Towse: views from the hill

Chron obit today for Momofuku Ando

Who?

Ando, age 96, who died of a heartattack Friday, invented Ramen, the first instant noodle.

I have some Ramen in the bin in the kitchen for those days when I have time for nothing else or can’t think of anything else or am feeling too drear and nothing sounds good, which sometimes amounts to the same thing and sometimes doesn’t.

RIP Momofuku Ando. What a brill idea you had, and carried through. American college students thank you.

Ando gave a speech at the company’s New Year ceremony and enjoyed Chicken Ramen for lunch with Nissin employees on Thursday before falling ill, Japan’s largest daily Yomiuri reported. [from the SFChron obit]

Joseph Barbera died, age 95.

Tell the Gatekeeper we voted you a free pass for the happiness you gave millions of rapt cartoon watchers over the years.

Thanks for hundreds (thousands, more like) of hours spent with Baba Louie and Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, the prehistoric Flintstones, Bam-Bam and Pebbles, the futuristic Jetsons and all the rest of the gigantic gang of characters you and William Hanna created.

I can’t imagine my childhood without them.

Update: Sour Grapes reminds me, Don’t forget Tom and Jerry.

As if I could. A quick tour of YouTube gives us Tom and Jerry – The Cat Concerto (1946) and, in the spirit of the season, Tom and Jerry – The Night Before Christmas (1941)