I wonder if they are celebrating this in Washington

It's World Pharmacist Day,

and it's also National One Hit Wonder day. Celebrate responsibly - listen to only one or two of them at a time.

Unbelievable -EMF



EMF was led by their guitarist Ian Dench, who is also their primary songwriter, although the entire band was credited on this track. Dench was in a band called Apple Mosaic, who had a contract with Virgin Records but little impact. He formed EMF with some spirited young musicians from around England, and their first album, Schubert Dip, placed four songs in the UK Top 40, with Unbelievable peaking at #3 in November 1990.


Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth



Musical Youth became the first Black act to go in regular rotation on MTV when Pass The Dutchie was added to their playlist, preceding Michael Jackson's Billie Jean video by a few weeks. The MTV airplay helped break the song in the United States, and it entered the Top 40 on January 15, 1983, reaching its peak position of #10 on February 26.


Too Shy - Kajagoogoo



The girl in the video is Ali Espley, a Canadian model who later married the comedian Dennis Miller. She was a friend of Limahl, which is how she got the gig.


I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred



Right Said Fred is comprised of the buff brothers Richard and Fred Fairbrass, and at the time, guitarist Rob Manzoli. The Fairbrass Brothers were managers at a London dance studio called the Dance Attic, where they came across lots of narcissism and posing. As Rich Fairbrass tells it, they had a loop playing on the computer, and inspired by his dance studio experience he spontaneously took his shirt off and started singing, "I'm too sexy for my shirt."


September 25, 1943 -
An excellent Merrie Melodies cartoon, A Corny Concerto was released on this date.



For some reason, the identity of the black duckling in this short has prompted much debate among cartoon fans as to whether or not it is in fact Daffy Duck. Supporters of the idea claim it is Daffy due to the character's similar color design (such as the white band around the neck), while naysayers say that if it was supposed to be Daffy then it would have been made a little more clear in his appearance or by having him speak.


September 25, 1961 -
One of the greatest sports movies of all time, The Hustler, premiered on this date.



Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set. At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.


September 25, 1964 -
The series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., starring Jim Nabors (who was not married to Rock Hudson) premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Although the series had a military setting and the Vietnam War was going on at the time it originally aired, the war itself is never discussed. Jim Nabors said that it was always difficult for him to watch the opening of the show because many of the men with whom he is seen marching were killed in Vietnam.


September 25, 1965 -
The Beatles Cartoon Show premiered on ABC-TV on this date. It racked up a 13 score (or 52 share), then unheard of in daytime television.



The series became notorious for its static visual style with the Beatles being depicted in their mop top and suit look from A Hard Day's Night, despite the fact the band had abandoned that look while the series was in production.


September 25, 1970 -
Everybody was implored to 'Get Happy' when The Partridge Family first aired on this date.



Danny Bonaduce would often struggle with his lines, especially during the script readings. It turned out that he was dyslexic. However, he also had an eidetic memory, in which case, he would memorize his own lines as well as everyone else's. He stated that this would often get him on the bad side of his fellow cast members when he would correct them or state their lines for them when they couldn't remember.


September 25, 1975 -
Pink Floyd's ninth studio album Wish You Were Here, goes No. 1 om the Billboard Album Charts on this date.





During the final mixing sessions of this song in June of 1975, Syd Barrett wandered into the studios, ready to help out. He was fat, bald, and as crazy as they remembered, but they let him stay for a while. David Gilmour didn't recognize him at first - they hadn't seen him in years. When someone tried to break the ice by asking Syd how he had put on so much weight, he maniacally replied, "I've got a very large fridge in the kitchen, and I've been eating a lot of pork chops!" That was the last time any of the Pink Floyd members have seen him.


September 25, 1976 -
The TV comedy series Holmes and Yoyo, starring Richard B. Shull, John Schuck, Bruce Kirby, and Andrea Howard premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Holmes & Yoyo is considered one of the worst television series ever made. It ranked at #33 on TV Guide's "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list.


September 25, 1987 -
20th Century Fox releases the Rob Reiner directed film, The Princess Bride, starring Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Robin Wright, André René Roussimoff, and Peter Falk, in limited release, on this date.




During the filming of some scenes, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright. André René Roussimoff helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.


September 25, 1997 -
We got our first peek into the fashion world when Veronica's Closet first opened, starring Kirstie Alley, Kathy Najimy, Dan Cortese, Wallace Langham, Darryl Mitchell, and Robert Prosky, on ABC, on this date.



The show was known to poke fun at Kirstie Alley's struggle to maintain her weight. In the first episode. after receiving some bad news, she yells for Josh, and he brings her an enormous amount of food to calm her down.


Another ACME Safety Film.


Today in History -
September 25, 1676 -
An imaginary line joining the North and South Poles that is used to locate a position on Earth’s surface in an east–west direction is called a longitudinal line, or meridian. In the 17th and 18th centuries, each country defined its own prime meridian, which typically ran through its capital city. England established its own meridian, which passed through a point at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The first such meridian was established there, on this date.



This eventually led to the creation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). GMT, is the annual average of the time each day that the sun crosses the Prime Meridian. Unlike solar time, "mean time" is the standard clock time and does not vary over the course of the year. The modern concept of hours, minutes, and seconds is based on the work of astronomers like John Flamsteed, who in the 17th century developed the first essentially correct tables to convert irregular apparent solar time to uniform mean solar time. Before then, it was known as Greenwich Petulant Time or Greenwich Hangry Time.


On this day in 1789, Congress proposed twelve amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Habeas Corpus Luteum and Freedom from Unreasonably Surging Seashores were ultimately rejected, but the other ten passed and became known as the Bill of Rights.



In honor of this grand occasion, I’ve chosen to celebrate my favorite amendment, in the hopes that it might also soon become yours. I am speaking, of course, of the Ninth Amendment. Like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Constitution’s Ninth is the standard against which all others must be measured. Unlike Beethoven’s, however, it doesn’t climax with a resounding choral tribute to Joy - hough I’d argue Congress missed a real opportunity there.



Here is the Ninth Amendment in all its glory: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."



This vital clause should not be neglected just because of a few awkwardly placed commas (though, let’s face it, James Madison could have used Grammarly).



For example, under the First Amendment, I have the enumerated right to say any stupid thing that pops into my head. (This should not be confused with the responsibility to do so, which is reserved for journalists and late-night comedians. Donald Trump seems confused on this point.) My right not to listen to anyone else’s idiotic opinion, however, is unenumerated -but no less crucial.



Under the Second Amendment, I am granted the right to stockpile dangerous weapons to preserve peace and order. My unenumerated but equally sacred right is not to be caught in the crossfire while you unload a couple of clips at a Sunday school picnic. (The NRA seems to have skimmed that part.)



The Eighth Amendment guarantees I cannot be drawn and quartered, boiled in pitch, burned at the stake, or- most mercifully - forced to watch the movie Cats. What it doesn’t guarantee is my right to be properly entertained, which frankly should have been spelled out.



So today, let us give thanks to the Ninth Amendment, that unsung hero, which preserves us not only from the tyranny of government, but from the far more dangerous tyranny of one another.


September 25, 1890 -
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", was a statement which officially ceased the practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Announced by church president Wilford Woodruff on this date, the Manifesto was a dramatic turning point in The Mormons renounced the practice of polygamy after six decades in exchange for statehood for Utah. This was a great day in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as many of the church leaders are finally able to sleep with both eyes closed.


September 25, 1919 -
President Woodrow Wilson became seriously ill and collapsed after a speech to promote the League of Nations in Pueblo, Colorado, on this date. On October 2, 1919, Wilson suffered a serious stroke that almost totally incapacitated him, leaving him paralyzed on his left side and blind in his left eye. For at least a few months, he was confined to a wheelchair. Afterwards, he could walk only with the assistance of a cane. The full extent of his disability was kept from the public until after his death on February 3, 1924.



Remarkably, Wilson was, with few exceptions, kept out of the presence of Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, his cabinet or Congressional visitors to the White House for the remainder of his presidential term. His second wife, Edith, would continually tell people for the next five years that the President was in the bathroom and couldn't be disturbed. This was, as of 2020, the most serious case of presidential disability in American history and was later cited as a key example why ratification of the 25th Amendment and a large supply of TP at the White House was seen as important.


September 25, 1956 -
Transatlantic Telephone Cable System 1 (TAT-1) was inaugurated on with a three-way telephone conversation between New York, Ottawa, and London. Many distinguished guests participated in this first official call over the new circuit, the first Atlantic cable of its generation.



Before TAT-1, voice was carried across the Atlantic on unreliable and expensive radio channels. Text messaging was carried on submarine telegraph cables (the technology of the previous 90 years) which were reliable, but slow and expensive. The call was nearly ruined when the President of AT&T, Frederick Kappel, asked Dr. Charles Hill, the Postmaster General of England, if he had Prince Albert in a can?


September 25, 1980 -
John Bonham, drummer for the seminal rock band, Led Zeppelin, actually did choke to death in his sleep on a regurgitated ham sandwich on this date.



The coroner's report concludes that it was his own vomit and no one else's.


September 25, 1981 -
Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court when she was sworn in as the 102nd justice on this date.



She had been nominated the previous July by President Ronald Reagan. (One of my faithful readers was one of her law clerks.)


Before you go - Today is nine months after Christmas.



And three months before Christmas.



And so it goes

It's a principle known as Dolbear's Law

Crickets can be used to estimate temperature because their chirping rate is influenced by their body temperature, which is the same as their surroundings.



One can estimate the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit by counting the number of chirps a cricket makes in 15 seconds and adding 40. And if you do that, you need to get a life


Today is National Punctuation Day (!,?.)

It's a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the every mysterious ellipsis.



(The Percontation point is a reversed question mark later referred to as a rhetorical question mark, was proposed by Henry Denham in the 1580s and was used at the end of a question that does not require an answer—a rhetorical question. It is used thusly: “What are you saying - he said WHAT (Unfortunately, the Percontation point isn’t standard in font sets and can’t easily be used in typing.) Can you believe it. ” )


September 24, 1046 -
You might know that today is the feast day of St. Gerard Sagredo of Hungary and he was not having a great day today.

During mass, hordes of heathens, stormed his church, bundled him up and wheeled him to the top of Gellert Hill, in Hungary (but you don't care.) Those heathen hordes shoved the cart down the hill, then beat him to death on this date

(but I'm sure this is all meaningless to you because there's no Feast of St. Gerald Sagredo festival in your neighborhood.)


September 24, 1938 -
One of the craziest cartoons Looney Tunes ever produced, Porky in Wackyland was released on this date. You need to watch it a few times to really get everything that's going on in this one.



Among the crazy characters Porky encounters is a creature with three heads arguing amongst themselves. From the haircuts on the three heads, it is clear that this is a parody of The Three Stooges. The character then faces the camera and leans into it in such a way that their round heads form a triangle, and a small character explains to the audience that, "He says his mother was scared by a pawnbroker's sign!"


September 24, 1945 -
Michael Curtiz' tense film noir, Mildred Pierce, starring Joan Crawford and her enormous shoulder pads, was released on this date.



There were conflicts between Michael Curtiz and Joan Crawford. He wanted her canned, claiming she was altering the look and interpretation of the character to make her more glamorous. There were the inevitable arguments over shoulders, with Crawford tearfully (and not altogether truthfully) claiming her dowdy off-the-rack Sears dresses were unpadded. Curtiz started referring to her as "Phony Joanie" and "the rotten bitch," laying into her mercilessly in front of cast and crew. Crawford wanted the director fired and replaced "with a human being."


September 24, 1958 -
Ladies (and some men), don't you always wears heels, pearls and chic frocks to do the housework? The Donna Reed Show premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The first season opening credits of The Munsters were an outrageous parody of the opening credits of The Donna Reed Show, which always began with Donna Reed lovingly passing out lunches to her departing family members as they left the house one by one. Yvonne De Carlo, as Lily Munster, did the same thing.


September 24, 1961 -
Students of Great Comedy lined up around the block to enroll in Whatsamatta U when The Bullwinkle Show moved to primetime on NBC TV on this date.



The Bullwinkle Show incurred the wrath of no less a Hollywood heavyweight than Walt Disney. Each prime time episode was "introduced" by Bullwinkle himself (as a hand puppet, voiced by Bill Scott ), and social commentary was often sprinkled in with the gags. Disney had recently changed his own weekly show's name from Disneyland to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and was appearing on screen to relentlessly promote the sale of color TV sets, still a relatively newfangled phenomenon. Bullwinkle, taking note, told his audience there was no need to buy an expensive new set, telling them instead to think of all the nasty things Walt Disney had said about their old black and white TVs. "Now then," he said, "don't you see red?"


September 24, 1964 -

We all visited 1313 Mockingbird Lane for the first time when The Munsters premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The show was shot in black and white because the studio did not want to pay an extra $10,000 per episode for color.


September 24, 1968 -
The TV show Mod Squad premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Clarence Williams III, Michael Cole and Tige Andrews appear in all 123 episodes. Peggy Lipton appeared in every episode with the exception of two.


September 24, 1968 -
Created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, 60 Minutes a television news magazine, originally hosted by Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner, first aired on CBS on this date.



In 2002, 60 Minutes was ranked number six on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", and in 2013, it was ranked number 24 on the magazine's list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".


September 24, 1970 -
Garry Marshall brought the Neil Simon hit play to television, when The Odd Couple, starring Tony Randall, and Jack Klugman, premiered on ABC, on this date. It was one of my father-in-law's favorite shows.



Early episodes from the first season were titled "Neil Simon's The Odd Couple". Neil Simon objected to this, having nothing to do with the television series and not wanting to leave the impression left that he did, not knowing the quality of the series' scripts (he did continue to receive a "Based on the Play created by" credit). After seeing the first two seasons of the show he became a fan of the series, and even agreed to appear as himself in a cameo in one episode.


September 24, 1977 -
Everyone got to order their first drink from Isaac when The Love Boat set sail for the first time on ABC-TV on this date.



The former Pacific Princess was scrapped in 2013 at a Turkish ship recycling yard on the Aegean coast. She was 42 years old, and was decommissioned in 2008. The Izmir Ship Recycling Company acquired the former cruise ship for 2.5 million euros ($2.95 million).


September 24, 1991 -
Warner Bros. Records. released the fifth studio album of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, on this date.



Because of the success of the album, the band got a headlining slot on the 1992 Lollapalooza Tour. The gig greatly expanded their fan base and showcased their skills as a very energetic live band, but beneath the surface, all was not well. The band was burned out and feuding; John Frusciante quit in the middle of the tour, and their bass player Flea lapsed into drug addiction when they finally got off the road in October 1992. They took some time to recuperate (Flea kicked his drug habit) and returned in 1995 with the album One Hot Minute.


September 24, 1991 -
(On the same day,) Nirvana's album Nevermind was released 33 years today on this date.



Within a year of the album's release, much of the hair metal and hard rock that had commanded the airwaves was being phased out in favor of the “grunge” style often attached to Nirvana.


September 24, 1995 -
Hearts were all aflutter all over England when BBC One aired the first episode of the six part adaption of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, on this date.



Producer Sue Birtwistle particularly wanted Colin Firth, a relatively unknown British actor in his mid-30s at the time, to play the wealthy and aloof Mr. Darcy. Birtwistle had worked with him on the mid-1980s comedy film Dutch Girls, but he repeatedly turned down her offer as he neither felt attracted to Jane Austen's feminine perspective nor believed himself to be right for the role. Birtwistle's persistent coaxing and his deeper looks into the Darcy character finally convinced him to accept the role.


Another episode of of ACME's Little Known Animal Facts


Today in History:
September 24, 1896 --
... Writers aren’t exactly people… they’re a whole bunch of people trying to be one person..

On this date in 1896, a young woman in Minnesota gave birth to a depressive, witty young alcoholic named Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. He did poorly in school and went off to train for war in 1918. While stationed at Camp Sheridan in Alabama, he fell in love with Zelda Sayre, the mentally unstable daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court justice.



The war ended before Fitzgerald could be sent overseas and shot, so he went to New York to become rich and famous. He became neither, and Zelda broke off their engagement. Fitzgerald then returned to Minnesota. A year later, he became a famous writer. He moved to Connecticut, Zelda married him, and together they became drunken celebrity wrecks.



They spent much of their time in Europe, until Zelda went mad, dying in a fire and Fitzgerald drank himself to death.



Fitzgerald is best remembered for noting that the rich were different - though Hemingway kept telling him to act like a man, strip down, grease himself up, and get into a boxing ring.



Oh yeah, he also wrote several books.

... I must hold in balance the sense of the futility of effort and the sense of the necessity to struggle; the conviction of the inevitability of failure and still the determination to 'succeed'-and, more than these, the contradiction between the dead hand of the past and the high intentions of the future. If I could do this through the common ills-domestic, professional and personal-then the ego would continue as an arrow shot from nothingness to nothingness with such force that only gravity would bring it to earth at last..


September 24, 1936 –
When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.



James Maury Henson, puppeteer, producer, actor and director was born on this date.


September 24, 1947 -
Majestic 12, a secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, was allegedly established by a secret executive order issued by President Harry Truman (who may or may not have been sober at the time) to investigate UFO activity in the aftermath of the Roswell incident.



Conspiracy theorists consider the Majestic 12 major evidence supporting the government-cover-up theories. The FBI has since attempted to debunk any documents associated with the committee. Debate continues to this day about whether or not the committee existed.

(And remember, you didn't read any of this here.)


September 24, 1964 -
The Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, (which had occurred on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas,) was presented to President Lyndon B. Johnson on this date.



The report did little to quiet conspiracy theories, but it documented that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone and that the Secret Service had made poor preparations for JFK’s visit to Dallas, had failed to sufficiently protect him, and was not part of a larger-scale plot.

But, I've said too much already.


September 24, 1969 -
The trial of the "Chicago Eight" (later seven) began on this date. Demonstrations began outside the court house, with the Weatherman group proclaiming the "Days of Rage" in protest of the trial. The Chicago Eight staged demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to protest the Vietnam War and its support by the top Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. These anti-Vietnam War protests were some of the most violent in American history as the police and national guardsmen beat antiwar protesters, innocent bystanders and members of the press.



Five defendants (Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger and Rennie Davis) were convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention; the convictions were ultimately overturned.


September 24, 1970 -
Luna 16 was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample to Earth. An automatic drilling rig was deployed and 101 grams of lunar soil was collected.



The samples were returned to Earth on this date and marked the first time lunar sampled were recovered by an unmanned spacecraft.


September 24, 1991 -
Theodor Seuss Geisel, an American writer and cartoonist best known for his classic children's books under the pen name Dr. Seuss, including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, died on this date.



No greater tribute was given to the Doctor than when the Reverend Jesse Jackson appeared on SNL following his death.



And so it goes

More about camels than you need to know

Camels can travel up to 161 km (100 miles) in the hot desert without water. But contrary to popular misconception, a camel’s hump is not filled with water. Instead, it is filled with fat (up to 36 kg, or 80 lbs.) that is metabolized for energy and water when needed.



As the fat is used up, the hump will become flabby, so if you see a camel with a flabby hump — or no hump at all — feed it, because it is probably very hungry.


September 23, 1927 -
F. W. Murnau's silent classic, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by, starring George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor, premiered in NYC on this date.



F.W. Murnau wanted Camilla Horn (with whom he had worked in Germany on Faust) for the part of "The Wife," but she was under contract to the German studio UFA at the time and they refused to loan her out, so the part went to Janet Gaynor.


September 23, 1944 -
Frank Capra's screwball comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace finally gets it US general release on this date. The film was based on a hit play and had to wait to be released until after it Broadway run had ended.



Cary Grant's (birth name), Archie Leach appears on a tombstone in the cemetery near the Brewster's house. In Grant's earlier picture, His Girl Friday, his character, Walter, responded to a threat by saying 'listen, the last man that said that to me was Archie Leach, just a week before he cut his throat'. As a gag, the 'departed' Mr. Leach was apparently interred in the Brooklyn cemetery by the Brewster's home.


September 23, 1962 -
The Jetsons debuted on ABC-TV's Sunday night's prime time lineup on this date. It was the network's first program ever to be broadcast in color.



The series displays several devices that did not exist at the time, such as a flatscreen television, newspaper on a computer-like screen, a computer virus, video chat, a tanning bed and a home treadmill. Today, those things are common in the real world.


September 23, 1967 -
The Box Tops' first and most successful single, The Letter was No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



This song is about a guy who gets a letter from his former love telling him that she wants him back, and the guy wants to fly out and see her immediately. The Nashville songwriter Wayne Carson Thompson wrote the song after his father gave him the line, "Give me a ticket for an aeroplane."


September 23, 1968 -
Lucille Ball's third TV series, Here's Lucy premiered on this date.



The series dropped out of the top 10 Nielsen ratings in its fifth season. This was the first time that a series starring Lucille Ball was not in the top 10. Because of this, Ball wanted to end the series, and a final episode was filmed. But CBS convinced Ball to return for one more season.


September 23, 1969 -
The first of the ABC Movie of the Week, Seven in Darkness, starring Milton Berle, Dina Merrill, Barry Nelson, Arthur O'Connell, Alejandro Rey, and Lesley Ann Warren first aired on ABC TV, on this date.



Despite the title of the movie, there are actually eight visually impaired survivors of the crash.


September 23, 1968 -
ABC Pictures moving drama, Charley, based on the short story Flowers for Algernon, starring Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney, Dick Van Patten and Barney Martin premiered on this date.



The reason that Cliff Robertson was not at the Oscars to receive his Best Actor award was because he was in the middle of filming the movie Too Late the Hero in the Philippines. The director Robert Aldrich would not allow him to attend the ceremony, as a flight from the Philippines to Los Angeles and back would be too time-consuming due to budgetary restraints. Robertson pleaded with Aldrich, even offering to pay out of pocket for any costs associated with his absence, but to no avail. After Robertson won the Oscar, the crew of Too Late the Hero presented him with a mock statuette made out of wood. According to Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, after the Philippine location shooting was over, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences president Gregory Peck greeted the cast as they disembarked at Los Angeles International Airport. Robertson was holding his fake Oscar when he got off the plane. As he was approached by Peck with the real statuette, Robertson threw the wooden "Oscar" over his shoulder. The fake statuette hit Michael Caine in the forehead, causing him to bleed profusely.


September 23, 1969 -
Marcus Welby MD, starring the not terribly sober Robert Young, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Elena Verdugo, who played Welby's nurse/assistant Consuelo on all but one episode of the series, got her start as a "femme fatale" in 1940s Westerns and horror films. Her most prominent role before Welby was as Wolf Man Larry Talbot's love interest in The House of Frankenstein.


September 23, 1970 -
The only American film Akira Kurosawa almost directed, Tora! Tora! Tora!, was released on this date. Akira Kurosawa agreed to direct the Japanese part of the film only because he was told that David Lean was to direct the American part. This was a lie, David Lean was never part of the project. When Kurosawa found out about this, he tried to get himself fired from the production - and succeeded.



When Akira Kurosawa was fired from the production, the Japanese sequences were at least three weeks behind schedule. Producer Elmo Williams solved the problem by hiring two Japanese directors to head two production units as replacements. Toshio Masuda handled the dramatic scenes. He had directed about 25 features in a decade. Kinji Fukasaku had experience directing large-scale action scenes and scenes involving special effects. Of all the time and money spent by Akira Kurosawa, less than one minute of the film he shot is in the final release version.


September 23, 1976 -
The first episode for a very short lived series (the series only lasted 11 episodes.) Gemini Man, starring Ben Murphy, William Sylvester, and Katherine Crawford, premiered on this date.



The series was conceived as a second attempt to adapt H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man into a spy series, following the failed attempt starring David McCallum in The Invisible Man.


September 23, 1977 -
ABC Records breathed a huge sigh of relief when they were finally able to release the much delayed sixth studio album of the ultra-perfectionists Steely Dan's Aja on this date.





The album is pronounced "Asia," and was inspired by the continent. Steely Dan have several songs with a Far East influence, since Donald Fagen believes it is a symbol of sensuality. He told Rolling Stone magazine that the title came from a high school friend whose brother was in the army and came back with a Korean wife named Aja, although he wasn't sure how she spelled it.


September 23, 1977 -
David Bowie released one of his signature hits (co-written with Brian Eno,) Heroes on this date. The track features King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp.



Featured in this song are not only Brian Eno's synthesizer and Robert Fripp's guitar, but also producer Tony Visconti banging on a metal ashtray that was lying around the studio. Bowie released versions of this song in English, German, and French. The German version is called Helden; the French is Héros.


September 23, 1978 -
The comedy series series, The American Girls, starring Marin Short, Priscilla Barnes and Debra Clinger aired on CBS TV on this date.



Seven of the 11 episodes that were produced were actually aired.


September 23, 1979 -
The short lived comedy set at a white-shoe law firm, The Associates, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Martin Short, Alley Mills, Joe Regalbuto, Shelley Smith, and Tim Thomerson, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



While the series only had 13 episodes (and only nine of them aired), The Associates was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards.


September 23, 1989 -
The seventh studio album by the group Eurythmics, We Two Are One, was No. 1 on the U.K. Billboard Charts on this date.



The We Too Are One album was the duo's last album that the duo put out together for 10 years. The relationship between Lennox and Stewart was becoming increasingly strained and they needed to spend time apart.


September 23, 1990 -
Ken Burns' powerful 11 hour miniseries The Civil War premiered on PBS on this date.



The series took six years to make. The war itself lasted four years.


September 23, 1992 -
NBC first introduced us to Paul and Jamie Buchman (and Murray) when Mad About You first premiered on this date.



Paul Reiser's production company is called Nuance Productions, after a line in the first film he appeared in, Diner: "You know what word I'm not comfortable with? Nuance. It's not a real word. Like "gesture". Gesture's a real word. With gesture you know where you stand. But nuance? I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong."


September 23, 2009 -
ABC-TV first introduced us to Jay Pritchett, his children and their families when the mockumentary Modern Family first premiered on this date.



Upon reading the script the first time, Ed O'Neill, himself a sitcom veteran after starring in Married... with Children for 11 seasons, exclaimed that he knew that the script was a winner, and that the show would last for at least 10 years.


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
September 23, 480 BC -
It's the birthday of the Greek poet Euripides, born near Athens on this date.

Euripides has the greatest number of plays that have survived for the modern reader - 19 of them — including Medea.

Remember - he also said, Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Tragedy isn't getting something or failure to get it; it's losing something you already have. Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.


September 23, 63 BC -
Gaius Octavius Thurinus (Augustus Caesar) was born on this day. The first real Roman Emperor, Caesar introduced the famous Pax Romana. This was a political policy which stated that any country which did not object to being conquered by Rome would be conquered by Rome.



Countries not wishing to be conquered by Rome stood in violation of this policy, and were therefore invaded until they agreed to be conquered. This ensured peace throughout the world.


September 23, 1779 -
During the Revolutionary War, while on break from Led Zeppelin, the American navy under Scotsman John Paul Jones (Robert Stack), commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeated and captured the British man-of-war Serapis on this date. Jones, chose to name the ship after Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard’s Almanac.



Fierce fighting ensued, and when Richard began to sink, Serapis commander Richard Pearson called over to ask if Richard would surrender and Jones responded, "I have not yet begun to fight!"--a response that would become a slogan of the U.S. Navy. Pearson surrendered and Jones took control of Serapis. Imagine the amount of rum consumed (it was an American Ship - I'm sure there was no sodomy!)



The Bonhomme Richard sank two days after the battle.


September 23, 1869 -
Mary Mallon was born on this date. Infamously known as 'Typhoid Mary', she was a household cook who was responsible for major outbreaks of typhoid in the New York City area in 1904, 1907, and 1914.



She was immune to typhoid herself, but was a carrier of the bacillus, and spread it wherever she worked as a household cook.


September 23, 1939 -
Sigmund Freud was not having a good day. He had been suffering from the late stages of cancer of the jaw when he decided to commit suicide with the help of his personal physician, Max Schur on this date.



The good doctor administered 21 mg of morphine -- a lethal dose, in three large doses in the space of several hours. Sometimes 21 mg of morphine is just 21 mg of death.


September 23, 1949 -
Happy Birthday Bruce!







If you are of a certain age, at one point, Bruce meant everything to you.


September 23, 1950 -
Congress passes the McCarran Act, also known as The Internal Security Act of 1950, overriding Harry Truman's veto. The act provides for severe restrictions on civil liberties, suspension of free speech, and placing of undesirable Americans in concentration camps.

Much of the Act has been repealed, but some portions remain intact.

So watch it, bub.


Today we commemorate some of the greatest political pooches our country has ever known. On September 23, 1952, responding to accusations that he diverted $18,000 in contributions into his pocket, Senator Richard M. Nixon rescues his candidacy for Vice President by insisting that he had never accepted any money.



Although Nixon does admit he accepted a cocker spaniel named Checkers for his daughter Tricia. The televised monologue rescues his political career.

Little is know about this political operative, Checkers. Recently unclassified FBI documents reveal that Checkers advised Nixon not to shave just prior to his famous televised debate with Kennedy. Checkers was also recorded on his deathbed in late '64 advising associates of Nixon about creating a list of enemies of the future President.


September 23, 1969 -
An article in the Northern Illinois University student newspaper propagated the rumor that Paul is dead.



And if you play I'm so Tired from the White Album (and smoke an enormous amount of dope,) you hear Paul McCartney Is Dead.



And so it goes

Proof that change is beautiful

Autumn begins at 2:19 p.m. EDT today.

Joyfully, it's also the first day of Fall.



Many people in the northern hemisphere are disturbed by the changes they see around them at about this time each year. It gets darker earlier, temperatures drop, leaves change color and die and the Red Sox tend to drop out of playoff contention.

There have been myths about the changing of the seasons as long as there have been children to lie to. Some primitive peoples believed that leaves changed color because Nature was pining for her abducted daughter; others blamed it on the seasonal absence of sunlight-fed chlorophyll, allowing xanthophyll, carotene, and antocyanin to determine leaf color. We may never know the truth.



The first day of Autumn is sometimes also referred to as the Autumnal Equinox (the autumnal equinox is when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south.) The autumnal equinox brings the fall season to the Northern Hemisphere. Don't be alarmed by the title. It's just Fall.



There are 100 days remaining in 2024.



There are 39 days until Halloween,



43 days until the General Election,



66 days until Thanksgiving,



and 94 days until Christmas.



With intestinal fortitude and some heavy drinking, we can get through this thing.


September 22, 1957 -
The comedy-western series Maverick, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Producer Roy Huggins stated the writers' guiding principle for the Maverick series was his belief that, "In the traditional Western, the situation was always serious, but never hopeless. In a "Maverick" story, the situation is always hopeless, but never serious."


September 22, 1958 -
The private eye series, Peter Gunn, starring Craig Stevens premiered on this date



The pianist who played the well known piano portion of the "Peter Gunn Theme" was future film composer John Williams. Henry Mancini later said that whenever he heard John Williams' name, he would immediately think of the "Peter Gunn Theme" before any of the other iconic music that Williams wrote.


September 22, 1964 -

Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, who kept the world safe on The Man from U.N.C.L.E, made their first appearance on NBC-TV on this date.



Originally, Will Kuluva was to play the head of U.N.C.L.E., but was replaced by Leo G. Carroll. After the pilot was screened for the network executives, they told the producers to "get rid of the foreign guy". They really meant for David McCallum's Russian character Ilya Kuriyakin to get the axe, but the producers thought they meant Kuluva.


September 22, 1969 -
A new weekly TV show The Music Scene aired on ABC in the US for the first time, on this date.



The show began with six co-hosts (David Steinberg, Chris Bokeno, Larry Hankin, Paul Reid Roman, Christopher Ross and Lily Tomlin) who would also do comedic skits between musical numbers. This format lasted for 6 episodes. Beginning with the first episode in November, David Steinberg became the sole host with different special guest hosts. Unfortunately, this format change did not bring new viewers, and the show was canceled less than three months later.


Septeber 22, 1979 -
The eighth studio album by Led Zeppelin, In Through The Out Door, released by their label, Swan Song, went to the top of the Billboard Charts on this date.



When they were recording this album, Jimmy Page and John Bonham were spending a lot of time together and would usually show up at the studio very late and work through the night.


September 22, 1982 -
America first welcomed the Keaton family into their homes on this date when Family Ties, starring Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Justine Bateman, Tina Yothers, and Brian Bonsall, premiered on NBC-TV.



Michael J. Fox added the P. in Alex P. Keaton as an ad-lib in his audition, the writers loved it and kept it. Michael J. Fox almost didn't get the role of Alex, due to the fact that NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff didn't find it believable that Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross would have a son who was so short.


September 22, 1986 -
Aaron Spelling's crime drama Charlie's Angels starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, David Doyle and John Forsythe premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



John Forsythe was called in at the last minute to voice Charlie, when the original actor (Gig Young) who had been cast turned out to have a drinking problem. Producer Aaron Spelling called Forsythe past midnight on a Friday, and begged him to come to the studio immediately, as the pilot was to be broadcast after the weekend. Forsythe ended up recording his first voice-over in his pajamas.


September 22, 1986 -
For some reason ABC-TV felt the need to introduce America to the Tanner Family and Gordon Shumway when ALF (an acronym for Alien Life Form) premiered on this date.



The Alf puppet was operated from various "trap doors" hidden within the set, making filming more hazardous than a normal sitcom. The cast had to remember where the doors were so they could avoid them.


September 22, 1990 -
The Coen Brothers' take on the classic gangsters film, Miller's Crossing, premiered in NYC on this date.



Although he was a native Irishman playing a lieutenant to an Irish mobster, the Coens did not originally want Gabriel Byrne to use his own accent in the film. Byrne argued that his dialogue was structured in such a way that it was a good fit for his accent, and after he tried it, the Coens agreed. Ultimately, both Byrne and Albert Finney used Irish accents in the film.


September 22, 1994 -

31 years ago, you could get a cup of coffee at Central Perk for the first time when Friends, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



Many titles were considered and rejected before the show was named as Friends. They included Friends Like Us, Insomnia Cafe and Across the Hall.


September 22, 2004 –
ABC-TV begins airing the strange story of the aftermath of the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, when the Lost pilot premiered on this date.



On Lost, Yunjin Kim's character secretly (at first) speaks fluent English, while Daniel Dae Kim's character is (again, at first) a Korean monolingual. Yunjin's character helps Daniel's learn English over the course of the series. In real life, the situation was almost perfectly mirrored. Yunjin had no previous screen credits where she primarily spoke English rather than Korean, and Daniel had not spoken Korean regularly since his teenage years, with older relatives. Daniel has credited Yunjin with helping him re-acclimate himself to the (Korean) language.


Word of the Day.


Today in History:
September 22, 1761 -
George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz were crowned King and Queen of the Great Britain. Which is funny because George was not British. He was German. He had been Elector of Hanover. (Although he was the first King of England in a very long time that spoke English as his first language, if at all.)



But he ended his days, completely blind, increasingly deaf, pissing blue, and totally insane locked up in Windsor Castle, with his son acting as Regent for the remainder of George III's life.

I've said it before - sometimes it's NOT so good to be King.


September 22, 1776 -
An American Captain was hanged as a spy with no trial by the British, under the orders of General William Howe, in New York City during the Revolutionary War on this date. He was considered as one of the incendiaries of the burning of NYC.



Moments before his execution, he expressed regret that he couldn't be well hung more than once. This remark catapulted him to posthumous fame (but only after his death), and Nathan Hale is revered to this day.


September 22, 1869 -
Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold premieres in Munich on this date.



Beer drinkers around the world rejoice!!!


September 22, 1960 (or 1958) -
Joan Marie Larkin, singer/ musician extraordinaire was born on this date.



If you love Rock and Roll, you love Joan


September 22, 1961 -
President John Kennedy took a break from hanging out with Frank Sinatra, shooting speed and having sex with Marilyn Monroe to sign a congressional act establishing the Peace Corps on this date.

The government-funded volunteer organization was created to fight hunger, disease, illiteracy, poverty, and lack of opportunity around the world.

Sometimes it good to be the President (and sometimes it sucks, as Mr. Kennedy would eventually find out.)


September 22, 1966 -
In between inviting the press to watch him use the bathroom and calling a tailor to order pants with extra long zippers, President Lyndon B. Johnson designated Columbus Day a federal public holiday to be celebrated on October 12.

In 1968, he moved it to the 2nd Monday of October. In 2004, President George W. Bush set it to October 11. Columbus Day in 2022 is on Monday, the 10th of October.


September 22, 1975 -
Self-proclaimed revolutionary Sara Jane Moore attempted to kill President Gerald Ford as he walked from a San Francisco hotel on this date.



A bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd but once again President Ford walks away unscathed.


September 22, 1980 -
In a stunning blow to America's feminine hygiene, consumer products manufacturer Procter and Gamble initiates the largest tampon recall in history, pulling Rely Tampons from store shelves, starting on this date.



The action results from the ongoing Toxic Shock Syndrome controversy.

No comment.


Before you go - OMG, I nearly forgot, Rosh Hashanah begins this evening, so we here at ACME are wishing our friends L’shanah Tovah.





As you hear the shofar this evening, remember to start writing 5786 on your checks. Also, I hope your sins are not so numerous that you really couldn't cast them upon the water.



And so it goes