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November 12, 1964 –On his 19th birthday, Neil Young wrote Sugar Mountain, where he reflects on his fleeting youth (“You can’t be 20 on Sugar Mountain“), the first formal release was a recording of the song made on November 10, 1968. Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game was inspired by this song. As she explained toContinue reading “Neil first thought about that mountain”

It’s National Pizza with the Works (Except Anchovies) Day. What’s so wrong about anchovies? (Well there is an old joke by George Carlin, but I’m not going to play it to you, you’ll have to find it yourself, but I guess that would put me off anchovies.)

(And more importantly, who’s not making the cut this year.) Another supermarkets boast their love for Christmas … and mysteries. The supermarket chain Waitrose has launched the first part of its Christmas advert series, Sweet Suspicion: A Waitrose Mystery – Who stole the Christmas dessert – stay tuned for part two, coming soon.

November 11, 397 –St. Martin of Tours, another in the series of anorexic visionaries, patron saint of France, soldiers (he is known as the he man’s saint), reformed alcoholics and winemakers, died on this date. When the armistice fell on the Saint Martin’s Day, November 11, 1918, the French people saw it was a signContinue reading “… I will not refuse the work”

November 11, 1978 –Donna Summer started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with her version of Jimmy Webb’s MacArthur Park, which was also a hit for actor Richard Harris in 1968, (made No.5 in the UK). (Sorry for the earworm.) Donna Summer recorded her disco version in 1978 with herContinue reading “Donna Summer’s baked good faux pas”

November 11, 1958 –The (relatively unknown) British-comedy The Horse’s Mouth, starring Alec Guinness, opened in the US on this date. Joyce Cary, the author of the novel which inspired this movie, based the role of the self-destructive painter on his good friend, the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Do yourself a favor and watch thisContinue reading “The Horse’s Mouth premiered”

November 11, 1985 –One of the first major films dealing with AIDS, An Early Frost, starring Aidan Quinn, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, and Sylvia Sidney, premiered on NBC-TV on this date. This was the first feature film about AIDS made either for TV or theater release. Producer Perry Lafferty said that NBC lost $500,000 inContinue reading “An Early Frost first aired”

At 5:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918 French Army clerk Henri Deledicq finished typing the peace treaty that would end World War I. He had put the carbon paper in backwards. Ten minutes later, in a railroad car in France, military leaders signed copies of an armistice that were completely unreadable. World War I endedContinue reading “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks …”

November 10, 1975 –Arista Records released Patti Smith’s debut album, Horses, on this date. The origin of the Horses album lies in the inception of a poem Patti Smith wrote called Oath when she was around 20. It began, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine.” She explained to Mojo magazine: “It was myContinue reading “Horses first ran free”

November 10, 1953 –Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom was an educational Adventures in Music animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, and originally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution on this date. This was a “sequel” of sorts to 1953’s Adventures in Music: Melody. This was originally meant to be an ongoing seriesContinue reading “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom premiered”