Author Archives: dcaligari

We lose an hour of sleep tonight – Daylight Saving Time (leave the last S off for saving) starts at 2 AM tomorrow morning, so don’t forget to turn all those clocks, microwaves, DVD players, etc. ahead. Please do this work yourself: the time you save may be your own.

March 8, 1941 –Sherwood Anderson and his fourth wife, Eleanor, were enjoying a well deserved vacation on a ocean liner bound from from New York to Valparaiso, Chile. During a cocktail party on the ship, Anderson was enjoying his olive from a well chilled martini: it would be his last. Anderson soon became very illContinue reading “Let this be a lesson for us all”

March 8, 1959 –The apex of the golden age of television was achieved on this date when The Incredible Jewel Robbery aired. Groucho, Chico and Harpo made their final TV appearance together. It was all down hill from here. Chico died two years later, followed by Harpo three years after that.

March 8, 1975 –Laurence Luckinbill, and Carole King were the guest stars on The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, Anyone Who Hates Kids and Dogs, on CBS-TV, on this date. Carole King played one of Stevie’s aunts, under her married name Carole Larkey.

March 8, 1994 –Two seminal albums from the ‘90s were released on this date: Soundgarden’s Superunknown and Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral. They enter the albums chart at #1 and #2, respectively.

March 7, 1962 –The Alain Resnais’ enigmatic masterpiece, L’Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad), opened in the US on this date. I’ll tell you the plot – a man meets a woman at a European spa and tries to convince her (and himself) that they met one year ago. According to screenwriter AlainContinue reading “It really does make sense (kind of)”

March 7, 1960 –After a month’s absence, Jack Paar had re-appeared as the host on The Tonight Show on this date. He had walked off in protest against censorship before returning to his position as host of this production. He had made a joke about a “water closet” (European bathroom), which most likely would haveContinue reading “Jack Paar changed his mind and came back”

March 7, 1936 – Walt Disney’s Mickey’s Grand Opera, premiered on this date. I’m not a big Disney fan (especially Mickey Mouse) but this one is pretty funny. Donald Duck underwent a major face lift after this cartoon.

March 7, 1983 –New Order released their song Blue Monday, as a 12-inch on the Factory Records label on this date. The title is not mentioned in the lyrics, which is true of many New Order songs. The band took the song’s name from an illustration in the Kurt Vonnegut book Breakfast Of Champions, whichContinue reading “How does it feel to treat me like you do?”

March 6, 1970 –The Beatles released Let it Be in the UK on this date. Paul McCartney wrote this song supposedly after he had a dream about his mother who died when he was 14. Since Let It Be was The Beatles last album, it made an appropriate statement about leaving problems behind and movingContinue reading “The saga of Let It Be”