Wednesday, December 3, 2014

- Major Gridlock Alert -

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit for the first time this holiday season tonight. Remember to bring a polo mallet with you if you, unfortunately, find yourself in midtown

Thousands of poor souls will gather for the 82nd Annual Christmas tree lighting ceremonies. Do you really want to be stuck in the middle of potential Darwin Award winners and their children who should be forced to play in traffic? So once again, I'm giving native New Yorkers a gentle reminder - watch last year's lighting here.



This year, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga and a plethora of others, as well as, the refugees from overbooked ancient hotels in the holy land are involved this year.

Exert extreme caution!


It's a little early in the month but Louis “The Sleepy Skunk” Plamondon has created a fantastic mash-up trailer of 197 films from 2014 -



How many of them have you seen?  Check out his Tumblr blog to review a list of movies (in order.)


December 3, 1948 -
John Michael Osbourne
, rock star, 'Prince Of Darkness', drug use casualty and animal vivisectionist is born on this date.



Continue to ride the Beast, Ozzy!


December 3, 1968 -
St. Elvis appeared to his devoted acolytes on this date. The leather clad Elvis - not the sweaty holy Elvis. This is the "Elvis has left the building" Elvis.



Touch the screen and feel his 'hunka, hunka burning love' healing powers pulse through your lions.


December 3, 1976 -



During a shoot for the cover of Pink Floyds the Animals album, one of the props, an inflatable pig broke free due to a strong gust of wind (gaining a lot of press coverage). The pig, named Algie, floated above Battersea Power Station, then disappeared from sight within five minutes, and was spotted by airline pilots at forty thousand feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aircraft, eastwards from Britain and out over the English Channel, finally landing on a rural farm in Kent that night.



A few years ago to commemorate the special reissue of the entire Pink Floyd catalog, the band recreated the album’s cover. The original Algie could not be used because it was too leaky. (There is nothing worse than a leaky rubber pig.)


December 3, 1998 -
The romantic comedy film Shakespeare in Love, premiered in NYC on this date.



Judi Dench
won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Queen Elizabeth, although she is on-screen for only about six minutes in four scenes.


Today's holiday special honors St. Elvis


Today in History:
December 3, 1552
-
Francis Xavier
was a saint with a few too many fans. In the early 16th century, the Spanish missionary was sent to Asia by the king of Portugal to convert as many souls to Christianity as possible. Turns out, he was pretty good at the job.

Francis Xavier became wildly popular, and after his death in 1552, so did his relics.

In fact, demand out-fueled supply. Throughout several years and multiple exhumations, his body was whittled away.

Today, half his left hand is in Cochin, India, while the other half is in Malacca, Malaysia. One of his arms resides in Rome, and various other cities lay claim to his internal organs. The leftovers? They went to Goa, India.


December 3, 1890 -
Isaac Jordan
, the U.S. Congressional Representative from the great state of Ohio, died after taking a drunken stumble down an open elevator shaft in his law offices on this date.

Remember to check if the elevator is there when entering, especially if you are drunk.


December 3, 1967 -
The first successful heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christaan Barnard at Capetown, South Africa, on this date. The patient, Louis Washkansky, lived 18 days with the new heart.



While a practical artificial heart may someday become a reality, transplants of real human hearts would become widely accepted surgery...with some patients living on new hearts for many years.


December 3, 1979 -
Festival seating anyone - At Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on this date, eleven concertgoers were trampled several dozen others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by The Who.



Only a few doors were in operation that night, and there are reports that management did not open more doors due to the concern of people sneaking past the ticket turnstiles.


December 3, 1984 -
Methyl Isocyanate
leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant located at a slum in Bhopal, India on this date. The gas killed 4,000 people and injured 200,000 others, many of whom were permanently blinded or disabled.



The event set a standard for industrial accidents that has yet to be equaled.

What else can one say.



And so it goes


There are 13 days until the start of Hanukkah.

There are 22 days until Christmas.

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