Author Archives: dcaligari

June 12, 2001 –Blink 182 second album, Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (masturbatory pun and all,) was released on this date. During the making of the album, Tom DeLonge was listening to a lot of post-hardcore bands like Fugazi and Refused, which influenced the heavier sound of the tracks.

June 11, 1937 – The Marx Brothers film, A Day at the Races, premiered on this date. The Grand Steeplechase sequence at the end had to be shot twice. Both times a crew member persuaded Chico Marx to gamble on it and not only to bet on the outcome of a rigged non-race, but toContinue reading “Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped.”

June 11, 1975 – Robert Altman’s classic Nashville, starring a very large ensemble cast, including, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall, Allen Garfield, Henry Gibson, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Barbara Harris, Michael Murphy, Lily Tomlin, and Keenan Wynn, premiered in New York City, on this date. Robert Altman originallyContinue reading “Nashville premiered”

June 11, 1938 – The Merrie Melodies short, Katnip Kollege, directed by Ben Hardawayand Cal Dalton, debuted on this date. Cuddling and singing about romance was about as far as the censors would allow at the time, even for animated felines.

June 11, 1949 – The Merrie Melodies short, Mouse Mazurka, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Sylvester the Cat, debuted on this date. A made up bucolic Central-Eastern European country is shown here, as is an inference to a mad experimenting scientist (who apparently owns the very latest model of water coolers). Both were popular plotContinue reading “Mouse Mazurka premiered”

June 11, 1955 – The Looney Tunes short, Rabbit Rampage, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date. This cartoon is a successor to Duck Amuck, with Bugs as the victim and Elmer as the animator. However, unlike Daffy in the aforementioned short, Bugs seems to know the animator’s identity in thisContinue reading “Rabbit Rampage premiered”

June 11, 1977 –Electric Light Orchestra’s record Telephone Line reached #7 on the Billboard Charts in the US, giving the band its first gold single. ELO’s first manager was Don Arden. When he lost interest in the group, he gave them to his daughter Sharon who ran Jet Records. Sharon married Ozzy Osbourne a fewContinue reading “Just let it ring a little longer”

June 10, 1966 –The Beatles song Paperback Writer was released in UK, on this date. This claimed the top spot in the US for two non-consecutive weeks; it was interrupted for one week by Frank Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night.

Today is National Black Cow Day – Everybody grab a root beer float today and run around to celebrate. Especially if you add bourbon to the drink. According to several websites, the Black Cow was made by Frank J. Wisner, of Cripple Creek, Colo., in 1893. He was already making sodas for the people ofContinue reading “Down to Greene Street”

June 10, 1939 – MGM released the first cartoon in the Barney Bear series, The Bear That Couldn’t Sleep, on this date. Barney Bear was a character patterned after actor Wallace Beery, a character actor known for playing gruff but lovable characters, as well as the occasional villain.