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February 22, 1977 –The single New Kid in Town, the first release from the album Hotel California, was the Eagles’ first to be certified gold for selling more than 1 million copies on this date. Glen Frey mentioned in an interview at the time that the song was about Steely Dan whom the band sawContinue reading “There’s talk on the street, it sounds so familiar …”

February 22, 2001 –Mira Nair’s wonderful Monsoon Wedding, opened in both Los Angeles and New York on this date. (if you don’t already know it, Ms. Nair is the mother of the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani.) A large portion of the original footage (including the wedding itself) was ruined by an airportContinue reading “Monsoon Wedding premiered”

February 22, 1934 –Frank Capra’s romantic comedy It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, opened at Radio City Music Hall on this date. Clark Gable gave the Oscar he won for his performance in this movie to a child who admired it, telling him it was the winning of the statue thatContinue reading “It Happened One Night premiered”

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company – George Washington Young George Washington was born on February 11, 1731 (or so he thought.) Unfortunately for him, England had been tenaciously clinging onto the Julian calendar – they wanted noneContinue reading “And I thought I liked my birthday”

February 22, 2002 –The director of many of the classic short animated cartoons starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, Charles Martin Chuck Jones, died on this date. At 85, Chuck signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. to supervise the animation department. His thoughts on the contract were: “AtContinue reading “Chuck Jones”

February 21, 1964 –The Rolling Stones release their first single in America, a cover of the Buddy Holly song Not Fade Away. Phil Spector is credited with playing maracas on the record but in fact he was playing an empty cognac bottle with a 50 cent piece.

February 21, 1942 – The Looney Tunes cartoon, Porky’s Cafe, directed by Chuck Jones and co-starring Conrad the Cat, debuted on this date. This is the last black-and-white Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones.

Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year celebrations, known as the Festival of Po Wu. The name literally translates to “Breaking the Five,” referring to the pivotal moment when the many strict taboos observed during the first four days of the new year are finally broken or lifted. According to folklore, theContinue reading “Whenever a taboo is broken, something good happens …”

February 21, 1996 –The feature-length directorial debut of Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket, starring Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Andrew Wilson, Robert Musgrave, Lumi Cavazos, and James Caan, and produced by James L. Brooks, was released on this date James L. Brooks insisted that major work needed to be done on the originally submitted script, so heContinue reading “Bottle Rocket premiered”