Happy birthday today to Charles de Gaulle, French general, president, statesman, and massive pain in the ass to anyone that was forced to deal with him. He insisted on a role for the French in WWII and after, based largely upon their ability to tie up massive numbers of German troops with their incessant surrendering.
A pioneering pilot was born on this date, Wiley Post. He apparently was quite a flyer. Alas, he's known only for the one flight he made that didn't quite end the way it was supposed to. He was flying his friend Will Rogers from Alaska to someplace I can't be bothered to look up. Here's something to remember if you wish to be a pilot. Gravity works really well on aircraft.
Oh look- speaking of French generals, Phillipe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, who later added Jacques-Philippe Leclerc to his name, was also born on this date. He was much less annoying than de Gaulle, though biting insects can make that same claim. After the War, he went to Southeast Asia to command the French there. Shockingly, he showed indications of knowing what the hell he was doing. So, in order to continue the usual pattern of French performance, he had to be replaced. By a moron. Vive le France, eh?
For once, let's give some respect to Rodney Dangerfield. It is his birthday, after all! Remember how in "Back to School" he was a stunt diver? Well guess what? He did that for a while, when he was young. As his health grew worse, he went into the hospital for an operation, which led to one of the all-time great lines: When asked how long he would be in the hospital, he said "If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour and a half." He was pretty awesome, and more influential in making other young comics than you probably realize.
Speaking of comics, give a nice polite clap for birthday boy Terry Gilliam. He's the guy who did most of the animations for Monty Python, and frankly, not much else in my opinion.
Billie Jean is not my love. She's just a girl that claims that I am the one.... Not really. She's just a tennis player, now retired. She beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes", in part because he was a doofus, and in part because she was a pretty darn good tennis player.
1950 saw a couple music related birthdays: Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads, and Miami Steve Van Zandt of The E Street Band. He was also a slimy mobster in the Sopranos, which I guess is kind of redundant.
So far Jamie Lee Curtis is winning the hottest birthday girl contest- cuz let's face it- it's between her and Billie Jean King, and frankly, I'd go for Miami Steve Van Zandt before Billie Jean. But getting back to Jamie Lee, she was the good girl in the original "Halloween" which means she got to live. If you know that kind of horror film from the 80s at least, you know that fornicating leads to an early and bloody death. So kids, just say no! Or am I mixing my messages here?
Huh. Mariel Hemingway was also born on this date, so she's giving her predecessor a bit of a challenge. I'd have to see her today to know who's gonna finally win out. She's the granddaughter of You Know Who, of course.
Oh boy. Jamie Lee, you just got OWNED! It's also Scarlett Johansson's birthday. She might be a bit flaky, but seriously. This contest is OVER! Scarlett, call me to collect your birthday gift!
And with that going on, we have to come to an end. Scarlett just called. ;)
I'd give you a further account, but that would be ungentlemanly.
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