We're Obsessed: Hayley Mills, Billy Idol, the Beatles' "Birthday" on your birthday

The "Separated at Birth"-ness of Hayley Mills and Mick Jagger

Oh my gosh, why have I never noticed this before? They're totally secret twins - you know, like in that Parent Trap movie:

I didn't even figure it out on my own; Bebe Buell points it out in her memoir Rebel Heart, which I'm currently reading and seriously cannot put down (but more on that later). And now I'm looking through old photos of Hayley and just completely smitten with her sunny cuteness. One of my favorites:

God, I so want a fur hat right now! Anyway, here are some fun Hayley Mills facts, courtesy in part of number-one lazy-girl resource Wikipedia:

+ Her son was the lead guitarist/singer for Kula Shaker

+ She wrote the preface for The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking

+ Laura Faulds once put a Kula Shaker song on a mixtape for me

+ Hayley Mills was supposed to play Lolita Haze in the Stanley Kubrick version of Lolita, but then Walt Disney told Kubrick he felt the role was "not up to Disney's wholesome standard."

+ When I was a kid, The Parent Trap was my favorite movie to rent from the Stop & Shop while we were on August vacation at The Cape. Here's the scene where the girls find out they're twins. (Liz)

Listening to "Birthday" by the Beatles on your actual birthday

Seriously, it's the best thing ever. It makes you feel really positive about your life: past, present and future. I plan on doing it on every birthday I have forever.

PS: If I hadn't have lost my digital camera like a giant loser this weekend, you would probably be looking at a picture of me listening to "Birthday" by the Beatles on headphones. Unfortunately for the blogosphere, I'm careless and lose everything. So instead, you get a mediocre photo of the Beatles that you've probably seen a million times before. John Lennon's hair looks SO BAD (!!!) in this pic.(Laura)

Billy Idol

For about an hour today, I became obsessed with Billy Idol. This is a strange thing, because he was never a youthful enthusiasm of mine during his heyday in the 80s -- I always liked his songs whenever they popped up on MTV but I never went out to buy a cassette or anything like that. But three things happened to me in the space of an hour today that made me completely overturn my cultural indifference to Mr. Idol. One: I caught the tail end of The Wedding Singer, in which my boy Billy plays a prominent part. Two: I went into a store and they were playing "Eyes Without A Face," and when they got to the part when he breaks it down and that monster 80s guitar solo takes over, I had a complete "Dude, this song's kind of incredible!" moment. Three: I thought I spotted Billy Idol himself on the street. It was not him, alas, but a doppelganger from Oklahoma apparently. But I was still thrilled that the Idol look lives on with such sincerity and commitment. Three major Billy Idol moments in one day is sign enough from the universe for me, so when I came home I completely had to watch all his videos on YouTube. Seeing them all at once, I'm impressed that they're so consistent in terms of aesthetics. I also realized that early childhood exposure to Billy Idol videos is where my fondness for black leather and watered-down forms of goth may have come from. And the singles are awesome, even if he was the harbinger for the co-opting of punk within boring mainstream Reagan culture. I forgive him, because there's no one else really like him anymore on MTV. Is there really any music on MTV anymore? I don't think so.

The great thing about Billy Idol obsession is that his music is relatively simple and his greatest songs are all singles/videos, so it's fairly easy to become a mid-level expert in under 60 minutes. If you really want to be super-obscure, you can hunt down his covers of "Heroin" and "Don't You Forget About Me." I kind of wouldn't, though, unless you want to lessen your momentary obsession. (I'd suggest hunting out his acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" -- it's so much more fun.) In cases of temporary-but-fierce Billy Idol love, you should just roll with it. To facilitate such a glorious hour in your life, I've compiled my Idol favorites on YouTube in one handy-dandy matrix. You can watch them one by one in one place; it's easier that way. And then when you are done, you should mute your computer and hit "play" on them all at once. The result will blow your mind. Or kind of make you giggle, because it all looks like it could be from the same video. (Kat)

1st row: Eyes Without A Face, White Wedding, Rebel Yell
2nd row: Dancing With Myself, Cradle of Love, To Be A Lover
3rd row: Hot in the City, Flesh for Fantasy, Sweet 16