Category Archives: Uncategorized

June 24, 1970 –Mike Nichols‘ adaptation of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22was released on this date . While on a tirade in his office, Major Major (Bob Newhart) walks past a framed photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In a continuous shot, he paces around his office, and when he passes the picture again, it is ofContinue reading “Catch 22 premiered”

June 24, 1880 –The first performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, took place at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français on on this date. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. The original lyrics were in French;Continue reading “All in the effort to fulfill our Canadian content”

June 24, 1947 –Businessman pilot Kenneth Arnold encounters a formation of nine flying saucers near Mt. Ranier, Washington, exhibiting unusual movements and velocities of 1,700 mph. No explanation is found for this first report of flying saucers in the recent era, but it does earn Mr. Arnold legions of skeptics and an eventual IRS taxContinue reading “Bunkies, the truth is out there”

It’s Midsummer Day throughout most of Europe. It should not be confused with the Summer Solstice (or the Swedish horror film) except they’re kind of celebrating the same thing, (it’s also the feast day of St. John the Baptist.) Upon further thought, run should you come upon an parties featuring flowered headbands

June 23, 1984 –Duran Duran started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with The Reflex, the group’s first US No.1, was taken from their third album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Duran Duran’s album Seven And The Ragged Tiger had already spawned two hit singles: Union Of The Snake andContinue reading “The Reflex topped the charts”

June 23, 2000 –Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Studios released the stop-motion film, Chicken Run, directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit fame) and featuring the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Timothy Spall, and Miranda Richardson, on this date. The characters’ bodies were made of silicone with latex covering, while theContinue reading “Chicken Run premiered”

June 23, 1980 –The unsuspecting national American public got their first taste of Letterman when his morning talk show, The David Letterman Show, first aired on NBC TV on this date. The David Letterman Show lasted nineteen weeks on the air . Letters poured into NBC condemning the cancellation. College kids hitched across the countryContinue reading “The David Letterman Show premiered”

June 23, 1972 –President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI’s Watergate investigation. Revelation of the tape recording of this conversation sparked Nixon’s resignation in 1974. In the “smoking gun” tape Pres. Nixon told H.R. Haldeman, to tell top CIA officialsContinue reading “Mr. Nixon did not take his martinis bone dry and that led to his downfall”

Today is the 42nd annual Mermaid Parade on Coney Island, self described as the ‘largest art parade in the nation.’ The grand-marshals this year are, King Neptune – Joe Coleman, and Queen Mermaid – Whitney Ward. The event is meant, in part, to celebrate the beginning of summer so the Mermaid Parade typically takes placeContinue reading “If you listen carefully, they do sing to you”

Today is the anniversary of the Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969. If that is too disturbing a holiday to commemorate, it’s also National Chocolate Eclair Day. While the eclair is a delicious dessert, their charms escape me. Maybe it’s the fake vanilla pudding most bakeries use rather than Bavarian cream. Demand Euphoria!