Thursday, November 1, 2012

Happy Birthday, Chris V!

Thanks to everyone for the very kind birthday greetings -- they were much appreciated, and all the more so considering this latest natal anniversary was no mean feat, and required a tremendous amount of determination, stamina, and just good old fashioned elbow grease to achieve.  But I decided, way back in 2010, that I was going to age another year, and based on my rheumy gaze, joints that crack like tortured bubble-wrap, and the gray hairs that are sprouting about my person like toadstools after a rain storm, I have not only achieved my goal, I've Exceeded Expectations.  I expect that fact to be reflected in my next employee review.

But as much as I'd like to rest on my laurels (mostly because I have one of those reclining laurels, and once I've sunk into it, it's really hard to get up again), other people are aging too, albeit more gracefully, and with less of an obvious, Type-A commitment to results than I've shown this year.  Nevertheless, they are equally deserving of recognition, so let's all pause to celebrate ChrisVmas!

Yes, it's the natal anniversary of our good friend Chris Vosburg, raconteur, wicked smart commenter, guest columnist, and a guy who has forgotten more behind the scenes Hollywood trivia than I'll ever know (which, considering I know a lot of useless Hollywood trivia, means he's got a serious memory leak, and should maybe get his hard drive defragged, or perhaps try those gingko biloba supplements.  Or is it bilboa?  I forget.).

So please join me in offering seasonally appropriate felicitations to Chris, and getting into the spirit of the day by turning to the person next to you (friend, co-worker, sullen drunk guy on the adjacent stool who's glowering at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar with an air of barely suppressed violence) and wishing them a Happy ChrisVmas!

Now, as promised, here's Della Street with a Special Comment:
"Would Counsel like to voir dire me in my boudoir?"

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Natal Day, Chris! A long, happy, healthy, prosperous and sexy life to you-- I think that covers all of the bases...

~The Minx~

heydave said...

Keep on truckin', fuckin' and snarkin', dude.

Chris Vosburg said...

Thanks for that Scott, and a merry ChrisVmas to us all.

As always, I celebrate ChrisVmas at the local, the Prime Time Pub, and any LA denizens are welcome to a drink on me (should be there about five or so, will last a couple hours, if history is any guide). Just ask the bartender which one is Chris?

Scott said...

Oh, no need to bother the bartender. You can see that Paul Drake blazer across a dark bar from 30 feet.

Bill S said...

A most excellent birthday is wished for you! Among the persons who get to share your birthday:
Betsy Palmer, actress
Jenny McCarthy, bimbo
Anthony Kiedes, Chili Pepper
Lyle Lovett, large-haired country musician
Kinky Friedman, author/musician
Buzz Bissinger, writer with cool-sounding name.
Marcia Wallace, actress/funny human
Peter Ostrum, former child actor (played Charlie Bucket in the GOOD '70's version of "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory")
Jeannie Berlin, actress (played the jilted wife in the GOOD '70's version of "The Heartbreak Kid")
David Foster, Canadian musician/producer/composer
Larry Flynt, um...no comment.
Jim Steinman, musician/producer
Dan Peek, musician (the band America)
I think I may have written this exact same list last year. Oh well, you're older now, maybe you won't remember. :)

Debbi said...

Happy birthday, Chris V!

Have an awesome day, dude!

M. Bouffant said...

Dammit, I gotta get caught up on my Google Reader readering. I coulda been there if I'd seen this before now, & maybe shot a little Perry Mason shit w/ the birthday boy.

(Except that I'm broke & haven't been drinking due to blood pressure medication that threatens drowsiness if used in a cocktail. As someone said to me, "Geez, you're pretty drowsy most of the time as is.")

And while I make no claim to know every decent bar in Hywd. (just most of them) I don't think I've ever heard of the Prime Time. Hmmm, really, don't even have a mental picture, just the former Sears across the street. A new experience missed.

Well, there's always next yr.

Keep ageing gracefully, C.V.

Chris Vosburg said...

Scott, I had actually planned to put on the ritz with the fedora I stumbled across while walking home from the pub a few weeks ago-- I think I asked in comments at the time anybody know where to get a hat cleaned and blocked in Hollywood?-- and a classic blue pinstripe three piece suit. The full Bogart, in other words.

Sadly, the hat shop I found on Melrose, while wonderfully stocked, is slow to block, which the owner attributes to the Halloween rush [laughing], so no hat 'til sometime next week.

I'll wait for the call rather than inquiring again-- as Gabriel Byrne reminded us in Miller's Crossing, there's nothing sillier than a man chasing his hat.

Chris Vosburg said...

Thanks Bill S, for the list, which also includes Fernando Valenzuela.

I actually spent this day in 1981 scouring the bars near Dodger Stadium for Fernando (his 21st birthday) so I could buy him a beer, but I don't think I found him. Not real sure.

I'm proud to share the day with Jim Steinman, who you know as the composer/producer of most of Meat Loaf's catalog, and of course, his biggest hits, "Total Eclipse of The Heart" for Bonnie Tyler, and "Nothing at All" for Air Supply, which he wrote for Meat but was rebuffed in a money squabble with Meat's record company so, too bad for you, stupid record company, ya dope.

Chris Vosburg said...

Thanks, M. Bouffant, I am a man of habit, and you are likely to find me at the local any old day around five or six-- like punctuation for the day-- and you are welcome to a drink on me there any old day.

As is any Crap-head (World o' Crap fan). Thanks to you all for the kind wishes.

A last add on the Sears building. Yep, still there, as is every other gutted store on the north side of Santa Monica Blvd between Wilton Place and St Andrews.

Some bright young developer had the idea of buying up the entire block a few years ago with the idea of building a regal complex [commerce! industry!] of shining mini-malls and apartment complexes and whatnot, and got as far as buying out and ejecting all of the store owners and building a catwalk over the sidewalk in anticipation of the demolition to come, but then--

Nothing. Ran out of money amid the crash of 2008, and the catwalk was disassembled and the entire block of stores remains uninhabited and in limbo. Sort of sad, really, although I suspect most of the store owners were glad to get out while the gettin' was good.

Bill S said...

The full title of the Air Supply hit is "Making Love Out of Nothing At All", which seems appropriate since they'd already declared they were "All Out of Love". Didn't know it was originally meant for Meat Loaf, but it makes sense. I've always found the verse about football odd coming from a pair of skinny Aussies.

Li'l Innocent said...

Well, there's scarcely anything to say that above barflies, historians, and Della's gams haven't already said much better.

So, I fall back on "Happy Birthday, Chris V, you humorous man-of-the-world, you, and plenty more of 'em to come", and wish somebody would take a blurry cellphone pic of that Paul Drake jacket!

Anntichrist S. Coulter said...

Dammit, always three days late and a billion bucks short. Hope that it was a happy one, Vosburg, and that you at least got a kiss from the hot nurse. And plenty of suckers to buy you all of the birfday drinks that you more than deserve, of course.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

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