Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in cinema history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was reputed for her performances in a range of film genres. Davis was the first person to secure 10 Academy Award nominations for acting, winning two. Some of her most celebrated films include All About Eve (1950), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Now, Voyager (1942). Davis was born on April 5, 1908 and died on October 6, 1989.
Jason Lytle is an American musician best known for his work in the indie rock group Grandaddy between 1992 and 2005. Since the group split, he has continued to release music as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. Grandaddy reformed in 2012 for a series of live shows. In 2013 Lytle moved from Montana to Portland, Oregon. He was born on this day in 1969.
One of my very favorite albums is Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump (2000). It was an especially important album to me during my post-college cross-country road trip in the summer of 2001. I last saw Jason Lytle perform at a show at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on June 6, 2009. (Video of that entire show is available on YouTube, by the way.) I’m past due to see him/Grandaddy again.
Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball point guard for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Curry, who is known for his exceptional shooting skills, played college basketball for the Davidson Wildcats. As a junior in 2008-09, he was the NCAA scoring leader with 28.6 points per game and was a consensus first-team All-American. Curry led Davidson to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2008 (in which eventual national champion Kansas snapped Davidson’s 25-game winning streak). He was selected seventh overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. In the 2012-13 NBA regular season, Curry set the record for three-pointers made with 272. In 2014, he was named to his first NBA All-Star team. Curry, the son of former NBA player Dell Curry, was born on this day in 1988.
Dock Ellis was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. He played most of his 12-year career for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1968-1975, 1979). Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970. He later stated that he accomplished the feat under the influence of LSD. In 1971, Ellis was a starting pitcher in the All-Star Game and his Pirates won the 1971 World Series. Five years later, he helped lead the Yankees to the 1976 World Series and was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year in the process. Ellis was an outspoken individual who advocated for the rights of players and African Americans. He also had a substance abuse problem, and he acknowledged after his retirement that he never pitched without the use of drugs. Ellis was born on this day in 1945 and died in 2008 at the age of 63.
Note: Watch the charming animated short by No Mas and artist James Blagden about Dock Ellis’ legendary LSD no-hitter. It’s worth four minutes of your time.
No comic artist is funnier and more thoughtful on a daily basis than Zach Weinersmith with SMBC, which is why I have supported his Kickstarter projects (like Trial of the Clone: A Choosable Path Gamebook and SCIENCE: Ruining Everything Since 1543) and sponsor him on Patreon. This is also why Zach is now an 8-bit character in my retro artillery game. If you squint, you’ll notice that Zach is wearing a Breadpig shirt. And he throws light bulbs.
Lou Reed was an American musician, singer and songwriter. After serving as guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, his solo career spanned several decades. The Velvet Underground was a commercial failure in the late 1960s, but the group gained a considerable cult following and has become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era. After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1972. He had a hit the following year with “Walk on the Wild Side,” a song describing fixtures at The Factory, the New York studio of Andy Warhol, in the 1960s. Reed was known for his distinctive deadpan voice, poetic lyrics and for pioneering ostrich guitar tuning. He was born on this day in 1942 and died on October 27, 2013.
Since I wasn’t able to create pixel art of Lou Reed in a timely fashion after his death last year, I figured I’d wait until his birthday. He would have turned 72 years old today. I am currently staying at the Georgetown Inn in Seattle, my favorite city, with my wife and almost-seven-month-old daughter. We have been visiting friends. Tomorrow is my 35th birthday. It seems like only yesterday that I created myself and my wife as pixel art characters.
Marshall Faulk is a retired National Football League (NFL) player who played as a running back for 12 seasons (1994-2005). In college he played for San Diego State University, and was a three-time All-American. In the NFL, he played for the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams, winning Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams in 2000. Faulk is one of only three NFL players to reach at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards; he is the only one to amass 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. Faulk was born on this day in 1973.
Julius Erving, commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the NBA after the 1975-76 season. Erving won three championships, four MVP awards, and three scoring titles with the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. He is the sixth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history. He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests and was the only player voted MVP in both the ABA and the NBA. Erving was born on this day in 1950.
Born in Seattle, Apolo Anton Ohno is a retired American short track speedskater and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010). At the age of 14, he became the youngest U.S. national champion in 1997 and was the reigning champion from 2001-2009, winning the title a total of 12 times. Ohno retired from speed skating in 2013 and now works as a commentator, TV host and motivational speaker.
Bonnie Blair is a retired American speedskater. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Winter Olympics (1984, 1988, 1992, 1994), winning five gold medals and one bronze medal.
William S. Burroughs was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. A major postmodernist author, Burroughs wrote 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays. In 1943 while living in New York City, he befriended Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, the mutually influential foundation of what became the countercultural movement of the Beat Generation. Much of Burroughs’s work is semi-autobiographical, primarily drawn from his experiences as a heroin addict, as he lived throughout Mexico City, London, Paris, Berlin, the South American Amazon and Tangier in Morocco. Finding success with his confessional first novel, Junkie (1953), Burroughs is perhaps best known for his third novel Naked Lunch (1959). He was born on this day in 1914 and died on August 2, 1997.
Dwyane Wade is an American professional basketball guard for the NBA’s Miami Heat. Named the 2006 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, Wade is one of the league’s most popular players. He was named to the All-Rookie team in 2004 and the All-Star team the following nine seasons (2005-2013). In his third season, Wade led the Miami Heat to its first NBA championship and was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wade won a gold medal and led the “Redeem Team” in scoring. In 2009, he led the league in scoring and earned his first NBA scoring title. After LeBron James joined the Heat in 2010, Wade and James led Miami to back-to-back NBA championships (2012 and 2013). Wade was born on this day in 1982.
Jerome David Salinger was an American writer who won acclaim early in life. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” appeared in The New Yorker magazine, which became home to much of his later work. In 1951, his novel The Catcher in the Rye was an immediate popular success, which led to public attention and scrutiny. Salinger became reclusive, publishing new work less frequently. He followed The Catcher in the Rye with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953); a volume containing a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961); and a volume containing two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). He led a very private life for more than a half-century. Salinger published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. He was born on this day in 1919 and died of natural causes on January 27, 2010.
P.S. Happy New Year! In November 2013, three unpublished Salinger stories from the 1940s were scanned into PDF form and leaked online. One of the stories, “The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls,” is about the Caulfield boys and is sort of a prequel to The Catcher in the Rye. It is stipulated in Salinger’s will that these stories are not to be published until 50 years after his death, but the Internet made other plans. If you miss the Glass family and Holden Caulfield and you’re eager for more rare Salinger stories, you may also want to track down an unauthorized compilation of Salinger’s 22 uncollected stories. These “lost” stories were all from the 1940s, just like the three leaked stories, with one exception (“Hapworth 16, 1924” was published in 1965). This lovely quote is from one of his early stories: “She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there, leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” – J. D. Salinger, “A Girl I Knew“
Elizabeth “Betty” Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer. She appeared in several smash-hit musical films in the 1940s, including Mother Wore Tights (1947). Grable was celebrated for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood and studio publicity widely dispersed photos featuring them. Her iconic bathing suit poster for Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943) made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the Life magazine project 100 Photographs that Changed the World. Grable’s legs were famously insured by her studio for a million dollars with Lloyds of London. She was born on this day in 1916.
Jim Morrison was an American singer-songwriter and poet, best remembered as the lead singer of Los Angeles rock band The Doors. From a young age, “The Lizard King” developed an alcohol dependency that led to his death at the age of 27 in Paris. Morrison is alleged to have died of a heroin overdose, but as no autopsy was performed, the exact cause of his death is still disputed. He was well known for often improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Due to his wild personality and performances, Morrison is regarded by critics and fans as one of the most iconic, charismatic and pioneering frontmen in rock music history. He was born on December 8, 1943.
Shawn Carter, known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer and entrepreneur. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in America. He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving 17 Grammys for his musical work. Three of his albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996), The Blueprint (2001) and The Black Album (2003), are considered landmarks in the genre. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 13. As an entrepreneur and investor, Jay-Z is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and the founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, Rocawear and Roc Nation Sports. He also co-owns the sports bar chain 40/40 Club and is a certified NBA and MLB sports agent. Jay-Z is married to American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. He was born on this day in 1969, unless you believe he is immortal, or Illuminati.
Over the past four months, I have played my baby daughter Ramona a wide variety of music to see what she likes. Azure Ray’s “Don’t Leave My Mind” was an early comfort, as were some Simon & Garfunkel classics. But to the surprise of my wife and me, no song has been received with greater enthusiasm and joy than Jay-Z’s 1998 hit “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem).” Ramona loves that song so much and breaks into a big smile each time. We’ve listened to it dozens, if not hundreds, of times at this point. The great bassline and high-pitched voices sampled from the Broadway musical Annie apparently elevate “Hard Knock Life” to perfect children’s song (well, aside from the lyrics).
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright and musician whose career spans more than 50 years. He worked as a comedy writer in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, Allen began performing as a stand-up comic, using the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish. By the mid-1960s Allen was writing and directing films, first specializing in slapstick comedies before moving into dramatic material influenced by European art cinema during the 1970s. He is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmakers. Allen often stars in his films, typically in the persona he developed as a standup. Of his more than 40 films, three of his best are Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979) and Midnight in Paris (2011). Allen has won four Academy Awards and nine BAFTAs. He performs regularly as a jazz clarinetist at small venues in Manhattan. Allen was born on December 1, 1935.
Note: While Woody Allen’s birthday isn’t until Sunday, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have collided today. This hasn’t happened since 1888 and may never happen again (unless you think the United States of America, Jewish people and the human race will still be around in 70,000 years or so). On that note, Happy Thanksgivukkah. Or Happy Thanukkah. Or whatever.
David Ortiz Arias, nicknamed “Big Papi,” is a Dominican-American Major League Baseball (MLB) designated hitter (DH). He has played for the Boston Red Sox since 2003 and previously played for the Minnesota Twins (1997-2002). Ortiz is a nine-time All-Star, a three-time World Series champion (2004, 2007 and 2013) and the holder of the Red Sox single-season record for home runs with 54 (2006). In 2005, Red Sox ownership presented Ortiz with a plaque proclaiming him “the greatest clutch-hitter in the history of the Boston Red Sox.” Last month he was named World Series MVP after batting .688 as he willed the Red Sox to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals. Ortiz was born on this day in 1975.
Jason Lytle – No. 728
Jason Lytle is an American musician best known for his work in the indie rock group Grandaddy between 1992 and 2005. Since the group split, he has continued to release music as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. Grandaddy reformed in 2012 for a series of live shows. In 2013 Lytle moved from Montana to Portland, Oregon. He was born on this day in 1969.
One of my very favorite albums is Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump (2000). It was an especially important album to me during my post-college cross-country road trip in the summer of 2001. I last saw Jason Lytle perform at a show at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on June 6, 2009. (Video of that entire show is available on YouTube, by the way.) I’m past due to see him/Grandaddy again.