Happy Birthday

Happy birthday, George. I'm talking, of course, about George Washington, the late great Father of Our Country, who would be 270 years old this Friday if he were alive. We don't honor him like we used to. We used to build huge monuments like the ones on the Mall in Washington and in Mount Vernon in Baltimore. We used to name national forests after him. Maryland even named a county after him. These days, there are George Washington soccer tournaments, George Washington road races, George Washington sailing regattas, George Washington "sales events."

CAMBRIDGE, England - They arrived armed with stories about a man and theories about the universe. They talked of a genius and friendship. And they celebrated a 60th birthday that some called "a miracle." During a work week of parties and lectures, Cambridge University physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking was lauded by colleagues as an original thinker, a cherished confidant and a gritty survivor who - despite all predictions to the contrary - has lived for decades after receiving a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

This past Sunday, Winnie the Pooh -- the fictional yellow bear who's inspired such philosophical texts as The Tao of Pooh, Pooh and the Philosophers and Postmodern Pooh -- turned 75. The Havre de Grace Branch Library is celebrating with a belated birthday bash Monday, featuring games, stories and treats. Now most of us know a thing or two about Pooh: He eats "hunny" by the fistful; he hangs out with a miniature pig, a bouncing tiger and a donkey; and he possesses a rather irrational fear of imaginary "Woozles," "Heffalumps" and "Jagulars."

How do you throw the ultimate birthday party? Invite more than 500 of your closest friends to the National Aquarium's Marine Mammal Pavilion. Make sure that everywhere they go in the building, a variety of food and entertainment awaits. Then have a surprise guest of honor appear. So went the aquarium's 20th anniversary reunion for its friends and founders. The big surprise came in the form of former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor William Donald Schaefer - wearing the same turn-of-the-last-century bathing suit and carrying the rubber ducky he sported in the photo that went 'round the world when the aquarium opened 20 years ago. Master of ceremonies Rick Dempsey tried to speak Donald Duckese to the guv, then complimented his "sexy little legs."

`Wizards' Weekend' It's a Harry Potter weekend at Port Discovery. In celebration of National Children's Book Week, the museum opens its Exploration Center and Atrium for a free weekend of Harry activities. Children can take part in the "Hogwarts' Final Exam," a book trivia match; the "Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean Naming Contest," a jelly bean-naming event; "Muggle Bingo," bingo with Harry Potter icons; and wand-making. There will also be visits with some Harry-related animals from the Zoomobile.

AS IF there weren't already enough irritating aspects to modern life, along comes the wonderful world of technology to offer us two more. First there is this: Banks are coming out with talking ATMs that greet you by name and wish you a happy birthday. The idea of a talking ATM is disturbing enough, of course. Who needs another hollow, insincere, computer-generated voice in his or her life? ("Please, stay on the line. Your call is important to us ...") To the more paranoid among us, it also summons visions of a petulant ATM flip-out like the one the super-computer Hal experienced in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Read Across America celebrations today mark what would have been Dr. Seuss' 96th birthday with everything from stories to birthday bashes. At Barnes & Noble in Bel Air, balloons, cake and giveaways will set a festive backdrop for readings of Dr. Seuss titles from 4: 30 p.m. to 7: 30 p.m. (620 Marketplace Drive, 410-638-7023). Among the selections are the just-printed version of the 1951 cartoon "Gerald McBoing Boing" and some of the classics, including "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham."

Coin convention Check your pockets, raid the piggy bank and dust off the safe-deposit box. Gather those old coins and any rare paper money you've been stashing, and find out if they're more valuable than you thought at the Suburban Washington/Baltimore Coin and Currency Convention tomorrow through Sunday at the Baltimore Convention Center. Browse tables from more than 750 dealers, participate in coin auctions, see the "Billion Dollar Currency Exhibit" by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, attend educational seminars, free appraisal sessions and evaluation clinics, have your coins graded, learn how to look up values, receive a show-issued souvenir card, and for young numismatists -- ages 12 and under -- receive free coins, information and supplies.

Happy birthday, Game Boy. How is the most popular hand-held video game on the planet celebrating its 10th birthday? With lots of little monster friends. Nintendo, the company that makes Game Boy, has sold more than 65 million hand-held video games worldwide since the toy was introduced back in 1989. At first the games were geared to high school and college kids, but now the games are coming down in age.There's no sign of its popularity slowing down, thanks to the company's latest hit game: "Pokemon."

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Mom, Happy birthday to you.Looks awful in print, doesn't it? It's certainly not the kind of greeting you'd write in a birthday card to your mother. But delivered with gusto by one or more slightly off-key voices, "Happy Birthday" always conveys its message -- your love and best wishes.So why not deliver it via e-mail?It's easy to attach a voice message to electronic mail, whether it's a birthday song or an explanation of a business plan.