"Turkey good! Football good! Lip-synching in Macy's Parade bad!" There's lots to say about arts and entertainment over the next few days. Let's start at the top, with Boris Karloff, born November 23, 1887 . The erstwhile William Henry Pratt labored as a truck driver, farmhand, and occasional character actor until 1931, when he landed the role of the monster in "Frankenstein." Even though he went unbilled in the original release of the movie, he became an instant star whose name was linked with horror until his death in 1969. In a nice coincidence, Forrest J. Ackerman, the man who became one of Karloff's best friends and biggest boosters was born a day later (albeit in 1916). Ackerman was the longtime editor of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine, and cultivated a love for monsters and psychological horror in a million youngsters in the 1950s and '60s. But we've only scratched the surface when it comes to entertainment. For example, in 1889, the first jukebox went into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. (We'll add that "juke" was slang for ... well, a "house of ill repute," and leave it at that.) This distant ancestor to the iPod contained a tinfoil phonograph with four listening tubes and a coin slot for each tube. So popular was it that it took in $1,000 in the first six months - a nickel at a time. Musical entertainment has evolved significantly in the century since. On Wednesday, we'll note the 142nd birthday of composer Scott Joplin. Joplin didn't invent ragtime music, but was one of its foremost composers, his "Maple Leaf Rag" virtually defined the era. Joplin isn't the only great artist who's an exemplar of his chosen genre. On Wednesday evening, PBS will broadcast an all-star concert celebrating the 80th birthday of Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist for some of the best - and most important - musicals in theatre history. And on November 25, 1949, Robert May and Johnny Marks'  "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" made its debut/ Gene Autry's recording of the tune eventually sold more than 25 million records. If those are the heights musical genres can reach, we note what some might consider the nadir, represented by tonight's episodes of "Glee" (featuring Carol Burnett) and the (tainted?) finale of "Dancing with the Stars." (And we mention the 1871 founding of the National Rifle Association purely in passing here - in case someone wants to emulate Steven Cowan.) Music can have an effect even in the world of science. Wednesday is the 36th anniversary of Donald Johanson and Tom Gray's discovery of the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton that they named "Lucy," after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." The fine arts are also represented this week. Tuesday is the 118th birthday of Romain de Tirtoff, who, under the name Erté (taken from the French pronunciation of his initials) virtually defined the Art Deco style of the early 20th century, and Wednesday is the 146th birthday of French illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Toulouse-Lautrec captured the lives of the Parisian demimonde of the late 19th century. And while it's not exactly "art," the first issue of "Life" magazine was published in 1936. Over the next 36 years, the photojournalism magazine featured some of the finest photography in the world - though none of its photographers could have used a zoom lens until it was invented this week in 1948. In performing arts, Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play "The Mousetrap" opened in London's West End in 1952, and has been running ever since, making it the longest continuously-running play in history. (There was even a recent controversy over whether the surprise ending should be revealed on Wikipedia. It was, so if you go over there, consider yourself warned.). Pity movie producer John Woolf, who bought the movie rights to the play, on the condition that he not film it until it closed. Woolf died in 1999, but the play runs on. It sounds like a disaster almost profound enough to be filmed by producer Irwin Allen, king of such disaster movies as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno," and whose 94th birthday would have been Wednesday. It could be a disaster, but not a cosmic mystery suitable for solving by Doctor Who, the venerable BBC television series that began broadcasting this week in 1963. Crime and criminals also figure into this week (like every week, probably). On November 24, 1971, D.B. Cooper skyjacked a Boeing 727, collected $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted out over southern Washington state, never to be seen again. We mention an odd birthday coincidence in passing. Wednesday is the 122nd birthday of motivational author Dale Carnegie, and Thursday is the 175th birthday of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Dale (whose last name was originally spelled "Carnagey") wrote the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (which is still a best-seller on the self-help charts, nearly 75 years after it was published). Andrew made his fortune in the steel business and ended up giving most of it away, endowing libraries, schools, universities, along with numerous charities and foundations. By 1919, he had given away over $350 million (about $4.3 billion in 2010 dollars), with the remaining $30 million distributed after his death that year. In animal events, President Obama is scheduled to give an executive pardon to a turkey on Wednesday, and Thursday (in addition to everything else) is the National Dog Show in Philadelphia. Lastly, we mention what is, for many, the most notable event of the week: Thanksgiving, with its attendant gorging, football. T-Day also brings us the Macy's Parade, which gives television viewers across the country the chance to watch b-list actors and singers lip synch to lousy music, and this year will feature such traditional holiday entertainers as Jessica Simpson, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, and Kanye West. Truly a Thanksgiving smorgasbord! Suggested Sites... Karloff.com - the Master of Horror -- and the nicest guy in Hollywood, by all accounts. Biography of Scott Joplin - the King of Sedalia, Missouri. The Discovery of Lucy - and we don't mean Mrs. Ricardo. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - the complete works. Top 10 Disaster Movies - the more stuff blows up, the more we love 'em!

Directory categories: Movie Genres, Ragtime Musicians, TV Series, Paleontology, Thanksgiving Recipes

Archived under: 1910s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1970s, 19th Century, Actors, Africa, Agatha Christie, American History, Ancient History, Animals, Anniversaries, Archaeology, Artists, Arts, Authors, Balloons, Barack Obama, Biographies, Birds, Birthdays, Black History, Books, Boris Karloff, Broadway, Celebrities, Christmas, Coincidence, Composers, Concerts, Crime, Criminals, D.B. Cooper, Dancing With the Stars, Disappearances, Doctor Who, Dogs, Eating, Entertainment, Events, Food and Drink, Football, Guns, History, Holidays, Horror, Horror Films, Jazz, Journalism, Journalists, London, Magazines, Men, Millionaires, Monsters and Creatures, Movie History, Movies, Music, Music History, Musicals, Musicians, Mysteries, NFL, New York, News, Parades, Performing Arts, Pets, Philanthropy, Photography, Rap and Hip-Hop, San Francisco, Science, Scientists, Songs, Sports, Stephen Sondheim, TV, Talk Show Hosts, Thanksgiving, The Beatles, Turkey, Wikipedia, Writers

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"Give me a minute! I have to finish this "Stanley and Livingstone" cue! Wednesday: Today's most notable event may be the 41st anniversary of the debut of "Sesame Street" on what was then known as "National Educational Television," but is now called PBS. (We guess the powers that be didn't want their audiences think they might be getting smarter while watching the boob tube.) In the decades since, the show has educated generations of Americans through its use of humor, music, and pop culture references. Some of those references are calculated to appeal less to kids than to their parents, just like the ones in the Warner Bros. cartoons of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. And being of a cartoonish disposition, we couldn't help but notice that it's the 119th birthday of Carl Stalling, the man who wrote the scores for all those "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies." How many did he write? Well, over 22 years, he wrote complete scores for more than 700 animated shorts -- or one every ten days. That's a lot of notes. More succinct was journalist Henry Morton Stanley, who on this date in 1871 located missing missionary Dr. David Livingstone in what is now Ujiji, Tanzania. After an eight-month, 7,000-mile trip, Stanley allegedly greeted the good doctor with the words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?," a phrase familiar to even thos people who have no idea who either Stanley or Livingstone was. Lucky was the person who lived in ignorance of the alleged curse of the Hope Diamond. Despite little hard evidence, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries all sorts of ill-fortune was attributed to the stone. Supposedly, it was responsible for any number of suicides and deaths among those who had owned it since the 17th century. Its last owner was New York diamond merchant Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian Institution on this day in 1958 – something that seems to have harmed neither the museum nor Winston's company in the years since. Suggested Sites... History of Sesame Street - from Mr. Hooper to Katy Perry. Carl Stalling and Humor in Cartoons - it's not all visual gags. Stanley Finds Livingstone, 1871 - David Stanley himself tells the story. Wikiquote List of Misquotations - even if Stanley did say what he was supposed to have, these folks didn't. Curse of the Hope Diamond - the debunking debunked.

Directory categories: Children's Television, Animation, Film Composers, Diamonds, Washington, DC Museums

Archived under: 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 19th Century, Africa, American History, Animation, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Cartoons, Children´s TV, Composers, Curses, Exploration, Explorers, History, Humor, In Character, Journalism, Journalists, Looney Tunes, Movies, Museums, Music, Music History, Quotes, Sesame Street, TV

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Sure, they look cute now, but they'll be embarrassed about it once they grow up (Photo by USACE Europe District) When I first heard that Quincy Jones was going to re-record the 1985 song "We Are The World" and donate proceeds to Haitian relief, I had a flashback to the '80s. It was slightly scary, but not for the usual reasons. Although the original Live Aid song, recorded for USA for Africa, is memorable for its catchy tune and stellar group of performers, what it reminds me of is having to sing it at a sixth-grade assembly. For many of the kids and teachers, it was quite a production; they even held auditions for solo parts. The cheese factor was very high, but I'm sure the show managed to leave many parents teary-eyed. This got me wondering what my fellow Yahoo!s had to perform in their schooldays at the behest of well-intentioned adults, and whether there might be any incriminating photos or video hanging around. Here's what they remember: Sarah: My school did an "American Music Retrospective" that was framed as an episode of "American Bandstand" (this was 1996, so no "TRL" yet). We sang everything from "Rock Around the Clock" to "California Dreaming" to "Flashdance… What a Feeling" (how the latter counts as great music is beyond me). The scariest part was when one of the teachers came out dressed like John Travolta and did the "Stayin' Alive" dance. I'm still trying to wipe that vision from my memory. Sebastian: Reciting Portia's "The quality of mercy is not strain'd" speech from "The Merchant of Venice" in the seventh grade in front of the whole class, after a large bout of insomnia. Everyone had to do it. Plus, it was a girl's speech! Embarrassing! (P.S. for Shakespeare nerds: the speech falleth like sack of hammers thereupon, thus interrupting the flow of the play. Critics, scholars and other bores are still scratching their heads as to what purpose Shakespeare saw inserting a long, morality-soaked speech in the middle of continuous action.) Mike: I think my only on-stage performance was as a dancing clown in our horrible fifth-grade version of "The Nutcracker." It was pretty friggin' embarrassing. [Editor's note: the video is not of Mike but we sure wish it was!] Mitzi: Our fifth-grade class had to put on a performance of "The Nutcracker Suite." Self-conscious boys and girls in leotards and tutus -- oh, the humanity! Dave: It must have been sometime in the mid '60s. We were doing a Christmas pageant  (not a holiday pageant -- that's how long ago it was), and I was in a skit called "Christmas on Holiday Island," or some such. I was one of a group of illiterate savages to whom Christmas would be explained. Sometime in the middle of the skit, there was a huge, sudden burst of laughter. I looked around to see what had happened (even at that tender age, I knew the writing was terrible), and noticed that my crepe paper loincloth had pooled around my ankles. Fortunately, I'd had the sense (and modesty) to be wearing Bermuda shorts under the loincloth, but it didn't help my embarrassment at not only making a spectacle of myself, but of ruining the skit (an admittedly low bar to clear). I pulled up the loincloth and finished, leaving to a nice round of applause. Michelle: My first thought was the embarrassment of playing "Eye of the Tiger" in band class (so, out of tune, at about ¾ the correct speed), but I've come around on that and now think it's pretty hilarious. More embarrassing was an act that I wasn't roped into, but chose to do: a costumed lip-synch performance of "Rock Me Amadeus" in front of my entire class (or was it the whole school?) at a talent show. I'm sure it was a sight to behold, but thankfully no one got it on video. More accounts of childhood command performances tomorrow. Don't worry -- they aren't all horror stories! Suggested Sites... We Are The World Class of 2010 - news video on omg! with a behind-the-scenes look at the remake. USA For Africa - We Are the World @ 25 - info about the 25th anniversary of the original recording. Live Aid: A Look Back At A Concert That Actually Changed The World - MTV revisits the 1985 concert. Shakespeare for Elementary Students - PBS details the delicate art of getting kids to enjoy Shakespeare. The Nutcracker - Kaboose.com - familiarize your kids with classic stories early and they'll beg to dress up in funny costumes and dance!

Directory categories: Live Aid Concert, Haiti Earthquake Relief, Quincy Jones, Christmas Plays and Skits, Music Instruction for Children

Archived under: Actors, Africa, Arts, Ballet, Charity, Children, Entertainment, Kids, Music, Pageants, Performing Arts, Rock and Roll, School, The Nutcracker, William Shakespeare

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Johnny Weissmuller, before he play Tarzan Me Tarzan, you reader. Friends ask Tarzan why English lord speak so badly. Tarzan shrug and answer, "Give people what they want." Tarzan speak fine in 1912 when Tarzan created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. (Tarzan even speak French.) But when Tarzan played by Johnny Weissmuller in many movies, Tarzan somehow tongue-tied. Go figure. Anyway, Tarzan is King of Apes and of many jungles: African jungle (even have song about it!), movie jungle, TV jungle, radio jungle, comic book jungle, cartoon jungle. Tarzan even had Broadway musical. Eat heart out, Batman! Today good day for many friends. Cheeta recently celebrate 77th birthday. Live in Valley. Paints. Lucky. ($125 a painting? Maybe Tarzan should try.) Weissmuller's 105th birthday today. Couldn't speak, but good swimmer. To them and you, Tarzan have only one thing to say: Ooohhhhaaeeeaaaahhhh Oooohhheeeaaahhh! Suggested Sites... Tarzan.com - home of Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, David Innes, Carson Napier, and dozens of other pulp heroes. Tarzan: The Broadway Musical - swinging onto the Great White Way. ERBzine - dedicated to all of the creations of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Salon: Jungle love - Stephanie Zacharek puts the Tarzan and Jane marriage under the microscope. Tarzan of the Apes - the complete first novel, anotated.

Directory categories: Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan Movies, Musicals, Primates

Archived under: 1910s, 1930s, Africa, Apes, Athletes, Authors, Birthdays, Broadway, Cartoons, Comic Books, Comic Strips, Disney, Entertainment, Fiction, In Character, Movies, Musicals, Olympics, Royalty, Superheroes, Swimming, TV, Tarzan

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Robert Gabriel Mugabe Twenty-nine years ago, Robert Mugabe became Zimbabwe's first Black prime minister and has retained power ever since. Throughout the years he has been called everything from a despot and a racist to "Frankenstein." Mugabe, not one to stand silently under a barrage of insults, countered with his very own comparison by singing the praises of a certain German dictator of the mid-twentieth century. He said: "Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources ... If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold." Maybe Mugabe, in his infallible wisdom, hit the nail on the head. He's got that stylish Hitler mustache down, that much is for sure, but has he got the same qualities of leadership we've all come to admire in that most famous of fascists? Lets take a look. Opponents to Mugabe and his ZANU PF party can expect murder and torture to keep them in line. When election time rolls around every few years, voter intimidation and fraudulent ballot-counting are Mugabe's campaign strategies of choice. And, just like Adolf, he's targeted specific ethnic groups for human rights violations. However, it seems that Robert Mugabe's glorious, if slightly -- just slightly -- iron-fisted, merciless, and violent rule is coming to an end, as his power has been diminished with a recent power-sharing deal. As we reflect on the reign of this great student of Hitler, we should salute his amazing ability to bring radical transformation to the nation of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe today is rife with frightening difficulties including a devastating cholera epidemic and record-breaking hyperinflation. (The best economic estimates place it around 90 sextillion percent. This doesn't mean much until you consider that the official count for all the stars in the universe is only 70 sextillion!) In the last three decades, the country has gone from being the breadbasket of Southern Africa to a country that cannot feed itself. Way to go, Mugabe! Suggested Sites... Sokwanele - sokwanele or "Enough is Enough:" an underground protest movement. Sky News: Robert Mugabe In Depth - current news on Mugabe and ongoing developments in Zimbabwe. Movement for Democratic Change - official website of the opposition party (MDC). The Zimbabwe Independent - independent newspaper based in Harare.

Directory categories: Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Government Officials, Zimbabwe Issues and Causes, Human Rights Organizations, Adolf Hitler

Archived under: Adolph Hitler, Africa, Biographies, Criminals, Dictators, Government, History, Human Rights, Presidents

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