Travellinbaen

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One Small Step

July 16, 2009 · 22 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”     –Neil Armstrong, on setting foot on the moon

Forty years ago Monday “we” put a man on the moon. Did you know Neil Armstrong blew that line and that it was scripted? It’s supposed to read “That’s one small step for a man;”. It changes the meaning, makes it sensible. I have long noted the awkward phrasing but let it slide because we all know what he meant and I naively assumed he came up with the line at or near the time of its delivery. If I’d put much recent thought into it I feel confident I would’ve realized it was scripted, but it took Snopes to clue me in. In spite of the slip up, the quote is one of the most widely known utterances in all of history. I wonder who actually wrote it?

It occurs to me it is a good thing a line was prepared in advance for Armstrong. Otherwise, he would’ve spoken off the cuff as he left the spacecraft and might’ve said something less grandiose. For your consideration and enjoyment, I now provide you the likely alternatives to Armstrong’s famously poetic observation had some public relations intern in Houston not come up with “one small step.”

  1. Holy sh*t, I hope I don’t die.
  2. Eat my dust Buzz! Nobody cares who comes in second!
  3. I’m the king of the moooooooon!
  4. Whoops. Hold on, gotta go back in. Forgot the golf balls.
  5. Ohhhhh. It burns….it burns! Heh, just messin with y’all.
  6. One more step and I’m on the moon. Soon as I get home, I’m going to Disneyland!
  7. Are we live yet? Because I really need to go back to the dressing room and go over my lines one more time.
  8. Lollipop, lollipop, oh lollylollypop. Lolly POP. badumdumdum…
  9. I’m squishing your planet.
  10. Hey, it IS made of cheese.


Categories: History · Humor · People
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

22 responses so far ↓

  • irvineredd // July 16, 2009 at 11:22 am

    Hey, it IS made of cheese.

    Classic!

  • Samsmama // July 16, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    #’s 2, 5, and 9 are my favorite. Yet #1 is probably what I’d have come up with it, as I say that almost daily.

  • Jessie Lou // July 16, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    I remember my grandmother Bodden did not think any of that was real. In contrast, she thought wrestling was absolutely real! Go figure.

  • Samsmama // July 16, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    Wait…wrestling’s not real?

  • Harmony // July 16, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    LOL @ Jessie Lou..that is hilarious!

  • calicobebop // July 16, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    I don’t know which I like better – #1 or #3… If it were me I’d probably be screaming HOLY SHIT! MOM – LOOK AT ME!! but… I haven’t had formal training in landing on the moon. :)

  • bwbuzz // July 16, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    eat my dust buzz?

  • Samsmama // July 16, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_sc/us_sci_moon_video

    This just popped up in my Yahoo reader. Hmmm…

  • travellinbaen // July 16, 2009 at 11:54 pm

    Nice find SM. Sweet? Greeg? Any conspiracy theorists out there?

  • The Daily Wit // July 17, 2009 at 12:48 am

    Good list, TB. This also reminds me of Eddie Izzard’s bit on the moon landing. He’s one of my favorite comedians.

    Here’s the link.

  • Jessie Lou // July 17, 2009 at 7:53 am

    Harmony – my grandmother was a hoot and there is almost no end to the stories about her. She is the one who wanted me to be named Jessie Lou and called me that even though my mom refused to name me that.

  • Jessie Lou // July 17, 2009 at 7:58 am

    Ok, I have looked over the link now – is that how our government tries to save money? They have NASA reuse tapes? Give me a break! If any of you have ever seen “Wag The Dog” you will know why anything could be faked, including the wrestling…..sorry Gram!

  • travellinbaen // July 17, 2009 at 9:20 am

    Ha! I thought the same thing JLM. Actually, I think its great if NASA is that conscientious, BUT, I have a sneaking suspicion some contractor had the job and would not be surprised if the cost per erased tape was somewhere around a million bucks a pop.

  • travellinbaen // July 17, 2009 at 9:25 am

    Excellent link TDW, I swear I didn’t steal the concept from him tho…in fact, I might modestly suggest he could even add a couple of my jokes to his routine.

  • The Daily Wit // July 17, 2009 at 11:05 am

    If you haven’t seen that particular Eddie Izzard special, you need to. It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen and he talks a lot about the history of Europe and relations with the U.S. Very smart and very funny.

  • Sweet // July 17, 2009 at 11:37 am

    They were in the high desert of California when they filmed that. Slowed the frames down to look like movement in space. Thats why 50 years later there is “another” planned mission to land on the moon. Either that or all our govt has done since then is blow up a few lumbering shuttles and go to war. We’ll be doing the same thing in 2020 as we did in 1969, awesome.

  • travellinbaen // July 17, 2009 at 11:39 am

    #7 was just for you Sweet.

  • jessica o // July 17, 2009 at 11:46 pm

    I’m with Sweet on this one. I’m generally not a naysayer… okay, yes I am.

  • jessica o // July 17, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    Also, I was over at your law website and noticed that you deal in drugs. Specifically defective drugs. A few weeks ago, I got a bag of bunk weed. I canNOT get high. What are my rights? Can I sue the dealer for the original score and recover damages. I am out two bags of Nacho Cheese Doritos, a giant Kit-Kat bar, 2 sleeves of Oreos and 2 sleeves of Ritz Crackers.

  • Sweet // July 18, 2009 at 10:17 am

    now thats funny

  • Zeek // July 18, 2009 at 11:11 am

    You need to call me jessica o, I might be able to help you out. Not for recovery, strictly on re-scoring.

  • Jessie Lou // July 18, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    Sounds like someone needs to go grocery shopping……

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