Wednesday, June 06, 2007

If You’ve Been Re-incarnated, How Many Birthdays Do You Get?

Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, is 71 years young today. Proclaimed the rebirth of the thirteenth Dalai Lama at age two, he was enthroned as Tibet’s Head of State on November 17, 1950 at the age of fifteen. Living in exile in India since the collapse of the Tibetan resistance in 1959, he is the first Dalai Lama to visit the West. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

I’m a big fan of his, despite my aversion to organized religion. He’s charismatic, thoughtful, seems genuine, and has a good sense of humor. BTW, the picture at the top was from the Dalai Lama’s visit to UC Irvine a couple of years back. I was dumb enough NOT to get a ticket, even though he was speaking at the Bren Center, just 200 yards or so from my office at the time. IDIOT!


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FYI, today is also the 63rd anniversary of Operation Overlord, leading to what we now know as D-Day.

Also, the first drive-in movie theater opened in Pennsauken, New Jersey on this date in 1933. It was the brain child of Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., a chemical company magnate. The Star-Vu drive-in just opened here in Orange County, at the Orange County Fairgrounds. It’s one of the only ones operating in California.

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