The Akron Zips mascot, a kangaroo named Zippy, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #106 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #2 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Dayton Flyer – No. 844
The Dayton Flyers mascot, an early aviator named Rudy Flyer, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #105 of 351. Last year Dayton became the Cinderella story of the 2014 NCAA Tournament when they advanced to the Elite 8 as a No. 11 seed. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #1 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The No. 11-seeded Dayton Flyers play the Boise State Broncos tomorrow, in Dayton, in one of the “First Four” play-in games. Can Dayton do it again?
Anthony Davis – No. 843
Anthony Davis, Jr., nicknamed “The Brow” for his trademark unibrow, is an American professional basketball power forward/center for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. In his one season of college basketball at the University of Kentucky, Davis was the consensus national player of the year. He was selected first overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by New Orleans, and is a two-time NBA All-Star. Davis won a gold medal on the U.S. national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was born in Chicago on March 11, 1993.
Note: Along with James Harden, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, Davis has made a strong case for the NBA MVP award during this 2014-15 season. Also, here’s a fun unibrow matchup: Anthony Davis vs. Frida Kahlo.
Russell Westbrook – No. 842
Russell Westbrook Jr. is an American professional basketball point guard for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. He has established himself as one of the most athletic players in NBA history and attacks the basket relentlessly. Westbrook played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics who then relocated to Oklahoma City six days later. Westbrook is a four-time NBA All-Star, and he was named the 2015 NBA All-Star Game MVP. He won a gold medal on the U.S. national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Note: Along with former OKC teammate James Harden, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Westbrook has made a strong case for the NBA MVP award during this 2014-15 season. Last night Westbrook collected his fifth triple-double in six games.
Kwaku Anansi – No. 841
Kwaku Anansi is the West African spider god. He often takes the shape of a spider and is considered to be the spirit of all stories, as well as the god of lies and mischief. Anansi is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore. He is the first spider, but often acts and appears as a man. The Anansi tales originated from the Ashanti people of present-day Ghana. The word Ananse is Akan and means “spider.” Anansi is depicted in many different forms. Sometimes he appears as an ordinary spider, sometimes he is a spider wearing clothes or with a human face, and sometimes he looks much more like a human with spider elements, such as eight legs.
Note: My 8-bit depiction of Anansi is based on Kwaku Anansi, an alternate-universe Spider-Man based on the West African legend, from Marvel’s Earth-7082 universe. He first appeared in a 2007 Spider-Man Fairy Tales comic book. There can be only one: Kwaku Anansi vs. Spider-Man.
Fats Domino – No. 839
Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. He released five gold records before 1955 and had 35 nationally charted hits. Domino has a music style based on traditional rhythm and blues ensembles of bass, piano, electric guitar, drums and saxophone. He was an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s and was acknowledged as such by top artists, including John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Of French Creole background, Domino was born in New Orleans on February 26, 1928 and lives there to this day. He even tried to stay at home during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which heavily flooded his neighborhood.
Carson Ellis – No. 838
Carson Ellis is an artist and illustrator of children’s books. Born in Canada on October 5, 1975, her illustration work includes bestsellers The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket and The Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Meloy (her husband). Ellis recently finished work on Home, a whimsical picture book she wrote. Her editorial illustrations have appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker, and her fine art is exhibited at Nationale in Portland, Oregon. Ellis is also the illustrator-in-residence for the band The Decemberists. She lives on a farm in Portland with Meloy and their two sons.
P.S. Home is due out on February 24, 2015. That is today. Check it out. Also, here’s a playable Portland family feud: Carson Ellis vs. Colin Meloy.
Yoko Ono – No. 837
Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer and peace activist. She is the widow and second wife of John Lennon and is also known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo, and studied at Gakushuin University while her family moved to the U.S. to escape the war. They reunited in 1953, and she became involved in New York City’s downtown artists scene, including the Fluxus group. Ono first met Lennon in 1966 at her own art exhibition in London, and they became a couple in 1968. She achieved commercial and critical acclaim in 1980 with the chart-topping album Double Fantasy, released with Lennon three weeks before his death. Since 2003, 11 of her songs, mostly remixes of her older work, have hit No. 1 on the U.S. dance chart. Ono was born on February 18, 1933.
Jim Brown – No. 836
Jim Brown is a retired National Football League (NFL) player and actor. He is best known for his record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the Cleveland Browns (1957-1965). In 2002, Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. Brown is widely considered one of the greatest professional athletes in the history of the United States. Since 1964, he has appeared in over 40 films, including The Dirty Dozen (1967). In 1969, Brown starred in 100 Rifles with Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch; it was one of the first films to feature an interracial love scene. Brown was born on February 17, 1936.
Pinocchio – No. 835
Pinocchio is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi. Carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village, Pinocchio was created as a wooden puppet, but dreamed of becoming a real boy. He has also been used as a character who is prone to telling lies and fabricating stories. Pinocchio has been called an icon of modern culture, and is one of the most reimagined characters in the pantheon of children’s literature. A well-known adaptation is the Walt Disney film Pinocchio (1940).
Carmen Miranda – No. 834
Carmen Miranda was a Portuguese Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was popular from the 1930s to the 1950s. In 1940, she made her first Hollywood film, Down Argentine Way, with Don Ameche and Betty Grable. In the same year, Miranda was invited to sing and dance for President Franklin Roosevelt. Nicknamed “The Brazilian Bombshell,” she was noted for her Latin accent, exotic clothing and signature fruit hat outfit she wore in her American films, particularly in The Gang’s All Here (1943). By 1945, she was the highest paid woman in the U.S. Miranda made a total of 14 Hollywood films. She was the first Latin American star to be invited to imprint her hands and feet in the courtyard of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, in 1941. Miranda was also the first South American to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was born on February 9, 1909.
P.S. The United Fruit Company took advantage of the Carmen Miranda craze by creating the cartoon mascot Chiquita Banana. Speaking of which, consider this matchup: Carmen Miranda vs. Chiquita Banana. Fight!
Klay Thompson – No. 833
Klay Thompson is an American professional basketball shooting guard for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. He played college basketball for three seasons at Washington State University before being selected by Golden State with the 11th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft. In 2014, Thompson and teammate Stephen Curry set an NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in a season as the pair were given the nickname the “Splash Brothers.” Thompson was named to the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, just days after a 52-point performance in which he scored an NBA-record 37 points in one quarter (he made all 13 of his shots, including nine from three-point range). Born on February 8, 1990, Thompson is the son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson.
Charles Dickens – No. 832
Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s most well-known fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Although he had little formal education, over his career he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas and hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles. He also lectured and performed extensively, and campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education and other social reforms. Dickens sprang to fame with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best known work of historical fiction. Other notable works include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and Great Expectations. Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 and died on June 9, 1870.
The Toast King (On the Moon) – No. 831
The Toast King is a large, anthropomorphic slice of toast who rules over the Moon, following his principle that “heat induces royalty.” He wears a crown bearing the initials “TK,” and is often depicted holding a golden pitchfork with a speared knob of butter. The Toast King’s friends include Insanity Prawn Boy and Moon Keith Moon, and he claims to rule over Moon Hitler’s Nazi Moon Base. British animator Jonathan “Jonti” Picking, also known as Weebl, created the On the Moon cartoon series and the rest of Weebl’s Stuff. Some of Weebl’s most famous creations include Cat Face, Weebl & Bob and 2003’s “Badgers” (plus a slew of other repetitive, overstimulating cartoons set to dance music). Since the release of the first On the Moon Flash cartoon in November 2005, 24 episodes have been produced. The most recent episode was released in August 2013.
P.S. Happy Groundhog Day! Perhaps you’d like to celebrate Bill Murray-style with some infinitely looping, insanity-inducing Weebl’s Stuff cartoons? Or maybe you’d enjoy a good old-fashioned toast fight: Spoilsbury Toast Boy vs. The Toast King (On the Moon).
Richard Brautigan – No. 830
Richard Brautigan was an American novelist, poet and short story writer. His work often employs black comedy, parody and satire. He is best known for Trout Fishing in America (1967), In Watermelon Sugar (1968) and Willard and His Bowling Trophies: A Perverse Mystery (1975). Brautigan was born on January 30, 1935. Growing up, his family lived on welfare and moved about the Pacific Northwest before settling in Eugene, Oregon in 1944. In 1956, Brautigan left home for San Francisco, where he became involved in the counterculture, or Beat, scene. Many years later, on approximately September 16, 1984, he died of a self-inflicted .44 Magnum gunshot wound to the head, though his body was not discovered for almost six weeks.
Spoilsbury Toast Boy – No. 829
Spoilsbury Toast Boy is a young slave who is forced to make “toasties” in a toast workhouse for the manipulative beetles that haunt his desolate world. The backwards-running animation series Spoilsbury Toast Boy is a horrific nightmare created by British cartoonist and musician David Firth, who also created Salad Fingers. One night an evil beetle kills Spoilsbury Toast Boy’s creepy grandmother by pushing her into a fireplace. Later, after beetles lure Toast Boy to a doctor’s appointment at 9:41, they brutally murder him with their “brain-fixing machine.” The first two Kafkaesque Flash cartoons were released in 2004 and a third (and final?) episode was released in 2005.
Salad Fingers – No. 828
Salad Fingers is a thin, bald, hunchbacked human with light-green skin and long, strangely shaped fingers. He is mentally troubled and speaks with a distorted Northern English accent. Salad Fingers inhabits a desolate world, living alone in a small shack with the number 22 on the door. His “friends” are finger puppets—whom Salad Fingers introduces as Hubert Cumberdale, Marjory Stewart-Baxter and Jeremy Fisher. The animation series Salad Fingers is a creation of British cartoonist and musician David Firth. The first five Flash cartoons were released in 2004 and the series gained rapid Internet popularity in 2005. Five additional episodes were released between 2005 and 2013. You can watch the Salad Fingers full series (52 minutes) on YouTube.
P.S. David Firth was born on January 23, 1983. Today is his birthday.
Jeff Koons – No. 827
Jeff Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He lives and works in both New York City and his hometown of York, Pennsylvania. Some critics view his work as pioneering and of major art-historical importance, while others dismiss his work as kitsch: crass and based on cynical self-merchandising. Koons has stated that there are no hidden meanings in his works, nor any critiques. In 2013, Koons’s Balloon Dog (Orange) sold for $58.4 million, becoming the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction. Koons was born on January 21, 1955.
Note: It seemed fitting to model 8-bit Koons after his famous stainless steel Rabbit (1986), now owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. A balloon replica of Rabbit (which itself was an enlarged cast of an inflatable plastic toy) floated through Times Square during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 22, 2007.
Betty White – No. 826
Betty White is an American actress, comedian, singer, author producer and television personality. She is best known for her television roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-77) and The Golden Girls (1985-92). In a career that has spanned more than 70 years, White has won six Emmy Awards (five for acting) and received 23 Emmy nominations. She is the only woman to have won an Emmy in all performing comedic categories. In May 2010, White became the oldest person to guest-host Saturday Night Live, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award. She also holds the record for longest span between Emmy nominations for performances—her first was in 1951 and her most recent was in 2011, a span of 60 years—and became the oldest nominee overall as of 2014, at age 92. She is also the oldest winner of a competitive Grammy Award, which she won in 2012 for a spoken word recording. Due to her pioneering efforts in early TV and her acting legacy, pretty much everyone has given White a lifetime achievement award. She was born on January 17, 1922.
El-P – No. 840
Jaime Meline, better known by his stage name El-P (originally El Producto), is an American hip-hop recording artist, record producer, rapper and entrepreneur from Brooklyn. Originally a member of Company Flow, El-P has been a major driving force in alternative hip-hop for more than two decades. He is the co-founder, owner and CEO of the Definitive Jux record label. His solo albums include Fantastic Damage (2002) and I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (2007). El-P is also a member of The Weathermen and art collective Cardboard City (along with Cage, Shia LaBoeuf, Aesop Rock, Yak Ballz and others). In 2013, he formed the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, with frequent collaborator Killer Mike, and has released two RTJ albums. El-P was born on March 2, 1975.
My favorite song from Run the Jewels 2 (2014) is the excellent final track, “Angel Duster.” Also, five years ago, I uploaded a 12-song Definitive Jux 2010 playlist to 8tracks. It’s a 2001-2009 retrospective of some favorite Def Jux tracks in response to El-P’s announcement that the label was going on hiatus and he was stepping down as artistic director. Feel free to listen to the playlist in honor of El-P’s 40th birthday. Or in honor of my 36th birthday, which is tomorrow.