"Life is a [crap] sandwich. If you have enough bread, you don't have to taste the [crap]."
That is one thing Jonathan Winters, one of comedy's best, said about life. (Please note, he didn't use the word "crap," but this is a family blog, and i won't use the word he did in case a child is reading. It's close enough, you know what he meant.)
He had a tough start in life. His mother left his alcoholic father when he was only 7, and if being in a one parent household is difficult now, imagine how difficult it was back in the 1930's. So i'm sure he knew exactly what he was talking about in the above sentiment.
Mr. Winters died on Thursday, at the age of 87, and his quote above is one of my all time favorites. His brand of humor will be sorely missed.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Winters. Life around here won't be the same without you.
Today is
Baby Massage Day
Day to Give Thanks for Fish/Seafood -- anniversary of the US Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1976
Environmental Protection Day -- anniversary of the 1962 publication of Silent Spring
Feast of Rotten Endings -- because some stories just don't end well
Huguenot
Day -- Huguenot Society of the US (anniversary of the 1598 Edict of
Nantes, in which King Henry IV promoted peace between Catholics and
Protestants)
Ides of April -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
Festival of Libertas -- personification of freedom and political liberty
Festival of Jupiter Libertas
Festival of Jupiter Victor
International Plant Appreciation Day -- unsponsored by any but those who love plants
National Peach Cobbler Day
Poshui Jie -- Jinghong, China (Water Splashing Festival; a 3 to four day festival around this time)
Scrabble Day -- anniversary of the 1899 birth of its inventor, Alfred Mosher Butts
Songkran
Festival / Chiang Mai Songkran / Tamil New Year / Bangla New Year /
Bisket Jatra -- Bangladesh; Cambodia; India; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal;
Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand (New Year festivals, celebrated over the
next few days, as the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries)
Squashing of Moonhopper Day -- Fairy Calendar
St. Hermengild's Day (Patron of converts; against drought, flood, and thunderstorms)
Thomas Jefferson Day -- US
U.S. Elephant Day -- marking the arrival of the first elephant in the US in 1796
Yayoi Matsuri -- Nikko, Japan (five day spring festival)
Birthdays Today:
Jonathan Brandis, 1976
Rick Schroder, 1970
Garry Kasparov, 1963
Max Weinberg, 1951
Al Green, 1946
Tony Dow, 1945
Lowell George, 1945
Jack Casady, 1944
Lyle Waggoner, 1935
Don Adams, 1926
Howard Keel, 1919
Eudora Welty, 1909
Samuel Beckett, 1906
Butch Cassidy, 1866
F.W. Woolworth, 1852
Thomas Jefferson, 1743
Guy Fawkes, 1570
Today in History:
The Seventh Crusade is defeated in Egypt with the capture of Louis IX of France, 1250
Henry
IV of France signs the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion
and political rights to Huguenots (French Protestants), 1598
John Dryden, age 36, becomes the first English Poet Laureate, 1668
George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland, 1742
The first elephant seen in the Western Hemisphere arrives from India, 1796
The British Parliament grants religious freedom to Roman Catholics, 1829
Hungary becomes a republic, 1849
The first US Pony Express run is completed, 1860
George Westinghouse patents a steam powered brake, 1869
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded, 1870
J.C. (James Cash) Penney opens his first store, 1902
British troops fire on unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India, killing at least 379 and wounding over 1,200 more, 1919
Helen Hamilton becomes the first woman US Civil Service Commissioner, 1920
Lord Clydesdale makes the first flight over Mt. Everest, 1933
The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated on the 200th anniversary of his birth, in Washington, D.C., 1943
Van Cliburn becomes the first American to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1958
Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field, 1963
An
oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger
and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon,
1970
The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's
Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative,
effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan, 1972
Western
Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the
United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite,
Westar 1, 1974
Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999, 1987
Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament, 1997
Former
President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and sons, Alaa and Gamal, are detained
for 15 days of questioning regarding charges of corruption and abuse of
power, 2011
Friendly Fill-Ins Week 443
15 hours ago
I love reading all the things that have or did happen on each day. Most of them I have never heard of.
ReplyDeleteah good ol' Jonathan Winters! I loved watching him on TV as a child. Here's another one of his:
ReplyDelete“I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.”
Cheers and have a lovely weekend!
RIP, Mr. Winters. I do imagine it was tough for a boy to not have a dad around in the 1930's. It's hard enough now, but so much more common. Some fun dates in your lists, too. Squashing of Moonhopper Day--yay!
ReplyDeleteSarah, i'm glad you enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteKathe, he was amazing.
Shell, it's not easy, ever, but with divorce being such a stigma then, i'm sure it was part of the pain behind his funny mask.
I remember him in the granny get up best... Although it did have a disturbing resemblance to Psycho. Meh.
ReplyDeleteBaby Massage day. Need any kittens massaged? They would be fun babies to massage. :)
Cat
Aw, RIP, JW. I didn't realize that. I raise my [crap] sandwich in honor tonight!
ReplyDelete