Author Archives: dcaligari

June 28, 1956 –The film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, The King and I premiered in New York City, on this date. At one point, Fox executives suggested that the story be changed so that the King would be gored by a white elephant, rather than become ill because of a personal humiliation.Continue reading “Etc., etc., etc.”

You no longer have to substitute any of the following for your purposes under “Fair Use“. Happy Birthday to You, the four-line ditty was written as a classroom greeting in 1893 by two Louisville teachers, Mildred J. Hill (born in Louisville, KY, on June 27, 1859) an authority on Negro spirituals and Dr. Patty SmithContinue reading “No ‘off brand’ songs for you”

June 26, 1819 –W.K. Clarkson of New York received a patent for what was then called a velocipede (even though Denis Johnson of London had patented his velocipede in December 1818.) Unfortunately, the patent record was destroyed by fire, so the actual design is not known. And so it goes

There are 183 days until Christmas. Remember to wish everyone you meet a very Happy LEON Day. LEON is NOEL spelled backwards. Christmas is but a mere six months away. Kids, now that you are being released from your pandemic lock downs and are once again allowed to freely roam in polite society, you hadContinue reading “It’s time to start scaring the children –”

June 25, 1982 –The greatest dystopian Sci-Fi film (at this point), Blade Runner, opened on this date. The studio wasn’t happy with the original final ending where Rick Deckard is looking at the piece of origami, and leaves his building with Rachael. The ending of the U.S. theatrical cut, with Deckard’s voice-over about Rachael, usedContinue reading “… Like tears in rain”

June 25, 1993 –David Letterman’s series Late Night with David Letterman aired for the last time on NBC-TV on this date. Letterman began hosting Late Show with David Letterman on CBS in August 30, 1993. Letterman left Late Night in 1993 for Late Show with David Letterman on CBS when NBC give the Tonight ShowContinue reading “From his Home Office in Wahoo, Nebraska”

It’s Midsummer Day throughout most of Europe. It should not be confused with the Summer Solstice (or the Swedish horror film) except they’re kind of celebrating the same thing. Somehow this all ties into June 24, 1374 In a sudden outbreak of Dancing Mania (aka St. John’s Dance), people in the streets of Aix-la-Chapelle, PrussiaContinue reading “Please titrate your ergot intake carefully, a little sexual frenzy is good and all, but …”

June 24, 1970 –Mike Nichols’ adaptation of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 featuring an all-star cast, was released on this date . Since shooting took longer than planned, Art Garfunkel wasn’t able to make it back to New York City in time to start creating harmonies for and recording the Simon & Garfunkel album Bridge OverContinue reading “Whoo… That’s some catch, that Catch-22.”

June 23, 2000 –Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Studios released the stop-motion film, Chicken Run, directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit fame) and featuring the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Timothy Spall, and Miranda Richardson, on this date. The characters’ bodies were made of silicone with latex covering, while theContinue reading “Sometimes chickens CAN fly”

June 22, 1966 –Mike Nichol’s first film, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, opened on this date. This became the first movie in Academy Awards and cinema history to be nominated for every Academy Award category in which it was eligible, including Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Lehman ), Director (Mike Nichols ), all of the actingContinue reading “What a dump”