Birthdays this Weekend

Good Morning Everybody,


First off, I just got a text from my buddy Spitsofrantic and his new album "Hood Vibrations" will be hitting Uprok Records on August 10th, so check it out. You can also see announcements for show dates...and the albums will be available there at a very affordable $10. If you see me at the show, ask me for a drink. I'll get you one with purchase of an album. You can't go wrong.


More information to come...

Because I'm at a lack of ideas with my mind being elsewhere (date tonight) & not much has really happened since last blog besides REM, I just thought that I'd mention some birthdays of people that I admire (or are at least famous) over the next couple days since this should prove to be a pretty awesome weekend.

Friday, July 20th

• Gisele Bundchen (27) - Just this week she was announced as the highest-paid supermodel in the world at over $33 million this year, now she can fly all of her hot supermodel friends to Brazil (home for most of them) to celebrate her birthday. I must visit Rio in my lifetime. Maybe next June for Adriana Lima's birthday celebration...


• Carlos Santana (60) - The man can play a guitar & seems to have a peaceful mysticism about him. I'm glad that this generation got to listen to him too with collaborations with Wyclef, Rob Thomas, Michelle Branch, Everclear, & everybody else. Everybody should have at least a Greatest Hits album of his 70's hits & the award winning "Supernatural" album. You can just kick back & listen to both albums all the way through.


• Chuck Daly (76) - Hall of Fame coach of two-time NBA champion "Bad Boys" the Detroit Pistons & the original Dream Team


• Sir Edmund Hillary (88) - The first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953 and his first words back to his buddy when he returned to base camp - "Well George, we finally knocked the bastard off." It's like something out of an English Sopranos. He's also the only living New Zealander to appear on a banknote (Peter Jackson soon?). The best lesson to learn from Sir Edmund though, is though he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (Rule Harder) that he would have never made it without his Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. Though you may achieve great things in your life, it's not all about you. It's humbling advice, but it makes one a more grateful person for the friends & colleagues that they have. Happy birthday Sir Hillary!!!

Saturday, July 21st

• Kenzie (23) - Happy Birthday Kenzie!!! Be safe this weekend, loyal blog reader!!! Let's see how long it takes for her to respond to this message. Starting..........NOW!!!


• Josh Hartnett (29) - I swear this guy is the second coming of Tommy Lee Jones. At first, I was pretty sure that this guy was just another pretty boy...but he's actually shaping out to be a good actor. I can't wait for the new Sin City movies.


• Jon Lovitz (50) - "The Critic" is one of the greatest cartoons ever!!!


• Robin Williams (56) - One of the greatest comedians of all time!!! He's actually done some great dramatic work too. If you haven't, check out "Insomnia" with him & Al Pacino. "What Dreams May Come" is pretty good too with Cuba Gooding, jr.


• Don Knotts (83) - Third brilliant comedian born on the same day. The world's a little sadder place without him, but his legacy lives on. Happy birthday, Officer Fife!!!

Sunday, July 22nd

• David Spade (44) - How is this guy hanging with Jenny McCarthy??? I understand the whole 'He makes me laugh' reason but for Jenny, he'd better be hung like a walrus.


• Willem Dafoe (52) - Creepiest Jesus ever!!! "Last Temptation of Christ"


• Danny Glover (60) - "FREE SOUTH AFRICA, you dumb son of a bitch!!!"


• Don Henley (60) - Lead singer for the Eagles & a successful solo career. "Boys of Summer" is a great song.


• Alex Trebek (67) - Born Giorgi Suka, this host of Jeopardy! for the past 23 years, makes up one-third of the Holy Trinity of Game Show Hosts (Pat Sajak & recently-retired Bob Barker make up the others). Wink Martindale, Chuck Woolrey, Hugh Downs, even Howie Mandel, all great game show hosts...but not quite in the Trinity. Who will replace Bob Barker? Who knows? Trebek may retire soon too...especially after "Kebert Xela!!!"


• George Clinton (67) - The Godfather of Funk was born on the same day as Alex Trebek. What are the odds??? Came down from Funkatron, born in Kannapolis, NC; raised in Plainfield, NJ; was actually in a Motown group called the Parliaments, then staff songwriter for Motown, then formed Parliament Funkadelic in the 70's. His music has spread into different genres & he has collaborated with just about everybody you've ever heard of in the music business. For his birthday, I suggest jamming out to George Clinton's Greatest Funkin' Hits. Actually, you should probably start every morning in the shower jamming to it. It's what I do...and it's great.


• Bob Dole (84) - Bob Dole is a Senator from Kansas & former Republican Presidential Candidate. Bob Dole played basketball under Phog Allen at the University of Kansas in the 40's shortly before serving in WWII (Not a Nintendo video game console). Now, Bob Dole has an Institute of Politics in his name there. Bob Dole also stars in commercials for Viagra, Visa, Dunkin' Donuts, & Pepsi. I'm not sure why everybody talks about Bob Dole in the third-person...especially Bob Dole...but Bob Dole's cool in my book. BOB DOLE!!!

Monday, July 23rd

• Daniel Radcliffe (18) - Harry Potter looks 18 in the new movie. I wonder if he celebrates the release of the 7th book too. "DAMN IT!!! I'm going to be doing these bloody movies until I'm twenty-five. Oh well, one day I'll play James Bond...and it'll be ALL worth it. Cheers lads!!!"


• Nomar Garciaparra & Monica Lewinsky (34) - Born on the same day. Who would think that both would always be associated with articles of clothing? Red Sox & a Blue Dress, I smell a sitcom.


• Marlon Wayans (35) - "Don't Be A Menace In South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" - If you haven't seen it, you must. Great comedic actor & has actually done some pretty good dramatic stuff too ("Requiem for a Dream").


• Slash (42) - Haven't seen his face on TV in a while...actually, I guess even when he was really famous I didn't either. Hmm...


• Woody Harrelson (46) - "Natural Born Killers" is a classic. You've got to respect a man that'll put his love for marijuana over his movie career.

Sports News of the Day - The FBI is investigating an 13-year veteran NBA referee as to whether he has gambled on NBA games & allegedly fixed games that he actually refereed to have certain point spreads for his Mafia affiliates. You know, back in 1999, when the San Antonio Spurs won their 1st championship, my friend's mother claimed that it was because of the 'San Antonio Mafia' and I laughed right in her face. Sure, it was rude...but it was a ridiculous accusation...or was it??? I mean, just look at the guy's face. He looks like he's been down on his luck. More to come on this story...at least if it's interesting...

Also, Steve Francis a.k.a. "The Franchise" is having an interesting few weeks. On the day of the NBA Draft, he started out as starting point guard for the New York Knicks. Then he was traded (see "Basketball's Christmas" blog entry) to Portland because Isaih Thomas seems determined to ruin the Knicks Franchise or something. Then Portland waived him to free up some salary space because he's a fairly expensive player that has had some recent injuries. Yesterday, though the former All-Star guard was signed by the Houston Rockets & returns to the team that he was an All-Star with & can play alongside All-Stars Yao Ming & Tracy McGrady to make a formidable nucleus in the Lone Star State (still 3rd worst team in Texas). Congratulations "Franchise" & good luck!!!

News of the Day - This one is good. It was reported yesterday that laptops that were donated to Nigerian schoolchildren by the One Laptop per Child aid group had pornographic images stored on them...and that the children have been using the Internet to look up pornography.

In their defense, they had about a 50-50 chance of accidentally looking up a porn site. They could have been looking for information on America and found http://www.whitehouse.com/ instead of http://www.whitehouse.org/. That's how I found my first adult site back in the day. What does this prove? No matter where we grow up & how we're raised, we're all pretty much the same when you get down to it. I wonder how many friends they have from MySpace already. I'd better check MySpace this weekend. I've had a lot of ladies ask to be my friend. That's what happens when you put yourself as a single non-profit gigolo, I guess.

On that note, I'll bid you all adieu...and please continue to browse the Internet...