Happy Birthday Bill/International Talk Like William Shatner Day

Yesterday was Bill's 81st birthday. Man I hope have Bill's vim and vigor if I make it to 81.

Someone suggested that March 22nd should be International Talk Like William Shatner Day. To quote Bill, I can get behind that. For many years, we celebrated International Talk Like a Pirate Day at The Grey Lodge. Like many things it ran it's course.

If I ever get to have a beer with Shanter, no make that after I get to have a beer with Bill, we will make every March 22nd, Talk Like William Shatner Day at the Lodge in commemoration (unless he hates the idea). Heck we might do it even if I never get to have a beer with Bill.

I just did some Googling, WTF, International Talk Like William Shatner Day is now four years old. How. Did. I. Miss this? In the video, I think the big guy might be confusing William Shatner with Christopher Walken, but hey it works. Sort of.

It's easy and maybe fun to joke about Bill's cadence, but that is exactly what makes his Shakespeare so good. We have all suffered through enough badly done Shakespeare that is just a jumble of old words with little meaning. Bill's Shakespeare monologues between songs on A Transformed Man are really great, you can listen to a little of them here.


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Big News from the NY Times

A few weeks ago, a wise person asked, "how do you know Shatner even drinks beer?"  I had to admit that possibility had not occurred to me. I have stated before that I am an idiot, so it didn't surprise me in spite of surprising me.

This weekend, the New York Times had a long article about Bill. And there's big news in there.There's a lot of gold in that article; the most important bit (for this quest anyway) being:

The following morning, I went to Bret Day's farm. “Bill never does the actor thing here,” Day told me. "He just wants to be a guy in the horse world." He said that when they go out to dinner, he likes to drink Budweiser, but "Bill makes me drink these fancy beers".

DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!

Fancy beers, I'm an expert of fancy beers! Bill, let's do this thing!

So Much to Tell

I was in Belgium and the Netherlands for a week on a beer quest. Two pix of me are at that link if you need/want proof. And there's more text from Craig Laban here. So I go to Belgium with a few people to drink beer and it winds up on the front page of the Sunday paper. Now that is really highly unlikely. It's stuff that like that which makes me think I might have a shot at having a beer with William Shatner. Unlikelier things have happened, and happen at an ever increasing pace.

Not wanting to leaving well alone, Craig's account was dead on, I have started writing my own account of the trip. Things have been too busy for me to finish it (the downside of having a life). It was an incredible trip, so much to write about. It will take some crafting before it's ready for release (it takes a lot of effort to write this badly, almost as much effort as it takes for you to read it).

I was only back home for two nights, when Maureen and I were up in NYC for Shatner's World at the Music Box Theather. It was great and I need to blog about that too.

I emailed Bill's press contact about meeting up while we were both in NYC (it seemed the least wrong contact email listed on his Website), but they blanked me. Probably (correctly) assuming that I'm an idiot. But I'm a persistent idiot, so I continue on.

Then this weekend, The New York Times had a long article about Bill. And there's big news in there. Which leads to the next blog post.

Overseas Beer Research

I just got back yesterday from a week in Belgium and the Netherlands. It was a mission to drink beer, visit breweries, drink beer, see some sites, drink beer, brew some beer, eat some local food, and maybe drink a little beer while we were at it. I happy to report the mission was successful.

It's 1.5 days at home (and work) then tomorrow, Maureen and I are going up to NYC to catch Bill's Broadway show. Will we get a chance to have a beer with him?

If tomorrow doesn't work out, Bill will be coming to Philadelphia so I have another chance.


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Things Are Cooking

I've been quite busy with work, work, and work the last few months and haven't been able to keep current with this blog. But have no doubts, I remain committed to eventually having a beer with William Shatner.

And now things seem to be lining up.

And I'm not the only one who has noticed:

Julie Keener @toastgirl mentioned you:

toastgirl Julie Keener @Scoats Did you see that Shatner is coming to Philly next month? Surely he must have time for a beer with you! Feb 07, 11:26 AM via Twitter for BlackBerry®

And it's out just Julie. In January, my wonderful wife heard about Bill's Broadway show. Being the amazing person she is, she bought tickets for us as a Valentine's present. (I'm a lucky and happy man whether I eventually get to have a beer with Bill or not).

So Bill and I will both be in Manhattan on Saturday, 25 Feb 2012. We will even be in the same building at the same time. Though one of us will be on stage and the other in the audience.

After my awesome wife bought the tickets for NYC, they announced there will be a Shanter's World show here in Philadelphia on Tuesday, 13 March too. So Bill and I will once again be in the same city at the same time.

Bill, it's kismet! Let's have a beer!.. either in NYC or Philly,.. or, even better, both! I know great places in both cities.

New Album, Same Old Bill

Right now, I'm listening to Bill's new album. I still want to have a beer with him. I know we'd have fun with the jukebox.

So far it's classic Bill. Classic but new and fresh.

Happy Thanksgiving

I still want to have a beer with William Shatner.

I was looking at the Atlantic just now and thought "hmmm that looks like Bill deep frying a turkey". Why yes it is.

Hey's there's a video! And it's awesome. Bill delivers some hilarious lines. Now I want to have a beer with him even more.

What beer would I recommend for Thanksgiving dinner? I think a Belgian style abbey dubbel would go great with turkey and the fixings. Flying Fish makes a great one, as does Boaks. For those not near Philadelphia or can't find a locally made abbey dubbel, you can go with Chimay Red Label, which is the gold standard for the style.