¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Francisco de Goya!

AKA Francisco de Goya y Lucientes.

Born March 30, 1746. Died April 16, 1828.

He was one of the greatest Spanish artists of all time.

A brief sample of his work:

Quote of the Week

Can there be a social order that will wholly suit the writer and the artists? There are so many contradictions between what they want and what is good for their creative flow. The writer and the artist need something to worship and something to resist. They need praise and rewards, but they also need to be left alone to stew in their own juice.
--Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Patty Donahue!

AKA Patricia J. "Patty" Donahue.

Born March 29, 1956. Died December 9, 1996.

She was the lead singer of the Waitresses, one of my all-time favorite musical groups. She never wrote her own songs but she always sang them in such a way that it was difficult -- if not impossible -- to imagine them being sung by anyone else.

Unfortunately, she is most remembered for the novelty tune "I Know What Boys Like", the Christmas song "Christmas Wrapping" and the theme song for the short-lived TV series Square Pegs. In an ideal world, she would be remembered for more than that but then in an ideal world, she would still be alive.

Movie Quote of the Week

What kind of saint hides in a church?
--Eva Marie Saint, On the Waterfront (1954)

TV Quote of the Week

Do I look like a virgin to you?
--Holly Marie Combs, Picket Fences, "Pageantry"

R.I.P. Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author Terry Pratchett -- best known for his best-selling Discworld series -- finished the last chapter of his autobiography on March 12 at age 66.

He will be missed.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Benito Juárez!

AKA Benito Pablo Juárez García.

Born March 21, 1806. Died July 18, 1872.

He was the first Mexican president of Indian blood and he was also known as the "Abraham Lincoln of Mexico" due to his efforts in the 1860s to free his country from French rule.

Apart from having a border town named after him, Juárez is rarely mentioned nowadays. It seems like the last American TV show to mention his name on a regular basis was The Wild, Wild West and that was in the 1960s.

Movie Song of the Week: "Wells Fargo"

The wagon is coming! The wagon is coming!

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Henrik Ibsen!

AKA Henrik Johan Ibsen.

Born March 20, 1828. Died May 23, 1906.

He was a Norwegian playwright who was responsible for such plays as Hedda Gabler, A Doll's House and The Wild Duck. He is also said to be the most frequently performed playwright after Shakespeare.

If you wish to celebrate his birthday today, please feel free to wear a few vine leaves in your hair in his honor. But I would resist the urge to shoot any wild ducks if I were you.

Movie Quote of the Week

I offered you gold. 'Tis not my fault that you prefer a pebble.
--Cecil Kellaway, The Luck of the Irish (1948)

TV Quote of the Week

Ghetto white's the new brown.
--Jeremy Allen White, Shameless (US), "The American Dream"

Iconos de Cine (Drinkers)

Quote of the Week

I don't even know how to pronounce my own name.
--Liz Torres, interview, Later, March 12, 1997

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Eva Longoria!

AKA Eva Jacqueline Longoria.

Born March 15, 1975.

One of my favorite Latina actresses grows one year older today.

Movie Song of the Week: "The Working Song"

From the 1950 version of Cinderella, I post this memorable number.

Movie Quote of the Week

Life is pain, Highness! Anyone who says differently is selling something.
--Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride (1987)

TV Quote of the Week

I said "a machine that makes dreams come true..." Nightmares can also be dreams.
--Guy Williams, Lost in Space, "Wish Upon a Star"

Iconos de Cine (Chess I)

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Shemp Howard!

AKA Samuel Horwitz.

Born March 11, 1895. Died November 22, 1955.

Poor Shemp Howard was never as popular as his younger brothers Moe and Curly and as far as third stooges go, it always seemed that he was just a little bit more popular than the two stooges who would succeed him: Joe Besser and Joe DeRita.

That said, he was always one of my favorite stooges and I was sorry to learn that he -- like Curly -- died while the Stooges were still active. I would like to think he deserved better.

Anyway, he always made me and a lot of other people laugh and perhaps that is the best legacy that any comedian can leave behind. At least I would like to think so.

Quote of the Week

Criticism comes easier than craftsmanship.
--Zeuxis

Movie Quote of the Week

Logic, logic, logic. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end.
--Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

TV Quote of the Week

I am very serious when it comes to risking my life. I don't know what I would do without it.
--Leonard Nimoy, Mission: Impossible, "Fool's Gold"

Iconos de Cine (Doctors I)

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy

American actor and director Leonard Nimoy -- best known for his role as Paris in the original Mission: Impossible series and for a brief role in a rather obscure sci-fi TV series called Star Trek -- reached the logical end of his existence on February 27 at age 83.

He will be missed.

R.I.P. Mi Primo Mayor

I just got news from my mother this morning that one of my older cousins in Detroit has passed away. It has been years since I've seen him face-to-face yet he and his siblings still had a profound effect on my life -- if for no other reason than the fact that he and his siblings were the closest things to older brothers that I ever had.

He will be missed.