Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Happy Birthday to Jamie (it's her 40th)

March 25th of this year marks Jamie's 40th birthday.

She's a pretty super girl

It's certainly a mark all of us are aware of from the time we're kids.  But when Jamie was 17, she was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (or, FSGS, for you amateurs out there).  I won't belabor you with the details, you can read up on it here.  In short, when you get diagnosed with anything at that age, a 40th birthday becomes something to celebrate.

If you can cast your memory back to a simpler time, when Bill Clinton was still in his first term, when Ace of Base ruled the airwaves and you had to be assigned the personality of one of the cast of Friends for some reason (I was the Marcel of our gang) - a much thinner The League was wooing an Aniston-coiffed Jamie.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Yesterday was Joan Crawford's B-Day


March 23rd marks the birthday of Joan Crawford.  She would have been 110 yesterday.

Complicated person, that Joan Crawford.  I tend to really like her in movies, and I think I've shared here and elsewhere how much I like Mildred Pierce, in particular (but who doesn't)?  Johnny Guitar is also worth a view if you want to see something out there on the edge of genre and expectation.

Happy b-day to a daughter of The Alamo City and one of the greats.


Saturday, March 14, 2015

Happy 82nd, Michael Caine!

Alfredo reminds me it's the 82nd birthday of Michael Caine.  And if you don't love Michael Caine, well, I don't want to know you.

Here, on his birthday, I recommend remembering not Michael Caine, who is doing well, thank you, but remembering that is a great joy to do a Michael Caine impression by watching a reel of Michael Caine impressions.


Happy Birthday, Sir Michael Caine!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Matty Turns 40

League Pal Matt - who you rarely see mentioned here, basically because he thinks genre stuff is dumb and will not play ball - has turned 40.

Here's Matt with Nicole last year on his birthday.  We may have had a few cocktails at the time this pic was snapped.

Ladypal Nicole with Matty, the birthday boy
Matt and Nicole are in Berkeley with the California squad.  We trust they will ensure Matt has a festive b-day.

Here he is by a rock somewhere near the ocean.  I don't know what the hell he's doing there.  Maybe trying to pick a spot for the cover of his album of sea shanties.

you can tell he's really enjoying himself

Happy 40th, man.  You don't look a day over 52.




Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Happy Birthday, Christopher Lee

Yesterday, May 27th was the birthday of actor and presence Christopher Lee.

the actual most interesting man alive

At the end of the day, Christopher Lee should be known for his voice.  Booming like you imagine a Roman Senator ought to, commanding like sort of guy who bosses around dark forces of the netherworld, eloquent like the trained actor and brilliant fellow I like to believe Lee is.

I first read Lee's name in monster movie books when I was a lad.  He was a main player for Hammer Films back in the day when Hammer was in full throttle putting out new movies of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, cultists, all kinds of good stuff (I prefer his Dracula in Curse of Dracula to his "Creature" in the Frankenstein films, but it's all good) and his picture and name came up over and over.

As a cult favorite actor, Lee has also appeared in everything from The Man with the Golden Gun to Captain America '77, a TV movie.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference between "fans" and folks who appreciate or follow film from the art appreciation angle, and there's always room for both.  And while you see indie darling directors and some actors, "fans" get excited by the gravitas of particular (and often peculiar) talents.  And when they come into their own as professionals, the fans cast the actors they love.

And so, at 91, Lee has two more Hobbit movies coming as Saruman, he's forever immortalized as Count Dooku - maybe one of the best parts of the Star Wars prequels, and he keeps popping up in various Tim Burton projects in cameos and small parts. And, he blew the doors off in Scorsese's Hugo.

And, he just released his second heavy metal album, this time partnering with Judas Priest.

He also does the occasional audiobook, and I highly recommend giving one a whirl.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Happy Birthday, David Byrne

Happy Birthday to David Byrne.  Writer, musician and artist.


Today, David Byrne is 61.

Byrne is best known for his tenure with The Talking Heads, the art-punk band that was part of the late-70's, early-80's scene out of CBGB's.  He has written a few books, from The Bicycle Diaries to Strange Ritual.  His lyrics are rarely about the usual topics of newfound love, love gone wrong or partying all night.  Even in his most recent collaboration with St. Vincent, he's still singing about his relationship with television and mass media.



Friday, April 12, 2013

It's my B-Day (and that of Ann Miller)

Today is my b-day.  It is also the birthday of actress and dancer Ann Miller.



So wish Ann a happy birthday.  

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Jamie Guest Post in honor of my b-day

Well, indeed.  Jamie has sent me this to post for my birthday, which is tomorrow.  

I wasn't sure anyone had noticed these posts over the years, but I've done them pretty routinely.  I guess you can download the songs and make yourself a "decade in the life of" playlist.

From Jamie:


While combing through League archives in search of posts for the 10th Anniversary Spectacular, I kept coming across the special birthday entries where Ryan would post the lyrics to a song each year on his birthday.  I found it fascinating to go back and discover which songs he had chosen, so I decided to collect them all and share them with you in honor of the League's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Ryan!


A League of Melbotis/ The Signal Watch Retrospective: Special Birthday Edition: The League's Birthday Playlist



Year: 2004
Age: 29
Song: Streets of Laredo




End of a Revolution: Today is the Day Before My Birthday

That's my way of saying, "I'm taking a few days off.  It's my birthday".

I will be 38.  I will be approaching middle-age soon.  Before I know it, Jamie and I will be celebrating our 40th birthdays, which is weird...



At 38, given my lack of a post-secondary education and perpensity for distraction, I'm doing okay professionally.  Especially when you consider I'm in an institution of higher education, a place were degrees and spending decades focusing on one thing are sort of the norm.  Nobody has fired me yet, but there's always tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Today is Carl Barks' B-Day!


Carl Barks is largely responsible for the Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics as we know them today.  We were lucky enough to also have the amazingly talented Don Rosa pick up where Barks left off, and I am truly in awe of both their efforts.

You'll hear of Carl Barks referred to as "The Good Duck Artist" as, back in the day, all the comics put out by Disney obfuscated the names of the creators.  But fans knew there was one artist working on those comics who was particularly great as artist and storyteller.  They just didn't know the name of the man behind the pen.  Thus, he became known as "The Good Duck Artist".

Born this day in 1901, Barks created great Duck stories, and also worked on other characters, including Barney the Bear.

In recent decades, Barks' name became known and he's now a legend among comic aficionados.  We're lucky to have had Gemstone, Boom! and Fantagraphics collecting his work the past few years, in increasingly lovely volumes.

Here's a bit from "Lost in the Andes".

It's Gloria Swanson's Birthday!

Yesterday we posted our Daily Dose of Good Cheer, showing an image of film star Gloria Swanson.  Well, if I knew her birthday was coming, I'd a baked a cake and moved the post to today.  But I didn't know, and so here we are.



Born this day in 1899, Gloria Swanson is now most famous for her role in the absolutely mesmerizing Sunset Boulevard where she plays Norma Desmond, an aging actress of the silent era, now living in a decaying mansion of ridiculous splendor.  She meets a handsome, younger, out-of-work writer, and, well, things go south from there.

Swanson had never quit acting, and was, in fact, a huge star of the silent era.  But she had faded into the background of Hollywood and did a lot of work in theater.

I cannot imagine the bravery that it took to accept the role of Desmond, but in doing so, she turned in a performance that still resonates through American culture.



Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Today is the birthday of Sterling Hayden

from "The Asphalt Jungle"
You probably know Hayden from Dr. Strangelove, where he was worried about fluoride in the water and what it had done to his virility, or The Godfather, where Michael put a bullet in him from a gun he took from a toilet.  Hayden is also the featured player in a couple of my favorite movies, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing, two great heist movies with a noir core.

Born this day in 1916, Hayden was never overly excited by his Hollywood career, and he was a bit of an odd guy.  When War II broke out, he joined the military and served under an assumed name (in the OSS, no less).  After the war he had communist ties, later named names, and generally seemed to never recover from the overall experience.

He also once ran off with his kids against court order and sailed them to Tahiti.  Literally, he captained the boat.  That was his thing.

Nobody puts Sterling Hayden in a corner.

We salute you, Mr. Hayden.  You always look how I feel.


Monday, March 25, 2013

Jamie's B-Day. I made a cake.




This is the Duncan Hines cake I made for Jamie for her birthday.  It was basic yellow cake with frosting out of a can.  I'm not a baker and I don't play one on TV.  This was what I could do with the know-how I've got.  Also, I didn't destroy the kitchen, which I think Jamie appreciated, as I'm also bad at cleaning up the kitchen.

Your Daily Dose of Good Cheer (Jamie's Birthday Edition): Kaitlin Olson


In honor Jamie's birthday, today we post the lovely Kaitlin Olson, who plays Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Jamie knows why.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Happy Birthday to Jamie

Monday (the 25th) is Jamie's birthday.

To celebrate, Saturday we went out to Lucy's Friend Chicken on South Congress and then to Midnight Cowboy Modeling, a former 6th street, uh... modeling location, now a speakeasy bar.

Y'all, I ate so much chicken...  It comes in aluminum buckets.  It's not even fair.

oh, the carnage
A lovely evening out, and kudos to Nicole for driving and organizing.

Jamie isn't getting a present to open on her b-day as we've got tickets to a show later this spring and she's flying out to see Rebecca in a few weeks for some fun in TN.

So, here's some things she likes, all here in a blog post:

Monday, March 18, 2013

Wreck-It-Ralph, Birthday, Quiet Man, Pam Grier is well liked

I should probably have something smarter to say, as I haven't really posted much on the usual topics the past several days.

On Saturday evening I wasn't feeling up to snuff, so we watched the Disney film Wreck-It-Ralph, which turned out to be a pretty good flick.  While the themes and story are going to hold up, I am concerned that the trappings of the nostalgia and with the concept of a modern game (or kids paying to play games at an arcade at all) it'll fall into Oliver and Co. territory for Disney, a sort of dated product of its time.  Still, at this time, it was a really fun movie that, even if the kids don't quite get all the gags, they can stick with what's offered up on a story and emotional level.  The "over their heads" bits seemed mostly winky stuff towards 80's video games, much as the Toy Story movies might reference a toy from a Gen X'er's youth.  Heck, one of the credit songs is performed by Pac-Man Fever maestros Buckner and Garcia.

Today was my brother's 40th, and we spent most of the day out at my folks' place with a wide variety of characters.  I saw people I hadn't seen in years, including the children I had never met of several of Jason's pals.  Some of those kids are kind of not so little anymore.  Time flies, man.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

My Brother Turns 40

Today is my brother's 40th birthday.

This is a bit of a milestone for the family, I think.  The elder son hits that magical four-oh number.  Odd when I think on his birthday and can recall the elementary school birthdays with some clarity.  I even remember him getting a Beach Boys album when he was 6 or 7.  I guess as long as you keep showing up, they keep giving you birthdays, and that means cake, and who can argue with that incentive?

Still, 40 gives me a moment of pause as I also recall my mother turning 40 and what a to-do that was around the house.  I don't think we think of 40 in the same terms today - 40 is the new 30 or whatever - and it's all what you make of it.  And I think he's done okay for himself.  Especially since he got his hair cut in 1995.

Here's to my brother, who has blazed the birthday trail for the Steans Bros.  No matter how hard I try to catch up, he's always a couple years ahead of me, and watching him degenerate let's me know what's coming.

You can't ask for a better brother.  Well, short of getting, like, an awesome robot who shoots lasers out of his face, but I'll take this one.

He's a hell of a guy, and, as it turns out, is not afraid to take the same picture with Amy in multiple locations.




Really, if they don't make this a thing, I'll be disappointed.

And here's a more recent photo of the man rocking the house back in January with his bandmates of the past 14 years, The Mono Ensemble.

oh, Carousel Lounge, don't ever change...
And , of course, here's a pic from the pages of the Statesman as my bro works with a client of the Veteran's Court from our own Travis County.

You can really see the magnificence of the beard.


Happy birthday, man.  You're doing good.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Happy Birthday, KareBear

Today is my mother's birthday.

In her honor, here is Neil Diamond singing "America".  I welcome you to clap along slightly off beat with the song, knowing that, wherever she is, The KareBear will be doing the same.



and, because, it's her b-day, let us all enjoy the 1973 Hawaii performance of "Suspicious Minds" by King Elvis.



Dang, yo. There is nobody else like The King, is there?

Happy birthday, Ma!  We love you.