Author Archives: dcaligari

March 24, 1946 – The first cartoon to feature Sylvester the Cat, Life with Feathers, directed by Friz Freleng was released on this date. Carefully rendered background details are shown, as was the norm for cartoons of this era. Lace doilies, wallpaper, baseboards, a radio, even the cookbook, are all drawn as these objects appearedContinue reading “Scram, swallow! Go back to Capistrano!”

March 24, 2005 – NBC-TV allowed us to follow the goings on at Dunder Mifflin when The Office, starring Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling, and B.J. Novak first aired on this date. John Krasinski and B.J. Novak went to high school together. They went to Newton South High School inContinue reading “The US version of The Office premiered”

March 24, 1939 –… There’s no doubt about it in my mind. Or perhaps I should say, in my imagination. For that’s where crimes are conceived and where they’re solved… in the imagination…. Twentieth Century Fox’s released on this date, the first of 14 films based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes,Continue reading “Oh Watson, the needle!”

It’s National Cocktail Day celebrated in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, (as opposed to World Cocktail Day enjoyed on the 13th of May,) And no, some of you may think, ‘Every day is National Cocktail Day in your house‘. I need to give my liver a break once in a while. Geez!

March 23, 1999 –Ricky Martin releases his single, Livin’ La Vida Loca, onto an unsuspecting world, on this date. (Sorry for the earworm.) Martin’s first mainstream hit, this song took off after his triumphant performance of Cup Of Life at the 1999 Grammy Awards. He got a lot of media attention and expanded his fanContinue reading “I don’t believe Ricky ever lived it”

March 23, 1946 – The last Merrie Melodies title Frank Tashlin directed (before switching to become a live action director,) Hare Remover, starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, opened on this date. This was the second of only two Bugs Bunny cartoons directed by Frank Tashlin; the other being The Unruly Hare. Frank Tashlin isContinue reading “This guy’s tryin’ to slip me a mickey!”

March 23, 1974 –You had one last time to Get Happy, when The Partridge Family aired the last episode of the series, …—…(SOS), on this date Shirley Jones presented George Chakiris, who guest stars in the episode, his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for West Side Story.

March 23, 1973 –Gene Roddenberry’s TV-movie/unsold pilot Genesis II, starring Alex Cord, Ted Cassidy, Lynne Marta, Percy Rodriguez, Titos Vandis and Mariette Hartley, first aired on CBS TV on this date. The science fiction justification for Lyra-a (Mariette Hartley) and other Tyranians having two navels is that they have redundant circulatory systems. However, Gene RoddenberryContinue reading “Ah, the belly button got in the way again.”

Oh, frabjous joy, it’s Melba Toast Day. The toast so named for the the Australian Opera singer Nellie Melba by her great admirer (and world famous French chef Auguste Escoffier.) but folks, get a grip, it’s just toast.

The Death of the Czars:A. 6B. 1C. 2D. 5E. 4F. 3 A. Nicholas II Shot to death by revolutionaries – Russian Czar Nicholas II was murdered, along with his family and servants, by the Bolsheviks at Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918. This included his daughter Anastasia, who may not actually have been killed with theContinue reading “We will be grading on a curve.”