Author Archives: dcaligari

The Canadian postal service has been giving Jolly Old St. Nicholas a helping hand. For more than 38 years, Canada Post has been helping Santa with his huge holiday volume of mail. Thanks to Canada Post’s Santa Letter-writing Program, children can write to the jolly old fellow in virtually any language, including Braille, and receiveContinue reading “Kids, get those letters out”

I am going to send you directly to the group of old ladies in church, saying the rosaries on a Thursday afternoon in the back row of your church to explain this one to you: December 8, 1854 –Pius IX promulgates the doctrine of Immaculate Conception (Ineffabilis Deus) – the Virgin Mary is free fromContinue reading “It’s way above my pay scale to explain this one”

December 8, 1966 – The Star Trek episode The Conscience of the King first airs on this date. In it, Captain Kirk crosses paths with an actor suspected of having been a planetary governor who ordered a mass-murder twenty years earlier. In this episode, we learn that Kirk was on Tarsus IV, and was oneContinue reading “The Conscience of the King premiered”

December 8, 1957 –The CBS series, The Seven Living Arts aired, The Sound of Jazz, live from their NYC studios: an all-star program featuring swing era and contemporary jazz artists, including Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, and many others, on this date. The show’s performance of Fine and Mellow reunited Billie HolidayContinue reading “The Sound of Jazz premiered”

December 8, 1952 –The episode Lucy Is Enceinte first aired on CBS-TV (“enceinte” being French for “expecting” or “pregnant“) on this date. CBS would not allow I Love Lucy to use the word “pregnant“, so “expecting” was used instead.

They are hoping to make some of these maneuvers illegal in many states. Demand Euphoria!

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 – When viewing the rough cut of the show, both Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson were convinced that they had a flop on their hands. AfterContinue reading “Charlie Brown Christmas Special premiered”

December 7, 1949 –It’s Tom Waits’ birthday today. Underground – Singapore – Lie To Me – Alice – And the Acme Corp. is always happy to sponsor that Christmas Classic, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (One of our loyal bunkies pointed out that there is no Euclid Ave in Minneapolis, but we won’tContinue reading “Thomas Alan Waits”

December 7, 1968 –The Rolling Stones released their album Beggar’s Banquet in the US (one day after it was released in the UK,) on this date. They soon filmed a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. After reviewing the program, the Stones felt that they were upstaged by the Who’s performanceContinue reading “Beggar’s Banquet was dropped”

December 7, 1969 –Another Rankin/Bass production, Frosty the Snowman, premiered on CBS-TV on this date. June Foray was the original voice of Karen during the special’s first few airings in the early 1970s. However, an unknown actress replaced Foray’s voice for subsequent broadcasts. Foray was also the voice of Cindy Lou Who on How theContinue reading “Frosty the Snowman premiered”