Birthdays are Awesome. I love them because it's a day when you can truly celebrate one person, and there's no religion or anything tripping it all up. I know from counting my blog tags that I sure post about them a lot.
One great thing about my birthday is that I share it with Sarah. Sarah and I met during freshman week of college, and have been grand chums across continents and coasts ever since.
In college, we would celebrate our birthdays with tiaras...
...or fancy dress... ...and nowadays it's more casual, but still Awesome.
So this morning on my way to work I passed my first billboard for The f(x) = Solitude, the new James Bond flick. This is terribly exciting because I sure am a big fan of Bond, James Bond. The first Bond movie I saw on the big screen was A View To A Kill, with that avuncular comic Roger Moore & that force of nature Grace Jones. It had everything an 11 year old boy wanted - action, humor, hot air balloons, and the Golden Gate Bridge. I then watched all the older ones on VHS - often missing out on double entendres and the plot complexities, but always appreciating the gadgets guns, and in three cases, the Shirley Bassey theme songs.
I thought poor George Lazenby was wrong for the part but was in one of the best movies, Diamonds are Forever was one of the worst movies but had the best theme song, I was over the moon when Bono wrote a theme song for Tina Turner to sing, and the word "Octopussy" still makes me giggle.
Casino Royale was the first one I missed on the big screen since AVtaK, and I'm sure looking forward to gathering my chums together to see this new one come November 14th.
Here's the Goldeneye video. I still remember driving back and forth from Vassar to the city with this cassingle (four remixes!) flipping itself over and over.
Yesterday was a Special Day, because it was Kevin's birthday.
I met Kevin in 1996 in Brooklyn. He was carrying a boom microphone and I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Later that day we watched The Godfather, and my friendship with him was cemented at the same time that my fear of revolving doors was justified.
Every few years I put on my Dolly Parton t-shirt and Kevin puts on his middle finger and we go to the River to celebrate. Happy Day After Birthday, Kevin!
So sometimes, your friends make babies. I was excited to see Karen last week for dinner & fun times, and to discover that she is in fact in month 8 of a 10 month pregnancy.
I was also very excited to find out that she is related to Miss Shelley Winters, a fact which had somehow never come up in college. It's through her Aunt Clarice, who must have been a lovely woman.
Here's hoping Karen is as nice to her baby as she was to Shorty, back in The Past.
Yesterday we should have wished Miss Julie Andrews a very happy birthday - and if it wasn't for our extreme emotions about Burritoville closing, we would have. In any event, happy birthday, Dame Julie. I had started her memoir, Home: A Memoir, a long time ago, and would read it exclusively on the A train to Amber's house. I guess you can tell what a bad friend I am on account of I haven't taken the train in a while.
On the plus side, I can say that this song that Miss Andrews sings to Kermit on the Muppet Show is, maybe even moreso than Rowlf's song to the puppy, one of my favorite television moments.
So last night Amber came over and we thought we'd try something new - takeout food and a program. We huffed and we puffed over to 44th & 9th to our old favorite, Burritoville, only to find the gates locked up tighter than a tick in a teacup.
(scene recreated with actors)
It turns out the whole dang chain closed down! I dare you to try to type www.burritoville.com - it just takes you straight to Google homepage. And the old grey lady even did a piece on it, so it must be true.
I sure am going to miss my Holy Moley Burrito, the free tasty chips, the water cups that were not for salsa, and the funny named soda pops.
RIP Burritoville, RIP.
[in the end Amber and I went across the street for my first visit to Chipotle, which turned out to be not so bad]
The first Bond movie I saw on the big screen was A View To A Kill, with that avuncular comic Roger Moore & that force of nature Grace Jones. It had everything an 11 year old boy wanted - action, humor, hot air balloons, and the Golden Gate Bridge. I then watched all the older ones on VHS - often missing out on double entendres and the plot complexities, but always appreciating the gadgets guns, and in three cases, the Shirley Bassey theme songs.
Happy Day After Birthday, Kevin!
I had started her memoir, Home: A Memoir, a long time ago, and would read it exclusively on the A train to Amber's house. I guess you can tell what a bad friend I am on account of I haven't taken the train in a while.
(scene recreated with actors)
