The Milestone Mo-Tel today. Winners get one free night. Losers get two. (That's the second time we've used that joke today.) If the whole world loves a winner, we have a weekend full of love ahead of us. Let's get started! The most obvious winners will be declared Thursday when either Clint Robertson or Brandy Kuentzel wins the right to become Donald Trump's latest Apprentice for one year. (We hope that the loser isn't stuck for two years ...) One of the three remaining teams on "The Amazing Race" will win a million smackers on Sunday. (Perhaps eating that sheep's head may have been worth it.) It's almost guaranteed that none of these winners will make Barbara Walters' list of the year's "Most Fascinating People," (most fascinating to her, anyway ...) but we’ll find out for sure Thursday. (Our guess for #1 on her list? The cameraman who smears the Vaseline all over the lens that photographs her.) And on Friday, they'll be handing out the Nobel Prizes. The Nobels aren't like the Oscars; everyone already knows who won and the winners have actually accomplished something that matters, rather than playing loveable oddballs. Saturday we'll see some sports winners. In the afternoon, someone (Cam Newton? Andrew Luck? LaMichael James?) will win the Heisman Trophy as the nation's finest college football player, and in the evening, either Georges St-Pierre or Josh Koscheck will take the welterweight championship at UFC 124 in Montreal. We assume the combatants will not resort to wheeling around the ring in roller skates, but while it would be appropriate (given that Thursday marks the anniversary of their 1884 patent), we'd have to warn them that such a thing would be just plain dangerous.) Sunday also marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore, which ensured that George W. Bush became the nation's 43rd president. Whether that made the country a winner or a loser, we'll leave up to you. Falling into a similar category is Larry King's retirement from his CNN talk show on Friday. (As with President Bush, we won't say whether that's a plus or a minus.) Weary travelers were winners 85 years ago Sunday, when the Milestone Mo-Tel, the world's first motel (short for "motor hotel"), opened in San Luis Obispo, California. If we stretch the definition of "winner" to include those whose birthdays fall this weekend, then we're lousy with winners. For example, Thursday sees the birthdays of both Margaret Hamilton (1902) and Redd Foxx (1922). Hamilton is best known for her role as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 classic, "The Wizard of Oz." Despite her indelible portrayal of one of the screen's great villains, Hamilton loved children and was a lifelong advocate for charities that benefitted kids and animals. Foxx was someone whose work, on the other hand, was decidedly not for kids. A veteran of the black vaudeville entertainment venues known as the "Chitlin' Circuit," Foxx recorded a series of "party records" in the 1950s that were both filthy and hilarious. He reached a mainstream fame in the '70s when he starred in "Sanford and Son," where his frequent feigned heart attacks were one of the show's running gags. In a supreme irony, he suffered an actual heart attack while rehearsing for another television show, but no one believed was it real until it was too late. Sunday would have been the 95th birthday of Frank Sinatra. The greatest popular singer of the 20th century, Sinatra was also an Oscar-winning actor, starred in numerous TV specials that consisted of nothing but him singing with his guests, and was the biggest attraction in Las Vegas when that title actually meant something. Monday, we celebrate the 192nd birthday of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln who was criticized in her time for her extravagant and spendthrift ways, and committed to a psychiatric hospital by her son Robert. While she was undoubtedly depressed, wouldn't any woman who’d lived through the death of three sons and the murder of her husband (while sitting next to him) feel the same? She was eventually declared competent and released, but her health was broken, and she died three years later. If birthday celebrants are winners, so too are those is show business who meet success, like performers and lovers of country music, who can celebrate the 83rd anniversary of the first broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry on Friday. The Opry has been a staple of radio and television in the decades since it debuted, highlighting the best in country, from Hank Williams and Minnie Pearl to Clint Black and Carrie Underwood. Someone who's appeared at the Opry (but has yet to be inducted into its member ranks) is Taylor Swift. Perhaps the Opry has been waiting for her to turn 21 - in which case, it need wait no longer! The Grammy-winning singer reaches her majority on Monday. Thursday will see the annual airing of the Rankin-Bass animated Christmas special, "The Year without a Santa Claus," which features memorable turns by Snow Miser and Heat Miser (who are also not members of the Opry). Friday is also the 55th anniversary of the "Mighty Mouse Playhouse's" television premiere. In TV's early days, broadcasters were desperate for material to air, so old movies and cartoons were natural fodder, and Paul Terry's "Mighty Mouse" cartoons were some of the oddest programs to come to the screen. Mini operatic melodramas, they featured the eponymous rodent singing his was through battles with the villainous Oil Can Harry. Mighty made a brief comeback in the 80s in a brilliant TV series produced by Ralph Bakshi, but he's been in retirement since self-appointed censor Donald Wildmon mistook the mouse's flower sniffing for drug use. (No, really.) Wildmon isn't the only well-intentioned, if-misguided, protector we mention, though, since Thursday is the anniversary of the founding of the John Birch Society, which has been protecting Americans from the Communists lurking under their beds for 52 years. Legitimate do-gooders have something to celebrate this weekend, too. Thursday is the U.N's annual International Anti-Corruption Day, dedicated to wiping out, well, corruption and promoting the rule of law, and Friday is both Human Rights Day and the beginning of Human Rights Week. We end by noting a delightful juxtaposition on Thursday. December 9, 1792, saw the first cremation in America, when statesman Henry Laurens died at his plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, and per his will, his body was burned. On the same date in 1886, Clarence Birdseye, inventor of frozen food was born. We're reminded of the choice Curly Howard was given in a Three Stooges short: to be burned at the stake or to have his head cut off. He opted for the former, on the reasoning that a hot stake's better than a cold chop. Good night! Suggested Sites... NBC: The Apprentice - Trump's hair; you're fired! CBS: The Amazing Race - who will be eliminated -- next? UFC 124 - they're at it yet again. The Very First Motel - the story of the Milestone. Sinatra.com - the Chairman of the Board.

Directory categories: Reality TV, College Football, Al gore, Hotels and Motels, Country Musicians

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Quite possibly the biggest fan of National Cookie Day (Photo by Peter Taylor) The next few days will take on a musical flavor. On Monday, jazz pianist Dave Brubeck turns 90, an event which will be celebrated with a new Clint Eastwood-produced documentary that will premiere on TCM. Brubeck (with saxophonist Paul Desmond) pioneered the cool West Coast jazz of the 1950s with such tunes as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk." He still tours regularly and his playing is as strong as ever. In 2009, he was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor, and this Sunday, the latest batch of those awards will be given to country singer Merle Haggard, Broadway composer Jerry Herman, choreographer Bill T. Jones, rock legend Paul McCartney, and the one and only Oprah Winfrey. Someone who probably should have received a Kennedy Center Honor, but didn't, was lyricist Ira Gershwin, born December 6, 1896. Ira was the brother of composer George Gershwin, and together they wrote scores of classic tunes (a bare-bones list of which would include "I Got Rhythm" "The Man I Love," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "Someone to Watch Over Me") that have become enshrined in the Great American Songbook. The first lyricist to win a Pulitzer Prize (for 1931's "Of Thee I Sing"), he died in 1983. Friday will mark the 42nd anniversary of Elvis Presley's "'68 Comeback Special." "The King" had been domesticated by his Hollywood career, turning out one bland movie after another, but this TV special brought back the "dangerous" Elvis of the 1950s -- in black leather! -- and led to the Las Vegas appearances and concert tours that continued until his death. Some historical events of note on Sunday. In 1848, President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California, and in 1945, the so-called "Lost Squadron" disappeared when five U.S. Navy Avenger bombers carrying 14 flyers began a training mission from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station, from which they never returned. Perhaps they were swallowed by the Bermuda Triangle, or perhaps they were just practicing their stealthy ninja training. Given that Sunday is also the Day of the Ninja, we think that one explanation is as likely as the other. Saturday will bring some birthdays in the world of entertainment. Not only will it be the 49th birthdays of actresses Daryl Hannah and Julianne Moore, it will also be the 80th birthday of legendary French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. Godard was at the center of the French "New Wave" that took cinema by storm in the 1950s. Its gritty, in-your-face techniques have influenced directors as diverse as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Steven Soderbergh, Brian De Palma, and Oliver Stone. Like Brubeck, Godard is still working. His latest movie, "Film Socialisme" was released in France in May, and another film (about the Holocaust) is rumored to be on the way. A filmmaker who couldn't have been more different from Godard was Walt Disney, whose 109th birthday falls on Sunday. Given the distance between Godard's Marxism and Disney's conservatism, one can only wonder what the two of them thought of each other. Perhaps the brainiacs at the Encyclopedia Britannica could tell us, since Sunday is also the 242nd anniversary of the first publication of that know-it-all compendium. Four holidays to finish out the old week and begin the new. Friday is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, this year dedicated to "mainstreaming disability in the Millennium." Sunday is International Volunteer Day, which recognizes volunteers for their efforts and increases public awareness of their contribution to society. Monday begins Handwashing Awareness Week, something that's always a good idea, (especially after using the bathroom). Handwashing helps prevent the spread of disease, and if you're celebrating National Cookie Day Saturday, you won't get dirt all over your delicious cookies. Suggested Sites... Dave Brubeck.com - still going strong. George and Ira Gershwin - 's wonderful. Kenndy Center Honors - celebrating the lives of great American artists. Ask a Ninja - go on. Ask. Mayo Clinic: Hand Washing Do's and Don't's - who knew it was so complicated?

Directory categories: Jazz Pianists, Songwriters, Paranormal Phenomena, Disabilities, Volunteerism

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Darn right we're thankful for Mister Rogers. Wanna make somethin' out of it? Thanksgiving is, for better or worse, a holiday identified with abundance. It's only appropriate, then, that the week leading up to Turkey Day is chock-a-block with events, anniversaries, and just plain oddities. But what are we waiting for? Let's go! We begin Monday with a couple of icons of the 1930s. In 1899, composer Hoagy Carmichael was born. Though musically untrained, Carmichael became enamored of ragtime and jazz at an early age, and went on to write such standards as "Stardust," "Georgia On My Mind," "The Nearness of You," and "Heart and Soul." In 1980, Mae West died at the age of 87. West was an actress who specialized in a shocklingly overripe and aggressive sexuality - in fact, she was arrested in 1927 on morals charges for her Broadway play, "Sex." To her dying day, she insisted that she was as sexually alluring as ever, even starring as an octogenarian sex symbol in 1978's "Sextette." On the opposite end of the sexual spectrum was the gentle and avuncular Fred Rogers, who donated one of his "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" sweaters to the Smithsonian Institution on this date in 1984. There's no report on what happened to his sneakers. Perhaps they were stolen by one of the host of shady characters we'll note over the next two days. For example, Monday is the anniversary of the 1718 death in battle of Edward Teach - better known as the notorious pirate Blackbeard, who terrified the West Indies. If not Teach, perhaps the culprit was Henry McCarty (aka William Bonney), who terrorized the American West as the thieving Billy the Kid (born November 23, 1859). Or maybe it was William "Boss" Tweed, the uber-corrupt boss of Tammany Hall who ran New York City in the 1850s and '60s, and was arrested and returned to Manhattan in 1876 after fleeing to Europe. If one were of such a mind, one might see the death of Blackbeard or the jailing of Tweed as evolutionary "thinning of the herds;" an appropriate thought, since Monday is the 141st anniversary of  the publication of Charles Darwin's book, "On the Origin of Species." Darwin's ideas are pretty deep, and are best contemplated by either a Rhodes Scholar or a comics geek – both of whom are in luck Monday, as not only will the 2010 Rhodes Scholarships be announced, but (following a computer meltdown earlier this month), tickets for next summer's San Diego Comic-Con will go on sale. If history is any indication, they'll sell out within minutes, so you've probably already missed your chance. (Or you could have, if the computers hadn't crashed again.) If that's the case, you may want to salve your hurt feelings with some television, perhaps even sinking to watching tonight's premiere of "Skating with the Stars." (Because there's nothing we need more than another eccentric actress falling on the ice in another phony reality competition.) On a serious note, for those of us of a certain age, November 22 will always signify the 1963 death of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. Forty-seven years later, most of us still remember where we were when we heard the news. Suggested Sites... Hoagy Carmichael - an American original. Treasures of American Television - hi ho! It's where Kermit the Frog ended up. Crime Library: Henry McCarty: "Billy the Kid" - the Tru(TV) history. San Diego Comic-Con - maybe you can still get a ticket. National Archives: JFK Assassination Records - official documents related to the case.

Directory categories: Thanksgiving Recipes, Songwriters, Piracy, Evolution, U.S. Presidents

Archived under: 18th Century, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 19th Century, Actors, American History, Anniversaries, Assassinations, Awards, Birthdays, Books, California, Celebrities, Charles Darwin, Children´s TV, Comic Books, Comics, Composers, Contests, Conventions, Crime, Criminals, Dead Celebrities, Education, Events, Evolution, History, In Character, Legal Cases, Murder, Museums, Music, Music History, New York, Old West, Pirates, Presidents, Reality TV, Science, Sex and Sexuality, Sweaters, TV, Texas, Thanksgiving, The West

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"Dick, you're from Orange County. Can't you get me in? I've got a fistful of E-tickets!" Welcome back to The Spark. It's a brand new week with some brand new chances to dig deep into upcoming events and anniversaries. Let's begin, shall we? Monday: Today is International Chocolate Day, a chance to indulge your sweet tooth and not feel guilty -- or, at least, unduly guilty. We don't know if the holiday is timed to coincide with the 1857 birthday of Milton Snaveley Hershey (the man who founded both the Hershey chocolate company and the town of Hershey, PA), but if it isn't, it's a sweet coincidence. (Of course, it's also Fortune Cookie Day, so it may not be honoring him, after all.) In our youths, this time of year was always looked forward to anxiously, as the new television season was starting. For example (as we’ve noted previously, both "Law & Order" (1990) and "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" (1969) began their seemingly endless runs on this day, as did "The Muppet Show" in 1976. The season still starts this week, but it's nowhere near as exciting as it used to be. Regardless, it's not without interest. For example, Martha Stewart's new show premieres on the Hallmark Channel, and both Oprah and Mary Hart begin their final seasons on their respective shows. (In the latter cases, we guess that hoping for such events paid off -- especially with this being Positive Thinking Day). Maybe the most notable thing to happen on this day was in 1814, when lawyer Francis Scott Key observed the British attacking Fort McHenry in Baltimore and was so moved by the stars and stripes surviving intact that he penned a poem that soon became known as the "Star-Spangled Banner," which was eventually adopted as the American national anthem in 1931. Tuesday: We begin the day by noting some passings. First, in 1927, Isadora Duncan died. Duncan is usually considered the mother of modern dance. Her bohemian lifestyle and exuberant dancing made her world famous -- as did her death, when a scarf she was wearing became tangled in the wheels of the automobile she was riding in and broke her neck. Next is Irving Thalberg. Thalberg was a film producer at Universal and MGM in the 1920s and '30s, who turned out such classic films as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "The Big Parade," "The Broadway Melody," "Tarzan the Ape Man," "Grand Hotel," and "A Night at the Opera." After his premature death in 1936 at the age of 37, F. Scott Fitzgerald immortalized his in his novel "The Love of the Last Tycoon," which painted him as one of the few men who was able to hold the formula for successful motion pictures in his head. On a lighter note, it was on this day when major league baseball owners, in an attempt to break the players' union, cancelled the rest of the 1994 season – including the World Series. Not all the news of this day is bad, though. For example, in 1961. Wendy Thomas, namesake of the eponymous hamburger restaurant chain, was born, just a year after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries -- or OPEC -- was founded -- well, maybe that second one isn’t so good, after all. How about we finish the day by remembering the 1985 premiere of "The Golden Girls," or by telling you to get out the vote, as there are primary elections in Minnesota, Delaware, Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin? Wednesday: Today’s birthdays include: Marco Polo (1254), the Venetian who was one of the first Westerners to explore China and Central Asia, and who later inspired kids playing in pools to shout his name. In 1907, it was Fay Wray, the actress who so captivated the original King Kong and whose screams pierced the eardrums of the world. (Peter Jackson even wanted to cast her -- at the age of 96 -- in his ill-fated remake of "Kong," but she unfortunately passed away before filming could begin.) Jackie Cooper (1922) was one of the first child stars of the talkie era. Beginning at age 7, he worked as an actor, writer, producer, and director until his retirement in 1989. He was the youngest performer ever to be nominated in a leading role for an Academy Award (for 1931's "Skippy"). "Skippy" was based on a comic strip of the same name that also gave its name to the peanut butter brand (a fact which has caused a some controversy over the years), but peanut butter also plays a weird part in the death of Jumbo the elephant. Jumbo was the star attraction at the London Zoo in the 1860s and '70s. P.T. Barnum, seeing the marketing possibilities, bought Jumbo in 1882 for $10,000, and brought the pachyderm to America where he became a huge hit -- even lending his name to large-sized items. Unfortunately, Jumbo was hit by a train in 1885 and crushed. His skeleton was donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, but his hide was stuffed and eventually donated to Tufts University, where it was displayed until 1975, when it was destroyed by a fire. But Jumbo's ashes were recovered and now reside in a 14-ounce jar of Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter in the office of the college's athletic director, where Tufts athletes still rub the jar for luck. Three literary birthdays: James Fennimore Cooper (1789), who wrote "The Last of the Mohicans" and other adventure novels, and who was later eviscerated by Mark Twain, who called him one of the worst writers who ever lived. Robert Benchley (1899) was a master of an-but-dead art form, the short humorous essay. Working initially as drama critic for the original "Life" magazine and "The New Yorker," he eventually became a character actor whose droll cameos enlivened any movie. And in 1890, Agatha Christie was born. The mistress of mystery, she turned out 80 novels featuring Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and others, along with a number of plays -- one of which, "The Mousetrap," has been running continuously in London since 1952 -- to become (according to Guinness), the best-selling author of any kind in history, with over four billion copies of her books sold. In 1902, the trio of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers (pronounced "EE-vers," if you please; not "EVV-ers"), and Frank Chance pulled off their first double play for the Chicago Cubs. They were later immortalized in a poem by columnist Franklin P. Adams. More TV. In 1949, "The Lone Ranger" premiered, just a day after the 35th birthday of star Clayton Moore, who made a lifelong career of portraying the masked man. Speaking of birthdays and TV stars, in 1971, "Columbo" first aired, the day before Peter Falk turned 44. Falk will be forever identified with the detective whose cigar, rumpled raincoat, and equal amounts of annoyance and inquisitiveness endeared him to millions. The 1965 debut of "I Spy" was notable for two things. One was that it did a lot of its filming overseas, an unheard-of practice for the time. The other -- and far more important one -- is that it was the first series to feature a black actor (Bill Cosby) and a white actor (Robert Culp) as co-stars in equally important roles. There had been other shows featuring black actors, but, until then, all had traded in stereotypes and comic relief. Finally, in 1971, Greenpeace was founded, dedicating itself to increasing public awareness of such issues as global warming, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling and nuclear power. Thursday: Lots of music today. First of all, the 1782 death of Farinelli. Farinelli was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, who was probably the greatest castrato of all time. While it seems barbaric now, castrati were boys with beautiful soprano voices whose, um, manhood was cut short before adolescence in order to maintain the purity of their tone with the power of masculine singing. He traveled throughout Europe, becoming (somewhat surprisingly) a ladies' man, and retired a wealthy man. While Farinelli sang opera, it was different from what we know today; not really the sort of thing that's much heard these days at the New York's Metropolitan Opera House, which opened in 1966 at Lincoln Center with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's "Antony and Cleopatra." About as far away as you can get from the Met, Riley B. King was born in 1925 on a plantation in Mississippi. At the age of 21, Riley began singing on the radio in Memphis, and gained the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy," which was later shortened to "B.B.," and combined with his last name, gave us B.B. King, one of the greatest blues singers and musicians in history. At the other end of the spectrum from the blues and opera are cheesy animated musical TV specials such as the kind brought to us by Jules Bass, who was born in 1935. With his partner Arthur Rankin, Bass formed an animation company that gave us such "classics" as "The Year without a Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Such shows could really drive a person to drink, so if that's the case, you may want to head to Denver, where the 2010 Great American Beer Festival will get underway today, featuring brewers large and micro, bringing you the finest in suds. (Not to mention Oktoberfest, which begins in Munich, Germany, tomorrow for the 200th time.) We don't know if they indulge in the occasional brewski, but if they do, Queen Elizabeth will be meeting Pope Benedict today, and that would seem to be the right time to hoist one. Friday: Since April 2, 1956, many Americans have been following events in Oakdale, IL with great enthusiasm, but that all comes to an end today when "As the World Turns," the venerable soap opera, airs its last broadcast. Its death is another nail in the coffin of daytime drama, which once gave millions hours of entertainment, but is now just a relic of an earlier era or broadcasting and American history. Speaking of American history, it was on this date in 1787 that the U.S. Constitution was ratified, setting in motion a series of debates that continue to the present day as to just what the Founding Fathers did mean. With such confusion, it's no wonder that in 1859, the otherwise-harmless Joshua A. Norton declared himself "Emperor Norton I" of the United States. Norton was humored by his fellow San Franciscans and treated with honor, and was given all the perks of royalty with none of the responsibilities. When he died in 1880, he was given a funeral whose procession stretched for two miles and drew 30,000 spectators. A less inglorious send-off was received by guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who died of an overdose of sleeping pills in a London hotel in 1970. Hendrix's flashy and virtuosic musical style has influenced almost every rock and jazz guitarist since. Lastly, we note that Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, begins at sundown. Saturday: Beginnings of note today: In media, in 1851, The New York Times began publishing. While the "Grey Lady" is still the "paper of record," we also have to wonder if it, soon, will go the way of the soap opera. (We hope not, as we still enjoy settling down on a Sunday with the Times.) And, in 1927, the Columbia Broadcasting System, better known as CBS, went on the air for the first time. On another network (ABC) in 1964, "The Addams Family" premiered. The series, based on the New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams, took a delight in black humor and the wholesomely perverse, and inspired the current Broadway musical. In 1895, Daniel David Palmer gave the first chiropractic adjustment in history to one Harvey Lillard, in Davenport, IA, which is now the home of the Palmer College of Chiropractic. In 1905, in Stockholm, Sweden, Greta Gustafsson was born. By the age of 19, as Greta Garbo, she was one of the greatest movie stars in history. Iconic and reclusive, she grew tired of the film industry and retired in 1941, and spent the half-century of her life avoiding the press and public. Not so reclusive is birthday girl June Foray. Born in 1917, Foray is the voice behind most of the female characters in the classic Warner Bros. cartoons, not to mention playing both Rocket J. Squirrel and Natasha Fatale on the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show. And she’s still working in her 90s! One of the unluckiest men in sports history was born in 1925. Harvey Haddix was a pitcher for, among other teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates. On May 26, 1959, Haddix accomplished something no other pitcher in history has ever accomplished: he pitched 12 innings of perfect baseball; that is to say, he faced the first 36 batters without allowing a baserunner. Unfortunately, the Pirates being the Pirates, they didn't score any runs for Haddix. The 37th batter got on on an error, and was bunted to second. The no-hitter was still in place when Hank Aaron was walked, but the next batter, Joe Adcock, hit a home run to end the game (and even that went screwy went Adcock passed Aaron on the basepaths and was called out). That game was tragic for Haddix, but nowhere near the tragedy of actress Peg Entwistle who, in 1932, despondent over her lack of success in the movies, committed suicide by jumping from the letter "H" in the famous Hollywood sign. Sunday: We end the week by letting you know that it's the beginning of TV Turnoff Week, which asks parents and kids to turn off the boob tube and read, play, talk, or just sit in quiet contemplative silence. Given that it’s Adam West's birthday (1928), his culpability in the "Batman" TV series of the '60s, makes it easy to think about never watching television again. If you do watch, though, the Martin Scorsese-produced "Boardwalk Empire" premieres tonight on HBO. Being that it's from Scorsese, you can almost predict that it's about gangsters -- this time in the wide-open Atlantic City of the 1920s. Speaking of thugs and villains reminds us that, in 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was prevented him from visiting Disneyland. Police authorities cited security concerns, though many speculated it was punishment for his being the top Communist. (Though to some of us, having to go to the Magic Kingdom at all would be punishment indeed.) To round out the week, we give our hopes that, at some time during the day, you'll celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day by shivering your timbers, avasting your keelhaul, or doing whatever it is buccaneers do. See you next time! Suggested Sites... An Elephant's Tale - "An Unadulterated and Relatively True Story Chronicling the Life, Death and Afterlife of Jumbo, Tufts' Illustrious Mascot." Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses - Mark Twain takes on Cooper. Guess who wins. Robert Benchley: A Profile in Humor - biography of the writer and actor. Wikipedia Springs "Mousetrap" Ending - after six decades, it's really not a "spoiler," is it? Snopes: Nyet! - the history of Nikita's zip-a-dee-don't-dah day.

Directory categories: Animation, War of 1812, Classic Hollywood Movies, Mystery Authors, Major League Baseball

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"I tell you, Ike; Mamie's a looker, but she's no Annette." I recently found out that Nikita Khrushchev and I have at least one thing in common: Disneyland figured into our first trips to the United States -- though not for the same reasons. (Rest assured we didn't go to the "Magic Kingdom" together) My own story is pretty short and really not worth a line in history books: when I was 14, I came from France to "discover" the U.S. I was expecting I'd visit national parks and see the wonders of nature. Instead, the family I was staying with took me to Disneyland, even though I hate roller coasters and rides. I give them a lot of credit, though, for thinking that was the best "American" experience for a little foreigner like me. Apparently, Khrushchev had much higher expectations regarding Disneyland: he asked specifically to visit the amusement park during his first trip to the U.S. in September 1959. The then-Prime Minister of the Soviet Union landed in Washington, DC on September 15, and embarked for a snapshot tour of America, with stops in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Des Moines. (Des Moines?) Khrushchev spent only one day in the City of Angels, but still managed to trigger a major diplomatic incident. After a pleasant visit to the 20th Century Fox studios and a lunch with such famous attendees as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope, Gary Cooper, and Charlton Heston, the General Secretary expressed his desire to go to Disneyland. The amusement park had opened in 1955, giving many celebrities and politicians the chance to stroll through the Magic Kingdom and meet with a giant mouse, but the Chief of the LAPD refused to be held responsible for the security of the convoy to Disneyland, arguing that Anaheim was in Orange County, and therefore, out of his jurisdiction. Needless to say, Khrushchev was not happy, and threw a tantrum in front of a baffled crowd: "What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there? Have gangsters taken hold of the place? Your policemen are so tough they can lift a bull by the horns. Surely they can restore order if there are any gangsters around. I say, 'I would very much like to see Disneyland.' They say, 'We cannot guarantee your security.' Then what must I do, commit suicide? For me, such a situation is inconceivable. I cannot find words to explain this to my people." Fortunately, he didn’t bang his shoe to show his anger, keeping that trick for his trip to the United Nations the following year. A film based on the incident was in the works, with Peter Ustinov playing Khrushchev, but the Disney Studio cancelled the project after Walt Disney died in 1966. Too bad, since they would have had the perfect title: "The Bay of the Three Little Pigs Invasion." (*"No, you can't go to Disneyland.") Suggested Sites... Nikita Khrushchev Goes to Hollywood - a detailed report on the Soviet Prime Minister's visit to Los Angeles. The Incident -- According to Walt Disney - what the father of Mickey Mouse had to say about Khrushchev being barred from his park. More Parks That Khrushchev Missed - for his own good?

Directory categories: Nikita Krushchev, Disneyland, The Cold War, Soviet Union, Soviet Leaders

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