Author Archives: dcaligari

March 4, 1967 –The Rolling Stones song, Ruby Tuesday, topped the charts on this date. Brian Jones played the recorder (it sounds like a flute) on this song. He was a founding member of the group and fancied himself their leader, which along with a debilitating drug habit, starting causing problems in the band aroundContinue reading “Who could hang a name on you?”

March 4, 1950 – One of the classic Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoons, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, was released on this date. This was another show I was not allowed to watch with my family because I laughed too loudly. By all means, please, stop eating or drinking while watching this cartoon, you may injury yourself.Continue reading “The price of foodstuffs skyrocketed”

Today is my favorite day – March 4th It’s the day that tells you to do something.

March 4, 1979 –Mary Tyler Moore’s second ill-conceived venture in a variety series, The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, co-starring Dody Goodman, Michael Keaton, Joyce Van Patten, Ron Rifkin, and Doris Roberts, premiered on CBS on this date. The show’s premise was to give the audience a fictionalized view into the life of the star ofContinue reading “Hey, they can all can be hits”

March 4, 1982 – The David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker silliness, Police Squad, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Each week featured a “Special Guest Star” who is killed off in the opening credits. Lorne Greene and William Conrad are knifed and tossed out of cars; GeorgContinue reading “Is this Some Kind of a Bust?”

Purim starts tonight – The festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a singleContinue reading “Letting loose”

Today is the Yuan Xiao Festival, also called the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival falls on the first full moon night of the Lunar New Year. This is the 15th day of the Lunar New Year; it marks the end of the New Year celebrations, welcoming the return of spring and symbolizing family reunion. ItContinue reading “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.”

March 3, 1933 –W.C. Fields classic short, The Fatal Glass of Beer, premiered on this date. In Fields’ first sound film, The Golf Specialist there is a wanted poster of Fields which shows him in his Fatal Glass of Beer costume. It evidently was taken from an earlier stage presentation of the classic Fields sketch.

March 3, 2010 –Tim Burton fanciful retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, and Mia Wasikowska opened on this date. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp worked hard to give the Mad Hatter more depth and presence than in past portrayals. In fact, the pair swappedContinue reading “Alice in Wonderland premiered”

March 3, 2008 –Chumbawamba break the record for longest album title with their 160-word release The Boy Bands Have Won… Using efficient typography, the British band get the full title on the cover: The record of longest album title was established in 1999 with Fiona Apple’s 90-word title for her second album, When The Pawn…Continue reading “That was a mouthful”