Monthly Archives: January 2017

St. Joseph Lighthouse

Photographer Joshua Nowicki captured photographs of the St. Joseph lighthouse at the mouth of the St. Joseph River in Michigan and it’s beautifully (and completely) covered in ice. And because the thick icicles that accentuate the lighthouse are angled back from the strong winds, it looks like an alien sculpture that’s frozen in time.

This sort of crazy icy effect happens a lot to various structures when the cold hits but that doesn’t make it not stunning to see. You can see more photos from Nowicki here. They’re absolutely lovely.

Toronto Zoo Giant Panda vs Snowman

J.R.R. Tolkien

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.

JRR Tolkien is best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and of English language and literature, also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959.

JRR Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973)

Awesome Resolution

Happy New Year #2

new_year

Roger Miller

Roger Miller

Roger Dean Miller (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992)

Roger Miller was an American singer, songwriter, and musician.
 Wikipedia Link

Isaac Asimov

All hail the birthday of Dr. Isaac Asimov, born this day in 1920.
Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992)

 Wikipedia Link

Dr. Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born American Jewish author and biochemist, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov’s most famous work is the Foundation Series, which was part of one of his two major series, the Galactic Empire Series, later merged with his other famous story arc, the Robot series. He also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as a great amount of non-fiction. Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 volumes and an estimated 90,000 letters or postcards, and he has works in every major category of the Dewey Decimal System except Philosophy. Asimov was by consensus a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered to be one of the “Big Three” science-fiction writers during his lifetime.

Most of Asimov’s popularized science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going back as far as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often gives nationalities, birth dates and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms.

The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or Three Laws) are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story “Runaround”, although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. The Three Laws are:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

RIP William Christopher

William Christopher as Father Mulcahy

William Christopher (October 20, 1932 – December 31, 2016) was an American actor, best known for playing Father Mulcahy on the television series M*A*S*H and Private Lester Hummel on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. 

He guest-starred in several well-known series, including The Andy Griffith Show, Death Valley Days, The Patty Duke Show, The Men from Shiloh and Good Times (he portrayed the military doctor examining J. J. Evans). Christopher had recurring roles on That Girl and Hogan’s Heroes. He made several guest appearances on The Love Boat as well.

Christopher died at his home on December 31, 2016.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown