How NASA Celebrated My 1st Birthday!

Today is my 53rd birthday, which means I'm another year closer to Death!!! Hopefully, I'll make it past 57, which would be quite a feat considering that the last 5 generations of Wallace males have not lived past the age of 57. Cancer has been the killer in my family but so far, I'm healthy as a horse. I don't take a single pill, all my numbers are great and I live a fairly healthy lifestyel

Knowing my luck though, the day before my 58th birthday, I'll be struck down by falling space debris or some odd thing like that. Go figure?

Anyways, as I mentioned, NASA had a great way of celebrating my 1st birthday in 1961. They launched a man into space!

According to Wikipedia:

In 1959, Shepard was one of 110 military test pilots invited by the newly-formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration to volunteer for the first US manned space flight program. Following a grueling series of physical and psychological tests, NASA selected Shepard to be one of the original group of seven Mercury astronauts.

In January 1961, Shepard was chosen for the first American manned mission into space. Although the flight was originally scheduled for October 1960, delays by unplanned preparatory work meant that this was postponed several times, initially to March 6, 1961 and finally to May 5.

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person in space and to orbit the Earth.

On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space.

He was launched by a Redstone rocket, and unlike Gagarin's 108-minute orbital flight, Shepard stayed on a ballistic trajectory—a 15-minute suborbital flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles (187 km) and to a splashdown point 302 statute miles (486 km) down the Atlantic Missile Range. Unlike Gagarin, whose flight was strictly automatic, Shepard had some control of Freedom 7, spacecraft attitude in particular. The launch was seen live on television by millions.

Shortly before the launch, Shepard said to himself: "Don't fuck up, Shepard..." This quote was reported as "Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up" in The Right Stuff, though Shepard confirmed this as a misquote. Regardless, the latter quote has since become known among aviators as "Shepard's Prayer."
According to Gene Kranz in his book, Failure Is Not an Option, "When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.'"

After a dramatic Atlantic Ocean recovery, Commander Shepard observed, "…didn't really feel the flight was a success until the recovery had been successfully completed. It's not the fall that hurts; it's the sudden stop."

After his successful return, Shepard was celebrated as a national hero, honored with parades in Washington, New York and Los Angeles and received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal from President John F. Kennedy.

As I said, NASA chose a stunning means of celebrating my 1st birthday.

#AtoZChallenge : Zardoz and The End!

Zardoz is a most oddly bizzare and yet compelling movie, especially if you ain't quite normal anyways!

Wikipedia describes this film as follows:

"In the year AD 2293, a post-apocalyptic Earth is inhabited mostly by the Brutals, who are ruled by the Eternals. Eternals use other Brutals, called Exterminators, as the Chosen warrior class. The Exterminators worship the god Zardoz, a huge, flying, hollow stone head.
The Zardoz god head supplies the Exterminators with weapons, while the Exterminators supply it with grain. Zed (Sean Connery), an Exterminator, hides himself within Zardoz for an initially unknown purpose. He shoots and apparently kills its pilot, Arthur Frayn (Niall Buggy), who has already identified himself as an Eternal in the story's prologue. The stone head containing Zed returns to the Vortex, a secluded community of civilized beings, protected all around by an invisible force-field, where the immortal Eternals lead a pleasant but ultimately stifling existence."


It seems that this was one of the first films Sean Connery did following his time as James Bond.

REALLY Sean? This is what you left James Bond for???

Here's the trailor for Zardoz, in case you haven't suffered enough. And in case you're wondering, Zardoz is a shortened variation on the Wizard of Oz title. Must be because of the big stone head! Go figure

And now, April is over and so is the challenge.

James C. Wallace II

Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : Yellow Knight of Oz and a Camel!

Yesterday was a day off from the blogging madness, but that was then and now it's the 5th and final Monday of April. Since that is the case, today's blog posting is brought to you by the letter Y!

The Yellow Knight of Oz is the twenty-fourth book in the Oz book series, and the tenth Oz book written by Ruth Plumly Thompson, the 2nd Royal Hisotrian of Oz. As usual, John R. Neill serves once more as the illustrious illustrator.

It turns out that Oz has a number of knights that roam about doing knightly stuff. One of them is Sir Hokus of Pokes.

And wouldn't you know it, the yellow knight is bored and in search of something worthy of a knight's attention.

Seems that Sir Hokus of Pokes has a friend, who just happens to be a camel named The Comfy Camel. What else?



But as any camel knows, they don't do so well in water! Now if only the guy in the hat knew that!!

Then the hat guy goes complaining to Princess Ozma when he can't get his way with the darn camel.

Now comes into view a most glorious horse, one of the very few actually living in Oz.

Somewhere along the way, this strange fellow finds himself looking about Oz with a most unusual telescope. It reminds me of the Wizard's Magic Telescope which he uses in Family of Oz to watch over his great grandson as he makes his way into Oz.

He's probably watching the Yellow Knight get his metal-clad butt blown up!!!

And all because some sultan wants some bag being carried by the Comfy Camel. He kinda looks like the Ghost of Christmas Present from the Christmas Carol stories.

Of course, like nearly every Oz story ever written, Princess Ozma and Dorothy show up to save the day and provide for a happy ending. Princess Ozma and Dorothy are looking a bit older now.

One more post and the month's madness of blogging will be complete! I hope I've presented Oz in a favorable way this month.

James C. Wallace II

Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : X. Pando the Elevator Man and a Bear!

Xavier is a fine name that allows me to start this blog posting on the 4th saturday of April. As such, today's blog posting is brought to you by the letter X!

In the Land of Oz, X is a rare letter that is almost never heard. One exception is from Ojo in Oz, which is the twenty-seventh book in the Oz book series, and the thirteenth Oz book written by Ruth Plumly Thompson.

The Oz Wikia describes X. Pando as follows:

"X. Pando the elevator man provides lifts to the top of Moojer Mountain in the Munchkin Country of Oz.


He is a tall, serious-looking fellow in a blue leather uniform; he emerges from a stone doorway set into the surface of the mountain. His legs expand accordion-like, allowing him to reach atmospheric heights, high above the top of the mountain itself. His lifting is controlled by the gold buttons on the front of his jacket. He demands payment for his service — though that payment can be as minor as dancing a waltz. (Ojo in Oz)
Without going into detail, X. Pando claims to derive his unusual abilities from his father. In this, he resembles Kuma Party, another magical anomaly of Oz who gained his special skill from his paternal parent."

John R. Neill continues on as illustrator and provides a single piece of art depicting the only character in Oz I could find that starts with an X.

Here he be, dancing with Snufferbux, a brown bear... with a belt?

James C. Wallace II

Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : Wonderful Wizard of Oz!

We often get distracted by the workings of grandkids, and so once more, the late hour turns early and I still think of this as Friday!

The Oz Wikia describes the first of all Oz books as follows:

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also known as The Wizard of Oz, is the first book in the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. The book was illustrated by W. W. Denslow, and published in 1900."



It also gives a fine, short summary of the story.

"Dorothy Gale, a girl from Kansas, gets swept into the Land of Oz with her dog Toto by a cyclone. She meets a living Scarecrow, a man made entirely of tin, and a Cowardly Lion while trying to get to the Emerald City hoping that the the Great Oz can help her return home. Oz commands them to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West, which they do, but when they return they discover that the Wizard is a humbug. Dorothy and her friends travel to Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, and she finally is able to help Dorothy get home."


Of course, we all know the story from the movie... or do we?

Nice way to start a book!

Here, we meet the Good Witch of the North and three Munchkins.

Soon, Dorothy has a new friend.

Then another one appears!

Then the Cowardly Lion makes 5!

Along the way, they run into Kalidahs, whihc have the heads of tigers, the bodies of bears and claws sharp enought to split a man in two! Lion, tiger and bears, oh my! Sound familiar?

Then, it's a jump into the field of poppies and the Queen of the Field Mice and her subjects save the day... Notice no snow! 

Now the Emerald City shows off its brilliance, courtesy of green glasses.

Looks like the Tin Woodman needs a tune-up!

And then we're off to see the Wizard!

W.W. Denslow certainly had a unique view of Oz and varied greatly from John R. Neill, who took over after this book. His was the first though...

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz