History of the Day: 9/18

Was your Constitution Day party as ROCKIN' as mine? Whew! I thought I might have to call in a sub today.

The U.S. Air Force is 61. The USAF has come a long way from it's humble roots, and my family has been there for most of it. My maternal grandfather was a pilot in the Army Air Corps, my dad was a pilot in the USAF in the 70s, and my younger sister was an MP in S. Korea. And, of course, one of my heroes, Hal Jordan (the Green Lantern), was once a pilot as well. Today, the up-and-comers in the USAF are the guys who remotely pilot robot drones in contested areas, affectionately called "The Chair Force" (seriously).

And happy 113th birthday to the oldest man currently living, Tomoji Tanabe of Japan. He was born in 1895 and, incidentally, endorses John McCain for president. He said, "Oh, we used to play together as children. He's a good man." (Kidding!)

Jimi Hendrix died on this day in 1970. He's considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time, as well as one of the most fantastic mumblers. Here, he takes the National Anthem and makes it cool. Speaking of the National Anthem, I forgot to tell you a joke yesterday. If you think the final line of the Star Spangeled Banner is "Gentlemen, start your engines," you might be a redneck.

Here, he takes on Bob Dylan's folk number, All Along the Watchtower, and ... well ... he makes it cool, too. But in this number, some dude I don't know takes Henrix' Mary and makes it comprehensible. 'Cause when Jimi sings it, it sounds like the Enuma Elis:

e-nu-ma e-liš la na-bu-ú šá-ma-mu
šap-liš am-ma-tum šu-ma la zak-rat
ZU.AB-ma reš-tu-ú za-ru-šu-un
mu-um-mu ti-amat mu-al-li-da-at gim-ri-šú-un
A.MEŠ-šú-nu iš-te-niš i-ḫi-qu-ú-šú-un
gi-pa-ra la ki-is-su-ru su-sa-a la she-'u-ú
e-nu-ma DINGIR.DINGIR la šu-pu-u ma-na-ma

Finally, today is the Feastday of a saint that is probably working overtime these days, Joseph of Cupertino, patron of bad students. He was exceedingly absent-minded, becoming distracted in school and staring off into the great beyond. This happened so often, he earned the nickname "The Gaper." Later in life, after joining a monastery, he would become so enraptured during Mass or upon praying that he would fly into the air.

His life inspired a short-lived, comic book, The Flying Friar, in which he is a modern-day, Christian, Superman of sorts whose arch enemy is (are you ready?) "Lux Luthor," a descendant of Martin Luther of Reformation fame. I can't tell you how much I love that. Almost as much as this prayer, based on the legend that the good saint prayed for the answers to a test he hadn't studied for because he had been thinking about God:

O Great St. Joseph of Cupertino
who while on earth did obtain from God
the grace to be asked at your examination
only the questions you knew,
obtain for me a like favour
in the examinations for which I am now preparing.
In return I promise to make you known and cause you to be invoked.