August 16th

… is the birthday of the man with the best answer to the age-old question, “What are you going to do with a degree in history?” If you’re Fess Parker, after you get that degree at the University of Texas, you play Davy Crockett in the Disney TV classic, then Daniel Boone in the television series, move to Santa Barbara and run a vineyard and resort.

And turn 85 today.

Actor Robert Culp is 79 today. He was Bill Cosby’s sidekick (or Cosby was his) in the first TV series to feature an African-American, I Spy.

Julie Newmar, Catwoman on the Batman TV series, is 76.

Frank Gifford is 79 today. Kathie Lee Gifford is 56 today.

One-time Oscar nominee for best supporting actress, Lesley Ann Warren is 63 today.

Oscar-winner James Cameron is 55. Cameron won, of course, for Titanic — writer, director, best picture.

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone is 51.

Best actress Oscar nominee Angela Bassett is 51 today too.

Supporting actor Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton is 49.

Steve Carrell is 46.

Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks is 37. Originally Emily Erwin (Robison is her married name), she and her sister Martie (now Maguire) founded the group with two other classmates. The other two left and the group added Natalie Maines as the lead singer in 1995.

Football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg was born on this date in 1862. Stagg, Skull and Bones at Yale, was on the first All-America team ever (1889). He coached most famously at the University of Chicago, 1892-1932. Stagg developed the man-in-motion and the lateral pass — and developed basketball as a five man game. He is in both the college football and basketball halls of fame.

Elvis Presley died 32 years ago today, he was 42. Margaret Mitchell died 60 years ago today, at age 48. Babe Ruth died 61 years ago today, he was 53. Robert Johnson died 71 years ago today, he was 27.

The first issue of Sports Illustrated was published 55 years ago.

August 15th

… is Napoleon’s birthday. He was born August 15, 1769 (and died in 1821, at age 51). As an adult, Napoleon was just over 5-feet, 6-inches tall (1.686 m), about average for his countrymen at the time.

Four time Oscar nominee for best supporting actress (one win), Ethel Barrymore was born on this date in 1879.

Pulitzer-winning author Edna Ferber was born 121 years ago today. She’s known best for So Big (Pulitzer prize in 1924), Show Boat, Cimarron, Giant and Ice Palace.

T.E. Lawrence was born on this date in 1888. the third illegitimate son of the seventh Baronet of Westmeath. The Writer’s Almanac has a good brief bio, which includes this:

Lawrence had learned to speak and read Arabic, and when World War I began, he went to work for Britain’s intelligence agency. Then, in 1916, he decided to join the armed forces on the ground, to encourage Arab revolt against the ruling Ottoman Turks, who had allied with Germany for the war. He wore long robes and headcloths and his comrades did, and he led Arab tribes in guerilla warfare in the desert, blowing up railroad tracks to impede enemy transport. He led his Arab forces in a decoy mission to distract the Turkish army so that British forces were able to invade Palestine and Syria. At one point, Lawrence was captured, beaten, and raped by a Turkish governor.

He accompanied the Arab delegation to the Peace Conference in Paris, and then Winston Churchill appointed him the political advisor on the Middle East. He was 31 years old and famous all over the world.

TV chef Julia Child was born Julia McWilliams in Pasadena, California, on this date in 1912.

Wisecracking DIck Van Dyke Show co-star Rose Marie is 86.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 71.

Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth, is 59.

Grace, that is, actress Debra Messing, is 41.

Ben Affleck is 37.

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Gene Upshaw was born on August 15th in 1945. Upshaw played for the Raiders, 1967-1981. (Ahh, the glory years.) Upshaw had a second career as Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association. He died last August.

The Wizard of Oz premiered 70 years ago tonight.

Today is the Feast of the Assumption, the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the feast celebrates both the “happy departure of Mary from this life” and the “assumption of her body into heaven.” That she “was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things” is a principle of Catholic dogma.

The hits keep on coming

Banks 73, 74, 75, 76 and 77 of 2009 were closed by the FDIC today.

Community Bank of Nevada
Community Bank of Arizona
Union Bank, National Association (Arizona) — first banks closed in Arizona since 2002
Colonial Bank (Alabama) — first failure in Alabama since 1992
Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association (Pennsylvania)

25 banks were closed last year. 10 were closed 2003-2007.

Best line of the day, so far

I remember the first time Leta ever saw an episode of Sesame Street, I think she was maybe thirteen or fourteen months old. She had woken up really early one morning, and in an effort to let Jon get some sleep before heading into his office job I took her out to the living room and turned the television to one of the kid channels. And all it took was one peep out of Elmo and Leta had found religion. Thankfully it wasn’t one that required she wear pantyhose for three hours every Sunday morning.

Heather Armstrong (dooce)

Consumers Finally Growing Some Damned Sense, Not Buying Bottled Water

From a Consumerist article:

We think it’s more likely that a lot of consumers who buy bottled water have started to figure out that:

  • It’s hugely expensive—a back of the envelope estimate puts it at 5 cents an ouce versus less than 1 cent per gallon from a municipal water supply;
  • It might be loaded with bad things you don’t want to ingest, like disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication;
  • It has less safety oversight than plain old tap water, which is why bottlers don’t have to tell you where the water came from or what’s actually in it.

Consumerist has the links and details.

Britain Is Laughing at Us

Kathy Flake on how the British are looking down at us. These comments via Twitter; note subject is #welovethenhs (we love the [British] National Health Service).

@PG_Rule #welovethenhs Pity that US healthcare (hardly an integrated system delivering value to all stakeholders) has not a cure for myopia

@willshome Let’s get this straight: in the Bible does the Good Samaritan care for the man set upon by thieves, then sent him a bill? No. #welovetheNHS

August 14th

Today is the birthday

… of Earl Weaver. The former Orioles manager is 79.

… of Dash Crofts. The Crofts of Seals and Crofts is 69.

… of David Crosby. The Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash is 68. Mama Cass introduced Crosby, Stills and Nash to one another in 1968. Before that, of course, Mr. Crosby was in another Hall of Fame group, The Byrds.

… of Steve Martin, born in Waco, Texas. He’s 64 today. (And not last Friday as incorrectly posted.)

… of Susan St. James. The wife of McMillan and Wife is 63. McMillan was played by Rock Hudson.

… of Danielle Steel. The author is 62.

… of Gary Larson. The Far Side cartoonist is 59.

… of Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Magic is 50, as is actress Marcia Gay Harden.

… of Susan Olsen. Cindy, of The Brady Bunch, is 48.

VJ Day Kiss

… of Halle Berry. The Academy Award winner is 43.

… of Ernest Thayer, the man who wrote “Casey at the Bat,” born on this date in 1863 (and not August 7, as incorrectly reported).

Today is the 64th anniversary of the end of World War II; V-J[apan] Day or V-P[acific] Day. That’s Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photo. The nurse has been identified as Edith Cullen Shain. She was 27 that day. No one knows who the sailor was. Click the image for a larger version.

Best line on this date, so far

“We can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt on signing the Social Security Act 74 years ago today.

False ‘Death Panel’ Rumor

I know, the death panel allegation people don’t want facts, but for those that do The New York Times has some journalism today.

“There is nothing in any of the legislative proposals that would call for the creation of death panels or any other governmental body that would cut off care for the critically ill as a cost-cutting measure.”

The Times discusses the sources of the misinformation, “openly emanating months ago from many of the same pundits and conservative media outlets that were central in defeating President Bill Clinton’s health care proposals 16 years ago.”

Enough of this

Man carrying “death to Obama” sign at Maryland town hall detained by Secret Service.

The full sign actually read: “Death To Obama, Death To Michelle And Her Two Stupid Kids”

Talking Points Memo

It isn’t freedom of speech to yell “fire” in a crowded theater and this kind of protest isn’t freedom of speech either. These people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

And any politician or media celebrity who doesn’t speak forcefully against this type of behavior should be run out of office or fail to find advertisers.

Best line of the day

“It troubled me at first to hear that your followers would be deciding the fate our grandparents — i.e., who would be rescued, and who would be thrown on the death pile. Then I began to wonder if there might be some sort of rebate program for those of us whose grandparents are all dead. Since no one in my family from this generation will need to be processed, I wonder if the government might be willing to pay $100 in savings per grandparent — sort of a variation on the ‘Cash for Clunkers.'”

Anne Lamott

Health care line of the day

“Recently, we flew back to New York to consult with perhaps the world expert on Myasthenia. After reviewing her symptoms and treatment he declared that the doctors in Scotland were doing all the right things. He then asked how much this cost. He had a bit of a hard time understanding that the cost was exactly zero.”

TPM reader JR

Damn socialists.

Well, damn

“Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains, N.Y. He was 94.”

Obituary – NYTimes.com

“The only reason I invented these things was because I didn’t have them and neither did anyone else. I had no choice, really.”

Paul played every Monday night until June.

Friday the 13th is a Thursday this month

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is 83 today.

Ben Hogan was born on this date in 1912. Hogan was the great golfer of mid-century, overcoming injuries from a severe, near-fatal auto accident. Hogan won four U.S. Opens, two Masters, two PGAs and one British Open between 1946-53.

Alfred Hitchcock was born on this date in 1899. The director was nominated for the Academy Award for best director five times, but never won. The nominations were for Rebecca, Life Boat, Spellbound, Rear Window and Psycho. CNN did a retrospective on Hitchcock on his 100th birthday and included a list of his “ten best” films.

10. “Strangers on a Train” (1951)
9. “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1934, 1956)
8. “To Catch a Thief” (1955)
7. “Dial M for Murder” (1954)
6. “The 39 Steps” (1935)
5. “North by Northwest” (1959)
4. “The Birds” (1963)
3. “Psycho” (1960)
2. “Vertigo” (1958)
1. “Rear Window” (1954)

Little Sure Shot — Annie Oakley — Annie Oakley 1902 was born on this date in 1860. Larry McMurtry’s excellent essay “Inventing the West” from the August 2000 issue of The New York Review of Books tells us about this famous performer.

Annie Oakley (Phoebe Ann Moses—or Mosey) grew up poor in rural Ohio, shot game to feed her family, shot game to sell, was pressed into a shooting contest with a touring sharpshooter named Frank Butler, beat him, married him, stayed with him for fifty years, and died three weeks before he did in 1926.

When Annie Oakley and Frank Butler offered themselves to Cody the Colonel was dubious. His fortunes were at a low ebb, and shooting acts abounded. But he gave Annie Oakley a chance. She walked out in Louisville before 17,000 people and was hired immediately. Nate Salsbury, Cody’s tight-fisted manager, who did not spend lavishly and who rarely highlighted performers, happened to watch Annie rehearse and promptly ordered seven thousand dollars’ worth of posters and billboard art.

Annie Oakley more than justified the expense. Sitting Bull, normally a taciturn fellow, saw her shoot in Minnesota and could not contain himself. Watanya cicilia, he called her, his Little Sure Shot. Small, reserved, Quakerish, she seemed to live on the lemonade Buffalo Bill dispensed free to all hands. In London she demolished protocol by shaking hands with Princess Alexandra. She shook hands with Alexandra’s husband, the Prince of Wales, too, though, like his mother the Queen, she strongly disapproved of his behavior with the ladies. In France the Parisians were glacially indifferent to buffalo, Indians, cowboys, and Cody—Annie Oakley melted them so thoroughly that she had to go through her act five times before she could escape. In Germany she likened Bismarck to a mastiff.

In 1901 she was almost killed in a train wreck. Annie claimed that it was the wreck that caused her long auburn hair to turn white overnight; skeptics said her hair turned white because she left it in hot water too long while at a spa. She continued to shoot into the 1920s. In her last years she looked rather like Nancy Astor. Will Rogers visited her not long before her death and pronounced her the perfect woman. Probably not until Billie Jean King and the rise of women’s tennis had a female outdoor performer held the attention of so many people. She became part of the “invention” that is the West by winning her way with a gun: a man’s thing, the very thing, in fact, that had won the West itself.

Annie was her nickname as a child. Oakley was a stage name. Offstage she referred to herself as Mrs. Frank Butler. Photo taken 1902 when Oakley was 42. Click image for larger version.

The Aztecs surrendered to Cortés on this date in 1521.