Originally posted 08November2013 -pictures will return!
Man, what a time for pause and reflection. With life expectancy at ~75 years of age, at 40 you are without a doubt statistically on the back 9 of the course.
Yeah, my mom just turned 40. I can’t imagine the stress of what she’s going through.
I typically hide my birthday on Facebook and shun the attention for one simple fact: because I can’t return the favor. With 500+ Facebook friends, I have almost 3 birthdays every two days. Giving birthday wishes on Facebook would be a part-time job. I can’t play favorites and only address certain birthdays and I can’t leave generic messages. So I try to stay under radar. But 40 is a big one. It deserves mention. I will face this.
Each birthday, I like to play a little {poorly researched} game called “what were other {successful} people doing at my age” while taking stock of my own accomplishments. It goes like this:
In my Family:
At age 40 my mother was dealing with me as a high school sophomore with my sister already out of both school and home.
I was 4 when Dad was 40. Some friends my age now are having their first children and others are sending theirs into the world as adults (or college).
In History:
By Age 40,
Van Gogh had been dead 3 years, leaving genius to be honored for generations to come
Mozart, Jaco Pastorius: 5 years dead in the ground, leaving genius to be honored for generations to come
Charlie Parker: 6 years dead in the ground, leaving genius to be honored for generations to come
Jesus, Eva Perón, Eva Braun, John Belushi: 7 years dead in the ground leaving lots of dismay and confusion for generations to come.
Alexander the Great, 8 years dead in the ground, had conquered the known world
The 27 Club: Who cares about people under 30?
At 40, Hitler was only four years away from being elected Chancellor of Germany.
Bill gates had just purchased the Codex Leicester.
In living Entertainment:
By 40,
Eddie Van Halen had recorded 1984 twelve years previously and was touring with facial hair in the Van Dyke style, only a year away from hiring Gary Cherone to sing for Van Halen, something the fans forgot about even before they went on tour.
Steve Harris had just released “Best of the Beast” and was probably seriously considering packing in the Iron Maiden show. Then he floated a bond for obscene amounts of money, sold the bond, pulled Bruce & Adrian back into the band and made the biggest and best Iron Maiden yet.
For Paul McCartney, it was 1982. He was done with Wings and recording with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, to whom he was explaining the benefits of owning song-publishing rights, advising the King of Pop to invest.
Mick Jagger was accosting us with a Bette Midler duet version of “Beast of Burden” and had already been lampooned in Bloom County for being an over-the-hill rocker. Most recent Rolling Stones show as of this writing: 13July2013, just short of Mick’s 70th birthday-30 years after introducing me to Midler and I still don’t forgive him.
Ronald Reagan was President of the Screen Actors Guild and filmed his Magnum Opus, Bedtime for Bonzo (directed by Fred de Cordova, who was 41).
Stephen Hawking published the Hartle–Hawking state model and completed a first draft of “A Brief History of Time”.
If you already know who Fred de Cordova is, you’re older than I.
His greats behind him, Spielberg had graduated to movies like Harry & The Hendersons, Innerspace and the Amazing Stories Television show.
Michael Jordan was retiring for the third time.
Tiger woods won’t know for 2 years
My Personal Accomplishments:
So far, in 40 years, I have managed to touch my tongue to a 9-volt battery once, but not on purpose.
In fact, while trying not to.
Notes From Wiki:
Notable deaths from 1973 include Pablo Picasso, Noel Coward, Veronica Lake, JRR Tolkien and Lon Chaney.
Famous people turning 40 in 2013 include Neil Patrick Harris, Seth McFarland, Monica Lewinski, Dave Chappelle, Aishwarya Rai, Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum.
Famous November 8th Birthdays include: Leif Garret, Bram Stoker, Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, Minnie Ripperton, Gordon Ramsay, Parker Posey, Jack Osbourne, Patti Page, Margaret Mitchell, Ben Bova and Good Times’ Ester Rolle.
People turning 40 in 1973 were born the year the Golden Gate Bridge construction began, The Lone Ranger debuted, King Kong & Duck Soup premiered, Mount Rushmore was dedicated, the Basques vote for autonomy, Dachau opened, “Nessie” is first sighted, a mid-air explosion of a Boeing 247 marks the first noted sabotage in civilian aviation. All of WWII was yet to happen.
~conversely~
1973 History
On November 8, 1973, “Millennium ’73”, a festival hosted by Guru Maharaj Ji at the Houston Astrodome, is called by supporters the “most significant event in human history”.
Nixon started his second term and Henry Kissinger won the Peace Prize.
The oldest items I can remember in cultural and pop culture “History” are the space station Skylab falling (I thought it was a windmill) and the “I’d like to teach the World to Sing” Coca-Cola and “I Need More Calgon / Ancient Chinese Secret” commercials.
Lastly, I would like to thank Achewood for posting this perfect comic on this special Day.
Archival photo: 14609.688 days, no accounting for Precession or retrograde. Spot the kitty.