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July 9, 2001- The mockumentary The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and starring Ricky Gervais and Martin Freeman first aired on BBC Two, on this date. The series started as a small, home-made video by Stephen Merchant when he was trying to get a job at the BBC. He came up withContinue reading “The British Office premiered”

July 7, 1989 –The second single from their album The Raw & the Cooked, Good Thing by the Fine Young Cannibals, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart on this date. Fine Young Cannibals rose from the ashes of the UK band The Beat. Sometimes called “The English Beat” to distinguish them from the US PaulContinue reading “Good Thing went to No. 1”

July 8, 1969 ->The U.S. Patent Office issued a patent for the game Twister. (Yes smartpants, the game came out in 1966 but the patent wasn’t issued until this date.) Remember kids, if you are going to play nude Crisco Twister – always use protection.

July 8, 1932 – W.C. Fields’ very funny political satire, Million Dollar Legs, opened on this date. Writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz was inspired to write this film by the wild events of the 1928 Olympic games held in Amsterdam, particularly by an Albanian pole-vaulter who took to the field wearing a pair of goatskin shorts.

July 8, 1932 – Tod Browning’s groundbreaking shockfest Freaks, featuring genuine carnival sideshow performers, opened at the Rialto theater in New York on this date. Cast member Olga Roderick, the bearded lady, later denounced the film and regretted her involvement in it. Although Roderick was the most vocal in her dislike of the movie, manyContinue reading “One of Us, One of Us”

It’s Father-Daughter take a walk together day, (Once again, two teams of high priced (non-ACME) lawyers have confirmed that – a.) I can refer to this as a ‘digital image‘,b.) I am in the digital image, andc.) I may or may not be related to two of the other people in this digital image. (Again,Continue reading “Parenthood remains the single greatest preserve of the amateur”

Today is Chocolate Day (If you’re a chocoholic, then you have two more chocolate days to celebrate! World Chocolate Day is on September 4 and National Chocolate Day is on October 28.) The date commemorates the introduction of Hershey’s Kisses on this date in 1907 and the introduction of chocolate in Europe in 1550. RememberContinue reading “Reasons to be cheerful”

July 7, 1984 –Prince’s song from his upcoming movie Purple Rain, When Doves Cry goes to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, giving his first #1 hit, on this date. There is no bass on this song. Prince took out the bass track at the last minute to get a different sound, though he hated toContinue reading “When Doves Cry topped the charts”

July 7, 1936 –The first ever television show was broadcast by NBC/RCA on this date. It was seen by only a few hundred people who had access to the new television. The first ever program featured newsreel items, as well as a variety show of sorts, which included female dancers performing a water lily dance,Continue reading “NBC’s first TV broadcast”

July 7, 1939 –Jean Renior’s prescient masterpiece, Rules of the Game, starring Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, and Paulette Dubost, opened in Paris, France on this date (because of World War II, the film did not officially open in the US until 1950.) The fact the movie was almost lost during the war is a myth:Continue reading “Rules of the Game premiered”