It seems inconceivable now, but until about the mid-1960s it was quite common to see celebrities hawking cigarettes like it was no big deal. In fact, many radio, TV, and movie stars literally owed their livelihood to sponsorship from tobacco companies. Imagine seeing someone like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie smiling widely in cigarette ads exhorting you to pick up a carton of Marlboro. Weird, isn’t it?

Anyway, here’s a gallery of 20 such ads from the 1930s through the early 1960s featuring movie and TV stars, as well as famous athletes, using their star power to get you to buy cigarettes and cigars. Most of these ads are courtesy the Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising site.

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Sometimes, my friends, fate smiles upon you. Such was the case for me recently when I stumbled upon a series of 1980s Star Trek illustrations in chalk pastel, some of which I will now share with you. Credit for these goes to artist Doug Little, who apparently produced these for commemorative posters around the time of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Enough chit chat, let’s boldly go. By the way, I’ve saved the best for last.

Awww. Posing for the sweetest prom photo I’ve ever seen are Dr. McCoy and the salt creature from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “The Man Trap.”

Yes, this is Khan and Gonzo. And Gonzo is holding a yo-yo that actually says, “Khan Is a Yo-Yo.” Let that seep for a few minutes.

Of course! All we had to do to figure out what was on the missing segment of the Watergate tapes was to get Spock to do the mind-meld on Richard Nixon. Who needs to bother with a pesky Congressional subpoena?

Fear not, Republicans, because the GOP is redeemed thanks to the Great Communicator. Ronald Reagan looks strangely right in his Federation uniform. He’s just pretending to not see the Klingon giving him the stink-eye.

OK, so this actually makes a little sense. Yes, this is Spock with Jesus. But it’s actually Jeffrey Hunter, who played both Capt. Christopher Pike in the Star Trek pilot episode and Jesus Christ in the King of Kings movie. See? Total sense.

Hmmm. You know, I think I could throw my support behind a Khan/Vader ticket. I’m not in favor of their Kirk-killing policy, but I do like their planet-exploding policy.

And there it is. Totally innocent I assure you. I mean sure, the background is pink and Kirk and Khan are holding hands but… oh.

As the GOP prepares to party in Tampa and nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to take on Barack Obama this November, I thought I’d take a look at Republican National Conventions gone by. Here’s a selection of vintage photographs from GOP pow-wows starting with 1908 and ending with 1976.

1908 — Chicago (William Howard Taft)

1912 — Chicago (William Howard Taft)

1916 – Chicago (Charles Evans Hughes)

1920 — Chicago (Warren G. Harding)

1936 — Cleveland (Alf Landon)

1940 — Philadelphia (Wendell Willkie)

1944 — Chicago (Thomas E. Dewey)

1948 — Philadelphia (Thomas E. Dewey)

1952 — Chicago (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

1956 — San Francisco (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

1960 — Chicago (Richard M. Nixon)

1964 — San Francisco (Barry Goldwater)

1968 — Miami Beach

1972 — Miami Beach

1976 — Kansas City (Gerald Ford)

Waaaay back in 2007 I looked back at five flicks that made a big impact on me during my formative years. The next year I ran through four more. And today I drag out another five. Let’s reminisce!

Better Off Dead (1985) — There is not one part of this movie that isn’t 100% awesome, even more than 25 years later. This Savage Steve Holland masterpiece was perfectly cast and written, which makes its more surreal vignettes feel like integral parts of the movie instead of just absurd asides. It never really sunk in when I was a kid that this was a pretty dark film. Hell, the lead character (John Cusack as Lane Meyer) spends most of the it trying to kill himself. Over a breakup. Fortunately he fails and gets to see an Eddie Van Halen-esque hamburger wailing a Frankenstrat to “Everybody Wants Some!!”? Genius.

Cusack reportedly told Holland that Better Off Dead was, “the worst thing I have ever seen. I will never trust you as a director ever again, so don’t speak to me.” I wonder what he said to the guy who directed Martian Child?

Stand By Me (1986) — Hey, more John Cusack! Well, with or without him, is this not one of the greatest movies ever? And fellas, how many of you said to yourself as you watched this, “man, my friends suck compared to these kids”?

Rob Reiner could do no wrong in the ’80s, and it certainly helped that he had great source material to work with here (Stephen King’s short story “The Body”). All I know is that between him and the cast, I was absolutely transported to Castle Rock, Oregon in the summer of 1959. I felt like I was in that clubhouse playing cards and looking at nudie magazines. And I was there when Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern busted their asses to find that dead kid’s body.

I really wish I had skipped out on that last part. Still, great movie and another one I cherish to this day.

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As Barack Obama prepares to deliver his annual State of the Union address to Congress, I thought it a good time to take a look back at this most unique event in American politics. So I’ve gathered images from previous presidential SOTU addresses, from President Woodrow Wilson’s in 1918 to President Obama’s in 2010. I couldn’t find any for Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover made no public appearances before Congress (probably a good move).

Appearing in this gallery are Presidents Barack Obama (2010), George W. Bush (2008), Bill Clinton (1999), George H.W. Bush (unknown date), Ronald Reagan (1988), Jimmy Carter (unknown date), Gerald Ford (1975), Richard Nixon (1971), Lyndon Johnson (1968), John F. Kennedy (1963), Dwight Eisenhower (1960), Harry S. Truman (1953), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1941), Calvin Coolidge (1923), and Woodrow Wilson (1918).

For political junkies, here’s a few interesting State of the Union facts:

• Article II, Section 3, clause 1 of the United States Constitution authorizes the State of the Union Message, stating: “He [the President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
• George Washington delivered the first regular annual message before a joint session of Congress, in New York, on January 8, 1790.
• Thomas Jefferson, who felt that a public speech such as this reeked a little too much of monarchy, changed the procedure followed by his predecessors with his first annual message (December 8, 1801).
• Every president after Jefferson followed his lead and simply kept Congress informed of their activities with a long, written message.
• Woodrow Wilson revived the SOTU as a public speech in 1913, although not every one since has been delivered personally.  22 of them, specifically, have been written only.
• The message was generally known as “the President’s Annual Message to Congress” until well into the 20th century. Although some historians suggest that the phrase “State of the Union” emerged only after World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1934 message is identified in his papers as his “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union.”
• Two Presidents did not serve long enough to submit an annual message: William Henry Harrison, who died in 1841, 32 days after his inauguration, and James A. Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881 and served only 199 days.
• The first SOTU broadcast on radio was President Calvin Coolidge’s speech in 1923.
• The first televised SOTU address was delivered by Harry Truman in 1947.
• Lyndon Johnson moved the address from its traditional midday slot to the evening in order to attract a large television audience.
• Since the Cold War era, at least one member of the President’s Cabinet has been holed away in an undisclosed location during the address in order to ensure continuity of government in case the shit hits the fan.

See, Ronald Reagan knew how to treat his friends during the holiday season.

Turns out the Gipper was actually a smoker at one time, but supposedly gave it up after his older brother Neil developed cancer.

(historical note – the reference to the Reagan film Hong Kong places this ad in 1952.)

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March 24, 1989: The Exxon tanker Valdez accidentally hits the state of Alaska, spilling about 11 million gallons of oil. Capt. Joseph Hazlewood was later convicted of negligent discharge of oil and failing to leave a note at the scene of an accident. What’s scary is that it’s not even one of the 50 worst oil spills of all-time.

March 27, 1884: The first long-distance telephone call takes place, between New York and Boston. Contrary to urban legend, the content of the call was not “Red Sox suck!”

March 27, 1998: The Food and Drug Administration approves the use of Viagra; sales of used Corvettes and Mustangs drop 78%.

March 28, 1930: Constantinople changes its name to Istanbul; provides fodder for quirky rock bands of the future.

March 28, 1979: An accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating station kills no one, spooks many; America says “F that!” to nuclear power and decides to take its chances with coal and oil.

March 30, 1867: U.S. Secretary of State William Seward completes the purchase of the Alaskan Territory from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million. Enraged Congressmen petition the Russians to give Seward a negative feedback rating.

March 30, 1964: The popular quiz show Jeopardy! debuts on NBC. Cries of “I could totally win this if I wanted to” heard throughout the nation for the first time.

March 30, 1981: Would-be assassin John Hinckley, Jr. fires six shots at President Ronald Reagan, doesn’t land one (Reagan was hit by a bullet that had ricocheted off his limousine). Jodie Foster still won’t return his calls.