Bob Dole, a very reliable and competent leader in the Senate and a good and admirable man of considerable personal discipline, was just too full of postmodern irony about having to repeat constantly his conservative message (sometimes he just about said "Tenth Amendment in my pocket--yadda, yadda, yadda"} to get elected president. Unfortunately, misguided public spiritedness overcame his irony when he consented to make the Viagra commerical. Emma Lazarus’s famous Statue of Liberty poem is "The New Colossus," which I can’t recite from memory. I could be wrong, but I do remember thinking "huddled masses" followed so closely by "wretched refuge" might be a bit over-the-top. Edward Hopper painted NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER, a moving portrayal of the greatness and misery of people alone together late at night in an urban American diner. Let me remind you that you can buy a fabulous dustjacket reproduction of the Hopper painting for less than $18 on amazon, with a copy of my new book, HOMELESS AND AT HOME IN AMERICA, thrown in at no extra charge. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate his birthday at your house.
Well, that's some good company! Happy birthday to 'em!
You forgot Don Henley, front man for the Eagles, and writer of many bad and ubiquitious pop-rock tunes of the 70's. (Which I confess, I love.) I have heard it said that every sober American over age 50 knows the first verse to Hotel California. I've never seen any evidence to the contrary.
Neither Don Henley nor the real poet Stephen Vincent Benet cracked the top three on a very crowded birthday day.
I am sober and over 50 but can't say I can recall the whole first verse of that really unmemorable song. I do like TAKE IT EASY and think stuff life "It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford..." or something like that is pretty witty.
I stand corrected, and will have to take your word for it, re sobriety.
Maybe sobriety is, at best, a relative term.
"It's a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford" -- Peter, that's more than witty. If we can recall anything of our youth -- whether we were cruising in Winslow AZ or, say, State Street in Salt Lake City, such a line is, well, downright exhilarating!
Ralph's comment is more evidence, as if we needed it, that sobreity or lack thereof has little to do with the actual consumption of strong spirits.