The Geekly with a Twist: December 9th-15th
Hey everyone! Your favorite Lush here…avoiding the holiday season as much as possible and bringing you your favorite weekly news of the past! So, without too much stalling, onward with the history!
December 9th, 1914: The Edison Phonograph Works factor is destroyed by a fire.
December 9th, 1980: (HOWARD! Okay, sorry, had to get that out of the way first.) A man who would become a geeky household name on The Big Bang Theory, Simon Helberg, is born in LA.
December 9th, 1998: The International Space Station goes into orbit.
December 11th, 1998: The Mars Climate Orbiter blasts off from Cape Canaveral. The probe disappeared in September the following year due to a blundering human error- someone forgot to convert the measures into metric values. (Whoops.)
December 12th, 1955: The first hovercraft is patented by a British engineer, Christopher Cockerell.
December 12th, 1975: The incredibly intelligent woman who would go on to play, geekily notably, Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, Mayim Bialik, is born in San Diego.
December 14th, 1503: Okay, so, it wasn’t the end of the world but noted prophet Nostradamus is born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in Southern France (possibly…his birthdate is either the 14th or the 21st, nobody is for certain, oddly enough).
December 14th, 1546: A man whose contributions to the field of astronomy are key (and the wielder of an awesome mustache), Tycho Brahe, is born in Scania (which was Danish at the time, but is now a province of Sweden).
December 14th, 1962: The space probe Mariner II reached its closest point to the planet Venus.
December 15th, 1877: Thomas Edison patents his phonograph.
December 15th, 1970: The probe Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land “softly” on the surface of Venus. There is a total of 58 minutes of data from the capsule’s transmissions.
December 15th, 1970: Back on Earth, a man who would become noted for PLAYING a man of science and space (specifically an archaeologist and linguist) on Stargate SG-1, Michael Shanks, is born in Kamloops, British Columbia.
December 15th, 1972: A man who would become, among other things, two different immortals (and he was the original actor playing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings), Stuart Townsend, is born in Howth (in Ireland).
And, of course, with the theme of awesome birthdays in mind, why not try a Grasshopper for this week’s Twist? Yes, it’s traditional, yes, it’s Raj’s drink, but it’s very TBBT. 🙂
- 1 part Green Creme de menthe
- 1 part White (clear) Creme de cacao
- 1 part cream
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, strain, and enjoy! Awesome garnishes include mint leaves or, if you’re feeling really heroic about yourself, Superhero toys. 🙂
And, of course, to continue on appealing to your holiday needs, your Garnish is another great last-minute shopping spot…something I found the other day surfing Etsy that made my jaw drop with awesome.
It’s digital typography art, and if you’ve never seen examples of that before these are some of the coolest examples I’ve ever seen.
I seriously can’t get over the detail in the Alliance Lion or Horde Insignia (insignia is my favorite word, fyi) and I don’t know how I’m even living with this Lord of the Rings print in my bedroom! There’s everything from WoW to Harry Potter, The Princess Bride to The Big Lebowski, and there’s even several Star Wars prints! The best part of it all? If you order by December 18th (here in the states, the deadline for International orders has passed), you can still get the print in time to get it under your tree! Also, just in case you all didn’t realize this, December 18th is my birthday. (*hint, hint*… I’m just teasing, of course.) The prints are just simply amazing and I’m sure anyone and everyone on your list will agree…just check out the selection and see if you can’t finish up your holiday shopping!
Until next week, everyone…geek on!
