George II of England was also born on this date. He is best known for being on the list right between George and George III.
Another famous person was Winston Churchill. Interestingly, it's not THAT Winston Churchill, but another one. Both were writers and dabbled in painting. Of course, the other one went on to greater things. There's no known relation between them, but they did occasionally write letters to each other, wherein they solved the great issue of the time- how will anyone tell us apart? For the record, the English one used a middle initial of S, since the American one (the one we're talking about) didn't have a middle name.
Are you in the Christmas spirit yet? If not, then try listening to some of the stuff written by birthday boy Johnny Marks. If you don't recognize the name already, then you aren't a fan of the Christmas Carol genre. He wrote "Rudolph the
Anyone who like me is a gun-totin-wacko will be celebrating today the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov. Guess what he did? He actually wasn't even a gunsmith or an engineer by trade. But he knew what he wanted, how to do it, and I'd say he succeeded pretty well. And by the way, if you're stumped for what to get me for my Christmas gift, how about a Draco pistol? It's basically an AK-47 turned into a pistol. Cool as all get out, if you're into that kind of thing. Which, for the record, I am.
How about seeing what Russel Johnson can whip up to help celebrate his birthday? Give him a coconut or two, and he could probably make something incredibly exciting! He is, after all, the Professor from Gilligan's Island.
If Liz Taylor were still alive, she might be feeling pensive, as Richard Burton would be 86 today. But she's not, and neither is he. So they're not. But, assuming they both went to heaven, they might be doing naughty things to each other. Or not. It's not as if the two of them don't have a lot of other exes to be spending time with.
And speaking of great actors, and in this case really cool ones, it's also the birthday of Roy Scheider. He was of course entertaining in "Jaws" and I even liked him in "Blue Thunder", where he gave Malcolm McDowell his onscreen comeuppance.
Now for the music portion of our list, as there are some great ones today. First off, is Sir Tim Rice... He wrote Jesus Christ Superstar, which would be enough for most people. But he also did "Evita" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Then he went on to write stuff for Disney, but in my mind, JC Superstar gives him a lot of goodwill, and not even the usual Disney dreck can dissipate it.
The very next year, along came Donna Fargo. She's the Happiest Girl in the Whole USA. I presume she did some other stuff too, but I have no idea what.
One year after her, out popped Roy Thomas Baker. He's a producer. He worked a lot with Queen, which makes him one of the coolest people in all of music.
And finishing up this section is the class of 1947. Two chaps, one named Greg Lake and the other named Dave Loggins. People can debate who is more important, but well... "there ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy, there's only you and me and we just disagree."
Recognize the name Vincent Schiavelli? Probably not. But he was a talented and successful actor. He was in Amadeus, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Better off Dead, among other stuff.
Oooh, here's a big one: Sinbad was born today. Not the one of legend, subject of many films; but the one that has acted in many films. Can't recall a single one of them, of course. I think his standup is moderately funny, but he's not well-respected in that field either. Different tastes, I guess.
Mackenzie Phillips was also born today. What a weird life she's had. Got broken in for the male of the species by Mick Jagger and his tiny little peen, and a couple years ago announced that even he wasn't the first- a title that, according to her, goes to Dear Old Daddy, music legend John Phillips. Add in the massive amounts of drugs, and it's amazing she's still around. She also got rooked in another department. Ever seen her half-sister Chynna? Clearly Mac's mom wasn't anywhere near as hot as Chynna's, because the latter is about 3.79105 million times hotter than big sister. Life isn't fair sometimes, I guess.
And on that creepy yet philosophical note, we're done for the day.
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