Dr. Caligari's cabinet is now so crammed that he had to stow stuff in the Cupboard. Time may wound all heels but once in a while you need a cup of tea.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1949 The Grey Hounded Hare directed by Robert McKimson.
This cartoon has had edited out, in the past, the scene after Gnawbone falls from the sky after chasing a rabbit balloon, where Gnawbone grabs Bugs' throat and prepares to punch him, but gets distracted by the mechanical rabbit, prompting Bugs to light a stick of dynamite and make Gnawbone fetch it, causing it to explode was edited to make it look like Gnawbone exploded when he hit the ground from falling.
February 27, 1920 - Du mußt Caligari werden!
Once again, the inmates in the programming department of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour have been re-reading an excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. And what jumped out at us, it's the 100 anniversary of the release of a familiar film - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Caligari is one of the most influential German expresionism movies, echoes of the film are seen in the works of Tim Burton, David Lynch, and Martin Scorsese. And yet, we bet , many of you haven't seen the entire thing. So why not sit back and relax (quick, find the most comfortable seat on the sofa,) get a snack (perhaps, some popcorn,) and a beverage and join The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour in watching this classic silent masterpiece, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. -
Writer Hans Janowitz claims to have gotten the idea for the film when he was at a carnival one day. He saw a strange man lurking in the shadows. The next day he heard that a girl was brutally murdered there. He went to the funeral and saw the same man lurking around. He had no proof that the strange man was the murderer, but he fleshed the whole idea out into his film.
Our Throwback Thursday features a favorite song, something about the song and a cover version of the song. I love Steely Dan. I believe long time bunkies know that. Black Cow isn't my all-time favorite Steely Dan song, if pressed, I would have to go with Gaucho. But the song has a fond memory in my heart. I can remember one warm summer afternoon back in 1986, Mrs. Dr. Caligari and I were hanging around the northeast corner of 86th Street and Columbus, waiting for some friends, when we spontaneously began singing this song.
Black Cow was written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the co-front, core members of the band Steely Dan. It was released as the B-side of the single version of Josie, which reached #26 on the US Hot 100.
Steely Dan made a name for themselves for having highly polished productions. It was considered nothing special for them to take a year and dozens of session musicians to produce an album of less than ten songs.
The cover version (of sorts) I want to highlight of Black Cow, Deja Vu (Uptown Baby), was written by East Coast hip hop duo Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz. The song is built around a sample of Steely Dan'sBlack Cow. In exchange for clearing use of the sample, Steely Dan requested an advance payment of $115,000 as well as 100% of publishing royalties, and as a result of this agreement, Steely Dan members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are the sole credited songwriters of the song. Shakira's song Hips Don't Lie sample the trumpet flourish for the song, Deja Vu (Uptown Baby).
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Bugs Bunny Merrie Melodies cartoon, the 1949 Knights Must Fall directed by Friz Freleng.
This cartoon has had a sequence edited out in the past - the scene of Bugs stepping on a lever, lifting the top of the Black Knight's helmet, then hitting the Black Knight on the head with a hammer, producing a big lump .
February 22, 2004 -
During our weekly meeting, some of the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour that had sobered up enough from celebrating National Drink Wine Day on Tuesday realized we haven't listened to any music together since the beginning of the year. Norah Jones started a six week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard album chart with her album, Feels like Home, on this date. It was her second studio album, released on February 10, 2004, through Blue Note Records. It serves as the follow up to Jones' 2002 breakthrough album, Come Away with Me, which also hit number 1. So why not sit back and relax (quick, find the most comfortable seat on the sofa,) get a snack (perhaps, some popcorn,) and a beverage and join The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour in listening to Norah Jones' album, Feels Like Home. -
Asked by Mojo magazine what first turned her on to jazz, Norah Jones replied: "My mum took me to a big band concert at the University of North Texas when I was in 7th grade. The musicians were all college students, but I was floored. And it's funny - I'm not really into big band music. I don't record like that; it overwhelms my voice. But the night was cool, the music was cool, and I got my bug. I started to play saxophone." Jones considers herself a fan of "old music." She cites Bill Evans, Billie Holliday, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles as examples. That type of music, she says, "is just so badass and original."
Just to remind you, Our Throwback Thursday features a favorite song, something about the song and a cover version of the song. Today's song has a complicated history because both the original version and a cover version are equally famous - Leonard Cohen's famous Hallelujah and Jeff Buckley's equally famous cover of the song. We'll play two live versions this first go around. -
The melody has become a favorite in churches across America, where instrumental versions are often played by organists and bell choirs. Musically, it fits right in with traditional hymns, but the lyrics, although filled with religious imagery (especially the title), are rarely appropriate in this setting, since it is definitely not a worship song.
Jeff Buckley heard the song in the early '90s and began performing it at his shows in and around New YorkCity. He included it on his 1994 debut album Grace, but the song didn't gain widespread attention until after Buckley's death in 1997, which sparked renewed interest in his work..
It was very tough choosing just one cover version of the song, given I already choose the most famous cover version. I could have gone with K.D. Lang's moving 2004 version, the brooding John Cale version, or Jake Shimabukuro's haunting instrumental version. But I believe I had to go with Rufus Wainwright and the 1,500 other choir singers version. I believe they did Mr. Cohen's song some justice.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1949 Chuck Jones directed, Long-Haired Hare:
Bugs Bunny's conducting performance as "Leopold", is a send-up of conductor Leopold Stokowski's energetic style, including his shunning the baton. As Bugs enters the concert hall wearing a Stokowski-like hairpiece, the orchestra members begin whispering among themselves, "Leopold! Leopold!".
Once again, the inmates in the programming department of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour have been watching a slew of movies to showcase this year. We've also been re-reading an excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. We came across a pre-Hollywood Alfred Hitchcock film, that Hitchcock was always conflicted about but we disagree with the director - we enjoyed it.
Based on the novel Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Sabotage (1936) is a very suspenseful thriller, containing one of Hitchcock's most tense sequences. So we would like you to relax (quick, find the most comfortable seat on the sofa,) get a snack (perhaps, some bangers and mash,) and a beverage (a lager?) and join The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour in watching this Hitchcock film, Sabotage.
In his interview with Francois Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock doesn’t have much regard for this film. Truffaut agrees with him, calling it "disappointing." Hitchcock believed that he made a terrible mistake with the "Boy with the Bomb" suspense scene. Hitchcock said that he will never let the bomb go off in a "suspense scene", because the audience gets worked up. If the bomb is going to explode, then Hitchcock won't shoot the scene in "suspense". Other critics objected to the way Hitchcock chose to end the sequence involving the delivery of the bomb on the bus. Hitchcock, stung by the criticism, said on The Dick Cavett Show that he regretted his decision. Nonetheless, the treatment is faithful to Joseph Conrad's book.
Please stick around for this incredible short based on the famous reference book, 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, created by Jonathan Keogh.
From what we've read, it appears that it to Mr. Keogh more that a year to assemble this short.
A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.
While you're drink your Valentine Day cocktail alone, opine upon this -
When Rome was first founded, wild and bloodthirsty wolves roamed the woods around the city. They often attacked and mauled and even devoured Roman citizens—which, incidentally, is why the city took more than a day to build.
With characteristic ingenuity, the Romans begged the god Lupercus to keep the wolves away. Lupercus was the god of the wolves, so he was expected to have some influence on their behavior.
He didn't.
Wolves kept attacking and Romans kept dying.
This led the Romans to the obvious conclusion that Lupercus was either angry or away on business. It was a serious problem either way. Now, to this point in their history, the Romans had addressed all of their problems with one of two solutions: the first was to pray to their gods. Okay, they'd tried that. It didn't always work.
The second solution was to get drunk out of their minds and have an orgy.
So, in an effort to get their slacker god's attention, they had a huge party in his honor. They called it Lupercalia. It was an early April holiday celebrated on February 15 because, in spite of their classical educations, the Romans were as bad at reckoning months as they were at building roads—it was impossible to leave the city, for example, because all their roads led right back to Rome.
Because it was a spring holiday, and because Lupercus either didn't know or didn't care how many Romans were devoured by wolves, and because the Romans weren't wearing anything under their togas, Lupercalia gradually became a kind of swingers' holiday.
On Lupercalia Eve, Roman girls would write their names on slips of paper that were placed into a big jar. The next day, every eligible young man in Rome withdrew a slip of paper from the jar, and the girl whose name he had withdrawn became his lover for the year. Also on the eve of the Roman feast, naked youths would run through Rome, anointed with the blood of sacrificed dogs and goats, waving thongs cut from the goats. If a young woman was struck by the thong, fertility was assured. Much grab-ass ensued.
Naked and gore drenched, Marc Anthony, after a crazed run through the Roman Forum on the feast of Lupercalia, offered Julius Caesar the imperial crown of Rome. Caesar demurred and told Marc Anthony to go home, take a shower and get dressed.
As an interesting aside, they would often sew their lovers' names on their sleeves, from which we get the expression, who the hell taught you how to sew? Also, this must have been one hell of a party.
Romans were still attacked and killed by wolves, but no one really gave a damn now that they were all getting laid.
The festival endured.
Hundreds of years went by.
In the early years of Christianity, the Roman Emperor Claudius II was having problems with his army. Many of his soldiers were married men, and they couldn't be convinced that marching off to god forsaken barbarian backwaters to kill disgusting savages was more important than staying home and having sex with their wives.
Claudius ordered his soldiers not to get married. To be absolutely safe, he ordered priests not to marry soldiers. Not many soldiers wanted to marry priests, so this wasn't a big problem (some of the soldiers would have been happy to marry other soldier but that's another story.)
Now, there was one old priest who thought the emperor's policy was unfair. It wasn't so much that he wanted to marry any soldiers—he enjoyed playing the field—but he felt that he ought to be able to perform the holy rite of matrimony for soldiers who wanted to marry women (and be tipped accordingly - remember this is the Catholic Church - nothing happened unless you remember to tip your priest.) He began conducting secret Christian marriages.
The old priest was quickly arrested and imprisoned. On Lupercalia Eve of 270 AD - that's February 14, remember - he was decapitated.
That priest's name was, of course, Marius.
Arrested, imprisoned, and beheaded right alongside him, however, was another priest who'd been performing secret marriages—a handsome young priest named Valentine.
We don't know much about ole Valentine, but there are a lot of apocryphal stories. There's one about how, while he was in prison, Valentine fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer and eventually taught her to see. There's another one about Claudius being so moved by Valentine's eloquent defense speech that he offered to call off the execution if the priest would abandon Christianity. But there's also a story about an old lady putting her dog in the microwave ... and you don't see me going off on that tangent. As time went on, people forgot about old Marius, who hadn't been very photogenic. People remembered the handsome Valentine, and eventually he was canonized.
There was a new saint in town - St. Valentine.
And, like most saints, he'd been dead for years. But for all the fuss over what he did while he was alive, he has been absolutely spectacular in death.
His relics are on display today at St Francis's Church in Glasgow, Scotland. They can also be seen at the Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin, Ireland. They're also at the Church of Saint Praxedes in Rome and the Collegiate church of Saint Jean-Baptiste and Saint Jean l'Evangéliste in Roquemaure, France, as well as eight other churches, two cathedrals, and all over Ebay. The Raelians could learn a thing or two from this dead saint.
If you do the math and were to gather all of St. Valentine's remains from all these churches, you'd have enough raw material for three new bishops, two deacons, and a linebacker. Giving eyesight to the blind is impressive, but as saints go it's the equivalent of a card trick. Multiplying your remains after you're dead, though. . . there's a miracle.
But, as the Spartan say, let us return to our sheep.
(And let's not ask what they intend to do with their sheep.)
One day the Christian Church took control of the calendar, which the Romans had reduced to one long series of overlapping holidays. The Christians moved Lupercalia back a day and renamed it St. Valentine's Day. No one objected to this change, since Lupercus still hadn't saved a single freaking soul from the wolves and the Romans still weren't wearing anything under their tunics.
And so St. Valentine's Day came to be celebrated as a harbinger of spring, a glorious tribute to the romantic splendor of Christian marriage, and a time for some good old-fashioned pagan fornication.
More centuries passed.
Christianity became more widespread, the calendar was finally perfected, and the holiday evolved into what it is today: a glorious midwinter celebration of passion, romance, and toe-curling sex. In some countries it's also celebrated by married couples.
(It should be noted that St. Valentine was removed from the Christian Calendar in 1969 because the church could not abide one of its sacred holidays being so flagrantly commercialized.)
Valentine's Day Cards
Let's go back for a moment to another apocryphal story about Marius' good friend Valentine.
On the day he was finally led to his execution, the jailer's daughter - the blind girl he'd taught to see--couldn't bear to say goodbye. Valentine understood, naturally—he had the patience of a saint—so he said goodbye in a letter. He signed it, "From your Valentine."
"The phrase," one source informs us, "has been used on his day ever since."
But that's not true. I should have known it wasn't true, since the source happened to be the guy sitting next to me in a bar where I did all my research.
The first true Valentine Card - and by that I mean the first such card signed by anyone whose name wasn't actually Valentine - was sent in 1415 by Charles, the Duke of Orleans, to his wife.
The Duke had been captured at the battle of Agincourt and was locked up in the Tower of London, and probably wasn't trying to be romantic so much as clever. Signing a love-letter "Your Valentine" didn't mean "your adoring spouse" or "your loving boo-boo." It meant, "your husband, still in jail, probably about to have his head chopped off."
Two-hundred-and-fifty years later, Samuel Pepys, who was probably familiar with the whole Duke of Orleans thing, wrote romantic poems to his wife on Valentine's Day and signed them "Your Valentine." Since he was neither in jail nor about to have his head chopped off, this was probably the first real Valentine.
Today, of course, billions of Valentines are exchanged each year, many of them from people not in jail or facing decapitation. Also by the time you finish reading this, more than 3/4 of a millions sex act will have occurred worldwide (ever minute humans engage in 83,333 sex acts) many of them illegal in Michigan.
Just to remind you, Our Throwback Thursday features a favorite song, something about the song and a cover version of the song. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd is one of the songs from the album that initially received mixed reviews but has go on to be considered one of the greatest albums, of all time The Wall. It's one of the songs that I've really enjoyed seeing Pink Floyd and various members of the band perform live over the years.
In a radio interview around 1980 with Jim Ladd from KLOS in Los Angeles, Waters said part of the song is about the time he got hepatitis but didn't know it. Pink Floyd had to do a show that night in Philadelphia, and the doctor Roger saw gave him a sedative to help the pain, thinking it was a stomach disorder. At the show, Roger's hands were numb "like two toy balloons." He was unable to focus, but also realized the fans didn't care because they were so busy screaming, hence "comfortably" numb. He said most of The Wall is about alienation between the audience and band.
Dave Gilmour wrote the music while he was working on a solo album in 1978. He brought it to The Wall sessions and Waters wrote lyrics for it. This was the last song Waters and Gilmour wrote together. In 1986 Waters left the band and felt there should be no Pink Floyd without him.
I was going to go with Roger Waters version from his 1990 Berlin live performance, featuring Van Morrison and The Band, but I decided to go with the stark and beautiful acoustic version by legendary British rocker Graham Parker.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Bugs Bunny Merrie Melodies cartoon, the 1949 Bowery Bugs
directed by Arthur Davis.
There actually was a real Steve Brodie who claimed that he jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and survived. Even though the newspapers enthusiastically reported his story, there's no evidence that it actually happened.
In celebration of the Lunar New Year, today's episode of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour is sponsored by Tiger Beer:
Remember, Tiger Beer wishes you a very Happy New Year. And reminds you that drinking and driving does not make dancing Asian girls appear in the traffic jam you're stuck in.
The Lunar New Year celebrations are at an end and we're sure you need to relax. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour is proud to sponsor, another film in honor of of the New Year. Here at ACME, we can think of no better way to relax than watch a movie filled with sex, love and the Cultural Revolution. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching the 1994 Zhang Yimou's internationally acclaimed hit, To Live, (Once again, if you can't watch this today, please put it on a list of films you much watch.) So why not sit back and relax (quick, find the most comfortable seat on the sofa,) get a snack (perhaps, some potato chips,) and a beverage and join The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour in watching To Live.
Director Zhang Yimou was banned from filmmaking for two years by the Chinese government as a result of making this film. However, there were a number of pirate copies you can buy on the street. The ban on the film was lifted only in September 2008 after Zhang Yimou directed the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
Just to remind you, Our Throwback Thursday features a favorite song, something about the song and a cover version of the song. Today's song is from the diamond certified album Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's 1976 classic, The Chain-
Stevie Nicks wrote the lyrics about Lindsey Buckingham as their relationship was falling apart. Buckingham and Nicks share lead vocals on the song.
The song began as a Christine McVie song called Butter Cookie (Keep Me There). The beginning of the track wasn't working, but the band loved Mick Fleetwood and John McVie's ending, which was now on tape. So, they counted back from the bass line, used the kick-drum as a metronome, Nicks gave them the lyrics for the verses, Buckinghan and Christine McVie wrote the music and the chorus lyrics, Lindsey added the guitar over the ending, and The Chain as we know it was born.
The cover version of the song I chose is a strange one, for me. The former boy-band singer and actor Harry Styles did an excellent cover of the song for BBC One in 2017. Kudos to Mr. Styles.
In honor of the occasion, here's a little history -
Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.
If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.
If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.
The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.
According to an old English song:
The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the Second Winter.
Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs to in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of winter.
The Germans recited:
For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, So far will the snow swirl until the May.
This passage may be the one most closely represented by the first Punxsutawney Groundhog Day observances because there were references to the length of shadows in early Groundhog Day predictions.
Another February 2nd belief, used by American 19th century farmers, was:
Groundhog Day - Half your hay.
New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the heart of winter. If the farmer didn't have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived.
The ancient Candlemas legend and similar belief continue to be recognized annually on February 2nd due to the efforts of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Growing Fame
From offering support of political events, to rooting for area sports teams, to becoming the star of a Hollywood movie, Dr. Phil seems to have always been in the public eye. Early observances of Dr. Phil's predictions were conducted privately in the wooded areas that neighbor the town. Today's celebration sees tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world as revelers await Phil's appearance as most fans wait to see their favorite rock stars.
The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper is credited with printing the news of the first observance in 1886 (one year before the first legendary trek to Gobbler's Knob. Let's polish the Knob everybody):
"Today is groundhog day, and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen his shadow."
Over the course of Dr. Phil's appearances, Phil has had numerous noteworthy highlights:
During Prohibition Dr. Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink.
In 1958 Dr. Phil announced that it was a "United States Chucknik," rather than a Soviet Sputnik or Muttnik that became the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth.
In 1981 Dr. Phil wore a yellow ribbon, and nothing else in honor of the American hostages in Iran. Several elderly women and young children fainted. Strong men had to be restrained from gouging their eyes out.
Dr. Phil traveled to Washington D.C. in 1986 to meet with President Reagan. He was joined by Groundhog Club President Jim Means, Al Anthony and Bill Null.
Dr. Phil was arrested for humping Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburg's leg in 1987.
In 1993, Columbia Pictures released the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.
Dr. Phil used to frequently appeared on the Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman shows.
In the years following the release of the movie, record crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob to 'polish the Knob' in Punxsutawney!
February 2 is more than just the annual date of Groundhog Day. It actually has significance when it comes to the weather, as it marks the exact midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Bugs Bunny Merrie Melodies cartoon (co-starring Yosemite Sam), the 1949 High Diving Hare, directed by Friz Freleng.
The short is an expansion of a gag from Stage Door Cartoon, also directed by Freleng. This cartoon, though edited for time, was used in Friz Freleng's Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie.
We are in the middle of the Lunar New Year celebrations and we're sure you need a break from your family. Here at ACME, we can think of no better way to relax than watch a movie filled with sex, love and war. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching Yimou Zhang's break through 1988 international hit, Red Sorghum. Once again, if you can't watch this today, please put it on a list of films you much watch. So push away from the table, get comfortable and enjoy the film.
The films screenplay was based on the novel of the same name by Chinese author Mo Yan. In 2012, Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy awarded him the prize as an author "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary".
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