Author Archives: dcaligari

August 16, 1941–The Merrie Melodies short, Sport Chumpions, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date. Both the phrases “Monotonous, isn’t it?” and “Hmmm, could be!” would be used by Bugs Bunny in numerous future cartoon shorts. They were first made popular by radio comic Jerry Colonna. <br /

August 16, 1930 –Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s first sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, opened on this date. It is about a happy-go-lucky, needy frog, named Flip the Frog. This cartoon was created by Ub Iwerks in 1930. He had drawn a frog and his girlfriend in Night, one of the last Silly Symphonies short films he drew while working forContinue reading “Fiddlesticks debuted”

August 16, 1969 –Eric Clapton’s supergroup Blind Faith release their self-titled album, on this date. On the cover is a photo of a naked 11-year-old girl holding a model spacecraft. An alternate cover with a band photo was issued in America for stores that refused to stock it. Blind Faith was one of the firstContinue reading “It’s already written that today will be one to remember”

August 16, 1962 –The Beatles fired their original drummer Pete Best in favor of Ringo Starr on this date. Afterwards, Best formed a new band and released the album: Best of the Beatles, a play on his own name. This led to disappointment from fans who bought the album without reading the track listing.

Today is the Feast of Assumption of Mary. While the Feast of Assumption of Mary, also known as the Dormition of the Mother of God, only became a Holy Day of Obligation recently – on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith. In fact, theContinue reading “Remember that most of Southern Europe starts their vacations today”

August 15, 1979 –The very long delayed epic, Apocalypse Now, premiered in NYC on this date. (Order some Banh xeo and a couple of bottles of Tiger Beer, and watch the Redux version, in honor of the anniversary.) It took Francis Ford Coppola nearly three years to edit the footage. While working on his finalContinue reading “That’s my dream; that’s my nightmare”

August 15, 1984 –The cult classic sci-fi film, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, directed by W. D. Richter and starring Peter Weller, Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, and Christopher Lloyd, opened in the US on this date. According to Peter Weller, he had a particularly tough time filming the sceneContinue reading “Buckaroo Banzai premiered”

August 15, 1959 – The Looney Tunes short, Cat’s Paw, directed by Bob McKimson, and starring Sylvester the Cat and Junior, was released on this date. When Sylvester Jr. wonders where the yellow went (in this case, yellow being cowardice), it’s actually a pun on a popular advertising campaign for Pepsodent Toothpaste. “You’ll wonder whereContinue reading “Cat’s Paw premiered”

August 15, 1969 – The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on this date, on Max Yasger’s farm in upstate New York. The greatest gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in American history, the festival featured the musical artists behind some of today’s hottest commercial jingles.

August 15, 1965 –The Beatles played to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, on this date, marking the birth of stadium rock. People tend to forget that this was one of the first major stadium concerts by a rock group.