A new month, a whole passel o' birthdays

As we note the passing of fully half the calendar year of 2009 (if you use the Gregorian calendar, that is), I also note that bercilakslady, scruffycritter and marykaykare all share a birthday today...and that I clean forgot to acknowledge the birthday of jhitchin, which was last Friday (June 26th).

Apologies, most sincere and profuse, to Jeff first of all, with wishes for many happy returns and hopes that his birthday was everything he had hoped for and more...and to Joe, Mary Kay and the Lady, the same for today (minus apologies) in like measure. To Joe, who has been a real-world friend since long before LJ elbowed its way into my life (as has his lovely wife, not_the_pope), thanks for all your kindnesses to me and mine. To MK, we miss you and that rocket-scientist husband of yours both down here in Hotlanta and hope to see you down here in six months for GAFilk...or ideally, sometime sooner. And to BL, thanks likewise to you for your kindness and best wishes for you as your life changes drastically in at least a couple of ways.

Lamb Chop's "sister" picks up the sock their mother put down

While my local paper doesn't seem to have the story online for some reason, it reports in its dead-tree edition today that an old childhood friend of mine—and of former kids all over the U.S. of A.—is coming to town...when she had been thought as dead as lots of folks wish disco was. Lamb Chop, the insufferably cute sock-puppet "child" of the late puppeteer Shari Lewis, has a new life courtesy of Lewis' human daughter and longtime assistant/producer Mallory. Although Lewis mére died 11 years ago, Mallory (who was born with her dad's surname of Tarcher, but changed it to honor Shari's memory) has proven just as talented as her illustrious parent in bringing her wooly "sister" to life...although, as the paper reports, Mal's ungulate sibling tends to be a tad "brattier" to her than she was to Mom, as sisters are wont to be.

The lady and puppet are appearing in Atlanta and Gainesville, GA as part of a month-long event sponsored by local arts councils and the Atlanta Convention & Visitors' Bureau (the ones responsible for the "Every Day Is An Opening Day" ad campaign) called Puppets Take Atlanta...and Beyond. The event features performances, workshops, exhibits (including the recently installed Jim Henson exhibit at the Center for Puppetry Arts, not too far from where I live) and other attractions from today until month's end. If you live or happen to be in the area, check it out (and let me know if you do, should you desire company). I plan to go say hi to an old fabric friend or two myself sometime soon; I suspect I will be far from the only adult there...and the parents of young children among them will probably bring them. too.

Coleman finally throws in the towel; will Franken be a Senator at last?

Yesterday Minnesota's state Supreme Court finally put paid to the ridiculously long legal battle over last November's US Senate election there, ruling unanimously (!!) that Democrat comedian/activist Al Franken was entitled to be declared the victor over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and to receive a certificate of election from his state's GOP governor Tim Pawlenty. Assuming that Pawlenty does the sensible thing and issues said certificate—which is by no means a given, knowing how notoriously partisan Pawlenty is—Franken could be sworn in and seated as soon as Congress returns from its holiday-weekend break. The full story is here.

This would finally give the Democrats the long-sought filibuster/veto-proof 60-seat majority in the upper house that they would have had by now for six months had Coleman not decided to contest Franken's razor-thin victory following the recount. Theoretically, he could have still carried the fight all the way to the US Supreme Court even after yesterday's decision...but he at least finally came to his senses and conceded, in a statement issued outside his home in St. Paul. And if Pawlenty wants to preserve his place on the short list of candidates for his beleaguered party's Presidential nomination in three years' time (a list that just got even shorter with the sex scandals engulfing John Ensign and Mark Sanford), he'll go ahead and issue the piece of paper Franken needs; his Democrat lieutenant governor has promised to sign it as soon as it reaches his desk.

This protracted litigation has never been nearly as much about insuring the probity of the election as it has been about keeping that one last seat out of Democratic hands as long as legally possible. In keeping the good citizens of the Gopher State from having their Constitutionally mandated complement of two Senators for so long, the GOP have only added to their own embarrassment in what they had to know from the jump was probably a futile quest. Now they simply look childish and obstructive; but conversely, as of now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has just lost his last excuse for not pushing his party's full platform good and hard, with this plus a friendly President in the White House and an even more commanding majority in the House. He also has no excuse for not holding Barack Obama's feet to the proverbial fire on honoring all of his campaign promises to loyal Democrats who worked like their party's namesake mule behind a plow for his election.

And all of this will be moot if Pawlenty decides to dig in his heels, refuse Franken his certificate and ask the state attorney general to appeal the decision to SCOTUS, where he might hope for a ruling in Coleman's favor from a high court larded with conservatives (5-4) by the last three Republican Presidents (unless Obama nominee Sonia Sotomayor gets confirmed and seated in time, which I don't consider likely).

But let's hope for the best and pray, if you believe. Here's to the swearing in of Senator Franken sometime next week...and congratulations to the former Saturday Night Live star, best-selling author and Air America radio host. And just in time to celebrate our country's biggest national holiday (no, not Super Bowl Sunday!) and the freedom and democracy we so cherish.

Happy Canada (or Dominion) Day to all my friends north of the 49th parallel

Since blueeyedtigress has posted a delightful music video to celebrate today being Canada's equivalent of our own Independence Day (which is this Saturday), I thought I'd toss in my own favorite Canadian anthem (by The Arrogant Worms) as a tribute to the surprisingly large number of people on my friends list who were born and/or reside in the nation with which we share the world's longest undefended border. (You do need a passport to get across now where you didn't before, but nobody's talking about building a wall or armed defenses along it like they are about the other border down south.) Since I can never remember all the folks on my massive list who are Canucks, howzabout y'all give me a shout here? And a very happy national day to the lot of you. (Personally, I don't think you need to apologize for Céline Dion at all, but then we all know my musical taste is hopelessly sentimental and skewed towards the ladies.)

And for the rest of you: Who are your favorite Canadians, famous or not? My list would have to include Ms. Dion, plus Dan Ackroyd and all the folks from SCTV, William Shatner, the ladies of Urban Tapestry, the late Peter Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot and Stan Rogers, plus the thankfully-still-with-us Anne Murray and the Worms, two or three of the Kids in the Hall, all the men of Great Big Sea and Alanis Morrisette, at the very least.

In Memoriam: Karl Malden, 1912-2009

One of the finest actors on screens both large and small is gone. Karl Malden passed away today at the ripe old age of 97, of "natural causes" in his sleep at his Los Angeles home. He had his most famous TV role alongside Michael Douglas in the Quinn Martin-produced detective series The Streets of San Francisco, also for ABC, and also played real-life World War II Gen. Omar Bradley in the film Patton. Yahoo! News has posted an obituary for Malden here.

Just short of making his century mark, Malden leaves behind a 75-year legacy of more than 50 films, and starring, supporting or guest roles in almost as many TV shows, a stint heading up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and one of its Oscar® awards for Best Supporting Actor. He also worked for over two decades as the face and voice of American Express Travelers' Cheques in TV ads, famously intoning "Don't leave home without them." Probably my favorite role of Karl's was as a NASA administrator recruiting Sean Connery's disillusioned scientist for help saving Earth from impending doom in the film Meteor. This was a cheesy 1979 skiffy flick that presaged more recent films such as Armageddon and Deep Impact, and co-starred Martin Landau as a US general, the late Henry Fonda as the President and Brian Keith as a Soviet scientist whose lines were all in Russian, with the also late Natalie Wood as his translator..

But it wasn't all cheese; Karl also had roles in films like A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, as well as the aforementioned Patton, and worked opposite stars of the caliber of Connery, George C. Scott, Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. Thanks to kradical for letting me know; and thank you, Mr. Malden, for proving yet again that immigrants are the very lifeblood of American success.