The Geekly with a Twist: December 21st-27th
It’s the end of the world!!! Glad you could join us. I hope you all have a good drink handy (if not, I’ve got a lot of good suggestions for Doomsdays), and that your end of the world is going smashingly. Anyways, since we apparently can’t look forward, let’s look back. Onward with the history!
December 21st, 1913: The first crossword puzzle is run in the New York World newspaper. Invented by Arthur Wynne, it was originally called a “word-cross” puzzle until a typesetting error a few weeks later and have been known as such ever since.
December 21st, 1948: The man who is bad— enough for a purple lightsaber and an eye patch, Samuel L. Jackson is born in Washington, D.C.
December 22nd, 1947: Brian Daley, the SciFi novelist who would go on to write all of the episodes for the Star Wars radio dramas, is born in Englewood, New Jersey.
December 22nd, 1978: Myka Bering (or at least the woman who would play her- Joanne Kelly) is born in Bay d’Espoir, Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada, of course).
December 24th, 1910: Fritz Leiber, one of the men credited a father of Sword and Sorcery fantasy, is born in Chicago, Illinois.
December 24th, 1969: The comic book writer behind works including (but not limited to) Wanted, Kick-Ass, and The Authority, Mark Millar is born in Coatbridge, Scotland.
December 25th, 1924: Rod Serling, the man best known for his work on The Twilight Zone, is born in Syracuse, New York. (Debbie counted down the best holiday episodes of the show as a part of our 12 Days of Christmas special.)
December 25th, 1952: Another Warehouse 13 actor, CCH Pounder (that would be Mrs. Fredric) is born in Georgetown, British Guiana (which is now simply Guyana).
December 25th, 1984: The daughter of one Doctor who played the daughter of the Doctor and then married that Doctor- are you following me?- is born in London, England. (To explain, I’m talking about Georgia Moffett, the daughter of Peter Davison and the wife of David Tennant, who played the role of Jenny on “The Doctor’s Daughter.”)
December 26th, 1921: John Severin, one of the founding cartoonists of Mad and one of the prominent artists on Cracked (as its original magazine format) as well as a man known for his work with Marvel and EC Comics, is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
December 26th, 1960: Temuera Morrison, better known as Jango Fett (and all of the Clone Troopers, of course), is born in Rotorua, New Zealand.
To satisfy your end of the world itch for awesome geek history, check out:
Instead of a typical Twist this week, (especially since you already have so many fun apocalypse drinks to choose from), I’m going to go along with Miss Beth Rankin and suggest a great beer. Specifically, I’m going to suggest Unibroue La Fin du Monde. While the name literally translates to “the end of the world,” the reference is likely not to a date but rather a geographical location. Regardless, the tripel is excellent (and at 9.0% abv, it packs a decent punch) and perfect for end of the world or end of the year celebrations.
So, even though beer doesn’t need one, this post needs a good Garnish. And, in the name of Hobbit-ish shenanigans, how about this bit of love?
[youtube=http://youtu.be/xly_lNW_2o4]
I probably couldn’t beat them, but I was always totally an Elf girl. Even if Thranduil is, well, something I shouldn’t say on a family friendly post.
So, until next week (or until the world finishes burning up at some point today), geek on!
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