Elizabeth “Betty” Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer. She appeared in several smash-hit musical films in the 1940s, including Mother Wore Tights (1947). Grable was celebrated for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood and studio publicity widely dispersed photos featuring them. Her iconic bathing suit poster for Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943) made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the Life magazine project 100 Photographs that Changed the World. Grable’s legs were famously insured by her studio for a million dollars with Lloyds of London. She was born on this day in 1916.
Hope Sandoval is an American singer-songwriter who is the lead singer for Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions. She grew up in a Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles, California. Reputed to have a shy personality, during live performances Sandoval prefers to sing in near-darkness with only a dim backlight. A new Mazzy Star album was released today, 17 years since the last one. Now there are four albums: She Hangs Brightly (1990), So Tonight That I Might See (1993), Among My Swan (1996) and Seasons of Your Day (2013).
Greta Garbo was a Swedish film actress and an international star and icon during Hollywood’s silent and classic periods. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary one in 1954 for her “luminous and unforgettable screen performances.” She is best known for starring in Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936) and Ninotchka (1939). In 1941, she retired at the age of 35 after appearing in 28 films. Although she was offered many opportunities to return to the screen, she declined all of them. Instead, she lived a private life, shunning publicity. She was born on this day in 1905.
Daria Morgendorffer is a fictional animated character from MTV’s animated series Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1997) and its spin-off Daria (1997-2002). Daria is a bespectacled, unfashionably dressed, highly intellectual, sarcastic teenage girl. She is portrayed as a seemingly pessimistic icon of sanity in an insane household in an equally insane upper middle-class suburb. She resides with her vacuous, fashion-obsessed younger sister Quinn and career-obsessed parents Helen and Jake.
P.S. Last month CollegeHumor released a fake movie trailer for Daria: The Movie, starring Aubrey Plaza (of the excellent Safety Not Guaranteed) as Daria. Plaza nails the cynical, monotone voice. I kind of wish this wasn’t a fake trailer. I want to see the live-action movie. Happy Friday the 13th!
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and the Tony Award for Best Actress. Bergman is best remembered for her starring roles in Casablanca (1942) and Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946). She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute. Bergman was born on this day in 1915 and died in 1982 on her 67th birthday.
Ramona Flowers is a fictional character in the comic book series Scott Pilgrim and the film adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) by Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley. Ramona is a 24-year-old American expatriate from New York, a “ninja delivery girl” for Amazon.ca and Scott Pilgrim’s main love interest. She is very guarded about her past in New York before she moved to Toronto. Ramona is capable of traveling through subspace and has seven evil exes who challenge Scott for her affection. She changes her hairstyle every three weeks.
I read and enjoyed the entire six-volume Scott Pilgrim comic series before seeing the movie, but the movie is great too. And I love “Ramona” by Beck. In other music news, I am trying to decide if I should go see Lotte Kestner and Kevin Long play a house show in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood of Southeast Portland tonight. I’m very excited that Anna-Lynne Williams scheduled a couple of summer tour stops in Oregon. I have reserved two tickets to the Portland show, but I don’t know if I love Lotte Kestner enough to miss a few hours with my wonderful wife and darling newborn daughter Ramona.
Ramona Quimby is a fictional character in the series of novels by Beverly Cleary. She starts out in the Henry Huggins series as the pestering little sister of Henry’s friend Beatrice, called “Beezus” by Ramona and her family. Ramona was given a larger role in the novel Beezus and Ramona, and the series concentrated on her from kindergarten onward. Ramona lives on Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon. She likes fairy tales, playing in the park and adventures. She dislikes spelling, perfect Susan and having to play with Willa Jean.
I have some exciting news. My daughter Ramona Mira Cavalier was born on August 5, 2013 at 4:36 a.m., weighing 8 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches. When she’s a little older, I’m sure we will read books from the Beverly Cleary series with her. I remember Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981), the sixth book of the series, with particular fondness. Also, when my wife Heidi was in her mid-20s, she lived on Failing Street in Portland, which is three blocks from NE Klickitat Street. And Heidi’s grandmother lived just two blocks away on Beech Street. In nearby Grant Park is the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden. I am lucky to have such a wonderful wife and darling newborn daughter. ♥
Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Born in St. Louis, she became a citizen of France in 1937. Fluent in both English and French, Baker was an international icon, perhaps best known for her infamous banana dance. She was the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934), integrate an American concert hall and become a world-famous entertainer. Baker is also noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement in the United States, for assisting the French Resistance during World War II and for receiving the French military honor, the Croix de guerre.
Note: Baker was offered the unofficial leadership of the civil rights movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., but turned it down.
Space Cat is a children’s book series from the 1950s, written by Scottish author Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The third book, Space Cat Meets Mars (1957) introduces Moofa, a female cat with striped red fur and pink whiskers. While visiting Mars, the protagonist space cat Flyball meets Moofa, who is the last surviving Martian cat. She subsists on golden fish from the Martian canals and takes shelter in caves during the frigid Martian nights and red dust storms. Her story continues in the fourth and final book in the series, Space Cat and the Kittens (1958).
M.I.A. is the stage name of Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, an English recording artist, songwriter and visual artist of Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of electronic, dance, rock, hip-hop and world music. She has released three albums to universal critical acclaim: Arular (2005), Kala (2007) and Maya (2010). M.I.A.’s fourth album, Matangi, is due out this year. She is perhaps best known for her singles “Paper Planes” and “Bad Girls.” M.I.A. is the only artist in history to be nominated for an Academy Award, Grammy Award, Brit Award, Mercury Prize and Alternative Turner Prize. She was born on this day in 1975.
Note: This 8-bit outfit is the sheer polka-dot dress that a very pregnant M.I.A. wore while performing at the 2009 Grammy Awards on her baby’s due date. Also in 2009, People wanted to place her on their annual list of the world’s most beautiful people but she was the first person in the magazine’s history to decline, stating “Mother Teresa was never on the list.”
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century. During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and was best known as Fred Astaire’s romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of 10 Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre. Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940) and was Hollywood’s highest paid star of 1942. She was married and divorced five times. During the last years of her life Rogers retired in Oregon and bought a ranch in the Medford area because she liked the climate. She was born on this day in 1911.
Ginger Rogers was one of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in 1943. That picture, along with other photos and newspaper cuttings of WWII-era stars and heroes, can still be seen on the walls of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Heidi and I and visited the Anne Frank House, located on the Prinsengracht canal, in October 2012. The experience elicited both fascination and sorrow; the building is charged with strong emotional energy.
Magda Gerber was an early childhood educator born in Hungary who immigrated with her family to the United States in 1957. She co-founded Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) in 1978, incorporating many theories of pediatrician Emmi Pikler into her philosophy. RIE is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to raising the standards of infant care and education through parent and caregiver education. The RIE philosophy is based on respecting infants and toddlers as fully functioning humans by learning their individual ways of communicating, allowing them to try to solve problems without adult interference and not treating them like objects. Gerber died on April 27, 2007.
P.S. “Many awful things have been done in the name of love, but nothing awful can be done in the name of respect.” – Magda Gerber
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.
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.
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. ♥
Janis Joplin was an American singer-songwriter. She first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the psychedelic-acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist. Joplin was a popular act at the Monterey Pop Festival and became one of the major attractions at Woodstock. Her fans referred to her stage presence as “electric.” At the height of her career, Joplin was known as “The Queen of Rock and Roll” as well as “The Queen of Psychedelic Soul.” She was born on January 19, 1943 and died of a drug overdose in 1970 (just 16 days after Jimi Hendrix died, also at age 27).
I’ve done easier things in life than attempt to reproduce Woodstock-era tie-dyed clothing as primitive pixel art.
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers. Case recorded and toured for several years as Neko Case & Her Boyfriends before performing solely under her name. I particularly enjoy her Fox Confessor Brings the Flood album. Also, she is hilarious on Twitter.
Note: This 8-bit black dress is what she wore for the epic cover of her 2009 album Middle Cyclone, in which she stood barefoot, with a sword, on the hood of her burgundy 1967 Mercury Cougar. In 2011, Case auctioned the car to support 826 National, a nonprofit organization helping children become better writers.
Jenny Lewis is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley and has released two solo albums. Lewis currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice. As a child actor in the 1980s and 1990s, she appeared in a number of TV shows, movies and commercials. Lewis was born on this day in 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada. We’ll all be portions for foxes.
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character who originally appeared in the Talkartoons and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising. Betty Boop was created as an anthropomorphic French poodle in 1930, but was transformed into a caricature of singer Helen Kane by 1932. In the mid-1930s, her carefree flapper persona was toned down to appear more demure.
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan’s Travels and for her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s. Lake was well known for her peekaboo hairstyle. She died of complications of alcoholism in 1973.
Note: Lake was one of the models for the animated character of Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, especially for her hairstyle.
Hope Sandoval – No. 672
Hope Sandoval is an American singer-songwriter who is the lead singer for Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions. She grew up in a Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles, California. Reputed to have a shy personality, during live performances Sandoval prefers to sing in near-darkness with only a dim backlight. A new Mazzy Star album was released today, 17 years since the last one. Now there are four albums: She Hangs Brightly (1990), So Tonight That I Might See (1993), Among My Swan (1996) and Seasons of Your Day (2013).
I had been waiting half my life for this new Mazzy Star album. I am very excited to see Mazzy Star at McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in Portland on November 3, 2013. It’s the first show of their North American tour.