Moon on View

I finally put up my framed Moon charter brochure.

Here's some space-themed stuff I lifted from lileks.com.

Presumabley these are from old advertisements.  He doesn't list sources.  Pretty neat stuff.

Birthday Dinner at Puritan & Co.

Rosemary treated me to dinner last night at Puritan & Co., a recent arrival on Cambridge St.  I had chicken; she had beef.  The food was pretty good, but the noise was a distraction and made it difficult to hear each other.

The space is one large, long room with a high ceiling.  I kept trying to figure out what kind of architectural modifications would cut the noise.  The music was too loud, and people trying to be heard by their neighbors made it worse.  It's a shame, because they have an interesting menu.

Afterwards, we went to 1369 for coffee.

I am now thoroughly 58.

Bright College Days

I saw this a few times at film festivals in the 1970s.  Memories!

57 is Almost Over

Tomorrow I turn 58.  I've already received some birthday cards.

A theme was established....

...then broken.

Thank you for your good wishes!

It's National Hat Day...

National Hat Day is not in Wikipedia's List of Commemorative Days, so I don't know who invented it.  I love hats.  Please enjoy looking at some of them on this their special day.

Winter Break Activities

I always think I'm going to get a lot done over winter break, then I mostly get a lot of nothing done.  Here's a list of this year's achievements.

I got my hair cut really, really short.

I watched several movies on Netflix streaming, including Gog.  I like 50s science fiction, and this one had the additional attraction of being in color.
The makers of Gog were in love with the prop machinery.  Throughout, the camera lingers lovingly on instrument panels, dials, warning lights.  The human characters were only an excuse for all-out techno-porn.

Weirdest anti-nuke film ever.

I watched some of the Syfy Channel's Twilight Zone marathon with Romeo (right).

Amaryllis Update

Today I returned to work.  I had worried that the amaryllis would bloom and wilt over winter break, but it lasted!

Doing Stuff is Hard

I had my Charters to the Moon brochure framed.  (The top is the original; the bottom is a scan.)

I haven't hung it up yet.  That will be a major project!

Late Bloomer

Well, it's the last day before winter break, and this is how my amaryllis looks:

 

It's just about to bloom, but I won't take it home because it is toxic to cats.   I hope it will keep itself fresh until January 2nd.

Twelve/twelve/twelve

Today is 12/12/12!  To celebrate let's eat a dozen donuts!

Then let's break a dozen eggs!

Finally, we'll watch The Dirty Dozen...

....or perhaps Twelve Angry Men!

Krampus Link

Reed discovered a wonderful site: krampus.com

A Cold & Fuzzy Evening

 Last night Sue, Diane, Mikel, and I went to visit Jane in the North End.  Jane gave us wine and snacks to warm us up.

Then we went to Regina's Pizza.  Nobody wanted her picture taken, so I took mine.

 The pizza was great.  We ate a lot.

These pictures were above our booth.

A good time was had by all on that chilly night.

Why?!

Lunar Consolation

You will remember how piqued I was to learn that I missed being in the First Moon Flights Club.  In a moon-envy-induced frenzy I began collecting moony articles circa 1969 in all the newspapers we had available online.  A Los Angeles Times article* tipped me off to another moon souvenir worth having!  It seems that Trans International Airlines also capitalized on the moon-madness with a travel guide: Charters to the Moon.
"This booklet was prepared especially for the travel agent as a guide to use in planning, for his clients, future-out-of-this-world charter travel.  As the leading air charter carrier, TIA is proud to help travel agents to prepare for the future, just as we work together in the present."

A Google search located one of these brochures for sale.  For $30 I purchased my own moon souvenir!

More elaborate and goofier than the First Moon Flights Club card, this brochure lays out in detail the delights of lunar vacations."Enjoy your stay on the Moon, one of the most relaxing resorts in the Universe.  Its unique attributes include: smog-free atmosphere, no rain or snow, no breath of wind, and profound silence.  Your hotel, the Luna, is located in the Sea of Showers--which is, of course, not a sea (nor does the moon have showers)..."  "After your restful 63 1/2-hour trip by TIA '949' Super Spacecraft (you travel at speeds up to 36,000 miles per hour--six times the speed of the fastest bullet!), and after relaxation in your Luna luxery resort hotel, remember--Budget Rent-A-Mooncar serves all the Moon, with the latest model surface vehicles.  Offices: Copernicus Crater."   "For a unique experience, try a 'Moonhike.' The supporting strength of the lunar surface is much greater than previously suspected."  It goes on like that.  See large scans of the pages here for more excitement!

Now I need to find some way of preserving and displaying both sides of this brochure.




*Hulse, Jerry You May Be Man on the Moon, LA Times, June 15, 1969, pgH6.
Also mentioned in Moon Trip, Schenectady Gazette, June 16, 1969, p. 13. Found in the Google News Archive.

New Beer in Old Bottles

Dave made some Blood Orange beer and gave me a couple of bottles.  He wisely uses old beer bottles to hold his own brew.  He warned me that I wouldn't be able to discern a blood orange taste, however, it was fruity and smooth.  Kudos to Dave the brewer!

You can't see it very clearly on this picture, but my beer mug has a picture of Robby the Robot.

I paired the beer with Corn Bread Tamale Pie, an old Joy of Cooking recipe I use again and again.  This time I replaced the ground beef with soy protein crumbles.  It's great comfort food for cold weather.

Lunar Regrets

In the 1960s Pan Am started taking reservations for its first moon flight.  Now that there is a TV show about the airlines, people are pulling out their Pan Am souvenirs, including their "First Moon Flights" Club cards.

(Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

OK, I was a moon enthusiast.  I did a report on the moon in school at some point.  Why did I not pick up on this?  I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, which featured a Pan Am Moon shuttle, yet somehow I missed out.  I would have cherished that "First Moon Flights" Club card now that Pan Am is kaput and Youtube is filled with videos demonstrating how the moon landing was faked!

Beware of the Water-bearer

Steve got me this nice souvenir from the Provincetown Carnival.

I wondered why aliens are so skinny; you can see this one's ribs sticking out.  Steve thought it was the long space journeys.

Storm Amuses Cats.

The whole northeast was not devastated by Frankenstorm; my neighborhood came out on its feet.

Quiet Weekend

On Friday evening I joined Julie, Dave, and Sue for dinner at L'Impasto.   I had lasagne made with bechamal sauce.  It was awfully good and awfully rich.

On Saturday I watched Tabloid, which was much more interesting than I thought it would be.

Today there is a ribs festival on Cambridge St.  I took some snaps; but I ate no ribs.

Obligatory Foliage Photos

 A lovely crane is peeking through the branches.

 I photoshop-fiddled with the hue.

 

 Inman Square Market.

 

This JesusFest poster has been blocking this window for many years. I imagine people going year after year and finding no fest.