"I like to watch TV," Chauncy Gardener says in Jerzy Kosiński's Being There. For me, I like to watch TV in the kitchen while preparing dinner for my girls during my Labatt Blue Hour of Power. It's one of the benefits of working from home, you see. I don't drink Labatt Blue anymore, now its either Budweiser or something from the Magic Hat brewery down the street. Still, I like to go with a dinner preparation handle that works.
Ah, yes, From the Earth to the Moon. Every six months I pull the HBO Earth to Moon series off the shelf and watch the four-DVD set of episodes during Labatt Blue Hour of Power from start to finish. If you've not seen it, the HBO series from Tom Hanks traces the NASA program as it worked toward landing a man on the moon and beyond, with additional story lines on aspects of that period, like what it was like for the astronauts' wives for instance. My favorite episode is "Spider," where the development of the Lunar Module was taken from concept to completion. Like most episodes, this one is filled with geeks in white, short-sleeve shirts, thin black ties, funny glasses and pocket protectors.
It's important for me to watch the Earth to the Moon series every few months because it reminds me of the incredible accomplishment performed during those short 9 years from Kennedy's pronouncement in 1961 to the moon landing in July of 1969. I remember exactly where I was during the moon landing. I remember the exact scene, the location, where I was sitting. Probably a lot of you guys weren't even born yet. That's okay.
To consider the feat of it, with computing in its infancy, punch cards and computers the size of refrigerators, and yes, slide-rules. What have we collectively accomplished in the last 9 years? Since, say, 1998? I can't think of anything that compares in any measure with the accomplishment of the moon mission of the 1960's, but watching the series reminds me that its possible to achieve something great in a short period of time.
