milestones
Jun. 18th, 2006 07:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacmilestone 1
"On June 18, 1942, while Jim was fire-watching, Mary gave birth to a son in Walton General Hospital" - Philip Norman, Shout!, p. 26.
That, as all the pundits have been duly noting, makes Paul McCartney 64 years old today. The song which gave significance to that fact was recorded in tribute to his father's 64th birthday in 1966, by which time its theme of love into age was already ironic, as Mary had died when Paul was 14. So the ironies of Paul's widowerhood and his recent separation need hardly be noticed. [EDITED: I'd read sources that say it was written in 1966, and cited this, but on consideration I think they're wrong; the usual story is that was written some years earlier, whether before or after Mary's death I don't know. But it was recorded at the end of 1966.]
The song is still a crackingly enjoyable music-hall ditty, and played by itself it's hardly imaginable that it appeared on a seminal rock&roll album. If more rock bands had songs like that in their repertoire, I'd listen to more of them. Richard Thompson put a couple period music-hall songs on his 1000 Years of Popular Music album, which I appreciated, not least because the idea of Richard Thompson playing bouncy upbeat songs is so inherently hilarious.
milestone 2
As a self-appointed historian of the US Senate, I noted (but forgot to post) the milestone that occurred one week ago (if I've calculated correctly), the day that Robert C. Byrd, with 17,317 days of service, surpassed Strom Thurmond as the longest-serving US Senator of all time. Numbers 3 and 4 on the all-time list are also currently serving: Ted Kennedy and Daniel Inouye.
Long-term congressional service was rare before the Civil War. Thomas Hart Benton was a senator for 30 years (1821-51) and set the record for the time. More typical were people like Abraham Lincoln, who was a congressman for one term and declined to run for re-election. In the Senate, a few New Englanders little known today had long terms in the late 19th century, and then in the early 20th, as seniority rules ossified, the Southerners began to discover the benefits of long incumbency.
I wonder if they didn't mind sitting in Washington for years on end because, considering where they were from, the humidity didn't bother them. Because as air-conditioning became more common around mid-century, Congressional retention rates from across the country started shooting up. All of the dozen longest-serving senators (Ted Stevens is no. 12) established their records in the post-WW2 era.
Around 1980, Senate turnover increased. Several incumbents were defeated that year; the tendency towards retirement after one or two terms also increased. But a few old warriors have soldiered on, including a couple of liberal icons, which marks a change: in the old days liberals never lasted, and the longest-servers were always among the deepest conservatives.
milestone 3
This one is impending. Again if I've calculated correctly: on November 12th, assuming he is still with us, Gerald Ford will pass Ronald Reagan's record and become the longest-living US President of all time. Since the previous record-holder before Reagan was John Adams, who died in 1826, that's even more startling than Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron would be. (What about Herbert Hoover? Like Adams he lived to be 90, but he fell short of Adams's lifespan by 41 days.)
"On June 18, 1942, while Jim was fire-watching, Mary gave birth to a son in Walton General Hospital" - Philip Norman, Shout!, p. 26.
That, as all the pundits have been duly noting, makes Paul McCartney 64 years old today. The song which gave significance to that fact was recorded in tribute to his father's 64th birthday in 1966, by which time its theme of love into age was already ironic, as Mary had died when Paul was 14. So the ironies of Paul's widowerhood and his recent separation need hardly be noticed. [EDITED: I'd read sources that say it was written in 1966, and cited this, but on consideration I think they're wrong; the usual story is that was written some years earlier, whether before or after Mary's death I don't know. But it was recorded at the end of 1966.]
The song is still a crackingly enjoyable music-hall ditty, and played by itself it's hardly imaginable that it appeared on a seminal rock&roll album. If more rock bands had songs like that in their repertoire, I'd listen to more of them. Richard Thompson put a couple period music-hall songs on his 1000 Years of Popular Music album, which I appreciated, not least because the idea of Richard Thompson playing bouncy upbeat songs is so inherently hilarious.
milestone 2
As a self-appointed historian of the US Senate, I noted (but forgot to post) the milestone that occurred one week ago (if I've calculated correctly), the day that Robert C. Byrd, with 17,317 days of service, surpassed Strom Thurmond as the longest-serving US Senator of all time. Numbers 3 and 4 on the all-time list are also currently serving: Ted Kennedy and Daniel Inouye.
Long-term congressional service was rare before the Civil War. Thomas Hart Benton was a senator for 30 years (1821-51) and set the record for the time. More typical were people like Abraham Lincoln, who was a congressman for one term and declined to run for re-election. In the Senate, a few New Englanders little known today had long terms in the late 19th century, and then in the early 20th, as seniority rules ossified, the Southerners began to discover the benefits of long incumbency.
I wonder if they didn't mind sitting in Washington for years on end because, considering where they were from, the humidity didn't bother them. Because as air-conditioning became more common around mid-century, Congressional retention rates from across the country started shooting up. All of the dozen longest-serving senators (Ted Stevens is no. 12) established their records in the post-WW2 era.
Around 1980, Senate turnover increased. Several incumbents were defeated that year; the tendency towards retirement after one or two terms also increased. But a few old warriors have soldiered on, including a couple of liberal icons, which marks a change: in the old days liberals never lasted, and the longest-servers were always among the deepest conservatives.
milestone 3
This one is impending. Again if I've calculated correctly: on November 12th, assuming he is still with us, Gerald Ford will pass Ronald Reagan's record and become the longest-living US President of all time. Since the previous record-holder before Reagan was John Adams, who died in 1826, that's even more startling than Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron would be. (What about Herbert Hoover? Like Adams he lived to be 90, but he fell short of Adams's lifespan by 41 days.)
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Date: 2006-06-18 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-06-18 06:05 pm (UTC)Saw and read several interviews recently. He's taking the teasing well. He deserves it. ;)
In fact when I saw him in concert last year (finally got to go to one of his, yeah!) he even asked "Will you still need me? Will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" Being 7 months from the fateful day. Of course we all screamed Yes (Weren't we doing that paying for our tickets to the concert?) Didn't actually sing the song though. They had synthesizers, it could have been done.
But he did enough ancient songs and new songs, the concert was great. He's still a good musician/song writer/show man. I hope I'm doing as well at 64!