The Bed List/The Dinner List

Today is my mother's birthday. Turns out a whole slew of interesting people were born in 1942 besides her, including Muhammad Ali, Carole King, interviewer Charlie Rose, Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, Aretha Franklin, Mr. Documentary Voiceover Peter Coyote, Madeleine Khan, Penny Marshall, musical geniuses Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Andy Summers of the Police, and the high priest of stilettos himself, Manolo Blahnik. To celebrate Mama, I proudly present the Birthday edition (born the same year!) of the Bed/Dinner list.

BED LIST: HARRISON FORD


Hard to believe Indiana Jones is turning 63 this year, isn't it? This photo proves that men often age way better than we gals do. (Calista "Toss Me a Cheeseburger" Flockhart sure seems to think so) AARP eligibility or no, Harrison is hot. Love the grin and the scar. Love the grumbly voice. Love the hat and the bullwhip (hey, he can bring them in the bedroom with him, if he wants). Love the "I know" line right before they carbon-freeze him in The Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, we know. You've still got it. And we want it.

DINNER LIST: FRED DALTON THOMPSON



Fred Dalton Thompson is responsible for one of my all-time favorite movie lines. Not long after Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is pulled onto the USS Enterprise (not the Star Trek Enterprise, the aircraft carrier) in the middle of The Hunt for Red October, Rear Admiral Joshua Painter, Thompson's character, is grilling him about what he thinks the Russians are planning. "Russians don't take a dump, son, without a plan," he growls. This Southern gentleman learned a lot more about foreign policy as a Senator from Tennessee. After retiring from the Senate, he took up acting again and can be seen every week as District Attorney Arthur Branch on Law and Order. Politics and movies--sure to be good dinner conversation, with a smooth Southern drawl for a chaser. Sounds like a plan.