Good Luck Mr Gorsky
I've disciplined myself to stop riding for a half hour to pace myself and I thought I'd share with you some of the thoughts I've been having whilst I was riding.
It's funny, but riding a motorcycle gives you an awful lot of time to think. You think about all sorts of things. At one point, I found myself thinking about Neil Armstrong.
As any fule no, Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. Any fule also no that Buzz Aldrin was part of that Apollo 11 mission. Less people know, or care, that Buzz Aldrin was - like me - bipolar.
Neil Armstrong did his famous "one small step for man ..." speech when he stepped on to the moon. Very few people remember any of the other chatter between Neil Armstrong and mission control in Houston, Texas.
I wasn't alive for the moon landings, but I do recall happening across this particualr story a number of years ago. At one point in the conversation, Neil Armstrong was heard to say "Good luck Mr Gorsky", and this caused some confusion down at mission control. It was assumed by everybody that this was some reference to the fact that the Russians were also trying to develop the technology to put a man on the moon, and it was left at that. For many years, Neil Armstrong would not elaborate on the comment.
Many years later, Neil Armstrong is alleged to have explained what he meant, and the story went like this.
As a kid, Neil Armstrong had a dream - that one day he would walk on the moon. He grew up next door to an ageing couple - a Mr and Mrs Gorsky - who had no children of their own. The usual childhood stuff - footballs going over the fence and having to be retrieved, nearly running the dog over with his bicycle and the like, meant that Mr and Mrs Gorsky knew Neil very well, and also knew about his aspirations.
One day, whilst out in the back graden, Neil Armstrong heard Mr and Mrs Gorsky arguing - voices were raised. Mr Gorsky was asking for something or other and his wife was most adamant that he was not getting it. It was this argument that gave rise to the "Good luck Mr Gorsky" comment - Mrs Gorsky was heard shouting "Oral sex? You can have oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon".
It may well just be another one of those urban legends that trawled the Internet for a while, but it's still amusing.
Now I dont know if my next-door neighbours have had similar arguments that contain the words "... when the guy next door does the Dakar", but be very careful of making such promises - I am getting to Dakar even if I have to crawl there with the motorcycle on my back.
Tough day today. I've covered nearly 300 miles so far, and have another 200 or so to go before I hit Millau. The Missus has been very encouraging, inbetween trying to pack for her and the Wee Yin to leave on Saturday morning. I'll post full details of today's shenanigans when I get to Millau.
It's funny, but riding a motorcycle gives you an awful lot of time to think. You think about all sorts of things. At one point, I found myself thinking about Neil Armstrong.
As any fule no, Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. Any fule also no that Buzz Aldrin was part of that Apollo 11 mission. Less people know, or care, that Buzz Aldrin was - like me - bipolar.
Neil Armstrong did his famous "one small step for man ..." speech when he stepped on to the moon. Very few people remember any of the other chatter between Neil Armstrong and mission control in Houston, Texas.
I wasn't alive for the moon landings, but I do recall happening across this particualr story a number of years ago. At one point in the conversation, Neil Armstrong was heard to say "Good luck Mr Gorsky", and this caused some confusion down at mission control. It was assumed by everybody that this was some reference to the fact that the Russians were also trying to develop the technology to put a man on the moon, and it was left at that. For many years, Neil Armstrong would not elaborate on the comment.
Many years later, Neil Armstrong is alleged to have explained what he meant, and the story went like this.
As a kid, Neil Armstrong had a dream - that one day he would walk on the moon. He grew up next door to an ageing couple - a Mr and Mrs Gorsky - who had no children of their own. The usual childhood stuff - footballs going over the fence and having to be retrieved, nearly running the dog over with his bicycle and the like, meant that Mr and Mrs Gorsky knew Neil very well, and also knew about his aspirations.
One day, whilst out in the back graden, Neil Armstrong heard Mr and Mrs Gorsky arguing - voices were raised. Mr Gorsky was asking for something or other and his wife was most adamant that he was not getting it. It was this argument that gave rise to the "Good luck Mr Gorsky" comment - Mrs Gorsky was heard shouting "Oral sex? You can have oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon".
It may well just be another one of those urban legends that trawled the Internet for a while, but it's still amusing.
Now I dont know if my next-door neighbours have had similar arguments that contain the words "... when the guy next door does the Dakar", but be very careful of making such promises - I am getting to Dakar even if I have to crawl there with the motorcycle on my back.
Tough day today. I've covered nearly 300 miles so far, and have another 200 or so to go before I hit Millau. The Missus has been very encouraging, inbetween trying to pack for her and the Wee Yin to leave on Saturday morning. I'll post full details of today's shenanigans when I get to Millau.
Download the Manic Mission Information Pack for the full story ...
posted by 2009 Dakar at
Thursday, June 28, 2007
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