Happy Birthday to Me!
The whole damn thing is a vanity site, if you really think about it, so why not go a tiny bit further and wish myself a happy birthday?
I've taken issue with my birthday in the past. It's February and I live in Canada. Which means snow, cold, and illness are not unusual. They might even be expected. Ice storms were not infrequent. Friends getting off the school bus with me for the birthday party extravaganza would slide down the large skating rink that was my driveway, which was long and slope-y. Once my friend Susan fell. On my birthday present, natch. It was one of those flat round vinyl things called records. Yeah. Well, you shouldn't sit on them. Or fall. Because they break. In case you're wondering, it was Culture Club. That was Grade 7. I kept the two halves of that album until I moved away to university.
Of course, while in grade school, I usually had math exams on my birthday. Math and me don't get along so well. So that sort of sucked too. I now religiously take my birthday off work, to prevent things like random pop quizzes.
I was a child of the seventies. Born in '73 to my lovely parents, Wayne and Donna. While it is true that I looked a little like an alien when I was a baby, most people think I look not so bad now.
In 1973,Ferdinand Marcos became President of the Philippines. (For life, but then some bad stuff happened and he ran away.) In the US, the Supreme Court ruled on Roe versus Wade. Richard Nixon was president. He announced the peace accord in Vietnam. Peace pacts were signed. The first American POWs were released.
Watergate. The Exorcist. American Graffiti. The Saturday Night Massacre. Jesus Christ Superstar. Carlos the Jackal screws up his attempted assassination of British businessman Joseph Sieff. Richard Nixon said, famously, "I am not a crook."
George Foreman became heavyweight world boxing champion, defeating the undefeated Joe Frazier. I've heard of George, but not Joe. It's all about the grill, I'm sure.
Queen Elizabeth II opened the London Bridge. The new one. And the Sydney Opera House. Go Liz.
King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden died. Carl XVI Gustav became King. One does not often think of Swedish royalty and I think this is bad.
Bobby Darin died. And J.R.R. Tolkien, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bruce Lee. Neve Campbell is born. So is Tori Spelling. And Monica Lewinsky.
Journey, KISS and AC/DC are born too. If one can use the verb in relation to bands.
Russians launch the Mars 5 space probe. Though they were called Soviets then. Up here in Canada, Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister. Women swooned. We began constructing the CN Tower. And other stuff. I'm sure we did other stuff that year. Although the CN Tower is pretty big, so maybe not.
Schoolhouse Rock! premiered, as did The Six Million Dollar Man. Around the world, 1.5 billion people from 40 countries watched Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii. Why, I'm not sure. My Dad was probably one of them. Crocodile Rock and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John were extremely popular. As was Superstition by Stevie Wonder. What a great year.
I am lucky enough to share February 4th as a birthday with Charles Lindbergh (1902), Rosa Parks (1913), Dan Quayle (1947) and Alice Cooper (1948). Of them all, I think I've always been most excited about Alice.
Today's trivia brought to you by the letters "s", "l" and "w" and the number "4".
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