EDitorial ± 14-May-2001

On This Day In History

Today, Monday 14th May 2001, happens to be my 35th birthday (which apparently means, as my dad put it, that I'm halfway through my allotted three-score-and-ten, a sobering thought). I don't feel 35, however that feels. Here's a thing: I was filling in some questionnaire t'other day, and you know that they often have age groups? For the last time, as long as I remain honest, I squeezed into the 26-34 category. Ouch.
They say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah!
— The Beatles: Birthday

Card and present

Other notables who'll be buying cakes all round and excitedly waiting for Mr Postman today are:

  1. David Byrne - 49 years old
    Former lead singer of Talking Heads. Utterly barking, he used to video TV game shows, transcribe them, then read them aloud in cafes, as you do. Wore the big suit in Stop Making Sense, a fantastic concert film. I was lucky enough to see him play solo in Cambridge a few years back. Wrote "Pyscho Killer". Top man. All together now: This is not my beautiful wife!
     
  2. George Lucas - 57 years old
    Bearded chap who directed an odd sci-fi film called THX-1138, the name of which appears in all his later films. And who then made American Graffiti, which has a tremendous soundtrack including I Only Have Eyes For You by The Flamingos. After that he took his camera and crew to Death Valley, Tunisia and England, and out popped Star Wars. Enough said.
     
  3. Thomas Gainsborough - 274 years old!
    Granted, the posthumous don't get much post, but I had to mention Thomas, local lad made good. Born in Sudbury he studied in London, married, then in 1752 decided to settle in Ipswich, wherever that is. Perhaps the 18th century tractor boys didn't get his French Rococo style, since in 1759 he decamped to Bath in search of a wider audience. Still, the boy did well.

Bit of a bummer having a birthday on a Monday, I know, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I've just worked out that in 2006, when I'm 40, it'll be on a Sunday: hoorah!

Be seeing you!

Ed