Author Archives: dcaligari

It’s the 12th day of Christmas The final gift tally (365 gifts): you would have received 12 drummers drumming, 22 flutist, 30 members from the house of Lords, hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock, 36 Fan dancers, 40 angry dairy workers, on permanent coffee break, 42 Swans, trying to mate in your dining roomContinue reading “And just like that –”

January 4, 1969 –Jimi Hendrix was banned from the BBC after going off-script when he and his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, appear on the show Happening for Lulu, hosted by the singer Lulu. Rather than sing a duet with Lulu, Hendrix and the band launched into an unplanned tribute to the recently disbanded CreamContinue reading “Oh you naughty Mr. Hendrix”

January 4, 1941 – The animated short Elmer’s Pet Rabbit was released on this date: it marks the second ‘official‘ appearance of Bugs Bunny and the first to have his name on a title card. It was directed by the legendary Chuck Jones. (Note that Bugs hasn’t developed his characteristic buck teeth yet.)

January 4, 1957 –The sitcom based on the comic strip, Blondie, starring Arthur Lake and Pamela Britten premiered on NBC TV on this date. The popular movie series (28 in all) seemed like a shoe-in for a TV series. Unfortunately, when they made the series about a decade later, it only lasted a single season.

For those of you interested – Today’s gift count (286): you currently have 11 pipers piping, 20 hyperactive effete British gentlemen, knocking furniture over, 27 Pole dancers (draw the shades, the neighborhood kids are staring into your windows), 32 organized dairy workers striking for better working conditions, 35 Swans making a racket, befouling your secondContinue reading “Just stop answering the door”

January 3, 1964 –A month before The Beatles make their iconic live debut in the US on the Ed Sullivan Show, Americans get their first look at the Fab Four when Jack Paar shows a film clip of the band performing She Loves You on his TV show. In the fall of 1963, TV hostContinue reading “Ed Sullivan wasn’t the first”

January 3, 1976 –The Bay City Rollers single, Saturday Night reached the No. 1 position on the US Billboard Charts (their only US No. 1 single,) on this date. This song was first recorded in 1973 with original Rollers vocalist Nobby Clarke, but this version tanked when it was released in the UK. The band,Continue reading “Saturday Night topped the charts”

January 3, 2000 –The last daily Peanuts strip ran on this date. The comic strip, which centered around the iconic Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy, and their friends, had been running since 1950. Almost 20,000 strips were published in total, not to mention the musicals, movies, and television specials that featured the Peanuts gang.

January 3, 1969 – Captain Kirk visits an asylum where he is held hostage by an insane starship captain who believes that he is destined to control the universe in the Star Trek series episode Whom Gods Destroy, which aired on NBC TV on this date. The plot of inmates taking over the asylum andContinue reading “Original Star Trek: Whom Gods Destroy”