Elon Musk is a South African-born, Canadian-American business magnate, engineer, inventor and investor. He is the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors and chairman of SolarCity. Musk is the founder of SpaceX and a cofounder of Zip2, PayPal and Tesla Motors. He has also envisioned a conceptual high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop and has proposed a VTOL supersonic jet aircraft with electric fan propulsion. Musk was born on June 28, 1971.
Batwoman is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in 1956, the character is a wealthy heiress who becomes inspired by the notorious superhero Batman and chooses, like him, to put her wealth and resources towards a war on crime as a masked vigilante in her home of Gotham City. Batwoman was introduced as a love interest for Batman in order to combat the allegations of Batman’s homosexuality arising from the controversial book Seduction of the Innocent (1954). Conversely, the modern Batwoman is written as being a lesbian of Jewish descent. Described as the highest-profile gay superhero to appear in stories published by DC, Batwoman’s sexual orientation drew wide media attention following her reintroduction.
I suppose this is my contribution to the long-awaited celebration of the Supreme Court declaring same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states yesterday. It’s always a nice feeling to be proud of something that happens in my country, belated or not. Rainbows are everywhere. As for my 8-bit characters, the LGBTQIA+ tag keeps growing.
The Flash is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). All incarnations of the Flash possess “super speed,” which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes and seemingly violate certain laws of physics. Thus far, four different characters have assumed the identity of the Flash: Jay Garrick (1940-present), Barry Allen (1956-1985, 2008-present), Wally West (1986-2006, 2007-2012, 2013-present) and Bart Allen (2006-2007). The second incarnation of the Flash (Barry Allen) is part of the Silver Age of comic books. The third incarnation (Wally West) is considered the greatest and most well-known superhero of the four. Each version of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC’s premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League and the Teen Titans.
“Pistol Pete” Maravich was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University (LSU) and played for three NBA teams (Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans/Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics) until injuries forced his retirement in 1980. He is still the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points scored (in only three seasons) and an average of 44.2 points per game. All of his accomplishments were achieved before the three-point line and shot clock were introduced to NCAA basketball. Often celebrated as one of the best ball-handlers and offensive creators of all time, Maravich was born on June 22, 1947 and died while playing pickup basketball on January 5, 1988 of a rare congenital heart defect.
Nicole Kidman is an Australian actress and film producer. Kidman’s breakthrough film role was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. After appearing in several films in the early 1990s, she came to worldwide recognition for her performances in the auto-racing film Days of Thunder (1990), the romance Far and Away (1992) and the superhero film Batman Forever (1995). Other acclaimed performances include her work in the erotic Kubrick thriller Eyes Wide Shut(1999), the musical Moulin Rouge! (2001), the horror-thriller The Others (2001) and The Hours (2002). Kidman was married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. She was born to Australian parents in Hawai’i on June 20, 1967.
Note: In my search for Nicole Kidman’s most iconic outfit, I found this lime-green or chartreuse dress she wore to the 69th Academy Awards in 1997.
Dr. Crime is the costumed identity of Edward Elmgren, a villain in Marvel’s main universe, Earth-616. Elmgren’s primary weapon was a blow gun that fired darts coated with a lethal poison. In 1941, Elmgren led an expedition into the Amazon looking to find riches, but instead found a concentrated shrinking formula used by an Amazonian tribe to shrink heads. This shrinking formula enabled Elmgren to reduce the size of human beings and their clothes. As Dr. Crime he began administering this liquid using a water pistol. During a battle with Captain America and Bucky, Elmgren attempted to escape by using his own shrinking formula, but was swooped up by a passing eagle and likely carried to his death.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the French Academy. Cousteau described his underwater world research in series of books, perhaps most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, published in 1953. He also directed films, most notably the documentary adaptation of the book, The Silent World, which won a Palme d’or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 and died on June 25, 1997.
Nancy Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of Frank Sinatra and is widely known for her 1966 signature hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” Other defining recordings include the title song from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, several collaborations with Lee Hazlewood and her cover of Cher’s “Bang Bang,” which was used in the opening sequence of the 2003 Tarantino film Kill Bill: Vol. One. The promo clip for “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” popularized and made her synonymous with go-go boots. The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, who wrote and produced most of her hits and sang with her on several duets, including the critical and cult favorite “Some Velvet Morning.” Sinatra also had a brief acting career in the mid-1960s, including a costarring role with Elvis Presley in the movie Speedway, and with Peter Fonda in The Wild Angels. She was born on June 8, 1940.
I have a framed print of “Escape,” a 1962 portrait by artist Margaret Keane, in my living room; the woman depicted has always reminded me of an idealized version of Nancy Sinatra. I don’t care for most of Keane’s big-eyed art, but I specifically love that painting. Also, this dubstep mashup of “Bang Bang” by Fytch is fantastic. I’ve listened to it dozens of times over the past three years. It features samples from four songs—by Nancy Sinatra, Cas One, Biggie and Ella Fitzgerald. You can download it for free.
Ian Bavitz, better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip-hop recording artist and producer residing in Portland, Oregon. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Aesop Rock was signed to Definitive Jux until El-P put the label on hiatus in 2010. Aesop Rock’s solo discography includes Labor Days (2001), Bazooka Tooth (2003) and None Shall Pass (2007). An analysis of Aesop Rock’s lyrics found that he has the largest vocabulary in hip-hop music. He is a member of the groups The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon (with Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz), The Uncluded (with Kimya Dawson) and Two of Every Animal (with Cage). Aesop Rock was born on June 5, 1976.
Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the counterculture that soon would follow. He vigorously opposed militarism, economic materialism and sexual repression. Ginsberg is best known for his epic poem “Howl,” in which he denounced what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. In 1957, “Howl” attracted widespread publicity when it became the subject of an obscenity trial for depicting heterosexual and homosexual sex. Ginsberg was a practicing Buddhist who studied Eastern religious disciplines extensively. He took part in decades of nonviolent political protest against everything from the Vietnam War to the War on Drugs. Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926 and died on April 5, 1997.
Batwoman – No. 885
Batwoman is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in 1956, the character is a wealthy heiress who becomes inspired by the notorious superhero Batman and chooses, like him, to put her wealth and resources towards a war on crime as a masked vigilante in her home of Gotham City. Batwoman was introduced as a love interest for Batman in order to combat the allegations of Batman’s homosexuality arising from the controversial book Seduction of the Innocent (1954). Conversely, the modern Batwoman is written as being a lesbian of Jewish descent. Described as the highest-profile gay superhero to appear in stories published by DC, Batwoman’s sexual orientation drew wide media attention following her reintroduction.
I suppose this is my contribution to the long-awaited celebration of the Supreme Court declaring same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states yesterday. It’s always a nice feeling to be proud of something that happens in my country, belated or not. Rainbows are everywhere. As for my 8-bit characters, the LGBTQIA+ tag keeps growing.