As the Annecy Animation Festival occurs in France this week, I wanted to recall an Annecy I attended twenty years ago- Annecy 87.

There are screenings held all day from morning to midnight shows, and an nighttime outdoor screening by the lake. But all who attend Annecy quickly learn the cool thing to do is not just attend screenings, but hang out at the brassieries with the animation crowd. Annecy is in the corner of France where it intersects with Italy and Switzerland. So foodwise, its the best of all worlds- French wine, Swiss cheese and chocolate, Italian dishes, -sweet! But it's the exchange of ideas that means more. At this first Annecy I got to hang with Borge Ring, Marc Davis, Bruno Bozzetto, Bill Littlejohn, June Foray, Kihajiro Kawamoto, Paul Dreissen, David Ehrlich, Howard Beckerman, Candy Kugel,and Bill Plympton. Charles Solomon, Pat and I got to share a fondue with Frederic Back. CLick to Enlarge-

" alt="" /> Ordering at the Bonlieu Brassierie in 1987 L-R Dutch Master Borge Ring, Bill Littlejohn, Me and Caroline Cruikshank.

" alt="" /> Our Nelvana reunion at the Bonlieu Center 1987-L-R Sito, Karen Munro, Bill Speers, Susa Caple, Scott Caple, Pat, Caroline Cruikshank, unknown.

[/img]Pat enjoying a solitary lunch- a jambon et fromage baguette- ham & cheese sandwich, by the base of the battlements of Annecy Castle.

Annecy Castle was not just a pretty little hilltop chateau, but it was a working stonghold where the medieval Dukes of Geneva would run to muster their forces whenever the people of Geneva got too uppity.
Napoleon worried about the loyalty of the people of Geneva-" In Geneve the people understand English, a little too well..." The fort was also the barracks of the Savoyard regiments of the French Army, who fought at Blenheim, Marengo, Sedan and Waterloo.

Merde! I'd rather be at Annecy getting wasted and watching cartoons!

In Roman times Annecy was the intersection of several main Roman Roads- the term Tre-Via is the origin of the term Trivia, because at such an intersection Roman travelors would leave notes and messages about the road ahead- Trivia notes.

So go to Annecy, drink some wine, and make some memories.

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Birthdays: Edward the Black Prince of England, Rachael Donelson Jackson- Andy Jackson’s First Lady, Edvard Grieg, Saul Steinburg, Mario Cuomo, Jim Varney, Wade Boggs, Waylon Jennings, Xaviera Hollander the Happy Hooker, Jim Belushi, Ice Cube, Courtenay Cox, Helen Hunt

Happy St. Vitas Day ! "If St. Vitas Day be rainy weather, twill rain for thirty days together."St. Vitus was the patron of epilepsy, and some extreme forms of seizure (chorea) was called "St. Vitus Dance".

1800- US Congress ordered the disbanding of the US Army as a waste of money.

1844- Mr. Charles Goodyear invents the vulcanization process, that keeps rubber from getting sticky in warm weather and brittle in the cold.

1846-The Oregon Treaty. The United States and Great Britain settle a dispute over exactly where the northwest border was between the U.S. and Canada. Despite President Polk’s belligerent campaign slogan “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!” a peaceful compromise was reached on the 49th parallel.

1849-Three months after leaving office President James K. Polk died. The President who fought the War with Mexico to get California and the southwest was a lifelong teetotaler and died of cholera from drinking tainted water. Sam Houston, who was one of the great alcoholic opium addicts of American history, said of Polk's death: " It’s the natural end of all Water-Drinkers!"

1932-The Bonus Marchers, twenty thousands of Depression-unemployed veterans, encamp around Capitol Hill and begin a silent barefoot protest march around Congress. Unlike the army and Government of the time they vote to abolish Jim Crow and completely integrate their ranks.

1938-Tha Fair Labor Standards Act passed.

1945- Judy Garland married director Vincente Minelli.

1951- Comedian Lenny Bruce married a stripper named Honey Stuart.

1955- DUCK & COVER. The US Government held Operation OPAL, the first nationwide Civil Defense alert drills. Not only did millions of school children have to jump under their desks to avoid imaginary Russian nukes but plans were made for commandos to grab the President, Congressional leaders, Supreme Court and even grab the Declaration of Independence and other valuable documents and whisk them out of endangered Washington D.C. to bunkers in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Top Russian officials said they learned a great deal about US intentions from observing these silly drills. President Eisenhower got a good laugh when the motorcade speeding him through the Virginia countryside was blocked by a heard of pigs. “Well, I guess that means we’re all dead boys!” The president joked.

1969- The country music comedy TV show Hee-Haw premiered as a summer replacement for the Smothers Brothers Hour. Hee Haw ran for two years with high ratings but CBS cancelled the show anyway. This was because CBS chief Bill Paley disliked country music and CBS had so many shows like Mayberry RFD, Beverly Hillbillys and Hee Haw that insiders joked that CBS stood for the Country Broadcasting System. Hee Haw had the last laugh going on to a successful syndication run until 1997.

1977- Everybody Disco! KC and the Sunshine band release “I’m your Boogie Man”.

1999- In San Diego Nicholas Vitalich was arrested for slapping his wife with a large tuna.

2002- Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was knighted.