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This weekend of the 23rd, Browncoats worldwide are gathering for a special screening of Serenity in honor of Joss Whedon's 42nd birthday. This celebration of life, by dedicated fans of the cancelled TV series Firefly, will brighten the beginning of winter for numerous moviehouse attendees in Australia and New Zealand. As Whedon has described this space epic of humankind's emergence into the greater universe, adapted from the Firefly series to the big screen by Universal Studios, "It's a story about freedom--how much we need it, how much everybody deserves it and how much we can lose before we have to fight back." Note the synchronistic presence of that key word in the postmark at left, an authentic relic of the exact day Joss Whedon was born. Everything perhaps hinges on how well we answer similar issues in our own time, but for this weekend, the answer to the enigma of life, the universe and everything is clearly . . . 42. So, to Browncoats everywhere, enjoy the screening!
Best Headline Pun
This month's winner is . . .
- COUNTDOWN 2006JUNE21
- You might also try going to MSNBC, then follow links to see if the June 21st video clip is still available.
Holocaust Hero's Father Discovered Macchu Picchu
US Stamp Recently Issued in Son's Honor
Hiram Bingham IV was recently honored on a US commemorative stamp for his role in helping some 2500 Jews to escape from France after its fall to the Nazis in 1940. As the Vice Consul in the US embassy at the time, he defied then-current State Department policies by issuing visas which permitted their emigration from France. This was well reported over the Memorial Day weekend by CBS News and others, but not mentioned was something quite fascinating: this man's father, Hiram Bingham III, a Yale archaeologist, was the discoverer of Macchu Picchu, on July 24, 1911. Now, in late June, Macchu Picchu is again in the news, as the June 23rd ABC News Person of the Week segment, which described blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer's leading nine blind youth hikers as part of a party making the trek to these ancient Incan ruins. Birmingham, Alabama Sing your Praises
Birmingham, Alabama has come into the news as the birthplace of BOTH male American Idols. Taylor Hicks was born there, at St. Vincent's Hospital, on October 6, 1976. The first male to become the American Idol was Ruben Studdard, born September 12, 1978. His first musical performance was at the age of three at Birmingham's Rising Star Baptist Church. Not only were these two competition winners born in Birmingham, but so was the Third Season runner-up, Diana DeGarmo. Bob Dylan Turns 65
The Times They Are a' Changin
Born May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota as Robert Allen Zimmerman, Bob Dylan is known to us all for such classics as "Blowin' in the Wind" with his moving lyrics set to the adapted melody of a 19th Century anti-slavery anthem, "No More Auction Block." His 1979 album Slow Train Coming won him a Grammy for best male vocalist, and its title makes the stamp shown here, postmarked in India on the very day he was born, a suitable commemoration for this occasion. Hibbing Minnesota
Bob Dylan's Boyhood Home
From age seven until he was a young man, Bob Dylan grew up in his mother's home town of Hibbing. Their move to this town from his birthplace of Duluth became necessary after his father contracted polio. The stamp shown here was postmarked in Hibbing, perhaps mailed by someone who knew the then 11 year old boy who would later (about 1960) begin introducing himself as Bob Dylan. Canton, New York
Funeral home burglar caught sleeping in a coffin.
On May 18, 2006 the staff of a funeral home in Canton, N.Y. arrived to find evidence of a break-in, and then found the burglar himself--asleep in a coffin! Police were notified and an arrest was made.The stamp at right was postmarked in that town in 1934, and commemorates the NRA--not the National Rifle Association currently in the news for a campaign to gain pledges from big-city mayors not to confiscate guns during natural disasters, but rather the National Recovery Administration established early in FDR's presidency to provide work to unemployed during the Great Depression.
