26th – 31st August 2013

26th August 2013
Celebration: Macaulay Culkin’s Birthday
Mission: Watch “Home Alone”
Status: Failed
Notes: Child star Macaulay Culkin was born in New York on this day in 1980.

27th August 2013
Celebration: Feast of Monica of Hippo
Mission: Read a book about hippos
Status: Complete
Notes: Saint Monica (331-387AD) had a sad life. Her lapsed-pagan husband had a violent temper and a tendency towards adultery. Monica devoted herself to the moral upbringing of their son St Augustine of Hippo. She is the patron saint of difficult marriages, disappointing children, victims of adultery, victims of abuse, and the conversion of relatives.
Tonight, we read Sandra Boynton’s “But Not the Hippopotamus”.

28th August 2013
Celebration: Jack Black’s Birthday
Mission: Play “Tribute”
Status: Failed
Notes: Film star and half of Tenacious D, Thomas Jacob “Jack” Black was born in California on this day in 1969.

29th August 2013
Celebration: International Day Against Nuclear Tests
Mission: Doodle a CND symbol somewhere
Status: Complete
Notes: The doodling didn’t take very long, so we went to see Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs, over on London with a Toddler.

30th August 2013
Celebration: Founding of Melbourne (1835)
Mission: Send a message to Varnia asking her to commemorate it
Status: Complete
Notes: Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria in Australia.

31st August 2013
Celebration: Bank Holiday Saturday
Mission: Avoid Notting Hill
Status: Complete
Notes: We went to Toys R Us and Asda on Old Kent Road, and then to a park in Ladywell Fields. We also didn’t watch any Richard Curtis movies.

15th August 2013 – Ben Affleck’s Birthday

Celebration: Ben Affleck’s Birthday

Mission: Watch “I’m #*?!ing Ben Affleck”

Status: Complete

Notes: Ben Affleck was born in California on this day in 1972. Rarely seen without Matt Damon, and often being directed by Kevin Smith, Ben has appeared in may good, medium and bad films.

Today’s mission is rated PG (Parental Guidance): it contains bleeped out foul language. So, Mum & Dad – you have been warned.

Jimmy Kimmel, a US TV presenter, and boyfriend of comedienne Sarah Silverman, used to mock Matt Damon every week on his show until Sarah & Matt *ahem* “teamed up” to pay Jimmy back. Jimmy, retaliated in the only way he could: through the medium of song…and you can watch it here.

5th August 2013 – International Beer Day

Celebration: International Beer Day

Mission: Have a beer

Status: Complete

Notes: I didn’t just have a beer; I had an international beer – specifically la première bière Française – Kronenbourg Seize Cent Soixante Quatre.

International beer day was founded in Santa Cruz, California in 2007.

4th June 2013 – Angelina Jolie’s Birthday

Celebration: Angelina Joli7e’s Birthday

Mission: Watch “Girl, Interrupted”

Status: Complete

Notes: Angelina Jolie was born in Los Angeles, California on this day in 1975. Most famous for her role as Lara Croft in the 2001 movie adaptation of the computer game Tomb Raider, and for nabbing Brad Pitt for a husband (that didn’t impress Shania Twain much). She was also in the retro-sci-fi movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and of course she played the sociopath Lisa in Girl, Interrupted alongside “boarderline” Winona Ryder.

22nd May 2013 – Harvey Milk Day

Celebration: Harvey Milk Day

Mission: Watch “Milk”

Status: Failed

Notes: Harvey Milk, born in New York on this day in 1930, was the first openly gay politician to be elected to office in California. Serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from January 1978, he was assassinated before the year was out. There was a movie of his life, called Milk and made in 2008, but I didn’t watch it.

9th May 2013 – Andrew WK’s Birthday

Celebration: Andrew WK’s Birthday

Mission: Party hard

Status: Kinda complete

Notes: Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in California on this day in 1979. I didn’t go to any parties, but I did listen to his one-hit-wonder track at full volume. Then I listened to Pulp’s Party Hard, just because it’s got the same title.

9th April 2013 – Albert Hammond Jr’s Birthday

Celebration: Albert Hammond Jr’s Birthday

Mission: Play “Is This It?”

Status: Complete

Notes: Albert Hammond, a singer/songwriter from the 70s, had a son born with the same name as his own in California on this day in 1980. Albert Jr grew up to be the guitarist in the Strokes, whose debut album “Is This It?” was released in the summer of 2001.

I was listening to the album on my way to work and on my way back home later on. I had some extra time during the return trip, so I listened to a bit of their second album “Room On Fire” too.

13th March 2013 – Scatman John’s Birthday

Celebration: Scatman John’s Birthday

Mission: Solemnly recite “Skee-bad-a-bad-a-bo”

Status: Rejected

Notes: Just no. “Scatman” John Larkin was born in California on this day in 1942 and I’ve already given him too much thought. Next!

10th March 2013 – Death of Corey Haim (2010)

Celebration: Death of Corey Haim (2010)

Mission: Watch “The Lost Boys”
Oh, and buy your wife something nice 😉

Status: Complete

Notes: Corey “80s” Haim died in California on this day in 2010. He had appeared in every movie ever made in the 1980s, but he was especially in The Lost Boys as the comic book collecting little brother of the latest of the vampire’s new recruits who teams up with the other Corey of the 80s – Mr Feldman.

I also bought my wife something nice, but it was chosen by Roo because it’s Mother’s Day.

18th February 2013 – Dr Dre’s Birthday

Celebration: Dr Dre’s Birthday

Mission: Forget about him

Status: Occasionally complete, with multiple failures

Notes: Dr Dre was born in California in 1965 as Andre Young. While he is not a real doctor, he is a Master of Mixology. Forgetting about Dre is a very hard thing to do, if you think about it. The best way is to not think about it. Which reminds me of a game I used to play. Known as “The Game” the object is simply to forget that you are playing it. It can be quite irritating to remember you are playing but fortunately I stumbled on a way to permanently win the game and be set free.

Dr Dre’s hippity-hoppity career started out with the rap collectives World Class Wreckin Cru and N.W.A. before going solo. For the next episode of his career he turned to producing, and as such he brought Eminem to the world. At time of writing it is believed that he is still Dre.