The Geekly with a Twist: December 30th-January 5th
Hallo everyone, your favorite Lush back from the craziness of the holiday to bring you your usual dose of geeky history. I hope you all ended up with epic lootz from the fat man in red and you’re ready with those resolutions! Anyways, onward with the history!
December 31st, 1879: Thomas Edison wows the world (or at least Menlo Park, NJ) with his first public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb.
January 1st, 1801: Ceres, the first asteroid and the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
January 2nd, 1920: Science fiction and literature giant, Isaac Asimov, is born in Petrovichi, Russia (at the time it was the Soviet Union, of course).
January 3rd, 1892: The prolific fantasy immortal, John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R.) Tolkien, is born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (modern-day South Africa). Stay tuned for a few Tolkien themed and inspired articles in honor of the great man’s birthday!
January 4th, 1785: Noted mythologist and famous brother, Jakob Grimm (of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales fame) is born in Hanau, a town situated central Germany (at least nowadays) which was a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
January 4th, 1958: Sputnik I, the Soviet satellite that was the first artificial satellite, fell back to Earth from its orbit.
January 4th, 2004: The Spirit, Mars Exploration Rover-A, makes its planetary landing and began transmitting images of the martial surface back to Earth.
January 5th, 1896: After the publication of his papers on December 28th of the previous year, Wilhelm Roentgen is noted by an Austrian newspaper for his discovery of a new kind of radiation. This radiation is now more commonly known as an “x-ray.”
January 5th, 1914: The man who would be known for his role as Superman in Adventures of Superman (the television show which ran from 1952-1958), George Reeves is born in Woolstock, a small town in North Central Iowa.
And, for your Twist, I’m throwing back to the awesome ice cream I used to always get at Topsy’s when we’d visit my mom’s old neighborhood…Superman ice cream. In honor of the late Mr. Reeves, the Superman Shot should help bring some nostalgia and deliciousness to your home entertaining.
- 1 part Blue Curacao
- 1 part Amaretto
- 1 part Irish Cream
Mix ingredients in a shaker over ice and strain into either a shot glass or a cocktail glass (depending on how much you’ve decided to make) and enjoy! The best way to garnish is to garnish YOURSELF with an awesome cape…after all, isn’t being a big kid what having fun as an adult is all about?
And, of course, lastly, what would your Geekly be without ITS Garnish? For this week, there’s something fun that I found while surfing recently over on TechRepublic… “Top 25 Geek New Year’s Resolutions.”
My personal favorite? “25. Forgive the Fox Television Network. Mostly. (Maybe.)” Yay for Firefly! (We miss you.)
Anyways, it got me thinking about the fact that I’ve really one got one so far…so it’s time for my resolutions!
- Finish the Super-Secret Project
- See something that’s man-made and older than the country where it’s located
- Finish the A Song of Ice and Fire novels
- Actually complete my New Year’s resolutions
Sooooo…what’s everyone else’s NYR? Let us know!
Don’t forget to check back as we bring you Tolkien tributes next week and of course, until next week, geek on!
