Thursday, August 18, 2011

Today is August 18 again. It seems only yesterday it was August 17.


A lot of things happened on August 18. Not necessarily today, but in years past. Historic things happened. People were born. People... you know... died.

Were YOU born on August 18? If so, happy birthday! And I mean that. I certainly hope you don't DIE on August 18, at least not today. If you do, please have someone comment about it and I will write a nice piece about you in this spot.

THINGS THAT HAPPENED ON AUGUST 18:

1. The Thousand Islands Bridge was dedicated on August 18 in 1904 by Teddy Roosevelt. Ok, that's a lie. It was dedicated on August 18, 1938 by FRANKLIN Roosevelt. Of course, the Thousand Island Bridge isn't really a bridge at all (it's a salad dressing. Kidding again) it's a series of 5 bridges. It goes from New York across the St. Lawrence into Ontario and then back down to North Carolina. Or at least NY to ONT. Oh! but that area is simply gorgeous. There's also a castle on one of the thousand islands. I forget which one. Our very own Sheila did a post about it one time though, and you should go back and read it. Anyway, here's a bridge picture. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't click on it to make it slendiferously bigger:
2. On August 18, 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote in the U.S. So that was a cool August 18 thing.

PEOPLE WHO DIED ON AUGUST 18:

1. Persus Khambatta, in 1998. That sucked. Persus was a Miss India at age 17 and went on to compete in Miss Universe, but to me she will always be the exotic Deltan Lieutenant Ilia in the original Star Trek movie. Here's pictures of her:



2. Honore de Balzac, in 1850. Famous black coffee drinker and marathon writer. A favorite of mine and the more I read of him, the favoriter her gets. I could quote you some of the things he said but the whole world already knows what he said. Ask Soubriquet to tell you about the coffee. Here's Honore's picture, looking all cool and fat:


PEOPLE WHO WERE BORN ON AUGUST 18:

1. Virginia Dare, 1587. Virginia was the first English child born in the Americas.



2. Franz Josef I, Emperor of the Austrian Empire, pictured at top of this post. August 18, 1830 was when this precious one entered the world. You may recall that the Great War, WWI, began when his nephew-successor Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 by Serb nationalists in Sarajevo. The war dragged out until the U.S. entered in 1917 and won it quickly. Then again, you may NOT recall. It's ok.

3. Robert Redford, Born August 18, 1936. It's really hard to describe all that he has done over the years. He is one of my favorite actors of all time. Even the real Sundance Kid once told me (in an afterlife postcard) that Redford was a better Sundance than he was himself. It's hard for me to believe that Robert Redford is 75 today. Damn.

4. Roman Polanski, child rapist, beloved of the liberal left, he who is too cool to be subject to justice like a regular non-artistic common man and should just be left alone because the rapee wants it so now and, God, he has suffered enough, born 1933. He is also one of the absolute best, most talented movie directors who ever lived. Incidently, Vincent Bugliosi was also born on August 18 of the very next year. How eerie is that? oooooEEEEEooooo. (Bugliosi was the LA district attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson and family for the murder of Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate.)


5. Roselyn Carter, former U.S. First Lady and sweet southern Belle. Unfortunately, some say her husband was the worst President in the history of the United States. Of course, that wasn't HER fault, even if it were true. How quickly people forget Lyndon Shithead Johnson and his Great Society debacle and something else. Oh, I remember: Vietnam. So Jimmy wasn't the worst, but bad enough to get Ronald Reagan elected because he shone in comparison. Me? I vote James Buchanan as worst, simply because he could have prevented the Civil War and just sat on his ass instead. But none of those things have anything to do with August 18. Here is a picture of Roselyn and her guy:


12 comments:

  1. I am overwhelmed that you noticed my post at all, and almost as much again that you should mention it. Thank you. :)

    Who would have thought that so much happened on 18 August? No wonder the rest of the year seems so quiet.

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  2. Ha! For the record, I think Polanski should face justice, too (but then I think you knew that) and when you were talking about worst presidents, the first thought in my mind was "No way Carter beats Buchanan" who also gets MY vote for worst prez ever (though, admittedly, competition is stiff).

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  3. As a tourist I saw that George Boldt’s castle is an empty shell. The man got waylaid by his wife’s death. Being so wealthy he could have snatched up some wench a la Persu Khambatta to reign in the deceased stead but no he chose to lay off the artisans and laborers leaving future sightseers cheated. Loser.

    The original Star Trek movie sucked.

    Honore Balzac, now you’re talking.

    Winning wars quickly was a U.S. asset politicians long ago put the kibosh on as Douglas would tell you if he were here.

    Saw an image of Redford recently. I was aghast at how old he looked. “The Sting” is one of the top ten movies ever.

    Polanski appalls me as do his supporters. I liked his last movie though.

    Poor Buch, can’t sit on the fence with fire eaters like Edmund Ruffin and William Lloyd Garrison stoking the flames which makes me laugh at Biden calling the TEA Party terrorists. That codger hasn’t got a clue what real rabble rousers are. But his tact is so typical of liberals, obfuscate with character assassinations unfounded and otherwise to avert attention away from real problems they are creating.

    I fear my comments are rather flip. Perhaps I should stay over at "Slap" being the shallow person I am.

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  4. @Sheila - I notice all your posts. I am just too slow to comment. :)

    @Stephanie Barr - That's pretty scary. But there have really been a lot of poor ones to choose from. Presidents, I mean, not movie directors. :)

    @Leazwell - You came! You read! You commented! And so interesting. (All but the part about the first Star Trek movie sucking.) Thank you!

    Us winning WWI quickly was Adullamite bait, but he never showed. Ah, well.

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  5. Carter is a nice guy. A really nice guy. Not a great president, but I can't say I've seen one of those lately/recently/in the last 50 years.

    Polanski may be talented. Don't care. Dead to me.

    'fraid the first Star Trek movie is dead to me, too. Bleh. Loved Wrath of Khan, though. Best Star Trek movie ever!

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  6. Max, glad to oblige. Now let's talk about this Star Trek film. The presence of Persus in this movie has blinded you obviously. How can I say this...it's kind of like Sarah Palin who is by the way passe. She was nothing more than a vapor, she never had credibility. She whirled in and about the political arena but was never a woman with political substance. Oh, she may stay on the side lines like a Dallas cheerleader for the party and we still get to observe Sean Hannity placing a tome in his lap every time he hears her name. She didn't bring anything meaningful to conservatism here. Is the Republican party any better now than before her arrival? You get my meaning? A good movie does not a pretty face make. ;)

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  7. @Adullamite - I was. I was a drummer boy.

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  8. @Shakespeare - Boy, you almost had me there. Then I realized you were only being ironic. Carter being a nice guy should have tipped me off right away. I know now you mean "nice" as code for "dragged us through living hell while humiliating us." Cool. I can do subtle.

    You are also right to dismiss Polanski. Good for you.

    So you liked Khan and you think Jimmy is nice. Cool. if we all thought alike, this world would be boring, right?

    Thank you for your wry comment. :)

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  9. @Leazwell - When I invited you to join the elite intelligencia of the blogosphere and make a comment here, I meant ONCE! Don't be hogging like this!

    Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Ok. ::composes himself::

    Frankly, all kidding aside, I really appreciated your thoughtful second comment about... ummmm... that bald one, right? Actually, you were commenting pretty fast and furious so II took notes so as to make sure I got it all straight...

    Nothing more than a vapor... no cred... whirling arena... never a woman... cheerleader... observe Hannity's lap... nothing meaningful...

    All good points, to be sure.

    "Is the Republican party any better now than before her arrival?" Well, admittedly not. But, holy mackeral Leazwell, she was a Deltan and therefore was THE ONLY ONE ON BOARD WHO COULD COMMUNICATE WITH V'GER!!!! Doesn't anybody here GET that????

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  10. To no one in particular. Just trying to get rid of the Jimmy Carter virus that's hacking in my craw:

    Nice. You bet. Take away 4 years of pain and misery and humiliation and runaway inflation and "Ham" Jerrrrden and JOEdee Powell and beer swilling hillbillies all over the news every evening, and it comes out to "nice." What the heck, it don't matter now. I do miss Miz Lillian, and that's the truth. Bless her.

    No good presidents? Let's not let the good ones slip our memory: Reagan, George W. Bush, Nixon. How quickly we forget their sacrifices! Nixon, because he made Carter possible; Reagan, because he saved us from Carter's folly; and Bush, because he was a hero in the Navy. Wait. That was the older bush that was a hero in the Navy. Ok, forget George W. Bush. How about John F. Kennedy? Because he was in the Navy, just like Carter, and I think he liked peanuts. Or was that women? Anyway, there were three. At LEAST three. God bless America.

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  11. You didn't expect to invite in a member of SPECTRE and have things go "nicely." Come, come. Do be sensible Mr. Bond.

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