I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.

Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.



It's the 101th birthday of Julia Child - Chef, Spy, Philosopher

Besides Julia, today is the birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769),



Rose Marie (1925),



Oscar Peterson (1925),



Linda Ellerbee (1944), (possibly the second greatest living American)



Jimmy Webb (1946),




Oh, and my friend Liz
(but she knows how old she is.)


I bet that Liz remembers that it's the Feast of Assumption of Mary. If you had problems understanding this or the Immaculate Conception, please go bother some old lady in church, saying her rosaries, I'm not even going to try explaining this one to you..

Hey kids remember - this is a Holy Day of Obligation (yeah, you have to go to church.)


August 15, 1979 -
The very long delayed epic, Apocalypse Now, premiered in NYC on this date.



The scene at the beginning with Captain Willard alone in his hotel room was completely unscripted. Martin Sheen told the shooting crew to just let the cameras roll. Sheen was actually drunk in the scene and punched the mirror which was real glass. Sheen also began sobbing and tried to attack Francis Ford Coppola. The crew was so disturbed by his actions that they wanted to stop shooting, but Coppola wanted to keep the cameras going.


(It's a travel day for us, so it's going to be an abbreviated) Today in History:
August 15, 1057 -
Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire on this date, by Malcolm Canmore, the eldest son of King Duncan I, who was deposed by Macbeth years earlier



He had been king of Scotland for 17 years. For those of you who do not know, you're not suppose to say the name of the Scottish king 'aloud'.


August 15, 1534 -
St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in Paris with the aim of defending Catholicism against heresy and undertaking missionary work, on this date. Ignatius converted to Christianity while convalescing after a battle and wrote his Spiritual Exercises meant as a guide for conversion.

In Paris, Ignatius and a small group of men took vows of poverty, chastity and papal obedience. Ignatius formally organized the order in 1539 that was approved by the pope in 1540. The society‘s rapid growth and emphasis on scholarship aided in the resurgence of Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation.

You may now impress your friends with that bit of knowledge.


August 15, 1911 -
Procter and Gamble unveiled Crisco shortening on this date.



The new motto should be, "It's always a party when you open the can!"


August 15, 1935 -
Will Rogers, the most famous man in America, died near Barrow, Alaska when his sea plane plunges into a lagoon. At the time, he and one-eyed aviator Wiley Post were surveying possible flight paths between Seattle and the Soviet Union.



Remember kids, let this be a lesson to you - don't take a flight with a drunken, one eyed pilot.


August 15, 1945 -
Harry Truman hadn't sobered up yet. He could not quite believe that he was President and got to drop not one but two atomic bombs.



Truman had announced the Japanese surrender the day before. But it was on this day in 1945 that the Allies officially declared V-J Day.


August 15, 1965 -
The Beatles played to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, on this date,  marking the birth of stadium rock.



People tend to forget that this was one of the first major stadium concerts by a rock group.


August 15, 1969 -
The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on this date, on Max Yasger's farm in upstate New York.



The greatest gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in American history, the festival featured the musical artists behind some of today's hottest commercial jingles.



And so it goes.