Don't Go Into The Shower

Or, on second thought, be my guest.  It can't be as horrendous as this new documentary revolving around the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's legendary "Psycho."   Because this movie goes down the drain faster than Janet Leigh's blood.

Indeed, this mess directed by Alexandre O. Philippe heads off the rails in the very first moments.  The film maker sets it all up by showing the character of Marion Crane driving up to the iconic Bates Motel.   Except it's not the real footage, but completely re-staged with somebody other than Janet Leigh.   Now maybe this was a rights issue.   Nevertheless, it starts this documentary the absolute wrong way and you very quickly know that this is going to be a giant waste of your time...and, in my case, On Demand money totaling seven bucks.

The title "78/52" represents the 78 set-ups and 52 cuts that were needed to produce one of the most talked about scenes in movie history.   I've seen the original many times and am captivated by every single viewing.   And that's just it.   Most film fans have devoured "Psycho" and its back story to proverbial death.  There is absolutely nothing more to learn or be said.   

Yep, we know this was filmed in black and white because Hitchcock's TV show crew did the production.  Yep, we know the stabbing sounds were made by a knife cutting into a melon.   Yep, we know that the camera has to pan away from the dead Marion because Janet Leigh had to take a breath.   

Like a minor auto accident, there's nothing to see here.

But, the self-impressed film maker continues on for ninety minutes by focusing on a bunch of modern day talking heads and current hack directors.   We listen to their comments as they watch the scene on a monitor.   Lots of oohing and aahing like it's a bridal shower.  When we are treated to the in-depth thoughts of Elijah Wood (????!!!!), I cried "enough."

Even the inclusion of noted Psycho expert Stephen Rebello brings no new information into the film.  The poster bally hooes the participation of Janet Leigh's daughter Jamie Lyn Curtis, but that basically is one comment and she has...wait for it...nothing to say.

If you are dying to learn all about "Psycho," the Blu Ray edition from Universal has oodles of extra features and commentary that are light years more interesting than the dummies waxing poetic in "78/52."

Maybe it's time for all of them to meet Mrs. Bates.

LEN'S RATING:  One-half star.

Dinner last night:  Hamburger at ink.well.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 30, 2017

Angry October concludes with this Halloween snippet of a little girl who hates her costume.

Dinner last night:  Sausage and cheese lasagna.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - A World Series Story From 17 Years Ago

So, for the first time in 17 years, I got to attend the World Series this week courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers.   The two games in Chavez Ravine brought me back to all the happiness, disappointment, and sheer nervous tension that these games bring about.  And it brought me back to another coast and another World Series.   Actually the very last WS game I was in person for.   

Thursday, October 26, 2000. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this would be the last World Series ever to played at now-halfway-dismantled Shea Stadium. For the first time ever, it's the Yankees versus the Mets in the Fall Classic---a Subway Series in its truest sense.

We're at Game 5 and the Mets need to win to prevent the Yankees from clinching it all. In a very tight game, the Yankees manage to pull it together in the top of the ninth. As future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera attempts to close it out for the Bronx contingent, the final hopes rest on the shoulders of Mike Piazza. He offers one mighty swing and sends one soaring to the centerfield wall. On most nights, this is a home run. But, in the late October misty air of Flushing Bay, the moisture holds the ball in the air long enough for it to be pocketed by centerfielder Bernie Williams. 

The Yankees celebrate at Shea Stadium, of all places. Manager Joe Torre is hoisted aloft, sobbing all the while. Another great Fall for the Yankees. Another mighty fall for the Mets.

Watching from the third base of the mezzanine level are yours truly and my best friend from high school, Danny. Being true baseball fans and sportsmen, we did not skulk into the night with disgust. We stayed and watched the festivities. Next to us were two Yankee fans. A dad and his eight-year-old son. 

The youngster is decked out in the warmest of Yankee apparel. He is grinning from ear to ear. Danny and I remember the feeling of being there in 1986 when our own team was doing all the whoop-de-doing. We leaned over and shook the boy's hand in congratulations. He thanked us and continued to bask in his life's most significant moment to date.

It was the dad's response that has always stuck with me.

"This is great and all, but, for his sake, I hope they lose one of these years."

Huh?

He continued in the role of Hugh Beaumont as Beaver's wise old dad.

"Ever since he got interested in baseball, the Yankees win every year. They need to lose so he can finally understand what it is to be a true fan."

Sheer brilliance and wisdom amongst the hot dog wrappers of Section 22. A father who truly knew how to balance life with fandom. I've taught about that exchange many times. Every time my team loses a playoff or a division title or a close game. And I think about that kid who, in the very next year, probably learned and cried a lot when the Yankees blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I wonder if the kid is still a Yankee rooter. I should do hope so. Because that would make him a real fan.

Ah, baseball.   It hugs you.  It kills you.  It makes you the person you are.

Dinner last night:  Peking pork from Panda Express.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - October 2017

Naturally....Halloween, 39 years ago.

Dinner last night:   Bacon and cheese omelet.

Advertising Specials for Halloween

Dinner last night:   Kale chopped salad.

Len's Recipe of the Month - October 2017

Valerie Bertinelli's new cookbook came out today and her pages are fast becoming the pages of my cookbook here.  I simply adore her recipes, which are smart, tasty, and easy-to-make.

Like, for instance, this 30 minute meal that takes one of my favorite treats...the BLT sandwich...and turns it into a one-plate dish.   In lieu of the sandwich bread, you substitute some spaghetti or angel hair pasta.   Delicious!

And so easy.

First, get your bacon going and, if you are like me, you prefer to do bacon in the oven as opposed to a grease-spattering pan.   Pop about four or five slices on a cookie sheet and let them cook for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.   When they are crispy, use your gloves to remove them from the oven and crumple them up into bits and pieces.

In a pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta of your choice.   

Separately, in a pan coated with a little EVO, saute one sliced sweet onion with a pound or so of small grape tomatoes.   I find myself cooking with these tiny suckers a lot because they are so easy to manage.

Your pasta should be nicely done so add that to the pan and mix everything around.   Salt and pepper to taste.   Add a little fresh basil and crushed red pepper if you want.

Take one of those pre-packaged bags of arugula.  Rinse it through and then dump it in the pan with the pasta et al.  It will look like there is no room in the pan for all this, but have no fear.   The arugula will melt down to nothing.

Plate it all and sprinkle the bacon pieces all over it.   Grated parmesan tops it off nicely.

Thank you, Valerie.   And the rest of you are welcome.

Dinner last night:  Chicken and waffles at the Dodger World Series Game 2.

This Date in History - October 25

Happy birthday to Marion "Mrs. C" Ross.   I've met a bunch of the people mentioned below.   Read on.

285 (or 286):  EXECUTION OF SAINTS CRISPIN AND CRISPINIAN, NOW THE PATRON SAINTS OF LEATHER WORKS, CURRIERS, AND SHOEMAKERS.

Yeah, yeah, I get it.  But what's with the indecision on the year??

1147:  RECONQUISTA - AFTER A SIEGE OF FOUR MONTHS, CRUSADER KNIGHTS LED BY AFONSO HENRIQUES RECONQUERED LISBON.

Didn't Afonso Henriques once pitch for the San Francisco Giants?

1616:  DUTCH SEA CAPTAIN DIRK HARTOG MAKES SECOND RECORDED LANDFALL BY A EUROPEAN ON AUSTRALIAN SOIL AT THE LATER NAMED DIRK HARTOG ISLAND.

Talk about ego.

1760:  GEORGE III BECOMES KING OF GREAT BRITAIN.

Is it my imagination or is every British king named either George or Henry?

1812:  WAR OF 1812 - THE USS UNITED STATES, AN AMERICAN FRIGATE, CAPTURES THE BRITISH FRIGATE HMS MACEDONIAN.

When I was a kid, I would have laughed at the word "frigate."

1828:  ST KATHARINE DOCKS OPEN IN LONDON.

That's either a pier or an urgent care office.

1861:  THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE IS CREATED.

For those who think they only care about hockey...

1881:  PAINTER PABLO PICASSO IS BORN.

Look at what a dirty guy he was.

1886:  ACTOR LEO G. CARROLL IS BORN.

Cosmo Topper!

1912:  COUNTRY STAR MINNIE PEARL IS BORN.

Howdy!

1920:  AFTER 74 DAYS ON A HUNGER STRIKE IN ENGLAND, THE MAYOR OF CORK, TERENCE MACSWINEY, DIES.

British food kills.  So does not eating British food.

1921:  LAWMAN BAT MASTERSON DIES.

The real guy, not Gene Barry.

1923:  BASEBALL PLAYER BOBBY THOMSON IS BORN.

The Giants win the pennant!  The Giants win the pennant!  Phooey.

1924:  MIDGET ACTOR BILLY BARTY IS BORN.

Don't you wonder how tall he was at birth?

1928:  ACTOR TONY FRANCIOSA IS BORN.

And so the name dropping begins.   He used to come to my church every Christmas Eve.   One year, I gave him holy communion.   Three weeks later, he was dead.

1928:  ACTRESS MARION ROSS IS BORN.

Two actors born on the same day and year.  I've met both of them.   Nice lady.

1940:  BENJAMIN DAVIS SR. IS NAMED THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN GENERAL IN THE US ARMY.

Another great stride in this, a supposedly racist country.

1941:  SINGER HELEN REDDY IS BORN.

Hearing her roar.

1944:  HEINRICH HIMMLER ORDERS A CRACKDOWN ON YOUTH CULTURE IN NAZI GERMANY AS SOME YOUTH WERE HIDING PEOPLE FROM THE THIRD REICH.

Not to be confused with the Heimlich Maneuver which makes you cough up bits of food.

1944:  WORLD WAR II - THE BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF, WHICH IS THE LARGEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY.

Japan vs. US.  Be there.

1962:  CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - ADLAI STEVENSON SHOWS PHOTOS AT A UNITED NATION SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING PROVING THAT SOVIET MISSILES ARE INSTALLED IN CUBA.

And this time they really were there.

1971:  THE UNITED NATIONS SEATS THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND EXPELS THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

Like a baseball manager doing a double switch.

1983:  OPERATION URGENT FURY - THE US AND ITS CARIBBEAN ALLIES INVADE GRENADA.

I remember this and I still have no idea what it was all about.

1986:  ACTOR FORREST TUCKER DIES.

I never liked F Troop.  Just sayin'.

1992:  SINGER ROGER MILLER DIES.

No longer king of the road.

1993:  ACTOR VINCENT PRICE DIES.

I never met him, but friends have.

1995:  TENNIS PLAYER BOBBY RIGGS DIES.

Women applaud.

2002:  ACTOR RICHARD HARRIS DIES.

Melting in the dark.

2005:  NY FOOTBALL GIANTS OWNER WELLINGTON MARA DIES.

Punt!

2009:  THE OCTOBER 2009 BAGHDAD BOMBINGS KILL 155 AND WOUNDS AT LEAST 721.

One of those days where Heaven gets a line at the front gate.

2013:  ACTRESS MARCIA WALLACE DIES.

Met her once at a super market.  Except for Bill Daily, I had contact at some point with everybody else from the Bob Newhart Show.

Dinner last night:  A late post-World Series game meal at Cafe 50's.  BLT on rye toast.

Welcome Back, Len

For the first time since Thursday, October 26, 2000, I will be back tonight at a World Series game.  Just two days short of seventeen years.  It's my first one ever here in Los Angeles, where my baseball fandom now resides after being cast adrift by the decaying ownership of the New York Mets.

Now this is a long time in coming.  Let's think about it.  The last WS game for me happened before 9/11.   In between, there have three Presidents, all shittier than the previous one.  And who knows how many times Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed somebody during that time span?  Probably thousands.

The point is that you embrace a World Series for your team because it's like a solar eclipse.   It doesn't happen very often.  But, when it comes to the Fall Classic, you can not only look at the brightness.   You can let it envelop your every pore.  Soak it all in.   Don't miss a moment.

Now, as I playfully looked at Stubhub the other day, I noticed that my season seats for the World Series could be sold for about $3,500 each.  That's $7,000 per game.   Multiply that by 4 potential games and it's a nice haul of $28,000.   
Some people are carping at me.  Sell them!   Sell them!

Why would I do that?   You have to be a baseball fan to understand.  World Series tickets are the reason why you become a season ticket holder and watch the Dodgers play the Padres on a chilly Wednesday night in April.  You endure for the moments that you are about to behold.   I've been to World Series games with the Mets.   I know the feeling I had in Shea Stadium for Game 6 and 7 of 1986.   You don't trade it for anything.

Even better for my Game 1...the seat companion alongside me will be my childhood best buddy Leo.   We have been going to baseball games together since we were 13.   Taking the subway from Mount Vernon, New York to either Queens or the Bronx back in a day when it was okay to let two 13-year-olds make that trip by themselves.   Oddly enough, Leo and I have never been to a World Series game together.   That streak ends tonight.

And it's a special memory on top of an already glorious memory that has yet to be invented.

Go Dodgers!!  From Loge 120, Row L, Seat 1.

Dinner last night:  Leftover tortellini.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 23, 2017

October meltdowns continue with this McDonald's employee who deserves a break today.

Dinner last night:  Chicken tortellini.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - TV Crushes

Oh, how innocent.  Little Me consumed by something on television back in the day.   Or maybe it was...consumed by someone.  Hormones kicked in early.

Okay, this might be a creepy Sunday post given all the craziness around Harvey Weinstein and other dirty old men in Hollywood.   Trust me.  I have never touched.   But, even at an early age, I began to look.   And I was not alone.   The specifics of the following were actually the subject of a conversation my best childhood buddy Leo and I had on the way home from a Dodger game some weeks back.   I am happy to know he had his eyes pealed on some TV beauties, too.  But, here's mine.   Heart be still.

Angela Cartwright:   I didn't give her a second look from those Danny Thomas reruns when she played this annoying imp you wanted to push down an elevator shaft.  But then she hit puberty while apparently "lost in space" and, frankly, there was no gravity pull on some of her anatomical regions.  She got pretty hot in her teenage years, despite that she wore a space suit that looked like it was made from Reynold's Aluminum Wrap.  Unfortunately, she didn't have a long shelf life in my hormonal supermarket.  Because, around the same time she was modeling a one piece jump suit ideal for intergalactic exploration, I had already turned my attention to an older woman.

Barbara Feldon:  She constituted sexy in my limited grade school world.  While I thought she was incredibly cool, I probably had some deep-seeded arguments with myself.  Did I want her as a girlfriend?  Or a mother?  Girlfriend, mother.  Girlfriend, mother.  But, then again, even at that early age, I should have probably reasoned that my mother never laid down on a tiger skin rug and purred at the camera the way Barbara Feldon did on those TV cologne commercials.  And I defy any of my friends to tell me that their mothers were able to do the same.  Indeed, as I write this, I realize that this entire episode is my earliest ever example of "too much information."

Karen Valentine:   Oh, where have you gone?  She was absolutely precious on "Room 222" and "The Hollywood Squares."  She has gone the way of Cocoa Marsh and Remco Toys.  Allegedly, she does a lot of regional theater and now lives in Connecticut, but I've never equated that state with oblivion.  I actually got to do a phone interview with her while I was in college and I had to muster all my journalistic integrity to stop from asking her out right then and there.  Oh, yeah, her then-husband coming home was another buzz kill.

Bess Armstrong:  This actress from the 80s never really had a huge career.  Limited TV and film roles.   I think she still shows up every so often in a guest sport or as somebody's parent on a Lifetime movie.  But, if you want to really understand what I am talking about with regard to Bess, go check out the movie "The Four Seasons."  Focus on the segment where they are on the yacht in the Caribbean.  If you're a woman, ignore everything I just wrote.  Or maybe not.

Linda Kelsey:  A terrific actress from the Lou Grant TV show which I am currently binge watching on Hulu.  While Linda is certainly quite cute, she was my first Hollywood crush that was not completely based on looks.  Part of the magic for me was the character she played on the show.   A self-assured, talented, hard-working news reporter.  I was coming to grips that there was much more to the male-female relationship than physical attraction.  I was becoming sensitive to the notion that women could be more than just sex objects.  Of course, none of this made a shitload of difference in my personal life.   Linda moved to Minnesota a while ago and it might be one of the only positive things in that state.

Valerie Bertinelli:  This would have to be the very first blog post you ever read on this site not to know about my "history" with Valerie.  PS, there is no history except that I met her once and my friend botched up the photo opportunity.  But she has always melted my cheese, which is fitting these days since she has developed quite a brand for herself as a chef.   One of my deepest regrets in life is that she was running around Hollywood single for several years after her marriage with Van Halen went bust and I didn't do a single thing about it while I was living in the same town.  Kicking.  Myself.  Again.   These days, my desires for her are pretty simple.   I would love to be in her kitchen, chopping up a radish right next to her.   Boy, life has changed.

For whatever it was worth then or is worth now, I loved all these women.

And I hated all their husbands.

Dinner last night:  Beer bratwurst, sriracha bacon bites, and pickled beets.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - October 2017

Yes, this was a short-lived TV sitcom about 40 years ago.

Dinner last night:  Leftover hot dogs and baked beans.

Your Weekend Movie Guide for October 2017

Want to watch a truly scary movie this October in advance of Halloween? There are none more spooky than "Wait Until Dark," which was playing at the hallowed Radio City Music Hall fifty years ago this month.  There's no blood or aliens or clowns popping out of the sewer.   Yet, the jolts you get in this film are ten times more "jolt-ier" than any other so-called horror film.   Rent it.   Find it on TCM.  Just see it.

If you can't, you'll be relegated to some of the usual crap playing at the local movie houses.  You know the monthly drill, boys and ghouls.  I'll scan the LA Times movie pages and give you my gut reaction to what's stinking up your local multiplex.

Maybe you should keep looking on your cable channel guide.  "Wait Until Dark" has to be playing someplace.

Goodbye Christopher Robin:  I must have missed the one where we said hello.

Marshall:  A biopic on the Supreme Court judge.   Strictly for those who actually believe the Supreme Court is a legitimate organization.

The Mountain Between Us:  Kate Winslet stuck in some snow.   Isn't it always Kate Winslet stuck in something or other?

Battle of the Sexes:   Take the women with 12 points.

Victoria and Abdul:  I take it that's not Paula.

Breathe:  It beats the alternative.

American Made:   Very little these days.

Blade Runner 2049:   I don't even see Blade Runner 1982.

The Florida Project:   Who cares?  It's always too humid anyway.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women:  I even dozed off during the trailer.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected):  Well, as long as they're really new and selected...

Kingsman - The Golden Circle:  I don't know what this Kingsman franchise is all about.   I'm sort of proud about that.

Happy Death Day:   There's now a Hallmark card for everything.

My Little Pony - The Movie:   As opposed to My Little Pony - The Breakfast Cereal.

Faces, Places:   Did somebody forget to finish this title?

Lucky:  The Barack Obama Story.

The Bachelors:  A widower and his teenage son.   Add two brothers and call Fred MacMurray.

Blood Money:  A rafting trip goes bad.  Don't they all?

Geostorm:  Satellites designed to protect the Earth from climate change start to attack.   Who produced this?  Bill O'Reilly?

Wonderstruck:  Two children separated by decades embark on parallel journeys in life.  I got bored just typing that.

Where's The MoneY:  A young man from South Central infiltrates an all-White fraternity.  Sounds like the new diverse edition of "The Beverly Hillbillies."

Tyler Perry's Boo 2 - A Madea Halloween:  Proudly ignoring yet another Tyler Perry movie.

Leatherface:  This is either a horror movie or a botox injection gone wrong.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer:   Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell star.   I don't go in.

Killing Gunther:  Assassins look to knock each other off.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the cast, so consider this your first warning.

Jungle:  Daniel Radcliffe and friends lost in the Amazon.  No broom will let you there.

Same Kind of Different as Me:  Greg Kinnear as an art dealer who befriends a homeless man.   Because that painting will look great hanging on the side of a refrigerator box.

78/52:  A documentary about how they filmed the shower scene in "Psycho."  Finally something I would like to see.

The Snowman:  Michael Fassbender leads an elite detective agency.  77 Sunset Strip revisited.

Only The Brave:  Forest fire fighters.   I saw the trailer and even that made me sweat.

Night World:  An LA cop moves to Bulgaria.  On purpose?

Never Here:  The last film work of Sam Shepard.

Tragedy Girls:  Kids solving murders through social media.  😡

Dinner last night:  Franks and beans.

A Sense of History

At the moment, I am being a good Samaritan and temporarily housing a young actor who's working on a project of ours.   It is an interesting experience and my cap tips to anybody who has parented a 22-year-old.  For the first time ever in my life, there is both a snowboard and an XBox in my home.

Now the "kid" is mature in a lot of ways given he was a regular on a soap opera when he was a teenager.   But he got caught in a little bit of a housing crunch after graduating from UCLA and I couldn't let somebody I know live underneath the freeway.   

As a result, my guest room now looks a little like a frat house and, as I am discovered is a common trait with the younger set, nothing really has a sense of urgency until it is absolutely, absolutely necessary.

But the point of today's entry is not any of the above.   It's more about the discovery I am having about the sense of history the youth have today.   Essentially, it is zero.

To wit, a while back, I happened to be in the supermarket with him as he "liquided" up for the Friday night beer pong tourney.   Since it was right after the passing of Mary Tyler Moore, her picture was adorning the People cover on the magazine rack.   I dreaded the answer to my question but I had to ask it anyway.

Do you know who she is?

"Nope."

Checking into his temporary digs, I mentioned that my condo owner is the daughter-in-law of Shirley Jones.

"Who?"

I mentioned the guy who, for a long while, lived up on the fourth floor of this condo.   Don Knotts.

"Who?"

He used to be on "The Andy Griffith Show.

"What's that?"

My head hung lower but I had to keep up this streak.   I recited to him my top 25 favorite films of all time.  Classics from "The Godfather" to "Rear Window" to "Some Like It Hot."   He had seen one of them..."Jaws."

I moved to TV shows.   My revered and adored sitcoms.

The Dick Van Dyke Show.   Nope.

Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Golden Girls...no, no, no.

All in the Family got a "what's that."

Now here is a young guy headed into what will probably be a strong career as an actor.  With absolutely zero perspective of the history of the industry he will be going into.

Is anybody teaching the past to the present?  I know my friends are, because some of their kids are really classic film buffs.   But is anybody doing in a university setting?   Anybody?

Okay, my favorite TV show of all time is I Love Lucy.   They had long since stopped producing new episodes before I saw my first one.

I didn't have to be around in 1939 to appreciate "Gone with the Wind.'

My parents weren't even born for the early years of Charlie Chaplin.   I still know he was a genius.

I never saw Babe Ruth or Jackie Robinson play baseball, but I know they were sheer greatness on the diamond.

Is this a good development with future generations?   Who's going to teach how to appreciate history of the arts and sports when we are gone?

The answer is one word.

Sad.

Dinner last night:   Chinese chopped salad.

This Date in History - October 18

Happy birthday to Pam Dawber back in the day.  Na-noo, na-noo.

320:  PAPPUS OF ALEXANDRIA, GREEK PHILOSOPHER, OBSERVES AN ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

Hopefully, he used one of those pinholes that don't damage your eyes.

629:  DAGOBERT I IS CROWNED KING OF THE FRANKS.

Defeating challenges by Oscar Meyer and Ballpark.

1009:  THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, A CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN JERUSALEM, IS COMPLETELY DESTROYED BY THE FATIMID CALIPH AL-HAKIM BI-AMR ALLAH.

Yeah, even then.

1356:  THE BASEL EARTHQUAKE, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT HISTORIC SEISMOLOGICAL EVENT NORTH OF THE ALPS, DESTROYS THE TOWN OF BASEL, SWITZERLAND.

And, yeah, even then.

1540:  SPANISH CONQUISTADOR HERNANDO DE SOTO'S FORCES DESTROY THE FORTIFIED TOWN OF MABILA IN PRESENT-DAY ALABAMA, KILLING TUSKALOOSA.

Oh, that's where they got Tuscaloosa.

1648:  BOSTON SHOEMAKERS FORM FIRST AMERICAN LABOR ORGANIZATION.

Nary a sole didn't join.

1775:  AFRICAN-AMERICAN POET PHILLIS WHEATLEY IS FREED FROM SLAVERY.

Um, back then, I think they were called Black.  Or Negro.  Or colored.   Look at the history books.

1775:  THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION - THE BURNING OF WHAT IS NOW PORTLAND, MAINE.

What was then a big old fire.

1851:  HERMAN MELVILLE'S MOBY DICK IS FIRST PUBLISHED AS "THE WHALE."

It was a whale?  Spoiler alert!

1867:  THE UNITED STATES TAKES POSSESSION OF ALASKA AFTER PURCHASING IT FOR 7.2 MILLION DOLLARS FROM RUSSIA.

Collusion!!!

1898:  THE UNITED STATES TAKES POSSESSION OF PUERTO RICO FROM SPAIN.

Do they want it back please?

1922:  THE BRITISH BROADCASTING COMPANY IS FOUNDED.

Good, now PBS stations have something to air.

1926:  SINGER CHUCK BERRY IS BORN.

And, earlier in 2017, he died.   You see how this works?

1927:  ACTOR GEORGE C. SCOTT IS BORN.

He accepted birthday cards, but not Oscars.

1929:  THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL OVERRULES THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA WHEN IT DECLARES THAT WOMEN ARE CONSIDERED "PERSONS" UNDER CANADIAN LAW.

Has this been adopted in America?  Just checking.

1934:  ACTRESS INGER STEVENS IS BORN.

Katy, the Farmer's Daughter.

1935:  ACTOR PETER BOYLE IS BORN.

So good, especially in "Young Frankenstein" and "Everybody Loves Raymond."

1938:  ACTRESS DAWN WELLS IS BORN.

Mary Ann from "Gilligan's Island."

1939:  ASSASSIN LEE HARVEY OSWALD IS BORN.

You may have heard of him.

1944:  WORLD WAR II - THE STATE FUNERAL OF FIELD MARSHAL ERWIN ROMMEL TAKES PLACE IN GERMANY.

Unlike his pals, he never got to hide out in South America.

1945:  ARGENTINE POLITICIAN JUAN PERON MARRIES ACTRESS EVA DUARTE.

No crying now.

1951:  ACTRESS PAM DAWBER IS BORN.

Also known as Mrs. Mark Harmon.

1952:  TV PRODUCER CHUCK LORRE IS BORN.

Currently in charge of every sitcom on television.

1954:  TEXAS INSTRUMENTS ANNOUNCES THE FIRST TRANSISTOR RADIO.

It will never catch on.

1960:  ACTRESS ERIN MORAN IS BORN.

See Chuck Berry.

1963:  FELICETTE, A FEMALE PARISIAN STRAY CAT, BECOMES THE FIRST CAT LAUNCHED INTO SPACE.

They couldn't send it far enough to suit me.

1966:  BUSINESSWOMAN ELIZABETH ARDEN DIES.

I saw a red door and I want to paint it black.

1979:  THE FCC BEGINS ALLOWING PEOPLE TO HAVE HOME SATELLITE STATIONS WITHOUT A LICENSE.

Like the transistor, it will never catch on.

1982:  FORMER FIRST LADY BESS TRUMAN DIES.

Three years short of hitting 100.

2000:  ACTRESS GWEN VERDON DIES.

Whatever Lola wants.   Oh, yeah?   God has the final word.

2007:  A SUICIDE ATTACK ON A MOTORCADE CARRYING FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER BENAZIR PHUTTO KILLS 139 AND WOUNDS 450 MORE.   BHUTTO HERSELF IS UNINJURED.

So you try to kill one person and wind up hurting everybody but?   Gee, you need new anarchists in this country.

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so just a sandwich.