It’s become kind of a silly little tradition — admittedly observed somewhat sporadically — for me to honor the birthdays of two of the greatest pop-cultural icons of my generation who, by a strange coincidence, were born within days of one another. I’m referring of course to the actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, best known even after all these years as Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek series… shipmates, colleagues, and, most of all, friends, as these men apparently are in real life as well.

Shatner preceded Nimoy into the world by just a few days, and today he is 83 years old. Eighty-three! So stop whatever you’re doing, pour yourself a cordial glass of Saurian brandy (the captain’s real favorite, before somebody dreamed up that silly Romulan ale stuff for the movies!), and raise a toast to the One True Kirk…

Happy birthday, Bill!