Martina Hingis is a Swiss former tennis player. She won five Grand Slam singles titles, nine Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (including all four in 1998) and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. Hingis spent a total of 209 weeks as world No. 1. Ankle ligament injuries forced her to withdraw from tennis in 2002 at the age of 22. Hingis returned to the WTA Tour in 2006, but announced her retirement after testing positive for cocaine during Wimbledon in 2007.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #4 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
Emiliano Zapata was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South. Followers of Zapata were known as Zapatistas. After his murder in 1919, Zapata became a martyr who remains revered today. He was born on this day in 1879.
Tony Gwynn is a retired American Major League Baseball player who played 20 seasons (1982-2001) for the San Diego Padres. He won eight batting titles, seven Silver Slugger Awards and is considered one of the best hitters in baseball history. He was also a 15-time All-Star and won five Gold Glove Awards. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.
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.
Ranger Smith is a fictional character in the Yogi Bear cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera. A former U.S. Army soldier, Ranger Smith is the serious and stern authority figure in Jellystone Park, in contrast to the antics of the troublesome Yogi, and he greatly disapproves of Yogi’s picnic basket thievery.
Yogi Bear is a cartoon bear whose name is a nod to baseball star Yogi Berra. He first appeared in 1958 as a supporting character in the Hanna-Barbera series The Huckleberry Hound Show. The plot of most of Yogi’s cartoons centers on his antics in the fictional Jellystone Park. Yogi, accompanied by his constant companion Boo-Boo Bear, often tries to steal picnic baskets from campers in the park.
Huckleberry Hound is a blue cartoon dog that speaks with a relaxed Southern drawl. Huck is typically portrayed trying to perform a job, in fields ranging from policeman to dogcatcher. His efforts typically backfire, yet he succeeds through slow persistence or sheer luck. He first appeared in the Hanna-Barbera series The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958. He has appeared in other Hanna-Barbera productions, including Yogi’s Gang in 1973.
Quick Draw McGraw is an anthropomorphic cartoon horse who starred in The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959-1962), the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera. He is usually depicted as a sheriff, with a Mexican burro deputy named Baba Looey. Quick Draw was the mascot for Sugar Smacks (now Honey Smacks) from 1961-1965. In the 1970s, he appeared in several productions with Yogi Bear and friends.
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect and interior designer who believed in designing harmonious structures of organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by his design for Fallingwater (1935) in Pennsylvania, which has been called “the best all-time work of American architecture.” Wright was born on this day in 1867.
Of Wright’s over 400 works, only one structure is located in Oregon. It’s the Gordon House at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. I plan to visit the Fallingwater property when I’m back in Pennsylvania later this month.
Tiger Woods is an American professional golfer and member of the PGA Tour. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, spending almost the entirety of August 1999 through October 2010 as world number one. He is the highest-paid professional athlete in the world and one of the greatest golfers of all time.
Note: Yesterday, Tiger won his 73rd PGA Tour event at the Memorial Tournament, which ties him with Jack Nicklaus for second-most PGA Tour victories.
The Great Gazoo is a tiny, green, floating alien who first appeared in The Flintstones animated series in 1965. He was banished to prehistoric Earth from his home planet Zetox in 2000 AD, as punishment for having invented a doomsday machine. He can materialize and dematerialize objects, teleport and manipulate time. The only people able to see him are Fred, Barney, and the children, because they believe in him; animals can also see him.
Note:Gazoo was introduced midway through the show’s final season and is often cited as an example of The Flintstones having “jumped the shark.” In all, Gazoo appeared in 11 episodes, and was basically the nail in the show’s coffin. “Toodle-loo, dumb-dumbs!”
Joseph Kony is the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan guerrilla group operating in several African nations. While initially enjoying strong public support, the LRA turned on its own supporters, supposedly to “purify” the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy. Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium. He has ordered the abduction of over 66,000 children to become soldiers and sex slaves.
Kony was recently popularized by the manipulative Kony 2012 viral campaign from the controversial group Invisible Children. See the Visible Children blog for a critical view of Kony 2012.
Theodor Seuss Geisel is an American writer, poet and cartoonist known for his children’s books written under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His children’s books include Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and 43 more. His picture books are often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme and frequent use of trisyllabic meter. Geisel was born on this day in 1904.
Note: Geisel’s birthday has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living,” said Dr. Seuss.
Linus Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist and author. He ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century. Pauling was one of the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. A graduate of Oregon State University and winner of two Nobel Prizes, he was born on this day in 1901 in Portland, Oregon.
P.S. “Do unto others 20% better than you would expect them to do unto you, to correct for subjective error.” – Linus Pauling
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.
A British cartoonist and caricaturist best known for his work with American Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. In addition to illustrating his own books and Thompson’s, Steadman has illustrated editions of Fahrenheit 451, Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Animal Farm and the English translation of Flann O’Brien’s gaelic language classic The Poor Mouth.
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.”
The eponymous character of the Tank Girl comic and the 1995 film. Tank Girl drives a tank, which is also her home, and undertakes a series of missions for a nebulous organization. Her boyfriend, Booga, is a mutant kangaroo. The British comic’s style was heavily influenced by punk visual art. The strip was initially set in a stylized post-apocalyptic Australia.
A groundhog resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. On February 2 (Groundhog Day) of each year, the town of Punxsutawney celebrates the groundhog. During the ceremony, Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler’s Knob and performs shadow-based weather prediction. A group called the Inner Circle, recognizable by their top hats and tuxedos, takes care of Phil year-round and plans the annual ceremony.
Frank Lloyd Wright – No. 436
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect and interior designer who believed in designing harmonious structures of organic architecture. This philosophy was best exemplified by his design for Fallingwater (1935) in Pennsylvania, which has been called “the best all-time work of American architecture.” Wright was born on this day in 1867.
Of Wright’s over 400 works, only one structure is located in Oregon. It’s the Gordon House at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. I plan to visit the Fallingwater property when I’m back in Pennsylvania later this month.