Thirty years ago today, the film Delicatessen premiered. I cannot believe it was 30 years ago. Like with a lot of movies in the early and mid 1990s, I saw this movie in the theater alone. I would look up movie reviews in The Stranger newspaper and figure out when I could go see them. I remember thinking that I had stumbled on something really special. It is available streaming now. I just wish you could sneak off to a matinee at an old little theater at the North end of Broadway in Seattle’s Capital Hill neighborhood. I wish you would walk out of that theater onto the rainy sidewalk and feel that you are carrying with you a little gift.

Today is the 132nd birthday of Charlie Chaplin.  His comedic timing and on-screen brilliance are often imitated, but never have they been completely duplicated.  Watch any of his silent films you can, but also make a point of watching The Great Dictator, specifically his speech called A Message To Mankind.  Links are below.  You will understand clearly how much of a visionary he was and how we can still learn from him today.  Plus, his films are plain fun.  The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 102nd birthday of Washington boy made good Merce Cunningham. His dance company collaborated musically with everyone from John Cage to Radiohead to Sonic Youth and artistically with Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Lichtenstein, and Warhol. I was lucky enough to work with his dance company for a week when they performed at a theatre where I was working. The performances were incredible and the dancers were brilliantly funny people. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Eighty-five years ago today, the film Mr. Deeds Goes To Town. I love Gary Cooper. I love Jean Arthur. They are great together in this movie. You should give yourself a gift and watch this.

Today is the 569th birthday of the artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Years ago, I was lucky enough to see his notebook in person while it was on ‘tour’ through the United States. To this day, The Mona Lisa is the most popular image in all of The Louvre. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 132nd birthday of the artist Thomas Hart Benton. His work portrays full narratives that draw the viewer in and get them to become emotionally invested. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 280th birthday of the American portrait artist Charles Willson Peale. You have seen his art and may not have known the name of the artist. His work helped chronicle major historical figures and events at the formation of the United States. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 129th birthday of a rebel. Corrie ten Boom and her family stood up, spoke up, and did what other people knew was right but were too afraid to do. There are generations of people alive because of her. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

Today is the 88th birthday of the actor and our favorite television witch: Elizabeth Montgomery. Bewitched was one of my very favorite reruns to watch when I was a kid, I loved all those extreme characters on the show, it really is a revolving door of crazy. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

Today is the 94th birthday of the actress Gloria Jean.  Her life trajectory exemplifies resilience, adaptation and perseverance.  The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.