guitar | Onelargeprawn

I totally need some inspiration to get this day going, and PS3ZA member Reiger kindly obliged with this amazing video. Tony Melendez was born in Nicaragua without any arms, a consequence of the thalidomide his mother was prescribed during her pregnancy. He was fitted with artificial arms and wore them til he was 10 years old, after which he disposed of them, saying that he could use his feet so much more.

At the age of 16, Tony started to learn the guitar, a task some people thought couldn’t be done because of this disabilities. Not only did learn to strum the guitar and play chords with his toes, Tony even learnt to sing. Watch as he performs “Let It Be” while on vacation in 2007.

Read more about this amazing individual at www.tonymendelez.com.

[image credit: TATO CID]

Happy Birthday and take it easy this Pooza Thursday!

Also born on the 15th of January are:

1622 – Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature.
1816 – Marie-Fortunée Lafarge, was a Frenchwoman who was convicted of murdering her husband by arsenic poisoning in 1840. Her case became notable, because it was one of the first trials to be followed by the public through daily newspaper reports, and because she was the first person convicted largely on direct forensic toxicological evidence.
1906 – Aristotle Onassis, was one of the prominent shipping magnates of the 20th century.He also traded Turkish tabacco into Europe and America making millions, and founded Greece’s national airline,Olympic Airlines. To finance his ships he used a method that he, in his own words, described as utilizing the formula OPM (other people’s money). He is perhaps most well know for being married to Jacqueline Kennedy. He was also previously married to opera dive Maria Callas. A great believer in conspicuous opulence and decadence, his yacht the Christina O was one of the largest private yachts ever, and had barstools upholstered in the foreskins of Minke whales.
1909 – Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer who designed amazing three bodies for the beautiful Bugatti Type 57. he also designed the bodies of the Ventoux, Stelvio, and Atalante models.
1929 – Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., African American clergyman, civil rights icon, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He is best known for his “I have a dream” speech.
1941 – Captain Beefheart, American musician and visual artist. With his band, The Magic Band, he sung and played the harmonica. His compositions are characterized by their odd mixtures of shifting time signatures and by their surreal lyrics. He is now retired from music and has become a painter.
1948 – Ronnie Van Zant, was the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was killed in an aircrash in 1977.
1965 – Adam Jones, is a three time Grammy Award-winning musician and visual artist, best known for his work as guitarist with the band Tool. Jones was rated the 75th Greatest Guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine and placed 9th in Guitar World’s Top 100 Greatest Heavy metal Guitarists. He is also credited for most of Tool’s music videos.
1972 – Kobe Tai, is a former pornographic actress of Taiwanese and Japanese heritage.She entered the adult film industry at the age of around 24, and appeared in over 70 films between 1996 and 2003. In addition to her roles in adult films, Tai appeared in the mainstream movie Very Bad Things as a stripper who was accidentally killed at a bachelor party. Tai also did background vocals for Marilyn Manson’s song, “New Model No. 15”, on the album Mechanical Animals.

Thanks for the info Wikipedia.

Let me know if you’d like me to add a friend, family member or little ol’ you to our daily birthday lists of (famous) people. Mail me names, years of birth, and what makes you or them famous.