclined heifers and was subsequently relieved of his duties.



Witchcraft and heresy therefore flourished (over the next three centuries 200,000 accused witches died under most unpleasant circumstances) and eventually caused Protestants.


December 5, 1791 -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, child prodigy, influential composer and fart joke lover, died after a sudden (and some would say suspicious) illness on this date.



During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death.


December 5, 1876 –
The Stillson wrench (U.S. Patent #184,993) was patented by Daniel Chapman Stillson on this date.

The device was the first practical pipe wrench, the design is still in use today.


December 5, 1906 -
I do not welcome advice from actors; they are here to act.



Otto Ludwig Preminger, Austrian-born film director, whose films included Laura, The Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder and Advise and Consent, was born on this date.


December 5, 1932 -

Rev. Richard Wayne Penniman, (Little Richard) singer, songwriter, pianist and one of the seminal influences in Rock and Roll first graced this earth on this date.





To experience his true healing powers, as with St. Elvis, remove all your clothes, including your undergarments, dance with wild abandon, frequently touching the screen and yourself.


December 5, 1933 -
Let the good times roll.



Fourteen years of prohibition end when Utah ratifies the 21st amendment. One has to wonder if the delay in the states' ratification had anything to due with the fruits of polygamy.


December 5, 1945 -
Five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 took off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. The "Lost Squadron" never returned.



The disappearance of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.


December 5, 1968 -
Margaret Cho, comic and actress was born on this date.



Whatever you do - don't offer to discuss sexual technique with her.


Before you go - Supposedly, there is a very old Christmas eve tradition in Germany was to hide a pickle [ornament] deep in the branches of the family Christmas Tree. The parents hung the pickle last after all the other ornaments were in place. In the morning, the child who first spots the ornament would receive an extra gift from Santa. The first adult who finds the pickle traditionally gets good luck for the whole year. Don't let anyone tell you that the Christmas pickle is an old world custom from Germany.



This story is a complete lie - no one in Germany hides pickles in their trees - it was a marketing ploy by F. W. Woolworth to unload a large number of unsold pickle ornaments purchased in the 1880s. (I'm guessing you have no idea what Woolworth's was.


And so it goes

47

Can they be any cuter?

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Sea otters hold hands when they sleep so they don’t drift away from each other.



This is a method mostly used by a mother and her pup to prevent them from separating. Other than holding hands, they may also wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting away.


Last night was the unofficial start of London’s holiday season, when the annual lighting ceremony of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is held on the first Thursday in December.



The tree is a gift given to Britain by the people of Norway as a thank you for support during the Second World War. The tradition has been ongoing since 1947. The Lord Mayor of Westminster Councillor Jonathan Glanz hosted the Mayor of Oslo and the Norwegian Ambassador. (They also lit the tree in Boston Commons last night but more about it on Sunday.)


December 4, 1937 -
Another great early Bob Clampett/ Chuck Jones (rarely seen) B & W Looney Tunes, Porky's Hero Agency, premiered on this date.



The line of people turned to stone include many of the Looney Tunes/ Merry Melodies animators including Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.


December 4, 1942 -
Henry King directed the swashbuckler, The Black Swan, starring Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, Anthony Quinn, and George Zucco which premiered in the US on this date.



To help out the war effort, the actors tried hard to keep the number of takes low so as to conserve film. Roughly 30 of the scenes were done in one take.


December 4, 1956 –
On this day in 1956, during a Carl Perkins recording session with Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash at Sun Records in Memphis, Elvis Presley visited the studio and jammed extensively while the tapes rolled.



A newspaper reporter who was present dubbed it “The Million Dollar Quartet,” offering a rough guess as to what the salaries of the four men would have been, and the name stuck.


December 4, 1965 –
The Byrds song Turn! Turn! Turn! reached no. 1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



Before he recorded this song with The Byrds, Jim McGuinn (who later went by Roger) played acoustic 12-string guitar on Judy Collins' 1963 version, which appears on her album Judy Collins #3. He also worked up the arrangement with Collins.


December 4, 1971 –
The Sly and the Family Stone song, Family Affair, reached no. 1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



Sly & the Family Stone was indeed a family affair, with Sly Stone's younger siblings, brother Freddie and sister Rosie, all part of the band. The rest of the group, including bass player Larry Graham, were like family, at least in the '60s, when they rose to the top with the hits Everyday People and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).


December 4, 1981 -
Falcon Crest premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Jane Wyman and Lorenzo Lamas were the only actors that were part of the main cast through out the entire series. Lorenzo Lamas was the only actor who appeared in all 227 episodes.


Oh, Christmas TV


Today in History:
December 4, 1783 -
At Fraunces Tavern in New York City on this date, General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.

Many of his subordinates were quite emotional until they realized that George stuck them with the check.


Our old friend, Francisco Franco was born 128 years ago today.

Franco graduated from the Spanish military academy at Toledo and became the youngest major in the Spanish army at the age of 23. By the age of 34 he was a general, and by 41 he was Commander of the Spanish Army.

Eager for war but lacking an enemy, the ambitious young Spanish commander-in-chief declared war on Spain in 1936 and defeated her in just three years.

The war was so successful and exciting, it inspired World War II, and Franco's rise to power foreshadowed the ascension of other evil bastards in Europe.

After his victory Franco named himself Generalisimo (villainous bastard) to better distinguish himself from the Fuhrer (maniacal bastard) in Germany and Il Duce (vicious bastard) in Italy.

Franco ran the country until shortly after his death in 1975.

The General, heroically, remains dead (although not in his original resting place. As with most Evil Bastards, the current government had finally had enough of his deceased fascist ways, and sent him packing.)


The Panama Pacific International Exposition was the 1915 Worlds Fair held in San Francisco, California. Taking over three years to construct, the fair had great economic implications for the city that had been almost destroyed by the great earthquake and fire of 1906. The exposition was a tremendous success, and did much to boost the morale of the entire Bay Area and to help get San Francisco back up on its feet.



Architects and designers went all-out for the design of the fair's buildings. There never before had been a fair whose architectural focus had been so all-encompassing. 76 city blocks had been cleared or filled to set the stage for the exposition, and its final size was 635 acres, which allowed for the hundreds of buildings that were built. The spectacular palaces, courts, state and foreign buildings at the fair were made of a temporary plaster-like material, designed to only last for the duration of the fair.



The fair ran from February 20th until December 4th, 1915 - and was widely considered to be a great success.


December 4, 1954 -

The first Burger King, originally called Insta Burger King, was opened at 3090 N.W. 36th Street in Miami, Florida on this date.



Not to be gross but many of those first patrons still have their first burgers lodged deep within their digestive system.


December 4, 1955 -
Cassandra Wilson, jazz vocalist extraordinaire, songwriter, and producer, was born on this date.

A Day In The Life Of A Fool -




Last Train to Clarksville -




I Can't Stand The Rain -




December 4, 1958 -
Robert Timm and John Cook took off from McCarran Airfield in Las Vegas, in a used Cessna 172, registration number N9172B, on this date.



Sixty-four days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and 5 seconds later on February 7, 1959, they landed at the same airfield setting the world record for flight endurance; the record still stands.


December 3, 1971 –
During a Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention concert in Montreux, Switzerland, someone shoots off a flare gun which hits the wooden roof and quickly spreads. It eventually reaches the building’s heating system, causing an explosion. Luckily, everyone escapes.



The incident is later immortalized in the Deep Purple song Smoke On The Water.



A bizarre coincidence: On this date in 1993, Frank Zappa lost his battle with prostate cancer.


And so it goes

47

OMG, look out. It's attacking that tree!

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Australian Christmas trees are the world's largest parasites.



If you've heard the phrase "Australian Christmas tree," you might imagine a fir tree on the beach, or possibly one in the ocean Down Under. However, the plant that Australians call a "Christmas tree" is actually an aggressive, hemiparasitic type of mistletoe. This parasite is believed to be the largest in the world, with its roots stabbing victims up to 360 feet away! It looks nothing like a conifer, but its yellow-orange flowers bloom around the holidays, hence the name.


December 3, 1927 -
The first 'official' film of the great comedy team, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Putting Pants on Philip, premiered on this date.



Although they had appeared in several films together at this point, Stan Laurel considered this the first official Laurel and Hardy film.


December 3, 1965 -
Rubber Soul, the sixth album by The Beatles was released on this date. With the 14 new songs, the British band expanded their sound using a wide range of instruments. Influences included soul music and the new folk-rock of Bob Dylan. George Harrison’s use of a sitar on Norwegian Wood sparked a craze for the Indian instrument that lasted beyond the 60s.



The album greatly influenced Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys who believed it marked the first time in pop music that focus had shifted from just making hit singles to making an actual album..


December 3, 1968 -
Touch the screen and feel the healing powers of his 'hunka, hunka burning love' course through your loins.



St. Elvis appeared to his devoted acolytes on this date. The leather clad Elvis - not the sweaty holy Elvis. This is the "Elvis has left the building" Elvis.


December 3, 1976 -



During a shoot for the cover of Pink Floyd's the Animals album, one of the props, an inflatable pig broke free due to a strong gust of wind (gaining a lot of press coverage). The pig, named Algie, floated above Battersea Power Station, then disappeared from sight within five minutes, and was spotted by airline pilots at forty thousand feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aircraft, eastwards from Britain and out over the English Channel, finally landing on a rural farm in Kent that night.



A few years ago to commemorate the special reissue of the entire Pink Floyd catalog, the band recreated the album’s cover. The original Algie could not be used because it was too leaky. (There is nothing worse than a leaky rubber pig.)


December 3, 1998 -
The romantic comedy film Shakespeare in Love, premiered in NYC on this date.



Gwyneth Paltrow saw the script at Winona Ryder's office table in 1997, and asked her if she could read it. Paltrow got the part, without telling Ryder she was going to try for it. The former friends haven't been friends since, because of Paltrow's selfishness, later winning an Oscar for the part.


December 3, 2010 -
Darren Aronofsky's intense psychological drama, The Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder went into a limited release in the U.S. on this date.



The budget on this film was so tight that when Natalie Portman had a rib dislocated during a lift and called the producer for help, she was told that the production could not afford a medic. Portman stated that if they needed to cut items from the budget they could take away her trailer to hire a medic. The next day her trailer was gone. Portman also had to receive physical therapy during filming and one of her sessions was incorporated into the final cut.


A Little Less Conversation


Today in History:
December 3, 1552 -
Francis Xavier was a saint with a few too many fans. In the early 16th century, the Spanish missionary was sent to Asia by the king of Portugal to convert as many souls to Christianity as possible. Turns out, he was pretty good at the job.



Francis Xavier became wildly popular, and after his death in 1552, so did his relics.

In fact, demand out-fueled supply. Throughout several years and multiple exhumations, his body was whittled away.

Today, a piece of the venerated saint is in Cochin, India, while his humurus is in Malacca, Malaysia. One of his arms resides in Rome, and various other cities lay claim to his internal organs. The leftovers? They went to Goa, India.


December 3, 1890 -
Isaac Jordan, the U.S. Congressional Representative from the great state of Ohio, died after taking a drunken stumble down an open elevator shaft in his law offices on this date.

Remember to check if the elevator is there when entering, especially if you are drunk.


December 3, 1948 -
John Michael Osbourne, rock star, 'Prince Of Darkness', drug use casualty and animal vivisectionist is born on this date.



Continue to ride the Beast, Ozzy!


December 3, 1967 -
The first successful heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christaan Barnard at Capetown, South Africa, on this date. The patient, Louis Washkansky, lived 18 days with the new heart.



While a practical artificial heart may someday become a reality, transplants of real human hearts would become widely accepted surgery, with some patients living on new hearts for many years.


December 3, 1976 –
Bob Marley was shot in the upper arm, on this date, when intruders storm his house in Kingston, Jamaica, attempting to assassinate the singer. Also shot were his wife Rita, manager Don Taylor and Lewis Griffiths, a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.



The attack was motivated by politics, as elections in Jamaica were days away and Marley was seen as supporting the ruling party. Marley made a full recovery and never had the bullet removed, as he was told that the operation could cause him to lose movement in his fingers.


December 3, 1979 -
Festival seating anyone - At Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on this date, eleven concertgoers were trampled several dozen others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by The Who.



Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to the concern of people sneaking past the ticket turnstiles.


December 3, 1984 -
Methyl Isocyanate leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant located at a slum in Bhopal, India on this date. The gas killed 4,000 people and injured 200,000 others, many of whom were permanently blinded or disabled.



The event set a standard for industrial accidents that has yet to be equaled.

What else can one say.


And so it goes

48

On ev'ry Christmas tree

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Christmas tinsel was initially made of lead until the US government persuaded manufacturers to change it to plastic.



Lead foil was a popular material for tinsel manufacture for several decades of the 20th century. Unlike silver, lead tinsel did not tarnish, so it retained its shine. However, use of lead tinsel was phased out after the 1960s due to concern that it exposed children to a risk of lead poisoning.


Avoid Midtown Manhattan today -

they're lighting the Rockefeller Christmas tree tonight.


December 2, 1957 -
Al Priddy, a disc jockey at the Portland, Oregon on radio station KEX, was fired for playing the Elvis Presley version of  White Christmas,  which the station has banned. Their program manager saying it "desecrates the Spirit of Christmas and transgresses the composer's intent."



The story makes national news, but it turns out to be a brilliant publicity stunt - Priddy was back on the air two weeks later, with the station claiming letters were pouring in to support the DJ. As part of the stunt, Priddy recorded the GM calling in to "fire" him for playing the song and played the conversation on his show before he left.


December 2, 1969 –
Jeanie finally married Major Anthony Nelson (her 'master') on the I Dream of Jeannie episode, The Wedding, on this date.



The premise of the episode is that genies can't be photographed. To solve this, Jeannie blinks up an automaton/robot of herself to walk down the aisle. At the end of the episode when Tony and Jeannie are watching a film of the wedding, Tony is walking with an invisible Jeannie. The robot/automaton should have shown up in the film.


December 2, 1972 -
One of the longest chart-topping singles, The Temptations' Papa Was A Rolling Stone hits #1 in the US, on this date.



The album version of this song runs 11:46. The single was released with the song split into two parts: the A-side was the "vocal" version and runs 6:58; the B-side is the "instrumental" and goes 4:49. Even truncated for single release, the A-side was exceptionally long and remains one of the longest chart-toppers in Hot 100 history. It was not, however, the longest #1 of 1972 - that was Don McLean's American Pie, which clocked in at 8:33.


December 2, 1972 -
Carly Simon released her hit, You're So Vain, with background harmonies supplied by Mick Jagger (who just happened to be in an adjoining studio at the time,) on this date.



Carly Simon started recording this with Harry Nilsson singing backup, but Mick Jagger ended up singing on it instead (listen for him on the "don't you" parts), although he was not credited on the album. When asked how she was able to get him, Simon said: "I guess it was kind of chance in a way. I was in London, it was 1972 and he happened to call at the studio while I was doing the background vocals with Harry Nilsson. Mick said 'Hey, what cha doin'?' and I said 'We're doing some backup vocals on a song of mine... why don't you come down and sing with us?' So Mick and Harry and I stood around the mic singing 'You're So Vain' and Harry was such a gentleman - he knew the chemistry was between me and Mick; in terms of the singing, so he sort of bowed out saying, 'The two of you have a real blend - you should do it yourselves.'" "


December 2, 1988 -
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! premiered on this date.



Several years later, Queen Elizabeth II attended a Oakland A's versus Baltimore Orioles game in Baltimore, Maryland, and met both teams in their respective dugouts. Reggie Jackson, then an Oakland A's coach, was the first person in the receiving line in the Oakland dugout. Some news channels showed gag footage from this movie of the Queen's impersonator throwing out the first pitch. Leslie Nielsen met the real Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.


December 2, 1997 –
Gus Van Sant's drama, Good Will Hunting, starring (and written by) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, as well as, Robin Williams, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård, premiered in Westwood, California on this date.



The lines in the scene when Sean talks about his late wife's farting antics were ad-libbed by Robin Williams. That is why Matt Damon was laughing so hard. If you watch the scene carefully you can notice the camera shaking a bit, possibly due to the cameraman laughing as well.


How lovely are thy branches


Today in History:
December 2, 1763 -
The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island was dedicated on this date.



Touro is the only surviving synagogue from the colonial era in the US and has operated more or less continually since its dedication.


December 2, 1814 -
Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade, Marquis de Sade, died in a lunatic asylum at Charenton on this date.

The Marquis must have been a panic at parties - talk about getting carried away at orgies.


The Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed on this day in 1823, "... that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers."



The doctrine set forth the principle that meddling European bastards should keep their meddling goddam hands out of the Americas. Former US Pres. Thomas Jefferson (one of our original grabby-ass forefathers) helped Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.

It should not be confused with the Marilyn Monroe Doctrine, which stated that fondling European bastards should keep their fondling goddamn hands off of ...


December 2, 1859 -
At Charlestown in Western Virginia, abolitionist John Brown was hanged for treason on this date.



His body is still moulding in the grave.


December 2, 1877 -
Louis-Paul Cailletet became the first to liquify oxygen. He went on to liquify nitrogen, hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and acetylene.

None of them could beat a finely made gin martini.


December 2, 1908 -
John Baxter Taylor Jr. was an American track and field athlete and member of the Irish American Athletic Club (yes, they were integrated) notable as the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal.



According to the Winged Fist Website: Less than five months after returning from the Olympic Games in London, Taylor died of typhoid fever on this date, at the age of 26. In his obituary, The New York Times called him "the world's greatest negro runner."


December 2, 1939 -
New York's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago landed at 12:01 a.m. on this date.

The TSA is still hoping to screening most of the luggage for some of those passengers from those original flights.


December 2, 1942 -
On the squash court underneath a football stadium of the University of Chicago, at 3:45 p.m., control rods were removed from the "nuclear pile" of uranium and graphite, revealing that neutrons from fissioning uranium split other atoms, which in turn split others in a chain reaction. The Atomic Age was born when scientists, led by Enrico Fermi, demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.



The reaction was part of the Manhattan Project, the United States' top-secret plan to develop an atomic bomb. This little event led to nuclear power and nuclear weapons and had an incalculable effect on geopolitics, the economy, and art.


December 2, 1954 -
The US Senate voted 67-22 to condemned Joseph R. McCarthy (Sen-R-WI) for misconduct after his ruthless investigations of thousands of suspected communists, for 'conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.'



This followed the McCarthy investigation of the Army. Roy Cohn was McCarthy's aide and Joseph Welch was the attorney for the army.


December 2, 1956 -
George P. Metesky, better known as The Mad Bomber, struck again. Angry and resentful about events surrounding a workplace injury suffered years earlier, Metesky plants yet another bomb at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater, injuring seven, on this date.

Metesky planted at least 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded, injuring 15 people in New York City theaters, terminals, libraries and offices, including Grand Central Terminal, Pennsylvania Station, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Public Library, the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the RCA Building, as well as in the New York City Subway between 1940 and 1956.



Metesky was finally arrested in January of 1957. After undergoing extensive psychiatric examinations, for the time, he was found to be legally insane and incompetent to stand trial.


December 2, 1959 -
The first color photograph of the Earth from outer space was taken from the nose of a Thor missile launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The data capsule containing the camera was recovered February 16, 1960 on the beach of Mayaguana Island, Bahama Islands, approximately 1,700 miles from the take-off point


December 2, 1986 -
Desi Arnaz died from lung cancer, on this date.





Although recognized as a great innovator of television, I guess he might have had second thoughts about that Philip Morris sponsorship of the I Love Lucy show.



And so it goes

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No one knows, she comes and goes

Oops (this was posted on the other blog accidentally.)

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - To most people, Tuesday is just another day, and that’s mostly because it is.



Tuesday gets its English name from the Old English Tiwesdæg and the Middle English Tewesday, meaning ‘Tiw’s Day.” Tiw was the Norse God of Single Combat, Victory, and Heroic Glory. Tiw is also associated with the Roman God of War, Mars. This is why Tuesday contains a reference to Mars in other languages derived from Latin. Like “Mardi” in French, “Martes” in Spanish and “Martedi” in Italian.


On December First each year, we celebrate World Aids Day, the day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. In the United States, during 2018, there were an estimated 37,832 new diagnoses of HIV infection and worldwide, there were about 1.7 million new cases of HIV.

CDC estimates that 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV and nearly one in seven of those are not aware that they are infected. In addition to recognized risk behaviors, a range of social and economic factors places some Americans at increased risk for HIV infection. Prevention efforts have helped keep the rate of new infections stable in recent years, but continued growth in the number of people living with HIV ultimately may lead to more new infections if prevention, care, and treatment efforts are not targeted to those at greatest risk.


December is the twelfth and last month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. This is used in almost all the world today. It was the tenth month in the early Roman calendar. It became the twelfth month in a later Roman calendar. Until 46 B.C., December only had 29 days.



But the Roman statesman Julius Caesar added two days to December, which made it 31 days. You get to do that if you are dictator to the known World.



In Finnish, since about the 18th century, December has been called Joulukuu, meaning "month of Christmas." Before that it was called Talvikuu, meaning "month of winter." In Irish, December is known as Mí na Nollaig, also meaning "month of Christmas". In the northern half of the world, Winter begins in December. Winter does not begin until December 21 or 22, and most of December is usually warmer than other winter months.

The latter part of December has long been a holiday season. Christians celebrate Christmas Day, as the birthday of Jesus Christ and not my nephew Frankie, as it is mistakenly believed in my sister's home.



In the Northern Hemisphere, most birds and elderly folks have gone to warmer climates. But many animals are active. Mink, ermine, beavers, and foxes grow beautiful coats of fur. Nature finishes preparing for the long winter ahead. Many people make feeding places for birds and squirrels.



December is International Calendar Awareness Month, Safe Toys and Gifts Month, and Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month . The first week in December is both Christmas Tree Week and Cookie Cutter Week.


Today is the ninth 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.


December 1, 1903 -
The first Western film, directed by Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery, was released on this date.



The final shot of a gun being fired toward the camera had a profound effect on audiences. As cinema was in its infancy, many people who saw the film thought that they were actually about to be shot.


December 1, 1983 -
Brian De Palma’s remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks' classic Scarface, starring Al Pacino, premiered in NYC on this date.



When director Brian De Palma submitted the film to the MPAA, they gave it an "X rating". He then made some cuts and resubmitted it a second time; again the film was given an "X rating" (one of the reasons apparently being that Octavio the clown was shot too many times). He yet again made some further cuts and submitted it a third time; yet again it was given an "X". De Palma refused to cut the film any further to qualify it for an R. He and producer Martin Bregman arranged a hearing with the MPAA. They brought in a panel of experts, including real narcotics officers, who stated that not only was the film an accurate portrayal of real life in the drug underworld, but ultimately it was an anti-drug film, and should be widely seen. This convinced the arbitrators that the third submitted cut of the film deserved an "R rating" by a vote of 18-2. However, De Palma surmised that if the third cut of the film was judged an "R" then the very first cut should have been an "R" as well, to which the MPAA disagreed. However, since he believed the studio execs wouldn't know the differences between the different cuts that had been submitted, De Palma released the first cut of the film to theaters anyway, confessing to the fact only after its home video release several months later.


December 1, 1984 -
The Eddie Murphy mega-hit, Beverly Hills Cop, co-starring, Judge Reinhold, and John Ashton, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.



To cast the roles of Rosewood and Taggart, the director paired up various finalists and asked them to do some improvisation to get a feel for their chemistry. He paired up Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and gave them the following direction: "You are a middle-aged couple, married for years. You are having a conversation on an average evening." Reinhold immediately picked up a nearby magazine and the two improvised the "five pounds of red meat in his bowels" bit almost exactly as it eventually appeared in the movie.


December 1, 1989 -
The very silly National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki, premiered on this date.



Beverly D'Angelo improvised grabbing Chevy Chase's crotch when the SWAT team holds up the house. She later said she did it on only one take, on the off chance it could make the film's final cut, which is what happened.


You can never be sad listening to a Uke


Today in History:
December 1, 1135 -
King Henry I of England was both the first English King who could actually read (which was no small bragging right) and was famed for holding the record for the largest number of acknowledged illegitimate children born to any English king, with the number being around 20 or 25. How he found time to read is anybody's guest? But that is not why we discuss him today: Henry died on this date after eating a plate of spoiled eels while visiting his grandchildren in Normandy.

His remains were sewn into the hide of a bull to preserve them on the journey back to England. Not the most dignified way for the remains of a king to travel but that's how things were in the Middle Ages.


December 1, 1887 -
The first adventure in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, A Study in Scarlet, introducing the reader to the brilliant detective and his faithful companion, Doctor Watson, first appeared in print on this date. Doyle received £25 for its publication in Beeton's Christmas Annual.



Holmes' deductive genius was modeled on Doyle's medical school mentor Dr. Joseph Bell.


December 1, 1929 -
Little old people and Catholic priest rejoice!!!



Bingo was invented by Edwin S. Lowe, on this date.


December 1, 1934 -
Politburo member Sergei Kirov was killed by Leonid Nikolayev on orders of Josef Stalin on this date.



The assassination is used as an excuse to commence the Great Terror in the years 1935 to 1939, in which 800,000 were executed and over 8.5 million arrested.

Uncle Joe sure knew how to hold a grudge.


December 1, 1935 -
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.



Allen Stewart Konigsberg, writer and film director was born on this date, and immediately regretted the entire incident, complaining that he didn't know his mother well enough to be involved in such an 'intimate experience' as birth.


December 1, 1940 -
I believe the ability to think is blessed. If you can think about a situation, you can deal with it. The big struggle is to keep your head clear enough to think.



Richard Pryor, comedian, actor and genius, was born on this date.


December 1, 1945 -
When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London.



Bette Midler, singer, actress, comedian was born on this date.


December 1, 1947 -
Aleister Crowley, British occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, skilled sodomite and the wickedest man in the world, died in Hastings England at age 74. Crowley also appears on the cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper.



It's nice to have a hobby.

(Keep looking, you can find him.)


On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to sit on the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in violation of the democratic and egalitarian laws that so many Americans had fought so hard to preserve.



This resulted in a period of national reflection upon the meaning of the phrase "all men are created equal," which no longer appeared so self-evident. After considerable debate, the U.S. judicial system eventually made the novel decision that "all men" might be interpreted to mean "all men," and America has been a paragon of peaceful coexistence ever since.

And so it goes


Before you go - Have you wondered what a postal service commercial would look like directed by Ingmar Bergman. Wonder no more!



It's a ad for the Norwegian Postal Service features an angry Santa Claus who tells his therapist that he feels become outdated and finds himself wishing for those bygone eras in which he was welcomed inside every home across the land.

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