My Virtual Reading Room

From Col. Chris Hadfield on FB, who posted it with this note:

Good morning! Came across this photograph from long ago - a moment where dreams, reality and promise met in person.

( Seven more: )

Love the looks on their faces in this bit...
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"They insulted us, Sir!"
"Must have been some insult..."
"Aye, Sir, it was."
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My thanks again to charleygirl for telling me of this song a while back ;) This is another version I ran across, hope you enjoy ;)
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An interview with Leonard Nimoy, including how he got on FB and Twitter ;)

Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street--An interesting lecture and Q&A session about SH, fictional detectives, and the London of SH

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(the lecture itself is about 53 minutes, total video time is 1 hr 16 min)

Great Auroral Storm of 1859 --article and photo (link found thanks to browngirl)

Strange but true: An actor whose character had been killed during a live TV show suddenly got up and walked offstage. Read about it HERE

And finally, a touching and true story: The Cab Ride

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(from George Takei's FB)

"Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim."
.....

"Weakness to be wroth with weakness!
Woman's pleasure, woman's pain,
Nature made them blinder notions
Bounded in a shallower brain"...
......
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Споря с женщиной, мужчина
Блещет силой убеждений,
Ищет доводы, причины
Для логичных построений,
Чтобы их потом унёс
Шквал истерики и слёз!
(Mirza-Shafi)

When arguing with a woman, a man
Demonstrates the brilliance and strength of his convictions,
Seeks the arguments and causes
For building logical syllogisms,
And all so that, afterwards,
A tempest of hysterics and tears could carry it all away!
(Mirza-Shafi)

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If you like reading and/or writing, especially in the Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings fandoms...
Come one, come all! There's a great new challenge in great_tales , and a discussion about the date of Holmes' birthday...do come in and join the fun! The more the merrier!

Look what I found on Amazon...hee hee ;)
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And this is the original song:

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Both pointed out by goldvermilion87 ; with thanks!

Audrey Hepburn
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Mr. Spock
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Мастер Йода

Nick'd from anastgal ; see more at anastgal.livejournal.com/1212352.html

Pointed out, once again, by goldvermilion87 
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Isn't the video montage amazing?!
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This was pointed out to me by goldvermilion87 :)
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"You haven't read Hamlet until you've read him in the original Klingon!"
Look what I found in this Sunday's Washington Post:
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( Read more... )

Found via damaged_penguin :)
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From a biography of DeForest Kelley, "From sawdust to stardust"--thanks again to  wirral_bagpuss  for the recommendation :)
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Aileen Pickering's riding lessons and the instruction he took later on made DeForest a fine cowboy actor. As Carolyn recalls, "He looked good on a horse."

However, there are some things a cowboy actor can't be ready for. With self-effacing humor, Kelley told the story: "My gang...we ride into town. There are about fifteen or twenty of us just hellbent for leather, and we tie up at a tie rail and all swing off the horses one after the other.  And as I swung, I had spurs on. My foot hit the horse next to me in the rump, and he kicked, and I went into the air." He used his arms and hands to trace the arch and spin of his body in space. "I did a loop. I knew I was turning over. I could feel myself in the air, and the tie rail, you know, and i fell, and my head just missed that tie rail. I uttered an obscenity while in the air and landed on the ground...silence...I open my eyes, and I look up, and I see all these horses. Here comes Eddie Dmytryk, big cigar, looked over. 'You all right, De?' 'Yeah.' He said, 'God, I'm glad I hired real cowboys.'"

"...Now, ever since the ear-touching incident with Maura McGivney, it had not escaped my attention that the majority of Mr. Spock's fans were women. And, for some mysterious reason, they found the Vulcan compellingly attractive. There was a lot of amusing speculation about this--including theories about Spock's "satanic" good looks--but one of the most entertaining articles was written by the famous science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov and entitled, "Mr. Spock is Dreamy." (Coincidentally, it appeared in TV Guide the very same month the fateful 1967 Pear Blossom Festival took place.)  The humorous essay's premise was that Spock was sexy to female viewers precisely because he was smart (while Dr. Asimov bemoaned the fact that he'd been playing dumb all these years, based on his observation of television sitcoms, which always portrayed a stupid husband who was loyally adored by his smart wife).

In the article, he said:

For years and years, I have done my best to be a stupid husband....But it hadn't occurred to me that Mr. Spock was sexy...that girls palpitate over the way one eyebrow goes up a fraction; that the squeal with passion when a little smile quirks his lip. And all because he's smart!

If only I had known! If only I had known!

(From Leonard Nimoy's book "I Am Spock")