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Happy Rain-ageddon from soggy Los Angeles! I have to imagine that after getting pummeled by "atmospheric rivers" for two consecutive winters, any southern Californian who interacts with singer-songwriter Albert Hammond, Sr. would accuse him of selling us all a false bill of goods. It most certainly DOES rain in southern California.
Thankfully our office is slightly elevated, so we should be dry enough to continue printing shirts and packing up orders without issue, but as the shirt up top says, maybe worrying about it will help? Seems like sound advice, so I'll be fretting my way slowly down the 605 this morning in case anyone needs to get ahold of me.
No, this is not Albert Hammond, Sr. of "It Never Rains In Southern California" fame. It is his son Albert Hammond, Jr. of Strokes and solo career fame, which is the closest Albert Hammond in GIF form I could get. They look pretty similar, though, so this'll do in a pinch.
GIF via Red Bull Records (because apparently Red Bull also gives you record contracts in addition to wings)
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We have quite a smorgasbord of random occasions to observe today, so let's get celebrating! It is:
• International Clash Day (the English punk band, not a celebration of geo-political conflict)
• Disaster Day (if this rain keeps up that's exactly what we'll have here in SoCal!)
• National Chocolate Fondue Day
• National Fart Day
• National Shower With A Friend Day
I imagine eating too much chocolate fondue could lead to farts, which could lead to a disastrous clash with your bestie if you let one rip while showering together, so, uh, eat wisely I guess?
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Alright! Let's kick off the week with a few famous February 5th historical events and notable birthdays:
• In 1907 Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic. Vintage household items made of Bakelite have since become popular collectibles.
• In 1919 actors & filmmakers Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launched the production and distribution company United Artists
• In 1971 NASA's Apollo 14 mission completed a landing of a crew of astronauts in the lunar highlands
• Birthday chocolate all around for: Beat Generation novelist & essayist William S. Burroughs (1914), famed session drummer Hal Blaine, who played on 150 U.S. Top 10 hits and 40 #1 hits (1929), baseball Hall of Famer Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron (1934), Swiss artist H.R. Giger of Alien film franchise and Danzig and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer album cover fame (1940), singer-songwriter & pianist Barrett Strong of "Money (That's What I Want)" fame, among many others (1941), Atari, Inc. and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre founder Nolan Bushnell (1943), English actress Charlotte Rampling (1946), engineer & astronaut Mary L. Cleave (1947), actor & filmmaker Christopher Guest of This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and Waiting for Guffman fame (1948), English actor Tom Wilkinson of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Batman Begins fame (1948), actor & screenwriter Tim Meadows of Saturday Night Live, The Ladies Man, and Mean Girls fame (1961), actress & filmmaker Jennifer Jason Leigh of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Backdraft, and Weeds fame (1962), actress Laura Linney of The Truman Show, The Big C, Love Actually, and Ozark fame (1964), bassist & singer-songwriter Duff McKagan of Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame (1964), actor & comedian Chris Parnell of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fame (1967), Puerto Rican-American baseball Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar (1968), singer-songwriter Bobby Brown of New Edition and solo career fame (1969), Welsh actor & director Michael Sheen of Underworld and Twilight film franchise and Masters of Sex fame (1969), and programmer and creator of LiveJournal Brad Fitzpatrick (1980)
• Pour one out for: Actor and inspiration for The Simpsons' Troy McClure Doug McClure (d. 1995). You may remember him from such TV shows as The Virginian and Out of This World and such films as Gidget, At the Earth's Core, The Land That Time Forgot, The People The Time Forgot, and Warlords of Atlantis.
Also pour one out for actor Kirk Douglas of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Spartacus, The Fury, The Man from Snowy River, and The Final Countdown fame (d. 2020), and Canadian actor Christopher Plummer of The Sound of Music, Starcrash, Somewhere in Time, Dragnet, and An American Tail fame (d. 2021)
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OK, no new customer Q&A this week, unfortunately! If you're feeling even moderately outgoing and would like to be featured in an upcoming Monday email (and are a customer with some Boredwalk tees, tanks, hoodies, towels, bags, books, or Delve Decks to show off), just reply to this and let us know and we'll send you some fun questions!
We'll be back here in your inbox on Wednesday with some more random holidays to observe, historical tidbits to acknowledge, and fun links to entertaining content! Until next time...
Peace, love, and melted chocolate,
Matt
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