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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Anna Kournikova
Biography
Anna was born in Moscow, Russia, June 7, 1981. Anna is a world class star professional tennis player. Her lean athletic body is truly distracting. Anna's parents who travel with her, are Alla and Sergei, and they refer to her as "Murzik", that means "my little pet" in Russian. She received her first tennis racquet at 5 years old when her parents sold their TV to buy her a present for Christmas. She graduated from a Russian high school in 1997.
At nine years old, Anna was spotted playing in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and was offered the opportunity to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. When Anna was only 13 years old she made it to the final in the Rolex Orange Bowl tournament. There, she unfortunately lost to 18 year old Spaniard Marion Ramon. The revenge for Anna would come as soon as the next year. Then, Anna made it all the way to the final again and there she defeated Sandra Nacuk of Yugoslavia. In 1999, she won her first Grand Slam title with Martina Hingis at doubles in the Australian Open. Though a top ten singles player, Anna's only Grand Slam title to date came in the 1999 Australian open Ladies' Doubles with Hingis. Anna is one of the most glamorous of the new generation of women players.
Anna says she would like to be an actress. She also likes reading, listening to music, watching TV, dancing, going to parties, swimming, giving tennis coaching to children, and she is also quite interested in ice hockey. Anna has collected dolls from every country she has visited.
Though not yet the world's best tennis player, Anna has gained extra popularity due to her good looks and sometimes extravagant behavior and posing as a model. In 2000, she was named the most searched for athlete on the internet and for many years has been the world's best known female athlete.
Presently endorsed by Adidas, Yonex, Berlei the famous sports bra, Omega, and Lycos. Anna has certainly come a long way from the days when her parents could hardly afford to buy her a tennis racket.
Anna's earnings for 1999 stood at $11 million for endorsements alone, and they have surely increased by now, making her the highest paid female tennis player. As a cover girl, Anna was named one of Peoplemagazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1998, and graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's June 2000 edition.
Anna has raised the profile of the ladies game to new levels, and she is a major worldwide celebrity, with a lifestyle to match her supermodel looks.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
A (Not So) Complete History of Literary Tattoos
Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press in Germany in 1439. Samuel O’Reilly invented the modern tattoo machine in 1891. And sometime around the turn of the century the first literary tattoo was born. Whether nostalgic for the characters from a favorite children’s book or as a tribute to a favorite writer’s words, the book tattoo is a classy way to go. The lowbrow nature of the tattoo juxtaposes nicely against the highbrow art of the book. Here now, a look at some of its many forms.
And if you dig this post, make sure to take a look at our other pop culture tattoo histories: Bands | Movies | Television | Corporate Logos
The aforementioned Guttenberg’s most famous work was the Guttenberg Bible. It was so major it signaled the beginning of its own age — the Age of the Printed Book. It makes sense then that folks would be inclined to tattoo their bodies with their favorite passages.
Scripture as fuck art. Nice.
Whether a line from “Hamlet,” his 18th sonnet, or Megan Fox’s favorite passage from “King Lear,” you can’t go wrong with something from Sir Billy Shakespeare.
Plath, Dickens, Frost, Kerouac — all icons of modern literature, and all great-looking tattoos.
Nostalgia for youth is a strong emotion, thus the proliferation of tattoos of characters from classic kid’s books. Here are a couple of Curious George.
Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” is timeless, which is good, since these suckers don’t wash off.
Lewis Carroll’s “Alice and Wonderland” and Margery Williams’ “Velveteen Rabbit” have been enjoyed by children for decades. And the bodies of adults for almost as long.
“The Little Prince” by Frenchman Antoine de Saint Exupéry isn’t just profound, it’s one of the 50 best-selling books of all-time.
When Max is punished for making mischief and sent to his room without dinner, he puts on a wolf costume and goes to “Where the Wild Things Are.”
Is that a Lorax on your bicep or are you just happy to see me?
Tattoo Pooh.
Tigger too.
What would Harry Potter tattoo?
Dumbledork.
Elvish writing from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” is a popular literary tattoo. The middle one translates to: “Never been laid.”
These guys are the lords of the Rings tattoos.
These pay tribute to Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five.” The phrase “So it goes” is repeated throughout the book whenever death is mentioned, while the other phrase appears on a tombstone.
Here we see a collection of tattoos that pay tribute to sci-fi’s finest — Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury and George Orwell.
These two are members of the cult that is “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.”
Most writers, even the most successful, can live an anonymous life. Any idea who these two are? That’s Henry David Thoreau on the left, William Faulkner on the right.
When in doubt, tattoo the cover of your favorite book. The outside two are from Chuck Palahniuk books, while the center image is a classic cover of “Catcher in the Rye.”
Update: Hats off to our readers for submitting a few of their own. The top tat is from Jessica, whose butt recently acquired an “Alice in Wonderland” tattoo. And the bottom pair came from Dominic, both inspired by Edgar Allen Poe. The top one reads “Nevermore,” an ode to Poe’s most famous poem. “And the unfinished Raven wings to go with it,” he wrote. Keep ‘em coming please!
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