Awesome Baby is the unholy combination of a baby’s head on the body of an octopus—plus the baby has a mohawk, a Fu Manchu mustache and sunglasses. It’s difficult to explain exactly how this character arose in my household, but I can say that it was created piecemeal over many days by my two-year-old daughter Ramona. My wife Heidi and I regularly draw pictures for Ramona at her request, often on her Fisher-Price magnetic doodler. We have drawn countless sea creatures, including octopuses and squids, as well as human babies and many other things. At some point, and in some order, my daughter became very interested in mustaches, sunglasses and different hairstyles. Eventually, her combined requests consistently guided us to create the monstrous creature she refers to as Awesome Baby, who is mostly orange (pronounced “ohn-mo” by Ramona, despite her linguistic advances). She loves him so much.
Update: Heidi posted pen-and-ink illustrations of Awesome Baby and Baby Margot on her Tumblr blog.
Opus the Penguin is a fictional character created by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. First introduced in 1981, Opus is a large-nosed penguin (occasionally mistaken for a puffin) with a herring addiction who lost track of his mother during the Falklands War. Opus has appeared in many of Breathed’s works, most notably his 1980s comic strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an “existentialist penguin” and the favorite of his many characters. Opus’ hopeless naïveté and optimism was at the center of Bloom Country, and he’s also the subject of two “sequel” strips (Outland and Opus), three children’s books and the 1991 television special A Wish for Wings That Work.
Note: As of this week, Berkeley Breathed is creating new Bloom County comics, after over 25 years. I was a 10-year-old when the strip ended.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the French Academy. Cousteau described his underwater world research in series of books, perhaps most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, published in 1953. He also directed films, most notably the documentary adaptation of the book, The Silent World, which won a Palme d’or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 and died on June 25, 1997.
Urashima Tarō is the title character of a Japanese legend about a fisherman who rescues a sea turtle and is rewarded for his kindness with a visit to Ryūgū-jō, the undersea palace of Ryūjin, the dragon god of the sea. In one version of the story, Tarō stays under the sea for three days and, upon his return to his fishing village, finds himself 300 years in the future.
P.S. This 8-bit pixel art Urashima Tarō is based on ukiyo-e art by Japanese artist Yoshitoshi Tsukioka. Though I almost designed 8-bit Tarō after George Suyeoka’s gorgeous illustrations in Urashima Taro (1973), a beloved book on my bookshelf.
The Evergreen State Geoducks mascot, Speedy, is NAIA pixel art mascot #1. I couldn’t resist this one any longer. In real life, a geoduck is a large, edible, saltwater clam from the Puget Sound that resembles a penis. But the Evergreen State mascot is basically a googly-eyed pickle wrapped in a gilded silver taco. The motto of Evergreen State, located in Olympia, Washington, is the tongue-in-cheek phrase “Omnia Extares,” which means “Let it all hang out.” By the way, real-life geoducks have an average lifespan of 147 years. (View reference images.)
Jabberjaw is an air-breathing, anthropomorphic great white shark whose voice and mannerisms are similar to Curly of The Three Stooges. He is a drummer for The Neptunes, a rock group made up of four teenagers, who live in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. Jabberjaw was the star of a Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired from 1976 to 1978.
Sedna is the mermaid goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit mythology. The creation myth of Sedna describes how she came to rule over Adlivun, the Inuit underworld. As the sea-mother and provider of food for the Inuit people, she is the patron of fisherman and hunters. Sedna is known by other names in Greenland and Canada, including Arnakuagsak, Arnapkapfaaluk and Nerrivik.
Heidi and I are currently in beautiful Reykjavík, Iceland. This is the third day of our vacation in Europe.
Admiral Ackbar is a character in the Star Wars franchise. As the Mon Calamari rebel leader, he played a supporting role in the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Admiral Ackbar’s “It’s a trap!” line is one of the most popular lines from the Star Wars films and is a popular Internet meme.
This week I am attending WebVisions 2012 in Portland, Oregon.
The sea and fish goddess in Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. She is the protectress of sailors and fishermen. In one legend she mothered Inti and Mama Quilla with Viracocha, the Inca supreme god.
A comic book superhero who appears in DC Comics. He can breathe underwater and communicate with sea creatures. He was humorously appropriated by South Park as Seaman. This 8-bit sprite completes the Super Best Friends religious group.
Awesome Baby – No. 908
Awesome Baby is the unholy combination of a baby’s head on the body of an octopus—plus the baby has a mohawk, a Fu Manchu mustache and sunglasses. It’s difficult to explain exactly how this character arose in my household, but I can say that it was created piecemeal over many days by my two-year-old daughter Ramona. My wife Heidi and I regularly draw pictures for Ramona at her request, often on her Fisher-Price magnetic doodler. We have drawn countless sea creatures, including octopuses and squids, as well as human babies and many other things. At some point, and in some order, my daughter became very interested in mustaches, sunglasses and different hairstyles. Eventually, her combined requests consistently guided us to create the monstrous creature she refers to as Awesome Baby, who is mostly orange (pronounced “ohn-mo” by Ramona, despite her linguistic advances). She loves him so much.
Update: Heidi posted pen-and-ink illustrations of Awesome Baby and Baby Margot on her Tumblr blog.