Po Wu - All Taboos are broken today

Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year celebrations.

It is the welcome day for the God of Wealth, Caishen also called Cai Boxing Jun. Many families worship the God of Wealth in the early morning. After the ceremony, people usually light firecrackers to welcome the god into their home.

(Remember ACME is the leading maker of illegal fireworks throughout the known world.)



Many stores open on this day after the Lunar New Year holiday. Some store owners put a table in the front of company's main entry. They prepare fruit, flower, candy, tea, candles and animal sacrifices on the table to worship the God of Wealth. Some even invite the lion dance team to celebrate the opening ceremony. The mascot of Caishen will appear and enter the store.



The store owner will give the mascot a Red Envelope (Hongbao) with money reward inside.

(As defined by my insurance company - being elderly, I will be happy to accept any and all red envelopes that may come my way.)


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





The day was created to celebrate meteorologists, the men and women who predict - Dark. Turning partly light by morning.


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



For the scenes with the opposing armies marching, Buster Keaton had the extras (which included 500 Oregon National Guard troops) wear the gray uniforms of the Confederacy and march in one direction past the camera, then he had them change uniforms to the Union blues and had them march past the camera in the other direction.


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



This was always intended to be Charles Chaplin's first talkie. He even went as far as writing a dialogue script and experimenting with sound. However, because Chaplin intended the film to feature his Little Tramp character, sound seemed inappropriate. Consequently, the film was made using silent techniques, shot at 18 frames per second and then projected at 24 frames per second, which gave the slapstick sequences a more frenetic feel.


February 5, 1944 -
The first appearance of a Marvel superhero outside a comic, Captain America serial film starring Dick Purcell, premiered on this date.


But how did you find out about my vibrator? (Just listen for it about 4:55 in)

Marvel Comics gave the rights to Captain America to Republic Pictures for free, in the hopes that the exposure would increase sales of the Captain America comic book.


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



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


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



During its original release, papier-mâché pods were on display in theater lobbies, as well as black-and-white cutouts of Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter running frantically away from a crowd of pod people.


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


(Sorry, this is not from the first episode.)

Mom actually liked both of them equally.


February 5, 1969 -
ABC premiered a television pilot for a comedy series titled Turn-On, on this date. The cast included Teresa Graves, Hamilton Camp, Mel Stewart, Chuck McCann, and guest host Tim Conway. The show was cancelled while it was on the air, making it one of the shortest runs of any program.



The station manager of WEWS, Cleveland's ABC affiliate, pulled the show off the air after 15 minutes. The remainder of the time slot was a black screen with live organ music, an emergency procedure that hadn't been used in over 20 years.

Don't forget to tune in to a special The ACME Eagle Soap Radio Hour today, celebrating the Lunar New Year.


Today in History:
Today is Liberation Day in San Marino. Americans remain woefully misinformed about San Marino. (American remain woefully misinformed about most countries that aren't located between Canada and Mexico.)

It's not only Liberation Day in San Marino, but, it's also the feast day of St. Agatha -

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

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

Citizens of are not San Mariners. They are Sammarinese.

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

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

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

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

Proceed with caution.


February 5, 1556 -
Henry II of France and Philip of Spain signed a truce at the Abbey of Vaucelles, calling a halt to this phase of the long-running Habsburg-Valois conflict

But you don't give a rat's ass.


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

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


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







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


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



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


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

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


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



He had a very happy childhood.


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



The story was told in the 1947 book Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie. The book was made into a film in 1949 (and remade in 2017.) According to official files recently released by the British Home Office, there was nearly 290,000 ten shilling notes on board as well (this would be the equivalent of several million pounds at today's prices), not all of which was ever recovered.


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

The bomb, whether or not it contains a plutonium detonator (the Air Force has been hazy on this fact), has not been found: to repeat - a large object with some enriched uranium surrounded by four hundred pounds of TNT has gone missing for 60 years. (This is essentially a dirty bomb - a dirty bomb resting just off the shore of a vibrant United States port.)



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


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



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



And so it goes

Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together

The opening ceremonies for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games starts today -





We're getting ready to watch - are you?


Today, the Fourth day of the Lunar New Year is the day to welcome the kitchen god, the god of fortune and other gods.

The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is when the God of Stove reports back to Heaven. The God of Stove will then returns back to your house later on the same day. Since the Heaven is far away from the Earth, it will take almost a day for The God of Stove to travel down to Chinese family's kitchen. The God of Stove must leave the Heaven in the morning. He should arrive people house in the afternoon. Therefore, the Welcome Ceremony will be in the afternoon.



After the Welcome Ceremony, Chinese families will explore firecracker to welcome The God of Stove back into the house.Families should stay at home to prepare abundant fruits, burn incense and light candles to welcome the gods, asking to be provided with ample food in the new year.



(this is my kitchen god.)

The old saying "three rams bring bliss" is connected with the fourth day, which says that by making a good beginning, a happy end comes.


Today is also National Working Naked Day. National Working Naked Day was founded by Lisa Kanarek in 2010. Lisa decided to create this day along with her own company, a brand called Working Naked, after she left a corporate job of over 20 years to start the new adventure of working from home. At the time, working from home was not the commonplace choice that it is today. In fact, Lisa has stated that she didn’t even let on that she was working from home for the first five years–for fear of not being taken seriously in her industry. It’s hard to fathom how much things have changed in the past decade or so.

You know what, please celebrate this one privately. Most of us don't need (or want to know) about it.


February 4, 1961 –
United Artists' film The Misfits, directed by John Huston, (written by Arthur Miller,) and starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift, went into general release on this date.



On the last day of filming, Clark Gable said regarding Marilyn Monroe, "Christ, I'm glad this picture's finished. She damn near gave me a heart attack." On the next day, Gable suffered a severe coronary thrombosis and died ten days later at age 59. According to writer Arthur Miller, Clark Gable had already seen a rough cut of the movie by the last day of filming, and said, "This is the best picture I have made, and it's the only time I've been able to act."


February 4, 1966 -
The Rolling Stones released 19th Nervous Breakdown, on this date. It goes on to reach No.2 on both the US and UK charts.



The lyrics are an attack on spoiled brats who are given everything and are still unhappy. Jagger took pains to explain that the song was not autobiographical. Regarding the lyrical inspiration, he said, "Things that are happening around me - everyday life as I see it. People say I'm always singing about pills and breakdowns, therefore I must be an addict – this is ridiculous. Some people are so narrow-minded they won't admit to themselves that this really does happen to other people besides pop stars."


February 4, 1970 -
Twentieth Century Fox's film Patton, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, (written by Francis Ford Coppola,) and starring George C. Scott premieres in New York on this date.



The movie begins without showing the 20th Century-Fox logo, or any other indication that the film is starting. At military bases across the US theater owners reported that soldiers in the audience would often stand up and snap to attention when they heard the movie's opening line ("Ten-hut!"), assuming it to be a real call to attention.


February 4, 1977 -
American Bandstand 25th Anniversary Special airing in primetime on ABC-TV on this date.



The show features one of the first "all-star jams," as Chuck Berry is joined by Greg Allman, Junior Walker, The Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels and several others on a performance of Roll Over Beethoven.


February 4, 1977 -
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album was released 45 years ago on this date - it's hard to believe.



Many of the songs on the album show a darker side in the lyrics. It's asking you to move on, leave the singer alone. Fleetwood Mac was experiencing the shatter of all of their emotional ties with not one, not two, but three break-ups! That was the divorce of the McVies, Buckingham and Stevie Nicks breaking up, and Fleetwood going through a divorce from his wife.

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


February 4, 1979 -
Co-Ed Fever, one of the three series that attempted to capitalize on the success of the motion picture National Lampoon's Animal House, (the others were ABC's Delta House and NBC's Brothers and Sisters,) had a special preview on CBS-TV on this date.



The show had such poor ratings that it was cancelled before it's scheduled premiere date of February 19. The show has been ranked no. 32 on TV Guide's 50 Worst Shows of All Time.


February 4, 1984 –
British group Culture Club second song released off their second album, Colour by Numbers, Karma Chameleon reach No. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



Songwriting in Culture Club was mostly a group effort, with Boy George writing the lyrics. Many of his words were inspired by his relationship with the group's drummer, Jon Moss, with whom he had an affair during the height of the group's fame. George admitted that their first single Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? was about Moss, and their difficult lover-professional relationship was the inspiration for the line, "You're my lover, not my rival" in Karma Chameleon. The relationship was hidden to the public and Jon never admitted it during the '80s, so in a way Boy George was communicating with him through their songs.


February 4, 2007 -

Can you make it rain harder?



Prince performed at Super Bowl XLI, in the pouring rain and giving what is arguably the greatest Halftime show performance on this date.


February 2, 2012 -
Adele becomes the first female British artist to have three #1 songs from the same album top the Billboard Hot 100 chart when Set Fire to the Rain hits the top spot, following Rolling In The Deep and Someone Like You from the album 21.



Many of the songs on 21 are about the heartbreaking ending of Adele's first real relationship. She told MTV News in an interview to plug the album's release: "It broke my heart when I wrote this record, so the fact that people are taking it to their hearts is like the best way to recover. 'Cause I'm still not fully recovered. It's going to take me 10 years to recover, I think, from the way I feel about my last relationship. It was the biggest deal in my entire life to date. He made me totally hungry. He was older, he was successful in his own right, whereas my boyfriends before were my age and not really doing much. And he got me interested in film and literature and food and wine and traveling and politics and history, and those were things I was never, ever interested in. I was interested in going clubbing and getting drunk."


Another unimportant moment in history


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

They elected Jefferson Davis as president of Confederacy.



Do you think Hallmark has a card commemorating this event?


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

Kids, this was the original version of Brokeback Mountain during the 60's


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



Kind of complicated guy, don't you think.


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



The parachute failed and Reichelt fell to his death. The jump was recorded by the cameras of the gathered press. Winner of the 1912 Darwin Award.


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



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


February 4, 1918 -
Nobody fucks with Ida Lupino



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


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



Yes, we're all not worthy.


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



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


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



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


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



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


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



Nobody ever suspected the man was gay.


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



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


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



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


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



Within five years of its founding, Facebook had more than 500 million users. And if you think I'm going to say anything more, you're nuts.


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



In case our overlords on Nibiru are Public Service Broadcasting fans, here's a tune for them



Should our alien overlords come from Planet X, hopefully David Bowie will plead our case, now that he is back home.


And so it goes

It's Day Three of the celebration

Today is also known as the Mice Wedding Day.



They said that people should turn off the light and go to bed early, because the night is the Mice's Wedding and one shouldn't disturb them. The other reason people should turn out the lights, so the mice can’t see their wedding, which would slow down mice breeding. In the old farmer society, people would leave a few grains of rice or cake crumbs in the corner of a room for the mice at night.



Today is sometimes know as Chigou's Day and Chigou literally means "red dog". Red Dog is the name of the God of Anger, who brings bad luck to people. The third day of the Chinese New Year is an ominous day, so there are many other things people are forbidden to do according to the traditional custom. For example, on this day, people are not allowed to clean the house, make a fire, draw water and so on.

So people don't like to go out on this day, otherwise they might lose their temper easily and become argumentative. Actually, After a 2-day binge of, eating, drinking, playing, gambling, many people are tired and would probably want to sleep in. They said that if people want to work on this day, they won't get much accomplished. Therefore, the Red Dog day is a good excuse for people who need a rest.


Today is National Sweater Day in Canada. The first Thurday in February IS the best day to wear a sweater, striped of not, for our neighbor to the North -





Since 2010, WWF has encouraged more than a million Canadians to show their support for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by turning down their thermostats by the same amount (or more) and wearing their favorite sweaters to stay warm.


It's' Elmo's Birthday!



It's worth noting, Elmo (himself) didn't do a damn thing to those young men; he's just a puppet.


February 3, 1932 -
Paramount Pictures released Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express, starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook and Anna Mae Wong in Los Angeles on this date.



The extras in the film are mostly speaking Cantonese - a Chinese dialect used mainly in southern China. If the film were to be more accurate, the extras would be speaking Mandarin, but most Chinese residents in the Los Angeles area (who worked as film extras) spoke Cantonese, making Josef von Sternberg use Cantonese.


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



This is the second time Joan Fontaine plays a young woman, living in a dark mansion, plagued by the hidden presence of the master's wife: Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca is the other.


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



During the final years of World War II, the character of Panchito Pistoles introduced in this film served as a minor military symbol. He was the mascot of the 201st Fighter Squadron, a Mexican fighter airplane squadron that served that assisted the American forces in the recapture of the Philippines. The likeness of Panchito was also painted as nose art on an American bomber airplane, a North American B-25 Mitchell. The original airplane was scrapped in 1949 but another B-25 Mitchell was fashioned into a replica of it with the same Panchito image. It is still in civilian service and appears in air-shows.


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



The kitchen shown sports the very latest in accessories, including a Sunbeam mixmaster, with attachments. The adult cinema audiences would have noticed and appreciated this attention to detail.


February 3, 1960 -
Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg premiered in Rome on this date.



When shooting the famous Fontana di Trevi scene, director Federico Fellini complained that the water in the fountain looked dirty. A representative of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) present at the shooting was able to supply the film team with some of the airline's green sea dye marker (for use in case of an emergency landing at sea). This was used to color the water, and the director was satisfied.


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



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


February 3, 1973 –
Elton John' song Crocodile Rock became his first US Billboard Hot 100 hit on this date.



There is a distinct '50s musical theme in this song. Elton said that it contains flavors of a lot of his favorite early rock songs, including Little Darlin', At The Hop and Oh Carol, as well as songs by The Beach Boys and Eddie Cochran. The title is a play on the Bill Haley song See You Later Alligator - Haley's Rock Around The Clock even gets a mention, as that's what the other kids were listening to while our hero was doing the Crocodile Rock.


February 3, 1978 -
The TV-movie Dead Man's Curve, the first to deal with the tragic Jan & Dean story, premieres on ABC-TV on this date.



Wolfmand Jack, Dick Clark, and Beach Boys Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, appear in the movie. In the film, Wolfman Jack introduces himself to Jan and Dean in a small town as "Bob Smith", manager and The Jackal at the local radio station. Wolfman Jack's real name is Robert Weston Smith.


Another moment of edifying culture


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



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

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


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



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


February 3, 1882 -

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



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



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

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


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



Please check on your Qanon supporting neighbor; they might do themselves harm on this day. You know what, upon further thought, leave them be.


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



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


February 3, 1927 -
Nobody in America, in the modern generation, has read their own mythology or legends.



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


February 3, 1943 -
The US transport ship Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a torpedo. Four Army chaplains (Rev. Lt. George L. Fox, a Methodist minister; Rabbi Lt. Alexander D. Goode; Father Lt. John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest; and Rev. Lt. Clark V. Poling, a Protestant minister from the Dutch Reformed Church) gave their life jackets to four other men, and went down with the ship.



Of the 902 men aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, only 230 survived. Before boarding the Dorchester back in January, Chaplain Poling had asked his father to pray for him, "Not for my safe return, that wouldn't be fair. Just pray that I shall do my duty...never be a coward...and have the strength, courage and understanding of men. Just pray that I shall be adequate."


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





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


February 3, 1959 -
The Day the Music Died:

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper were on a tour called “Winter Dance Party” tour. The musicians were traveling from venue to venue on tour buses.



A small plane carrying The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Buddy Holly and Richie Valens crashed near Mason City, Iowa, while en route to a show in Fargo, North Dakota. Richardson had developed a case of the flu during the tour (erroneously thought to have been caused by riding on the unheated bus) and asked one of Holly's bandmates, Waylon Jennings, for his seat on the plane; Jennings agreed to give up the seat. Dion DiMucci of Dion and The Belmonts, who was the fourth headliner on the tour, was approached to join the flight as well; however, the price of $36 was too much. Dion had heard his parents argue for years over the $36 rent for their apartment and could not bring himself to pay an entire month's rent for a short plane ride.



The plane crashed during a blizzard, smashing into a cornfield at over 220 mph, flipping over on itself and tossing the passengers into the air. The victims were jettisoned from the plane, landing yards from the wreckage, and lay there for ten hours as snowdrifts formed around them. Because of the weather, no one reached the crash site until later in the morning.

The Surf Theatre's Winter Dance Party in Clear lake, Iowa, is on again this year. If you're in the area, catch it (if tickets are still available!)


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



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



And so it goes

Predicting the weather with gophers is just silly

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

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



If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground. (Phil, cognizant of the two feet of snow on the ground or not, saw his shadow and is calling for six more weeks of winter. Oh joy!)


It's the second day of the New Year's Celebration. Traditionally, the day is known as Huímén - it’s the time for married women to visit their parents. In ancient times in China, women usually didn’t visit their parents’ places much once they got married. People nowadays can do that at any time, this custom, to visit birth parents on second day of the Lunar New Year celebrations, remains.



The God of Wealth presides over a vast bureaucracy with many minor deities under his authority. A majestic figure robed in exquisite silks often he is pictured riding a black tiger, a golden yuanbao (ancient ingot used for currency) is always close to him. Legend says that every Lunar New Year, Tsai Shen descends from heaven to inspect his followers.

People eat dumplings to honor the god because the dumplings were thought to resemble yuanbao. Tsai Shen leaves for heaven on the second day of the Lunar New Year to report on whom should have good fortune in the following year.



Some believe the second day is also the birthday of all dogs and remember them with special treats.


February 2, 1971 -
The animated special based on the Harry Nilsson album, The Point!, originally voiced by Dustin Hoffman, Paul Frees, June Foray, and Mike Lookinland premiered as an ABC Movie of the Week, on this date.



Although that version appears to be lost, a few different narrations followed, even one by Ringo Starr. The one posted above is a fully restored version with Growing Pains’ Alan Thicke providing the narrative treatment.


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



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


February 2, 1985 -
Foreigner's single I Want To Know What Love Is begins a two-week run at #1 on the charts, on this date.



The New Jersey Mass Choir was brought in to sing the backing vocals, becoming the first gospel choir to appear on a #1 pop hit. Mick Jones knew he wanted a choir on the song and found the New Jersey Mass Choir through a bit of serendipity: they had the same lawyer.


February 2, 2001 -
Touchstone Pictures released the comedy film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, into general release in the US on this date. The film loosely follows the story of Homer’s Odyssey.



George Clooney agreed to do this film without having read the script. The Coen Brothers visited him in Phoenix while he was making Three Kings, wanting to work with him after seeing his performance in Out of Sight. Moments after they put their script on Clooney's hotel room table, the actor said "Great, I'm in." He stated that he liked even the Coens' least successful films.


February 2, 2013 –
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' song (featuring Wanz), Thrift Shop went to No. # 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



Macklemore told MTV News the song is a way of life: "Rappers talk about, oh I buy this and I buy that, and I spend this much money and I make it rain, and this type of champagne and painting the club, and this is the kind of record that's the exact opposite," he explained. "It's the polar opposite of it. It's kind of standing for like let's save some money, let's keep some money away, let's spend as little as possible and look as fresh as possible at the same time."


Another job posting fro the ACME Employment Agency


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



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

Anticipate more traffic.


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

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

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


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

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

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


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



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

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



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


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



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


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

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



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



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



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


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



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


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

How charming.


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



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



And so it goes

February days are a marketing gimmick; love happens every day.

February: Even though it is the shortest month of the year, sometimes it seemed like the longest.



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

Damn those freakin' Romans.



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

Sorry but there's no rhyme to remember that.



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

February Month Observances

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

Remember kids - There will be a quiz.


Happy Chinese New Years Day - The Lunar New Year starts today, and it's the Year of the Tiger, but which one?



In Chinese astrology, each year is associated with a Chinese zodiac animal sign and one the Five Elements: Gold (Metal), Water, Wood, Fire, or Earth. Both the sign and element of your birth year are said to affect your personality and destiny. Once again, this year’s elemental sign is water - so we are celebrating Water Tiger.

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



According to a Chinese legend, Nüwa is the goddess who created the world. She created certain animals on different days, hence each day is considered the birthday of the corresponding animal.

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

People born under the ‘water tiger’ are said to be brave, competitive, unpredictable, and confident. They are very charming and well-liked by others. But sometimes they are likely to be impetuous, irritable, and overindulgent. Chinese horoscopes say that, just as last year, this year of your birth sign is not the luckiest, so famous people born in the year of tiger, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, and Shawn Mendes need to watch out and avoid the color brown, gold, and silver and the numbers six, seven and eight.



This year Tigers may find luck in some areas of their life, but others will require hard work to avoid potential pitfalls. There’ll be no shortage of problems for tigers to solve, but if they like changes to spice up their life, this may be the year for you.

It is also believed that the Tiger is most compatible with the Horse, the Dog, or the Pig, but least compatible with the Ox, the Snake, the Goat, and the Monkey.



The world’s largest annual human migration is now well underway as the 2.8 billion usual trips are made across China (before COVID concerns cut back the number of trips,) in what is known as Chunyun, when students, migrant workers and office employees living away from home will make the journey back to celebrate with their families.


February 1, 1929 -
The Broadway Melody directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Bessie Love premiered on this date. It was the first film with sound to win an Oscar (in 1930).



In addition to its many historical firsts, The Broadway Melody is a full-throttle pre-Code film, its backstage milieu featuring scantily clad chorines, an overtly gay costume designer and an unmistakably lesbian wardrobe mistress.


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



The show ran during the regular TV seasons on CBS, and last show was September 10, 1957. It ran on NBC-TV in the summers of 1953 and 1954.



The original title sequence has not been viewed since Private Secretary's original run.


February 1, 1964 -
The Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There were released in the United States in late 1963, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.



I Want to Hold Your Hand sold better in the first 10 days of release in the US than any other British single, and remains the best-selling Beatles single in the United States, moving over 12 million copies. The song became their first US number #01 hit on the date.


February 1, 1972 -
Neil Young releases his x solo album, Harvest, on this date. It goes on to become the best selling album of 1972



Despite being the title track of the Harvest album, the song has enjoyed far less fanfare than songs on the set like Heart of Gold, Alabama, and The Needle And The Damage Done. In that way, it's similar to the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, another Young title track that was overlooked in favor of other songs.


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



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

Hey, so some people actually used to read Playboy.


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



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


Today's moment of Zen.


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



a few years ago, Texas Republicans barely avoided having to vote on whether Texas should secede from the United States (by two votes.)

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


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



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


February 1, 1896 -



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



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


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



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


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



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


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

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



Oops


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



Now that legalized pot has been so successful in several states, there is a possibility that more states will jump on the excess tax band wagon.


February 1, 2003 -
Because the heat-resistant tiles covering the left wing’s leading edge had been damaged or were missing, wind and heat entered the wing and the Space Shuttle Columbia blew up on re-entry, with its debris hitting homes and businesses in Nacogdoches, Texas on this date.



In August 2003, an investigation board issued a report that revealed that it in fact would have been possible either for the Columbia crew to repair the damage to the wing or for the crew to be rescued from the shuttle. The Columbia could have stayed in orbit until February 15 and the already planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis could have been moved up as early as February 10, leaving a short window for repairing the wing or getting the crew off of the Columbia.


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



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



All appears to be forgiven; Janet Jackson has completely absolved Justin Timberlake of any lingering guilt over the incident in her new documentary



And so it goes.