Scottie Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the NBA. He is most remembered for his 12 seasons with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA titles and their record 1995-96 season of 72 wins. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a vehicle for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s. Pippen is also the only person to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice (1992, 1996).
Mario Lemieux is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006. Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups (1991 and 1992) and led Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002. He was named MVP three times and led the league in scoring six times. Playing only 915 out of a potential 1428 regular season NHL games, Lemieux’s career was plagued by health problems, including Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He is currently the Penguins’ principal owner and is the only person ever to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner. Lemieux is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
Today is the last day that Heidi and I will be in Switzerland. The next stop on our train journey across Europe is Venice, Italy. Goodbye, Alps.
Timothy Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs such as LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project. His studies produced useful data, but Leary was fired from the university. Leary believed LSD showed therapeutic potential for use in psychiatry. During the 1960s and 1970s, Leary was arrested and imprisoned regularly. President Richard Nixon once described Leary as “the most dangerous man in America.” Leary was born on this day in 1920.
Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, mystic and ceremonial magician, who was responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He came to see himself as the prophet entrusted with informing humanity that it was entering the new Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. Crowley was also pansexual, a recreational drug experimenter and a social critic. He gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, and was denounced in the popular press of the day as “the wickedest man in the world.” Crowley was born on this day in 1875.
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who garnered fame during the 1940s as one of the era’s top stars. Appearing first as Rita Cansino, she agreed to change her name and dye her hair dark red to attract a greater range of roles. She was featured on the cover of Life magazine five times, beginning in 1940. Hayworth appeared in a total of 61 films over 37 years.
Shel Silverstein was an American cartoonist, musician and, most famously, author of children’s books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children’s books. Most popular are The Giving Tree (1964) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)—both childhood favorites of mine. Translated into more than 30 languages, Silverstein’s books have sold over 20 million copies. He was born on this day in 1930.
Jim Henson was an American puppeteer, best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various TV programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and numerous Muppet films. He created advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. He was also an Oscar-nominated film director, Emmy Award-winning television producer and the founder of The Jim Henson Company. He was born on this day in 1936.
Brett Favre is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played most of his 20-season career (1991-2010) for the Green Bay Packers. Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 70,000 yards, over 500 touchdowns, over 300 interceptions and over 10,000 pass attempts. He won one of his two Super Bowl appearances. Favre retired and unretired so many times that everyone lost count and interest.
Serena Williams is an American tennis player. She has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, 13 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles (with her older sister Venus) and two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles (2012) and three in women’s doubles (2000, 2008 and 2012). Serena’s complete domination (6-0, 6-1) of Maria Sharapova in the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympic Games last month was remarkable. She is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but can also act appallingly classless and disrespectful.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #6 of 8 in celebration of the U.S. Open.
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.
Martina Navratilova is a former tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 41 Grand Slam doubles titles during her career. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Navratilova became a U.S. citizen in 1981. She holds the Open Era record for most singles titles (167) and doubles titles (177). Navratilova is one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all time, if not the greatest.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #5 of 5 for French Open week.
Today I am celebrating 404 days of pixel art (and, of course, the HTTP 404 error message that lets you know what you’re looking for was not found). Instead of yet another genocidal dictator, religious icon or superhero, today’s character is my girlfriend. Heidi is a native Oregonian who lives in Corvallis with Ian Cavalier, Eli, Tanuki and The King. She is likely to be found with her teacup, camera and bicycle. Attempting to locate other items she owns will usually result in a 404 error (and much digging through heaps of clothes, sketches and books).
P.S. Heidi calls my 8-bit characters “the tinies.” Now she is a “tiny” herself.
Update: Heidi and I were married on 11/11/12, so now her last name is Cavalier.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He currently directs the Hayden Planetarium and is a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2006 he has hosted the educational science television show NOVA scienceNOW on PBS. In 2013, Tyson will host a sequel to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980) television series.
Tyson has become one of my personal heroes, and is doing an honorable job of filling Carl Sagan’s shoes. Have we stopped dreaming?
The First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, FDR, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband’s death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to serve as a humanitarian and civic leader, working for the welfare of youth, black Americans, the poor, and women, at home and abroad.
Best known by his nickname Pelé, this man is the greatest soccer player of all time. In his native Brazil, he is hailed as a national hero. In addition to his contributions to the game of football, he is known for his support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor. Celebrated as “The King of Football,” he was born on this day in 1940.
A former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who served from 1979 to 1990. Her political philosophy emphasized deregulation. Thatcher survived an assassination attempt in 1984, and her hard line against trade unions and tough rhetoric in opposition to the Soviet Union earned her the “Iron Lady” nickname. She was born on this day in 1925.
Mario Lemieux – No. 527
Mario Lemieux is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006. Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups (1991 and 1992) and led Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002. He was named MVP three times and led the league in scoring six times. Playing only 915 out of a potential 1428 regular season NHL games, Lemieux’s career was plagued by health problems, including Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He is currently the Penguins’ principal owner and is the only person ever to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner. Lemieux is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
Today is the last day that Heidi and I will be in Switzerland. The next stop on our train journey across Europe is Venice, Italy. Goodbye, Alps.