Linus Torvalds (born December 28, 1969) is a Finnish software engineer, American naturalized, who is the creator, and former principal developer, of the Linux kernel, which became the kernel for operating systems (and many distributions of each) such as GNU and years later Android and Chrome OS. He also created the distributed revision control system Git. Torvalds believes “open source is the only right way to do software.” He currently resides in a suburb of Portland, Oregon.
Note: Despite his generous open-source software contributions, Torvalds is notorious for his gruff attitude that serves as a form of self-deprecation: “I’m not a nice person, and I don’t care about you. I care about the technology and the kernel—that’s what’s important to me.” – Linus Torvalds
John V. Blankenbaker, born in 1929 to a farming family in Oklahoma, is best known as the man who made the world’s first personal computer. His Kenbak-1 machine first went on sale in 1971—some five years before Steve Wozniak released Apple I. When Blankenbaker was a freshman at Oregon State College in 1949, he started the design of a computing device. By 1957, he had envisioned a simple computer, which he described in a paper, “Logically Micro-Programmed Computers,” published in Computer Transactions. In 1970, he began the design of Kenbak-1 as a private endeavor in his Los Angeles garage. The next year he founded Kenbak Corporation and built and sold about 40 Kenbak-1 digital computers, mainly to schools, before selling out to CTI Educational Products and shuttering his company entirely in 1973. Blankenbaker retired in 1985 and currently lives in Pennsylvania.
David Bazan (born January 22, 1976) is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones. In early 2006, he began performing and recording under his own name. Bazan’s solo ablums include Curse Your Branches (2009), Strange Negotiations (2011) and last month’s Blanco (May 13, 2016). Blanco is made up of remixed and updated songs that were previously available in a limited series called Bazan Monthly: Volume 1 (2014) and Bazan Monthly: Volume 2 (2015). Even more recently, on Twitter, Bazan and TW Walsh (former Pedro the Lion bandmate) announced their new rock band, Lo Tom, with Jason Martin and Trey Many.
I’ve been listening to Pedro the Lion for many years, but I also really enjoy David Bazan’s new music. Three of the first four songs on Bazan Monthly: Volume 1 (“Impermanent Record,” “Deny Myself” and “Sparkling Water”) are particularly amazing—as well as “Oblivion” (which appears on both Volume 2 and Blanco). I’d like to make it to one of Bazan’s summer tour dates in Washington or Idaho—especially one of the shows with Laura Gibson, who is fantastic. The June 16 show (happening in two days) in Boise, Idaho has become the only possibility now because work commitments conflicted with the Washington dates. However, since my wife is 36-weeks pregnant with our second child, I am thinking hard about traveling to Idaho this week—though yesterday she told me to go as a Father’s Day present. (So I’m probably going.) On March 21, 2016, I was able see David Bazan play an acoustic house show in Eugene, Oregon, and I am grateful for that; it was an ideal mix of solo, Pedro the Lion and Headphones songs. But I still want to see Bazan and Laura Gibson on tour together.
Douglas Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human-computer interaction, which resulted in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers and precursors to graphical user interfaces (bitmapped screens). These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. The underlying technologies of the demonstration influenced both the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating systems in the 1980s and 1990s. Engelbart’s Law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him.
Engelbart was born in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Oregon State College in Corvallis in 1948. As someone who has worked at Oregon State University for over 11 years now, I can say that Engelbart is considered one of the luminaries of the institution; he’s up there with Linus Pauling. The OSU Alumni Association has a nice story on Engelbart: “Up Close and Personal: Inventor of the Computer Mouse.”
Ken Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969) nicknamed “Junior” and “The Kid,” is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. A 13-time All-Star, Griffey is one of the most prolific home-run hitters in baseball history; his 630 home runs rank as the sixth-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. In 2016, Griffey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving a record 99.32% of the vote, breaking pitcher Tom Seaver‘s record of 98.84%. He is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey Sr.
Steve Prefontaine, nicknamed “Pre,” was an American middle- and long-distance runner who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was born on January 25, 1951, in the coastal logging town of Coos Bay, Oregon. Prefontaine once held the American record in seven different distance track events, from the 2,000 meters to the 10,000 meters. He was recognizable for his mustache and his long locks of hair that parted as he ran. Following his collegiate career at the University of Oregon, Prefontaine was preparing for the 1976 Summer Olympics. He died on May 30, 1975, at the age of 24, in an automobile accident near Hendricks Park in Eugene, Oregon.
Doug Martsch is an American singer and musician. He is best known for his distinctive vocals and guitar-playing style in the band Built to Spill. Martsch’s first band was Farm Days in the early 1980s. His second band was Treepeople, with whom he released three albums and two EPs. He has been the lead singer and guitarist of Built to Spill since 1992. Built to Spill has released released eight full-length albums, including this year’s Untethered Moon (2015). Martsch was born in Twin Falls, Idaho in September 1969.
Elliott Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. His primary instrument was the guitar, though he was also proficient with piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums and harmonica. Smith lived much of his adult life in Portland, Oregon, and began his solo career in 1994. He rose to mainstream prominence when his song “Miss Misery“—included in the soundtrack for the film Good Will Hunting (1997)—was nominated for an Oscar in 1998. Smith suffered from depression, alcoholism and drug dependence, and these topics often appear in his lyrics. At age 34, he died in Los Angeles from two stab wounds to the chest, likely self-inflicted. At the time of his death, he was working on his sixth studio album, From a Basement on the Hill, which was posthumously completed and released in 2004. Smith was born on August 6, 1969 and died on October 21, 2003.
My wife Heidi, a native Oregonian, is a big Elliott Smith fan. I also have a great appreciation for his music, but I think she loves him more. My favorite Smith song is “Needle in the Hay.” In unrelated news, yesterday our daughter Ramona turned two years old. We had a little family pizza party, with vegetarian pizza and two candles stuck into homemade strawberry shortcake (though we substituted chocolate brownie mini flax muffins for the shortcake). It was the best.
Ian Bavitz, better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip-hop recording artist and producer residing in Portland, Oregon. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Aesop Rock was signed to Definitive Jux until El-P put the label on hiatus in 2010. Aesop Rock’s solo discography includes Labor Days (2001), Bazooka Tooth (2003) and None Shall Pass (2007). An analysis of Aesop Rock’s lyrics found that he has the largest vocabulary in hip-hop music. He is a member of the groups The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon (with Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz), The Uncluded (with Kimya Dawson) and Two of Every Animal (with Cage). Aesop Rock was born on June 5, 1976.
Carson Ellis is an artist and illustrator of children’s books. Born in Canada on October 5, 1975, her illustration work includes bestsellers The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket and The Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Meloy (her husband). Ellis recently finished work on Home, a whimsical picture book she wrote. Her editorial illustrations have appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker, and her fine art is exhibited at Nationale in Portland, Oregon. Ellis is also the illustrator-in-residence for the band The Decemberists. She lives on a farm in Portland with Meloy and their two sons.
P.S.Home is due out on February 24, 2015. That is today. Check it out. Also, here’s a playable Portland family feud: Carson Ellis vs. Colin Meloy.
Klay Thompson is an American professional basketball shooting guard for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. He played college basketball for three seasons at Washington State University before being selected by Golden State with the 11th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft. In 2014, Thompson and teammate Stephen Curry set an NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in a season as the pair were given the nickname the “Splash Brothers.” Thompson was named to the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, just days after a 52-point performance in which he scored an NBA-record 37 points in one quarter (he made all 13 of his shots, including nine from three-point range). Born on February 8, 1990, Thompson is the son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson.
Richard Brautigan was an American novelist, poet and short story writer. His work often employs black comedy, parody and satire. He is best known for Trout Fishing in America (1967), In Watermelon Sugar (1968) and Willard and His Bowling Trophies: A Perverse Mystery (1975). Brautigan was born on January 30, 1935. Growing up, his family lived on welfare and moved about the Pacific Northwest before settling in Eugene, Oregon in 1944. In 1956, Brautigan left home for San Francisco, where he became involved in the counterculture, or Beat, scene. Many years later, on approximately September 16, 1984, he died of a self-inflicted .44 Magnum gunshot wound to the head, though his body was not discovered for almost six weeks.
Note: Last year, the Eagles opened their football season with an impressive 49-46 victory over the No. 25 Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis. Dynamic Eastern Washington QB Vernon Adams threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more, including one with 18 seconds left that sealed the game for the Eagles. Four months later, Eastern Washington (12-2) made its third trip to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals in four seasons. The Eagles nearly advanced to the national title game against two-time defending champion North Dakota State, but were upset in the closing seconds of their 2013 FCS semifinal game. Three years prior, Eastern Washington won the school’s first national championship in football following the 2010 installation of red turf in Roos Field. Eastern Washington is now known for its intense red playing surface, nicknamed “The Inferno.”
P.S. Happy Labor Day! The Portland State Vikings lost 14-29 to the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday in Corvallis in their first football game of the season.
David Fincher is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and his 2010 film The Social Network. Some of Fincher’s other films include Seven (1995), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). His most recent film is Gone Girl, a mystery-thriller scheduled for release on October 3, 2014. Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon in his teens, where he graduated from Ashland High School. He was born on this day in 1962.
Note: Fincher, with black stocking cap, is character #777 in honor of Se7en, one of the best movies of the mid-1990s.
Clyde Drexler is a retired American professional basketball swingman, who played for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers (1983-95) and Houston Rockets (1995-98). Nicknamed “Clyde the Glide,” he is a 10-time NBA All-Star and won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 as a member of the “Dream Team.” Drexler came closest to bringing an NBA championship to Oregon in the 1992 NBA Finals, but Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls prevailed. Drexler went on to win an NBA championship in 1995 as a member of the Houston Rockets, alongside his college teammate Hakeem Olajuwon. He currently serves as a color commentator for Rockets home games.
Note: Before entering the NBA, Drexler and Olajuwon played together on the 1982-83 University of Houston men’s basketball team. Nicknamed Phi Slama Jama, the Houston Cougars teams of 1982 to 1984 popularized an athletic, fast-breaking “above the rim” style of play. Both Cougars teams ended up losing in the NCAA tournament final. In 1983, they were shockingly upset by North Carolina State on a buzzer-beating dunk. In 1984, they lost to a strong Georgetown team anchored by Patrick Ewing.
Patrick Ewing, Sr. is a retired Jamaican-American basketball player. He played most of his career for the NBA’s New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly for the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic. He is currently the associate head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, working under head coach Steve Clifford and owner Michael Jordan. Ewing won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States men’s national basketball teams. His number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003. He was born on this day in 1962.
Today is my daughter Ramona’s first birthday. She shares her birthday with Patrick Ewing, Neil Armstrong and Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys. Ramona is good. But back to Ewing. As a childhood fan of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan in the late 1980s and 1990s, the attitude of Ewing’s Knicks always irritated me. I couldn’t stand John Starks, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and the whole rotten lot of them.
Ray Allen is an American professional basketball shooting guard and current NBA free agent. He formerly played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. In college, Allen was a member of the Connecticut Huskies. One of the most accurate three-point and free throw shooters in NBA history, he is a 10-time NBA All-Star, and has won two NBA championships (2008, 2013). Allen won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team. He has acted in two films, including the lead role of Jesus Shuttlesworth in the 1998 Spike Lee film He Got Game. Allen is the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made in both the regular season and the postseason. Now 39 years old, he was born on this day in 1975.
Note: Ray Allen is considering retirement, but he is also being recruited by LeBron James and company to join the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers (AKA the Cleveland Heat) and help them contend for a franchise-first championship. Allen is scheduled to be in China until July 27 and doesn’t appear to be in a rush to decide his playing future, sources said on July 18. He may be waiting to see if the Cavaliers trade for Kevin Love, thus creating another Big Three with Kyrie Irving and his friend LeBron.
Matthew Inman, who often goes by the nickname “the Oatmeal,” created the website The Oatmeal in 2009. The website features comics drawn by Inman, quizzes and occasional articles. Previously he built Mingle2, a dating website. Inman is also responsible for raising $211K for charity via his 2012 “Bearlove Good. Cancer Bad.” crowdfunding campaign, which was his brilliant response to FunnyJunk’s lawsuit threat. Inman has four published collections of comics, including How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You and Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants. He lives in the Fremont area of Seattle and was born on September 24, 1982.
For this 8-bit pixel art of Matthew Inman, I did my best to distort his face into the horrifying, exaggerated style of one of his characters from The Oatmeal. And, of course, I gave 8-bit Inman bottles of his beloved Sriracha Rooster Sauce to throw in my Gorillas game. I should also mention that today is the birthday of Nikola Tesla. This is relevant because in August 2012, Matthew Inman launched the “Let’s Build a Goddamn Tesla Museum” fundraising campaign to support the nonprofit organization Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. The idea was to purchase Nikola Tesla’s old laboratory in Long Island—known as the Wardenclyffe Tower, which was built to provide wireless energy for the entire Earth—and turn it into a museum. Ultimately, the campaign succeeded, raising over $2.1 million. Thus, Inman became a Tesla champion. (Related: Matthew Inman vs. Thomas Edison.) My closest encounter with Inman was watching him present about his Internet career at SearchFest 2010 at the Governor Hotel in Portland, Oregon. It was fun to see the Oatmeal speak—and get a free copy of his first book, 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth—at a work conference.
Marshawn Lynch is an American football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Lynch played college football for the California Golden Bears, where he became the school’s second all-time career rusher. In the NFL, he has been named to the Pro Bowl four times and most recently helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII. Nicknamed “Beast Mode,” Lynch is perhaps most famous for his 67-yard “Beast Quake” touchdown run during the NFC wild-card game in 2011 in which he broke nine tackles and threw a Saints cornerback to the ground with one arm. Lynch was born on this day in 1986.
David Bazan – No. 997
David Bazan (born January 22, 1976) is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones. In early 2006, he began performing and recording under his own name. Bazan’s solo ablums include Curse Your Branches (2009), Strange Negotiations (2011) and last month’s Blanco (May 13, 2016). Blanco is made up of remixed and updated songs that were previously available in a limited series called Bazan Monthly: Volume 1 (2014) and Bazan Monthly: Volume 2 (2015). Even more recently, on Twitter, Bazan and TW Walsh (former Pedro the Lion bandmate) announced their new rock band, Lo Tom, with Jason Martin and Trey Many.
I’ve been listening to Pedro the Lion for many years, but I also really enjoy David Bazan’s new music. Three of the first four songs on Bazan Monthly: Volume 1 (“Impermanent Record,” “Deny Myself” and “Sparkling Water”) are particularly amazing—as well as “Oblivion” (which appears on both Volume 2 and Blanco). I’d like to make it to one of Bazan’s summer tour dates in Washington or Idaho—especially one of the shows with Laura Gibson, who is fantastic. The June 16 show (happening in two days) in Boise, Idaho has become the only possibility now because work commitments conflicted with the Washington dates. However, since my wife is 36-weeks pregnant with our second child, I am thinking hard about traveling to Idaho this week—though yesterday she told me to go as a Father’s Day present. (So I’m probably going.) On March 21, 2016, I was able see David Bazan play an acoustic house show in Eugene, Oregon, and I am grateful for that; it was an ideal mix of solo, Pedro the Lion and Headphones songs. But I still want to see Bazan and Laura Gibson on tour together.