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July 10, 1958 –The first parking meter was installed in London, England, on this date in 1958 – along with the second through the 625th. It took nearly two dozen years for the parking meter to make its way across the Atlantic: the first American parking meter had been installed in Oklahoma City on JulyContinue reading “It’s probably easier to put a quarter in it”

July 10, 1947 – One of Jules Dassin’s post-war film-noir classics, Brute Force, starring Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, and Charles Bickford, opened in Los Angeles on this date. The second of three films that Burt Lancaster made for Mark Hellinger, the writer-producer who discovered the former acrobat and turned himContinue reading “Brute Force premiered”

July 10, 1942 –Orson Welles‘ butchered masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons, was released by RKO Pictures, on this date. After a disastrous preview (which occurred a week after the Pearl Harbor attack,) it was clear to the execs at RKO that the film was too long, too dense and too somber. Orson Welles, however, had decampedContinue reading “Another unfortunate day for Orson”

Pops always taught us that family is the strongest unit in the world. If you stick with your family, nobody can break you, nobody can harm you. You’ll always have your family.. Happy Birthday to the gospel and blues singer Mavis Staples born in Chicago on this date. She started singing with her family’s bandContinue reading “Mavis Staples”

Today is Tesla Day – Inventor and electromechanical genius Nikola Tesla, the man who invented the 20th Century, was born to Serbian parents in what is now Croatia on July 10, 1856 . Remember, if we could only harness the free floating electricity, we could do away with the electric companies.

On the Fourth of July in 1850, President Zachary Taylor snacked on cherries and milk while attending a ceremony at the Washington Monument. It was a hot day, and the heat made him sick. He grew sicker and died on July 9. He remains the only U.S. president to have died from indigestion (with theContinue reading “Zachary Taylor”

July 9, 1995 –The Grateful Dead, who had been performing for 30 years, gave their last performance on this day, when they performed at Soldier Field in Chicago. During their 30 years, they performed more than 2,300 live concerts. The lead guitarist and backbone of the band, Jerry Garcia, died one month after the finalContinue reading “The Grateful Dead last performance”

July 9, 1999 –Universal Pictures finally shined a light on the world of pastriality when American Pie, starring Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Eugene Levy, and Shannon Elizabeth was released in the US on this date. Eugene Levy was told he could improvise much of the dialogue for his character, includingContinue reading “American Pie premiered”

July 9, 2001 – The mockumentary The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and starring Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman debuted on BBC Two, on this date. The series started as a small, home-made video by Stephen Merchant when he was trying to get a job at the BBC. He came up withContinue reading “The British Office premiered”

As you well may know, while cash is the gift that shows you care, (highly-rated Muni Bonds are also acceptable) – cards like this are absolutely not: The anniversary of my 39th birthday is in just three days. The correlation between these two statements is for you to make.