Charles Manson is an American criminal and musician who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the 1969 murders of Hollywood starlet Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca carried out by members of the group at his instruction. Manson believed the murders would help precipitate an impending apocalyptic race war he called “Helter Skelter.” Before the murders, he was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Manson is serving life imprisonment at Corcoran State Prison in California. Now 79 years old, he was born on this day in 1934.
Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theater and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Neverwhere (1996), Stardust (1999), American Gods (2001), Coraline (2002) and The Graveyard Book (2008). Gaiman has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book. Gaiman is married to performer/musician Amanda Palmer. He was born on November 10, 1960.
I have many personal anniversaries between November 8th and 11th. This is the week each year when my life tends to change most consistently. I moved to Oregon from Pennsylvania 12 years ago. I started my current web developer/designer job in Corvallis exactly nine years ago. I met my wife Heidi three years ago. We have been married for one year (our anniversary’s on Monday). All during November 8-11.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell was an English naval officer. Rising through the ranks and fighting in many of the important battles of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, he became a popular British hero, whose celebrated career was brought to an end in a disastrous shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly. He also served as MP for Rochester from 1695 until his death. He died on this day in 1707.
Last February, a friend introduced me to this magnificent name (also spelled “Cloudisley” and “Shovel” by some sources). I managed to wait all year, until this very day of his untimely death, to make an Admiral Cloudesley Shovell pixel art character. On October 22, 1707, Shovell’s British Naval fleet became lost in stormy weather and steered into the uninhabited Isles of Scilly, off Cornwall. Four large ships were dashed against the rocks and sunk, killing at least 1,400 to 2,000 sailors. One legend is that Shovell himself made it to shore, only to be murdered by locals hoping to pillage the wreckage. Naturally, there is a psychedelic heavy metal band named in his honor. On that note, Sir Cloudesley is quite likely the name of my next cat. And I’m not ruling it out as a future son’s name.
Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London in the early 1890s. Notorious for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde was one of the best-known personalities of his day. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his only novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray), his plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death. At the height of his fame and success, while his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), was still on stage in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry (the father of Wilde’s lover) prosecuted for libel. The trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for the “gross indecency” of having had sex with another man. Wilde was ultimately convicted and served a two-year prison sentence with hard labor in England. After his release, he lived the remainder of his life in self-imposed exile in Paris. Wilde was born on this day in 1854. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46.
I find it interesting that on Wilde’s 1882 trip to San Francisco, the Irishman declared the city “where I belong.” Wilde sometimes mused about relocating to the American West. In October 2012, my wife Heidi and I visited Wilde’s tomb in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris during our trip to Europe. The modernist angel depicted as a relief on his tomb was originally complete with male genitalia that have since been vandalized. In 2011, Wilde’s tomb was cleaned of the many lipstick marks left there by admirers, and a glass barrier was installed to prevent further marks or damage.
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877) following his successful role as a general in the second half of the Civil War. Under Grant, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military, ending with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. As president, Grant led the Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate all vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery. Upset over uncontrolled violence in the South and wanting to protect African-American citizenship, Grant effectively destroyed the Ku Klux Klan in 1871. Grant’s two terms as president stabilized the nation after the Civil War and during the turbulent Reconstruction Era that followed. Historians until recently have rated Grant’s presidency poorly, but his reputation has significantly improved because of greater appreciation for his foreign policy and civil rights achievements. His presidential accomplishments include avoiding war with Britain and Spain, the Fifteenth Amendment, prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan, enforcement of voting rights and his Native American Peace Policy.
Robert E. Lee was an American career military officer best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his personal desire for the country to remain intact and despite the fact that President Abraham Lincoln had offered Lee command of a Union army. During the Civil War, Lee originally served as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. He soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander, winning numerous battles against far superior Union armies. Lee would ultimately surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox in 1865. Other Confederate forces swiftly capitulated after Lee’s surrender. Lee became a great Southern hero of the Civil War and remains one of the most revered, iconic figures of American military leadership. He died on October 12, 1870.
Thom Yorke is an English musician and artist who is the lead vocalist, principal songwriter, guitarist and pianist of the rock band Radiohead. Radiohead has released eight studio albums: Pablo Honey (1993), The Bends (1995), OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2007) and The King of Limbs (2011). Yorke mainly plays guitar and piano, but has also played drums and bass guitar (notably during the Kid A and Amnesiac sessions). In July 2006, he released his debut solo album, The Eraser, to critical acclaim. Yorke is also the lead singer of Atoms for Peace. He was born on this day in 1968.
I’ve been to a few Radiohead shows over the years. Having survived high school in the 1990s with the help of Radiohead CDs, their music will always be dear to my heart (particularly The Bends and OK Computer). I last saw Thom Yorke perform about a year ago. My wife Heidi and I were lucky to attend a Radiohead show at the Zénith de Strasbourg in France on October 16, 2012 during our 40 days in Europe. It was an amazing time.
Colin Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the indie folk rock band The Decemberists from Portland, Oregon. The most recent Decemberists studio album, The King Is Dead (2011), was the band’s sixth. In addition to vocals, Meloy performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion. Meloy made his debut as a children’s writer in 2011 with Wildwood, illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis. The second novel in the series is Under Wildwood (2012). Meloy was born on this day in 1974.
Once my two-month-old daughter Ramona gets a little older, my wife Heidi plans to introduce Portland’s Forest Park to her as Wildwood. The Decemberists are one of our favorite bands. It’s nice to be able to see them play with some frequency, since we live in Oregon.
Derrick Rose is an American professional basketball point guard for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. Born in Chicago and drafted first overall by his hometown Bulls, Rose was voted NBA Rookie of the Year in 2009. In 2011, he received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the youngest player to win this award (age 22). He joined Michael Jordan as the only Chicago Bulls players to win the honor. Rose is a three-time NBA All-Star (2010-2012) and has led the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs each year. In May 2012, Rose tore the ACL in his left knee, causing him to miss the entire 2012-13 season. He was born on this day in 1988.
Kevin Durant is an American professional basketball forward who plays for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics. Standing at 6′ 9″, Durant has won three NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and an Olympic gold medal. At age 24, Durant became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50-40-90 club, the ultimate standard for shooters. At the University of Texas, he became the first ever freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. In the 2007 NBA Draft, Durant was selected second overall by the Sonics. After his rookie season, the team moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. Behind his play, the Thunder reached the 2012 NBA Finals. In 2010, 2012, and 2013, Durant finished second in voting for NBA MVP. He was born on this day in 1988.
Hope Sandoval is an American singer-songwriter who is the lead singer for Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions. She grew up in a Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles, California. Reputed to have a shy personality, during live performances Sandoval prefers to sing in near-darkness with only a dim backlight. A new Mazzy Star album was released today, 17 years since the last one. Now there are four albums: She Hangs Brightly (1990), So Tonight That I Might See (1993), Among My Swan (1996) and Seasons of Your Day (2013).
Kublai Khan was the fifth Khagan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire, reigning from 1260 to 1294. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan. If one counts the Mongol Empire at that time as a whole, Kublai’s realm reached from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea, from Siberia to modern-day Afghanistan – one-fifth of the world’s inhabited land area. However, Kublai’s real power was limited to China and Mongolia. In 1271, he founded the Yuan Dynasty, which ruled over present-day Mongolia, China and Korea, and assumed the role of Emperor of China. Kublai was born on this day in 1215.
Note: Due to incredibly unlucky timing, Kublai failed to gain power over Japan, despite two Mongol invasion attempts. In 1268, Kublai demanded tribute from Japan, but Kyoto refused. The Mongols invaded Japan in 1274 with 700-800 ships, but a typhoon destroyed their armada. An even larger invasion was attempted in 1281, with a fleet of more than 4,000 ships and 140,000 troops. Stunningly, they met the same disastrous fate, losing up to 75% of their troops and supplies both times. The failed invasions marked the first use of the Japanese word kamikaze (“divine wind”). The massive typhoons also helped perpetuate the Japanese belief that they could not be defeated, which persisted until the end of World War II.
Goose Gossage is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) right-handed relief pitcher. During a 22-year baseball career (1972-1994), he pitched for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was one of the earliest manifestations of the dominating modern closer, with wild facial hair and a gruff demeanor to go along with his blistering fastball. From 1977 through 1983 he never recorded an earned run average over 2.62, including a mark of 0.77 in 1981. Respected for his impact in crucial games, he recorded the final out to clinch a division, league or World Series title seven times. He won the 1978 World Series with the Yankees.
Note: This 8-bit version of Gossage shows him wearing a 1976 Chicago White Sox uniform, which briefly featured shorts instead of pants, until they realized what a stupid idea that was. Also, pardon the anachronism, but I had to give Gossage his signature handlebar mustache even though the 1976 season predates it. This is character #8 in my ugly uniform series.
Greta Garbo was a Swedish film actress and an international star and icon during Hollywood’s silent and classic periods. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary one in 1954 for her “luminous and unforgettable screen performances.” She is best known for starring in Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936) and Ninotchka (1939). In 1941, she retired at the age of 35 after appearing in 28 films. Although she was offered many opportunities to return to the screen, she declined all of them. Instead, she lived a private life, shunning publicity. She was born on this day in 1905.
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913) and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930). He is the only person to have served in both of these offices. Taft rode the coattails of fellow Republican Theodore Roosevelt to an easy victory in his 1908 bid for the presidency. In his only term, Taft’s domestic agenda emphasized trust-busting, civil service reform, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, improving the performance of the Postal Service and passage of the Sixteenth Amendment. Abroad, Taft sought to further the economic development of foreign nations through “Dollar Diplomacy,” and showed decisiveness and restraint in response to the Mexican Revolution. After leaving office, Taft pursued world peace through his self-founded League to Enforce Peace. After World War I, he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States and served in this capacity until shortly before his death in 1930. Taft was born on this day in 1857.
Note: The almost-6′ Taft is often remembered as being the most obese president. His weight peaked at 335-340 pounds toward the end of his presidency. The truth of the often-told story of Taft getting stuck in a White House bathtub is unclear. However, Taft did erect a sleeping porch on the roof of the White House. This is 8-bit U.S. president #19 of 43.
Nero was the fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire, from 54 to 68, and was the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne at age 17. During his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade and enhancing cultural life through theaters and athletic games. In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his extravagant palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. For this he is infamously known as the Emperor who “fiddled while Rome burned.” Nero is also known for many executions, including that of his mother (and possibly apostles Peter and Paul), and for being the first persecutor of Christians. He reportedly captured Christians to burn them in his garden at night for a source of light. Nero was ultimately driven from the throne and, facing assassination, committed suicide in 68 at age 30.
Note: I saved Nero for my 666th pixel art character because biblical scholars contend that the number of the beast in the Book of Revelation has a specific symbolic correlation to the Emperor Nero, whose Greek name transliterated into Hebrew has the numeric value of 666. Basically it’s a code that identifies Nero as the Antichrist. Also, today is 9/11. Everything is coming together now. Illuminati, what?
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range. Mercury was born in Zanzibar in East Africa and grew up there and in India until his mid-teens. He has been referred to as “Britain’s first Asian rock star” and is widely considered one of the greatest male singers of all time. Mercury died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS in 1991. He was born on this day 1946.
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal stop-motion animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay and many others. His feature films include Alice (1988), Faust (1994), Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) and Little Otik (2000). Švankmajer was born on this day in 1934.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a French film director. His feature films include Delicatessen (1991), The City of Lost Children (1995), Amélie (2001) and A Very Long Engagement (2004). Jeunet often uses wide camera angles and elaborate camera movements, and makes extensive use of color grading in order to give his movies the desired (often fantastic) ambiance. He was born on this day in 1953.
I have drawn 8-bit Jean-Pierre Jeunet wearing “the third eye,” which is a mechanical monocle from The City of Lost Children. These steampunk-style devices are worn by the Cyclops, a cult of blind religious zealots who kidnap children so that an aging scientist may steal their dreams. The City of Lost Children is one of my three favorite films of all time (the others being Lost Highway and Chungking Express).
Jhonen Vasquez is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and music video director. He was born to Mexican parents, raised in San Jose and is perhaps best known for creating the Nickelodeon’s animated series Invader Zim. Zim is a naïve but psychotic alien who tries to conquer Earth, but is always thwarted in a humorous manner. Vasquez also created the comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and its spin-offs, Squee! and I Feel Sick. Many of his creations are geometric in style and gothic in character. Vasquez was born on September 1, 1974.
Neil Gaiman – No. 685
Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theater and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Neverwhere (1996), Stardust (1999), American Gods (2001), Coraline (2002) and The Graveyard Book (2008). Gaiman has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book. Gaiman is married to performer/musician Amanda Palmer. He was born on November 10, 1960.
I have many personal anniversaries between November 8th and 11th. This is the week each year when my life tends to change most consistently. I moved to Oregon from Pennsylvania 12 years ago. I started my current web developer/designer job in Corvallis exactly nine years ago. I met my wife Heidi three years ago. We have been married for one year (our anniversary’s on Monday). All during November 8-11.