This Date in History - May 27

 

Happy birthday to Frasier's engineer, Peri Gilpin.  Queen for today.  But there were a few other heads of royalty anointed on May 27.

927:  DEATH OF SIMEON I THE GREAT, THE FIRST BULGARIAN TO BE RECOGNIZED AS EMPEROR.

....and one that died.

1120:  RICHARD III OF CAPUA IS ANOINTED AS PRINCE TWO WEEKS BEFORE HIS UNTIMELY DEATH.

Richard III, The Prince Formerly Known as Prince.

1703:  TSAR PETER THE GREAT FOUNDS THE CITY OF SAINT PETERSBURG.

This is not, I repeat, not the place when the Mets used to train in Florida.

1813:  IN THE WAR OF 1812, AMERICAN FORCES IN CANADA CAPTURE FORT GEORGE.

So doesn't that make it the War of 1812-1813??

1860:  GUISEPPE GARIBALDI BEGINS HIS ATTACK ON PALERMO, SICILY, AS PART OF THE ITALIAN UNIFICATION.

Guiseppe Garibaldi sounds like one of those names a script writer would come up with for a gondolier.

1883:  ALEXANDER III IS CROWNED TSAR OF RUSSIA.

This is not, I repeat, not the Alexander that you used to be on Fordham Road in the Bronx.

1907:  BUBONIC PLAGUE BREAKS OUT IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

So, earthquakes now pale in comparison.

1909:  SINGER DOLORES HOPE IS BORN.

She made it to 102.  Hubby Bob made it to 100.  Allegedly.  My friend and writing partner contends that Bob died several months before he hit 100 and was kept in cold storage so they could say he hit 100.  Gee, I have bizarre friends.

1911:  POLITICIAN HUBERT HUMPHREY IS BORN.

He was a rare Vice President...one with a brain in his head.  Not like the last four.

1911:  ACTOR VINCENT PRICE IS BORN.

Scream, scream for your life!  The Tingler is loose in the theater.

1923:  POLITICIAN HENRY KISSINGER IS BORN.

This less-than-handsome guy was once seen around town with Jill St. John.   So, I guess he really was a genius.

1927:  THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY CEASES MANUFACTURE OF THE FORD MODEL T.

It always ran better with Flubber anyway.

1930:  THE TALLEST-MAN-MADE STRUCTURE AT THE TIME, THE CHRYSLER BUILDING IN NEW YORK, OPENS TO THE PUBLIC.

Which makes me want to know what's the tallest-non-made-man structure.

1933:  WALT DISNEY RELEASES THE CARTOON "THE THREE LITTLE PIGS."

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

1935:  ACTRESS LEE MERIWETHER IS BORN.

Miss American 1955.  Catwoman 1966.

1937:  THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE OPENS TO PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC IN SAN FRANCISCO.

Which means they just put up a sign...."Welcome Suicidal Jumpers."

1941:  REGARDING THE COMING WORLD WAR II, US PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT PROCLAIMS AN "UNLIMITED NATIONAL EMERGENCY."

Um, you figured that out, heh?

1941:  IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC, THE GERMAN BATTLESHIP BISMARCK IS SUNK.

Later a hit song.

1961:  ACTRESS PERI GILPIN IS BORN.

Is it me or does she not work enough?

1965:  ACTOR TODD BRIDGES IS BORN.

Fifty-five today.  And, back when, who thought he would make that??

1967:  THE US NAVY AIR CRAFT CARRIER USS JOHN F. KENNEDY IS LAUNCHED BY JACQUELINE KENNEDY AND HER DAUGHTER CAROLINE.

I always thought these ceremonies were a horrible waste of good champagne.

1968:  MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARDS THE MONTREAL THE FIRST FRANCHISE IN CANADA AND THE FIRST OUTSIDE THE US.

Viva Les Expos!

1969:  ACTOR JEFFREY HUNTER DIES.

The original Captain Kirk.  He suffered one head injury after another in 1969 and ultimately bashed his skull on a banister.

1975:  DIBBLES BRIDGE COACH CRASH IN NORTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, KILLS 33 - THE HIGHEST EVER DEATH TOLL IN A ROAD ACCIDENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Pish tosh, America can beat that.

1986:  DRAGON QUEST, THE GAME CREDITED AS SETTING THE TEMPLATE FOR ROLE-PLAYING VIDEO GAMES, IS RELEASED IN JAPAN.

And this is a positive?

1995:  IN VIRGINIA, ACTOR CHRISTOPHER REEVE IS PARALYZED FROM THE NECK DOWN AFTER FALLING FROM HIS HORSE.

Not a great actor.  Apparently, an even worse rider.

1997:  THE US SUPREME COURT RULES THAT PAULA JONES CAN PURSUE HER SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON WHILE HE IS IN OFFICE.

Yeah, he didn't touch her either, right?

2007:  ACTRESS GRETCHEN WYLER DIES.

A hidden talent from the 50s.  Check out her old photos.   She was hot.

2006:  THE MAY 2006 JAVA EARTHQUAKE STRIKES BANTUL KILLING 6,600 PEOPLE.

Who knew Bantul had 6,600 people?

2011:  ACTOR JEFF CONAWAY DIES.

Hearse!

2017:  MUSICIAN GREGG ALLMAN DIES.

Cher loses another ex-husband.

2024:  BASKETBALL STAR BILL WALTON DIES.

That's one long casket.

Dinner last night:  Salad.

Don't Make Me Laugh

 

And he never did.   But, then again, I never really gave Stephen Colbert the opportunity to entertain me.   

A friend texted me the other day to get my opinion on Colbert's last moments on the air which was an homage to the snow globe series finale of "St. Elsewhere."   I told my friend that I was proud to announce that I never saw a single moment of this series.  Ever.  I had made a commitment to Johnny Carson when he retired and I pretty much kept to it.

Of course, I would have little interest in what Colbert has been peddling.   At the end of the day, I don't want to hear bashing of politicians from either party.   I want to smile and laugh at inane things like Carnac and Stump the Band.  All these late night hosts have gotten so politically-focused and, as a by-product, much less funny or entertaining.

Now, if you go by my Facebook page, the majority of my friends bid a tearful farewell to Colbert.  As did most of the mainstream media.   It's not about the end of a TV show that was losing money and ratings by the bucket full.   It was all about Trump-bashing and how Colbert was the victim.   

Here's a little TV math.  When Carson went off the air in 1992, he was reaching 14 million people.   Colbert's audience level towards the end?  2 million.   And sinking.   The longer a show stays on the air, talent contracts and fees increase geometrically.  So there is less income and more outgoing money.   It's the reason Johnny left and the same goes for Colbert.

But everybody wants to think this was a Trump edict.  If everybody who lamented the end of Colbert did indeed watch regularly, his audience wouldn't have dwindled down to nothing.   The same folks are now pledging to never turn on CBS ever again.   Again more Trump hysteria.   If people found out Trump's grandfather invented the toilet bowl, these nuts would probably resort to squatting and shitting in the front yard.

Hey, that's a funny joke.   If Colbert had told one like it, he may have lasted longer.

Dinner last night:  Leftover Honey Chicken.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - May 25, 2026

The month of May concludes with one last Johnny Carson animal segment.  What a dump!

Dinner last night:  Ribeye steak and sauteed mushrooms.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Remembering Memorial Day

 

Here's a snapshot of my grandmother with her winter coat on.  Trust me.  This might have been taken at a Memorial Day barbecue. 

Or maybe, more than likely, the Fourth of July.  My grandmother would not be smiling on Memorial Day.  She took that day very seriously.

Take, for instance, this one particular May holiday.  I had been invited by a new school chum to take in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.  I was over the moon with delight.  His family came to pick me up and I raced out of the house.  To do so, I had to scamper right through Grandma's part of the home downstairs.

"Where are you running like a crazy lunatic?"

I explained.  Baseball.  A doubleheader.   Hot dogs.  Peanuts.  Exactly what America should do on a national holiday.

"But it's Memorial Day.  You should stay home."

Huh?

Well, I didn't.  And her words bothered me all day.  I was twelve and still trying to put together the pieces of my family history.  Years later, I still have not.

We didn't talk much about it in the house.  The fact that my grandparents had sent four sons off to serve in the military during World War II and only three returned.  Three of my dad's brothers saw action.  My father fought gallantly with a Royal typewriter while stationed in an Army office somewhere in Japan.  One brother was killed exactly two weeks before V-E Day in 1945.  I was named after him.   We discussed him in this blog space before.  I've shared the sum total of information I have about him.

Yep, we almost never talked about it.

I'd ask questions of my parents and, when not reminded that I asked too many of them, got sparse information about the family member still buried in the south of France.  But, my grandmother?   Never said a word.   Oh, his name might have come up in anecdotes about the past.  But we never had a serious discussion about his loss. 

His purple heart hung in her living room.  I've seen the papers from the War Department.  I still have them in a file cabinet.  But they are just typed sentences on a now-yellowed page.  There's no emotion shown in them.   There was little emotion shown in our house. 

But, indeed, it came out in different ways.  Most notably in how my grandmother treated the sanctity of this one holiday.

Looking back, Grandma and Grandpa came from Germany probably around 1905 or 1910.  They were proud to be here in this country.  Who knows what their life must have been like over there?  But they came to America to make themselves a better life and they worked hard to do so.  Unlike the immigrants of 2014, my grandparents did their part to become true Americans.  They learned to speak English.  My grandfather could eventually read and write it.  Grandma would ultimately only be able to sign her name.

But they were Americans.   And, in little ways, I would hear how my grandmother loved the military that defended this homeland.

I'd hear it whenever there was a state funeral of some dignitary on television.  Grandma would look at the pallbearers.

"Those poor boys.  Having to carry that heavy thing up those stairs."

I'd hear it when she'd come in and I had commandeered her TV set for my own use.  I'd be watching some war movie or show.

"Turn that off.  We don't wanna see what happens to those poor boys."

Over and over and over again.   It was "those poor boys."

For years when I was a kid, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30 without fail.  But, naturally, government workers stuck in their two cents and wanted a long weekend.  The holiday was changed to the last Monday of May.  Grandma was incensed.

"It should be May 30.  But everybody wants a free vacation.  They forget about those poor boys."

I wanted to know about one of those poor boys.  But it never was discussed.  I envision in retrospect that the days and years after 1945 had to be hard for my grandparents.  I remember one Memorial Day when Grandma actually hung in her living room window the little banner that showed our family had four people fighting in the war.  It likely hung in their Bronx window back during World War II.  She inexplicably displayed it again.   I never knew why. 

And, of course, my question was likely never answered.

Yes, Memorial Day was serious business for my grandparents.  And, as I sat at that Yankee Stadium doubleheader slurping up all sorts of ballpark treats, I wondered just what was behind it all.  I had still gone to the game that day.  And violated the sanctity of Memorial Day.

But, of course, not before I helped Grandma with the traditional national holiday ritual.

Our flag.

I've written this before, but it bears repeating in light of another Memorial Day and a memory about my grandparents.  You see, we had this flagpole in our front yard.

Do you know how to correctly fold an American flag?  Well, I do.

And it was my grandmother who taught me how.  And, on Memorial Day or Veteran's Day, it was on that flagpole in front of the house.

Yes, my grandparents were that American.

Our big honking flag pole was cemented right in the middle of the front yard. It actually stretched past our apartment on the second floor. It was as big as any you might find in front of the most important of Federal buildings. But it was all ours. Right there where my grandmother could easily see it from her first floor living room window.   

Early in the morning of every national holiday,  I would hear the hallway closet downstairs creak open. I'd envision the boxes being moved this way or that. The smell of mothballs would waft up to the second floor.   

Yep, Grandma was rooting around for the American flag again.

I'd walk around the neighborhood and not see a lot of the same patriotism on these holidays. Certainly, not an American flag being hoisted up a huge pole at the crack of dawn. But, that's what my grandparents did like clockwork.  After my grandfather died, I could no longer exist in mere passive curiosity.   

"You gonna help me now."

Okay, Grandma. I figured it was only going to be a slight diversion to my day of play. Yet, I had no idea how seriously she took this ceremony. The way in which the flag was unfolded. How it was handled with the utmost of care.

And, at the end of the day, the precise folding of the banner. Military style. To the strictest of code. My first few attempts did not go well.

"No, no, no. Not that way. This way!"

The words had a sharp tone. Grandma meant business with this. And I was treating it all like Gomer Pyle, USMC. 

 After a while, I got it. And we responded on every holiday. Grandma and I got into a neat rhythm when it was time to put the flag away. We did it as flawlessly as we could. Moreover, we did it with the proper amount of respect.

Several years later, I asked my father about that tradition. What was I missing? What was behind the flag ceremony?   

"Well, you do know that's the flag that covered your uncle's casket?"

Another small tidbit floating in the Ocean of No Information.  Oh. In this recent picture of that house years after I left it, the flagpole stands as tall as ever.

So, tomorrow is Memorial Day.  May the 25th.  Grandma would be unhappy one more time.  

What I will do to make her a little happy is my annual visit to see all the flags at Veterans Cemetery in Westwood.

I may linger a little longer over the flags.  And think again about my grandmother.  And the holiday she held so dear.  For reasons I still can only guess about.

Dinner last night:  Honey chicken at Chin Chin.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - May 2026

 Egads!  This movie came out forty years ago this month!

Dinner last night:  Grilled sausage.

Creepy Is As Creepy Does

 

What happens when you give birth on the Food Network.

 Don't you want to see them five seconds after the photo was taken?

Surprisingly, Dad is a professional barber.

Saran Wrap must have been on sale.

The kid's not fond of the new Pope.

I'm surprised they didn't include a photo of the conception.

And, in the role of Judas Iscariot....Uncle Moe.

No wonder they lost the West.

 That boy smells something.

 Can you buy some clothes with that EBT card?

Hair styles by Tupperware.

Nobody wanted to pose with this ugly thing.  And neither did Alf.

Dinner last night:   Leftover meat loaf.

Len's Recipe of the Month - May 2026

 

As I follow several YouTube-based chefs, I have learned that you can be adventurous as you finetune your culinary skills.   That's how I came up with the dish above.   It's essentially called Mediterranean Chicken, but that's a big catch-all phrase.   You could call it Chicken Len because I took several recipes and merged them together.   

I started with four boneless and skinless chicken thighs.   That's the part of the fowl that you want to use most of the time because it's got the most flavor.   Oh, and you can never overcook it to sheer dryness.   

So, I cut the thighs up into smaller pieces and tossed them into a bowl with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.   On top, I sprinkled some flour but not to excess amount.

In a Dutch oven or pan, I melted some butter and mixed it with EVO.   When hot, I added the chicken and browned the pieces.   This took about 8 minutes.   I moved the chicken to a plate.

Back to the cooking apparatus, I caramelized a sliced sweet onion.   Then, I added a half jar of pitted Kalamata olives.   Then some drained capers.   Then a pint of cherry tomatoes.    Lastly, I poured in a half cup of white wine.

I covered the Dutch oven and let it simmer for a half hour.   Some sweet corn on the side.

Done.   And I did it all by myself.

The cooking lesson this month?   Use your skills to make every dish your own.\\

Dinner last night:  Grilled sausage with bacon.