Author Archives: dcaligari

Don’t forget to light your menorah before sundown today If you’ve forgotten how to light your Hanukkah Candles (Psst – From Left to Right) – Another reason Hanukkah feels better than Christmas – Never a silent night among Jewish families. After hosting the fourth night of Hanukkah, now is the time to figure out howContinue reading “We’re halfway through”

December 10, 1982 –A paean to B movies, It Came from Hollywood, opened in the US on this date. (Do yourself a favor; find some time today to watch the whole film if you haven’t seen it.) Sadly this was never released on DVD. Paramount had planned to release the film on DVD in 2002.Continue reading “Bunkies, find time to watch this”

It been 39 years since Do They Know It’s Christmas, the charity single by the all-star group Band Aid, was released. As of the last check, The Band Aid/ Live Aid initiatives have raised over $250 million dollars. Not bad for basically a very crappy tune.

December 10, 1974 – Another Rankin/Bass animated holiday special The Year Without A Santa Claus premiered on ABC-TV on this date. The names of the reindeer are consistent with the Clement Moore poem and other sources. Vixen is the baby reindeer who takes Jingle & Jangle to Southtown (and gets sick). Dasher is the oneContinue reading “We got to meet the Mizer Brothers”

Today is the start of the Second Week of Advent. The theme of this week is that it is the week of Peace. The old ladies, saying rosaries in the back of church (to whom I turn to in all matters of religious instruction) tell me that this week is supposed to remind us thatContinue reading “We’re getting closer”

Don’t lick the Christmas lights! The lighting of candles and decorating with candles has always been popular, but also one of biggest sources of danger during the Christmas holidays. In 1895 a New England Telephone employee, Ralph Morris, while looking at the newly installed string of lights made for the telephone switchboard decided to takeContinue reading “A message from corporate headquarters”

December 9, 1947 –An oft forgotten holiday classic, The Bishop’s Wife, starring Cary Grant, David Nivens, and Loretta Young premiered in NYC on this date. The film suffered at the box offices and endured several last minute re-writes. In some areas of the country the film was perceived as being “too religious” and was retitledContinue reading “The Bishop’s Wife premiered”

December 9, 1989 –Billy Joel’s history lesson, We Didn’t Start the Fire hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts on this date. Joel wrote the lyrics first, which he rarely does. He says that is why the song has no melody. Joel told Billboard magazine: “It’s terrible musically. It’s like a mosquito buzzing around yourContinue reading “Somebody started that damn fire”

December 9, 1965 –A pre-teen drama about the bi-polar kid and his wacky friends first experiences of the depressive nature of the holiday season premiered on this date – A Charlie Brown Christmas broke many of the rules prevalent for animated holiday specials during the 1960s: it didn’t make use of a laugh track; realContinue reading “Someone told us the true meaning of Christmas on TV for the first time”

The ‘supposed‘ charity event – the 12th annual Santa-con in NYC today. (It may be the 16th 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 “Don’t let you kids talk to the roving Santas today”