Waldina

Today is the 75th birthday of Cher.  Love her or love her, there are any number of reasons you love her more, any decade that you love more, any humanitarian cause you love more, but you love her.  She is bad ass at everything she does, be it a Vegas show that would kill performers half her age or calling into C-SPAN to support body armor for our troops.  You love her, it is in our American DNA to love her.  The world is a better place because she is in it.

Song:  If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher

Today is the 73rd birthday of the absolutely ageless Grace Jones.  I first experienced her when she and Adam Ant made a Honda Elite Scooter commercial.  I thought they were both the coolest people I had ever seen.  I still think they are.  The world is a better place because she is in it.

Today is the 91st birthday of the playwright Lorraine Hansberry. She wrote one of the most significant plays of the 20th century. Her contribution to the American experience is so extremely valuable. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

Today is the 96th birthday of the Civil Rights Activist Malcolm X. He is quoted as saying:

The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.

and

You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it

The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 80th birthday of the undeniably brilliant Nora Ephron.  Her list of things she will and won’t miss after she dies is heartbreaking, centering, and hilarious.  The world is a better place because there was a Nora Ephron.  The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

Today is the 124th birthday of the man who directed unarguably some of the classic of classic films from the golden age of Hollywood:  Frank Capra.  With a Capra film, you are guaranteed to be entertained and most likely learn a lesson or be reminded of humanity in some form. We have watched It’s a Wonderful Life every year on Christmas for as long as I can remember, it is part of a lot of family’s tradition. My other two very favorite Capra films are Arsenic and Old Lace and It Happened One Night. They star top-notch actors turning in top-notch performances. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Swing Years and Beyond May 17, 2015

This episode is also available as a blog post.

Today is the 71st birthday of the playwright and lyricist Howard Ashman. He contributed to some of the most successful Disney animated films. Jeffrey Katzenberg claims there are two angels watching down on them that put their magic touch on every film they made. Those two angels are Ashman and Walt Disney himself. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 110th birthday of the beautiful actress Maureen O’Sullivan. The first film I saw her in was also one of my favorite all-time films:  The Thin Man. She had Mia Farrow, Prudence Farrow (the woman behind The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”) and five other children. She was Jane in all the Tarzan films. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

Today is the 123rd birthday of the artist Tamara Łempicka. Her Art Deco paintings are immediately recognized and widely adored. Her art was forgotten and rediscovered, and is now gaining huge auction prices. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.