Author Archives: dcaligari

March 28, 1975 –The final episode of the short-lived series Kolchak – The Night Stalker, The Sentry, starring Darren McGaven, aired on ABC TV, on this date. Kolchak is smuggled into the Merrymount Archive storage facility in a large wooden crate stamped ‘FRAGILE‘ in capital letters. In A Christmas Story, also starring Darren McGavin, hisContinue reading “The Night Stalker finale”

March 28, 1963 –Alfred Hitchcock’s follow-up to Psycho, The Birds, starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedron premiered in New York on this date. When audiences left the film’s UK premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, they were greeted by the sound of screeching and flapping birds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees to scareContinue reading “Are the birds gonna eat us, Mommy?”

Today is Earth Hour, a global event (organized by World Wildlife Fund) held usually on the last Saturday of March (this year it’s the fourth Saturday in March.) Earth Hour is celebrated annually by asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towardsContinue reading “Do you have an hour to spare for the Earth?”

March 27, 1967 –A new British act first appeared on the radio when The Who debuted with their first single I Can’t Explain, on this date. Pete Townshend wrote this song when he was 18 years old. He described it as being about a guy who “can’t tell his girlfriend he loves her because he’sContinue reading “Got a feeling inside”

March 27, 1912 –Washington DC is in the middle of it’s annual celebration of National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorating the gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to the city of Washington on this date. The gift of 3,020 trees to the United States government were planted along Washington’s PotomacContinue reading “Hope you’re enjoying the season”

March 27, 1994 –The CBS TV movie The Corpse Had a Familiar Face starring, Elizabeth Montgomery, Dennis Farina, Yaphet Kotto, and Audra Lindley, first aired on this date. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Buchanan’s career at The Miami Herald.

March 27, 1981 –Michael Mann’s first theatrical film, Thief, starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld, premiered on this date. James Caan made sure to speak slowly and clearly and tried to avoid using contractions in his words. He decided that Frank would do this so he would save time by never having to repeat himself.

As you know, I’m an inveterate Gin man, through and through but I would have a difficult time deciding whether or not to celebrate International Whisk(e)y Day today or World Whisky Day which is celebrated on May 16th, the third Wednesday in May, this year. International Whisk(e)y Day uses the parenthesis to indicate support ofContinue reading “Too much good whiskey is barely enough”

March 26, 1987 – Nike begins airing a commercial using the Beatles song Revolution, marking the first time an original version of a Beatles song is used in an ad. The commercials caused a huge backlash from Beatles fans who felt that Nike was disrespecting the legacy of John Lennon, who likely would have objectedContinue reading “Everybody sells out in the end”

March 26, 1977 –Less Than Zero, the debut single from Elvis Costello, was released by the newly formed Stiff Records in London, England on this date. The song is a scathing attack on Oswald Mosley, a politician who was popular in England at the time. Mosley, who died in 1980, was the leader of theContinue reading “Calling Mister Oswald with the swastika tattoo”