Day Tripping: October 4

King of Slapstick

Joseph Francis Keaton was born while his vaudeville parents were on the road in 1895. They were stopped in Piqua, Kansas with the roadshow they owned with Harry Houdini.

At eighteen months, the infant got stuck with the nickname, Buster. By the time he was three, Buster Keaton was a regular performer in his parent’s show.

“A comedian does funny things. A good comedian does things funny.”

Buster got his start in the movie business through his work with his mentor and friend, Fatty Arbuckle. Within three years, Keaton was starring in his own films. The Great Stone Face became one of the pioneers of physical comedy in the silent era. The name came from remaining deadpan while his father threw across stages when he was a child.

In one iconic scene from his films, Buster stood in place while a house facade fell around him which missed his body by virtue of a single glassless window. The measurements for the gag were incredibly precise, giving him only inches of leeway from getting crushed by a two-ton building.

Today is:

Taco Day — terrific appey to go with a pint, especially fish tacos!

Ships-In-Bottles Day — Never could figure out how those things sailed in there.

Musical Ride

Despite her substance abuse issues during he career, Janis Joplin always showed up on time. When she didn’t appear at a recording session in 1970, her road manager JohnCooke entered her room at around 8 pm where he found Joplin dead. Janis died of a heroin overdose, sixteen days after Jimi Hendrix. They were both 27 years old.

Interesting Notes

In 1999, Jimi Hendrix’s half-sister Janie announces she’s going to exhume the rock star’s body and move it to a private mausoleum. A groundswell of public condemnation quelches that idea.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gordon ‘Gordo’ Cooper was the youngest of the original seven astronauts from Project Mercury. He was the last of the group to reach space, and the first human to spend an entire day there. He passed away in 2004 at age 77.

Notable Births

1923 — Charlton Heston, yes we know what he said, but he also said, “You can spend a lifetime, and, if you’re honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect.”

1967 — Liev Schreiber said, I was a writer. “I just wasn’t a very good one. I was lucky enough to have a playwriting teacher who told me that I’d be a better actor than I would a playwright.”

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping