Author Archives: dcaligari

April 22, 1946 –The rudest possible gift is a gift card. It means you think the person is stupid and has no interests. The only good gift card is Bitcoin. You practically have to be a hacker to know about it. John Waters, film director, actor, raconteur, and the owner of the world’s greatest pencil-thinContinue reading “John Samuel Waters Jr.”

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Happy Earth Day! Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, rawContinue reading “The Earth is what we all have in common.”

April 21, 1975 –Teenages everywhere have themselves a good cry when Eric Carmen’s song, (a mash-up of his own song, Let’s Pretend and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18,) All By Myself entered the charts on this date. When he wrote this, Carmen thought the Rachmaninoff music was in theContinue reading “All By Myself started to climb the charts”

April 21, 1990 –Sinead O’Connor’s cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2U, went to No 1 on the Billboard Charts, on this date. The attention from the song hitting no. 1 had some deleterious effects on the singer. Sinead O’Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and she struggled with the commercialization ofContinue reading “Nothing Compares 2 U topped the charts”

April 21, 1982 – The DJs at WKRP spun their last platter when the final episode of the original WKRP in Cincinnati series, Up and Down the Dial aired on CBS TV on this date. The show was famous for playing music of up-and-coming bands. Many artists have said that their music being on theContinue reading “It was the last dance for WKRP”

April 21, 1974 –Julie and Dick In Covent Garden, a music and comedy special starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with Carl Reiner, premieres on ABC-TV on this date. The program was directed by Blake Edwards, (Julie Andrews’ husband). Edwards also directed Andrews in The Tamarind Seed that year.

April 20, 1981 –ABC unceremoniously aired the final episode of Soap, leaving many of the plotlines unresolved. Susan Harris, the creator of the series, went on to create The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, using many of the same actors who first appeared on Soap.

April 20, 1939 –During the 1939 World’s Fair, David Sarnoff, president of RCA, unveiled the first commercial publicly accessible television broadcast, on this date. In Flushing NY, Sarnoff proclaimed “Now we add sight to sound” and during the opening ceremonies of the fair on April 30th, FDR became the first president to ever be televised.Continue reading “Broadcast TV began”

April 20, 1976 –George Harrison, who is good friends with Eric Idle, joined Monty Python on stage at the comedy troupe’s show at New York’s City Center, on this date. Dressed as a Canadian Mountie, Harrison joins the chorus for The Lumberjack Song. No mention is made of Harrison’s appearance, and few in the audienceContinue reading “He’s a lumberjack, and he’s OK”

Bunkies, if you or your kid cut school or work today, once again, lock up the snacks. They may come home with a case of the munchies. Be thankful though, they’re not out celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Klara Hitler’s bouncing baby little evil bastard named Adolf on this date in 1889, (smackContinue reading “There’s a lot going on today”