I, myself, have a draw full of them

Today is Lost Sock Memorial Day, the day that we take a moment out of our busy lives to mourn the lost of a sock while we do the laundry.

After a proper amount of time; stop hoping it will appear to reunite with its mate. Focus on the only healthy choices before you: Throw out the mate-less socks or have fun with them.



(Please note, the fun you have with you sock is solely between you and your maker - no judgments.)


May 9, 1955 -
Harpo Marx had only recently suffered a heart attack and was warned by doctors not to continue performing. But, luckily for us, Harpo refused, and went on to appear in an episode of I Love Lucy, Lucy and Harpo Marx, which aired on this date.



The Lucy-Harpo "mirror routine" became a rare scene of I Love Lucy that was filmed without a live audience. Because of the complicated set-ups for the shot, the studio audience was sent home. Lucy and Harpo did take after take and the best shots were later spliced together, as one long scene, by the film editor. (After filming was over, Harpo stayed and played his harp for the cast and crew while Vivian Vance sang.)


May 9, 1955 -
The Muppets are an ensemble cast of puppet characters, who were first created by puppeteer Jim Henson. The Muppets were first introduced on Sam and Friends, a television program that aired locally in Washington, D.C., on WRC-TV on weekdays from May 9, 1955, to December 15, 1961.



Jim Henson has said the name "muppet" came from combining the words "puppet" and "marionette," but he also said that he just liked the way the word sounded.


May 9, 1958 -
Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Vertigo starring James Stewart and Kim Novak premiered in San Francisco on this date.





When Kim Novak questioned Alfred Hitchcock about her motivation in a particular scene, Hitchcock is said to have answered, "Let's not probe too deeply into these matters, Kim. It's only a movie."


May 9, 1958 -
Richard Burton made his network television debut on this date, in the presentation of The DuPont Show of the Month - Wuthering Heights, on CBS-TV.



In 1999 actress Rosemary Harris met TV historian Jane Klain and asked if she could find a copy of the film. Harris was a last minute replacement and had only 4 days to learn her lines. During the live broadcast she had forgotten the lines before her death scene and had quickly re-read the script and then shoved the script under her pillow. Harris wanted to know if this had been captured in the broadcast. Klain spent 20 years trying to track down a version of the script and finally uncovered it in 2019 after searching for 20 years. She sent a copy to Harris who learned that her re-reading had not been broadcast.


May 9, 1964 -
The Beatles' I Wanna Hold Your Hand had been the number one album for over three and a half months straight.



Louis Armstrong's show tune Hello Dolly finally ended the record-breaking run on this day, knocking the Beatles out of first place in the music charts.


May 9, 1992 -
Bruce Springsteen performs on US TV for the first time when he finally accepts a longstanding offer to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, on this date.



He performed three songs, Living Proof, Lucky Town and 57 Channels, from Human Touch and Lucky Town, the albums he released simultaneously five weeks earlier.


May 9, 1992 -
The final episode of Golden Girls, One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest, aired on NBC-TV on this date.



That must have been some after party.


May 9, 1994 -
Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait set fire to the guest chair on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, on this date. While the action may have shocked and outraged both Leno and NBC, did not prevent them from using this inflammatory vignette in their advertising.



His actions not only got him banned from NBC, (a ban that seems to be in place to this day,) for his destructive behavior, but he had to pay a $2,700 fine for the incident and had to pay nearly $700 for the cost of the chair. In addition to the monetary dues he had obtained he was also forced to make fire safety public service announcements.


Another ACME Safety Film


Today in History:
May 9, 1671 -
File this under - Balls, said the queen ...: Adventurer and criminal, Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London on this date.



He and his accomplices were captured and the jewels rescued. Far from being punished, Blood was pardoned by the King himself and awarded a pension of £500 a year.


May 9, 1882 -
William F. Ford was issued a patent (US patent #257,487) for for his binaural stethoscope design.

A binaural stethoscope employs two ears pieces connected with a single bell. Today's stethoscopes derive from this design innovation.


May 9, 1926 -
Explorers Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made the first flight over the North Pole. Two teams of aviators competed to be the first to fly over the North Pole. American Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett claimed victory when they circled the North Pole.



On May 11, in spite of his disappointment, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen launched the dirigible Norge on its planned flight, not merely over the pole, but all the way across the Arctic to Alaska. Byrd and Bennett in the Josephine Ford briefly accompanied Norge in a gesture of goodwill. Amundsen reached Alaska on May 14, but even today experts suspect that faulty navigation caused Byrd to miss the North Pole.


May 9, 1949 -
William Martin Joel, Grammy Award-winning rock vocalist/singer was born on this date.



I can still remember when one used to eagerly await a new Billy Joel album as much as a Bruce Springsteen album.


May 9, 1950 -
L. Ron Hubbard published the first edition of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health on this date.

This follows on the heels of a feature article in the pulp sci-fi magazine Astounding Science Fiction.

A book review in the The New Republic described the work as "a bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long-acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology." The subsequent movement goes on to become one of the scariest, most powerful pseudoreligious cults in modern history.

But you didn't hear this from me.


May 9, 1961 -
FCC Chairman Newton N Minow speaking at the NAB convention (the National Association of Broadcasters) gave one of the most quoted speeches of the 20th Century. Mr Minow just recently passed on at the age of 97.



His phrase "vast wasteland" has become an icon of American culture, memorialized in hundreds of editorial cartoons, listed in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, quoted in popular fiction, and featured as an answer to questions on TV game shows such as Jeopardy!, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Trivial Pursuit.


May 9, 1962 -
A pulse light laser beam sent by a team of scientists from MIT successfully bounced off the Moon, the first lunar laser ranging experiment, on this date.

Later similar experiments used a reflector left on the Moon’s surface by the Apollo 11 mission to increase accuracy.


May 9, 1978 -
The body of former Italian premier Aldo Moro was discovered in the back seat of a Renault on this date. He had been kidnapped 54 days prior by the Red Brigades, who demanded the release of their incarcerated comrades.



When Italian authorities refused to give in, Moro's captors killed him, but not before forcing the hostage to hold a newspaper announcing his own death.


May 9, 1980 -
35 people were killed in Tampa, Florida when the Liberian cargo ship Summit Venture smashed into a supporting pier of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on this date.



Seven vehicles, including a Greyhound bus, topple into the water 150 feet below. So this is what comes from leaving the driving to racetrack dogs.


May 9, 1983 -
Pope John Paul II retracted the Catholic Church's condemnation of astronomer Galileo Galilei, issued in 1633 by Pope Urban VIII. The Church had convicted the scientist of heresy, sentenced him to house arrest, and forced him to recant central scientific truths.



In the end, this error only took 350 years to correct. A speedy correction by church standards.


May 9, 1989 -
Great moments in Vice Presidential history:

And so it goes.

Happy National Coconut Pie Day

Coconuts are good for you. The water from the coconut has traditionally been used when commercial IV solutions of plasma have not been available. Coconut oils accelerate the metabolism. Of course, if you put them in a pie you may not notice the effect.



In case you are asked: The coconut is not a nut. In fact, it isn’t a fruit either. It is a seed!


May 8, 1942 -
(Unusual, for his career), John Huston's second directorial outing, the soap-opera, In This Our Life, starring Betty Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, and Dennis Morgan, premiered in New York City on this date.



Bette Davis told biographer Whitney Stine that one day she had been approached in a supermarket by a woman who turned out to be Ellen Glasgow, author of the novel on which In This Our Life was based. Glasgow chewed out Davis for having ruined her beautiful book in the film adaptation. "What did you say?" Stine asked Davis. "What could I say? She was right!" Davis replied, then explained that because of Production Code censorship the filmmakers had had to bowdlerize the story so much they had essentially destroyed it.


May 8, 1943 -
Another Tex Avery masterpiece, Red Hot Riding Hood, was released on this date.



Director Tex Avery was famous for his off the wall cartoons, which were aimed more toward adult audiences than children. Here, however, he pushed the limits of what was considered acceptable, and in several places the film was toned down in order to satisfy the U. S. censors.


May 8, 1946 -
David O. Selznick's very silly but highly entertaining, Duel in the Sun, premiered in New York on this date. (Even if you hate this film, you must watch the ending.)



The film's musical score was the subject of a famous soundstage exchange between producer David O. Selznick and composer Dimitri Tiomkin. After Selznick first heard Tiomkin's love theme, he was visibly disappointed and admonished the composer, "You don't understand. I want real f**king music!" To which Tiomkin angrily replied, "You f**k your way, I f**k my way. F**k you - I quit!" Their differences were eventually patched up, and Tiomkin's music was used in the final film.


May 8, 1958 -
Hammer Studios had its turn at the classics when Horror of Dracula premiered in the US on this date.



On several occasions, Christopher Lee complained about the contact lenses he had to wear for the shock scenes. Not only were they quite painful, but he couldn't see a thing. While running toward the vampire woman for instance, he even ran too far past the camera on the first take.


May 8, 1963 -
The first James Bond film, Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as the MI6 agent 007, premiered in US on this date.



Contrary to popular belief, Sean Connery was not wearing a hairpiece in his first two outings as James Bond. Although he was already balding by the time Dr. No was in production, he still had a decent amount of hair and the filmmakers used varying techniques to make the most of what was left. By the time of Goldfinger, Connery's hair was too thin and so various toupees were used for his last Bond outings.


May 8, 1970 -
Just shortly after the break up of the Beatles was announced, Apple Records released The Beatles final original album Let It Be, on this date.



Although Let It Be topped album charts in both the US and the UK, and sales were very good, the album did not receive good reviews and has been hotly debated over it overly produced Phil Spector embellishments.


May 8, 1976 -
John Sebastian's theme song to the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, Welcome Back, hits No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



Since it was written for the TV show, the song was less than a minute long. Viewers loved the song and related to the message about returning to the place where you laughed and your dreams were born. It became clear that there was demand for a full-length song, so Sebastian wrote a second verse and it was released as a single. Although the song does not have the word "Kotter" anywhere in the lyrics or title, the first pressings of the single were released as "Welcome Back, Kotter," to make sure everyone connected the song with the TV show.


May 8, 1984 -
Joanie (Erin Moran) and Chachi (Scott Baio) tied the knot (finally) on Happy Days, on this date.



The comedy series, starring Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley and Marion Ross (Ron Howard and Anson Williams had already left the show), was winding down in its final season on ABC-TV.


May 8, 2010 –
On a Mother’s Day-themed episode, the 88-year old Betty White, more than 70 years in show business, six Emmy Award winning actress, hosted Saturday Night Live, thanks to a push by fans on Facebook.



Unusual for a host, Betty White appeared in every sketch, including the cold open, Weekend Update and prerecorded shorts. She won her seventh Emmy for her appearance.

Another job posting from The ACME Employment Agency


Today in History:
On May 6, 1758, Maximilien-Francois-Marie-Isidore de Robespierre was born (this is not the Today in History fact but follow along, we'll get to it). Even in the revolutionary context of his age, Mr. Robespierre stands out as one of the most revolting figures in history.



M. Robespierre fought valiantly to help revolutionary France achieve liberty, fraternity and equality but inadvertently caused an unfortunate turn of weather known as the "rain of terror."



At first this rain caused only French loyalists to lose their heads, but M. Robespierre's egalitarian convictions led him to conclude that citoyens from all walks of life should lose theirs as well. The celebrated chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, for example, was beheaded on May 8, 1794 for having identified oxygen, which people mistakenly thought to be one of the noble gases.

M. Robespierre ended up losing his own head on the guillotine; this was called poetic justice by some Frenchmen and irony by others. This disagreement eventually produced the Napoleonic Age, in which soldiers had to crawl on their stomachs until Napoleon was disabled by the sight of Elba.


May 8, 1877 -
The First Annual New York Bench Show of Dogs, given under the auspices of the Westminster Kennel Club, was held on this date at Gilmore's Garden (the forerunner of Madison Square Garden) in New York City, drawing an entry of 1,201 dogs.

The Westminster Show is second only to the Kentucky Derby, in terms of continuously held sporting events in the United States. (Both events were held despite the Great Depression, World War, and pandemic years.) . It proved so popular that it took four days instead of the three days originally scheduled. The club donated proceeds from the fourth day to the ASPCA for creation of a home for stray and disabled dogs.


May 8, 1886 -
John Stith Pemberton was druggist and drug addict in North Carolina, plagued by his morphine addiction. Pemberton began work on a coca and cola (kola) nut beverage. It was intended to stop headaches and calm nervousness, but others insist he was attempting to create beverage to help control his addiction, also afflicting other wounded Confederate veterans (he was shot once and slashed with a saber). At that time, beverages containing coca leaf, which in turn contains cocaine were believed to be helpful in combating dependence on opiates. He began this process at his Columbus laboratory, but soon after the war, moved his entire operation to Atlanta.



He created the formula in a brass kettle in his backyard on May 8th 1886. He instructed his assistant, Venable, to mix it with ice water and chill it. They drank it, and both loved it (of course they did - who wouldn't love a drink with cocaine in it). But then Venable accidentally mixed it with carbonated water. They decided to sell it as a fountain drink, as an alternative for root beer and ginger ale.



Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robertson suggested that they name it Coca Cola for the Coca leaves and Kola (cola) nuts in it. Indeed, Coca-Cola was originally advertised (in part) as a cure for morphine addiction.

Oh, for the original formula.


May 8, 1912 -
Paramount Pictures is the second oldest-running movie studio in Hollywood (second only to Universal Pictures, which was founded eight days earlier). Paramount traces its history back to this date, when it was originally founded as Famous Players Film Company by Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor.



He had been an early investor in nickelodeons (film theaters that cost 5 cents for admission), and saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman, he planned to offer motion pictures that would appeal to the middle class by featuring leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "famous players in famous plays").


May 8, 1945 -
Let's face it, Harry S. Truman was a bit of a shlub for most of his adult life. He was a failed businessman. He was a minor cog in a a political machine when he was picked to be Senator for his home state, Missouri. Roosevelt picked him to be his Vice President to spite his former Vice President, Henry Wallace, who was thought too liberal. Truman's vice-presidency was relatively uneventful, and contact with the White House was minimal; he was not asked for advice nor informed of major decisions. Truman might have slipped into historical obscurity had Roosevelt not to have a massive stroke and died on April 12, 1945.

Truman's birthday was coming up and Germany, well, the part of it that didn't commit suicide in the bunker or fled to Argentina wanted to give the new President a special gift. So on May 7th, the Chief-of-Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command, General Alfred Jodl, one of the only German's left standing, signed the unconditional surrender documents for all German forces to the Allies.



All active operations were to cease at 23:01 Central European Time on May 8 1945, Truman's 61st birthday.



And what did Jodl get for this special gift - a necktie party at the end of his trial at Nuremberg. It was later learned that Jodl was neither guilty of crimes of war punishable by death under international law, nor of other crimes which would have made him a criminal or abuser of military power.

Oops, that what you get for trying to be nice!


May 8, 1970 -
In front of Federal Hall and under the statue of George Washington, construction workers stormed a student protest against the Vietnam War and the killing of the students at Kent State, on this date. The construction workers chased both students and bystanders through the streets, beating and kicking them; police reportedly looked on and did nothing.



Known as the Hard Hat Riots, it sparked two weeks of protests, counter protests and marches. Around 100 people, including seven policemen, were injured on what became known as "Bloody Friday". Six people were arrested, but only one of them was a construction worker associated with the rioters. President Nixon then invited the hardhat leaders to Washington, D.C., and accepted a hardhat from them.



And so it goes.

Let's hear it for educators!

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. National Teacher Appreciation Day is observed on the Tuesday of the first full week in May. Today day is part of Teacher Appreciation Week, which is the first full week in May of each year.



In 1944, an Arkansas teacher named Mattie Whyte Woodridge began a campaign to establish a national day that would honor teachers.

Woodridge wrote letters to politicians, education leaders, and eventually the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1953, Mrs. Roosevelt convinced Congress to proclaim the first National Teacher Day. National Education Association describes National Teacher Day “as a day for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives.”


Today is also National Roast Leg of Lamb Day! Truly, there is no more a noble cause than eating a meal consisting of properly prepared lamb.



Sadly, in a recent survey, 35% of Americans surveyed reported that they had never eaten lamb, and most American each less than a pound of lamb per year. In the Caligari household, we can put away a pound of lamb per seating and happily come back for more. (Don't forget the tzatziki!)


May 7, 1937 -
Leo McCarey's forgotten tearjerker, Make Way for Tomorrow, starring Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter, and Thomas Mitchell premiered in Hollywood on this date.



Orson Welles was quoted as saying that the film "would make a stone cry". John Ford, Frank Capra and Jean Renoir were big admirers of the film.


May 7, 1966 –
The Mamas and the Papas song Monday, Monday reached no. #1 on the Billboard charts (their only no. #1 hit) on this date.



While awaiting the release of California Dreamin', band member Denny Doherty was prodding songwriter John Phillips to come up with some new material. Phillips said he would come back in the morning with "A song with universal appeal." Ignoring the sarcastic comments from the group members, Phillips came up with Monday, Monday. It's about the lousy feeling that comes with the end of the weekend and beginning of another workweek.


May 7, 1973 -
George Harrison released the single Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), off his album, Living in the Material World, on this date.



The song became George Harrison's second US #1 following My Sweet Lord. It pushed Paul McCartney and Wings' My Love from the top position, marking the only occasion that two former Beatles have held the top two chart positions on the Hot 100.


May 7, 1977 -
Hotel California topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on this date.



Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, this song is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America. Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: "Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce."


May 7, 1984 -
Roger Waters released his first solo album, The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, with it's iconic and slightly scandalous album cover, on this date.



A film based on the album was proposed and some footage and animation completed by 1985, but this is yet to officially see the light of day.


May 7, 1987 -
Shelly Long made her last appearance as a regular on the NBC series Cheers, on this date.



To keep Shelley Long's departure from the series under wraps, three endings were shot. The aired ending, which had Diane leaving and promising to return in six months, and two additional endings. One had Sam and Diane getting married, and a third ending that the producers have not disclosed to this date.


May 7, 1988 –
Terence Trent D’Arby's (who now performs under the name Sananda Maitreya,) second single from his album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, Wishing Well reached no. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date.



After a stint in the US Army, D'Arby moved to England and got a deal with CBS Records. For his first single, If You Let Me Stay, he was paired with producer Howard Gray. The other nine tracks, including Wishing Well, were produced by Martyn Ware of Heaven 17.

May 7, 1997 -
The science fiction film The Fifth Element, written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich was released in France, on this date. At the time, it was the most expensive European film ever made.



Luc Besson wrote the original screenplay when he was in high school. He had conceived the story of this movie and invented the world of the movie as a child so he could escape his lonely childhood. He began writing the script when he was 16, though it was not released in theaters until he was 38.


May 7, 2005 –
Gwen Stefani third single from her debut album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby, Hollaback Girl reached No. #1 on the Billboard charts on this date. (When my daughters were younger, they thought it hysterical to run around the house singing, 'My shit is bananas'.)



Stefani got the idea for the cheerleader theme when she recalled a comment Courtney Love said about her in an issue of Seventeen magazine: "Being famous is just like being in high school. But I'm not interested in being the cheerleader. I'm not interested in being Gwen Stefani. She's the cheerleader, and I'm out in the smoker shed."


Today's moment of Zen


Today in History:
May 7, 399 BC (according to Plato) -
... Socrates, what is truth?' 'Socrates, what is beauty?' Never once did any of you guys say 'Socrates, hemlock is poisonous.' Thanks a lot, you guys ...



Greek authorities forced philosopher Socrates to end his life by drinking a potion containing hemlock for his teaching methods which aroused skepticism and impiety in his students.



Those must have been some parties, if you get condemned to death afterward.


May 7, 1895 -
In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrated to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention - the first in the world radio receiver.

Unfortunately, since no one had invented regularly scheduled broadcasts, the demonstration was a confusing affair.


May 7, 1896 –
Dr. H. H. Holmes, (Herman Webster Mudgett,) con artist and one of America’s first well-known serial killers, was hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this date. (There is no truth to the scurrilous rumor that we were in medical school together.)



Although he was convicted of murdering only one victim, his accomplice and business partner Benjamin Pitezel, it was believed that he also murdered three of Pitezel's children. During his trial, Holmes officially confessed to 27 murders, but later told his lawyer that he had actually killed 133 people


May 7, 1901 -
The general consensus seems to be that I don't act at all.



Gary Cooper, one of Hollywood's original boytoy, iconic actor and womanizer, was born on this date.


May 7, 1915 -
A very minor league Archduck and his wife got themselves killed in the Balkans. Before you you say conflagration, half the world was at war. On February 4, 1915, Germany declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone and any Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning. King George V's government chose to ignore the warnings, as they were written in German. This seems odd, as George spoke German, his grandfather was German (Prince Albert) and his first cousin was Kaiser Wilhelm II.



Anyway, a German submarine, U-20, sank the Lusitania, killing 1,200, on this date. There were no star-crossed young lovers aboard, however, so instead of making a movie about it, the U.S. had to enter World War I.


May 7, 1920 -
With much fanfare the Treaty of Moscow was signed on this date. Soviet Russia recognized the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

No one bothered to tell Lenin and the Soviets invade the country six months later.


May 7, 1937 -
The Hindenburg wreckage still lies smoldering having crashed and burned in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing thirty-six yesterday.



The good news was, it provided a really cool cover for Led Zeppelin's first album and a fairly good basis for a novel by E. L. Doctorow.


May 7, 1954 -
In what was seen as a shocking turn of events in the West, French forces were overrun at Dien Bien Phu, on this date. Many in the West had considered the Viet Cong as a minor threat.



This marked the end of French involvement in Vietnam, and the beginning of serious US involvement in the war.

In some sort of bizarre irony, On May 7, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford officially announced that the Vietnam Era had ended.


May 7, 2000 -
Vladimir Putin became the president of Russia (for the first time) on this date.



Putin served eight years as president, and is credited with bringing Russia back from the brink of economic collapse. Now that Putin's American presidency has ended, and he's considered a war criminal, I wonder how history will treat him.



And so it goes.