Author Archives: dcaligari

Snapdragons – Apparently this is the best game ever to play on Christmas Eve. Make sure you have the fire department on speed dial though. Very popular from the 16th to the 19th centuries, Snapdragons (or Flapdragons) has explicably declined in popularity. Gather everyone around the dining room table, place a large flat dish inContinue reading “More useless Christmas trivia –”

The ‘supposed‘ charity event – the 13th annual Santa-con in NYC today. (It may be the 17th one, but who cares, I don’t.) The amateur drinkers (in various states of holiday undress) are once again back in Manhattan this year: they will be in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, stating at 10 AM. I can takeContinue reading “Santa – Con: Phooey!!!”

December 13, 1975 –Patti Smith released her debut studio album Horses on this date. Produced by John Cale, Horses has since been viewed by critics as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of the American punk rock movement, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time.

December 13, 1985 –The very silly comedy, base on the board game of the same name, Clue, starring Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, and Lesley Ann Warren opened on this date. (Another fav of our daughters.) Three endings were shot, and a different one shown at each theater.Continue reading “Clue premiered”

December 13, 1975 –Richard Pryor hosted NBC-TV’s Saturday Night Live on this date. Fearing Pryor would say things that were too offensive for television at the time, the show was placed on seven-second delay for the very first time Pryor requested in the opening sketch that Garrett Morris say “Live from New York, it’s SaturdayContinue reading “Oh, what a night”

December 13, 303 –It the feast of St. Lucy (Santa Lucia) today. (Early depictions show Lucy offering her eyes on a platter; she is now the patron saint of Sicily and of Opticians.) Because her extreme beauty attracted too many admirers, Lucy gouged her own eyes out (she had body issues). Miraculously they grew back.Continue reading “It is very hard to be a saint in the city”

Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen Victoria’s husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest known mention of a Christmas tree is inContinue reading “More useless trivia:”

I’m sorry to tell you but it’s Friday the 13th. If it gives you some comfort, today is the last Friday the 13th of this year. In most large cities in the United States, many building don’t have 13th floors. In Japan, they don’t have 4th floors, because the word for four sounds similar toContinue reading “Boo!”

December 12, 1980 –Whip It earned Devo a gold record on this date. It is the first distinction of its kind for any song about masturbation to earn a gold record. When MTV launched in 1981, they had very few videos to choose from. Some European and Australian artists had been making videos, but veryContinue reading “Well, whip it good”

December 12, 1966 –Supermarionation was on full display when Thunderbirds are GO, based on the successful TV series, was released in the UK on this date. While the film received good reviews, it was not a box office success. The first feature film to be shot using the Livingston Electronic Viewfinder Unit, also known asContinue reading “Thunderbirds are GO premiered”