Today is...

[IceWizard]

31 Jan 2017


Gorilla Suit Day



Date: January 31 Origin: Mad Magazine artist Don Martin created the idea of Gorilla Suit Day for a 1963 comic strip in which a character mocks the holiday and is then assaulted by gorillas and people in gorilla suits. Since that time, the holiday has been semi-celebrated every year by fans of Mad Magazine and Don Martin by dressing up in a gorilla suit. In 2007, Martin’s widow asked one of the holiday’s biggest cheerleaders, writer Mark Evanier, to cease promoting it and to remove all mentions of Gorilla Suit Day from his website.



And



Backward Day



Backward Day. The day where the world gets turned upside down and inside becomes out and madness becomes sanity and day becomes night, at least in concept. There’s just too much seriousness in the air, and sometimes you really just have to bend all the rules and let it all hang out.

History of Backward Day

Backward Day has a really long history, far older than the name of the holiday itself. In almost every culture there came a time of year when all the societal rules got turned on their head. Rome had Saturnalia, a day when all social norms were turned on their head. Gambling was no longer forbidden, and the masters took the day serving their slaves at the high table. During no other time was free speech actually permitted, especially amongst the slaves, but during Saturnalia, all manner of insult was allowed.

There are other cultures throughout the world that celebrate this changing of the guard, this overcoming of mores and exemplifying of wildness. In the end, it all comes down to questioning the way the world is established and the rules that we have in place to govern our behavior. Backward Day isn’t just a day of silliness, but of mental revolution.

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January 31 Birthdays



Justin Timberlake - 36



Jackie Robinson - (1919 - 1972) 53



Nolan Ryan - 69



Zane Grey - (1872 - 1939) 67



Tallulah Bankhead - (1902 - 1968) 66



Jean Simmons - (1929 - 2010) 80



Carol Channing - 95



John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) - 60



Adrian Vandenberg - 62






January 31st


2007: An unreleased poem written and recorded by Jim Morrison titled “Woman in the Window” was set to music & given to Global Cool to raise awareness of global warming.

1998: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, & Southside Johnny performed at the Come Together benefit concert to benefit the family of Sgt. Patrick King, a police officer killed in the line of duty. This concert also turned into an impromptu E Street Band reunion.

1987: Genesis peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “Land of Confusion” which was their fourth top ten single in the U.S.

1985: John Fogerty performed in public for the first time in fourteen years at the Chaplin Stage in Hollywood, CA.

1979: The Clash kicked off their first North American tour in Vancouver, with Bo Diddley as the support act throughout the tour.

1970: The Grateful Dead were arrested for possession of LSD and barbituates in New Orleans. This event would later inspire their song “Truckin’”.

1970: Led Zeppelin peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “Whole Lotta Love” which was their only top ten single in the U.S.

1969: The Beatles recorded the master takes of “Let It Be”, “The Long and Winding Road” & “Two of Us” at Apple Studios in London.

1959: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & the Big Bopper played at The Armory in Duluth, MN. Seventeen year old Robert Zimmerman was in attendance & became inspired to become a musician after attending this concert. He’s better known today as Bob Dylan.



Birthdays:

Terry Kath - Guitarist for Chicago born in 1946

Phil Manzanera - Guitarist for Roxy Music born in 1951

Adrian Vandenberg - Guitarist for Whitesnake born in 1954

John Lydon - Singer for the Sex Pistols born in 1956