Et tu

Today is the infamous Ides of March. Two thousand fifty-two years ago on this day, the Roman emperor Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by senators who called themselves the Liberatores (Liberators) and claimed they were preserving the integrity of the Roman system. Although Caesar ostensibly refused to be named king, he had no qualms about stamping his face on coins (a spot previously reserved for gods), and he happily assumed the title “dictator for life” in February of 44 B.C.E., just a month before his assassination. The most famous of the Liberators is Marcus Brutus, a man personally connected to Caesar. Brutus’s mother, Servilia, was one of Caesar’s lovers, and Caesar singled Brutus out as a young man of promise and gave him a government position. It’s not certain why Brutus conspired to kill Caesar, but the young man did come from a family of anti-authoritarians — his ancestor Junius Brutus overthrew the last king of Rome in 509 B.C.E.

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

Pretty cool when you can trace a family tradition (albeit, regicide in this case) back 463 years.

The Ides of March is the birthday

… of D.J. Fontana, Elvis Presley’s drummer for 14 years, is 77.

… of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She’s 75.

… of Judd Hirsch. He’s 73.

… of Beach Boy Mike Love. He’s 67. Love is the cousin of brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson.

Subsequently, the band has intermittently released new albums and toured like clockwork every summer while making headlines for various extracurricular mishaps: the accidental drowning death of Dennis Wilson in 1983; the legal battles over Brian’s conservatorship between elements in the Beach Boys’ camp and his control-oriented (and since-deposed) psychologist, Eugene Landy; and Mike Love’s lawsuit against Brian, wherein he claimed to have coauthored certain Beach Boys songs credited to Brian alone. Burdened by these and myriad other subplots, the Beach Boys at time seemed to be rock and roll’s longest-running soap opera. At the same time, they’ve been responsible for some of the most perfect harmonies and gorgeous melodies in rock and roll history, and it is for this vast accumulation of timeless music for which they will ultimately be remembered and celebrated.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

… of Sylvester Stewart. He’s 65.

Sly and the Family Stone took the Sixties ideal of a generation coming together and turned it into deeply groove-driven music. Rock’s first integrated, multi-gender band became funky Pied Pipers to the Woodstock Generation, synthesizing rock, soul, R&B, funk and psychedelia into danceable, message-laden, high-energy music. In promoting their gospel of tolerance and celebration of differences, Sly and the Family Stone brought disparate audiences together during the latter half of the Sixties. The group’s greatest triumph came at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. During their unforgettable nighttime set, leader Sly Stone initiated a fevered call-and-response with the audience of 400,000 during an electrifying version of “I Want to Take You Higher.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

… of Ry Cooder. He’s 61.

He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in the American roots music, and, more recently, for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries. Cooder was ranked number 8 on Rolling Stone’s “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Wikipedia

… of Eva Longoria Parker, desperate at turning 33.

Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the U.S., was born on this date in 1767.

Why Gmail?

Since it was made available, NewMexiKen has used Google’s gmail for all my email. Here’s why:

1. It’s free.
2. I wanted an email service I could easily access on any computer, anywhere there was internet access.
3. I wanted an email provider that wouldn’t change. (Remember @home.com?) I figured Google was going to be around for a while.
4. I had tried Microsoft and Yahoo! and didn’t like the clutter of their web-based email.
5. I wanted to use my email with Outlook (now I use it with Apple Mail). Gmail permits that; HotMail did, but weirdly; Yahoo did but you had to upgrade ($).
6. Gmail’s spam filters are excellent, catching about 99% of all spam. The spam never gets to my computer. I never see it.
7. I am able to forward email from older email addresses (such as @comcast.net) through gmail, so I don’t have to worry about getting everybody to change their address book.
8. Now gmail has IMAP (rather than POP) mail. IMAP automatically syncs my gmail with any mail application — Apple Mail on two computers, my iPod touch and online. If I delete a message one place, it goes away and isn’t cluttering up my mailbox next time I open one of the other email programs.
9. If I delete a message inadvertently, it stays available in gmail’s trash — on the web — for 30 days.
10. It’s free.

Gmail