He's a Good Fella
The Maundy Morning Newsletter - This Week in History November 14- 20.
Happy Monday, Okay History friends! It’s cold now, and I hope you are happy. It won’t get warm again until May. Maybe April, but definitely in May, which is a long way away. Embrace it!
This week we celebrate the 80th birthday of American icon Martin Scorsese. The movie director has multiple major films in his credits, but Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas are all considered masterpieces.
Born in Queens, Martin had asthma and, therefore, couldn’t play sports as a kid, so he sat around watching movies. As a kid, I happened to play a ton of sports and watched plenty of films in my free time, but you are reading this blog now, which no one would consider a masterpiece.
Scorsese would go on to attend Catholic high school and even enter the seminary to become a priest. He dropped out in his first year and decided to pursue a career in film, where he explored all the guilt he grew up with. He graduated from NYU, where he also received a Master’s degree.
He immediately joined the cool kids of directors, such as Brian de Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and even George Lucas. Through his relationship with Brian, he met Robert De Niro, who would instantly become his BFF and star in the three films listed earlier. Has Bobby ever done a film without Scorsese? I’m not sure. I’m not even going to look it up.
My favorite Scorsese film is The Departed, which is strangely his only Oscar win. The 2006 thriller starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Donny Wahlberg’s little brother. The movie told the story of the Irish mob in Boston, and the depths people will go to keep power. If you haven’t watched this film, one, what is your deal, and two, skip work today and watch it. You won’t regret it.
Happy birthday, Martin. I hope Bobby gets you something nice.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. Here's what I got:
The Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777. The 13 original states decided their first form of government was to have a weak central government, allowing the states more power. Somehow we use this argument still.
Oklahoma became the 46th state on November 16, 1907. The Sooner State ranks 32ndin the OKH state poll. Interestingly, the first Girl Scout Cookie was sold in the state in 1917.
President Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942. Dark Brandon is unranked in OKH’s presidential rankings. The leader of the Democratic Party had a tremendous midterm election last week, which means he will be running again in 2024 at the age of 276.
This week is crazy with travel. Today I’m down in South Carolina, where if you follow me on Facebook, I write about my relationship with the local Panera restaurant. I’m looking forward to seeing if the milk will be there.
Then later this week, I’m off to a secret location in Europe for a long weekend before Thanksgiving. Yes, I’m that obnoxious. I just take long weekends in Europe.
Don’t worry. I will still be dropping the next slate of state rankings. There is still plenty of time to convince me who should be #1. Anonymous is worried about how this will all shake out.
Until then, have a great week.
Okay,
Chris