5-4-Fri: Fridays

You knew this was going to happen eventually. The time has come to force 5-4-Fri to be meta. (Isn't EVERYTHING better when it's meta?) That's right, people, this week we are featuring five famous "Fridays" in the Five For Friday feature. Without further ado:

1. Friday, The Man - Robinson Crusoe was the star of the original, often imitated-never duplicated, East Coast, old skool version of "24." Except that he was trapped on an island off Venezuela for twenty-four years not some measly 24 hours (take that, Jack Bauer). Until one fateful Friday in the 24th year, he was utterly alone except for a goat, a dog and his talking parrot, "Poll." Then one day a Native American captive beset by cannibals showed up on his island. Ole Rob rescued him and, showing the same panache with which he named his bird, Crusoe christened his new companion, "Friday." Have you read it? Read it.

2. T.G.I.Fridays - Admit it. You have eaten here. You might not have liked it. You might not have enjoyed its stupendously slow service. You might not have been waited on by anyone as cute as Jennifer Aniston. But you have eaten here. Hey, in the end, Obama is right. We are not blue states. We are not red states. We are bound together as Americans by having eaten at T.G.I.Fridays.

3. Friday, The Day - Thank God It's Venus' Day. TGIV, baby. The Sixth Day, maybe. I like how Merriam-Webster just assumes that you are going to think of Sunday as the first day of the week. Sucky convention; I personally think of Sunday as the end of the week but it's Friday I think of when I say I'm working for the weekend. (No, of course not. Naturally, I'd never actually say that--that's cruel.)

4. Science Friday - That Ira Flatow! Do you listen to "Talk Of The Nation: Science Friday?" Maaaaybe not as much fun as sipping a Dark and Stormy, but fun, fun, fun. (Waoh, 404! Internal blog reference. Link to past 5-4-Fri entry. I told you we were getin' all kinds of kooky.)

5. Friday, The Genetically Engineered Girl - Let's hear it for hot "Artifical Persons!" Friday is the babelicious and eponymous star of the 1982 Robert Heinlein novel. Woefully, not his best work. But who knew when I purchased it? Sometimes I do judge a book by its cover; sue me.

PS - Kids are kind of like Robinson Crusoe. Think about it. They have marvelous adventures--much more fun than adulthood. They are basically trapped until they are about 24 years into the thing. And, no matter how inventive they are, they tend to name things literally--"Lion" the stuffed lion, "Friday" the guy you saved on Friday. Oh, and "Lips Like Sugar" by Echo and the Bunnymen is so '80s but still so good; now playing on iTunes.