Shiver me timbers

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Only 5% of the ocean has been explored.



According to the National Ocean Service, it’s a shockingly small percentage. Just 5 percent of Earth’s oceans have been explored and charted – especially the ocean below the surface. The rest remains mostly undiscovered and unseen by humans. Sea exploration and mapping didn’t truly start until the 1960s due to the lack of technology beforehand.


American youth wants to know - the 2020 Collins word of the year this year is -

"Lockdown" has been declared the word of the year for 2020 by Collins Dictionary, after a sharp rise in its usage during the pandemic. According to the Collins Dictionary, "Our lexicographers chose ‘lockdown’ as Word of the Year because it is a unifying experience for billions of people across the world, who have had, collectively, to play their part in combating the spread of COVID-19," Collins Dictionary said on its website last week.


November 18, 1928 -
Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse (even though this is his third appearance in a cartoon.) I never argue with a corporation that has Darth Vader as a board member.



Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, was released on this date.


November 18, 1931 -
The groundbreaking film, Mädchen in Uniform, premiered in Berlin, on this date.



The Nazi regime tried to burn all the copies of this movie. They couldn't, as prints had been distributed around the world, including the United States and Japan and many other nations, by the time they came to power in 1933.


November 18, 1959 -
The Biblical spectaculars to end all spectaculars, Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York, on this date.



The chariot race required 15,000 extras on a set constructed on 18 acres of backlot at Cinecitta Studios outside Rome. Tour buses visited the set every hour. Eighteen chariots were built, with half being used for practice. The race took five weeks to film.


November 18, 1972 -
Steely Dan's first single Do It Again was released on this date.



The song became a hit in both the US and UK, earning the group a lot of press coverage. The group's sound was very unusual, and when asked to explain it, they sometimes described it as "smart rock."


November 18, 1987 -
Bernardo Bertolucci's magnificent take on Pu Yi, The Last Emperor, premiered in NYC on this date.



In real life, when Puyi met Empress Cixi, he screamed in terror. He later described seeing an eerie yellow curtain with an ugly thin face behind it. She was displeased, and had one of her servants offer him candy. When he screamed even louder, she had him taken away. She died the next day.


November 18, 1992 -
The biopic of the influential Black Nationalist leader, Malcolm X, premiered on this date.



To prepare for his role, Denzel Washington avoided eating pork, attended Fruit of Islam classes and learned to Lindy Hop. He was so in character that he even knew which pair of glasses Malcolm X was wearing on a particular day.


November 18, 2005 -
20th Century Fox bio-pix Walk The Line, based on the life of Johnny Cash, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, opened in US on this date.



Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon performed all of the songs themselves, without being dubbed. They also learned to play their instruments (guitar and auto-harp, respectively) from scratch.


Another failed ACME Product.


Today in History:
November 18, 1307 -
After refusing to salute the Habsburg badge at Altdorf on Lake Lucerne, local child services authorities in Uri, Switzerland reported that a William Tell shot an apple off his son's head on this date.



- Charges may still be pending. Tell may or may not also have assassinated local tyrannical Austrian ruler Gessler, as well.


November 18, 1421 -
It was a lovely November, but a certain beautiful young woman walked about in a daze, heavy of heart and despairing of hope. She was betrothed to a rich and cruel young man who didn’t love her. Then she met a boyishly handsome young ruffian who loved her for who she really was. His every sentiment seemed to echo those in her own soul, sentiments that had gone too long unanswered; his smile radiated warmth and joy, and quickened her blooming young heart, which had withered too long from neglect; his touch sent shivers down her spine, which had always consisted of numerous vertebrae. They fell in love abruptly and completely.

Sadly, the sea broke through the dikes, and they were drowned along with 100,000 other less interesting people, in Dort, the Netherlands in the St. Elizabeth flood, on this date.


November 18, 1477 -
William Caxton published the first book printed in England, on this date. The book was a translation of The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, by Frenchman Guillaume de Tignoville. The translation to English was performed by Anthony Wodville, Earl Rivers, who had devoted a considerable portion of his life to the study of philosophers' dictes.

Wodville first formulated the theory that the length of a philosopher's dicte was less important than its thrust. He has also been credited with originating the theory that a philosopher's dicte was commensurate with his shoe size. Neither theory is given much credence by contemporary philosophers, most of whom appear to be dicteless anyway.


November 18, 1686 -
Louis XIV's, King of France, anal fistula was operated on this date, by surgeon Charles Francois Felix, with great success, in front of the horrified yet fascinated court. To prepare for the operation Felix practiced his surgery on anuses of the peasantry, with some fatalities at first but improving his technique in time for the royal bung.

This is what passed for entertainment at the french royal court.


November 18, 1922 -
Marcel Proust, a pioneer of the modern novel (A la Recherche du Temps Perdu), died at 51 on this date.



While it is generally agreed upon that he died of pneumonia and a pulmonary abscess, I believe he was crushed by the sheer weight of the unedited proof of his massive novel.

(Please feel pleased as punch with yourself that you've read about Proust twice in one week.)


November 18, 1966 -
After this final "meatless" day of sacrifice, the American Roman Catholic Church would withdraw its edict forbidding meat consumption on Fridays.

No one knows how much the American Jellied Ox Tongue Consortium 'donated' to the church on that day.


November 18, 1970 -
Singer/polygamist Jerry Lee Lewis divorced his third wife Myra Gail, after 12 years of marriage. Not only was she jailbait when they got married (being 13 at the time), but Lewis was married to Jane Mitcham at the time.

It's so hard to keep details like the number of wives you have straight in your mind.


November 18, 1978 -
Congressman Leo Ryan was slain at the People's Temple compound in Guyana, after which over 900 members of the cult led by the Reverend Jim Jones drank cyanide laced Flavor Aid (a Kool Aid knockoff), including over 270 children. It was probably not a pretty sight.



The Kraft Foods Company would like you guys to stop making those damn 'drink the Kool Aid' jokes

- it wasn't them.

November 18, 1985 -
Cartoon strips approached their zenith on this date.

The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson, was first published on this date. We first learn of Hobbes' love for tuna fish


Before you go - This year the UK food chain, Aldi's, has once again brought back the beloved character, Kevin the Carrot, this time trying to get home in time for Christmas.



Britian first fell in love with Kevin back in 2016 when he premiered as part of Aldi's Christmas campaign and there's been an incredible response to Kevin since.



And so it goes


Begin discussing with your family the Thanksgiving menu and the possibility of not seeing family due to Covid quarantine.

(Feel free to contact U.N. peace observers.)


64

Scumber!

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Tennis players are not allowed to swear at Wimbledon (or at any match, for that matter.)



Because of this, line judges have to learn curse words in every language so they know when a player has violated the rules.


November 17, 1933 -
...Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot. I implore you, send him back to his father and brothers, who are waiting for him with open arms in the penitentiary. I suggest that we give him ten years in Leavenworth, or eleven years in Twelveworth. ....

Unbelievable, but, a box office flop (at the time), The Marx Brothers Duck Soup opened on this date. (This film marks the last appearance of Zeppo Marx in a Marx Brothers film.)



Screenwriters Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar were standing on the set one day when an extra standing next to them said, "I don't know who wrote this stuff but they ought to be arrested...they should be in a different business." Kalmer, who was known as a rational and calm man, said to Ruby, "I'm going over to hit him. Who does he think he is? He's just an extra!" But before fisticuffs erupted, Kalmer and Ruby were informed that Chico Marx had paid the extra to rib the screenwriters, just for the hell of it.


November 17, 1942 -
Martin Scorsese, Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, producer, actor, film historian, former drug addict and asthmatic was born on this date.



Go watch a movie (any movie) in his honor. He won't mind.


November 17, 1951 -
... Slight pause while I adjust my accoutrements.



Another in the series of Daffy and Porky buddy flicks, Drip-Along Daffy, opened on this date.


November 17, 1978 -
The two-hour Star Wars Holiday Special aired for the first and only time on CBS on this date. (I must strongly warn readers not to attempt to watch the entire special in one seating - stronger men have been driven to drink and drugs for less.)



The Holiday Special is the first time that James Earl Jones was credited with performing the voice of Darth Vader. The next time would be five years later, in 1983, during the end credits of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi.


November 17, 1980 -
Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of the seventh and final studio album from John Lennon during his lifetime, Double Fantasy.



Double Fantasy was released on David Geffen's record label, DGC. Many labels were competing for the album, but Geffen impressed Lennon when he wrote directly to Yoko and agreed to release it without hearing it first. All of Lennon's previous albums were released on The Beatles' label, Apple.


November 17, 1989 -
Jim Jarmusch's fourth feature, Mystery Train, opened on this date.



The radio DJ is voiced by singer and actor Tom Waits. Waits also plays a radio DJ in Down by Law, another film from Jim Jarmusch.


November 17, 1997 -
An all-star rendition of Lou Reed's 1972 song Perfect Day featuring Reed, Elton John, David Bowie, Tammy Wynette, Joan Armatrading and several other stars, is released as a single in the UK, with proceeds going to the BBC's Children In Need charity.



The effort was organized by the BBC, which put together a video for the song tagged with a message promoting their diverse music coverage: "Whatever your musical taste, it is catered for by BBC radio and television. This is only possible thanks to the unique way the BBC is paid for by you." Released as a single, it went to #1 in the UK for three weeks and earned over £2,100,000 for the charity. Versions with just the male vocalists and just the female vocalists are included on the single.


November 17, 2006 -
Daniel Craig stepped into the role of James Bond for the first time with the third adaptation of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale premiered in the U.S. on this date. This was the 21st Bond film (in the official canon.)



Daniel Craig said he was shopping for groceries when he got the call from producer Barbara Broccoli that he had won the James Bond role. She apparently told him, "Over to you, kiddo." Craig left the groceries behind and celebrated with martinis (shaken, not stirred).


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
Things you probably didn't need to know
November 17, 375 -
Valentinian I, the Emperor of the West, enraged by the rudeness of barbarian envoys,

died of apoplexy in present day Hungary on this date.


November 17, 1558 -
The re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England came to an end when Mary I died on this date, at St. James's Palace, during an influenza epidemic, of ovarian cancer. Co-incidentially, the Elizabethan age began when Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne on this date, following the death of her half sister Mary.



Elizabeth was told the news of her accession to the throne whilst sitting under an oak tree in the Hatfield Palace gardens. She reacted by getting on her knees and quoting Psalm 118 “This is the Lord’s day. It is marvelous in our eyes.” She is best known for her imperfect application of the cosmetic sciences, a flaw that is strikingly evident in all her portraits but that courtiers were apparently reluctant to address the issue.


November 17, 1796 -
Russia's Catherine The Great died in St Petersburg of a stroke, straining to overcome constipation, whilst sitting on her night stool in her palace and not while astride her steed (or something like that) on this date.



So dammit, stop making those jokes.


November 17, 1869 -
French engineers started building the Suez Canal in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, on April 25, 1859. It took ten years to build the 100-mile route devised by Ferdinand de Lesseps and more than 1.5 million people were employed. The Suez Canal was inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony, on this date. The 100 mile canal eliminated a 4000-mile trip around Africa.



Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, together with Ferdinand de Lesseps, chief architect of the canal, led the first file of ships from on board the French imperial yacht Aigle.


November 17, 1871 -
George Wood Wingate and William Conant Church established the National Rifle Association in New York on this date.

Today, the group has more than 5.5 million members (as of January 2018,) - but the truth of those numbers is a matter of much heated debate.


November 17, 1903 -
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's stubbornness split his Russian Social Democratic Labor Party into two factions: the slim majority who sided with him, and the vast minority who opposed him, on this date.



The Russian terms for majority and minority are Bolshevik and Menshevik, respectively, and so these factions took their names. Later the Mensheviks became the majority party, meaning that the Mensheviks had become Bolsheviks and the Bolsheviks Mensheviks.

This was confusing. If you asked someone what they were and they said "Bolshevik," you'd have no way of knowing whether they meant Bolshevik (Menshevik) or Menshevik (Bolshevik.) This state of affairs quickly became intolerable. All sorts of remedies were suggested placards, ID bracelets, hats, tattoos but it was impossible to arrive at a consensus until Lenin clarified matters by having all the Mensheviks shot.

It was easy after that.


November 17, 1917 -
The world famous 77 year old French Sculptor Auguste Rodin froze to death in an unheated attic in Meudon, France on this date. He had applied to the government for quarters as warm as those wherein his statues were stored, but the government turned him down.



His case was so desperate that he asked to be permitted to have a room in the museum the Hotel Biron, formerly his own studio. The official in charge of the museum refused. Other officials and friends promised coal but never sent it, though his situation at Meudon (ill, and freezing to death,) was apparently well known to all of them.


November 17, 1941 -
U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Joseph C. Grew cabled the US State Department that he has heard that Japan has 'planned, in the event of trouble with the United States, to attempt a surprise mass attack at Pearl Harbor.' His warning was ignored by the Office of Naval Intelligence.

His diplomatic relations with Japan were cordial until the late 1930s, when Japanese expansionism became openly aggressive toward Asian neighbors like China. The US increased economic pressures on Japan until, in late 1939, Grew had been predicting that the situation will soon come to a head. He told President Roosevelt in October 1939 that 'if we start sanctions against Japan we must see them through to the end, and the end may conceivably be 'war.'

Oops.


November 17, 1968 -
NBC preempted the final 1:05 from a very close Jets-Raiders NFL football game with the TV movie Heidi. Two touchdowns were scored during this missing time.



Sports fans everywhere applaud and understand the network's decision.


November 17, 1970 -
Douglas Engelbart receives a patent (US No. 3,541,541) for the first computer mouse on this date.

The patent, titled “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System,” is a simple hollowed-out wooden block, with a single push button on top.


November 17, 1970 -
Things that didn't teach you in school: the Lunokhod 1 moonrover was released by the Soviet Union's orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft. It succeeded in landing on the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains), on this date.



Lunokhod was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another celestial body.


November 17, 1973 -
People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook.



President Richard Nixon spoke to more than 400 editors from the Associated Press at a gathering in Orlando, Florida, at Walt Disney World on this date.

I guess that means Disney World isn't the happiest place on Earth for everybody.


Before you go - This year the UK food chain, Tesco, took on the entire Covid issue head on, with a perfect, 'No Naughty List'.



And reading about some of the viewers take on the commercial, our British cousin seem to love the lack of 'the naughty list' this year.


And so it goes

You need to decide by the end of the day today - Fresh or Frozen?


65

I'm watching this from the safety of the studio

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - An eagle can hunt down a young deer and fly away with it.



Bald eagles are opportunistic hunters, and often hunt for fish that swim near the surface of lakes or rivers. They’ve been known to take down full-sized deer in some parts of the world. The eagle returned in the following days to feast on its kill.


Many sites have noted that today is "Have a Party with Your Bear Day" but can't quite figure out the source:

(No it's not this reason.)

In 1902 while on a hunting trip with Mississippi Gov. Andrew H. Longino, President Teddy Roosevelt was offered the opportunity to shoot a bear tied to a tree. Seeing this as extremely unsportsmanlike, Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear. News spread quickly (or as quickly as it could in 1902), that the great huntsman Roosevelt has refused to shoot the animal.

A political cartoonist, Clifford Berryman read about the incident and decided to comment on the president's refusal to shoot the bear. Berryman's cartoon appeared in the Washington Post on November 16, 1902.


November 16, 1969 -
BJ Thomas released his hit, Hooked on a Feeling on this date.



Please don't click on this version unless you want the Ooga Chuka ear worm for rest of the week.


November 16, 1973 -
David Bowie appeared in his first TV special, 1980 Floor Show, broadcast on NBC's Midnight Special, on this date.



The show was a spectacular stage production that was filmed over three days, mostly at The Marquee Club, in Soho, London. It would be Bowie’s last performance as the Ziggy Stardust persona with The Spiders From Mars. (For those with prurient minds, look for a brief flash of Marianne Faithfull's bare behind at the end.)


November 16, 1974 –
John Lennon's song Whatever Gets You Thru the Night hits #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



With this song, John Lennon became the last of the Beatles to hit #1 US in their respective post-Beatles careers. By this time Paul McCartney had hit #1 three times, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr twice each.


November 16, 1977 -
Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, opened on this date.



During the Neary dinner scene, just before Roy piles on the mashed potatoes, the little girl Silvia (Adrienne Campbell) says: "There's a dead fly in my potatoes." This was unscripted and almost caused the rest of the cast to laugh. The scene was kept as-is.


November 16, 1994 -
The Peter Jackson film, Heavenly Creatures, starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey, in their film debuts, opened in the U.S. on this date.



Almost all locations used for filming were the genuine locations where the events occurred. The tea shop where Honorah Parker ate her last meal was knocked down a few days after the shoot ended. According to director Peter Jackson, when they got to the location of the murder on the dirt path, it was eerily quiet; the birds stopped singing, and it didn't seem right. So they moved along a couple of hundred yards.


November 16, 2001 -
Christ Columbus' masterful adaptation of the first instillation of J.K. Rowling's meg-hit novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, starring, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and just about every living British actor at the time, went into general release in the U.K. and U.S. on this date.



The filmmakers originally wanted to use Canterbury Cathedral as a filming location for some of the Hogwarts scenes, but the Dean of Canterbury refused to allow it, saying that it was unfitting for a Christian church to be used to promote pagan imagery. Gloucester Cathedral agreed to take its place; the Dean of Gloucester, the Very Reverend Nicholas Bury, admitted to being a fan of the books. Nonetheless, there was a huge media outcry in Gloucester when it was decided to use the local Cathedral as a filming location. Protesters wrote letters by the sack load to local newspapers, claiming it was blasphemy, and promising to block the film crew's access. In the end, only one protester turned up.


Word of the Day


Today in History:
November 16, 42 BC -

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus was born on this date. He was the Emperor of Rome from 14 to 37 AD.



John the Baptist and Jesus were put to death during his reign, as well as many others whose deaths didn't result in the creation of a religion.


November 16, 1906 -
Opera star Enrico Caruso was charged with an indecent act committed in the monkey house of New York's Central Park Zoo on this date. He pinched the bottom of a woman described as "pretty and plump", causing outrage amongst New York high society. Caruso claimed a monkey pinched the lady's bottom.

You know what I think - Caruso pinched the monkey's bottom and the fat lady was jealous. And you don't even want to know what the monkey was doing to himself at the time.


November 16, 1913 - Whatever you do, don't disparage M. Proust.



Unable to find a publisher willing to publish the first part of his ambitious three-volume novel, Marcel Proust paid the cost of publication himself of Du Côté de Chez Swann (Swann's Way,) the first volume of what turns out to become the seven-part novel À la Recherche du Temps Perdu (In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past,) on this date.


November 16, 1938 -
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was first made by Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, on this date from ergotamine, a chemical from the fungus, ergot.



Lysergic acid diethylamide causes people who take it to witness illusions. It is often referred to by the slang name acid.


November 16, 1949 -
On this date, students in the Belgian city of Ghent stormed the Gravensteen castle, lowered the portcullis (the gate at the entrance of medieval castles) and threw fruit from the walls at the police to protest a new tax on beer.

The event is still commemorated yearly by the city as the greatest student prank in its history. Don't mess the with price of beer in a college town.


November 16, 1952 -
Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown in the Peanuts cartoon strip for the first time on this date.

What was often left out of the cartoon strip by newspaper editors was the last panel where Charlie Brown has the living daylights beaten out of Lucy by angry fans for pulling that stunt.


November 16, 1960 -
Working on the film, The Misfits was a trying experience for all involved. Marilyn Monroe's marriage was unraveling before the cast and crews eyes. Clark Gable, became bored while waiting for Monroe to turn up on the set. Gable, 59 (but a long-time smoker and drinker was in poor health) opted to do his own stunts, which included being dragged by a truck traveling at 30 mph. On the last day of filming, Gable said, "Christ, I'm glad this picture's finished. She (Monroe) damn near gave me a heart attack."



On the next day, Gable suffered a severe coronary thrombosis. He died at the hospital from a heart attack several days later, on this date. Marylin Monroe died of an alleged drug overdose (murder) a year later. Montgomery Clift, lingered around another six years, committing "the longest suicide in Hollywood," - heaving drinking and drug taking.


November 16, 1971 -
Her fog, her amphetamine, and her pearls...

Edie Sedgwick, actress and one of Andy Warhol's 'Superstars', died in California from a barbiturate overdose on this date.



Allegedly when learning of Sedgwick's death, Andy Warhol responded with "Edie who?" She was 28 years old.


November 16, 1981 -
Actor William Holden died after a fall, hitting his head on a table probably on November 12, 1981. He was too drunk to telephone for assistance; instead he died alone, bleeding to death trying to treat his wound with Kleenex. After failing to answer telephone calls from concerned friends, his body was found on this date. If it wasn't so sad, it would sound like the end of a classic film-noir.



Years later, Suzanne Vega refers to his ignominious death in her song, Tom's Diner.



Before you go - The English department store chain, John Lewis and Partners released their annual holiday advert, (apparently this is one of the more highly anticipated commercials.)



Instead of their usual tear jerking commercial, this year ad is more heart-warming, up beat ad.

And so it goes

66

More tips for the upcoming holidays

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Staying safe this holiday season



Tip No. 857 - Sea monsters love waterways and snatching small children from local beaches. Avoid the shorlines this holiday!


Today is America Recycles Day. (Its also known as national clean out the refrigerator day.)

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, today's a good day to make some room in the frig (I should start looking through the freezer for a few 'frozen corpse' meals in there for this week.).



While the country may be torn apart by political divisions, please don't let your relationship be torn asunder by an unnatural attachment to a kitchen appliance.


I could not let the day pass without recognizing that it is also National Bundt Cake Day.



We are rolling around the floor in our house at the mention of this (Many of our friends look at My Big Fat Greek Wedding as a documentary about their lives.)


November 15, 1935 -
... And now, on with the opera. Let joy be unconfined. Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons, and necking in the parlor.

The Marx Brother's first film made without Zeppo, A Night at the Opera, premiered on this date.



Sam Wood's stuffiness made him the perfect target for The Marx Brothers. The director had an ulcer, so he started each day with a big glass of milk. The brothers began to have it delivered to him in a baby bottle - a joke Wood never got. He also imposed a fine for being late to the set, which Groucho was in favor of at first. But Chico and Harpo nailed their brother's garage door shut, making him the first to pay the $50 penalty. Then the three turned the penalty into a game, betting on who would be the next to be fined. Wood eventually abandoned the idea.


November 15, 1940 -
The film that introduced Abbott and Costello to movie audiences, One Night in the Tropics, opened on this date.



Although billed as Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's debut film, it was actually their debut as a team; Costello had appeared, unbilled, in bit parts and worked as a stuntman on several films in the mid- and late 1920s. It was, however, Abbott's film debut.


November 15, 1945 -
The beautifully lyrical, Les Enfants du Paradis, opened in the US on this date.



This involved building the largest studio set in the then history of French cinema - the quarter mile of street frontage, reproduced in scrupulous detail, representing the Boulevard du Crime, the theater district of Paris in the 1830s and 40s. This would have been a daunting prospect at the best of times but in Vichy France, when all artisans, transport, materials, costumes and film stock were all in short supply, it was a miraculous achievement.


November 15, 1948 -
Carol Reed's adaptation of Graham Greene screenplay (based on his own story,) The Fallen Idol, starring Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan, and Bobby Henrey premiered in NYC on this date.



Although Producer and Director Carol Reed had an outstanding record of working with young actors and actresses, he found Bobby Henrey's short attention span very difficult with which to cope. Many of his scenes were played with the young man looking at his favorite grip or electrician, and his performance was pieced together in the editing room.


November 15, 1950 -
The third installment of John Ford's 'cavalry trilogy', Rio Grande, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, premiered in the US on this date.



J. Carroll Naish plays General Sheridan in Rio Grande. During his 225 film career, this was the only time he played an Irishman. Both his parents were from Limerick in Ireland, and he was very proud of his Irish heritage.


November 15, 1956 -
Elvis Presley's first movie, Love Me Tender, premiered at New York's Paramount Theater on this date.



When the film played in theaters, Elvis Presley's fans were screaming so loud that audiences couldn't hear any of his lines.


Some early Thanksgiving advice


Today in History:
November 15, 1539 -
The Bishop of Glastonbury, Richard Whiting, was hung, drawn and quartered on this date, at Glastonbury Tor after being convicted of treason (on a trumped up charge) of remaining loyal to Rome.

The Abbot's head was stuck on a spike above his abbey gateway for all to see, and his quarters, boiled in pitch, were displayed at neighboring monasteries.

Here's a fact to impress your friends with:



One interpretation of the children's nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner relates it to Jack Horner, steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Richard Whiting. Supposedly, the abbot sent Horner to London to present a pie to Henry VIII with the deeds to 12 manors inside. During the journey, Horner opened the pie and took the deed to Mells (it being the real 'plum' of the twelve manors), which was indeed acquired by the family at that time, although they claim that it was purchased legitimately.


November 15, 1660 -
Asser Levy (one of the first Jewish citizens to come to New Amsterdam) became the first kosher butcher licensed in NYC (New Amsterdam) on this date.

Later that day, a Mrs.Yetta Abromowicz is the first customer to ask how fresh the chicken was.


Today in 1864 -
In Atlanta, Captain Rhett Butler rescues Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton, her sister-in-law Melanie Wilkes and her sister-in-law's brand new baby from Aunt Pittypat's Peachtree Street home before the Union army advances on the city.



Rhett declared his love for Scarlett but she rebuffed him.



But that's not why we're here ...



Meanwhile in another part of Atlanta, Union General William T. Sherman began his March to the Sea and burnt Atlanta on this date.


November 15, 1887 -
American artist Georgia O'Keeffe was born on this date.



Ms. O'Keeffe is best known for her colorful paintings of desert flowers -



that don't look like vaginas.


November 15, 1904 -
A patent (US patent No. 775,134) was granted to King C. Gillette for a safety 'razor' on this date.

Production on the razors began in 1903 when he sold a total of 51 razors and 168 blades. The following year, 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades were sold, thanks in part to Gillette's low prices, automated manufacturing techniques, and good advertising


November 15, 1922 -
The 1912 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, Dr. Alexis Carrel announced his discovered of white corpuscles in the blood on this date.



Remember, there is constant warfare between the red and white corpuscles.


November 15, 1939 -
Perhaps because it was the depth of the Great Depression, the perversion of Washington D.C., knew no bounds -

President Roosevelt, slowly but deliberately rose from his wheelchair and laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., in front a group of horrified dignitaries, on this date


November 15, 1940 -
The Queens Midtown Tunnel linking Manhattan and Queens opened to traffic on this date.

Some of those first drivers have just made it out to Orient Point by now.


November 15, 1959 -
In Holcomb, Kansas, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith brutally killed four members of the Herbert Clutter Family on this date.



This crime was memorably recounted by Truman Capote in his famous non-fiction story, In Cold Blood.


November 15, 1968 -
Russia has long been known for distillation of vodka. Soviet Premier Krushchev had only recently boasted about the superiority of Russia's Vodka. However, the USSR had turned to the U.S., requesting the importation of their 'inferior' alcohol to cover a shortage in the country, on this date.

The reason that Russia ran out of vodka had to do with a shortage of grain and potatoes which had to be diverted to the production of food.


November 15, 1969 -
The first Wendy's fast-food restaurant was opened by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio on this date.



Today, the restaurant has locations around the globe and is one of the largest hamburger fast food chains in the world.


And so it goes.


Before you go - (This is news to me,) Multinational corporations join in the fun, releasing Christmas Adverts for their British audience. Coca Cola released their annual holiday advert.



Oops, I should have warned you to have your tissues handy.

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So one uses gas, the other gives you gas

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - Car manufacturer Volkswagen makes sausages.



Volkswagen's currywurst is currently in its 47th year of production. VW estimates that it produces about 18,000 sausages a day. The automaker makes its pork sausages at it's autoplant in Wolfsburg Germany, and it's wildly popular -- VW made 6.8 million currywursts in 2017, which is higher than the number of cars it manufactured in the same timeframe.


Today is Diwali, the Festival of Lights, one of the biggest and brightest of all the Hindu celebrations. An ancient festival celebrating the triumph of light over dark and good over evil; the day is also significant in other religions including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.



Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word, “deepawali”, meaning “row of lights”. The day is also the beginning of the Hindu New Year.


Today is also World Diabetes Day. The day was initially created by the International Diabetes Federation in 1991. Its development was in response to the high rise of diabetic cases across the globe. The theme for diabetes awareness month and World Diabetes Day 2020 is Nurses make the difference.



The purpose is to promote advocacy for diabetics as well as information for the general public on how to curb the disease from rising any further. The United Nations in 2007 made this an official day of their own adding to the day’s prestige and worldwide awareness.


November 14, 1941 -
Alfred Hitchcock stylist thriller Suspicion, starring Cary Grant, and Joan Fontaine, premiered in the U.S. on this date.



In interviews, Alfred Hitchcock said that an RKO executive ordered that all scenes in which Cary Grant appeared menacing be excised from the movie. When the cutting was completed, the movie ran only fifty-five minutes. The scenes were later restored, Hitchcock said, because he shot each piece of film so that there was only one way to edit them together properly.


November 14, 1964 -
The cult classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (the non-MST3K version), starring featuring the cult classic Pia Zadora, premiered on this date.



This film includes the first documented appearance of Mrs. Claus.


November 14, 1966 -
François Truffaut's foray into Science Fiction, Fahrenheit 451, opened in the US on this date.



According to producer Lewis M. Allen, François Truffaut and Oskar Werner hated each other by the end of filming. For the last two weeks, they didn't speak to one another.


November 14, 1975 -
Queen released its fourth album A Night at the Opera on this date (There actually were other songs on the album besides Bohemian Rhapsody you know.)



As it appears on the album, the song Death on Two Legs had "Dedicated to..." written after it. We found out it was dedicated to their ex-manager when he tried to sue for defamation of character. By doing so he rather admitted there was cause for them to dedicate the song to him.


November 14, 1980 -
One of the greatest films Martin Scorsese ever made, Raging Bull premiered in NYC on this date (I was actually at the premiere.)



When the real Jake LaMotta saw the movie, he said it made him realize for the first time what a terrible person he had been. He asked the real Vicki LaMotta "Was I really like that?". Vicki replied "You were worse."


November 14, 1988 -
The comedy series Murphy Brown, starring Candice Bergen premiered on CBS TV on this date.


The recurring character of Stuart Best (Wallace Shawn) was a reference to former The Beatles members Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best.


November 14, 1998 -
Pixar Animation Studios released the John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton funny animated film, A Bug's Life, featuring the voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, on this date.



This is the first Pixar film to have outtakes. The outtakes were shown theatrically and on the VHS, but are only available in the bonus features on the DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the film.


November 14, 2014 -
Alejandro G. Iñárritu surprise hit black comedy, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), starring Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts, went into general release in the U.S., on this date.



There are only sixteen visible cuts in the entire film. Because the movie was carefully rehearsed and shot in sequence, editing only took two weeks.


November 14, 2015 –
Singer Adele's song Hello, from her third studio album, 25, hit No. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



And just in time for Thanksgiving



The music video was filmed in the countryside near Montreal and directed by Canadian actor and director Xavier Dolan. The clip features Adele picking over the pieces of a failed relationship. Tristan "Mack" Wilds (AKA Michael Lee from The Wire and Dixon Wilson from 90210) plays her ex in flashbacks.

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


Today in History:
November 14, 1851 -
Harper and Brothers published Herman Melville's most famous novel, on this date.



Called Moby Dick, the tale is teeming with seamen, spermaceti, and rigid harpoons. Scholars continue to debate its symbolism. The British publisher accidentally left out the ending of the book, the epilogue. This confused a lot of British readers, because without the epilogue there was no explanation of how Ishmael, the narrator, lived to tell the tale. It seemed like he died in the end with everyone else on the ship. The reviews from Britain were harsh, and costly to Melville.

Oops.



In America, Moby-Dick sold for $1.50 but contained the epilog (the great savings were seen by leaving off the ue). At the time, Americans deferred to British critical opinion, and a lot of American newspaper editors reprinted reviews from Britain without actually reading the American version with the proper ending. One reviewer said the book wasn't worth more than 25 cents. It took only two weeks for the publisher to see that Moby-Dick would sell even fewer copies than Melville's previous books. In his lifetime, Melville's royalties added up to a total of about $10,000.



These days, college students buy 20,000 copies of Moby-Dick every year.



Melville said, "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."


November 14, 1889 -
Nellie Bly, the pen name of journalist Elizabeth Cochran, sailed from New York to begin her record-breaking 24,899-mile trip around the world - a journey that would end on January 25, 1890.



The around-the-world trip originated in an attempt to beat the Jules Verne's fictional hero Phineas Fogg's 80-day journey. Millions of people followed the adventures of the plucky reporter through stories posted back to the World at every stop. Tremendous celebrations greeted Nellie when she arrived in New York. Her trip lasted 72 days, six hours and 11 minutes - a record that would stand until the Graf Zeppelin circled the globe in 20 days, four hours and 14 minutes in 1929.


November 14, 1908 -
Albert Einstein presented his quantum theory of light for the first time

while future Senator Joseph McCarthy was being born,

on this date, although not in the same room.

McCarthy's communist witch-hunts of the mid-twentieth century live in infamy despite the fact that they failed to uncover a single communist witch.



Einstein's quantum theory remains popular because people like the word quantum. In fact, Einstein's seldom-cited Law of Quantum Usage states that there is an inversely proportionate relationship between one's understanding of quantum theory and one's likelihood of discussing it.


November 14, 1910 -
An airplane, piloted by Eugene Burton Ely, took off from the warship, USS Birmingham, off the coast of Hampton Roads, Virginia, on this date. The plane was the first airplane takes off from a ship.



The airplane plunged downward as soon as it cleared the 83-foot platform runway; and the aircraft wheels dipped into the water before rising. Ely's goggles were covered with spray, and the aviator promptly landed on a beach rather than landing at the Norfolk Navy Yard as planned.


November 14, 1940 -

The Nazi Luftwaffe's two-day blitz of Coventry, England, began on this date, killing several hundred people.



The German raids, codenamed Moonlight Sonata, destroyed much of the historical, English city.

Bad Nazis.


November 14, 1948 -
Charles Philip Arthur George (Mountbatten-Windsor), Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight of the Order of Australia, Companion of the Queen's Service Order, Royal Chief Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty and heir to the throne of England, was born on this date.

Charles, as of April 21, 2011, was the heir apparent longer that his great great grandfather, Edward VII. Edward VII was heir apparent for 59 years, 2 months and 14 days. Prince Charles has been eligible to draw his state pension for six years now.


November 14, 1969 -
Apollo 12, the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program (and the second to land on the Moon,) was launched on this date.



Lightning struck the space vehicle twice, at 36.5 seconds and 52 seconds into the mission; however it suffers no discernible damage. The first strike is even visible to spectators at the launch site.


Before you go - a few more of the UK holiday commercials have been released. One of them is from Disney -



Again I can't imagine Disney coming out with a 3:00 commercial that they didn't charge you for watching it.

Very's Department Store (think Target) has an interesting take on Christmas.



It actually is a less treacly, more realistic look at the way actual people celebrate the holidays.



And so it goes

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Not to worry you but ...

Other things to occupy your mind with other than COVID-19 - it's Friday the 13th during 2020.



In most large cities in the United States, many building don't have 13th floors. In Japan, they don't have 4th floors, because the word for four sounds similar to the word for DEATH! Some say that the modern basis for Friday the 13th phobia dates back to Friday, October 13, 1307.



On this date, the Pope Clement V in conjunction with the King Philip of France secretly ordered the mass arrest of all the Knights Templar in France. The Templars were terminated with extreme prejudice (burned to a crisp) for apostasy, idolatry, heresy, "obscene rituals" and homosexuality, corruption and fraud, and secrecy, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long.

Those wacky Knights were such party animals.



The first reference to an unlucky Friday the 13th came in an 1869 biography of the composer Gioachino Rossini who died on Friday November 13, 1868.



If it gives you some comfort, today is the last Friday the 13th of the year.


November 13, 1940 -
Walt Disney's third animated film Fantasia, opened in New York on this date.



Even after more than 70 years after its release, Disney still receives complaints from parents claiming the Night on Bald Mountain sequence terrified their children.


November 13, 1954 -
Looney Tunes first 3D cartoon, Lumber Jack Rabbit, starring Bugs Bunny, premiered on this date.



This was the only Warner Bros. cartoon filmed in 3D. It was intended for release with House of Wax, which was also filmed in 3D.


November 13, 1965 -
Get Off My Cloud by The Rolling Stones topped the charts on this date.



There was some of controversy over this song. Some U.S. radio stations refused to play the song because of the supposed drug references.


November 13, 1971 -
Steven Spielberg's first full- length film, Duel, starring Dennis Weaver, debuted on ABC-TV on this date.



During the chase, a parked sedan resembling a squad car is seen, briefly raising Dennis Weaver's hopes, but it turns out to be a service car for a pest exterminator named Grebleips... "Spielberg" in reverse.


November 13, 1975 -
Morris Albert's song Feelings went gold on this date.



In 1987, Morris Albert was found guilty of plagiarism, with a jury finding that this borrowed heavily from a French song from 1956 called "Pour Toi."

You can blame me later for this ear worm


November 11, 1976 -
Rod Stewart's Tonight's The Night, with some French cooing by his girlfriend Britt Ekland, hits #1 in America for the first of eight weeks.



The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section played on this song. They were a group of four musicians who started their own studio - Muscle Shoals Sound - in 1969 after doing sessions at FAME studios for Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and many other popular soul acts. The famous story the musicians tell is that when Stewart arrived at the studios and saw them getting ready, he refused to believe they were the band - he was sure the guys he heard playing on those records were black, and had a hard time accepting that four white guys could deliver so much soul.


November 13, 1991 -
The first animated film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast premiered in Hollywood on this date.



Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts) thought that another character would be better suited to sing the ballad, Beauty and the Beast. Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise asked her to make at least one recording to have for a back-up; that one recording ended up in the movie.


It's 5 pm somewhere in the world. It's a good time to point this out.


Today in History:
While it is a particularly uneventful day in history, let us opine these words:

"The students are beyond control and their behavior is disgraceful. They come blustering into the lecture-rooms like a troop of maniacs and upset the orderly arrangements which the master has made in the interest of his pupils. Their recklessness is unbelievable and they often commit outrages which ought to be punishable by law, were it not that custom protects them."



People concerned about the pace of change in human affairs can find solace in knowing that these familiar sentiments were expressed about sixteen centuries ago by St. Augustine, who was born on November 13, 354 AD.



Like many other theological luminaries, Augustine began life as a debauched young man who sought his pleasures in wine, women, and song. Augustine admitted in his autobiography Confessions, that as a boy he "told lies to my tutors, my masters and my parents all for the love of games and the craving for stage shows." Eventually he became old and cranky and declared his youth wasted.



All of the things that occurred during the drunken orgies of his youth recounted in his Confessions do not hold a candle to the crap going on in the post-election debacle.


November 13, 1789 -
Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to a friend in which he said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."



I would include, "please accept the results of an election when they are certified."


November 13, 1927 -

The New York Holland Tunnel officially opened today, the first underwater tunnel built in the United States, providing access between New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River, ushering in a massive wave of Dutch immigration (and more fools them - The tunnel was named after its chief engineer, Clifford Milburn Holland, who died of a heart attack on the operating table while undergoing a tonsillectomy, as a posthumous honor, starting the trend for the NY/NJ interstate crossings to have names with no relation to their geographic locations).



Although most of the Dutch returned to Holland after learning that New Amsterdam had become New York.


November 13, 1947 -
The AK-47 assault rifle development by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the Soviet Union was completed on this date. The rifle was one of the first assault rifles to be created.



Today, it is the most widely-used assault rifle in the world — more AK-47 models have been made than all other assault rifle models put together.


November 13, 1955 -
Happy Birthday Caryn



Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson) actress, comedienne, and television host, was born on this day.


November 13, 1965 -
Appearing on a late night live satire program called BBC3, critic Kenneth Tynan becomes the first man to say “Fuck” on TV.

A national fit of apoplexy follows with one Tory MP suggesting that Tynan should hang!


November 13, 1966 -
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first astronaut to successfully work in space without tiring, during the Gemini 12 flight. (Previous astronauts suffered from fatigue carrying out tasks during EVA).



Aldrin worked outside the Gemini craft for 2 hours and 6 minutes, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside their transport.


November 13, 1971 -
The American space probe, Mariner 9, becomes the first space probe to orbit another planet when it enters into orbit around Mars on this date. The probe’s mission was to return photographs that would map seventy percent of the surface while conducting a study of the planet’s atmosphere.



Analysis of the data returned by the probe revealed that the planet is covered in dried river beds. Two Soviet probes achieved the same orbit about a month later.


November 13, 1974 -
Karen Silkwood, a technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Okla., was killed in a 'car crash' while on her way to meet a reporter on this date.



The Kerr-McGee nuclear fuel plants closed in 1975. The grounds of the Cimarron plant were still being decontaminated more than 40 years later.


November 13, 1982 -
Maya Lin's simple yet elegant Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on Veteran's Day to the veterans of the Vietnam War on this date (the memorial was opened to the public a few days earlier.) The memorial was built with polished granite, and it displays the names of over 60,000 veterans.



No federal funds were used to construct the wall. Private contributions from individuals, corporations, veterans and other organizations, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund raised almost $9 million.


It's that time of year: I still don't understand the concept of holiday long-form commercials in England. McDonald's UK released their annual holiday advert, concerning the Inner Child.



While it's nice to see a commercial ask if we're 'Reindeer Ready?', a better question could be, 'Are you ready to be Diabetes Prone?'.



I still can't imagine Americans sitting for more than a minute for a commercial, even for one from Amazon.



And so it goes.


Before you go - It is the fifth anniversary of the deadly Paris attacks, massacring 130 people in the bloodiest terror attack in years.



Please take a moment out of your day to remember the victims and their families.

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