"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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Did you ever think that maybe it's the Tower is straight, and it's the rest of Pisa that's crooked? (Photo by Sébastien Bertrand) Welcome back to The Spark, version 2.0. As is our new wont, we'll be taking a look at news, events, and anniversaries for the upcoming week in order to point you to deeper resources available about them in the Yahoo! Directory. Anxious to begin? So are we! Let's dive in. Monday: On this date in 1173, construction began in Pisa, Italy on a campanile. Soon after building began, the tower began to sink and tilt. (We think you can see where we’re going with this ...) Suffice it to say, though, we were surprised to learn it took nearly two hundred years to complete. Eight stories in two centuries? That's either some tough zoning commission or pretty strict union rules. In 1483, Sistine Chapel in the the Vatican opened. We always wondered where its name came from, and it turns out it was named after Pope Sixtus IV. In another construction fun fact, we were surprised to learn that the room didn't open with Michelangelo's ceiling paintings in place; they weren't added for another 25 years -- and even then, it took the artist four years to finish the job. (Insert obligatory joke about "he should have used a roller.") We don't know if this is coincidental, but today is also International Art Appreciation Day. So go out and appreciate some art, won't you? We don't take notice of just contractors today; we also salute Mr. Jacob Bronck, the Dutch farmer who managed to purchase what is now the New York borough of The Bronx (which is, of course, named for him) from local Indian tribes for 400 beads. In birthdays today, cartoon icon Betty Boop turns 80, having made her debut in the Fleischer Studios cartoon "Dizzy Dishes" in 1930. Betty looks pretty good for an old dame, and was recently unveiled as the "Official Fantasy Cheerleader" of the United Football League -- and no, we’re not sure what that actually means. Speaking of fantasy mascots, the United States Forest Service unveiled their own mascot, Smokey the Bear, on this day in 1944. For those of you inclined toward motorcycles and unseemly behavior, we'll note that the 70th Sturgis Rally begins today in Sturgis, SD, and leave it at that -- except to not that "unseemly behavior" reminds us that this is the 36th anniversary of Richard Nixon resigning the Presidency. Tuesday: In these days of the Interwebs, it's hard to conceive of how slow communication used to be. For example, it was until this day in 1776 that word of the United States declaring its independence reached London -- over a month after the event took place. It's a good day for revolutionary movements, as, in 1792, French revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace and arrested King Louis XVI. But it's not just a day for revolting; it's also a day for learning and scholarship. In 1846, James Smithson donated $500,000 (about $115 million today) to fund what would turn out to be the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. In much the same spirit, a group of, well, obsessive nerds (and we mean that fondly) met in Cooperstown, NY, in 1971, to found the Society for American Baseball Research, known for such Sabermetric abbreviations as WARP, wOBA, and xFIP. (If you’re more fond of football and video games than you are of baseball, please note that Madden NFL 11 will be released today). Antonio Banderas turns 50 today. We'll say he looks pretty darn good for a guy his age, and leave it at that. It's the 78th anniversary of the death of Rin Tin Tin. Rinty was a German Shepherd puppy who was found on a World War I battlefield by soldier Lee Duncan. Duncan brought the dog back to America and taught him any number of tricks, to the point where the dog became a major movie star in the 1920s, even keeping the Warner Bros. studio from going bankrupt. To get serious for a moment, we wish our Muslim readers a blessed Ramadan, the holiday that begins today. Wednesday: Not much to note today, but we found this juxtaposition irresistible, especially in light of recent events in the Gulf. In 1994, a federal jury awarded $286.8 million to 10,000 commercial fishermen for their losses suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. And on the same date in 1998, British Petroleum purchased Amoco for $49 billion. And in 1934, the first prisoners started arriving at the newly-commissioned federal prison on Alcatraz Island. BP? Oil spills? Alcatraz? We'll leave the math to you. Thursday: State fair season gets underway this weekend, as fairs open in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and West Virginia. The idea of the state fair conjures up (for us, anyway) the idea of small towns and the Midwest, which also reminds us that, in 1939, "The Wizard of Oz" had its world premiere not in Hollywood, but at the Strand Theatre in the bustling Wisconsin town of Oconomowoc. Turns out MGM was afraid they had a flop on their hands, and wanted to keep it quiet. (And we'll mention here that Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion, would have turned 115 this Friday). Speaking of fantasies, supposedly on this date in 1943, the U.S. Navy tested a teleportation machine in what has come to be known as the Philadelphia Experiment. Way, way back in 30 BCE, Cleopatra committed suicide by letting an asp bite her. For the geeky, not only will Jon Stewart be interviewing George Lucas at the Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, FL, but it's also the first day of the QuakeCon video game tournament. For the more athletically inclined, the PGA Golf Championship begins today in Kohler, WI, as well as the annual inductions at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. Friday: Remember not so long ago, when everyone was all concerned about how 2012 is the end of the Mayan calendar, which somehow means the end of the world? Well, on this day in 3114 BCE, the Mayan calendar started up. We can only guess what was around before that ... A big day for women today. It's the 150th birthday of sharpshooter Annie Oakley, the 100th anniversary of the death of pioneer nurse Florence Nightingale, and the 92nd anniversary of Opha Mae Johnson being the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. In the world of movies, Alfred Hitchcock, "the Master of Suspense," known for such classics as "Psycho," "North by Northwest," and "Vertigo," was born in 1899, which would have made him 111 today -- almost as old as the cast of "The Expendables," which opens today with such stars as Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. That it's also Friday the 13th and World Lizard Day seems almost non-coincidental. (Though it's also International Lefthanders Day, so we probably shouldn't make too much of it.) Saturday: Today is the 75th anniversary of the passing of the Social Security Act, which should come as a relief to Steve Martin, who turns 65 today, and is now eligible to retire. On the same day Steve was born, the Japanese surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II, an event that was helped in no small part by the U.S. Army's Navajo code talkers -- Native Americans who radioed each other in their native tongue, completely confounding the Japanese who tried unsuccessfully to understand them; something that is celebrated today with National Navajo Code Talkers Day. In Glasgow today, pipers from around the world will gather at the World Pipe Band Championships, something annoying for most of us, and bizarre enough to commemorate the 60th birthday of "Far Side" cartoonist Gary Larson. (Though perhaps it's not as bizarre as the UK Mobile Phone Throwing Championships.) A more pleasant musical event will take place on the other side of the Equator, as the World Tango Championships will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sunday: Birthdays today for two people who conquered their own worlds in their own ways. In 1769, it was Napoleon Bonaparte, and in 1912, it was Julia Child. In 1969 on this date, Woodstock opened, featuring such musical acts as Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana, Crosby, Stills and Nash, the Jefferson Airplane, The Who, and others. We began this week by mentioning the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so it’s only fitting that we end it by referring to the laying of the foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral in 1248. The Tower took only 200 years to build, but the Cathedral wasn't completed until 1880. We wish you a good week and the hopes that your own construction projects go more swiftly. Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: Sistine Chapel Ceiling - details about the painting and the process. Sturgis Rally - it's either Heaven or Hell, depending. Maybe a little bit of both. National Park Service: Alcatraz Island - take a tour of the Rock. Quake Con 2010 - games slightly more complicated than checkers. Star Wars Celebration V - Han shot first.

Directory categories: Painting Masters, Animation, Baseball History, Movie History, Rock and Pop Music History

Archived under: 18th Century, 1940s, 19th Century, Actors, Alcatraz, Alfred Hitchcock, American History, Ancient History, Animation, Anniversaries, Architecture, Arts, Baseball, Basketball, Betty Boop, Birthdays, Buildings, Calendars, Cartoonists, Cartoons, Celebrations, Celebrities, Cell Phones, Cheerleaders, Chefs, Coincidence, Concerts, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, Directors, Disappearances, Dogs, England, Entertainment, Europe, European History, Events, Festivals, France, Friday the 13th, Gamers, Games, Government, Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, History, Holidays, Islam, Italy, Japan, Judy Garland, London, MLB, Mascots, Mayan Civilization, Military, Motorcycles, Movie History, Movie Theatres, Movies, Music, Music History, Musicians, Mysteries, Mythology and Folklore, Napoleon Bonaparte, New York, Nostalgia, Online Gaming, Real Estate, Revolutionary War, Rin Tin Tin, Rome, San Francisco, Science Fiction, Scotland, Secrets, Silent Movies, Small Towns, Star Wars, U.K. History, United Kingdom, United States, Urban Legends, Video Games, WWI, WWII, Women, Yahoo! Directory

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CBGB: Gone, but not forgotten, even if it is an upscale men's store nowadays ... As Joni Mitchell (and later, Counting Crows) sang, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." We'd always heard the song was about the legendary Garden of Allah (hotel playground of the stars) in Hollywood, but apparently Mitchell was singing about a vacation in Hawaii. Regardless, as we speed into the 21st century, that sentiment is truer than ever -- particularly in the cases of places where some of our favorite bands took root and prospered. Maybe, like us, you missed the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock (though, as the saying goes, "if you remember the '60s, you weren't there"), but it's not too late to search out and experience long-standing musical landmarks and venues from the past. In San Francisco, there's The Fillmore, Bill Graham's auditorium which was pivotal to the '60s counterculture movement. It still offers guests a personal welcome, apples, and original venue posters at each show. In Los Angeles, the Sunset Strip still thrives, and such venues as The Whisky A Go Go, The Rainbow, The Roxy, and The Troubadour continue to provide the same stages once haunted by the likes of The Doors and Elton John. Many earlier landmarks like The Trocadero, The Mocambo and Ciro's (long familiar to viewers of Warner Bros. cartoons) were either torn down or converted to other uses. New Yorkers haven't been so lucky. While Hammerstein's Ballroom, The Apollo Theatre, and The Knitting Factory are still around -- not to mention the grande dames of them all: Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall -- in recent years, Manhattanites have mourned the closings of such landmarks as The Bottom Line, The Fillmore East, and CBGB, where the roots of NYC punk were planted by Television and The Ramones, as they transformed a dive bar into a safe haven for punk in the Bowery. Jazz mavens regret the transformation of 52nd Street from a jazz mecca into a series of faceless office buildings, but they can still flock to The Village Vanguard and Birdland, and (surprisingly) Harlem's Cotton Club, a prohibition-era nightspot once home to Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Ethel Waters. Some of these venues may eventually close their doors, so don't get locked out of the chance to see your favorite bands -- and newer artists -- make musical history. Suggested Sites... Lost City - blog chronicling things in New York City that are vanishing or becoming rarer. Los Angeles Time Machines - restaurants and clubs in Los Angeles that have vanished or been refurbished. Cinema Treasures - it's not just live clubs that have vanished: it's movie theaters, too. The Lost City - gallery of things and places that were once here and are now gone. Vanished Restaurants We Miss - places you used to be able to go after seeing bands at places that no longer exist.

Directory categories: Music History, Bars, Pubs, and Clubs, Los Angeles Entertainment, New York City Entertainment, San Francisco Entertainment

Archived under: Buildings, Conservation, Entertainment, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Music, Music History, New York, Nostalgia, Punk, San Francisco, Tourist Attractions

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Writers hold a "midnight write" to kick off NaNoWriMo. (Photo by Megan Myers) Writers, boot up your laptops! November is National Novel Writing Month, or "NaNoWriMo" to the initiated. The idea is that with the right combination of drive and discipline, anyone can crank out a 175-page novel over the course of a month. A group of writers in San Francisco organized the first NoWriMo in 1999, and since then the event has snowballed into a national (if niche) phenomenon. Interestingly, the project isn’t for pen and paper. To be an official participant, you have to submit your manuscript electronically in order to have the length verified by word-count software. It should be noted that people were keeping tabs on words long before machines made it easy to do so. Ernest Hemingway famously wrote 500 words a day. This marathon of writing events begs the question: Can you really write a good novel in 30 days? Well, it doesn't have to be Proust; it just has to be 50,000 words. The event organizers are the first to admit that writing done in this manner isn't the stuff of masterpieces. They say -- and I quote -- "You will be writing a lot of crap." To them, it's more about the process. And like the marathon, not everyone finishes. According to the site, last year 120,000 participants signed on at the beginning of the month, but only 20,000 people completed their pieces by midnight on November 30, the official deadline. Suggested Sites... National Novel Writing Month - the official site of the event's organizers. Word Count Tool - start generating your official word count with an online tool. National Novel Writing Month for Homeschoolers - learn how to incorporate National Novel Writing Month into homeschooling lessons. About.com: How to Organize a NaNoWriMo Write-In - tips on how to mobilize a writing group for the big event. Essortment's Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block - offers a few exercises to help your creative juices flow.

Directory categories: Literature, Creative Writing, Literature Events, Authors, San Francisco

Archived under: Arts, Authors, Books, Events, Fanatics, Literature, San Francisco, Writing

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"Bottoms up!" The Elite Cafe's oyster shooter (Photo by jessbess1) Of all the foods that can evoke strong feelings, the oyster takes the crown. It can provoke swoons of delight or disgust. It is an aphrodisiac and a delicacy. But did you ever think that the oyster leads "a dreadful but exciting life" characterized by "stress, passion, and danger?" Those are the words of M.F.K. Fisher, the celebrated food writer who died 17 years ago this week. Of her many books on eating simply and well, my favorite is "Consider the Oyster," published in 1941. Reading this slim book inspired me to go on an oyster crawl in my own San Francisco neighborhood, where the oyster has become a staple of happy hours. My fellow Yahoo! editor Jessica and I began our "Pac Heights Oyster Crawl" at the revered Swan's Oyster Depot. To be honest, in all my time living in San Francisco, I had never once ventured into this famously divey seafood bar, despite walking past it every day. We sat down just in time for the friendly guys behind the bar to serve up some super-fresh seafood cocktails (shrimp, crab, lobster meat, and clams topped with a big Blue Point oyster) and sourdough bread. Halfway through my beer, our oysters arrived: two kinds of Miyagi oysters (one local from Tomales Bay and the other from Washington state) and sweet Kumamotos (Jessica's favorites). All were crisp and clean. The oyster starts out his "devil-may-care" infancy as a male, but that quickly changes. Fisher tells us in her book that "one day, maternal longings surge between his two valves in his cold guts and gills and all his crinkly fringes. Necessity, that well-known mother, makes him one. He is a she." Just as quickly as the oyster changes its identity, we hopped into a cab to hit our next oyster destination, The Elite Café. The restaurant's $1 happy hour ends at 6 p.m., and we were not about to miss it. From the handful of oysters at the bar (two types were $1, the rest were $2 each), we sampled the buttery Skookum, the strong, bright Hama Hama (my own favorite), and a few Kumamotos. The bar's exceptional cocktail list includes an "Oyster Shooter" (an oyster swimming in jalapeno vodka and cocktail sauce). While Jessica sipped on her very sophisticated Blanton's bourbon over ice, I dared to down the shooter. Only when the oyster becomes a female does it gain the appearance that is familiar to most diners. "She has grown into a gray-white oval shape, with shades of green or ocher or black in her gills and a rudimentary brain in the forepart of her blind deaf body," Fisher writes. Oh, no, the oyster has a "rudimentary brain?" Feeling guilty about subjecting the poor oyster to jalapeno vodka (and my esophagus), we moved sluggishly onto our final destination, the Woodhouse Fish Company. A new addition to the ‘hood, this small local chain's $1 oyster happy hour offered creamy Dabob Bay oysters on a bed of seaweed and ice. (We didn't have the stamina to sample the restaurant's BBQ oysters.) Our resolve to sample the slippery, raw bivalves was wearing thin, though the restaurant's potato gratin and French fries more than rounded out our meal. The life of an oyster is short, Fisher writes. "Its chilly, delicate gray body slips into a stewpan or under a broiler or alive down a red throat, and it is done." And so was our first oyster crawl -- but it is definitely not our last. As Fisher writes, "[The oyster's] life has been thoughtless but no less full of danger, and now that it is over we are perhaps better for it." Suggested Sites... What Kind of Oyster Eater Are You? - shrinking violet, brine hound, or the wild one? How to Order Oysters at a Raw Bar - ... and look cool doing it. The Oyster Guide - like wine and cheese, oysters owe much of their flavor to terroir. How to Shuck an Oyster - without injuring yourself. SF Weekly: The Dollar Oyster List - the best in bargain Bay bivalves.

Directory categories: M.F.K. Fisher, Oyster Recipes, San Francisco Restaurants, Seafood Recipes, Food Writers

Archived under: Authors, California, Eating, Food and Drink, In Character, Restaurants, San Francisco, Writers

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