LBO's Doug Henwood was fortunate enough to watch the 1969 moon landing in the company of Bayard Rustin, a hero of the civil rights movement whose homosexuality prevented him from publicly receiving much of the praise he merited for all his hard labor. Rustin's suggested alternative to the Neil Armstrong "giant step" line makes me love him even more.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
5
Clearly Mr. Rustin had no conception of what it would be like to be trapped in a space suit for hours with a noxious gas while following a tight schedule.
Armstrong should have said: "I'm not an astronaut, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night." He would have upgraded to the rooms with the hot tubs for the rest of his life.
Shirley commenters wittier than I can think of some better lines.
In space no one can hear you fart.
In space no one can
hearsmell you fart."Checkmate, Mr. Brezhnev."