Also celebrating an anniversary today—a natal anniversary, that is, is my good friend Scott C., the major domo of the Internet’s premier place for political snark, World O’Crap...not to mention author, scholar, bon vivant and MST3K disciple. Mr. C was most generous in his praise of your humble narrator in September when the tenth anniversary of my 39th birthday came around (seriously…he was so effusive I checked my pulse to see if I was still kicking and that I wasn’t attending my own wake) and I only wish I could reciprocate in a similarly praiseworthy manner. You see, I learned not too long ago that the blog known as World O’Crap, once maintained by the redoubtable S.Z. (who must take credit for inspiring this scrap of the blogosphere whether she chooses to or not), was actually forcibly taken from her by characters right out of a Dickens novel, as witnessed in this comedy sketch I whipped up at the last minute:
SCOTT: That’s me…
BARRYMORE: …of Mr. C, who will put
an end to this frivolity and mocking of right-wing conventions once and for
all.
S.Z.: But, sir…what is to become of me…and the good,
kind, charitable, sarcastic deeds of World O’Crap?
BARRYMORE (banging down a gavel he
just happens to have with him): Privatization!
S.Z.: This is isn’t the end of this—do
you hear me? I’m off to rescue kitties
and puppies and to make sure they have a good home…but I will be avenged!
SCOTT: First item on the agenda…paving
paradise and putting up a parking lot…
Okay, I’m just having a bit of fun here…while it did happen
in the fashion I’ve illustrated, Scott later that night got a visit from Henry
Travers…who convinced him what a miserable essobee he’d been his whole life,
and when Travers was done Scott found rose petals in his pocket. (Or something to that effect. I’m
really not much of a details guy.) Scott
saw the error of his ways, and today continues the tradition of poking
merciless fun at truly deserving right wing whacka-dos because…well, there’s no
getting around it, people. Some of those
individuals are certifiably insane.
All seriousness aside: I want to wish Mr. C the happiest of
birthdays—I’m proud to call him my friend, both in the blogosphere and on
Facebook, where he threatens my keyboard with iced tea expectoration due to
such hilarious features as “Spam as a Second Language,” and makes me realize
that nostalgia isn’t what it used to be with some amazing photographs from the
past that he frequently posts and I shamelessly steal. In honor of his birthday, I have chosen an
appropriate picture (depicting the World o’Crap regulars)…and in the spirit of
Wo’C commenter Bill S., here are some other folks from the hallowed halls of yesteryear
who share that anniversary:
James Cook (1728-1779) – Scottish captain and explorer who discovered the
Isaac Merrit Singer (1811-1875) – Inventor of the first
practical home sewing machine
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) – Twenty-sixth president of
the United States
and Rough Rider
Emily Post (1872-1960) – Etiquette expert
Sebastian Cristillo (1879-1947) – Father of Lou Costello
(the character of “Sebastian,” Costello’s nephew [“I’m only three-and-a-half
years old!”] on the radio program, was named after him)
Fred de Cordova (1910-2001) – Film and television
producer/director best known for his work on The Tonight Show with Johnny
Carson but also the individual who helmed Bedtime for Bonzo
Herschel Daugherty (1910-1993) – Veteran TV director who
worked on such shows as Checkmate, Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
Thriller,
Wagon
Train and The Smith Family
Jack Carson (1910-1963) – Stage, screen, radio and
television comic actor who appeared alongside singer-actor Dennis Morgan in
many films…and was born in Manitoba, Canada (not Milwaukee)
Leif Erickson (1911-1986) – Film and television actor best
known for his starring role on TV’s The High Chapparral (he was also on
radio’s My Friend Irma as “Richard Rhinelander III”)
Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) - Dead Welsh poet
Oliver Tambo (1917-1993) – Co-founder of the African
National Congress
Teresa Wright (1918-2005) – Stage, film and television
actress seen in such vehicles as The
Little Foxes, Pride of the Yankees
and Shadow of a Doubt
Nanette Fabray (1920-
) – Stage, film and television actress known for The Band Wagon and TV’s One Day at a Time who turns ninety-two
today
Ned Wertimer (1923-
) – Stage, film and television character great best remembered as Ralph
the doorman on TV’s The Jeffersons (he’s eighty-nine)
Ruby Dee (1924- ) –
Stage, film and television actress seen in such vehicles as A Raisin in the Sun, Gone are the Days and Do the Right Thing (eighty-eight)
Warren Christopher (1925-2011) – Carter administration
official and Bela Lugosi impersonator
H.R. Haldeman (1926-1993) – Nixon administration chief of
staff and felon
Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) – Depressed novelist who wrote The Bell Jar
Floyd Cramer (1933-1997) – Composer/pianist of Last Date, the song responsible for
bringing my Ozzie and Harriet-like parents together
Lara Parker (1937-
) – Film and television actress who appeared in a great many things but
I always associate her with the Gothic television soap Dark Shadows
Dallas Frazier (1939-
) – Country/pop music songwriter (Alley
Oop, Beneath Still Waters) who
will serve a stretch in Purgatory for writing the Oak Ridge Boys’ earwig Elvira
John Cleese (1939-
) – British comedic genius (Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty
Towers) who offers irrefutable proof that funny people are born on
October 27
John Gotti (1940-2002) – Mafia don
Bobby Fuller (1942-1966) – He fought the law but the law won
Lee Greenwood (1942-
) – Country singer whose jingoistic God
Bless the U.S.A. has made him a popular Republican “family values” icon,
who are all-too-willing to overlook that he’s been divorced four times and once
worked as a blackjack dealer
Carrie Snodgress (1945-2004) – Stage, film and television
actress who starred in 1970s movie Diary
of a Mad Housewife
Kenneth Turan (1946-
) – Los Angeles Times
film critic
Ivan Reitman (1946-
) – Motion picture director whose earlier film career was distinguished
by comedies like Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters
Fran Leibowitz (1950-
) – Curmudgeonly actress and
humorist who writes a lot about New York City
Jayne Kennedy-Overton (1951- ) – Her occupation is listed as “actress”
but since The Love Boat is no longer in production what the hell does she
do now?
Ted Wass (1952- )
– Television actor best known for his roles on Soap and Blossom
and later graduated to directing
Roberto Benigni (1952-
) – Italian director-actor whose excited response to his Oscar win in
1999 for Life is Beautiful (In a
Concentration Camp) brought out the tranquilizer guns
Veronica Hart (1956-
) – Porn star who is not supporting Mitt Romney
Simon Le Bon (1958-
) – Conceited lead singer of the English music group Duran Duran
Shelly Juttner (1960-
) – Former moppet actress (Freaky
Friday) and close personal friend of Scott’s
Marla Maples (1963-
) – Former Donald Trump bimbo and the pride of Dalton ,
GA
Matt Drudge (1966-
) – Un dickhead formidable (I
haven’t used that in ages.)
Happy birthday, Scott!
(“Keep your nose in the wind and your tail to yourself,” as Commander USA
used to say.)
2 comments:
Wait -- Drudge? Seriously? How is it that I completely suppress that little fact every birthday? Oh well, at least he's easy to shop for -- a Hallmark card, a carton of eggs, and you're out the door!
Not Isaac Bashevis Singer? Missed it by that much...!
And I would just point out, since we are each a Child of the Self-Correcting Blogosphere, no less than the trees, that Dylan Thomas is a dead Welsh poet. Not that I care, but the Welsh certainly do (Captain Fluellen's leek-wearing chauvinism in Henry V is only slightly exaggerated for comic effect, so apparently they've been dicks about it since Shakespeare's time).
Has anyone ever seen Martin Landau from Ed Wood and Warren Christopher in the same room? Because I might have -- or possibly I was just watching the mirror routine from Duck Soup.
Finally, bravo for your docu-dramatization. I was so deeply moved I had to file a change of address card, although I was hoping to be played by someone a little more manly than myself, like Nat Pendleton, or Donald Meek.
Thanks very much for the beautiful tribute, the Bowery Boys (or is it East Side Kids?) photo, the always welcome Jayne Kennedy joke, and for being a terrific friend, and an ever reliable source of wit 'n' wisdom.
And I would just point out, since we are each a Child of the Self-Correcting Blogosphere, no less than the trees, that Dylan Thomas is a dead Welsh poet.
I have no idea why I get that wrong every time, unless I'm suffering from the same malady that you do in blocking out Matt Drudge (though to be honest, yours is far more beneficial). I have corrected this, and promise to make sure I don't screw it up ever again (the last person who called me out on it said I was a...well, I can't pronounce it because it's in Welsh--I just know there were a lot of w's and y's in it).
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