The altered moon landing photo

First Sally Ride a few weeks ago, now legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong has left this planet for a much better place. His skills and bravery are an inspiration to everyone.

I grew up looking at the iconic photos that Neil took on the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969. But I clearly didn’t know the whole story, particularly the story about one of the most iconic photos of all time. Guess what? NASA altered it! (Not by much, but kind of interesting nonetheless). Please check out this link from Charles Apple, who fills us in on how a certain classic photo was partially filled in with black space by NASA. It also features some rare photos of Neil on the moon taken by Buzz Aldrin.

http://apple.copydesk.org/2012/08/25/keep-in-mind-as-you-put-together-your-neil-armstrong-packages-tonight/

And here's the story from NASA:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11-5903history.html


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THE FUTURE OF BOOKS: We live in a very exciting age for authors and book publishers. There are a lot of fun things that are possible today that were impossible just a few years ago. As I think about future plans, I've been looking into how publishing has been changing. For those who are interested in the new technologies out there, especially as they relate to ebooks, I wanted to share this link about “literal” self publishing.

http://andyrossagency.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/self-publishing-at-book-santa-cruz-using-the-espresso-book-machine/

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TCM HIGHLIGHTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2012

This is by no means a complete list of all the “good” TCM films this month. I haven’t necessarily seen all of these yet myself. These are just the ones that stood out for me. Please check your local listings for the exact time and day in your area, and keep in mind that the schedule is subject to change.

September 1: 2010
September 2: The Black Stallion
September 3: Chuck Jones: Memories of childhood ;The Tramp and the Dictator
September 7: A Streetcar named Desire
September 13: It happened one night
September 15: The Fortune Cookie; Sunrise
September 18: Greta Garbo films
September 22: The Time Machine
September 23: Murder by Death
September 24: Diary of Anne Frank; Fiddler on the Roof
September 29: It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world

www.tcm.com

Apollo 11: Man on the moon

40 years ago this week. I’m not old enough to remember Apollo 11, but its impact is certainly felt. I recall listening to recordings of the astronauts & watching video from various documentaries and TV specials. So the moon landing has always been a “rerun” for me, albeit an exciting one. Even at the close of the "Space Shuttle era," the moon landings seem incredibly amazing. Perhaps it’s because we haven’t been there for so long. And we very rarely even see spacewalks covered moment-by-moment on TV. So to watch spacemen on the moon still brings a thrill.

Some of you lucky (?) friends may recall when my brother and I created our own trip to the moon. We used footage from the Disney “moon flight” cartoon combined with recordings of the flight. And we even let you touch the moon! Yes, I know it felt a little bit like Johnson’s baby powder, but that’s what Neil Armstrong said too, if you recall! That recording, by the way, featured Walter Cronkite, who recently passed away. His influence was great as well, and I hope he’s looking down at the moon right now and remembering that day when the lunar module landed.

Here’s another post about space travel which you may find quite relevant to today:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2008/12/looking-above.html

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LOST FOOTAGE: I feel a lot better about myself upon hearing that the original master tape of the moon landing has apparently been recorded over. I don’t feel nearly so bad about all the stuff I’ve taped over! If NASA can screw up, so can I! But you can’t help but wonder what on Earth (or on the moon) was recorded over the master tapes. One friend at work thought it might be porn. Since home video recording wasn’t really available at that time, I tend to disagree, unless it somehow involved the girlfriend of one of the NASA scientists. This is something we’d better stop trying to think about right now.

However, something we can think about is how many OTHER classic moments have been lost to time. It’s kind of sad, but here are the ones that come to mind:

1. TONIGHT SHOW CLASSICS. Johnny Carson often lamented the fact that so many early episodes of the Tonight Show were basically thrown out. They included footage of some incredible entertainers, including Groucho Marx, and Johnny’s first appearance as host!

2. LITTLE RASCALS DEBUT: According to film historian Leonard Maltin in his book “Our Gang: The life and times of the Little Rascals”, the original silent film of Hal Roach’s “Our Gang” is a lost film. This was before Alfalfa & Spanky and the gang made the series the classic we know it as today. But even so, it’s such a historic item that it’s sad that it no longer seems to exist.

3. D-DAY FOOTAGE: On June 6, 1944, when the allied forces invaded France, there were people with cameras trying to capture all the devastation. But there’s not much actual footage of the event. Why not? As one of the photographers handed the film to someone else, it dropped into the waters off Normandy beach! The historic footage was lost, and we are dependant on a few short clips and some photographs to document the Longest Day.

So the next time you make a mistake while recording something (which happened to me this week as well), just remember that you’re in good company. You’re right in there with NASA and “The Greatest Generation.” Everyone makes mistaykes. Uh, mistakes.

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I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ON THE MOON: There are plenty of bloggers who will talk about the moon landing this week, but how many, I ask you, will also include the lyrics to "I don't want to live on the moon?" I claim to be the only one! This is one of my favorite songs. It was written by Jeff Moss, who also wrote "Rubber Duckie:" And the video will be available in my "favorites" list on my YouTube page.

Well I'd like to visit the moon on a rocketship high in the air.

Yes I'd like to visit the moon, but I don't think I'd like to live there.

Though I'd like to look down at the Earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I might like it for one afternoon, I don't want to live on the moon.

I'd like to travel under the sea, I could meet all the fish everywhere.

Yes I'd travel under the sea, but I don't think I'd like to live there.

I might stay for a day there if I had my wish, but there's not much to do when your friends are all fish

And an oyster and clam aren't real family, so I don't want to live in the sea.

I'd like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar, go back in time and meet a dinosaur

There's so many strange places I'd like to be, but none of them permanently.

So if I should visit the moon, well I'll dance on a moonbeam and then,

I will make a wish on a star, and I'll wish I was home once again.

Though I'd like to look down at the Earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I may go, I'll be coming home soon, 'cause I don't want to live on the moon.

No I don't want to live on the moon.

http://members.tripod.com/tiny_dancer/moon.html

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MISSING LINKS FOUND, NOW NEED READERS: The problem with the links was simply solved by upgrading my page to the new blogger design. Looks pretty good. And there’s even a space to list the followers of my blog. Let’s see how many thousands of people have signed on to be followers of my blog. . .hmmm. Argh. Uh, I wonder if I could possibly follow my own blog? Is that within the realm of possibility? And maybe I can bribe a few friends to pretend to read the blog. I’ll have to look into this carefully, as I’m sure you’re as concerned as I am about this issue. :) See you next time!
　

Looking above

The other night, my Dad walked up next to me as I was working on the computer. He asked me, “Do you realize that the computer you’re working on now is better than the one they used when they first went to the moon?”

That sounds incredible, but do you realize that the first space visits to the moon took place nearly 40 years ago? 40!!! It’s amazing how much technology has changed since then. Space travel is, of course, still quite risky. But those risks have gone down considerably, to the point where certain rich people are paying for the right to go into outer space for a day.

With all this in mind, I’d like to share with you an article by Joe Blackstock of the Daily Bulletin newspaper. Joe has some memories of that time 40 years ago, and shares them in this column:

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_11289002

Let's face it, these are pretty hard times, but it's important sometimes to recall we've been in tough straits before and eventually rebounded from them all.
With that in mind, I thought I'd send along a type of Christmas card with an encouraging message from the past.

If you're looking for a depressing time in our history, it's hard to beat 40 years ago in 1968.
America was still reeling from the assassinations earlier in the year of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and riots at the Democratic Convention that summer. Newspaper headlines talked about the violence and uproar over the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam protests.

Consider some of the events of the last week of that forgettable year:
- The worst freeze in nearly two decades over three days ruined a quarter of the Inland Valley's citrus crop. On Dec. 21, the temperature held at 23 degrees for nine hours.
- The uneasy holiday truce declared in Vietnam exploded on Christmas eve with several bombings and small battles breaking the peace.
- The crew of the Pueblo, a Navy ship that had been captured when it allegedly strayed into North Korean waters, was released but the men had many ugly stories of abuse during their captivity.
And not surprisingly, a wire service story reported that due to a large number of American tourists in the Holy Land on Christmas eve, innkeepers in Bethlehem were again turning away pilgrims seeking lodging.

With these sobering events as a backdrop, three men on a long trip provided a little hope 40 years ago Wednesday.

They were at the apex of the flight of Apollo 8 which brought men into orbit around the moon for the first time. They never actually got to the surface, the trip serving as a stepping stone for the first successful moon landing by Apollo 11 the following July.

On that Christmas Eve, astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell and William A. Anders made 10 trips around the moon, looking at sights never before viewed by people of Earth.
Their trip to the moon certainly got people starting to look up, literally and figuratively.
NASA in Houston was inundated by calls from people asking if the white spot near the moon was Apollo 8, the Ontario Daily Report noted Dec. 24.

Officials had to patiently explain that dot was actually the planet Venus.

One of my own most vivid recollections was the photo they took of man's first "earthrise" from lunar obit, as the Earth majestically rose above the moon's surface. And the picture didn't show even a hint of the troubles going on 230,000 miles away back home.
Before being assigned to the mission, Borman was originally scheduled to read a Christmas Eve prayer at his church in League City, Texas. Instead he read the prayer from orbit that was recorded for his church and offered "actually to people everywhere."

It read:
"Give us, o God, the vision which can see thy love in the world, in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust the goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts, and show us what each one of us can do to set forth the coming of the day of universal peace."

That evening, the three astronauts put on one of the most remarkable television programs ever attempted, showing live close-up photos of the moon's mottled surface as they flew 70 miles above.

The crew members described the view in wonder and then each read excerpts from the book of Genesis.

Making everyone forget for a few faint moments all the sorrow and despair and pain that 1968 had brought the world was Borman's poignant farewell words that Christmas eve:
"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you all of you on the good Earth."

Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at joe.blackstock@inlandnewspapers.com or by calling (909) 483-9382.

A Merry days after Christmas to all of you as well. Here’s to a fine 2009!

Christa McAuliffe

Everything I write in this posting is written with very sincere admiration and respect for Christa McAuliffe, her family, friends and admirers. As always, no offense is intended to anybody.

On January 28, 1986, I had just come home from high school after taking a final exam. As I walked in the door, my mother told me that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded. I was surprised on a few levels - I wasn’t aware that the shuttle was taking off that day. I knew there was going to be a launch soon with some teacher on board, but that’s about it. I remember tuning in to watch a replay of the launch. As Challenger took off, I remember thinking, “I’m not sure if I want to see this!” But I did, and the images of the disaster are stuck in my memory forever, as they are in everyone who lived through that day. Those who died in the disaster were F. “Dick” Scobee, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis and S. Christa McAuliffe.

Other notable memories from that day include Dan Rather with a model of the space shuttle on his desk, trying to explain what might have gone wrong. Later on, I got to endure a few sick Challenger jokes from my high school “friends.” It’s better to be alone, man. It really is. Okay, I need to save that rant for later. Ahem. Later that year, my family took a trip to Florida and we got to see Cape Canaveral and the launching pad for Challenger. I bought a Challenger patch and some buttons with the crew on them. I made sure to buy the one with Christa alone on the button as well.

Now why do you suppose they did a button with just Christa on it and none of the other crew members? Well, obviously Christa was the “celebrity” on the flight, being the first civilian set to go up in space. But there’s another reason. A secret reason. A reason nobody has ever dared to mention - until now. Christa makes a pretty picture. Because Christa McAuliffe was pretty. In fact, she was gorgeous! You hear me, world? CHRISTA MCAULIFFE WAS CUTE!

Dang, it feels so good to get that off my chest.

I don’t think that “attractiveness” was the criteria that NASA was using to choose who would be the first civilian in space. However, I don’t think it hurt that Christa was attractive. NASA obviously wanted someone who wasn’t particularly camera-shy, who would be able to present herself to the world with some degree of poise. They couldn’t pick just ANY teacher.

Sadly, there’s some degree of truth to the idea that the “teacher in space” plan was a big PR stunt by NASA. Remember that at first, they were considering taking up a celebrity. John Denver was considered, as was “Big Bird” puppeteer Carroll Spinney! (See the links below for more about that) And while they thankfully chose to focus on sending a “non-celebrity” up there, you can’t help but consider that they would want that “non-celebrity” to be someone who had the potential to be a celebrity. Think of it- the same skills that are used to hold the attention of a class can be used to hold the public’s attention on a grand scale. A teacher who can present her views clearly to a class can also present those views to the American public.

There’s not one particular thing that made Christa attractive. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Look, if I were going out on a blind date, and Christa McAuliffe showed up, I would not be disappointed! She was pretty, smart, seemed to have a good personality - dang, what more could you want?! Of course, Christa was a wonderful person no matter how she looked. Note the word “personality”. When I think about girls that I like, I realize that attractiveness alone isn’t enough. All the beauty in the world won’t work if the person isn’t right for me. I never met Christa, so I can only pretend what she might have been like to know. It seems like at the very least, she would have been a wonderful friend.

I refuse to believe that I’m the only guy (besides her husband) who thinks Christa was attractive. Come on, guys, I KNOW you’re out there! I guess out of respect for Christa and for what she did, we guys don’t want to “take away” from her legacy by adding her to our list of “hot chicks.” It’s commendable to remember Christa for her bravery instead of her beauty. But in the teeny tiny footnotes of history (where this blog probably will eventually go), someone needs to note, “and she was pretty, too!”

Christa was obviously a strong woman in many ways. She was a teacher, first and foremost, and wanted to use those skills on the Challenger. Her intent was to write a diary of the trip. How I wish we could have read that diary. But someday, I believe I’m going to get to actually meet Christa (along with several other people I never got to meet in this lifetime). When I do, I hope to tell her that I cared for her and that she was an inspiration to me. I’d like to think that Christa would forgive me for this blog. :)

Here are some more sites with information about Christa:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mcauliffe.html

http://www.starhop.com/cm_bio.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_McAuliffe

http://www.life.com/Life/space/mcauliffe/mcauliffe01.html

The documentary “Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars” is probably the best one about Christa herself. You can learn more about it at the site below:

http://www.traipsingthrufilms.com/

For more about the celebrities who almost got to ride on the Challenger, enjoy my previous post.
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/05/big-bird-and-space-shuttle-challenger.html

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THEY SAID IT: While researching this post, I came upon an interesting page of quotes about space and space travel that I hope you will enjoy. It features quotes from Christa and many others, and asks a notable question about Neil Armstrong’s famous “one small step” quote. Could it be he got it wrong? Check it out.

http://www.skygod.com/quotes/spaceflight.html

Space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space.

— Christa McAuliffe, December 6, 1985.

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PHANTOM DISAPPEARS, THEN REAPPEARS: Once upon a time, there was a Web page dedicated to the “Phantom of the Opera.” Although it was obviously inspired by the Andrew Lloyd Webber production, it welcomed comments about all of the various phantom-related items over the years. From the original novel to the Lon Chaney film to the recent high school productions, this site was a valuable resource for Phantom fans. And it even had an easy address to remember: phantomoftheopera dot com.

But as 2008 began, the Phantom site disappeared. There was nothing there but a message saying “this account has been suspended.” And the fact that it was there for a few weeks seemed to verify that the site wasn’t coming back. It was quite a popular site, with several new comments from readers coming in every day, and updates on “Phantom”-related news. (Think “Muppet Central”, only about the Phantom) It makes you realize that not every site is going to be around forever. We all have those sites that we really enjoy visiting - our little “neighborhood” on the Web where we can keep up with certain people or things. So let’s take a moment to be thankful for those who keep our favorite sites going. And uh, by the way. . .thanks for stopping by here every once in a while as well.

But by mid-January, the Phantom site had returned in all its glory, much to the relief of Phantom fans, teenage girls and theatre critics worldwide. There seems at this point to be no official explanation of what exactly happened. Obviously, there was some kind of billing issue at stake, but how that issue appeared in the first place is another mystery only the Phantom can answer.

Have you noticed how many Web sites are only managed by a handful of people? Whereas a movie or TV show can have thousands of people working together to make it happen, a Web site doesn’t really need all that many. Even a regularly updated site only needs a handful of people to make it work. In some ways, that’s a big plus for Web sites. “One man” can make a difference. You don’t need a crowd to shout out loud. But then there’s the down side: If that one person goes away. . .

Check out the 2004 movie to find out why “Phantom” is so popular. You can read about it in my post here, which also has a link to the Phantom site mentioned above:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/08/phantom-of-opera.html

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MEREDITH IN TRAINING: You didn’t think I could just let THIS one go by, do you? Meredith Vieira mentioned Sesame Street in her blog!

http://meredithtoday.ivillage.com/entertainment/2008/01/friday_qa_manny_blogging_sesam.html
Sharp-eyed fans will note that Meredith appeared in an episode of Sesame Street this season. You can read about that here:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Meredith_Vieira

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BROCKETT’S BATHING SUIT: Who could have known that mild-mannered Don Brockett, who played Chef Brockett on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, had a wild side? Well, at least I think he did. You’ve got to be a teeny tiny bit wild to run around in a tiger-skin swimsuit, right? Just think about Ginger from “Gilligan‘s Island.” I do it all the time. Uh, think about Ginger, that is. And Courteney and Meredith and . . .Well, anyway, you can see a photo of Don in his swimsuit in this entry from the “Making Mister Rogers and Me” blog. And be sure to read that great quote from Linda Elerbee on why TV is “often so shallow.”

http://mrrogersandme.blogspot.com/2008/01/mister-rogers-chef-brockett-me.html

Big Bird and the Space Shuttle Challenger

In the mid 1980s, space shuttle flights had become relatively commonplace - at least in the view of some people at NASA. Somehow, the idea began to grow that it was time to have a "regular person" fly on the shuttle along with the astronauts. One of the people who tried to get on was none other than singer John Denver. John probably would have been a good choice - reasonably healthy and a pilot himself. But someone at NASA wanted to get young children more interested in the shuttle flights. (Which sounds kind of silly when you think about it. Shouldn't young children already be interested in something so exciting?)

Anyway, if you've ever suspected that the people at PBS are in cahoots with the government higher-ups, this is material to add to your conspiracy theories. Someone at NASA contacted Carroll Spinney, the puppeteer of Big Bird and Oscar on "Sesame Street." Big Bird was being offered the chance to fly higher than most of us will ever go in this lifetime! Big Bird on the space shuttle! Needless to say, that would have been a very memorable episode of Sesame Street. It likely would have gone on for weeks, the way the New Mexico and Hawaii episodes did, as well as the later "Slimey on the moon" series.

But it was not meant to be- the Big Bird puppet was, well, too big. It's quite a large costume, and not exactly the kind of thing that can be easily packed away. (Although it's fun to imagine what Big Bird would have looked like floating around in zero gravity. "Woaaaah!!!")

But there was another alternative- the idea arose of sending Big Bird's teddy bear, Radar, into space instead. Radar would have been easier to pack. And it still would have allowed for a "Sesame Street" connection to the flight. But again, somebody (probably the same guy who said John Denver couldn't go) said no, no teddy bear. So both Radar and Spinney were out, and eventually they decided to pick an even more "normal" person - a teacher. The teacher they eventually chose was Christa McAuliffe. Today, we remember her and her crewmates as the heroes who died in the tragic accident on the Challenger.

Had Spinney died on the space shuttle Challenger, the history of Sesame Street would have been quite different. How would they have handled this death? Thankfully, we'll never know the answer to that. Both Spinney and Denver lived on to do some great work. John Denver's great song "Flying for Me" was written in tribute to the Challenger crew.

Of course, Sesame Street did eventually go into space, if only on the TV show. Oscar's pet worm Slimey has the distinction of being first worm on the moon. He along with his crewmates flew to the moon in what must be the longest flight to the moon in history. (The Apollo guys got there in about 3 days; Slimey and crew took a couple of months!) That series, in a way, was the end of an era for Sesame Street. For after it was over, and the next season began, a new part of the show had been added called "Elmo's world." Nothing would be the same after that. :)

Here's a clip from an article from the Variety website mentioning the Spinney/Challenger issue:

Little-known fact: Spinney was approached by NASA to fly on the space shuttle. "They wanted the children of America to be more interested in NASA," he says. "They thought Big Bird could go up in it and we would do an actual production. I said yes ... but then they found out there was absolutely no place to store (the) Big Bird (costume), so I couldn't go. They selected Christa McAuliffe to go instead, and now you know the rest of the story. What a tragedy."

http://www.variety.com/ac2006_article/VR1117939890?nav=daytimee

Spinney mentioned the tragedy during some of his personal appearances. You can read about them here:

http://www.toughpigs.com/forumbam01.htm


http://www.alittlemorelife.net/weblog/archives/2004/11/sesame_street_p.html