By airplane to the rocket, by taxi to the airport

[austin_dern]

The most curious comment I've seen from more than one person about James Doohan's death is that it was ironic or fitting he died on the 36th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the moon. I don't see how it's either. It's a fine enough coincidence, but I don't know the right literary term for it.

As it happens I finished the From The Earth To The Moon DVD set yesterday (I'd been watching one episode per week), which I hadn't planned; things just sort of fall into place that way. The Apollo 17 episode's wonderful, but I'm still uneasy about its fake-documentary nature. And then I went to one of my silent movie DVDs to watch Georges Méliès's A Voyage To The Moon, and the DVD player froze up at the climax. I hope the machine's not breaking; it's frozen a couple times recently, but in watching DVD-R's sent by friends who wanted me to have the finest eye-gougeing Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1970s, fresh from Boomerang. The CB Bears and Hey, It's The King will break anybody's consumer electronics and belief in the existence of an understandable universe¹. Oh, the player had always skipped a few places in the Star Trek: Nemesis Video CD too. Freezing up on the silent movies DVD is the first sign it's having trouble with professional entertainment.

¹ Though CB Bears' short Beaky Buzzard is a better Coyote-and-Road-Runner ripoff than the Coyote-and-Road-Runner cartoons done by Rudy Larriva and Bill ``I have four bars of music and you're gonna hear all of them'' Lava.

Trivia: Three batches of mice were lost in testing the procedures for the Lunar Receiving Laboratory quarantine lab. Source: First On The Moon: A Voyage With Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E Aldrin Jr, ``Written with'' Gene Farmer, Dora Jane Hamblin. And in one of the many trivial things I'd like to know ... contemporary accounts of Apollo crews almost invariably named astronauts in the order Commander-Command Module Pilot-Lunar Module Pilot; these days, it's almost as surely Commander-Lunar Module Pilot-Command Module Pilot. When the switch?

Currently Reading: The Nemesis Affair: A Story of the Death of Dinosaurs and the Ways of Science, David M Raup.

Comments

[nikonraccoon.livejournal.com]

According to an NPR interview, last year where Doohan got his star on the walk of fame, there was a dinner honering him, and raising money for alzhimer's. Armstrong was there, and he said that Scotty was the reason he wanted to be an engineer, and wanted to walk on the moon. So that makes the date more meaningful.

[spaceroo.livejournal.com]

Armstrong was there, and he said that Scotty was the reason he wanted to be an engineer, and wanted to walk on the moon.

That seems a bit unlikely, given that Armstrong was already an astronaut and had flown on Gemini 8 by the time the original Star Trek went into production.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Ah, but he hadn't flown yet (except in the X-15 -- for speed, not altitude, if I'm not mistaken) when Scotty's first performance was filmed ... which ... doesn't mean anything, really.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

The story I've seen -- and I have no idea what was actually said at the Walk of Fame celebrations and such -- was that Armstrong said he wanted Scotty as his engineer ... which is not a bad thought. (Could've used one on Gemini VIII, at that ... )

It adds some connection, granted, particularly with the number of space professionals who got into it through Star Trek, many through Scotty.

Trivia question for you:

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

Of the Apollo Lunar Modules that were launched into space, which ascent stage still exists, intact?

Re: Trivia question for you:

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well ... that's not quite so easy to say. Apollo 10's Lunar Module (Snoopy)'s Ascent Stage was sent into solar orbit. However, it wasn't particularly closely tracked, and it's nearly certainly come very close to Earth or Moon at least once since then. If it crashed into the Moon or the Earth's atmosphere then, it probably would have gone unnoticed (alas). If it didn't, it very likely got its orbit wildly perturbed at least that once. I don't think being tossed into the Sun is probable from a single Earth-pass, but it's possible; it could also have been tossed towards Jupiter's domain of influence and goodness knows what's become of it.

So Snoopy is the most correct answer, but we don't actually know that it still exists.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

o/~ I'll be now checking out and flying, by rocket to the moon o/~

Wasn't Beaky Buzzard a WB character? The 2-cartoon one that Tiny Toons's Concord Condor was based off of..

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, but this was a new character, cast in the role of Wile E Coyote, to a mighty fast worm who played, well, the Road Runner. Most of the 'rules' of Road Runner cartoons were obeyed -- mute characters, blackout gags, the hunter doing the most harm to himself, the prey not doing much to the hunter. And the jokes were honestly better than the non-Chuck Jones Road Runner cartoons.

[spaceroo.livejournal.com]

I was under the impression that the buzzard from the CB Bears was actually "Blast-Off Buzzard".

I'd also assumed that "Crazy Legs" was a snake, not a worm, but... huh. It's more natural a bird would want to catch a worm then a snake, I suppose, but... a buzzard is probably more likely to eat a snake, oddly enough. (In the form of roadkill, I guess.) Unless "Crazy Legs" is actually a large maggot, which is an unappetizing thought.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh, sheesh, you're right, it is Blast-Off Buzzard.

I'm not at all sure whether Crazy Legs is supposed to be a snake or a worm. From size a snake does seem more likely, although relative sizes in cartoons are a pretty shaky basis to make judgements on.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I heartily applaud the eating of snakes. Well, as long as there's enough left over for me. As I've never seen this cartoon, though, couldn;t tell you which he might be.

--Chiaroscuro

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/A-C/C_B__Bears/Blast_Off_Buzzard/index.html

This page seems to give credence to the 'snake' theory.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, an episode titled ``Hearts and Flowers, Buzzards and Snakes'' would seem to settle the issue pretty well. I don't know why I don't find the Big Cartoon Database more useful than I do; I rarely do use it.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you would approve, but bear in mind, Blast-Off is just not that good at it. If you find yourself employing any of his plans, which are kind of the off-brand model Acme schemes, you may want to change course.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Duly noted. Well, cartoon mongooses after cartoon snakes seem to have better luck- over the span of 22 minutes Rikki-Tikki-Tavi catches three of them. Mind, only one is trying to actively run away at the time...

On that note, I now have Rikki-Tikki-Tavi on DVD, finally. no extra features, and paired illogically with a 'Cricket' cartoon (Instead of a white Seal/Mowgli's Brothers triple-pack that they *should* do) but also cost only $6.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I guess it all depends who's the hero species in this case. I think I've seen at least one Rikki-Tikki-Tavi DVD, although I didn't pay it much heed. I've still got SCTV and miscellaneous other things watching.