Author Archives: dcaligari

June 21, 1977 –Marvin Gaye’s song Got To Give It Up, reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, replacing Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, on this date. This song was the subject of a landmark court case filed by Marvin Gaye’s estate in 2013 against the writers of Robin Thicke’s hit Blurred Lines.Continue reading “I used to go out to parties …”

June 21, 1977 –Martin Scorsese’s homage to movie musicals – New York, New York, premiered on this date. The original song titled Theme from New York, New York was scrapped at the insistence of Robert De Niro. Grudgingly, John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote a new version, which has since become one of the mostContinue reading “Come on, come through”

Today is Father’s Day. Remember, the best gift you can give a Dad is a nap – really Dads don’t get too cocky, celebrating the day – While Mother’s Day has been a national holiday since 1914, people didn’t get around to giving it the same legal status until more than half a century later,Continue reading “It’s a huge kick in the head to realize you are someone’s role model”

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again … – F Scott Fitzgerald Today is the first day of Summer, also known as the Summer Solstice. It’s the longest dayContinue reading “The living is easy”

June 19, 1623 –Blaise Pascal was born in France on this date (which worked out extremely well for him as he wanted to grow up to be French.) At the age of 17 he wrote a paper entitled Essay on Conic Sections, which quickly became the best-selling paper on conic sections in European history andContinue reading “If I had more time I would write a shorter letter.”

Can you hear those glasses chilling? We might never know how utterly charming, brilliant and entertaining we are were it not for martinis. I’m not talking a cup of cheap gin splashed over an ice cube. I’m talking satin, fire and ice; Fred Astaire in a glass; surgical cleanliness, insight.. comfort; redemption and absolution. I’mContinue reading “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”

June 18, 1980 – The Blues Brothers Movie, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi premiered on this date. Ounce for ounce (other than Walt Disney’s animated classic The Jungle Book,) the most amount of dope was smoked in film history during the production of a major Hollywood film. After the concert, the State Troopers chaseContinue reading “… We’re on a mission from God.”

European history would have been dramatically different if only for a higher fiber diet. One of the most decisive battles in the history of Europe was fought in Belgium on June 18, 1815, as a resurgent Napoleon Bonaparte launched his last military offensive against the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Marshal Blücher. Nearly 50,000Continue reading “The playing fields of Eton”

It’s Eat Your Vegetables Day Another voice heard from So eat them up, or not. (My kids are too old for me to worry about this anymore.)

June 17, 1950 –The Disassociated Press sent a reporter to get Bug Bunny’s life story in What’s Up Doc?, which was released on this date. Bugs‘ classic catchphrase is shown in this film to have been originally an accident. It came from Bugs after he pied Elmer in the face and bonked him on theContinue reading “Eh, start talking. It’s your nickel”