Goldie Hawn Discusses The Intelligence Gap With Dean Martin

This delightful interaction between birthday gal Goldie Hawn and cool cat Dean Martin proves that Goldie's not half as dumb as she'd have you believe... Which is quite an act, if you can master it.
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Happy Birthday Goldie Hawn

Although her first gig was on the short-lived sitcom Good Morning, World, Goldie Hawn soon thereafter burst into the public consciousness as the giggliest part of the ensemble sketch show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. It took a trio of movies, though - Cactus Flower*, There's a Girl in My Soup and Butterflies Are Free - to prove to that, while she was effervescent and sweet off camera as well as on, the ditz act was just that.

Appearances in Shampoo, The Sugarland Express, and Foul Play helped her career maintain its momentum despite such meteoric early success; it was 1981, though, that added an untold trajectory to Goldie Hawn's career. That was the year she appeared in Private Benjamin with Eileen Brennan and Armand Assante - which is exactly how I would have cast it - and it was clear that she had become a star for the ages...

She hasn't exactly rested on her laurels; since leaving the army Hawn has also starred in such fan favourite films as Swing Shift, the Vancouver-shot Bird on a Wire, and of course as part of the electrifying ensemble of The First Wives Club.

Nowadays, Hawn's fondness for the movies seems to have slipped; recently she and longtime love Kurt Russell decamped to Vancouver for the sake of their son Wyatt, whose dream was to play hockey. They've since left, but the few years they were here only served to confirm what Vancouverites have long known - that in addition to her skills as an actor, Goldie Hawn is also one of the world's great people. Currently she's engaged in charity work, empowering girls around the world, and being a grandma, which is the greatest kind of humanitarian work there is.

*For which she won an Oscar.
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Gratuitous Brunette: Ken Griffey, Jr.

My complete lack of knowledge of sports - as much as my fear of jocks - probably prevents me from posting more stories about athletes... Still, you'll never find a better athletic supporter than me. (And I mean that!)

Birthday wishes go out today to Ken Griffey, Jr. - the former Seattle Mariner, Cincinnati Red, and current Chicago White Sock whose turns at bat have earned him accolades, as well as Hall of Fame buzz even before retirement. The fact that he can so confidently handle 42 inches of wood makes him okay in my books...
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"An Englishman In New York" by Quentin Crisp

For the life of me, I'll never understand what might have moved Sting to write a song about Quentin Crisp as long ago as 1987*... Oh for the clear** mind of the typical YouTube commenter, who mainly attribute the inspiration to Sting's being gay. Apparently they missed the small blurb in the obscure newspaper that one time about him having all those tantric sex marathons with Trudie Styler.

A n y w a y... Here's An Englishman in New York, from Sting's album ...Nothing Like the Sun, which has a pretty funky sound if I do say so myself!

*Then again, I secretly think all straight people are homophobic, so what do I know?
**That is to say empty...
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Remembering... Quentin Crisp

Publication of his 1968 memoir The Naked Civil Servant scandalized a society clearly in need of scandalizing; in being among the first to force the British reading public to come to terms with its own homophobia not only did Quentin Crisp secure his legacy, he made life easier for subsequent generations of homos - not to mention eccentrics...

Born Christmas Day 1908, as early as 1930 Crisp was a fixture of the British capital, haunting the pubs and dive bars of Soho in search of like-minded companions; although he did find some* he found more foes than friends, all of which anecdotes eventually made their way into his book.

In 1975 The Naked Civil Servant was made into a television movie starring John Hurt; buoyed by the success of the film (which, in turn, boosted the sales of his book) Crisp moved to New York, where he would remain until his death on this day in 1999**. In the intervening years, Crisp distinguished himself by providing opinionated sound-bites to the press and 'singing for his supper', taking dinner invitations from anyone willing to pick up the check.

Plans are afoot for Hurt to star in a sequel to The Naked Civil Servant entitled An Englishman In New York, whose title is derived from the 1987 song by Sting of the same name***, so look for interest in the life and personality of Quentin Crisp to continue unabated...

*Since we are everywhere, always have been, and always will be...
**Even though he died in England, on the eve of a national speaking tour, his ashes were later scattered over Manhattan.
***From the album ...Nothing Like the Sun.
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"It's Oh So Quiet" by Björk

Hard as it is to resist Björk under normal circumstances, when she covers the classic Betty Hutton song Blow a Fuse and has the video directed by Spike Jonze I'm already writhing on the floor begging for mercy...

It's Oh So Quiet originally appeared on the 1995 album Post; in terms of chart position it remains her biggest single, although Big Time Sensuality is nothing to be sneezed at. (Unless that's what you're into.)

Anyway, today is Björk's birthday, so why not put on a swan dress and watch Dancer in the Dark?
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