Indira Gandhi was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966-77) and a fourth term (1980-84). Gandhi was the second female head of government in the world. She was the first woman to become prime minister in India. She was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 in retaliation for ordering Operation Blue Star.
Note: “I am here today, I may not be here tomorrow. I shall continue to serve till my last breath, and when I die every drop of my blood will strengthen India and keep a united India alive.” – Indira Gandhi’s last speech
Hồ Chí Minh was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945-1955) and president (1945-1969) of the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. He was born on this day in 1890.
“Ho Chi Minh” is a phrase my dad and his brothers use as an exclamation of fatigue or surprise (or after a particularly violent sneeze). The phrase “L.A.” (which is derived from “Lord Almighty,” I believe) has a similar connotation in their vernacular.
P.S. Having a traveling gnome prank played on us was great fun. The pranksters went all out, even giving Dingledodger his own Facebook and Google+ pages. According to Facebook, his birthday is October 12. Everyone needs more weird, random acts of kindness like this.
Monchhichi is a line of Japanese stuffed toy monkeys that Mattel introduced to the U.S. in the late 1970s. The Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Monchhichis debuted in 1983. Monchhichis are monkey-like creatures who live in the forest land of Monchia at the tops of very tall trees, high above the clouds. As a child, one of my favorite stuffed animals was a Monchhichi. I believe the character was the thumb-sucking Thumkii.
After additional, very important research, I have identified both of my beloved thumb-sucking monkey dolls from childhood. One was a tan, 11″ monkey from Atlanta Novelty, a division of Gerber Products. And the other was the banana-holding Thumkey, a 7″ Russ Berrie knockoff of the Monchhichi line. Both had plush bodies with plastic faces and hands.
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years (1917-1924), as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a socialist economic system. He was born on April 22, 1870.
Note: Happy Earth Day on Sunday! In Soviet Russia, Earth Day celebrates you.
Astronaut Jesus was conceived in 2004 by Argentine design collective Doma. A limited edition, five-color silkscreen poster exclusive to Andr8id was printed in 2004 and a matching vinyl toy was manufactured by adFunture in 2005. The visually striking toy is a 9.5″ (24 cm) figure with a removable helmet and a swiveling right arm. Doma is best known for their visual designs and installation arts. According to the Astronaut Jesus collectible packaging, “[AstroChrist] is an elite member of the astronaut gods that have come to our planet since the beginning of time to shape our civilization and the world as we know it.”
I am amused by the concept that Jesus has been in outer space overseeing the world and will one day return to fix our problems. It would be fun to have my own Astronaut Jesus figure, but only a few hundred exist in the world, so I’m not holding my breath. After the original run of 500 Astronaut Jesus figures, six small limited edition runs were manufactured in different colors during 2005 and 2006, including a hot-pink flocked Wooster Collective Edition.
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’s most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Mary’s presence at the crucifixion and tomb of Jesus is consistent with her role as grieving wife and widow. But we’re pretty sure she was just a trusted disciple. Unless she totally was his wife, or a concubine, or prostitute or some other appropriated mythological archetype.
A former Soviet statesman, having served as head of state of the Soviet Union from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. Gorbachev also led the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. His attempts at Soviet reform and collaboration with U.S. President Ronald Reagan contributed to the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev was born into a peasant Ukrainian-Russian family on this day in 1931.
I once had a sarasa comet goldfish that was all white with a red splotch on the top of his head. I named him Gorbachev. He reformed the corrupt political climate of the 10-gallon aquarium.
A friend received a small Japanese plush toy as a gift. We later discovered that this red refrigerator-dog character is named Wanzouko. It is one of 24 hypercute zoomorphic inanimate objects (mostly furniture and housewares) in San-X’s Wanroom line. Sewn inside this refrigerator-puppy is a shelf and a chicken leg. Velcro holds its door closed.
Seeing Wanzouko next to a red camera from the OptiTrack motion capture line (especially the old FLEX:C120 model) reveals amusing similarities in color, shape and size. All the camera needs are some floppy brown ears. Or, perhaps what the mocap industry needs are adorable Wanroom carrying cases for their OptiTrack cameras. I think the current Wanzouko toy might actually work as a soft camera case, if not for the sewn-in refrigerator shelf and chicken leg. Pity.
Pon de Lion is the most popular mascot of the Mister Donut fast food franchise, which is owned by the same parent company as Dunkin’ Donuts. This character, a lion with a mane shaped like a “pon de ring” doughnut, is one of a set of doughnut-based mascots (marketed as “Pon de Lion & His Sweet Friends”). In Japan, Pon de Lion has become more recognizable than the actual Misdo logo (a moustachioed chef).
The Bride from the two-part Kill Bill action/thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Played by Uma Thurman, Kiddo is a former member of an elite, shadowy group of assassins. Codenamed “Black Mamba,” she is a master of the tiger-crane style of kung fu and has learned the deadly Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique.
A Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays, and one of the greatest psychologists in world literature. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoyevsky’s works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. He died on this day in 1881.
The first President of the Russian Federation (the USSR’s successor state), serving from 1991 to 1999. Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev’s most powerful political opponents. Yeltsin resigned in 1999, leaving the presidency to then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He was born on this day in 1931.
Hideki Tōjō was the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 1941 to 1944. He was also a general of the Imperial Japanese Army and leader of the para-fascist Taisei Yokusankai. As Prime Minister, he was directly responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to the war between Japan and the United States. After the end of the war, Tōjō was arrested, sentenced to death for Japanese war crimes and hanged in 1948.
A Cambodian Maoist revolutionary, who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. Pol Pot became leader of Cambodia in 1975. During his time in power he imposed a version of agrarian socialism, forcing urban dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms. The combined effects of slave labor, malnutrition, poor medical care, and executions resulted in the genocide of around two million Cambodians.
A Russian Orthodox Christian and mystic healer (and/or debauched religious charlatan) who influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Some people called Rasputin the “Mad Monk.” It is believed that Rasputin helped to discredit the tsarist government, leading to the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. He was born on this day in 1869.
A wooden nutcracker carved like a toy soldier that comes to life. This character is featured in the famous two-act ballet The Nutcracker, which was scored by Russian composer Tchaikovsky and premiered in 1892. The libretto is adapted from the 1816 story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann.
On November 14, 2011, coinciding with Nintendo’s launch of Super Mario 3D Land, PETA released a spoof Flash game called Super Tanooki Skin 2D as part of their “Mario Kills Tanooki” publicity campaign. According to PETA, “Tanooki may be just a ‘suit’ in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur.” In the PETA game, a skinned tanuki chases a blood-soaked Tanooki Mario to reclaim his fur.
PETA’s incendiary politics (and its inhumane 90+ percent kill rate of stray cats and dogs) aside, I enjoyed their 8-bit Tanooki game. Mario’s Tanooki Suit, which resembles a tanuki and gives him shapeshifting powers, first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 in 1990. In ancient Japanese folklore and popular culture (see Pom Poko), raccoon dogs are mischievous masters of disguise. My favorite tanuki is my part-Siamese cat Tanuki.
Hồ Chí Minh – No. 421
Hồ Chí Minh was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945-1955) and president (1945-1969) of the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. He was born on this day in 1890.
“Ho Chi Minh” is a phrase my dad and his brothers use as an exclamation of fatigue or surprise (or after a particularly violent sneeze). The phrase “L.A.” (which is derived from “Lord Almighty,” I believe) has a similar connotation in their vernacular.