It’s another one of those crappy days with very few good birthdays. But at least we’ll get a few good songs.

On this day in 1710, the writer Sarah Fielding was born. I’ve never read her. I never even knew she existed. She was the great novelist Henry Fielding’s younger sister. But she is important in her own right. She wrote the first children’s novel, The Governess, or The Little Female Academy. If you read it, let me know how it was.

Singer-songwriter Bonnie Bramlett is 69 today. Here she is with then husband Delaney Bramlett and a couple of other people you might recognize, doing a tribute to Robert Johnson, “Poor Elijah.” It is joyous music like all of Delaney & Bonnie:

Singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt is 64. I was going to put up her beautiful version of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” but I thought I might get complaints. “Not that song again!” So here is her breakthrough cover of Del Shannon & Max Crook’s great “Runaway”:

Rickie Lee Jones is 59. It’s really hard to find any decent video of her other than “Chuck E’s In Love.” But here is a nice version of “The Horses” (which she wrote with Walter Becker):

Other birthdays: Milton Bradley (1836); psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach (1884); novelist Margaret Mitchell (1900); and the evil NRA head Wayne LaPierre (64).

The day, however, belongs to the great novelist Bram Stoker who was born on this day in 1847. At 50, he published the novel Dracula. The history of the novel is quite interesting. When it was first published, it received good reviews. And it sold modestly well. It didn’t stop Stoker from dying in poverty in 1912. It was only ten years later that the novel started to achieve its iconic status. In 1922, F W Murnau made the film Nosferatu based upon the novel without permission. Stoker’s widow was not please and she sued. As a result of that lawsuit and the movie, the book became very popular. Then came the stage play. And then came Bela Lugosi.

Happy birthday Bram Stoker!

On this day in the 18th century, two very famous early Americans were born. The first was John Adams who was born in 1735. I loved him in 1776, but as an actual man, he wasn’t all that great. In particular, although he was against the British aristocracy having power in America, he really very much wanted a native aristocracy. And guess what? He got it.

Also born on this day was Martha Jefferson, Thomas’ wife. Again: she was great in 1776. But as far as I’m concerned, Betty Buckley in the original cast was far superior to the mousy Blythe Danner. Anyway, Martha was not the first lady Martha Jefferson—she died almost two decades before he became president. She is thought to have suffered from diabetes, which was not made better by having popped out six kids. All but two died in infancy. One of the remaining only made it to 25. The eldest, Martha, lived to the ripe old age of 64. She, and not her mother is who people referred to as the First Lady Martha Jefferson. Here is Buckley killing “He Plays the Violin”:

Normally, I’d just shuffle the following man off to “other birthdays,” but his story is too interesting. Georges Gilles de la Tourette was born in 1857. He is the first person to document what he called “maladie des tics” (You don’t need me to translate, right?) but what was eventually known as Tourette Syndrome. In 1893, one of his former female students shot him in the head, claiming that he had hypnotized her against her will. This is most clearly not possible and I figure that what she meant was that he seduced her. The wound did seem to turn Tourette into a manic-depressive and eventually killed him, but he still managed to live another 11 years—most of it quite productively.

One of the great talents behind the Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick is 74 today. Much of her solo work is very good. But I only mention her here to show this:

Henry Winkler is 68. I very much like his acting work, especially in Arrested Development. And my sister says he does great work for people with learning disabilities and he “writes” clever children’s books. That’s all great. Still, he will rot in hell for hocking reverse mortgages on every cable channel in the known universe. I accept it from Fred Thompson. He’s an asshole. But Winkler is supposed to be a good guy. Don’t get me wrong; if Winkler were in financial difficulties, I wouldn’t mind at all. Everyone’s got to pay the bills. But that clearly isn’t what he’s doing. So it is just completely unacceptable. Sit on it, asshole.

The comedian Kevin Pollak is 56. I like him very much as an actor and comedian. He is also a fine impressionist. But again, I have only one reason for listing him above the “other birthdays,” and that is Rob Pearlstein’s excellent short film, which he starred in, Our Time Is Up. If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself:

Other birthdays: playwright Richard Sheridan (1751); English impressionist painter Alfred Sisley (1839); actor Ruth Gordon, who was a total honey when she was young (1896); musician Clifford Brown (1930); and actor Jessica Hynes (41).

Okay, let’s all take a deep breath. Ready? The day, however, belongs to one of the greatest poets of the 20th century Ezra Pound who was born on this day in 1885. He was a very interesting guy and I do love his work. If it weren’t for all that fascism, he would be just perfect. Look, I don’t want to harp on it. Go read about him if you must. He came by the belief honestly and he was an Italian style fascist, not a German style one. And people are allowed to be wrong. And difficult. Anyway, he is largely responsible for anyone knowing of a lot of the great 20th century poets, most importantly (for me, anyway), Charles Olson. And then there is his work, which was always wonderful—pretty much from his early days to his last. The Seven Lakes canto (Cantos #49) is reproduced after the fold. Wikipedia writes of it, “Canto XLIX is a poem of tranquil nature derived from a Chinese picture book that Pound’s parents brought with them when they retired to Rapallo.”

Happy birthday Ezra Pound!

It is another one of those days. There is no one I care all that much about today. So forgive me if this is short and uninspired.

On this day in 1804, the great physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber was born. Working with Gauss, he invented the first electromagnetic telegraph. He was something of a protege of Gauss and the two of them did a lot of work together. Weber continued to work on electromagnetism this whole career and the unit for magnetic flux is named after him.

The great actor F. Murray Abraham is 74 today. I’ve seen him in a lot of good films, but what I most care about is Amadeus, which is one of my favorites. He’s a good example of the fact that there are a lot of really good actors who never get the kind of roles where they can really show their stuff. Well, he got one of the greatest roles ever written. It’s clear that he understands that. And he nailed it. So did everyone in the film, but he had The Role:

Other birthdays: exactly the kind of composer who makes me say I don’t like Romantic period music, Ferdinand Hiller (1811); botanical artist Marianne North (1830); Russian landscape painter Konstantin Yuon (1875); Batman creator Bob Kane (1915); Rolling Stone Bill Wyman (77); and Marxist economist Stephen Resnick (1938).

The day, however, belongs to the great playwright Moss Hart who was born on this day in 1904. He is best known for a series of comedies that he wrote with George S. Kaufman. The most notable of which is the great, The Man Who Came to Dinner. He later moved to Hollywood where he became a successful screenwriter writing diverse films such as Gentleman’s Agreement and Hans Christian Andersen.

Happy birthday Moss Hart!

On this day in 1758, the great lexicographer Noah Webster was born. He is best known for the dictionary he started that eventually became the excellent modern Merriam-Webster Dictionary. But he really should be known as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Most people today don’t understand just how screwed up spelling was a couple of hundred years ago. In fact, if you go back to Shakespeare’s time, it is almost impossible read. Everyone had their own spellings that were based upon how the words sounded to them. And then the same writer didn’t spell things the same. Christopher Marlowe wrote his last name with at least a dozen different spellings. So Webster and others were very concerned about standardizing spelling. And in this context, he created a hugely popular Speller that was used to teach American children for five decades. But as Wikipedia notes, it was “entirely secular by design.” And it really helped to create an American identity that was secular. So if the fundamentalists want to blame someone for our relatively secular society, they should stop ranting about Madison and Paine and start ranting about Webster. As a matter of fact, they could become “spelling deniers.” All those secular spelling rules! God doesn’t want us to speak English anyway. Greek is the language of God! Or rather: Ελληνικός!

The great playwright Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888. When I was younger, I loved him. He was so serious. Now, it is kind of hard to take, but I still admire the work. The thing about him is that he perfected realism in American theater. If it weren’t for him, I don’t think we would have had Tennessee Williams or Arthur Miller or even Edward Albee. He did occasionally write comedies, most successfully Ah, Wilderness! which is still performed. You can look it up; it’s hard to find a good scene. Woody Allen he wasn’t.

Other birthdays: Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679); photographer Paul Strand (1890); futurist painter Primo Conti (1900); singer Nico (1938); actor Angela Lansbury (88); actor Barry Corbin (73); retiring actor Suzanne Somers (65); film director David Zucker (66); actor Tim Robbins (55); and musician John Mayer (36).

The day, however, belongs to the great writer Oscar Wilde who was born on this day in 1854. Look, I could tell you that I love his books and plays. And I do! The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest are both great. And I could tell you that I love his epigrams. And I do! “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go,” is brilliant. But mostly, I love him because he was an oppressed minority that the society still wanted to bleed dry. Now, of course, we are so much more evolved! Now we only oppress people that ought to be oppressed! Oscar Wilde is a great reminder to all of us to think about who we thoughtlessly oppress each day. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

Happy birthday Oscar Wilde!

On this day in 1737, the composer Michael Haydn was born. He was the brother of Joseph Haydn. I’m not at all sure why Joseph has become such a staple of classical music while Michael has not. He’s very good as you can see in his Symphony No. 41:

Italian Romantic composer Luigi Cherubini was born in 1760. Beethoven thought he was the best composer of that period—except for Beethoven himself, of course. Here is his Symphony in D Major:

The illustrator Charles Dana Gibson was born in 1867. He was the creator of the “Gibson Girl.” Birth control activist Margaret Sanger was born in 1879. Film producer Hal B. Wallis was born in 1898. Co-writer of “Heartbreak Hotel,” songwriter Mae Boren Axton was born in 1914.

Economist Lawrence Klein is 92 today. Chekov from Star Trek, actor Walter Koenig is 77. Actor Sam Neill is 66. And Canadian actor Callum Keith Rennie is 53.

The day, however, belongs to a man I really don’t like, Allan Bloom who was born in 1930. He is best known for his bestseller The Closing of the American Mind. It’s not that I totally disagree with him, but the man annoys me. The only reason I am giving the day to him is that I have a fairly long history of confusing him with Harold Bloom, who writes about a lot of the same stuff and is often annoying in exactly the same way. I will try to keep the two distinct from now on.

Happy birthday Allan Bloom!

On this day in 1777, the German painter Philipp Otto Runge was born. Much of his work is typically Romantic. But his religious painting seems to me more neoclassical. And it is much more interesting. Romantic composer Franz Berwald was born in 1796. His work is not bad, especially for a saw mill manager. One of the Skagen Painters (basically the Danish Impressionists), Peder Severin Kroyer was born in 1851. The great physicist Walter Schottky was born in 1886. He did not invent the transistor and he was not a racist. (That would be William Shockley.) He did however have one of those little Hitler mustaches. (Shockley did not.) He also invented the ribbon microphone. And the Portuguese singer Amalia Rodrigues was born in 1920. Here she is singing one of her own pieces, “Estranha Forma de Vida”:

Literary critic and long-time editor of Norton Anthology of English Literature, M. H. Abrams is 101 today. That’s what you want in your critics of Romantic era literature, people who actually knew John Keats. Distinctive architect Richard Rogers is 80. Conservative bigot (Redundant?) Don Imus is 73 although he looks more like 113.

Appellate court judge Alex Kozinski is 63. Normally, he wouldn’t merit attention. But he wrote the opinion overturning the conviction of Debra Milke. I’m glad to see that the website devoted to her is back up. They have an article written by Milke last year discussing the day she entered prison (now 22 years ago) on death row, The Day I Arrived… Check it out. Kozinski isn’t exactly a hero. It is just that the Milke case is so screwed up that anyone just doing their jobs properly helps. Meanwhile, despite the fact that the prosecution has no case as far as I can tell, she is set for retrial and the court will not allow her to have bail.

Comedian Jo Brand is 56. Actor Woody Harrelson is 52. I found out two things about him today. First, he has the same birthday as his father, Charles Harrelson who was born in 1938. Second, his father was in the mob and died in prison for killing federal judge John H. Wood Jr. Woody and his father were apparently not close. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is 46. And Monica Lewinsky (who I think has been unfairly criticized) is 40.

The day, however, belongs to hard-boiled detective fiction pioneer Raymond Chandler who was born on this day in 1888. At this point in my life, I find all of that stuff pretty hard to read. It is so over-written. Everything is described in much too much detail. And really, can you tell me the difference between Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade? (Marlowe was probably a nicer guy; that’s about it.) Still, I think it is great and I liked it quite a lot when I was younger.

Happy birthday Raymond Chandler!