"Thirty-nine"

(credit: free-pictures-photos.com/)

I think that the title of this photo should be "Jack Benny."

Not many of you are old enough to remember the beloved radio, and later television comedian, Jack Benny. He was an absolute genius - droll, laconic, master of the deadpan take. He had an aversion to aging. So he just stayed 39 years old, until he was in his 60's.

It was one of the longest running jokes in history. It ran so long, as a matter of fact, that it got rusty. To quote from Wikipedia,

The explanation usually given for the "stuck on 39" running joke is that he had celebrated his birthday on-air when he turned 39, and decided to do the same the following year, because "there's nothing funny about 40". Upon his death, having celebrated his 39th birthday 41 times, some newspapers continued the joke with headlines such as "Jack Benny Dies - At 39?"

39er

In February 2006, Benny's name appeared in the news again when his fans petitioned to put this famous 39er on the US postal stamp after the standard postal rate for first class letter was increased to 39 cents.

My topical post today at South by Southwest is about activism, citizenship and the environment.
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