That’s almost as cool as when I went to an Elvis Costello concert on my 18th birthday and happened to be chosen to go up on stage with Elvis (he does that sort of thing) to request a song and engage in some funny concert circus hijinks, and I told him what an awesome birthday this was. He walked me over to the piano, sat me down, and played and sang Happy Birthday to me, and the whole concert sang. It was completely mind-blowing. It sounds like a dream, but it really happened. If you don’t like Elvis Costello, or if you’re more of a political junkie than anything else, then Joe Stanley’s birthday story is even better than mine. But I’m partial to mine. That doesn’t keep me from being jealous of Joe Stanley. Happy birthday, Joe.

Posted by ChrEliz on 2 July 2008 @ 10pm

Wow! That’s totally amazing, ChrEliz! I’ve only seen Elvis once (at the 9:30, when I was the same age you were), but I’ve listened to “All This Useless Beauty,” “Brutal Youth,” “The Juliet Letters” (!), “Mighty Like a Rose,” “Painted from Memory” and “Spike” so much that I’ve worn a groove in the…um…hard drive platters. Or something. Having him sing “Happy Birthday” to me would be pretty great. :)

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 2 July 2008 @ 10pm

I just got the deluxe version of This Year’s Model. Disc One = 23 cuts.

Disc 2 - The entire Warner Theater concert (Washington D.C.) February 28, 1978.

Half the first disc is B-sides and unreleased material. It is an awesome set, released by Universal in a very nice recyclable package, deluxe, of course.

Never saw him in concert.

Posted by Mark Brooks on 2 July 2008 @ 11pm

Oh, and Happy Birthday to the elusive Joe Stanley!

One day, my friend, we will actually say more than hi to each other.

Posted by Mark Brooks on 2 July 2008 @ 11pm

Maybe we should ask Warner to buy Waldo a beer when Waldo’s old enough to run for Senate! ; ) I’ll bring my Elvis tunes to the bar for background music! (Any plans, Waldo, to ever run for office again?)

Posted by ChrEliz on 3 July 2008 @ 8am

Waldo will be old enough for that Senate-qualification beer on July 31st. [As will his twin brother, Jackson Landers. Technically, Jack will qualify eight minutes earlier. ; ) ]

Posted by Janis Jaquith on 3 July 2008 @ 9am

First off, thanks for the well wishes. Mark, we indeed need to meet at some point. If I still lived in Goochland, we could have just gone to Charlottesville and rang up Waldo, but alas.

Also, I’m not going to lie; The Elvis Costello birthday was amazing, ChrEliz. I can’t even imagine how that must have felt at the time.

Posted by Joe on 3 July 2008 @ 12pm

Thanks guys! Hey, July 31st, that’s a Thursday! Shoot, I’ll be out of town. Doesn’t Drinking Liberally happen every Thursday? Hmm… Might be a great way to kick off the birthday, Waldo. (And Jackson!) Think about it!

At any rate, I’ll raise a glass to you guys from afar. I’ll be in the Adirondacks that week. Happy birthday in advance, guys, and let’s say thanks to Janis too! Side note: I call my mom now every year on my birthday to thank her for carrying me, and giving birth to me, and raising me (along with some help from Dad). I started doing this annual beating-her-to-the-punch early morning thank you phone call on my birthday after I had kids of my own, but I’ve realized that I should have been doing it all along. Whew!

Posted by ChrEliz on 3 July 2008 @ 7pm

Actually, Waldo… That Costello & The Attractions show we went to was at the (long-gone) Capitol Ballroom. And it’s still one of the best shows I’ve seen, no contest.

Posted by Patrick A. Reed on 3 July 2008 @ 9pm

For a second, I thought you were talking about another Joe Stanley. That made my head spin a bit.

Posted by Josh on 7 July 2008 @ 11pm