Cap’n Lou Albano, 1933-2009
Captain Lou Albano was pronounced dead earlier today at the age of 76, although no cause has been announced. I’m not posting this sad news because of his wrestling career — although the man was a major part of the awesome/awful cartoon Hulk Hogan’s Rock n’ Wrestling — but because he was, for many of us, our first Super Mario, thanks to the Super Mario Super Show, which really fell more on the awful side than awesome, frankly. Still, the man was a major presence in many a nerdy life, and he could wear rubber bands better than anyone else. Take a moment today to do the Mario in silence. It’s really, really not very complicated. (Via MTV)
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.