The term bucket list has become very popular over the last several years. I suppose everyone has things they would love to do before they kick the bucket, fantasies they want to fulfill. I don’t have anything formalized myself, anything written down, but a few weeks ago I saw something on television that I might have to have at the top of the page if I ever were to assemble such a list.
Yell at the moon with Buzz Aldrin.
In a recent episode of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, Liz Lemon, Tina Fey’s character, discovers that her mother in her younger days had been in love with Buzz Aldrin and sets out to reunite them. When Liz finally meets Buzz, he tells her how awful her mother’s life would have been had she stayed with him and that she was lucky to have left. Having always fantasized about marrying her own aerospace hero, the imaginary Astronaut Mike Dexter, Liz is disappointed and seeing this Buzz asks her if she would like to yell at the moon with him.
“I walked on your face!” Aldrin yells as the two stand looking at the moon from a lofty apartment in NYC as the moon hovers in the daylight.
“I own you!”
“Stupid moon!” Liz chimes in.
I know it’s goofy. And even though Aldrin’s delivery is a little stiff and stilted, it reminded me of the way Chief Dan George spoke and acted in Little Big Man. There’s something in it that feels honest and sincere that makes it more endearing. Unreal but real. And the idea of Buzz Aldrin, the wizened old astronaut standing in the window and yelling out at the moon as though it were a living being to him, as though it were a kid he was shooing off his lawn, has an almost mythic quality. This feels magical to me. It would be great to be able to stand, next to Buzz Aldrin, there and tell the moon where it could go.
So, if I ever get down to making a bucket list, that would have to be at the top. Especially since Edmund Hillary is dead. I would have loved yelling at Mt. Everest with him.
Stupid mountain…
+++++++++++++++++++
PS: The painting at the top of this post is a new piece, A Time to Rest, and is about 11″ by 15″ on paper. It will be shown at the Principle Gallery show in June.
Redtree Times 
My response to this post surprised even me. Despite the passage of 50 or so years, Les Paul and Mary Ford were still there in a mental drawer, waiting for your whimsical post to pull them out.
I was somewhere around 7 years old when this came out. I’ll bet Buzz Aldrin knows it and likes it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ffdwBUL78
You can listen to Hank Williams sing “Howlin’ at the Moon” here:
Thanks for the videos! Great clip of Les and Mary. What an innovative talent! And I can’t think of anything from Hank Williams that isn’t special in some way.
Hello,
I’ve been lurking about reading your blog for a few months now, being completely enamoured with your artwork I’ve even added you to my blogroll, but I couldn’t resist adding a comment to this post.
I lived in Vancouver about fifteen years ago. One night I was hanging around the wharf when I stopped to talk with a busker. While we were talking a small, spritely man stopped in the middle of the square and began yelling at the sky in some language neither the musician or I could identify. Still we were fascinated by him and spent about twenty minutes speculating what he might be yelling about- did he need help or was it better to leave him alone? We decided to hang back until something happened to help us decide.
Eventually two bike police pedaled up and asked, “What are you doing?”
The wild gesticulating stopped and in calm, clear English the man said, “I’m yelling at the moon.” Then he resumed yelling at the moon.
The police decided to arrest him so we moved in to protest. He wasn’t harming anyone, we argued, he’s just yelling at the moon. Is there a law against yelling at the moon? Apparently there is, public disturbance or some such nonsense, and he was hauled off still railing madly at the sky.
So be careful where you fulfill this wish of yours if you do ;p
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful talents with us here in internet land!
I will be sure to be careful when I do my moon yelling. I hope your moon man doesn’t let this episode with the authorities keep him from railing at the moon. Someone has to keep it in line.
Thanks for the comment and sharing your blog. I like the quote from Leonard from “Northern Exposure” you have at the top of your blog. I really miss that show and it’s feeling of plausible magic. I’m sure there was some yelling at the moon in Cicely.
All the best!