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.)
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.)
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 PunjabiSikh 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!
Cy Young was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player. During his 22-year career (1890-1911), he pitched for five different teams, most notably the Boston franchise (Americans/Red Sox). Young established numerous pitching records, some of which have stood for a century. He still holds the MLB records for most wins (511), career innings pitched (7,355), career games started (815) and complete games (749). One year after Young’s death in 1955, the Cy Young Award was created to honor the previous season’s best pitcher. He was born on this day in 1867.
Francis I (born Jorge Bergoglio) is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, elected on March 13, 2013. As such, he is Bishop of Rome, the head of the worldwide Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina of Italian descent, Bergoglio became cardinal in 2001. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the papal conclave elected Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. He is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.
Before his election, Bergoglio was considered one of the most conservative cardinals, expressing strong opposition to homosexuality, same-sex marriage, LGBT adoption, contraceptives, abortion and euthanasia. My hope is that, in addition to his unprecedented name choice and humble refusal to stand on an elevated platform, Francis continues to be a pontiff of firsts and break other archaic traditions for the betterment of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and all seven billion humans on this small planet.
Quentin Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is best known for Pulp Fiction (1994), a neo-noir crime film widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. Tarantino’s work, which often employs nonlinear storylines and satirical violence, includes Reservoir Dogs (1992), Kill Bill (2003, 2004) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). His most recent and highest grossing film is Django Unchained (2012). Tarantino has received many industry awards, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and two BAFTAs. He was born on this day in 1963.
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year, including a number of highly regarded films such as Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961). In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was born on March 23, 1910.
Spike Lee is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983. As a director, he is best known for Do the Right Thing (1989). Lee’s movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, urban crime and poverty. He has won an Emmy Award and received two Academy Award nominations. As an obnoxious superfan of the New York Knicks (and the Yankees), Lee is often seen courtside at Madison Square Garden. He was born on this day in 1957.
Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express, which consists of stories about two different lovesick Hong Kong policemen, is one of my three favorite post-1980s films. (The other two are David Lynch’s Lost Highway and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s The City of Lost Children.)
David Cronenberg is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people’s fears of bodily transformation and infection. In the first half of his career, Cronenberg explored these psychological themes mostly through horror and science fiction. Notable works include Videodrome (1983), The Fly (1986), eXistenZ (1999), A History of Violence (2005) and Eastern Promises (2007). Cronenberg was born on this day in 1943.
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was the last of four kings to rule the last Sinhalese monarchy of the Kingdom of Kandy on the island of Sri Lanka. The Nayak kings were Buddhists who spoke Tamil. The king was eventually deposed by the British under the terms of the Kandyan Convention, in 1815, ending over 2,300 years of Sinhalese monarchy on the island. The island was incorporated into the British Empire.
Yes, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha really was the King of Kandy. I like to think he lived at the top of a gumdrop-adorned Kandy Mountain surrounded by kandy kane fences, referred to his palace as Kandyland and snacked on only the finest kandy korn. This information is not verifiable via Wikipedia. But I did find that the British Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 and the king was exiled to India, never to return. In a related story, Candy told me nothing really matters anymore.
Hugo Chávez was the President of Venezuela from 1999 until his death on March 5, 2013. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when it merged with several other parties to form the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which he led until his death. Following his own political ideology of Bolivarianism (named after Simón Bolívar), Chávez focused on implementing socialist reforms, including a new constitution, increased government funding of health care and education, and significant reductions in poverty.
Note: Shortly after Hugo Chávez’s death last week after a two-year battle with cancer, it was announced that he will be embalmed and put on display “for eternity,” much like the posthumous treatment of Communist leaders Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh.
Sixto Rodríguez – No. 602
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.