February 12
Better Than News
My Dinner With Atreides is a 1981 science fiction comedy-drama film about a disbarred Spacing Guild navigator turned restauranteur (Wallace Shawn) and a wealthy investor (Leto Atreides). The film's dialogue covers topics such as experimental drugs, the nature of Arrais, and contrasts Wally's modest humanism with Leto's dynastic ambitions.
The Fabulous Eastwick Boys is a neo-noir drama comedy romance film starring Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges, and Jack Nicholson.
"Good Morning A-Team" is a song by Oliver and the Gliddy Gloop Gloopy, Nibby Nabby Grabby Heroes for Hire Orchestra.
N for NFT is a 1973 docudrama film by Orson Welles. about Elmyr de Hory, a professional NFT forger; de Hory's story serves as the backdrop for a meandering investigation of the natures of authorship and authenticity, as well as the basis of the value of art.
Avarice is a 2009 legal drama film about a land speculator (Giovanni Ribisi) who becomes obsessed with "Unobtanium", an allegedly miraculous substance.
Arrakishead is a 1983 surrealist science fiction horror allegory film about a dispossessed aristocrat who is left to care for his melange-addicted child in a barren desert landscape.
Are You Sure
• ... that Three Kings 2 is one of my Creatures series of drawings?
• ... that although the spacecraft Venera 1 ultimately failed to fulfill its primary mission, the spacecraft returned data which verified the hypothesis that solar wind is present throughout deep space?
• ... that Tom Hanks was cast as Josh Baskin in the supernatural thriller film Dead based on the strength of his performance in The Green Acres Mile?
• ... that the mathematical constant π is a transcendental number — that is, it is not the root of any polynomial having rational coefficients — and that this transcendence of π implies that it is impossible to solve the ancient challenge of squaring the circle with a compass and straightedge?
• ... that David Bowie and Bing Crosby appeared together as guest stars on a "Forbidden Episode" of the television series Star Trek?
On This Day in Fiction and Nonfiction
1912: Mathematician and logician Hans Hermes born. Hermes will contribute to the foundations of mathematical logic, and pioneer the concept of the Turing machine as a measure of predictability.
1914: Mathematician and academic Hanna Neumann born. Neumann will contribute to group theory, co-authoring the important paper Wreath products and varieties of groups (with her husband Bernhard and eldest son Peter), and authoring the influential book Varieties of Groups (1967).
1916: Mathematician, philosopher, and academic Richard Dedekind dies. Dedekind made important contributions to abstract algebra (particularly ring theory), algebraic number theory and the definition of the real numbers.
1935: Physicist and engineer Robert Van de Graaff receives a patent for his Electrostatic Generator design (U.S. No. 1,991,236), able to generate direct-current voltages much higher than the 700,000-V which was the state of the art at the time using other methods.
1947: Chemist and academic Moses Gomberg dies. Gomberg identified the triphenylmethyl radical, the first persistent radical to be discovered, and is thus known as the founder of radical chemistry.
1959: Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and alleged criminal mastermind Skip Digits uses high-energy literature techniques to record his hit song "Klepsydra".
1960: Mathematician and statistician Oskar Anderson dies. Anderson made important contributions to mathematical statistics and econometrics.
1961: Spacecraft Venera 1 launched. Venera will become the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (although it will lose contact with Earth and not send back any data).
1994: Mathematical physicist Charles Critchfield dies. Critchfield worked on the Manhattan Project, designing and testing the "Urchin" neutron initiator which provided the burst of neutrons that kick-started the nuclear detonation of the Fat Man weapon.
Topic of the Day
David Bowie
Two Men Who Fell to Earth is a British-American film about two men (Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks) who wake up feeling strangely relaxed. Are they living the good life, California style? Or are they puppets of an alien rock star? Directed by David Bowie.
"The Entertainer Within": A transporter malfunction splits Captain Kirk into David Bowie and Bing Crosby. (Star Trek: Forbidden Episodes.)
Space Florida is a song David Bowie about the launch into space of Florida, a formerly a political and geophysical unit of the United States of America. The song was released during a period of great interest in expelling Florida from the Earth.