Shatner? Captain Kirk? 80?

Missed your birthday last Wednesday, Bill. That's OK - wanted to let the hubbub die down a bit so you and I could enjoy the moment alone.

I love William Shatner. I may even put him right up there as my 2nd favorite all-around entertainer (2nd to Dean Martin). Loved him in Star Trek, on The Twilight Zone, Boston Legal, (never watched T.J. Hooker), like his Priceline commercials, love his "singing" renditions of popular songs. But what I like best about the man is he doesn't take life too seriously and has an innate ability to poke fun at himself. That's a rare quality. I don't know anyone else who transferred the Shakespearean acting technique to places it should not go - like television and movies. And Shatner has spawned a whole generation of impersonators, jokesters - all at his expense.

And does Shatner care? Fuck no. Here are a few clips you should watch if you're not familiar with the Man called Shatner:

1.) Worst fight scene ever. Capt. Kirk v. Gorn.
2.) Shatner singing "Rocket Man" on television.
3.) Shatner singing "Mr. Tambourine Man" - audio only.
4.) Shatner on the original Twilight Zone in episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". Inarguably in the top 10 of all Twilight Zone episodes. Notice I said, "inarguably".
5.) Shatner doing his verison of the Cee Lo Green song, "Fuck You".
6.) Denny Crane meets the Chinese on Boston Legal.

Come on...all those clips beat the pants off Leonard Nimoy's (Shatner's close friend) song, "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins". If that's not enough for you, check out William Shatner's website here.

Live long and prosper, Mr. Shatner.

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Jeff Ircink, Jeff Chandler, Jeffrey Hunter. "When we were 43, it was a very good year."

I was named after these two lugs. Actors - you might not recognize them (your parents or grandparents would). At the heights of their short careers, they were top leading men.

Facebook has quizzes and tests you can take - favorite actors, celebrities you've met, celebs you'd like to meet, favorite musical groups, celebs you'd like to punch, favorite cartoons growing up, etc. Those quizzes made me think about the "Jeffrey's" I was named after.

Jeff Chandler (left) - the one with the prematurely greying hair. Looks like the model for G.I. Joe, doesn't he? Nominated for an Oscar for his role as Cochise in Broken Arrow (a role he played in two more movies). Dated Esther Williams, the swimmer/actress.

Jeffrey Hunter (right) was born in Louisiana but grew up in Wisconsin. He turned down the role of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek television series and starred with John Wayne in what many believe to be the greatest western of all-time, The Searchers.

Both actors died in the 1960's. Chandler was eight years older than Hunter but, oddly, they both died when they were 43. I'm 44, but that headshot of me was taken last year. On second thought, maybe "43" wasn't such a very good year for these Hollywood stars, eh?

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Separated at birth? Talosian and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

The Talosian is on the left - from Episode One - "The Cage", Star Trek television series (1966)

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It's the "Klingap"! Facial hair with an edge!

Whenever I grow a certain amount of facial hair (which is typically while fishing or hunting and by the way those are reading glasses...I don't need glasses to see distances) and then decide to shave it off - I play. My brother does the same thing. We shave the beard into any number of "doo's" - goatee, Fu Manchu, handlebars, muttonchop sideburns - you name it and we've done a lot of it.

So I wanted to try something different this time. Hence, the "Klingap" (a name I just came up right now as I'm typing this). It's your standard American goatee (I say that because a genuine goatee has no moustache attached to it) but with the moustache shaved off and the middle of the chin beard shaved out, leaving the soul patch. It's a cross between Kerry Chatter's beard (member of the music group, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, circa late 60's), who had such hits at "Young Girl", "Lady Willpower" and "Over You" and who we grew up listening to because my mother liked them. See Kerry (left):


...and the Klingon Captain Koloth (right) - played by William Campbell - in the Star Trek series episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles" (1967).

As you can see, my Klingap barely covers the front of the chin - more under the chin. My friends in Tunjuna - Donovan and Maria - hated it. Maria told me last Saturday it looked like shit and a girl friend of Donovan's from high school said I resembled a pedophile. OooKay. However, Donovan warmed up to it within the hour (he has a goatee - but the moustache, chin beard and soul patch are NOT connected). And I went out with a friend last night after work (Alexandra) and she liked it (well, she didn't say she hated it...course she was running away at the time). I jest.

I'll probably shave it off sooner than later, but what do YOU think? Be nice - or I'll have to throw a Klingon insult at you. "Hab SoSlI' Quch!" (pronounced, Hab-shoschli-ko-ch). It means, "Your mother has a smooth forehead!". Haha. Those crazy Klingons.

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