Author Archives: dcaligari

February 26, 1988 –John Water’s great, albeit more mainstream feature (Water’s first PG-rated film), Hairspray, opened on this date. Ricki Lake began rapidly losing weight due to the intense dance lessons she had to take for the film. She reportedly had to “eat like crazy” in order to stay plump.

February 26, 1979 –NBC hoped to capitalize on their previous series Columbo, by castingKate Mulgrew, as his never seen wife, now a crime solving reporter in Mrs. Columbo, co-starring Henry Jones, premiered on this date. The series was originally about the exploits of the crime reporter wife of Lt. Columbo, but when the series couldn’tContinue reading “Mrs. Columbo first aired”

February 26, 1908 –What, all this junk, the yak-yak-yak? It would’ve broke my heart! Dialogue gags are a dime a dozen, but a good sight gag is hard to come by. Frederick Bean (Tex) Avery, animator, cartoonist, and another member of the legendary Termite Terrace was born on this date.

In Chinese, shí, meaning “ten,” and shí, meaning “stone,” share the same pronunciation. Thus, the tenth day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally considered the Birthday of the Stones, in the hope of shí quán shí mi – “everything in perfect completeness.” In ancient China, stones were regarded as the foundation of the Earth. Therefore, theContinue reading “Every block of stone has a statue inside it”

February 25, 1970 –Ernie sings his signature song, Rubber Duckie, on Sesame Street for the first time, on this date. It goes over so well that the song is released as a single, which in September reaches #16 on the Hot 100. Rubber ducks were around since at least the 1940s, but they had aContinue reading “Rubber duckie, you’re the one …”

February 25, 1939 –A Merrie Melodies cartoon, Gold Rush Daze, directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton opened on this date. The story follows a gold-hungry prospector who heads to the hills after hearing a gas station attendant’s tall tales of the 1849 Gold Rush. This short is seldom aired now. One of the issuesContinue reading “Gold Rush Daze premiered”

February 25, 1941 – Another Preston Sturges’ comic masterpiece, The Lady Eve, premiered in the US on this date. Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda rarely retired to their dressing rooms between takes. Instead, they hung out with Preston Sturges, listening to his stories and reviewing – and often re-writing – their lines.

February 25, 2000 –The crime comedy film, The Whole Nine Yards, starring Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Natasha Henstridge, opened in theaters on this day. Bruce Willis agreeing to guest appear on Friends for free because he lost a bet to Matthew Perry during filming is an urban legend. InContinue reading “The Whole Nine Yards premiered”

Today is the Ninth Day of the Lunar New Year. It marks the birthday of the Jade Emperor, King of Heaven. The Jade Emperor – also known as Yù Huáng or Yù Dì – is the ruler of all the Heavens (of which, in traditional belief, there are more than thirty), as well as EarthContinue reading “Another birthday – more cake”

February 24, 1973 –The song, Killing Me Softly with His Song by Roberta Flack topped the charts on this date. Robert Flack heard Lori Lieberman original version of the song on an in-flight tape recorder while flying from Los Angeles to New York. She loved the title and lyrics and decided to record it herself.Continue reading “Strummin’ my pain with his fingers”