Jackie Robinson was an American baseball player who became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. As the first MLB team to play a black man since the 1880s, the Dodgers ended racial segregation that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. Robinson’s character and talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. Over 10 seasons, Robinson played in six World Series, winning one in 1955. He was selected for six consecutive All-Star Games (1949-1954), was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949.
Note: In 1997, Major League Baseball “universally” retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. This is pixel art character #642.
Miranda July is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and artist. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations and live performance art (which she began while living in Portland, Oregon). July wrote, directed and starred in the films Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and The Future (2011). Her most recent nonfiction book, It Chooses You, was published in 2011. July was born on February 15, 1974.
Miranda July is a hero of my wife Heidi and she wishes they were best friends. On that note, Heidi would like to share some biographical information about July that you won’t find on Wikipedia: “The same extraterrestrial who impregnated my mom also impregnated Miranda July’s mom, which means she and I are alien half-sisters.” Also, Heidi and I learned everything we know about making buttons from July.
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.
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.
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.
Stan Smyl is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played 13 seasons as a winger for the Vancouver Canucks, from 1978 to 1991. Nicknamed “Steamer” for his relentless and hard-nosed style of play, he served as team captain for a record eight seasons. He led Vancouver to the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals and retired as the Canucks’ all-time leader in games played, goals, assists and points. Smyl’s number 12 was the first retired number in Canucks’ history.
Note: I chose to draw 8-bit Smyl because he was the best player to wear a Vancouver Canucks uniform during their famously ugly “flying V” uniform era (1978-1984). Terrible uniforms and clown costumes must be remembered!
Wayne Gretzky is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played 20 seasons for four teams (1979-1999), winning four Stanley Cup championships with the Edmonton Oilers and reaching the 1993 Finals with the Los Angeles Kings. Nicknamed “The Great One,” Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. He is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season. At the time of his retirement in 1999, Gretzky held 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records and six All-Star records.
Note: The NHL’s 2012-13 regular season started on Thursday, October 11. Or, rather, it would have, if there hadn’t been another NHL lockout.
Hank Aaron is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) player who spent most of his 23-season career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Aaron made the All-Star Game every year from 1955-1975 and won three Gold Glove Awards. In 1957, he won the NL MVP Award and the Braves won the World Series. His most notable achievement was breaking the career home run record set by Babe Ruth (714) with 755. He holds the MLB records for the most career RBIs, extra base hits and total bases. He is one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Lawrence Taylor is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a linebacker for the New York Giants. In his 13 seasons, he won a record three Defensive Player of the Year awards and the 1986 MVP award. As a key member of the Giants’ defense, nicknamed “The Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” he led New York to victories in two Super Bowls (1986 and 1990). Taylor is considered the top defensive player in league history.
Note: During a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Taylor inadvertently ended Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann’s NFL career with a brutal sack that snapped the bones in Theismann’s right leg. For those who can’t look away from horrible things, feel free to (re)watch Theismann’s compound fracture in slow motion. Legs don’t bend like that!
Mark Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics—an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed, a record that still stands. He also won four medals (two golds) at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Nolan Ryan is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers. During a major league record 27-year baseball career (1966-1993), he pitched for four different teams: the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Note: The 1980s Houston Astros wore “tequila sunrise” uniforms (AKA “rainbow guts” uniforms), which are famously ugly. Naturally, I chose this uniform style for 8-bit Nolan Ryan.
Miranda July – No. 581
Miranda July is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and artist. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital media presentations and live performance art (which she began while living in Portland, Oregon). July wrote, directed and starred in the films Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and The Future (2011). Her most recent nonfiction book, It Chooses You, was published in 2011. July was born on February 15, 1974.
Miranda July is a hero of my wife Heidi and she wishes they were best friends. On that note, Heidi would like to share some biographical information about July that you won’t find on Wikipedia: “The same extraterrestrial who impregnated my mom also impregnated Miranda July’s mom, which means she and I are alien half-sisters.” Also, Heidi and I learned everything we know about making buttons from July.