Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today is International Tongue Twister Day. (Or at least I think it is, there seems to be some controversy on the date.) Tongue twisters have technically been around since as early as the 19th century when John Harris published Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation, which included a twisty tongue tango forContinue reading “A happy hippo hopped and hiccupped.”

November 8, 1971 –Led Zeppelin released their untitled fourth album, on this date. And kids remember, according to the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly, if you play Stairway to Heaven backwards, you can hear: So, don’t play you albums backwards (many of you have no idea what albums are.)

November 8, 1975 – David Bowie makes his US television debut on the CBS variety show Cher, on this date. Bowie performed both on his own as well as with Cher, which included an odd and interesting six and a half minute duet medley.

November 8, 1962 –Lewis Milestone’s second major Hollywood telling of the Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris, debuted on this date. Richard Harris agreed to take a third-billed role in this film purely to work with Marlon Brando. However, Brando’s on-set behavior soured his adoration of the star. HarrisContinue reading “Mutiny on the Bounty premiered (the Brando outrageous accent version)”

November 8, 1954 – I like words. Words are places, rooms, distant airs, thin and tropical. They make us feel and imagine we are more than our bodies. Rickie Lee Jones, The Duchess of Coolsville, two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist, musician, songwriter and producer, was born on this date.

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting. – Franklin D. Roosevelt Don’t forget – if you’re in NYC, there are 2 ballot measures you should vote on – look for them on yourContinue reading “Someone without a vote is someone without protection”

November 7, 1943 –Roberta Joan Joni Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter and painter, one of the most influential female musicians of the late 20th century, was born on this date. Her many hit songs include Both Sides Now, Chelsea Morning, Big Yellow Taxi, River, Help Me, and Free Man in Paris were all recorded before she wasContinue reading “Joni Mitchell”

Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, on November 7, 1867. Poland was controlled by Russia at the time, so Maria was referred to as Manya, causing her mother to die. This left Manya and her four older siblings in care of their father, who was caught teaching Polish and therefore prohibited from earning money.Continue reading “In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons.”

November 7, 1956 –An early masterpiece from Fellini, I Vitelloni, was released in the US on this date. Fellini intended to continue the story of the protagonist of this film, Moraldo Rubini, in a movie to be entitled Moraldo in the City, in which the young man would experience big city life for the firstContinue reading “I Vitelloni premiered in the US”

November 7, 1955 –The neo-realist film classic, Umberto D., was released in the US on this date. This is the first and only film for non-actor Carlo Battisti, who plays the leading role in the film. His real occupation was that of a Professor of Linguistics at the Università degli Studi di Firenze.