Author Archives: dcaligari

It’s Midsummer Day throughout most of Europe. It should not be confused with the Summer Solstice (or the Swedish horror film) except they’re kind of celebrating the same thing, (it’s also the feast day of St. John the Baptist.) Upon further thought, run should you come upon an parties featuring flowered headbands

June 23, 1984 –Duran Duran started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with The Reflex, the group’s first US No.1, was taken from their third album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Duran Duran’s album Seven And The Ragged Tiger had already spawned two hit singles: Union Of The Snake andContinue reading “The Reflex topped the charts”

June 23, 2000 –Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Studios released the stop-motion film, Chicken Run, directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit fame) and featuring the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Timothy Spall, and Miranda Richardson, on this date. The characters’ bodies were made of silicone with latex covering, while theContinue reading “Chicken Run premiered”

June 23, 1980 –The unsuspecting national American public got their first taste of Letterman when his morning talk show, The David Letterman Show, first aired on NBC TV on this date. The David Letterman Show lasted nineteen weeks on the air . Letters poured into NBC condemning the cancellation. College kids hitched across the countryContinue reading “The David Letterman Show premiered”

June 23, 1972 –President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI’s Watergate investigation. Revelation of the tape recording of this conversation sparked Nixon’s resignation in 1974. In the “smoking gun” tape Pres. Nixon told H.R. Haldeman, to tell top CIA officialsContinue reading “Mr. Nixon did not take his martinis bone dry and that led to his downfall”

Today is the 42nd annual Mermaid Parade on Coney Island, self described as the ‘largest art parade in the nation.’ The grand-marshals this year are, King Neptune – Joe Coleman, and Queen Mermaid – Whitney Ward. The event is meant, in part, to celebrate the beginning of summer so the Mermaid Parade typically takes placeContinue reading “If you listen carefully, they do sing to you”

Today is the anniversary of the Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969. If that is too disturbing a holiday to commemorate, it’s also National Chocolate Eclair Day. While the eclair is a delicious dessert, their charms escape me. Maybe it’s the fake vanilla pudding most bakeries use rather than Bavarian cream. Demand Euphoria!

June 22, 1966 –Mike Nichol’s first film, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, opened on this date. This became the first movie in Academy Awards and cinema history to be nominated for every Academy Award category in which it was eligible, including Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Lehman ), Director (Mike Nichols ), all of the actingContinue reading “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf premiered”

June 22, 1965 –The first screenplay of Woody Allen that was produced, What’s New Pussycat?, starring Peter O’Toole, Peter Sellers (and co-starring Woody Allen) premiered in the US on this date. Groucho Marx was to have played Dr. Fassbender when Warren Beatty was attached to the project.

June 22, 1946 – Another of the classic 40s Daffy Duck cartoons, Hollywood Daffy, was released on this date. The director of the cartoon was an uncredited effort by Friz Freleng.