Typical student animator at Fjorg- Toy yo to- hoh!
The Iron Animator competition Fjorg! at the San Diego SIGGRAPH/07 was very successful. The final judging and awards was expected to draw 200 people. Instead it drew 2000! Teams participated from RIT, SCAD, USC, as well as Israel, Brazil and Japan. Several teams of professionals as well. Congratulations to the winners Team MoCap of Bowling Green University. Glory to organizer Pat Beckman, Scott, Becky and their Fjorg team! May Valkyries sound the battle song of praise as they ride across the skies of Mitgard! I was proud to have been invited to play a part. Thanks to the sponsors Dreamworks Animation SKG and HP. The Njorns have woven their Web of Fate, so plans are already approved for Fjorg II when Siggraph/08 beaches their dragonships again next Summer at the LA Convention Center. As the word gets around and the more schools join in, I predict the event will grow to an annual event for SIGGRAPH.

Cool documentary and see the winners at-
http://www.siggraph.org/s2007/attendees/fjorg


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Birthdays: Antonio Salieri, Frederick Ludwig Jahn 1778- founder of the Gymnastics Movement, Alex Haley, Jack Haley, Rev Jerry Falwell, Claus Von Bulow, Hulk Hogan- real name Terry Bollier- he’s 56, Dean Schiller, Dick Browne the creator of Hagar the Horrible, Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple Computers, Raymond Leppard, Lloyd Nolan, Mike Douglas, Patti Duke Austin, Patrick Swayze,

CORRECTION!I had stated Robert Redford's birthday as today when other sources as Wikipedia and IMDB have it as August 18th. Sometimes the research leads you astray. It's what makes History a living science.Mea Culpa!
Doh!

1270-Prince Edward of England leaves Dover for his Crusade. Nobody had pointed out to Eddie that by 1270 the Crusades were pretty much over and done with. He didn't accomplish much except inspiring that really neat church hymn "Jerusalem" in the film Chariots of Fire .

1866 - World's 1st roller skating rink opens (Newport RI)

1874 - Harry S Parmelee patents the sprinkler head.

1896 - Harvey Hubbell patents electric light bulb socket with a pull chain

1909-The first S.O.S.-'Save Our Ship' Morse signal sent by the liner S.S.Arapahoe off Cape Hatteras North Carolina.

1932- Rin Tin Tin died. The German shepherd was the first animal movie star and for awhile was the mainstay of struggling little Warner Bros studio. Jack Warner called him “our little rent check.”

1946- Playwright Moss Hart married Miss America Kittie Carlisle. Kittie Carlisle Hart played with the Marx Brothers, knew George Gershwin and Cole Porter and was the beard for still-in-the-closet NY Mayor Ed Koch. She died earlier this year at age 96.

1949- Margaret Mitchell, author of "Gone With the Wind" was hit by a taxicab and died 5 days later.

1956- Abstract Artist Jackson Pollack, known as Jack the Dripper, died when he drunkenly drove his car into a tree near East Hampton.

1957- The Toyota Car Company of Japan introduces itself to the United States with a car called the Toyopet. It's first years sales are so bad they almost gave up on the U.S.

1962- actor Sir Lawrence Olivier founded the National Theatre in London.

1965- BURN, BABY, BURN- THE WATTS RIOTS- 6 days of urban warfare began when an angry crowd attacked some LAPD apprehending a drunken black motorist named Marquette Frye. 34 deaths, 1000 injured. This was the first of similar riots, which erupted in a number of U.S. cities that year including Detroit, Newark and Washington D.C.

1972- San Antonio Texas holds it’s first Cheech & Chong Day.

1984- COLD WAR CHUCKLES- President Ronald Reagan was asked to do some sound checks for a nationwide radio address. He said into the mike: "Today we have passed legislation that will ban Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes..."
The joke got out to the press and didn't do much to calm new cold war tensions.

1997- LA police wrestle down and arrest actor Christian Slater. They encountered him in a cocaine delirium shouting “The Germans are coming to kill us all!”

2001-First day shooting on the film Hero, directed by Zyiang Yi Mou.

2002- The Parliament of the Republic of Turkmenestahn passed a bill renaming the months of the year for their President Saparmurat Niyazov the Turkmenbashi- Leader of all the Turkmen. He was made president for life in 1999. Mr Niyazov has ruled the country since he was appointed Communist Party chief in 1985 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He quickly developed a cult of personality surrounding himself, suppressing legitimate political opposition. Much of the cash for grandiose palaces and statues is thought to stem from deals involving Turkmenistan's rich oil and gas reserves. He has also issued a decree officially extending adolescence until the age of 25 and postponing old age officially until age 85. Saparmurat Niyazov Father of the Turkmen, died in 2006.