Happy Birthday Hitchcock, King Of The Director's Cameo

Many directors have inserted themselves into their films.  Some quite obviously, like Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, and others somewhat more discreetly, like Michael Bay. Perhaps the only discreet thing in his films! 

However, Alfred Hitchcock takes the consistency prize for placing himself in small non-speaking roles in all of his feature films. Often his appearances are comical and can somewhat take you out of the action (i.e. lumbering onboard the train with a large musical instrument in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN).  While other times they are subtle and more organic, such as my personal favorite which is his appearance in the gay guy's apartment in REAR WINDOW, standing behind him as he plays piano. Is he a sugar daddy? An gentleman caller? Or the backer of a potential Broadway show?  All interpretations work and add to the fun of the guessing games involved when spying on your neighbors, which is what the film is all about.

A clever and diligent editor has compiled all of Hitchcock's appearances into a clip on YouTube. I found this through my friend Paul Maggio, who often posts celebrity birthday's on his Facebook feed. Anyway, watching this is a great way to celebrate the master of the movies on what would have been his 113th. Happy Birthday Hitch! :)

Happy Birthday Poe And Good Luck In The AFC Championship Game

Today is the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America's first and foremost writers of poems, novels and really scary short stories.  Poe was always one of my favorite authors as a kid, mainly for the creepiness of his tales but also for the fact that he was a fellow Marylander too.  Poe is strongly identified with Baltimore, where he spent a lot of his adult life and, most infamously, died on October 7, 1849, a few days after being found on a city street.

What many people don't know is that Poe spent the last years of his life in New York City, not Baltimore. In fact, he lived just a couple blocks from my apartment in the Village but then moved way uptown for quieter times in what was then "the country" but soon would became known as "The Bronx." There is a detailed article on the Bowery Boys website about Poe's final home on what is now the Grand Concourse (which I've previously blogged about on a library visit to the Kingsbridge Branch).

Finally, Poe's stories live on today to scare new generations of schoolchildren. But his legacy is also, strangely enough, a part of the National Football League. Baltimore's football team was named "The Ravens" (after Poe's classic poem) in a fan contest back in 1996.  They remain, now and probably forever, the only U.S. sports team inspired by a literary figure.  (Though "The Gatsbys" would be a swell name for the new Brooklyn NBA team.)  This weekend, Poe's team will be battling it out with the New England Patriots for the AFC title. Oddly enough, Poe's birthplace is actually Boston but I doubt he'll have many fans rooting him in Foxborough. We can only imagine what Poe might think of our modern day Gladiators doing battle for the glory of his Raven...and ol' Baltimore too.

It's My Birthday!

For those not on Facebook (and I know there's at least a couple of you out there), today is my birthday.  One of my friends found this lovely picture of a cake mistake and posted it on my Wall....possibly from Cake Wrecks though I can't confirm that.  Anyway, it's a brilliant combo of two of my favorite things; cake and icing!  :)  And it's used to comic effect too, intentional or not.

The big birthday fun is planned for tomorrow as it's Gay Night at Six Flags in NJ.  This combines two of my other favorite things; gay men and roller coasters.  The night gives a whole new meaning to the term screaming queen.  Look forward to riding the new Green Lantern (a stand-up coaster!) and the old favorite El Torro (a sit down and scream your head off wooden ride).

Happy Birthday To Me

Celebrate with Madonna's new song "Celebration", filmed with some very interesting fans from Milan and Barcelona. And a special guest appearance by her now teenage(!) daughter Lourdes dressed like a virgin. Now...who says Madonna fans can't dance?