First Men On The Moon - 40th Anniversary (repost from 31/05/08)

Last week, those clever bods down at N.A.S.A managed to land a space probe on the surface of planet Mars. In celebration of this exciting and rather tricky feat, I have dug out some souvenir singles. The 'First Men On The Moon' was released by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C, which is the National Air and Space Museum. It's a tenth anniversary edition of the Apollo missions specifically the 1969 'Apollo 11' journey. It features the voices of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins bouncing about on the Moon or recorded in a top secret warehouse in the Ohio Desert next to 'Area 51' if you happen to believe the conspiracy theories. This particular seven inch cost someone $2 and makes a fine memento of their museum trip. Wouldn't it be nice if other such similar institutions pressed up slabs of vinyl to be sold in their respective shops instead of the usual cuddly toys and novelty diary sets of tat that currently clutter up these cash cow outlets. I would be much more eager to hand over my hard earned dosh for a lovingly crafted record commemorating the seventy millionth anniversary of the passing of the dinosaurs commissioned exclusively by the National History Museum for instance.



The second record has the the theme music from the masterful movie '2001: A Space Odyssey' from Stanley Kubrick of the book by Arthur C. Clarke R.I.P. As all you classical buffs out there will know it's an excerpt from 'The Blue Danube' by Johann Strauss II and 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' by Richard Strauss. I bring to your attention the cover artwork which looks remarkably similar to the Phoenix Lander and considering the picture was drawn half a century ago, based on guesswork, I think it's a very accurate impression.

To see if N.A.S.A have found any little green man lurking under the rocks and dust...
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Phoenix Mars Lander & Space Vinyl

Last week, those clever bods down at N.A.S.A managed to land a space probe on the surface of planet Mars. In celebration of this exciting and rather tricky feat, I have dug out some souvenir singles. The 'First Men On The Moon' was released by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C, which is the National Air and Space Museum. It's a tenth anniversary edition of the Apollo missions specifically the 1969 'Apollo 11' journey. It features the voices of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins bouncing about on the Moon or recorded in a top secret warehouse in the Ohio Desert next to 'Area 51' if you happen to believe the conspiracy theories. This particular seven inch cost someone $2 and makes a fine memento of their museum trip. Wouldn't it be nice if other such similar institutions pressed up slabs of vinyl to be sold in their respective shops instead of the usual cuddly toys and novelty diary sets of tat that currently clutter up these cash cow outlets. I would be much more eager to hand over my hard earned dosh for a lovingly crafted record commemorating the seventy millionth anniversary of the passing of the dinosaurs commissioned exclusively by the National History Museum for instance.



The second record has the the theme music from the masterful movie '2001: A Space Odyssey' from Stanley Kubrick of the book by Arthur C. Clarke R.I.P. As all you classical buffs out there will know it's an excerpt from 'The Blue Danube' by Johann Strauss II and 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' by Richard Strauss. I bring to your attention the cover artwork which looks remarkably similar to the Phoenix Lander and considering the picture was drawn half a century ago, based on guesswork, I think it's a very accurate impression.

To see if N.A.S.A have found any little green man lurking under the rocks and dust...
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Le Mans 66 and Steve McQueen

This is the album that chronicles the greatest motor race in the world. Le Mans 66 is a vinyl memento of the '34th Grand Prix d'Endurance' which captures the essence of the spectacle. The record is presented amiably by James Tilling and is made up of narrative from Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Chris Amon and Carroll Shelby interspersed with sound clips of..well um .. cars going veerrrrry fast...obviously. It captures a flavour of all the immense background activities that goes into preparing and keeping a sports car on the track, continuously, at top whack, for a whole day. You can almost smell the fumes, burning rubber, adrenalin and sweat dripping off the grooves. I was particularly impressed by the Graham Hill segment, where he visits the other team pits to check on how his colleagues are holding up, after he has been forced to retire; no storming off the track and whisking off back to Monaco on his helicopter to sulk for him, what a gent! There is a dramatic finale for Bruce McLaren in the winning Ford as there is a dead heat but this result is overturned. The rules state that as he started further back on the grid, thus he must be declared the victor, because he has travelled the furthest distance. This record is a fine tribute to the bravery of all those legendary drivers who have thrilled millions of motor racing fans with their skills, sometimes losing their lives, in pursuit of the glory of taking the chequered flag.

The only logical accompaniment to listening to this, has to be putting Steve McQueen's 'Le Mans' movie in the DVD player and watching the greatest racing drama ever committed to the silver screen in film history, except possibly for 'The Cannonball Run' or 'Smokey and The Bandit' :-)

Steve McQueen on the starting blocks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPjhb3D587Q

Ford GT40 winning Le Mans 1966: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4pkiw2H02I

Steve McQueen fansite reviews the film: http://www.mcqueenonline.com/lemanshv.htm

Film facts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Mans_(movie)