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October 21, 1975 –Asylum Records released Tom Waits’ third studio album, Nighthawks at the Diner, 50 years ago on this date. The album has been generally well received by critics, and is considered by some to be the best album of his early career.

In 1943, Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, the maître d’ of the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, prepared the first plate of crunchy, spicy nachos for Texas women who were on a shopping trip. To honor his ingenious creation, we celebrate by eating his delicious gut busting cheesy dish on this date.

October 21, 1937 – The great screwball comedy, The Awful Truth, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, opened on this date. When Leo McCarey received his Best Director Oscar for the film, he reportedly said that he got it for the wrong film, a clear reference to his fondness for Make Way for Tomorrow, whichContinue reading “The Awful Truth premiered”

October 21, 1954 –The episode of Climax!, an anthology series – broadcast live, on this evening was the first time. James Bond (Barry Nelson) appeared on-screen in Casino Royale, and more than half a century later Bond is still making movies. Ian Fleming received three offers for the movie rights to his Casino Royale novelContinue reading “The first James Bond was an American”

Although much of the world’s situation is rather dire, Halloween is just 10 days away. Rather than continuing to doom-scroll, I urge readers to begin purchasing those poison laced candies. (If you find yourself in a pinch though, a few random coins from a foreign country, will do in a pinch. Loose change, especially pennies,Continue reading “It’s almost here”

October 20, 1955 –Harry Belafonte, advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes, recorded the famous Day-O (Banana Boat Song) on this date. This song was first recorded in 1952 by Edric Conner, a musician from Trinidad who sang it with his band The Carribeans as Day De Light. The song re-emerged in 1956 when theContinue reading “Please sir, give me an accurate count”

October 20, 1818 – In the Convention of 1818, Canada and the United States established the 49th Parallel as their mutual boundary – known as the International Border – for most of its length, stretching from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. The International Boundary is often referred to as the world’sContinue reading “Hopefully we’re not considering a wall up there”

October 20, 1939 – The ninth Marx Brothers film, At the Circus, premiered on this date. The Marx Brothers had been out of favor at MGM since the sudden death in 1936 of their producer and benefactor Irving Thalberg during the production of A Day at the Races. So in the middle of the productionContinue reading “The flies don’t practice law and I don’t walk on the ceiling.”

October 20, 1985 –The first of two reunion films, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later, starring Barbara Eden, Wayne Rogers, and Bill Daly aired on NBC on this date. Larry Hagman was unavailable to reprise his role as Tony Nelson reportedly because he was too busy filming his CBS series Dallas at the time.Continue reading “She blinked her eyes a few more times”

Today is Diwali, , one of the biggest and brightest of all the Hindu celebrations. An ancient festival celebrating the triumph of light over dark and good over evil; the day is also significant in other religions including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word, “deepawali”, meaning “row of lights”. TheContinue reading “It’s sometimes called Deepavali or Deepawali”