Luis Buñuel was a Spanish filmmaker who worked in Spain, Mexico and France. When Buñuel died at age 83, his obituary in The New York Times called him “an iconoclast, moralist and revolutionary who was a leader of avant-garde surrealism in his youth and a dominant international movie director half a century later.” Often associated with the Surrealist movement of the 1920s, Buñuel created acclaimed films in six decades, from the 1920s through the 1970s. Still, he is perhaps best known for his first film, Un Chien Andalou (1929), a 16-minute silent short made with Salvador Dalí. Buñuel was born on this day in 1900.
Chuck Palahniuk is an American novelist and freelance journalist, who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He is best known as the author of the award-winning novel Fight Club (1996), which was made into a feature film. Beginning with Lullaby (2003), the style of his novels has shifted to satirical horror. Palahniuk has had 13 novels and two nonfiction books published, the most recent being Invisible Monsters Remix (2012), a restructured and updated version of his 1999 novel. He maintains homes in the states of Oregon and Washington. Palahniuk was born on this day in 1962.
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, technology commentator and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems. Rushkoff is also known for coining terms and concepts including viral media (or media virus), digital native and social currency. He has written many books on media, technology and culture—as well as fiction works and graphic novels. His new book, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, is now available for preorder and will be released on March 15, 2013. Rushkoff was born on this day in 1961.
Two years ago, at WebVisions 2011 in Portland, I had Rushkoff sign my copy of his 2010 book Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. As we chatted, I told him I worked at a university. He then asked about the learning management system my employing university uses to deliver courses online. I told him Blackboard (and possibly sighed bleakly). In reply, on the inside of the book, Rushkoff wrote, “For Ian – Blackboard is intentional,” and signed his name. His comment points out that software interfaces (and screens, in general) force users into particular patterns of thought, both subconsciously and consciously. Corporate models of screen-mediated learning are increasingly shaping how individuals understand the world, but to whom is the UI/UX in service? In a global sense, who stands to benefit most from the way our brains are being trained to consume/learn in this digital world? Related to these questions is another recent Rushkoff book, Life, Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back, for which there are many interesting videos available.
Matt Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, producer, animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977-2012) as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons (1989-present) and Futurama (1999-2003, 2008-present). Groening has won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, 10 for The Simpsons and two for Futurama. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012. Groening was born in Portland, Oregon on this day in 1954.
Randy Moss is a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Last season he played for the San Francisco 49ers, but Moss spent most of his career with the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots. He holds the NFL single season touchdown reception record (23, set in 2007) and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 155. A freakishly gifted athlete, Moss played college football at Marshall University and is one of the most famous “sons of Marshall.” He was born on this day in 1977 in West Virginia.
After a 15-1 regular season with the 1998 Vikings, and an 18-1 season with the juggernaut 2007 Patriots (whose only loss was the Super Bowl XLII upset), Moss just missed another chance at his first Super Bowl ring with the 2012 49ers. “I really think I’m the greatest receiver to ever play this game,” Moss said at Super Bowl media day in New Orleans on January 29, 2013. I agree that Moss is the greatest NFL receiver, in terms of pure, terrifying athletic talent, but NFL legend Jerry Rice leads him in every significant career statistical category. If Moss had a stronger work ethic, I’m pretty sure he could have been the greatest football player of all time.
Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He helped develop many influential devices, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera and the electric light bulb. However, to quote the hilarious Nikola Tesla comic by The Oatmeal, “Edison did not invent the light bulb. Edison simply figured out how to sell the light bulb. Edison was not a geek; he was a CEO.” And he was a terrible human being. For example, as a developer of direct current (DC) electricity, Edison put live “dogs and cats on display and publicly electrocuted them using Tesla’s alternating current (AC). His goal was to publicly smear Tesla’s AC and convince the public that it was too dangerous for home use. The only thing Edison truly pioneered was douchebaggery.” Edison was born on this day in 1847.
I will also reiterate what I wrote for my 8-bit Nikola Tesla character last year. I love this Funny or Die episode about Tesla and the evil Thomas Edison: “This is awful. I am inventing electricity and you look like an asshole.”
Anna-Lynne Williams is a Seattle musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of Trespassers William, an indie rock band active from 1997 to 2012. The style of Trespassers William is often called experimental shoegaze or dream pop music. In 2007, Anna-Lynne started recording solo music under the name Lotte Kestner. She is also a member of Ormonde, with Robert Gomez. In 2010, Anna-Lynne established the Saint-Loup Records label to release music by Sergius Gregory as well as Lotte Kestner. The newest Lotte Kestner album The Bluebird of Happiness is now available for preorder and will be released on February 26, 2013. Anna-Lynne was born on this day in 1978.
Yesterday Anna-Lynne was named Trainwreck’d Society’s Person of 2012, which made me happy. Trespassers William have been one of my very favorite bands since I stumbled across an MP3 of “I Know” in 2001—and Anna-Lynne’s solo work is just as beautiful and haunting. On November 5, 2010, Heidi and I serendipitously had our first date at a small Trespassers William house show in the Wallingford district of Seattle. Also playing that night were OK Sweetheart and Goldfinch. On January 8, 2011, we returned to Seattle for a second Trespassers William house show, that time featuring Tomo Nakayama and Joshua Morrison. We have such fond memories of these wonderful, intimate concerts. Now two years later, Heidi and I are married and expecting our first child this summer. What I’m saying is that our happiness is pretty much Anna-Lynne’s fault. ♥
Alejandro Jodorowsky is a Chilean-French filmmaker, playwright, actor, author and comics writer. A hero of the underground film circuit, he is best known for his violently surreal avant-garde films, including cult classics Fando y Lis (1967), the acid western El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973). Jodorowsky’s “psychoshamanism” spiritual system borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. He was born on this day in 1929.
Hans Rudolf Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor and set designer. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for their design work on the 1979 film Alien. Giger suffers from night terrors, a sleep disorder that has inspired his “biomechanical” work. One of Giger’s main influences was Salvador Dalí and he was a personal friend of Timothy Leary. He was born on this day in 1940.
In October 2012, while train-hopping across Europe, Heidi and I toured the Museum H.R. Giger in Château St. Germain in Gruyères, Switzerland. We also had lunch at the otherworldly, skeletal H.R. Giger Bar, where we ate Margherita pizza and I drank a flaming glass of absinthe. It’s an incredible place set in a stunning Swiss Alps landscape.
Robert Pack is a retired American professional basketball player. Nicknamed “Pac-Man,” he had a 13-season career in the NBA, most notably with the Denver Nuggets from 1992-1995. As a reserve point guard with the Nuggets, Pack was like a 6′ 2″ firecracker coming off the bench. His athleticism, energy and dunking ability could completely change the momentum of games. Pack is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. He was born on February 3, 1969.
Since I spent much of my childhood in Iowa, I was naturally a fan of the nearby Chicago Bulls (or, more accurately, I was a fan of Michael Jordan). But during Michael Jordan’s first retirement (1993-1995), my Bulls support wavered and I looked to other NBA teams. I decided to jump on the Denver Nuggets bandwagon while Jordan played baseball. Pack was part of an exciting young Nuggets team starring Dikembe Mutombo, LaPhonso Ellis and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf that went on to become the first eighth-seeded team in NBA Playoffs history to defeat the first-seeded team. In the first round of the 1994 NBA Playoffs, the Nuggets upset the mighty Seattle SuperSonics—which I enjoyed because I thought that Shawn Kemp-led Seattle team had a bad attitude.
Scottie Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the NBA. He is most remembered for his 12 seasons with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA titles and their record 1995-96 season of 72 wins. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a vehicle for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s. Pippen is also the only person to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice (1992, 1996).
Spud Webb is a retired American professional basketball player. At only 5′ 7″ tall, he played point guard in the NBA for 12 seasons, primarily for the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings. Webb is notable for winning the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest (over teammate and defending champion Dominique Wilkins) despite being one of the shortest players in NBA history and being unable to palm the ball. Since Webb made his NBA debut in 1985, only two players have been shorter: Earl Boykins (5′ 5″) and Muggsy Bogues (5′ 3″).
As a short kid who loved basketball, I was in awe of Spud Webb’s NBA success and dunking ability. Webb had a 42-inch vertical leap, minimum. I used to pretend to be him (when I wasn’t playing Air Jordan or Wilkins) as I dunked ferociously on our eight-foot basketball hoop in the driveway and made up Slam Dunk scores.
Jacques Dominique Wilkins is a retired American professional basketball player (born in France) who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and one of the best dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname “The Human Highlight Film.” Wilkins participated in five slam dunk contests (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990), winning two. In 1985, he beat rookie Michael Jordan in the finals. In 1986, Wilkins was defeated by his 5′ 7″ teammate, Spud Webb. In 1988, the highly anticipated rematch of Wilkins vs. Jordan resulted in Jordan winning 147 to 145, controversially.
As a kid, I tried to imitate the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest dunks on the NERF basketball hoop attached above my bedroom door. Or, even better, on the metal basketball hoop mounted in my late grandparents’ basement that my dad built from Erector Set pieces in the late 1950s. These dunks were essentially the practice of accidentally slamming my nine-year-old extremities into the door frame or doorknob as I contorted my body to get a foam ball to pass through an orange plastic hoop. And the crowd goes wild.
Mike Iuzzolino is a retired American professional basketball player who played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks for two seasons (1991-93). After his NBA career, Iuzzolino played professionally in Italy and Spain until 2003. While unknown to many, Iuzzolino was featured in the 1993 arcade edition of the popular two-on-two basketball video game NBA Jam. He was born on this day in 1968.
As a 14-year-old basketball fan, I was surprised that Mike Iuzzolino was one of the 54 NBA players selected for the 27 NBA Jam teams. The 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks roster was pretty weak, aside from teammate Derek Harper, but still. I thought getting to play as Iuzzolino in a video game was awesome—and play as him I did, whenever I grew tired of collecting Mortal Kombat fatalities at the old coin-op arcade. As a skinny little white kid who wanted to be good at basketball, I looked to my Mike Iuzzolino basketball card for inspiration. Because somehow this thin, 5′ 10″ Italian-American point guard from Altoona, Pennsylvania (just 40 miles from my dad’s house) had made it to the NBA. I dreamed, “As soon as I get my growth spurt, I’ll be right there with him.” Coincidentally, Iuzzolino also played basketball at Penn State, which was the university I planned to attend (and I did, from 1997-2001). So, what happened to the two of us? Iuzzolino is now Director of Basketball Operations at Canisius College in New York, and I didn’t play competitive basketball beyond 10th grade. Though I did finally hit 5′ 10″, which is really important in the fields of graphic design and web development.
Jack Nicklaus, nicknamed “The Golden Bear,” is an American professional golfer. He is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all time. Nicklaus won a total of 18 PGA major championships and 73 PGA Tour victories over a span of 25 years. Only Sam Snead and Tiger Woods have collected more PGA Tour victories, but no one has won more major championships. Nicklaus was born on this day in 1940.
Janis Joplin was an American singer-songwriter. She first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the psychedelic-acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist. Joplin was a popular act at the Monterey Pop Festival and became one of the major attractions at Woodstock. Her fans referred to her stage presence as “electric.” At the height of her career, Joplin was known as “The Queen of Rock and Roll” as well as “The Queen of Psychedelic Soul.” She was born on January 19, 1943 and died of a drug overdose in 1970 (just 16 days after Jimi Hendrix died, also at age 27).
I’ve done easier things in life than attempt to reproduce Woodstock-era tie-dyed clothing as primitive pixel art.
David Lynch is an American filmmaker, visual artist and musician. He is known for his unique surrealist films, which are characterized by dream imagery and meticulous sound design. Lynch’s first motion picture was the surrealist horror Eraserhead (1977). Three of his subsequent films operate on “dream logic,” nonlinear narrative structures: Lost Highway (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006). Lynch has practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique since the 1970s. He was born on January 20, 1946.
Throughout my entire adult life I’ve said that Lost Highway is my favorite film of all time (with The City of Lost Children and Chungking Express being close seconds). This might still be true. David Lynch is my favorite director. I even enjoy listening to him talk about cooking quinoa—because before you know it he’s telling an amazing story about buying colored sugar water beneath a moonless night sky in the barren, dusty landscape of Yugoslavia, 1965.
Russell A. Kirsch invented the square pixel. The history is that in the late 1940s, Kirsch led a research team that created America’s first internally programmable computer, the SEAC. By 1957 he and his team had invented a scanner which, using the computing power of SEAC, converted photographs to digital images. This breakthrough created the basis for satellite imaging, CAT scans, barcodes and desktop publishing. Kirsch is now retired and resides in Portland, Oregon. These days he claims that inventing square pixels was a bad idea and has a written a program that creates smoother, variably shaped pixels.
I think this story is really sweet. The first scanned digital image made on a computer in 1957 showed Kirsch’s baby son. Due to the importance of this first digital photograph, Life credited it as one of the 100 Photographs that Changed the World in 2003. Without Kirsch, this 8-bit-themed site wouldn’t be possible, in so many ways.
Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in the silent film era. His black body, white eyes, and giant grin, coupled with the surrealism of his cartoons, make Felix one of the most recognized cartoon characters in film history. Felix appeared in 1919 and was the first animated character to attain a level of popularity sufficient to draw movie audiences. With the arrival of sound cartoons in the late 1920s, including Disney’s Mickey Mouse shorts, Felix’s success faded – though he was revived as a television star in 1953.
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers. Case recorded and toured for several years as Neko Case & Her Boyfriends before performing solely under her name. I particularly enjoy her Fox Confessor Brings the Flood album. Also, she is hilarious on Twitter.
Note: This 8-bit black dress is what she wore for the epic cover of her 2009 album Middle Cyclone, in which she stood barefoot, with a sword, on the hood of her burgundy 1967 Mercury Cougar. In 2011, Case auctioned the car to support 826 National, a nonprofit organization helping children become better writers.
Douglas Rushkoff – No. 577
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, technology commentator and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems. Rushkoff is also known for coining terms and concepts including viral media (or media virus), digital native and social currency. He has written many books on media, technology and culture—as well as fiction works and graphic novels. His new book, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, is now available for preorder and will be released on March 15, 2013. Rushkoff was born on this day in 1961.
Two years ago, at WebVisions 2011 in Portland, I had Rushkoff sign my copy of his 2010 book Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. As we chatted, I told him I worked at a university. He then asked about the learning management system my employing university uses to deliver courses online. I told him Blackboard (and possibly sighed bleakly). In reply, on the inside of the book, Rushkoff wrote, “For Ian – Blackboard is intentional,” and signed his name. His comment points out that software interfaces (and screens, in general) force users into particular patterns of thought, both subconsciously and consciously. Corporate models of screen-mediated learning are increasingly shaping how individuals understand the world, but to whom is the UI/UX in service? In a global sense, who stands to benefit most from the way our brains are being trained to consume/learn in this digital world? Related to these questions is another recent Rushkoff book, Life, Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back, for which there are many interesting videos available.