A Salute to Passionate Nerds

Today, I ran across some awesome examples of people passionate about things that only exist in fantasy worlds.

Example 1

image by San Diego Metropolitan Transit System via Flickr

My husband works at a university here in Germany. This university has a Language Center, where you can take language and literature classes. If the university doesn't already offer a language you need, you can request that one be added.

This year, Klingon was requested. Really.

The university took this request seriously. A teacher was sought. And found. The course was officially open.

We just found out the class has now been cancelled. University guidelines require at least eight students, and only six registered. It's heart breaking, really.

A salute to the six Klingon-loving nerds! 

And a special salute to the one who had the guts to request the class in the first place!

Example 2

image by Michael Matti via Flickr

I was browsing the latest program for Nuremberg's planetarium, when I ran across this presentation:

Der Sternenhimmel über Mittelerde 

(The Sky Over Middle Earth)

That's right. You can spend an hour and a half watching an explanation of the constellations—and the legends that inspired them—from a world that does not exist.

I love Lord of the Rings too, but in order for this event to happen, someone had to be passionate enough to create the entire fictional sky, compile Tolkien's fictional history, and select elements of Tolkien's works to be read. And then they had to set it all to music.

A salute to the Tolkien-nerd who created the program! 

And another salute to the LOTR-nerd who decided the planetarium would offer it to the Nuremberg public!

Bonus 

"Loch Ness Monster in the Pond" by Norm Robbie via Flickr

I stumbled across this on Flickr, but have no details.

A salute to whoever was cool enough to create the Loch Ness Monster and put it in their pond.

Got an impressive example of a fantasy loving nerd? I'd love to hear it in the comments!