The Geekly with a Twist: August 10th-16th

Hey everyone! I don’t know what it is about this particular week, but it’s been a rough one in my personal history. A year ago I had to skip The Geekly due to some issues. It’s the only time I’ve not published this column. So, I’m glad to have it for you this week. And, hopefully, I don’t skip again ever in the future. So, onward with the history!

August 10th, 1962: Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games, is born in Hartford, Connecticut.

August 10th, 1965: Commander Susan Ivanova, I mean, Claudia Ann Christian, is born in Glendale, California. For those of you who might not have gotten the reference, I think Babylon 5 might be on Netflix….

August 10th, 1990: Magellan (the space probe) inserts itself into the orbit of Venus after its 16 month journey to the planet.

August 11th, 1944: Good good…Ian McDiarmid, the man behind Emperor Palpatine, is born in Carnoustie in Scotland. (Bonus fact, he is actually a renowned actor in the British theatre circuit but, unlike Sir Alec Guinness, loves his part in the Star Wars universe.)

August 11th, 1964: Jim Lee, the comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher who was also one of the two men behind the #1 selling comic book of all time (The Uncanny X-men: X-men #1) is born in Seoul, South Korea.

August 11th, 1965: Shinji Mikami, the video game designer behind Resident Evil, is born in the Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan.

August 11th, 1976: An actor best known by face as the lovable (but moronic) brother in Boy Meets World, the voice of Batman in Batman Beyond among several other iconic voices, Will Friedle is born in Hartford, Connecticut.

August 11th, 1983: A man who needs no introduction, Chris Hemsworth is born in Melbourne, Australia.

August 12th, 1910: Jane Wyatt, known to the SciFi community for her role as Amanda Grayson (Spock’s mother), is born in Mahwah, New Jersey.

August 12th, 1981: The IBM Personal Computer is released.

August 13th, 1946: The Science Fiction world loses a great when H.G. Wells dies in London, England.

August 13th, 1972: Michael Sinterniklaas, a noted voice actor who’s had roles ranging from Leonardo (TMNT- the one in 2003) to Dean Venture (Venture Bros.) and parts in everything from FFXIII to Sonic X, is born in France.

August 13th, 1976: Jody Thompson (a woman who has made the SciFi TV circuit on shows ranging from Blade: The Series to Sanctuary to The 4400), is born in Vancouver (Canada, of course!).

August 12th, 1983: A man who, While not a household name yet (but will be soon), is born in Constanta, Romania. Sebastian Stan recently played Bucky in Captain America: The First Avenger, and he will be returning for the sequel. (Yay, Bucky!)

August 14th, 1965: Brannon Braga, the producer and writer behind shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise (as well as the movie, Star Trek Generations) and that monstrosity Terra Nova, is born in Bozeman, Montana.

August 14th, 1969: NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell, a woman who has logged more than 188 days in space and more than 22 hours in 3 EVAs (“moonwalks”) is born in Arcadia, California.

August 15th, 1935: The British actor who made the Harry Potter audiobooks a treat for the ears, Jim Dale is born in Rothwell, England.

August 15th, 1990: The beautiful Academy Award nominee, young Mystique, and Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence is born in Louisville, Kentucky.

August 16th, 1933: The original woman to don the leather suit of Catwoman, Julie Newmar is born in Los Angeles, California.

August 16th, 1982: Cam Gigandet (of Twilight fame, mostly, but also notable for his role in Priest) is born in Tacoma, Washington.

August 16th, 1991: The young woman highly praised for her role as Luna Lovegood, Evanna Lynch, is born in Termonfeckin, Ireland. Also of note, Miss Lynch is a former member of the Board of Advisors for the non-profit organization The Harry Potter Alliance.

If you want to check out more that has happened in geek history, check out:

• The Geekly with a Twist August 5th-11th

So, of course, for your Twist this week, I’m feeling a bit… Looney. How about a Ravenclaw?

• 1 part blackberry schnapps
• 1 part blueberry schnapps (preferably blue-colored)
• 1 part vodka

Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a glass rimmed with orange-colored sanding sugar. You can garnish with a radish if you like, but it might taste a little funny.

Now, to a Geekly Garnish…I mentioned it above but, if you’ve not checked it out already, you NEED to check out The Harry Potter Alliance.

This non-profit organization “takes an outside-of-the-box approach to civic engagement by using parallels from the Harry Potter books to educate and mobilize young people across the world toward issues of literacy, equality, and human rights.”

[youtube=http://youtu.be/UFNkz-EUDVI]

There are chapters all across the U.S. as well as some international chapters and current campaigns include Wizard Rock the Vote (a voter-registration campaign) and Not in Harry’s Name (a campaign aimed at making sure the chocolate used for official Harry Potter products is ethically sourced and fair-trade). You need to go check it out and spread the word (and goodwill!)

So, I must be away…my lunch is calling me. Until next week, geek on!