An artificial intelligence in Arthur C. Clarke’s science fiction Space Odyssey saga and the primary antagonist in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is visually represented as a red television-camera eye located on equipment panels throughout the Discovery One spaceship.
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.”
The Bride from the two-part Kill Bill action/thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Played by Uma Thurman, Kiddo is a former member of an elite, shadowy group of assassins. Codenamed “Black Mamba,” she is a master of the tiger-crane style of kung fu and has learned the deadly Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique.
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.
In the 1974 science fiction/fantasy film Zardoz, Zed is an Exterminator on post-apocalyptic Earth in the year 2293. Zed was played by Sean Connery in his second post-James Bond role and Charlotte Rampling costarred as an immortal Eternal. And let us not forget the god Zardoz—a huge, flying stone head. Zardoz was created by British filmmaker John Boorman.
Note: Zed is the last man capable of an erection in this bizarre, anti-science dystopian vision. Read Channel 4’s film review of Zardoz, which describes Zed’s costume as “a red nappy, knee-high leather boots, pony tail and Zapata moustache.”
Roger Rabbit’s buxom human wife in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the 1988 live-action/animated adaptation of the 1981 mystery novel. In the film, Jessica is portrayed as a sultry cartoon singer at a Los Angeles club. She is one of the most famous sex symbols on the animated screen. “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way,” she claims.
The nine-year-old protagonist of the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story. The film was based on the stories of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd. Ralphie wants only one thing for Christmas: a Red Ryder BB Gun, with a compass in the stock and “this thing which tells time” (a sundial). Every adult tells him the same thing: “You’ll shoot your eye out.”
I was tempted to create an 8-bit Adam Sandler for today, since we all know Sandler is the modern spiritual figurehead of Hanukkah, but I could not resist Ralphie in his pink bunny suit.
The fortune teller from Zoltar Speaks, the magical fortune-telling machine in Big. For the 1988 romantic comedy film, the one-of-a-kind machine was placed at Rye Playland, an amusement park located in Rye, New York. Tom Hanks stars as Josh Baskin, a young boy who makes a wish to be “big” and is then aged to adulthood overnight.
Today is Election Day in the U.S. Want to make a wish?
A fictional monster that first appeared in Frankenstein, the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley. The creature is often erroneously referred to as “Frankenstein,” but in the novel the creature has no name. Frankenstein includes elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction.
The fictional antagonist of Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general Vlad the Impaler. In the U.S., the character is in the public domain and frequently appears in all manner of popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals.
The King of All Wild Things and main character of Where the Wild Things Are, a 1963 children’s picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The book has been adapted into an animated short, an opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film adaptation directed by Spike Jonze. Possibly my very favorite childhood book.
A cruel, hideous Martian from the Mars Attacks science fiction trading card set released by Topps in 1962. Artist Wallace Wood drew the original artwork. In 1996, the trading card series was adapted into the American science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! directed by Tim Burton. Remember what Slim Whitman’s song “Indian Love Call” did to the Martians?
I thought this would be an appropriate character for World Peace Day.
A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, created in 1902 by Scottish author J. M. Barrie. Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys, interacting with mermaids, Indians, fairies and pirates. The most famous Peter Pan adaptation is the 1953 animated Disney film.
The antagonist of J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan and its various adaptations. Hook is the villainous pirate captain of the Jolly Roger brig. It is said that he was Blackbeard’s boatswain, and that he was the only man Long John Silver ever feared. He most famously appears in the 1953 animated film adaptation produced by Walt Disney.
Note: This character is in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which was created in 1995 by two guys from Albany, Oregon. Avast, there!
A fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Iron Man is otherwise known as Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer. Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape.
A fictional superhero who appears in Marvel Comics publications. The character, based on the Thor of Norse mythology, first appeared in 1962. He is a member of the superhero team The Avengers with Captain America, Iron Man and others.
A DC Comics superheroine who first appeared in 1941, during World War II. She is a Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and is known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira. She utilizes the Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, and has an invisible airplane.
A fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe who first appeared in 1941, during World War II. Captain America is the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the U.S. war effort. He wears a costume that bears an American flag motif.
Note: A moment of silence on Patriot Day. Hard to believe that 10 years have passed since the 9/11 attacks. I love this tribute poster from Extra Credit Projects.
Indiana Jones – No. 358
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.