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

Archived under: 18th Century, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1980s, 19th Century, Abraham Lincoln, Actors, Advertising, American History, Animation, Anniversaries, Athletes, Awards, Biographies, Birthdays, Black History, Buildings, California, Cartoons, Celebrations, Celebrities, Censorship, Children´s TV, Christmas, Coincidence, College Football, College Sports, Comedians, Communism, Communists, Country Music, Dead Celebrities, Death, Depression, Elections, Entertainment, Events, First Ladies, Food and Drink, Football, Frank Sinatra, George Bush, Government, Health, History, Holidays, Human Rights, Humor, In Character, Invention, Inventors, Issues and Causes, Journalism, Journalists, Law, Legal Cases, Media, Men, Movie History, Movies, Music, News, Nobel Prize, Nostalgia, Politics, Presidential Candidates, Presidents, Radio, Reality TV, Recreation and Travel, Reporters, Roadside Attractions, Singers, Sports, Supreme Court, TV, Talk Show Hosts, The Three Stooges, The Wizard of Oz, Tourist Attractions, Travel, U.S. Elections, UFC, United Nations, United States, Vaudeville, Villains, Vintage, Witches, Women, Wrestlers, Wrestling

Post a comment (6) | Email this posting

This may not be a pipe, but it is the illustration for a Spark Two events earlier this week couldn't help but remind us of their historical precedents. First, the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton made us remember that Friday is the 63rd wedding anniversary of his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. If you were thinking of sending Liz and Phil a present, it's probably not necessary; they're managing to squeeze by, even in this tight economy. Tuesday's groundbreaking for the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas made us think of November 19, 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the FDR Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York, on the grounds of the Roosevelt family estate. It was America's first official presidential library. Until then, executive papers were either distributed to the President's families, given to the National Archives, or tossed away. The result was a mess that plagued historians. For example, there are numerous drafts and handwritten copies of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, all of which differ slightly, so that today it's unclear exactly what he said on November 19, 1863, when he delivered the speech to mixed reviews. Democratic newspapers panned it as "silly, flat, and dishwatery," and Republican papers called it "tasteful and elegant." You pays yer money and you takes yer choice, we guess. (Good thing there isn't that kind of partisanship today ...) Speaking of "paying yer money," we're guessing that more than a few people will be doing just that at the movies this weekend, as the first part of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" opens. We don't know if folks will be lining up for that, or to see the trailer for next summer's Green Lantern" movie, but we're willing to bet that there'll be some who are more interested in space opera than in teenage wizards. "Green Lantern" is a movie about an interstellar police force. We don't know if their home planet of Oa (or even Mogo, the Green Lantern who is a sentient planet) would be visible using the Hubble Space Telescope, but we do know that Saturday would have been the 121st birthday of Edwin Hubble, the astronomer for whom the telescope is named, and is the 26th anniversary of the founding of the SETI Institute, which searches for extraterrestrial life. Whether there's anyone else out there is a mystery that SETI is dedicated to solving, but that riddle pales in comparison to the one that gripped America over the summer and fall of 1980, when the country wondered who shot J.R. Ewing. Sunday is the 30th anniversary of the episode of "Dallas" that solved that mystery. It was estimated that 83 million people were tuned in that night, which is still the third-largest TV audience ever. Appropriately, Sunday is also World Television Day, dedicated to the boob tube and all its splendors. (It's also World Hello Day, during which you're supposed to say "Hello" to ten people. But if you're watching television, you probably won't get the chance. Of course, if you've spent Saturday night watching UFC 123 from Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Sunday afternoon watching the NASCAR Ford 400 from the Miami Homestead Speedway, you may be ready to get off the couch and socialize. Crazed from too much TV? You might try sending birthday greetings to Belgian artist René Magritte. He was born on November 21, 1889, and died in 1967, but his art is so surreal - with trains rushing from fireplaces and apples replacing human heads - that he might appreciate the good wishes anyway. If you're still desperate to make a human connection, you can wish a happy 45th to Bjork, the surrealist Icelandic singer and swan fancier. We close with week with two holidays: Sunday is Universal Children's Day, created by the United Nations in 1954 to encourage work that benefits and promotes the welfare of the children of the world, and Friday is World Toilet Day, which sounds funny, but promotes clean and sanitary conditions for everyone, child and adult. We are reminded on this day that a straight flush beats a full house. Suggested Sites... Franklin D. Roosevelt Home and Museum - "When I go up to Hyde Park, it is not just for the ride there / It's not that I love Hyde Park, but I love to park and hide there." Library of Congress: Gettysburg Address - "Seven score and seven years ago ..." DC Comics: Green Lantern - "In brightest day, in blackest night ..." Hubble Site - 20 years of breathtaking images. Los Angeles Time: The "Dallas" Shot That Was Heard Round the World - "Who shot J.R.?" (Warning: spoilers ahead.)

Directory categories: Royalty, U.S. Presidents, Harry Potter Movies, Green Lantern Comics, Astronomers

Archived under: 1950s, 1980s, 19th Century, Abraham Lincoln, Aliens, American History, Anniversaries, Artists, Astronomy, Buildings, Celebrations, Children, Childrens Health, Civil War, England, Events, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Bush, Harry Potter, Health, Libraries, Movie Trailers, Movies, Music, Musicians, Mysteries, Newspapers, Presidents, Royalty, Science, Scientists, Singers, Space, Speeches, Superheroes, TV, Texas, Toilets, Tourist Attractions, U.K. History, United Kingdom, United Nations, United States, Villains, War, Weddings

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

Goodnight to the creature who swims in the lake. Goodnight to the killjoys who think she's a fake. Thursday, we noted the anniversary of Route 66, and until the federal government decommissioned it, the various highway departments in the states through which the road ran kept it in good shape. Not every such department is as fastidious, though. For example, there's the Oregon Highway Division, which on November 12, 1970, decided that the best way to destroy a rotting sperm whale that had beached itself before dying was to blow it up, an incident which led to one the greatest memes in Internet history: "the exploding whale." While the whale parts made for a gloppy, smelly mess, the resulting patterns might well have resembled a masterpiece by Sunday's birthday boy, Claude Monet. Born in 1840, Monet was part of the revolutionary school of painting (taking its name - "Impressionism" – from of one of Monet's pictures) that was notable for depicting the effects of light on objects and places and making unique personal statements through their canvases. Friday must be a day for creatures. In 1933, Hugh Gray took the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. While some deny the existence of "Nessie," we are convinced she is alive and well. Not so benign a creature was Joseph McCarthy, the senator who took paranoia, ignorance, and character assassination to new heights. Sunday would have marked his 102nd birthday. McCarthy was, by all accounts, an unpleasant man, and through his unceasing attempts to smear anyone who opposed him as a Communist, he managed to give his name to both an era and a political tactic. Censured by the Senate in 1954 for his actions, he eventually drank himself to death in 1957. Almost as unpleasant as Sen. McCarthy is Yanni, the New Age musician whose calming tunes are as soporific as the situation comedies of Sherwood Schwartz. Both men celebrate their birthdays on Sunday, so perhaps Mr. Schwartz (responsible for such sitcoms as The Brady Bunch" and "Gilligan's Island") and Mr. Hrysomallis (Yanni's real name) will spend the night before their 94th and 56th birthdays, respectively, watching something more energetic, like UFC 122. (The idea of Yanni screaming himself hoarse over wrestlers is pretty delicious.) Of course, it's possible that the men might celebrate with a trip, though we wouldn't suggest one as energetic as that begun on November 14, 1889, when pioneering female journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) began her successful attempt to travel around the world in fewer than 80 days, in emulation of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg. Nellie completed the trip in a mere 72 days. An appropriate feat this week especially, as National Geography Awareness Week begins on Sunday. Newspapers around the world covered Nellie's trip, but the BBC couldn't have - because it didn't exist. The venerable network begin its radio service in 1922, some 33 years after her voyage. They've made up for it in the decades since with continuous news and entertainment. One of the stories we're sure they covered was the marriage of actress Carmen Electra and basketball player Dennis Rodman, wed in Las Vegas (where else?) in 1998. Unfortunately, the happy couple couldn't make a go of it, and they were divorced four-and-a-half months later. Something else that couldn't last (in spite of surviving about 500 years) was the Inca Empire, which saw the beginning of its end in 1533, when Francisco Pizarro's Spanish conquistadors arrived in Cajamarca, Peru, to show the natives who the new bosses were - a feat not unlike that performed by single women upon single men on Sadie Hawkins Day, which debuted in Al Capp's comic strip, "Li'l Abner" in 1937. Sadie Hawkins was the "homeliest gal" in Abner's hometown of Dogpatch. When she turned 35, her father declared that there would be a race with all the town's unmarried men being pursued by its unamrried women. Any bachelor who was caught was doomed to matrimony. We end the week by noting that Saturday is World Kindness Day, and noting the 1952 death of a woman who must have been one of the kindest people ever: Margaret Wise Brown. Brown was a writer of children's books, who, in collaboration with such artists as Clement Hurd, turned out such classics as "Goodnight, Moon" and "The Runaway Bunny," which have calmed and enriched the bedtimes of millions of children. Suggested Sites... The Exploding Whale - apparently, it's not just Oregon. Wikipedia: The Loch Ness Monster - all the arguments, pro and con, on Nessie. Edward R. Murrow: A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy - Murrow takes McCarthy down. Around the World in Seventy-Two Days - Nellie Bly's charming account of her global adventure. 20 Shortest Celebrity Marriages - compared to some of these, Dennis and Carmen had a golden wedding anniversary.

Directory categories: Whales, Master Painters, New Age Music, Geography, Chiildren's Literature

Archived under: 1900s, 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, 19th Century, Actors, American History, Animals, Anniversaries, Artists, Arts, Athletes, Authors, Basketball, Biographies, Birthdays, Books, Cartoonists, Celebrations, Celebrities, Children´s Literature, Comic Strips, Comics, Communism, Communists, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, Dead Celebrities, Entertainment, Events, France, Government, History, Hoaxes, Holidays, In Character, Internet, Journalism, Journalists, Las Vegas, Literature, Media, Men, Monsters and Creatures, Music, Musicians, Mustaches, Mythology and Folklore, NBA, Nellie Bly, News, Nostalgia, Paranormal, Politics, Pranks, Radio, Republican Party, Scotland, Secrets, Sitcoms, Sports, TV, Travel, U.K. History, U.S. Senate, UFC, United Kingdom, United States, Urban Legends, Videos, Villains, Weddings, Weird Stuff, Whales, Women, Wrestlers, Wrestling, Writers, Writing, Yanni, marriage

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

We love J'onn J'onzz, but this is why Martian invasions fail (Photo by Jim Reynolds) We see that "V" returns to television this evening, and the spectacle of aliens visiting the Earth yet again makes us pause to reflect on the virtual parade of strange races that have been inexplicably drawn here over the decades. Let's stipulate in the beginning that we love the Earth. It's our home and everything we know and love is here. In spite of that, we have to admit that it's not the most impressive planet. It's relatively small, certainly out of the way, and other than all of us living here, doesn't offer anything especially remarkable. So, just why is the place so darn attractive to aliens? Over the last century or so, it's been hard to swing a dead cat without hitting an extraterrestrial. The trouble seems to have started in 1898 when H. G. Wells wrote "The War of the Worlds," which depicted an invading army of Martian tripods, and there's been little rest since -- particularly from those pesky Martians. Wells' Martians have been the most persistent, returning in 1938 (with the help of Orson Welles), 1953, 1988, and 2005 -- fortunately being defeated every time by germs (you think they'd learn...). The '50s were an especially fertile decade for Martians in particular and aliens in general. That decade brought us Marvin the Martian, who didn't "invade" Earth (though he did want to blow it up -- we interfere with his view of Venus, apparently), and more "Invaders From Mars," but that one may have been a dream so it doesn’t really count (or does it?). 1956 saw the arrival of J'onn J'onzz, the "Martian Manhunter." J'onn didn't "invade," either -- he was unwillingly transported here -- but he chose to stay on and fight crime, even becoming a founding member of the Justice League of America. And, of course, in 1963, "Uncle Martin" crash-landed on Earth and became Tim O'Hara's "Favorite Martian." Martians aren't our only extraterrestrial tourists, obviously. Seems like hardly a week went by in the '50s (again!) when we weren't being invaded by Things, Blobs, Its, Kanamits -- or even Teenagers -- all of whom tried to take over the Earth with their evil plans. Of course, for every hostile invader, there was a Klaatu, Kreton, or even a Superman who came in peace, or who didn't threaten to blow up the planet -- for the time being, at least. As the century drew to a close, alien invaders became a little more persistent. There were the unnamed aliens who started to blow things up in July of 1996, all those nameless extraterrestrials who plagued Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, and even Martians again in 1996, who seemed on the verge of worldwide conquest until defeated by Slim Whitman. But even they were balanced by more benign beings whose cars broke down, made long-distance calls, or who were cruising the planet looking for dates. Conspiracists have suggested since 1947 that we've been visited by actual aliens, but that the government has covered up the truth in order to protect the public. Given our cinematic exposure to extraterrestrials, though, we're likelier to react to Gazoos or Psychlos with boredom rather than fear. Suggested Sites... Top 30 Alien Invasion Movies - if these are the "top," please keep us away from the bottom. Highest Grossing Alien Invasion Movies - now this is more like it -- even if they do include M. Night Shyamalan. Hollywood's 10 Best Alien Stories - how could we have left out "Close Encounters"? Wikipedia: Martians - sometimes they come to visit, sometimes they stay at home. Wikipedia: Films Featuring Extraterrestrials - oh, dear -- they have Ewoks in there....

Directory categories: Extraterrestrial Life, Science Fiction Movies, Science Fiction TV Shows, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Mars

Archived under: 1950s, Aliens, Entertainment, Mars, Monsters and Creatures, Movies, Orson Welles, Paranormal, Science Fiction, TV, UFOs, Villains, War of the Worlds

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

Dracula, Prince of Wallachia Long before Lestat, Bill Compton, Angel, and Edward Cullen took their first bites, there was the original vampire: Dracula. Unlike the aforementioned bloodsuckers, Dracula didn't wrestle with his conscience, delve into politics, help the helpless, or (God forbid) sparkle. Both the "real life" and fictional Draculas were violent and merciless -- not brooding, self-aware emo kids. The "real" Dracula is believed to be a Wallachian (not Transylvanian) prince named Vlad Tepes who lived during the mid-15th century. Vlad lived during a time of great political turmoil for his homeland. The ever-expanding Ottoman Empire was determined to conquer Romania and Vlad led the resistance to turn them away. Vlad used guerilla warfare and what amounted to martial law to keep the Turks out and the local nobility from rebelling. He became known as "Vlad the Impaler" for his particular brutal torture and execution tactics. According to legend, anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 were killed by Vlad's forces, leading to his reputation as a bloodthirsty tyrant. But Vlad's actions should be placed in the context of the violent and war-torn era in which he lived. In fact, many modern Romanians consider him to be a national hero. The Dracula of fiction was probably inspired by the legend of Vlad Tepes. It is debatable how aware writer Bram Stoker was of old Vlad's biography; he may have just liked the sound of "Dracula" for his villain. And Dracula was quite a villain. In between murdering and brainwashing, Dracula also plots world domination. He is apparently defeated by Dr. Van Helsing and his allies at the end of Stoker's novel by being stabbed in his coffin. However, as Hollywood has shown us, this death certainly wasn't permanent. In the Universal Studios Dracula films of the 1930s and '40s (made famous by Bela Lugosi) and the Hammer Films movies of the '60s and '70s (with Christopher "Saruman" Lee), Dracula always lives to kill another day. The popularity of these films further cemented Dracula's place in pop culture history. The last few years have seen vampires come back into vogue, thanks primarily to the TV shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "True Blood," and "The Vampire Diaries," and the Twilight books and movies. But Dracula has largely been absent, save a cameo on "Buffy" and a role in the 2004 film "Van Helsing." But as we all know, Dracula always comes back. This year, Bram Stoker's great grand-nephew will publish "The Undead," a sequel to "Dracula" based on Stoker's original notes and material not included in the original novel. With this release and the ceaseless popularity of vampire books, movies, and TV shows, it probably won't be long before Dracula rises again. But please: no sparkling.   Suggested Sites... Dracula: 1897 Original Text - read the original 1897 version of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" online at Internet Archive. Dracula's Castle - visit Dracula's Castle in Brasov, Romania and learn about other Dracula-related places in Romania. Romania Tourism; Dracula - discover more about Dracula (a.k.a. Vlad Tepes) and learn more about Dracula's place in Romanian history from the official tourism website of Romania. The Dracula Society - the foremost organization devoted to learning more about the real and fictional Dracula, as well as other supernatural beings.

Directory categories: Count Dracula, Vampires, Vlad Tepes, Bram Stoker, Romania

Archived under: Bela Lugosi, Biographies, Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, European History, Fiction, Horror, Horror Films, Literature, Movies, Mythology and Folklore, Paranormal, TV, Vampires, Villains

Post a comment (2) | Email this posting