Pop Culture
HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK August 15 marks the 50th anniversary of the “3-days of Peace & Music” held in 1969 at Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York, southwest of the village of Woodstock. I’d like to share with you what it was like to be there — the music,…
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HISTORY OF INFINITY DAY: AUGUST 8 Infinity Day is also known as Universal & International Infinity Day, and is a day held on the 8th day of the 8th month of each year in order to celebrate and promote Philosophy and Philosophizing for the ordinary person. Why 8 is significant: 8 planets in the Solar…
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HISTORY OF FRENCH FRIES: NATIONAL FRENCH FRY DAY Today is National French Fry Day. While no one knows who began this celebration, placing in on July 13 is significant in that the most important French holiday is the next day, July 14 for Bastille Day. History Some French people might call the delectable potato confection…
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HISTORY OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE This week we celebrate the 82nd anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened to traffic after taking over five years to build. I remember asking my father when I was young: “Why isn’t the Golden Gate Bridge golden?” He didn’t…
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HISTORY OF THE WHO’s TOMMY Fifty years ago today on May 23, 1969, the British rock group The Who released the double-album rock opera, Tommy. Commercially the record went Gold in the UK and Double Platinum in the US. Several of the songs were released as singles that charted in the Top 20 in both…
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IS DIE HARD REALLY A CHRISTMAS MOVIE? Scholars and historians have debated the question “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?” for centuries. Or at least during the last three decades since the movie was released. This is why readers have turned to me, your friendly neighborhood historian, to wrestle with this age-old question and help…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI For over 40 years, Lucasfilm has brought us popcorn movies extraordinaire. The Last Jedi is no exception. I realize many readers will not read this review until they’ve seen the movie, even with the promise of no plot spoilers. Let me just say this: “Yule love it!” The…
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MOVIE REVIEW: ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY In many respects, this was a more exciting and thrilling movie than the previous Star Wars: Episode VII, The Force Awakens” It was more heroic, noble, and self-sacrificing. Unencumbered by previous storylines, it was able to introduce new characters into an existing historical narrative. Often, the new…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK BEYOND It has been now almost 50 years since Star Trek first premiered on NBC TV in September of 1966. See my history of Star Trek here. After several television series and movies we are now treated to the 13th feature film Star Trek Beyond. While this is not the best…
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