Smithsonian.com

Gandalf’s fireworks were far better of course. Image: davidmonro

January 3rd was J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday, and in his honor, we’ve put together instructions on how to throw the best Hobbit Birthday ever.

First, we have the official advice for the producers of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Next, play Pin the Ring on Bilbo made by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Then, make sure you have lots and lots of food. Here’s WikiHow on How to Celebrate Hobbit day (these are the same foods at listed in the guide above, but food is very important to hobbits, so you must be sure to get it right):

• Mushrooms (these are favorite hobbit food and Farmer Maggot used to grow them and Frodo got caught trying to steal some)
• Wine (Bilbo and Frodo both inherited vineyards); beer is also popular with hobbits
• Hot soup
• Cold meats, mince pies, pork pies, rabbit, fish and chips, rashers of bacon
• Blackberry tarts and other blackberry foods (including uncooked blackberries)
• Freshly baked bread and lots of butter
• Pickles are often mentioned
• Ripe cheese
• Food made from vegetables such as corn, turnips, carrots, potatoes and onions
• Food made with apples, such as apple tart (with raspberry jam)
• Honey (foods made with honey such as honey cakes would be nice)
• Scones (known as “biscuits” in North America), fruit pies, and cakes of any kind, including seed cakes
• Pinwheel sandwiches (just because these are small and cute and the hobbits may have approved provided they weren’t too fussy)
• Tea and coffee.
  • Keep seasonings and sauces to a minimum; apparently hobbits didn’t bother with them that much.

Finally, give other people presents. Yes, other people. It’s Hobbit tradition to give gifts to others on their birthdays. Here’s Tolkien on the subject:

Receiving of gifts: this was an ancient ritual connected with kinship. It was in origin a recognition of the byrding’s membership of a family or clan, and a commemoration of his formal ‘incorporation’. No present was given by father or mother to their children on their (the children’s) birthdays (except in the rare cases of adoption); but the reputed head of the family was supposed to give something, if only in ‘token’.

Giving gifts: was a personal matter, not limited to kinship. It was a form of ‘thanksgiving’, and taken as a recognition of services, benefits, and friendship shown, especially in the past year.

A trace of this can be seen in the account of Sméagol and Déagol – modified by the individual characters of these rather miserable specimens. Déagol, evidently a relative (as no doubt all the members of the small community were), had already given his customary present to Sméagol, although they probably set out on their expedition v. early in the morning. Being a mean little soul he grudged it. Sméagol, being meaner and greedier, tried to use the ‘birthday’ as an excuse for an act of tyranny Because I wants it’ was his frank statement of his chief claim. But he also implied that D’s gift was a poor and insufficient token: hence D’s retort that on the contrary it was more than he could afford.

With that, have a very happy birthday Tolkien—and thanks for all the adventures.

More from Smithsonian.com:

The Hobbit You Grew Up With Isn’t Quite the Same As the Original, Published 75 Years Ago Today
If Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Looks Weird to You, Blame the Guy Who Created Oakley Sunglasses

Image: Leo Reynolds

Tons of parents vie to have their kid born first every new year. But how many do you think planned to have their kids turn 12, at 12:12, on 12/12/12? Two. Okay, their parents probably didn’t plan it out, but two kids do have twelfth birthdays today at 12:12—Kreg Ryan Gunter from Belleville, Illinois, who turned 12 just past midnight, and Kiam Moriya of Birmingham, Alabama, who’s turning twelve at twelve minutes past noon today.

There might be six other kids with the same six twelves out there somewhere, says The Daily:

Based on statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4 million babies were born in the United States in 2000 — an average of about eight in any given minute. So far though, only these two boys have come to the attention of the media.

But, of course, that’s just an average—no one really knows if there are more of these lucky 12-year-olds and soon-to-be-12-year-olds. Ryan (Kleg goes by his middle name) told The Daily that he had been looking forward to this day since he was 11 (and we know that one year in kid time is like an eternity). Kiam plans to eat Krispy Kreme donuts arranged in the shape of a 12, because “donuts are awesome.”

When explaining why their birthdays were so cool, Kiam said “It’s like one minute out of a whole lifetime,” he said. “You know, it’s all 12s.”

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Photo: Google

Auguste Rodin, the French sculptor behind “The Thinker” and “The Kiss,” celebrates his would-be 172nd birthday today with a Google Doodle tribute. The Los Angeles Times describes the artist’s work:

Rodin’s sculptures emphasize musculature and movement, with subjects often assuming contorted and anguished poses. His work is often viewed as paving the way for modern sculpture of the 20th century.

His sculptures dabbled in mythology and allegory, and his unique ability to entice turbulent, deeply textured figures out of his raw materials ran counter to the predominant sculpture traditions of the time, earning him much criticism by contemporaries. Eventually, however, he outgrew those jealous judgements, rising to become France’s preeminent sculptor and gaining world-wide recognition by 1900.

Besides his enduring mark on modern art, Rodin is probably best known for his tumultuous love affair with fellow artist, Camille Claudel. The two met in 1883, when Claudel was just 18 years old. They embarked upon a passionate but stormy relationship, with Claudel often serving as Rodin’s model, while producing her own artistic works and assisting Rodin with commissions.

Meanwhile, Rodin kept up ties with Rose Beuret, his first love and mother to his child. “I think of how much you must have loved me to put up with my caprices…I remain, in all tenderness, your Rodin,” he wrote to her once, while still carrying on with mistress Claudel. In 1898, following an unwanted abortion, Claudel severed ties with Rodin for good. Soon after, she suffered a nervous breakdown and her family committed her (needlessly, many argue) to an asylum, where she spent the next 30 years, until her death in 1943. Her relatives never came to claim Claudel’s body, so she was buried in a communal grave without ceremony.

Rodin finally married Beuret, but only in the last year of both of their lives.

Rodin and Claudel’s tempestuous relationship has inspired plays, ballets and movies. A new rendition, staring Juliette Binoche as an asylum-bound, bitter Claudel, is scheduled to hit theaters next year.

More from Smithsonian.com:

Sculpture Blossoms in a New Garden 
Please Eat the Art 

Image: NASA

Seventy-eight years ago today the world was graced with the first breaths of Carl Sagan—researcher, communicator, scientist extraordinaire. Throughout his years as both a scientist and a science communicator, Sagan brought the Cosmos to the people in his characteristic, quirky style. His charisma has created tons of spinoffs and inspired artists and musicians all over the world. Here are some of our favorite tributes.

Here’s how Sagan would make an apple pie:

Image: neven

And here’s how he would make it if he were a techno musician:

Here’s what he would be like if he were a super hero, via XKCD.

Image: XKCD

Here’s Sagan’s portrait based on his pale blue dot series:

Image: Sam Saxton

Sagan’s science set to music and epic space photographs is pretty inspiring:

Less inspiring, but equally creative, is this segment with Sagan as a puppet.

And if you want to see Sagan in action, watch the whole Cosmos series, check out the Carl Sagan Channel on YouTube.

More from Smithsonian.com:

Carl Sagan and “The Sounds of Earth”
 Long Before Curiosity, Carl Sagan Had Something to Say to Kids About Mars

Photo: Google

The Google team must be literati or vampire fans—or both: Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the birth of Bram Stoker, arguably the father of the modern vampire. If he were alive today, he’d be 165, still something of a baby-vamp, by “True Blood” standards.

Dublin-born Stoker (christened Abraham)entered this world in 1847. He was a soccer and track start at Trinity College, and after graduating spent a few years working as a clerk. By the time he reached 50, however, he’d found his true calling: he released his most notable book—perhaps the most famous horror novel ever written—Dracula.

To create Dracula, Stoker spent a few years submerging himself in Eastern European folklore and its popular countryside mythology of the vampire. Unfortunately, Stoker died just 15 years after Dracula’s publication, and it wasn’t until after the author departed this Earth that the book really gained traction in popular culture, sparking adaptations in films, literature and television, and igniting an entire industry of vampire-related entertainment, Digital Spy writes.

Though the original 541-page typed Dracula manuscript disappeared for decades, until  in the 1980s it reemerged inside a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania. The work, titled “The Un-Dead,” was purchased by billionaire Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen.

Most vampire buffs associate Bella Lugosi’s original 1931 portrayal with the essence of Dracula, but fervent fans would argue that Gary Oldman’s sultry, tortured portrayal of the “son of the dragon” in the 1992 “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” really hit the coffin nail on the head:

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Why Does Dracula Wear a Tuxedo?  
Vampires on Film