Happy Birthday, Mark!

[Tau Zero]

Here's hoping you don't have to relive today over and over and over again. :eek:

*Unless* it's an especially good day. ;) :D


Our weatherman: "Hey, Groundhog Day! It's Punxsutawney Phil!"

Me: "Don't you mean Bill Murray?" :p


Cheers, and Happy Birthday again,

[msm0202]

Here's hoping you don't have to relive today over and over and over again. :eek:

*Unless* it's an especially good day. ;) :D


Our weatherman: "Hey, Groundhog Day! It's Punxsutawney Phil!"

Me: "Don't you mean Bill Murray?" :p


Cheers, and Happy Birthday again,

Jay,
Thanks! I don't feel a day older than 51. (Well, I do feel a half-day older because I was born in the morning :) ) Actually, I think I feel like Billy Bob Thornton in The Astronaut Farmer (saw the full screening the other day)—The years are flying by and my dream of going into orbit is just about going up in smoke. Sooooo, I'm going to need a very, very upscaled version of your Tau Zero.

All best out there in beautiful Idaho!

Mark

[Ltvscout]

Actually, I think I feel like Billy Bob Thornton in The Astronaut Farmer (saw the full screening the other day)
So, was it any good?

Their PR department has been sending me stuff every other week.

[msm0202]

So, was it any good?

Their PR department has been sending me stuff every other week.

Scott,
I can see why they'd send you a lot of press materials: I'm sure they're trying to get you to spread the word. I think they really want rocketeers seeing this film. It's very good, with truly great acting and incredibly quirky characters who live in the small town, and some who are FBI agents, FAA officials, etc. (One of the FBI guys is Jon Gries, who played Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, if you remember that. Very funny.) Also, Bruce Willis has a pretty good role although he is not credited in the film or in the press materials. (He plays a veteran Shuttle astronaut and "supposed" friend of Charles Farmer, the lead character played by Billy Bob Thornton.) Overall, it gets a little campy but worthwhile and fun to watch. The photography in a small southwestern town is outstanding (it was filmed outside of Sante Fe but is set in the fictional town of Story, Texas, as I'm sure you've seen from the press stuff.)

It's much more of a character study than it is a film for technical rocketry buffs. The filmmakers go into almost no detail on how he built the rocket (which is his own customized version of a Mercury Atlas), and part of the film is not realistic in terms of the rocket itself. (And there's a scene in the middle where something goes wrong and you'd swear there's no way he could come back from it,, or that it would happen in the first place, but hey, it's Hollywood!) It's really a movie about a guy who is trying to keep his farm from foreclosure, and trying to control his own obsession. It's a family film, for sure. There were a couple of curse words, but otherwise it's very family oriented, which is refreshing. Also, there are a few model rockets used as props in the 15-year-old son's room.

We're running a follow-up article in the next issue with interviews. Very cool! It was fun. The film's director told me that it was almost a "Field of Dreams" situation when word got around that they had a rocket in the barn of the ranch outside Sante Fe. (Remember all the people coming to see the baseball diamond in Field of Dreams?) He said rumors were swirling around town about the rocket and people were coming out in droves. They actually had a 50-foot mockup of an Atlas, with 20 feet of it sort of hidden in a basement type floor of the barn and acting as sort of an engine room and exhaust trench. (Never mind the fact that if you really launched an Atlas out of a barn, there would be nothing left of the barn.. But again, it's Hollywood and fun.)

Mark

[Carl@Semroc]

Happy Birthday, Mark!!

You are sure one lucky young man! I am looking forward to seeing the movie. It will surely replace Groundhog Day as the movie I like to keep watching over and over. (Or maybe I just saw GHD once and I think I saw it over and over.)

See you in a few weeks at NARCON.

[msm0202]

Happy Birthday, Mark!!

You are sure one lucky young man! I am looking forward to seeing the movie. It will surely replace Groundhog Day as the movie I like to keep watching over and over. (Or maybe I just saw GHD once and I think I saw it over and over.)

See you in a few weeks at NARCON.

Carl,

You have made my day with the "young man" reference. :) I needed that! And yes, I was lucky, and so was Deb. She went with me. We saw it at the Warner Bros screening room, no less. I thought about wearing my sunglasses, opening my collar and pulling my shirt tail out, and mumbling something about "call my agent, and we'll talk" but Deb told me I needed to reconsider. :)

NARCON will be fun. Look forward to seeing you again.

Mark

[tbzep]

http://www.lachmeister.de/images/smilies/Party/party_15.gif http://www.lachmeister.de/images/smilies/Party/party_01.gif

[Green Dragon]

well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

our senior advisor to our NAR section / rocket club ( Southern tier Advanced Rocket Society, NAR section ??? ), Chuck Goodwin, also has a birthday today.

Been a few years since I've seen him, since he retired from his Technology Teaching position , but I do recall a launch on a Sunday, his birthday ( maybe 1984-85, whichever year fits for Sunday, lol ) , 15 degrees out, 4" of snow, and lots of mid-powered birds flown ( and lots of hot chocolate and his borthday cake eaten :-)

yep, crazier days back then, instead of ' warm and cozy,dreaming of nexy builds' :D

~ AL

[mperdue]

I'm a bit late but Happy Birthday anyway...

Mario

[Carl@Semroc]

...And yes, I was lucky, and so was Deb. She went with me. We saw it at the Warner Bros screening room, no less. I thought about wearing my sunglasses, opening my collar and pulling my shirt tail out, and mumbling something about "call my agent, and we'll talk" but Deb told me I needed to reconsider. :) Well, tomorrow is the day for us mortals!

I was going to wear my old astronaut G-suit, bring some Tang and space ice cream, and a "few" rockets to decorate my space, but I don't think Sheryl would go with me. Maybe this will become like the rocket geek's "Rocky Horror Picture Show." :D

[Tau Zero]

I was going to wear my old astronaut G-suit, bring some Tang and space ice creamDon't forget the "Space Sticks! (http://www.funkyfoodshop.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=5)"

I always thought the chocolate sticks tasted better than the peanut butter ones. :p


Cheers,

[mperdue]

How many of you remember Tang from before it was mixed with water? Back then you just ate it dry. They called it SpoonTang... :D

Well, that's what I heard...

Mario

[CPMcGraw]

Don't forget the "Space Sticks! (http://www.funkyfoodshop.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=5)"

I always thought the chocolate sticks tasted better than the peanut butter ones. :p


Cheers,

The chocolate was my favorite, too. :D

Does anyone remember who originally made these? (Without looking it up...)

Did anyone know they're being made again? Check here: SpaceFoodSticks.com (http://www.spacefoodsticks.com/spacefood/index.html)

(Sorry, didn't see your link there, Jay...)

[msm0202]

Well, tomorrow is the day for us mortals!

I was going to wear my old astronaut G-suit, bring some Tang and space ice cream, and a "few" rockets to decorate my space, but I don't think Sheryl would go with me. Maybe this will become like the rocket geek's "Rocky Horror Picture Show." :D

Carl,
Well, it's no "Rocky Horror Picture Show," but it is a bit campy, so you might, indeed, want to bring that astro suit with you. And to believe the plot of this film, you might need something stronger than that Tang while you're watching it. But as I said earlier, it's Hollywood, and for Hollywood, "it ain't bad." I kept thinking, though, that Bad Santa was going to show up. I just couldn't believe Billy Bob Thornton could be this nice in a movie (despite the fact that he throws a rock through a window at one point.)

Have fun (and remember while you're watching it: "If you're thinking of trying this at home, don't build it in a barn!") :)

Mark

[msm0202]

Also, in the spirit of "fair warning," (and I alluded to it in an earlier post), there is a scene about two-thirds of the way into this film that is completely unbelievable and (I believe) should have been left out of the film, but all is well in the end. Now, I have to go drink some more Tang!
Mark

[Carl@Semroc]

...there is a scene about two-thirds of the way into this film that is completely unbelievable...Is that where the BATFE agent declares that since the propellant is only kerosene and oxygen that they do not have jurisdiction over it just as they have no jurisdiction to regulate APCP?Now, I have to go drink some more Tang!You are supposed to "reconstitute" it with WATER, Mark.

Sounds like the beginning of a YORF saying: "If you don't believe that, I have some Tang for you to drink!"

[Rocketflyer]

Happy (natal anniversa :) ry) Birthday! Hope your day was great.

Jack

[msm0202]

You are supposed to "reconstitute" it with WATER, Mark.

Sounds like the beginning of a YORF saying: "If you don't believe that, I have some Tang for you to drink!"

Now I know why it wasn't dissolving fully in that Vodka! Either that, or I got hold of a batch of Tang with Russian directions. :)

[Ltvscout]

Now I know why it wasn't dissolving fully in that Vodka! Either that, or I got hold of a batch of Tang with Russian directions. :)
Hey, Mark just invented the Rocketeers Martini! :D

[barone]

Hey, Mark just invented the Rocketeers Martini! :DYeah...try ordering that in the hotel lounge..... ;)