The Geekly with a Twist: October 26th-November 1st
It’s almost Halloween! I hope you all have amazing plans for your weekend before the best holiday of the year (and the ONLY holiday this awesome). As such, I’m keeping this intro short and sweet today. I still have a Frankenstein’s monster costume to finish (pictures of that and my Mary Shelley to come) and a scavenger hunt in a cemetery to enjoy! So, onward with the history!
October 27th, 1953: Robert Picardo, who many will recognize either as the Emergency Medical Hologram (Star Trek) or as Richard Woolsey (Stargate), is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
October 27th, 1984: The beautiful actress behind Ashley Magnus (of Sanctuary), Emilie Ullerup is born in Copenhagen, Denmark.
October 28th, 1955: One of the men behind the “personal computer revolution,” the one and only Bill Gates is born in Seattle, Washington.
October 28th, 1967: John Romero, the co-founder of id Software and one of the designers and programmers on such works as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, is born in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
October 28th, 1982: The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, is born in Northampton in central England.
October 28th, 2009: Ares I-X, the first and only of its kind (and a development flight test for a new launch system for human spaceflight), is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
October 29th, 1969: At 10:30 PM, the letters “l” and “o” are transmitted over ARPANET (the predecessor to the internet) from one computer to another, marking the first network connection of two computers.
October 30th, 1972: Jessica Stevenson (married name Hynes), the hilarious opposite of Simon Pegg in Spaced (and also one of the co-creators and writers), is born in London, England.
November 1st, 1984: Natalia Tena, the one who won everyone’s heart as Tonks (and also kicks butt as Osha in Game of Thrones), is born in London, England.
And, of course, for more awesome geeky historic-ness, check out:
So, in honor of the holiday and Mr. (John) Romero, how about Wolfenstein Glühwein for your Twist? (Drink courtesy of The Drunken Moogle)
- 3/4 c water
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 orange
- 10 whole cloves
- 1 (750 mL) bottle of red wine (the drier the better for something like this)
In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer. While waiting on the water, cut the orange in half. Once the water is simmering, squeeze the juice from the orange into the water. Push the cloves into the peel of the orange and place the peel in the water (carefully!). Continue simmering for about 30 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and syrupy. Pour in the wine slowly and heat the drink until steaming (but not simmering). Remove the orange peel and cloves and serve in mugs or Irish coffee glasses.
So, now you’ve got something to keep you warm on the holiday. Have you finished off your costume? I know a lot of you are probably slackers like me, but some of you are just ready for the finishing touches. While not everyone can be a Walking Dead-esque makeup artist or don’t have the accessory closet of my 19 year-old cousin/roommate, there are some great resources around the web to help you put the finishing touches on your costume. After all, the accessories can be the difference between being Neil and being Link. So let’s Garnish this properly.
First and foremost, if you weren’t around for last years special, The Lush Life: Flesh, Blood and Scales features secrets to some of your most typical makeup needs and basic tips.
Of course, when you’ve got your makeup and costume done, you need to worry about the hair next. One of the weirdest hairstyles people need for the day would be the classic Leia buns. There are options for creating Leia earmuffs, but if you’ve got the long hair to do it, I found the following video pretty helpful….
[youtube=http://youtu.be/Ls2k3QdkiCQ]
Then again, if your ears aren’t covered, there’s a million great ways to turn your ears into accessories. Between awesome ear cuffs and Elf ears, the little loved-on body part can be a focus point of epicness.
Lastly, if you need some “armor,” Entropy has a great tutorial about how to craft foam “Elvish armor.” Check out the page here.
Of course, you must always remember that, sometimes, while we all want to be like Link, sometimes Neil is just as awesome…if not better for the comedic personality. I’ve personally been trying to get the boyfriend to dress up as Neil for the past three Halloweens (maybe it’s a personal wish to dress up as the Fairy à la Felicia Day).
So, enjoy your weekend everyone! I’m definitely going to have my fun! Until next week, geek on!
