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February 21, 1967 – One Million Years B.C., starring Raquel Welch, her pre-historic brassière and a bunch of dinosaur puppets, premiered in the US on this date. Ray Harryhausen used his “Dynamation” stop-motion animation special effects technique in this film, but because producer Charles H. Schneer owned the brand name, Hammer Films could not useContinue reading “Come on – this is NOT a documentary.”

Today, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, is the day to welcome the Kitchen God (Zao Jun), the God of Fortune, and other deities back to the home. The Kitchen God – also known as the God of the Stove – originally left for Heaven a week before the new year (on theContinue reading “In the kitchen, as in life, seek balance”

February 20, 1952 –John Huston’s excuse for big game hunting, The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, opened in general release at Capitol Theater in NYC on this date. Humphrey Bogart hated Africa immediately and was miserable, but Katharine Hepburn adored it, calling it “utterly divine.” Bogie complained about everything: the heat, theContinue reading “Proceed with the execution.”

February 20, 1958 –MGM’s adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, directed by Richard Brooks from a screenplay co-written with Julius and Philip Epstein, and starring Yul Brynner, Maria Schell, Claire Bloom, Lee J. Cobb, Albert Salmi, Richard Basehart, and William Shatner (in his film debut,) opened in New York City on this date. ItContinue reading “The Brothers Karamazov premiered”

February 20, 1943 – The Merrie Melodies cartoon, Tortoise Wins by a Hare, a sequel to the 1941’s Tortoise Beats Hare, directed by Bob McKimson and starring Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle, debuted on this date. This is the first cartoon to use the modern Bugs Bunny design by Robert McKimson, which is taller, withContinue reading “Tortoise Wins by a Hare premiered”

February 20, 1988 –The Pet Shop Boys (featuring Dusty Springfield) song What Have I Done To Deserve This? climbed to No. #2 on the Billboard charts in America, on this date. The song marks Dusty Springfield first big hit since 1969. The song’s co-writer Allee Willis was later responsible for the Friends theme, I’ll BeContinue reading “I come here looking for money …”

It’s the third day of The Lunar New Year, In Chinese folklore, Chigou, or the “Red Dog,” is the deity of blazing wrath and fire. His presence defines the third day of the Lunar New Year (Chigou Day), making it one of the few days of the 15-day festival considered inauspicious Traditionally, it is unluckyContinue reading “Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed”

February 19, 1968 – Everyone’s favorite adult, Fred Rogers began telling everyone that It’s a beautiful year in the neighborhood when the national broadcast of his program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered on this date. Guests on the show were often surprised to find that although Rogers was just as gentle and patient in life asContinue reading “Everyone got to know their new neighbor”

February 19, 2010 –The animated series, The Ricky Gervais Show, starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington debuted on HBO on this date. This television show was basically the podcast set to new animation. The podcasts were edited down to fit into the half-hour format and additional sound effects and music were added forContinue reading “The Ricky Gervais Show premiered”

(Sorry for this Earworm) –Badfinger was a British pop band signed to the Beatles‘ label, Apple. One of their best songs, Without You, appeared on their second album, No Dice, and was released as a single on November 9, 1970. Paul McCartney once famously described the ballad as “the killer song of all time.” HarryContinue reading “The Bitter and the Sweet: The Story of “Without You””