"...3...2...1! The answer is: http://lindesignz.com/eloh/sci...0the%20Beginning.pdf



Next---

Say, does THAT story ever bring back memories! I probably read it in the summer of 1969, right after graduating from High School and about the time of the first Apollo moon landing.

In November 1982 I had the privilege to view a shuttle launch from the VIP viewing area - over a mile from the launch pad, but a lot closer than the general public could get. I think it was the seventh flight of the shuttle, though I may be a little hazy on that detail. It WAS the first time the shuttle carried a commercial satellite.

My employer had part of the payload for that mission, and allowed employees to use their passes to the VIP area. So at dawn that morning there were about 500 people shivering as we sat in portable bleachers in a swamp in Florida. Most had awakened around 3:00 AM to be escorted to the location at the specified time, or simply stayed up all night.

But everybody had some tangible connection to the spacecraft. That's the similarity to the short story. My company's commercial viability - and my job - depended on the shuttle crew successfully placing a large, commercial communications satellite into a transfer orbit. Other folks present that morning worked for the contractors who built the shuttle, or its engines, or assembled it, or the Canadians who supplied the robot arm, or distant relatives of the crew (not eligible for the family observation area), etc, etc.

When the count hit "20", everybody stood - almost like we were some precision drill team or marching band under a director. I thought those rickety bleachers were going to collapse! I've NEVER been part of any crowd, even at an athletic event, that moved with a single mind like that. Like I said - everybody present had a personal connection to that spacecraft. Then the cheering - which was drowned out (even at that distance) when the engines moved to full throttle.

And in a couple of minutes it was all over. The spacecraft out of sight, with the vapor trails dissipating in the rising sunlight. Comprehending a little of what we had just experienced, quite a few folks started conversations with others around them, discovering the underlying connections and exchanging stories. I wish there had been more opportunity for that, but most of us had to be back on the buses shortly after the launch, and returned to wherever we were staying.

That event remains as one of the most memorable of my lifetime. Not quite like getting married, holding my kids at birth (or my father at death), but certainly on par with my college graduation almost ten years previous - where, by the way, Deke Slayton had been the commencement speaker. After the Challenger accident I heard that NASA discontinued use of that viewing area so I don't know how many people ever had that experience. But if you ever have the opportunity, definitely make an effort to be there.

Dale

No posts since March of 2010? Can somebody please repeat the most recent clue, or start one? Where are you Brailing II?

Hello greenray and a belated Thank You to Dale for sharing some great memories!

Here is a new line for any board member interested. Perhaps an easy one. No clues for now. Name this Ray Bradbury short story:

"Now there was only a blind hunchback sitting on a black booth, feeling of the cracked china cup from which he was drinking some perfumed brew."

Thanks to you Linnl, for getting the game going again. Easy, but hard, because there are so many short stories to choose from.

quote:

Originally posted by Linnl:
..."Now there was only a blind hunchback sitting on a black booth, feeling of the cracked china cup from which he was drinking some perfumed brew."

"Black Ferris". I had a hunch (pardon the pun), and confirmed it with a Google search for the quotation. Among other links, Google turned up this site which has lots of quotes from literature, all about carnivals and sideshows:

http://www.ligotti.net/archive/index.php/t-2634.html

philnic, Your hunch is properly tent-spiked! Thanks for the interesting link. Its your turn.

YAY!
I'll be checking the old board-o-roonie daily again!

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
YAY!
I'll be checking the old board-o-roonie daily again!

Now we know what it takes to keep the other Mr B here!

quote:

Originally posted by Linnl:
philnic, Your hunch is properly tent-spiked!...Its your turn.

OK. Try this one:


"He thrust out his hands to orchestrate, to conduct, to flourish."

Was just thinking about this story yesterday. How strange. This is from "A Scent of Sarsaparilla".

"A Scent..." is the correct answer. Back to you, Linnl.

(PS: I was hoping the "orchestrating" might conjure up the wrong answer for some folks, namely the opening of Dandelion Wine.)

OK. Here is the next quote.

"One wanted to lean through and sniff wild seas of flowers, touch harvest of peach maiden girls, hear the machinery of bees bright-stitching up the glamorous airs."

The line refers to a painting in the story by an actual artist, but I haven't been able to locate a picture of it.

This story is filled with a lot of fun lines. Here are two more:

"The tiger lilies lept at each other, jabbering in tongues."

"I gunned my hilarity as I gunned the motor."

quote:

One wanted to lean through and sniff wild seas of flowers, touch harvest of peach maiden girls, hear the machinery of bees bright-stitching up the glamorous airs."

"Well?" called a far voice.

Yes. You know the story.
Would you like to name it, or let another have a go?