Lawdy, Lawdy

It's true. Happy birthday to me. I guess. It's my 40th. I can't say I'm that happy about it, but here we are, and here I am. I remember being a little kid when my dad turned 40, and thinking ahead to what year it would be when I did the same. Back then, 2007 seemed about a million miles away. Looking back, that time period seems about an hour and a half ago.

Today was pretty quiet really. Mostly the same ol' same ol' at work, although a big thanks go out to everyone who brought in cookies or peanuts or other snacks today and to the gang who took me out to lunch. I didn't have anything to do tonight. I guess I wouldn't have minded going out to dinner or something tonight, but I did enjoy being alone for the first evening in over two weeks. My dad was staying with me for awhile, and I was quite frankly getting a little stressed and claustrophobic with two adults sharing this tiny apartment. I actually feel relaxed for the first night in awhile, and I'm looking forward to sleeping with all the lights out tonight.

Also, thanks to all who attended my birthday party Saturday night. Ten RSVP'ed, we got a table for 15 at Alexander's, and about 25 showed up, which was a little stressful until we got it all taken care of. Actually, I didn't do very much about it, but Cheeseburger and Shark Hunter were on top of it. I grilled a huge Santa Maria Top Sirloin and a baked potato. I asked for no gifts, but got a neat Underdog TV shirt anyway. Oh, and I should have guessed somebody would think of this (thanks, Kristin), THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN on DVD. Clever.

Afterwards, we ended up in the beer garden outside Mike & Molly's, and a jolly time was had by all.

A friend sent me the September 26, 1974 episode of THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON, which is one of the most famous. Clips appeared for years on Carson's anniversary shows. First, Dom DeLuise came out and did a trick involving eggs that broke into chaos with Dom and Johnny heaving eggs at one another and breaking them down their pants. Then, Burt Reynolds (plugging THE LONGEST YARD) came out in a leather outfit squirting whipped cream on Carson, leading to the famous clip of them spraying it down their pants.

I've seen the Reynolds bit at least a dozen times, and the DeLuise bit a couple. But what I never knew before tonight was that the next guest was Art Carney, and he fucking killed. I guess if anyone could top the madness up to that point, it would be Carney, who came out of the wings in his boxers, pretending he was drunk. That and the rest of his stint next to Johnny had everyone on stage in stitches. He then played a ditty on piano, and he and Carson teamed up for a comic duet. I don't know why the Carney stuff never (AFAIK) got repeated on the clip shows, because it's great.

Also on the show: the Ace Trucking Company, a comedy troupe that often appeared on TV talk and variety shows during the '70s. Of the four, George Memmoli (PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE), Bill Saluga (the "You can call me Ray" guy) and Fred Willard (still kicking ass in Christopher Guest movies, among others) went on to visible solo careers.

Carson was also still doing 90-minute episodes back then. While there are many commercial breaks, it's interesting to see how relaxed the show was at its slower pace.

I wish I could have seen the following night's show with Shirley Jones (THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY), ROOM 222 cutie Karen Valentine, Dick Cavett and poet Richard Armour.