Perhaps the most overlooked of the non-official holidays, Flag Day, celebrating the adoption of Betsy Ross' Flag as the national flag by the Continental Congress. From the official US Code:
TITLE 36 - Subtitle I - Part A - CHAPTER 1 - § 110
(a) Designation.— June 14 is Flag Day.
(b) Proclamation.— The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation—
(1) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Flag Day; and
(2) urging the people of the United States to observe Flag Day as the anniversary of the adoption on June 14, 1777, by the Continental Congress of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States.
And what better way is there to celebrate this most overlooked of American of holidays than by celebrating (albeit 2 weeks belatedly) the posthumous 99th birthday of one of our most overlooked geniuses, Mel Blanc.
The name may not readily familiar, but the voices no doubt will be. Blanc was, most famously, the voice of Bugs Bunny. In addition to Bugs, he also voiced Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker, Sylvester and Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Barney Rubble from The Flintstones, Mr. Spacely from The Jetsons, and many others. Dubbed The Man of a Million Voices, in short, he was Warner Bros. animation for 30 years. He was Chuck Jones' muse (Jones of course being one of the greatest artists in the history of American animation/cinema).
Imagine, if you will, living in 1939 going to a legendary picture palace to see a Michael Curtiz directed costume epic starring Errol Flynn and Olivia da Haviland (say, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex), preceded by a Mel Blanc-voiced Porky and Daffy cartoon and a trailer for His Girl Friday. Makes me sad when I compare something like that to what we have at the multiplex today: a Sprite "Sublymonal" commercial [by the way, wtf is really going on with this sublymonal stuff anyway?], 2 spots telling me to turn off my cell phone, and a trailer for an Adam Sandler-Kevin James faux gay romp.
Showing he was more than just a cartoon voice, Blanc also did radio, particularly a recurring role on The Jack Benny Show (Benny was a fantastic comedian in his own right, as the progenitor of the sitcom format). If, by some unbelievably unfortunate chance, you have somehow not been exposed to the wonderful worlds of the characters of Mel Blanc, you must, must, do yourself a favor and seek the man and his brilliant work out on DVD/TV/youtube/however else video may be available.
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