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December 14, 1972 –A very obscure (and not particularly good) Ringo Starr directed concert film, Born To Boogie starring Marc Bolan and T. Rex, Ringo Starr, and Elton John was released on The Beatles Apple Films label in the UK, on this date. Much of the 8mm footage used in the closing credits was shotContinue reading “Born To Boogie premiered”

December 14, 1979 –The Clash released their third studio album, London Calling, an album mix of punk, reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock, on this date. London Calling was produced by Guy Stevens, best known at that point for his work with Mott the Hoople and the Faces. TheContinue reading “London calling to the faraway towns …”

Tonight is the start of Hanukkah This year, my first Hanukkah gift to you is to remind you that there is no pressure to buy Hanukkah Seals.

Snapdragons is apparently the best game ever to play on Christmas Eve. Make sure you have the fire department on speed dial though. Very popular from the 16th to the 19th centuries, Snapdragons (or Flapdragons) has explicably declined in popularity. Gather everyone around the dining room table, place a large flat dish in the centre.Continue reading “Spectacularly uselessly Christmas trivia –”

Unless you are tight with the Thursday afternoon St. John’s Rosary Altar Society, as I am – you may not know this;) today is the third Sunday of Advent. It is known as Gaudete Sunday. One of the candles in the Advent wreath is rose colored for Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is Latin for Rejoice, asContinue reading “In case you were wondering”

December 14, 1984 –The David Lynch version of Frank Herbert’s Science Fiction classic, thought to be unfilmable; Dune, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Jose Ferrer, Francesca Annis and Sting, premiered on this date. David Lynch has said he considers this film the only real failure of his career. To this day, he refuses to talk about theContinue reading “Fear is the mind-killer”

December 14, 1969 –Michael Jackson and the rest of The Jackson 5 made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date. The Jackson Five performed Sly and the Family Stone’s Stand, Smokey Robinson’s Who’s Loving You, and their first hit single I Want You Back.

Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen Victoria’s husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest known mention of a Christmas tree is inContinue reading “More useless Christmas trivia”

The ‘supposed‘ charity event – the 15th annual Santa-con in NYC today. (It may be the 17th one, but who cares, I don’t.) The amateur drinkers (in various states of holiday undress) are once again back in Manhattan this year: they will be in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, stating at 10 AM. I can takeContinue reading “Just stay indoors today – it better for your blood pressure”

December 13, 2003 –Shake it like a polaroid! Outkast’s single Hey Ya! hit #1 on the Billboard charts on this date. Andre 3000 wrote the first version of the song around 1999, and it almost made it onto their 2000 album Stankonia. At the time the song was called Thank God For Mom And Dad.Continue reading “Do kids even know why you had to shake it?”