Ming the Merciless is a character who first appeared in the Flash Gordon comic strip in 1934. When the heroic Flash Gordon and his friends land on the planet Mongo, they find it ruled by the evil Emperor Ming, a despot who quickly becomes their enemy. Ming has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, television series and film adaptation.
Magda Gerber was an early childhood educator born in Hungary who immigrated with her family to the United States in 1957. She co-founded Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) in 1978, incorporating many theories of pediatrician Emmi Pikler into her philosophy. RIE is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to raising the standards of infant care and education through parent and caregiver education. The RIE philosophy is based on respecting infants and toddlers as fully functioning humans by learning their individual ways of communicating, allowing them to try to solve problems without adult interference and not treating them like objects. Gerber died on April 27, 2007.
P.S. “Many awful things have been done in the name of love, but nothing awful can be done in the name of respect.” – Magda Gerber
Space Cat is a children’s book series from the 1950s, written by Scottish author Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The first book, Space Cat (1952), introduces Flyball, an ambitious young cat who is off to the moon in a rocket. Flyball not only makes an important scientific discovery on his way to the moon, but also saves the pilot’s life. The sequels are Space Cat Visits Venus (1955), Space Cat Meets Mars (1957) and Space Cat and the Kittens (1958).
In celebration of Earth Day and my 607th character, I was thinking of cutting back on my pixel art updates to focus more on other creative projects, such as my novel(s). This concept of “other creative projects” might also include “trying to buy all four vintage Space Cat books on eBay for less than $50 each.” However, since I don’t yet feel inspired to write, I think I will carry on as usual with 3+ pixel art characters per week.
Frederick William Voedisch was a manufacturer, American Civil War soldier and artist. He was born in Saxony, Germany on January 1, 1832 and trained as a baker. Frederick emigrated to New York in 1854 and worked there as a baker and sawmill manager before moving to Wisconsin in 1856. In 1862, Frederick enlisted as a private in the 20th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment for the Union Army at age 29 and was quickly promoted to a noncommissioned officer, third sergeant (moving from Company A to Company E). However, curiously, after the conclusion of hostilities in 1865, he was honorably discharged as a private. The Military History of Wisconsin details the hard times Frederick and his company endured. Following the war, he married Catherine Weber (née Runkel) in 1865 in Watertown, WI, and worked as a lumber manufacturing manager. In 1883, Frederick received the title to 160 acres of land in Fergus Falls, MN. In 1885, he moved his family farther west to North Dakota. Frederick applied for his Civil War pension in 1886 and died in the Dakotas in 1891 at age 59. He was survived by his German-immigrant wife Catherine and their children Dela and Alfred.
Frederick W. Voedisch is my great-great-great-grandfather. Before Heidi and I went to Europe last year, I created an Ancestry.com account and input a binder of genealogical data to create an online family tree. I did this primarily to share information with my cousins in Italy about their American relatives. You can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by a Civil War reenactor who owns Frederick’s Civil War rifle. The Springfield musket he owns was identified because the initials FWV are artfully engraved into the stock and there was only one Wisconsin soldier with those initials on the Civil War roster. After the war, Frederick probably returned home with his musket and had the barrel reamed slightly larger to turn it into a 20-gauge shotgun, making it a handy item on a farm. But by the time he moved west, cartridge guns had become common, and so he left his rather obsolete musket in Wisconsin. Now, in 2013, Frederick’s musket remains in Wisconsin in its original condition (other than the slight reaming of the inside of the barrel). The lock works and it even includes its ramrod. I was amazed to learn so much about an object once carried by my 3rd-great-grandfather. Frederick’s daughter Dela is my great-great-grandmother.
Charlie Chaplin was a British comic actor and filmmaker who rose to fame in the silent era. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona “the Tramp.” A legendary figure in film history, Chaplin’s career spanned more than 75 years, from a child in the Victorian era to close to his death at the age of 88. Raised in London, his childhood was defined by poverty and hardship. At 19, Chaplin was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, which took him to America. By 1918, he was one of the most famous men in the world. In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists, giving him complete control over his films, which included The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). He was born on this day in 1889.
The Saint Louis Billikens mascot has appeared in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament each of the past two years, only to be eliminated in the Round of 32. What is a Billiken anyway? A white Grinch? It’s actually a charm doll invented by an art teacher. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #62 of 348. (View reference images.)
The La Salle Explorers mascot had its biggest Cinderella moment in 2013 when the 13th-seeded La Salle men’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #61 of 348. (View reference images.)
Sixto Rodríguez (also known as Rodríguez or Jesús Rodríguez) is an American folk musician based in Detroit, Michigan. His music career initially proved short-lived with two little-sold albums in the early 1970s and some brief touring in Australia. Unbeknownst to Rodríguez, however, his work became extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where some of his songs served as anti-apartheid anthems. In the 1990s, determined South African fans managed to find and contact him. Their story is told in the 2012 Academy Award winning documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, which helped revive Rodríguez’s career and gave him a measure of fame in his own country, at 70 years old.
Both Cold Fact (1970) and Coming from Reality (1971) are fantastic studio albums with beautiful, poetic lyrics. I can’t believe they weren’t hits among the folks who bought records by Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Beatles in the 1970s. Both Rodríguez albums were re-released in 2012. I think Rodríguez’s “Cause” is one of the greatest songs of all time. And Searching for Sugar Man is a heartwarming movie that tells the incredible true story of Rodríguez, a remarkably humble man and the greatest 1970s rock icon who never was.
The Wichita State Shockers mascot is a muscular, dopey-looking shock of wheat. But this anthropomorphized bundle of grain and its ninth-seeded men’s basketball team made it to the Final Four of this year’s NCAA tournament. Wichita State narrowly lost in the semifinals on Saturday and thus is not playing in today’s championship game. The goofy yellow haystack from Kansas had an impressive Cinderella run. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #60 of 348. (View reference images.)
Jeff Mangum is an American musician best known for being the lyricist, vocalist and guitarist of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as being one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Neutral Milk Hotel was a Louisiana-based indie rock group that released two studio albums, On Avery Island (1996) and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998). The story goes that Mangum was overwhelmed by his band’s success and the pressures of sudden fame and decided to disband Neutral Milk Hotel after a 1998 tour in support of their second album. Mangum largely kept out of the public eye until recently.
Neutral Milk Hotel released some of my very favorite music of the late 1990s, particularly In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. For the past 15 years, I have wanted to see Jeff Mangum play his music live. But I assumed I’d probably never get to because the ever-elusive Mangum did not perform publicly for about 10 years, from 1998 to 2008, and he rarely tours in the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, I am very excited that tonight I will be attending one of the last solo acoustic tour shows by Jeff Mangum, at the Historic McDonald Theatre in Eugene, Oregon. Indie-folk band Tall Firs will open. Also, I have now drawn 600 of these primitive pixel art characters.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs mascot had its biggest Cinderella moment in 1999 when the 10th-seeded Gonzaga men’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. This year, Gonzaga was the top-ranked team in the country going into the NCAA tournament, but the Bulldogs were upset in the Round of 32 by Wichita State (which contributed to the ruination of my bracket). This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #59 of 348. (View reference images.)
The Virginia Commonwealth Rams mascot had its biggest Cinderella moment in 2011 when the 11th-seeded VCU men’s basketball team advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, ultimately losing to Butler. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #58 of 348. (View reference images.)
The Butler Bulldogs mascot played Cinderella for two consecutive years. In both 2010 and 2011, the Butler men’s basketball team advanced to the national championship game of the NCAA tournament. They were seeded fifth in 2010 and eighth in 2011. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #57 of 348. (View reference images.)
Fawzia Koofi is an Afghan politician and women’s rights activist. On the day she was born in rural Afghanistan, her mother set her under the blazing sun to die. Koofi was the 19th child of 23 in a polygamous family with seven wives, and her mother did not want another daughter. Despite severe burns, she survived and became the favorite child. Koofi is Afghanistan’s first female Parliament speaker and a noted activist for women and children’s rights. She has written two books about her experiences in Afghanistan under the exploitative rule of the Mujahideen and Taliban. There have been numerous attempts on her life—and her father, brother and husband have all been killed. Koofi has announced her intention to run as a presidential candidate in the 2014 elections in Afghanistan.
Koofi is an amazing woman with an awe-inspiring story. If you’re interested in watching her speak for a few minutes, she appeared as a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on February 13, 2013.
Fauja Singh is a British centenarian marathon runner of Punjabi Sikh descent. Born in India, he did not develop the ability to walk until he was five years old. He immigrated to England in the 1990s and ran his first marathon at age 89. Now 102 years old, Singh is a world record holder in his age bracket. His marathon record for age 90-plus, recorded in 2003 at age 92, is 5 hours 40 minutes. In 2004, Singh was featured in an Adidas advertising campaign alongside David Beckham and Muhammad Ali. On February 24, 2013 (just five weeks shy of his 102nd birthday), Singh retired from competitive running after completing the 10-kilometer Hong Kong marathon. He was born on this day in 1911.
Note: ESPN published a compelling Outside the Lines feature on Singh called “The Runner” on February 22, 2013. Happy April Fools’ Day!
Pecos Bill – No. 608
Pecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest. Probably invented by Tex O’Reilly in the early 1900s, Pecos Bill is considered an example of fakelore. Pecos Bill was a late addition to other “big man” characters like Paul Bunyan and John Henry.
I have vivid memories of the Pecos Bill (and Paul Bunyan) books that I read at my grandparents’ house as a child. My grandfather owned a large collection of educational hardcovers for primary grades from Garrard Publishing, and several of them were Pecos Bill titles from the late 1960s and 1970s. Garrard’s American Folktales series includes Pecos Bill and the Long Lasso (1968), Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado (1973), Pecos Bill Catches a Hidebehind (1977), Pecos Bill and the Wonderful Clothesline Snake (1978) and Pecos Bill Finds a Horse (1979).