VIDEO: Celebrate Lou Reed's Birthday With His Greatest-Ever Screen Appearance

Good morning to you on this very special day! No, not Gavin McLoed's [sic] 80th birthday, though that deserves recognition, I can't lie. But! Lou Reed was born 69 years ago today in Brooklyn, NY -- a location that would become the partial subject of his fantastic appearance in the 1995 ensemble-improv weird-out Blue in the Face. Let's reminisce and pay some much-deserved respect below.

If you haven't seen Blue in the Face -- Wayne Wang and Paul Auster's all-star spin-off of their more traditional narrative Smoke -- then today is the day to rent or download or stream or whatever you do these days and have a look. It is a classic -- all the more so for Reed's role as "Man With Strange Glasses." Damn if I can't find the very funny scene where he explains their provenance, but this spliced-together sequence will work fine in tribute. You'll never think of Sweden the same way again. Happy birthday, Lou! Act more!