Derek Haas, birthplace unspecified, American writer
Emmanuel Mouret, Marseilles, France, writer/director/actor
Gustavo Jodurcha, Buenos Aires, Argentina, actor
Joe Duttine, Bradford, England, actor
John Burton West, Greenville, North Carolina, production coordinator
Leonardo Sbaraglia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, actor
Mark Grudzielanek, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, major league baseball player
Michal Malátný, Jicín, Czechoslovakia, singer
Noel Ashman, New York, New York, nightclub owner
Robert Crossman, Valparaiso, Indiana, short filmmaker
Sabrina Paravicini, Morbegno, Italy, actress
Stacy L. Burnside, Gary, Indiana, associate producer
Trevor Stynes, Dublin, Ireland, actor
Vernon E. Mortensen, Bangkok, Thailand, short filmmaker
Well, jeez, if I’ve gotta pick somebody from this group, I suppose I’ll go with Noel Ashman.He’s no Kwame Kilpatrick, but he does appear to have risen high and fallen low in his short time here on earth.And after all, nightclub impresarios are significant figures in the entertainment world.Sure, most of them end up coked-out debtors, but the Gatsbyesque high times do actually get to be lived by somebody, which, though empty, do entail copious fun and glamour.So good luck with your next act Noel.
Farrel J. Lusse, Victoria, British Columbia, production assistant
Françoise Gralewski, Paris, France, actress
Justin Long, birthplace unspecified, Justin Long the porn star
Marco Letizia, Rome, Italy, storyboard artist
Mike Vallely, Edison, New Jersey, skateboarder
S.A. Sebastian Gnolfo, Queens, New York, extra
Siri Lill Mannes, Karmøy, Norway, anchorwoman
Tom Cohen, state of Connecticut, TV writer/director
Troy Drayton, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, NFL football player
Zoe Cassavettes, county of Los Angeles, California, daughter of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavettes
Today’s Winner has what to me sounds like one of the coolest jobs in television: director of “Cash Cab”.I gather, from folks I know who’ve been passengers in the Cash Cab, that the whole thing is kind of rigged, or at least extremely unspontaneous.But I don’t care.That show is an unequaled pinnacle of time-killing television, ideal for hotel room dressing time, sick days, and all other manner of non-appointment viewing occasions.
I’m going to give it up for my namesake, whose myspace lavishly namechecks the Cleveland Cinematheque.God bless the Midwestern college film societies, for their noble work in keeping decent non-mainstream movies flowing to the non-massive-city parts of our great country.
Yumika Hayashi (died 28 June 2005), Tokyo, Japan, porn superstar
I’m honoring Today’s Winner not for her body of work, which was substantial, and beloved by pervy Asians and non-Asians the world over.Not many people born in 1970 can already claim to have been the subjects of documentaries both during and after their lifetimes.
No, the reason I’m giving her the nod is that she illustrates the peril of over-celebrating one’s birthday.Let’s hope that dying under mysterious circumstances after a big birthday night out doesn’t happen to anyone else born this year.
Aaron Sele, Golden Valley, Minnesota, major league pitcher
Amy Ecklund, Reno, Nevada, actress
Cameron R. Penn, Newport Beach, California, producer
Eric Grimberg, Buenos Aires, Argentina, actor
Erki Nool, Võru, Soviet Union, Estonian Olympic decathlon champion
Fernando Gasca, San Francisco, California, actor
Jalina Stewart, Washington, D.C., producer
Kathryn Donovan, Hillingdon, England, unit publicist
Kerry Dickerson, birthplace unspecified, British actress
Lucy Benjamin, Reading, England, actress
Morgan Brayton, Victoria, British Columbia, actress
Rodney G. and Roger R. Johnson, Saint Paul, Minnesota, writer/producer/director team
Thomas Scharff, Berlin, East Germany, actor
I’m going to devote today’s observation, and winnerdom, to the fact that I got to experience 3D live television for the first time today.
It works, and the people who have seen that it works have some good first thoughts about how best to deploy it.However, forty-five minutes of it left me a bit woozy and nauseated.
The thing I got to watch was a World Cup match, Brazil versus Portugal.Even though there was no scoring, the movement of the men through space was really something to see.The 3D feed was assembled from completely different camera placements than the mainstream broadcast most of the world was watching.The players were interwoven in space in completely novel ways.Their movement resembled music as 2D resembles writing, if that makes any sense.
For instance, one thing that amazed me to no end was watching long kicks sailing away from the keeper toward midfield, as viewed from behind the goal line.That, and watching challenges for a high bounce between men of notably divergent heights.Little things, the jostling for position.It makes more sense in 3D
It made me very excited to see how an NBA All-Star Game would look in 3D.Some other live events that would look really nice in 3D: stage plays, air shows, beauty pageants, ballets, open air operas, Olympic track events (hence Today’s Winner), presidential inaugurations, North Korean military spectacles, Civil War reenactments, Super Bowls, rodeos, circuses, and Iron Chef battles.
The problem, as my friend Jason points out, is that the technology is wholly antithetical to the way people watch television today.You really have to give it all your attention.Most folks don’t do this anymore when watching television.And the thing you’re watching really has to rise to that level of demanding attention.Most things on TV just don’t.You don’t need “30 Rock” or a regular Mets game or something like that to be in 3D.Not to mention that everybody you’re watching with has to wear those dumb glasses: the fact that you are isn’t so much the problem, it’s that everyone you’re with is.It’s antisocial and vaguely Marshall Applewhitey.
So the whole thing will probably turn out to be an expensive boondoggle.But it sure was absorbing for 45 minutes.
Anja Garbarek, Oslo, Norway, daughter of Jan Garbarek
Bernardo Sassetti, Lisbon, Portugal, composer
Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, Madrid, Spain, TV writer/short filmmaker
Dave Vescio, Somerset, Pennsylvania, actor
David Fernández, Barcelona, Spain, Rodolfo Chikilicuatre
Glenn Medeiros, Lihue, Hawaii, composer
Jay Gallentine, Atlantic City, new Jersey, film editor
John Gallo, Lowell, Massachusetts, producer
Katherina Mai, Martigues, France, actress
Noémi Mehrli, Budapest, Hungary, film editor
Sean Hyte, Salt Lake City, Utah, production assistant
Sílvia Bel, Barcelona, Spain, actress
Tetsuya Iwanaga, Tokyo, Japan, animation voice talent
Anthony Lane’s excellent dissection of the Eurovision Song Contest is sadly lodged behind a paywall, so I can’t link to it.Today’s Winner made his mark there in 2008.
I sure can’t wait until the day Anthony Lane throws in the towel on modern movies and sticks to strictly long-form essays on larger entertainment subjects.The movies lately aren’t worth of him.
Also, I hope David Denby’s beard asphyxiates him out of spite and exhaustion in his sleep.
Anthony Pedone, Dallas, Texas, child groom/ward of the state/stage actor
Arlin Alcala, Juarez, Mexico, actress
Casey O’Neill, New York, New York, stuntman
Christian Meier, Lima, Peru, actor
D.J. Perry, Lansing, Michigan, actor/producer
Eric Bruno Borgman, Chelsea, Massachusetts, extra extraordinaire
Jesper Waldvogel Rasmussen, Vejle, Denmark, short filmmaker
Michael Cerenzie, Toronto, Ontario, producer
Mike Bartrum, Gallipolis, Ohio, NFL football player
Paul Curtis, London, England, digital character animator
Robert Brooks, Greenwood, South Carolina, NFL football player
Yann Tiersen, Brest, France, composer
Yukiko Ikeda, Tokyo, Japan, actress
Zen Gesner, Van Nuys, California, actor
There’s a lot in the biography of Mr. Pedone that does not entirely add up.For instance, he is to be congratulated on his 25th wedding anniversary last year, even though he’s only turning forty today.
Still, the winner has got to be Mr. Borgman.In his almost quarter century on the screen, he’s created such memorable roles as
Freddy Soto (died 10 July 2005), El Paso, Texas, actor
Kim Kolstad, birthplace unspecified, Norwegian actor
Michael Trucco, San Mateo, California, actor
Omar McClinton, Chicago, Illinois, actor/producer
Piyush Acharya, Aligarh, India, jimmy jib operator
Robb Cullen, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, TV writer/producer
Steven Page, Scarborough, Ontario, ousted Barenaked Ladies co-founder
Timothy Albee, birthplace unspecified, American animator
I can’t resist the sound of the jimmy jib operator’s job title.The fact that Today’s Winner in particular has deployed the jimmy jib in a number of Bollywood productions makes him that much more okay in my book.
Brian Davis, Capitol Heights, Maryland, basketball player
Carl Exantus, Montreal, Quebec, actor
Eric Reed, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, piano player
John Roethlisberger, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, gymnast
Märten Kross, Tallinn, Soviet Union, Estonian producer
Paola Krum, Buenos Aires, Argentina, actress
Pete Rock, The Bronx, New York, rapper
Rob Meyers, Provo, Utah, visual effects compositor
Ronel Victor (1 July 2002), DipologCity, The Philippines, actor
Sindee Coxx, state of New York, Long Island-reared porn star
Victoria Kerekes, Budapest, Hungary, actress
Well, as reluctant as I am to honor a porn star, in a weak field, Today’s Winner is the only choice. There are two main reasons for this.One, she’s from Long Island, which, contrary to appearances, not all porn stars actually are.Two, her career wound down abruptly after 2005.I am hoping this indicates she was actually able to retire.Best wishes in your future endeavors, Sin.
Erik Hulzebosch, Anerveen, The Netherlands, speed skater
Griseldis Wenner, Meerane, East Germany, TV actress/talk show hostess
Geoff Hitchins, Melbourne, Australia, film editor
Jason Hanson, Spokane, Washington, drunken extra/NFL placekicker
Karen Kennedy, state of California, TV writer/producer
Klaus Hjuler, birthplace unspecified, Danish stuntman
Mar-Jean Fine, New Kensington, Pennsylvania, production assistant
Michael Showalter, Princeton, New Jersey, writer/actor/producer/son of Elaine Showalter
Nina Erjossaari, Kinna, Sweden, actress
Sasha Marianne Sokol Cuillery, Mexico City, pop star Sasha
Sergio Demon, birthplace unspecified, Brazilian porn star
Sergio Suarez, birthplace unspecified, American porn star
Sonny Felman, Croydon, England, actor
Stephen Kennedy, birthplace unspecified, Irish actor
Thilo Acksel, birthplace unspecified, German actor
Thomas Spencer, birthplace unspecified, American actor/set decorator
Timothy Josefy, Wichita Falls, Texas, policeman/extra
Will Forte, county of Alameda, California, writer/actor
Zhong Zheng, Beijing, China, writer/director
Today's Winner has been responsible for a ton of unfunny things.But his crazy white supremacist weirdo that occasionally shows up in the last 15 minutes of SNL seems so in tune with the rightier fringes of the Tea Party excursion into national madness that I have to recognize.
Alan Nash, birthplace unspecified, Australian TV producer
Camille Henderson, Vancouver, British Columbia, singer
Clifton Collins, Jr., Los Angeles, California, actor
Cobi Jones, Detroit, Michigan, soccer player
Oliver Schiffers, Aachen, West Germany, production assistant
Phil Mickelson, San Diego, California, golfer
Rusdi Ramli, Ulu Klang, Malaysia, actor
Tom Sorensen, Little Falls, Minnesota, property master
Clearly the greatest beneficiary of the Tiger Woods’ Penis In All Crevasses At Once scandal of Thanksgiving 2009 is Today’s Winner.With his lefthandedness, his ill-fitting shirts, his monogamy, his love of gambling, and so forth, he was already America’s Favorite Club-Swinging Athlete After Tiger to begin with.Now that Tiger continues to be brought low by his robotic sex addiction, Mickelson is well-positioned to lap up championships and endorsements well into his eighties.He may well prove to be the most legendary individual born in 1970 (excepting March 30th's winner of course).
Brian Kushner, Fort Knox, Kentucky, music video editor
Chung-Hoon Chung, Seoul, South Korea, cinematographer
Khris Brown, San Francisco, California, video game dialogue editor
Leah Remini, Brooklyn, New York, queen of Queens
Lina Pleijel, Stockholm, Sweden, actress
Naomi Schenck, Santa Monica, California, production designer for German TV
Natasha Tony, Vancouver, British Columbia, casting director
Zan Tabak, Split, Yugoslavia, Croatian basketball player
I’m not sure how much Today’s Winner has to do with the look of the Chan-WookPark films he has shot.But they do look good.Mainly he takes the prize just for being on those sets and seeing those crazy stories take shape, in fragments.
Pascale Hutton, Creston, British Columbia, actress
Russell Arch, Willows, California, TV writer
Simone Eden, Arcadia, California, second generation Playboy playmate
I really enjoyed the one day I spent in the hometown of Today’s Winner.Sure, the museum was amazing, and all it was cracked up to be.But what I really enjoyed and remember well were the slowmoving rituals of city living in the Basque country.The big scaly fish in the market at breakfasttime.The riverside in the afternoon.The vacant streets of the business district during siesta. The town square at dusk, where a wedding was spilling into the street, singing and dancing abounding.
I just have a fondness for past-their-prime industrial centers where life goes on, I guess.
