Clara Barton was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse and humanitarian. During the American Civil War and many subsequent international wars, Barton tended to wounded soldiers. In 1881, she founded and became the first president of the American Red Cross, a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization.
Clara Barton is one of a trio of American women activists (along with Harriet Tubman and Helen Keller) that recently appeared to my girlfriend in a dream.
Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, she made 13 missions to rescue more than 70 slaves using the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era struggled for women’s suffrage.
Harriet Tubman is one of a trio of American women activists (along with Clara Barton and Helen Keller) that recently appeared to my girlfriend in a dream.
Darth Vader (born Anakin Skywalker) is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists of the original trilogy and as the main protagonist of the prequel trilogy. This dark cyborg character was created by George Lucas and first appeared in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977.
After successfully completing a full year’s worth of other 8-bit characters on Mascot Mashup, I have lifted my self-imposed ban on Star Wars characters. Many iconic Star Wars personalities are inevitably coming soon, because, as we all know, the Internet is in desperate need of more Star Wars remixes and fan art.
With apologies to Kurt Vonnegut: This is I. This is me. This is the author of this site. Today I am celebrating 365 days of pixel art with my most self-indulgent 8-bit character of all. I was born on this day in 1979. This year on 3/3 I celebrate 33 revolutions around the sun. For many years I called Pennsylvania home, but I’ve lived in Oregon since 2001. My three cats are Eli, Tanuki and The King.
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.
Happy Leap Year! This special occasion deserves a purple squirrel. These rare creatures show up in the media about once every four years. There was a sighting in Pennsylvania earlier this month, in southern England in 2008 and in Minnesota in 1997. Most guesses about how a gray squirrel ends up colored purple involve exposure to dye, ink or paint.
Note: There is a more terrifying hypothesis posed by Krish Pillai, a Pennsylvania computer science professor. He suggests bromine-contaminated groundwater from fracking operations: “That color looks very much like Tyrian purple. It is a natural organobromide compound seen in molluscs and rarely found in land animals. The squirrel has too much bromide in its system possibly from all the bromide laced frack water its been drinking.”
The fictional protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Jones, most famously played by Harrison Ford, is notable for his knowledge of ancient civilizations and languages, his iconic fedora and his fear of snakes.
This character is dedicated to a friend’s future goblin, who will be named Indiana Jones regardless of gender.
An American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary (1998), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), The Curse of Lono (1983) and many other books. Thompson is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism. He is known for his lifelong use of drugs and alcohol, his love of firearms and his contempt for authoritarianism. He committed suicide on this day in 2005 at the age of 67, but Raoul Duke lives on forever.
Happy Presidents Day! I think we’re supposed to be observing George Washington’s birthday today. Though some say the holiday is meant to commemorate all U.S. Presidents, or at least honor Washington and Abraham Lincoln and/or Thomas Jefferson. Whatever. I still have to go to work today. As the Good Doctor would say, “Mahalo.”
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.
A Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means “feathered serpent.” The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan about 2,000 years ago. Among the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was related to gods of the wind, of Venus, of the dawn, of merchants and of arts, crafts and knowledge.
I’m not sure I can call this 8-bit representation of Quetzalcoatl a success since my girlfriend referred to him as “a cat-dinosaur-flower.” Her description seems pretty accurate, really. Since today is the Chinese New Year, perhaps we can call him a dragon.
A Swedish former tennis player who won 11 Grand Slam singles titles between 1974 and 1981 and then retired from the game at the age of 26. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles. Borg was the first “rock star” of professional tennis and was one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
This is 8-bit tennis character #3 of 5 for Australian Open week. Also, I commend those who are blacking out their sites today for the SOPA strike. I hope you all share this video and complain to your elected officials about Internet censorship bills like SOPA and PIPA.
Funshine Bear is yellow-orange and has a smiling sun on her stomach. All Care Bears have a “tummy symbol” that represents their role or specialty. The Care Bears were created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. This very successful franchise launched with 10 characters that Kenner turned into plush teddy bears. From 1983 to 1987, the Care Bears appeared in TV specials, a television series and three feature films.
Funshine Bear was female in the original 1980s series, but has been portrayed as a male since the 2000s. A cartoon transgender bear?
A children’s toy talking bear. The animatronic teddy bear would move his mouth and eyes while “reading” stories played on a cassette tape deck built into his back. At the peak of his popularity, Teddy Ruxpin was the bestselling toy of 1985 and 1986. An animated TV series based on the characters in Teddy’s world debuted in 1987.
One of the most chilling moments of my 1980s childhood involved my sister’s Teddy Ruxpin. Due to touchy buttons, her Teddy would sometimes spontaneously start audio playback. Eventually, because the batteries were dying or due to some mechanical malfunction, Teddy was only capable of speaking extremely slowly. By then his motorized jaw had also been partially broken and hung agape. One night, I remember her slack-jawed Teddy Ruxpin turning himself on and trying to tell us a story of the Mudblups. His deep, drawn-out voice sounded fully demonic. We tried to turn him off but he continued spouting distorted, incomprehensible sounds. Eventually we removed the batteries. Evil Teddy Ruxpin.
A Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer. He is known for many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems and commercial electricity. He invented the radio, experimented with wireless electricity and designed a death ray. He died on this day in 1943.
I love this Funny or Die episode about Nikola Tesla and the evil Thomas Edison: “This is awful. I am inventing electricity and you look like an asshole.” Tesla was a badass.
Mama Quilla is the moon goddess, according to the Inca mythology. She rules marriage, the lunar calendar and the menstrual cycle, and is considered a defender of women. The most common origin story says she is the daughter of Viracocha (the god of civilization) and Mama Cocha (the sea goddess). Inti (the sun god) is her brother and husband.
After 33 days in Peru, we are finally due to return home to Oregon on January 6.
A French chemist and microbiologist remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. He created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax and is best known for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness, a process now known as pasteurization. He was born on this day in 1822.
When I was a kid, a memorable book for me was The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur (1977) by Spencer Johnson. I refuse to believe that Louis Pasteur did not look like a bizzaro Uncle Sam.
A fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. Known as Santa’s ninth reindeer, he is depicted as the lead of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward. He stars in the stop-motion Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964.
Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve! I will be spending mine in a dirty Amazon jungle town in Peru.
A sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, autumn colors and fern-like patterns on cold windows. Though unconnected to Christianity, he is sometimes hijacked for modern secular Christmas entertainment, such as Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, a 1976 Rankin/Bass production.
Welcome to the winter solstice (the original reason for this holiday season). Today is the shortest day of year.
A hero-king of Sparta who was believed in mythology to be a descendant of Heracles. Leonidas is notable for his leadership at the Battle of Thermopylae during the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC. In one of history’s most famous last-stands, Leonidas led 300 Spartans against an invading Persian army of 100,000+ led by Xerxes I.
In the midst of all these holiday characters, I chose Leonidas for today because I wanted him to be my 300th 8-bit character. This. Is. Caketown.
Helen Keller – No. 376
Helen Keller is an American author and political activist. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller’s teacher broke through the isolation and helped her learn to communicate is the basis for the play and film The Miracle Worker. A prolific author, Keller was outspoken in her opposition to war and campaigned for women’s suffrage, workers’ rights and socialism.
Helen Keller is one of a trio of American women activists (along with Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman) that recently appeared to my girlfriend in a dream.