What is this device? It seems to be a light pen for drawing on the briefcase computers screen… but almost certainly was something different. But what? I’m wondering if it was an inspection light. But even in the 1960s there were “pen” flashlights that ran on batteries and didn’t need cords for power. So was this an especially *powerful* light? Or something completely different? It does appear to have a machined aluminum holder for it to clip into.
Both the phone and the typewriter arrived today. The phone, as can be seen, seems to fit just about perfectly, indicating that the Samsonite briefcase is the correct one (though a number of virtually trivial details are different). The phone has a cord that seems to be pretty permanently attached, but I am loathe to just lop it off. My goal is to keep all the vintage bits as intact as possible, so I’ll either disassemble the phone or go straight to making a silicone mold of it and casting it in fiberglass. I hope to remove only a few keys from the typewriter, assuming I can figure out how to remove them without damaging them, then mold/cast resin copies. Other than a cracked frame the typewriter seems intact and functional. And while there is about zero chance I’ll ever use a typewriter again… I cringe at the idea of wrecking such a nifty bit of functional analog mechanical genius.
The phone and the keys are the wrong color, so casting copies seems to be the correct way to go in any event. This would also open the door for a very limited run “kit” for those vanishingly few who want this. I plan on making the parts out of a combination of cast resin and fiberglass; hand laid up fiberglass cloth components would be strong, light and *hollow,* allowing those with a mind to to install electronics. A functioning keyboard and monitor would be spectacular, though a functional fiberglass phone seems maybe a bit dubious.
Note the obligatory feline photobomb.
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this, but I never fail to be impressed with the delivery. Steven Spielberg, director of “Jaws,” gave Robert Shaw permission to write this monologue about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (after the great John Milius had a crack at it). Shaw then delivered it, reportedly, drunk. And it’s one of the most amazing bits of understated acting in film history. One of the details I’ve always liked is how Hooper goes from jovial to “Oh Crap” in one breath when Quint says that his removed tattoo is of the USS Indianapolis.
I’m a bit disturbed that so many of these reactors are unaware of the story of the Indianapolis. But given how ignorant so many people are about so many things anymore, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Jaws” is still eminently watchable, one of the great films of all time.
On the left of the briefcase computer are numeral keys. These seem to have come from a Remington Rand Printing Calculator or something similar; that was 1957 vintage, so likely starting to become broken and obsolete by the time the prop department was looking for stuff to strip. Unfortunately these items are rare and expensive. Fortunately, very similar keys seem to have been used later on a series of Remington adding machines, which are much more numerous and much cheaper. the keys themselves look about the same, but the fonts used are different… compare the “8’s”.
I’ve not found the keys with the mathematical functions. Those looks structurally identical to the keys from the Super Riter typewriter, so they’re doubtless also a Remington product. However, for a prop reproduction cast copies with appropriate symbols printed on them would seem perfectly acceptable.
Above the numbers are six low buttons. Not quite sure what these are… might be push buttons, might be indicator lights.
Thanks to commenter “Mr_Hiena: ” the phone component of the “laptop” appears to be a Bogen TQ12a intercom:
Fortunately there were (“were“) two of these on eBay. The two were identical to each other, but *not* to the unit shown above; the unit above, and the one in the “laptop,” have little tabs on the handset rest (which is also taller in the prop unit) that aren’t on the ebay units. This difference could be fixed easily enough, along with changing the color. However, they otherwise seem essentially the same, including the hatchwork on the back of the handset.
One component down…
I would love to have a replica of the briefcase “laptop” that was built for “2001: A Space Odyssey.” I don’t know that I’ll have the time or the funds to actually see that happen myself, but I’d love to see *someone* pull it off. Maybe figuring out what the source of the various bits here would help me, or someone else, to actually see it happen. So… one thing at a time. First, this prop:
This prop was built by Honeywell circa 1965, and it’s reasonable to assume that most of the components were Honeywell components. That’s not a certainty, however. On the righthand side of the briefcase was a telephone using an unusual hybrid of a dial and push buttons; buttons such as became pretty much standard in the sixties and beyond, but laid out in a circle like a dial telephone. Below are cropped images of just the phone and the hand-held receiver. Note a few distinctive features beyond the buttons: the black circle in the “dial” that appears to have the numbers printed on it (rather than having the numbers on the buttons themselves); the raised frame the receiver would fit on; the crosshatching on the outer surface of the receiver, similar detailing in at least the lower/mouth “well” of the body of the phone. I don’t have the foggiest how to go about trying to find out what this was; Google image searches using what seemed relevant search terms didn’t turn up much, and searching eBay for vintage 1960’s push button phones resulted in tens of thousands of results, far to many to look through without going insane. Doubtless, though, there is someone somewhere who would look at this and know *exactly* what kind of phone it was. The red Honeywell “H” in the middle of the dial is very likely a decal added by the prop builder.
Launch window opens tomorrow (suspiciously, 4/20) at 8:28 AM central time, lasts for about an hour.
They’ve got FAA approval:
If it goes to plan, as soon as 7AM Texas time on Monday Starship/Superheavy will launch. The booster will splash down 30+ kilometers from the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico; Starship will climb to 235 kilometers, get into *almost* a circular orbit, and re-enter and bellyflop into the Pacific 225 kilometers north of Oahu. Of course the chances of everything going right are probably low; I would not be surprised to see an enthusiastic unassembly early in the flight (though hopefully far enough away to not tear up the launch site). If it claws its way off the pad, it’ll be the most powerful rocket ever launched.
With the state of the world, and especially with the plethora of mysterious “accidents” happening to industrial facilities around the country, I expect to see things not go quite to plan. I hope to be be proven wrong.
Netflix will be releasing a “documentary” about Queen Cleopatra VII. This “documentary” is apparently based on the fictional notion that she was a sub-Saharan African. This is a long-debunked and remarkably silly idea, but welcome to 2023, I guess. Here’s a good takedown:
When you race swap enough fictional characters, you start in on race swapping the historical characters. then you re-write history entirely. then you *erase* and *invent* history. And then society is whatever those in power want it to be.
A few years ago:
It’s been left outside for an extended period, so it’s in pretty rough shape. According to Google Maps, the wings have been removed, but it’s apparently still outside, dissolving.
