Brigitte Bardot is a French former actress, singer and fashion model. She was one of the best known sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s and was widely referred to by her initials. During her career in show business, she starred in 47 films, performed in several musical shows and recorded over 60 songs. Bardot started her acting career in 1952 and became world-famous in 1957 with the controversial film And God Created Woman. She later starred in the 1963 film Contempt by Jean-Luc Godard. French photographer Sam Lévin was instrumental in creating Bardot’s image, particularly with The Towel Session shoot in 1959. Bardot caught the attention of French intellectuals and was the subject of a famous essay, Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome by Simone de Beauvoir. Bardot retired from the entertainment industry in 1973. After her retirement, she established herself as an animal rights activist. During the 1990s, she generated controversy by criticizing immigration and Islam in France and has been fined five times for inciting racial hatred. Bardot was born on September 28, 1934.
Sugar Ray Robinson was an American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson’s performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create “pound for pound” rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts. From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak, the third longest in professional boxing history. Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports “entourage.” After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but struggled, and was challenged financially until his death. Robinson was born on May 3, 1921 and died on April 12, 1989. In 2006, he was featured on a United States Postal Service commemorative stamp.
Kwaku Anansi is the West African spider god. He often takes the shape of a spider and is considered to be the spirit of all stories, as well as the god of lies and mischief. Anansi is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore. He is the first spider, but often acts and appears as a man. The Anansi tales originated from the Ashanti people of present-day Ghana. The word Ananse is Akan and means “spider.” Anansi is depicted in many different forms. Sometimes he appears as an ordinary spider, sometimes he is a spider wearing clothes or with a human face, and sometimes he looks much more like a human with spider elements, such as eight legs.
Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole, also called Bruddah Iz (Brother Iz), was a Hawaiian musician, entertainer and sovereignty activist. His voice became famous outside Hawai’i when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” (previously sung by Judy Garland/Louis Armstrong) was subsequently featured in several films, television programs and TV commercials. Through his skillful ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres (such as jazz and reggae), Kamakawiwo’ole’s music remains a very strong influence in Hawaiian music. He was born on May 20, 1959 and died on June 26, 1997 from obesity-related health problems (he weighed as much as 767 pounds).
I chose Iz as pixel art character No. 808 because 808 is the Hawai’i area code, and 808 is supposedly used as the penal code for disturbing the peace. I guess I’m saying that it’s a good idea to listen to “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” really loud every now and then. Though I think something more violent might be appropriate to accompany the outrage and injustice of yesterday’s Ferguson grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. In his testimony, Wilson, a white police officer, describes Brown, an unarmed black teenager, as “like a demon.” Wilson won’t even go to trial, and so St. Louis burns.
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist who first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916. She made large-format paintings of enlarged blossoms, presenting them close up as if seen through a magnifying lens, and New York buildings, most of which date from the same decade. O’Keeffe has been recognized as the mother of American modernism. In the 1920s, she turned to working more representationally in an effort to move her critics away from Freudian interpretations. While her earlier work had been mostly abstract, O’Keeffe became best known for sensual, floral works that evoke veiled representations of female genitalia. She rejected feminists who celebrated her as the originator of “female iconography.” O’Keeffe was born on this day in 1887.
P.S. This 8-bit version of Georgia O’Keeffe was inspired by her flower paintings and the many nude portraits her husband, famous photographer Alfred Stieglitz, took of her. I think the three colorful flowers I drew ended up kind of looking like Wonder Woman-themed underwear or maybe a boxing championship title belt.
Strong Bad is one of the major characters of the Homestar Runner series of animated Flash web cartoons. He is portrayed by Matt Chapman, the principal voice actor and co-founder of the series. Strong Bad sports red boxing gloves and a red lucha libre mask with four laces in the back and a blue diamond in the center. He enjoys pranking the other characters of the series, along with his pet The Cheat and his older brother Strong Mad. Strong Bad’s main segment is Strong Bad Email (2001-2009), in which he answers emails sent to him by fans. Segments have been spun off of his emails, including Trogdor the Burninator and Teen Girl Squad, a comic drawn by Strong Bad about four teenage friends.
P.S.IT’S OVER! Summer is over! Happy autumn equinox. By the way, the Strong Bad character was based on the Strong Bads, a lucha libre-style fighter team from the 1983 arcade video game Tag Team Wrestling. Oh, nostalgia for 1980s entertainment via Flash cartoons of the early 2000s. ARROWED!!!
Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig) was an American professional wrestler, who wrestled most famously under the ring name the Ultimate Warrior. He was best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1987 to 1996, as well as his stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1998. Warrior died last week, on April 8, 2014, at the age of 54. Over the preceding three days he had been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, appeared at WrestleMania XXX and made his final public appearance on Raw.
Note: I never followed the WWF closely, but I do remember junior-high classmates discussing rumors of how the Ultimate Warrior had died in 1991, and was secretly being portrayed by a new wrestler—thus the drastic change in his appearance (shorter, blonder hair and a smaller physique). It seems he was always Hellwig though. Shrug.
Jim Morrison was an American singer-songwriter and poet, best remembered as the lead singer of Los Angeles rock band The Doors. From a young age, “The Lizard King” developed an alcohol dependency that led to his death at the age of 27 in Paris. Morrison is alleged to have died of a heroin overdose, but as no autopsy was performed, the exact cause of his death is still disputed. He was well known for often improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Due to his wild personality and performances, Morrison is regarded by critics and fans as one of the most iconic, charismatic and pioneering frontmen in rock music history. He was born on December 8, 1943.
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.
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.
Mark Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics—an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed, a record that still stands. He also won four medals (two golds) at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Michael Phelps is an American swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals. He also holds the all-time record for gold medals with 18. In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps took the record for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he won four golds and two silver medals.
Trugernanner, often referred to as Truganini, is widely considered the last “full blood” Palawa (Aboriginal Tasmanian). Between 1803 and 1876, the black aborigines of the Australian island of Tasmania were completely destroyed by invading European settlers. The Black War, a period of conflict between British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians, is one of the earliest recorded modern genocides. All indigenous Tasmanian languages have been lost. Truganini died on this day in 1876.
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is often portrayed as the son of the goddess Venus, with a father rarely mentioned. His Greek counterpart is Eros. Cupid is often portrayed as a nude (or sometimes diapered) winged boy or baby armed with a bow and arrows. These days we know him as a symbol of a certain commercialized holiday popularized by a greeting card company.
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.”
Inti is the sun god, according to the Inca mythology, as well as a patron deity of the Inca Empire. The most common origin story says he is the son of Viracocha (the god of civilization) and Mama Cocha (the sea goddess). Mama Quilla (the moon goddess) is his sister and wife.
The great creator god in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. Viracocha was one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon and seen as the creator of all things (the universe, sun, moon and stars, time and civilization itself). He was intimately associated with the sea and worshiped as god of the sun and of storms.
The “all knowing” decapitator god of the Moche people of northern Peru. The Moche Empire, a pre-Columbian tribe ruling a 220-mile coast and desert region between the Andes and the Pacific, flourished from about 100 AD to 800 AD. They preceded the Inca by 1,200 years.
A hero-king of Sparta who was believed in mythology to be a descendant of Heracles. Leonidas is notable for his leadership at the Battle of Thermopylae during the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC. In one of history’s most famous last-stands, Leonidas led 300 Spartans against an invading Persian army of 100,000+ led by Xerxes I.
In the midst of all these holiday characters, I chose Leonidas for today because I wanted him to be my 300th 8-bit character. This. Is. Caketown.
Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole – No. 808
Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole, also called Bruddah Iz (Brother Iz), was a Hawaiian musician, entertainer and sovereignty activist. His voice became famous outside Hawai’i when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” (previously sung by Judy Garland/Louis Armstrong) was subsequently featured in several films, television programs and TV commercials. Through his skillful ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres (such as jazz and reggae), Kamakawiwo’ole’s music remains a very strong influence in Hawaiian music. He was born on May 20, 1959 and died on June 26, 1997 from obesity-related health problems (he weighed as much as 767 pounds).
I chose Iz as pixel art character No. 808 because 808 is the Hawai’i area code, and 808 is supposedly used as the penal code for disturbing the peace. I guess I’m saying that it’s a good idea to listen to “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” really loud every now and then. Though I think something more violent might be appropriate to accompany the outrage and injustice of yesterday’s Ferguson grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. In his testimony, Wilson, a white police officer, describes Brown, an unarmed black teenager, as “like a demon.” Wilson won’t even go to trial, and so St. Louis burns.