Tie-dyed Brain Rays

On (or Rather, in) Golden Pond

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:47:37 -0600

Just a quickie testing the water-proofity of my video camera. GLUB...GLUB...GLUB...

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Rest In Peace, Rocket Man

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:21:04 -0600

Hal Graham, the original Bell Aerospace rocketbelt pilot passed away October 23, 2009. I had the privilege of interviewing him twice.

Hal Graham

The Rocketeer
Originally Posted
10/19/2006

Some days the old day job is the greatest job in the world. Yesterday was just such a day. I had the rare treat of interviewing Hal Graham, the world's first rocketbelt pilot, and one heck of a ukulele player.

Hal told us all about those heady days in the early sixties when Bell Aerospace sent him all around the country demonstrating the whiz-bang technology of the rocketbelt. He flew for dignitaries, high ranking Pentagon officials, even President Kennedy. While the rocketbelt never realized its promise of personal transport for the atomic soldier on the battlefield of tomorrow, it went down in history as the coolest accessory a spaceman or spy could ever have. From Commando Cody to James Bond, to the Rocketeer, the idea of strapping a rocket on your back and taking off into the wild blue yonder fires the imagination (and probably the seat of your pants.)

Check out Hal in action from his Pentagon Demo. (I added the Shatner vocals. I hope Hal doesn't mind-- it just seemed natural.)

Hal Graham

Hal was recently one of the guests of honor at the Rocketbelt Convention held at Niagara Falls. He told us about that too, and treated us to a verse of his song, "My Rocketbelt Daze." You can check out the full performance of his song at the convention over on Tie-dyed Tehuti at VOX.

He also disabused me of a couple of erroneous notions. I was under the impression that several of the guys at the convention came to show off their DIY rocketbelts, but Hal set me straight right away. "These guys aren't knocking these things together in the garage," he said. Oh well, so much for the Diet-Coke and Mentos powered rocketbelt I've been cobbling together!

Hal Graham

Interviewed by Mike cope

Listen to the full interview with Hal, as I sit in with Jesse and Sam on the afternoon radio show.

Now, this is not the first time I've had a rocket-jockey on the radio. When my brother and I had our afternoon classic rock show, "The Drive," we did a series of traffic report skits, one of which featured a rocketbelt stunt man. The joke was that our town is so small that the idea of an afternoon traffic report is ludicrous. The running gag through all the skits was that no matter what method we used-- helicopter, hot air balloon, ice cream truck or rocketbelt, something always went wrong and we could never get our traffic report. Mercury Theater Of The Air we weren't, but presented now for your entertainment is "Flash," our doomed rocketbelt traffic reporter. Enjoy!

Flash.Traffic

"The Drive" With Mark & Mike Cope

Are you comfortable? Want some popcorn?

Be sure to check out Hal's rocketbelt page.

My Pal Hal

Originally Posted

8/9/2007

This is a guy I'm proud to say I know. You don't meet many characters like Hal Graham these days. The real deal with the right stuff, Hal is the original rocketeer. As the first pilot of the Bell Aerospace rocketbelt Hal demonstrated his mad rocketbelt skillz for the top brass at the Pentagon and flew for J.F.K. I caught up with Hal as he prepared to attend the Rocketbelt Convention this weekend in New York. He graciously agreed to an interview on our radio show this morning.

Hal Graham Interview 08-09-07

Interviewed by Mike Cope 8-9-07

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Things We Put Away

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:19:30 -0600

I stumbled upon a sad bit of news today. I just happened to peek into my junk mail folder to see what was there before I hit the 'Empty Folder" button. There were all the usual suspects, hair loss cures, male enhancement snake oil, get rich quick schemes, phishing scams from "banks" where I have no account, and of course, a dozen notifications that I'm the world's newest millionaire courtesy of some recently deceased Nigerian official. Tucked in among them was an email from October 24, the subject, Hal Graham.

I opened the message from Dr. Nino Amarena which informed me that Hal Graham passed away on October 23rd. For those of you who don't remember, Hal was a true aviation pioneer and the original Bell Aerospace rocketbelt pilot.

Rocket Belt Flight - Hal Graham - Pentagon 1961

Here's video of Hal in action.

But Hal wasn't just an experienced pilot, aerospace enginneer and rocketbelt jockey, he was an accomplished ukulele player as well.

"My Rocketbelt Daze" by Hal Graham

I had the pleasure of interviewing Hal twice on my radio program and developed a true fondness for him from those brief conversations. I was truly saddened to hear of his passing. Dr. Amarena, a protege of Hal's, contacted me to inform me of the news and to ask for working links to the interviews I conducted. as many of you know, I had to password protect my original Tie-dyed Brain Rays blog on Typepad due to a stalking and threatening incident earlier in the year.

As I began to explore my options for getting the posts about Hal over to my VOX blog, or removing the password from my Typepad blog and tucking away some older, more sensitive assets for safe keeping, I stumbled across a post from April of '06 when the radio stations had just changed hands, my salary had been cut in half by the outgoing regime and we had no idea what to expect from the new owners. It was a tense, depressing time, but one event buoyed my spirits-- the event described in a post from April 5, 2006 titled, "Songs And Darkness."

The radio stations have been sold and new owners take possession on the 11th. It is a subject I've been silent on out of an intense desire for self-preservation, although I could tell some stories that would make you shake your head in disbelief (and have the audio tapes to prove them.)

The transition has been painful to say the least, although I have been assured that I will keep my job. "The Drive" will most likely go away with the arrival of the new owners and a new format. It has been suggested that I may become a producer for one of the talk radio shows, or perhaps some other form of low-level management minion with hit points of 0 and charisma of -1.

Each day as I pull into the parking lot my chest seizes with the uncomfortable tightness that comes from not knowing what office drama will be unfolding when I hit the door. Yet, I persevere. Today I was able to duck and cover so as to not get any of it on me, although there was plenty to go around.

But when I got to the studio I was informed that even though the transmitter was down I should do my show as usual because it might come back up. So for over an hour I played music and yakked into the microphone as if I were on the air... As if anyone was listening... As if it mattered. The rest of my night consisted of cutting the overnight weather, checking the fax machine a couple of times and pretty much watching the walls until time to go home. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to show up.

When at last the time came, I put the radio stations to bed, gathered my things and headed toward the door. Just then the phone rang. Who calls a radio station at straight-up Midnight? I figured it was one of the out-going regime making sure I hadn't left 30 seconds early. That really put a wrinkle in my jockeys. I was anxious to get home and put the finishing touches on my tribute to Star Trek fan films and didn't have time to play these silly games.

"Hey, I just wanted you to know that I think you guys are the greatest," said the unsteady voice on the other end of the phone. The impediment sounded natural, with perhaps only the slightest help from something medicinal.

Great, one of those.

I put on my perky voice. "What can I do for you?" I asked, hoping I could rush him off the phone after a quick request.

"I can't remember the name of the song or who it's by," He said.

I sighed to myself. These guys always take forever. The sad part is that even if he remembered the title and artist, I couldn't play it anyway since what we were broadcasting at the moment was a satellite feed from God only knows where. But the dutiful DJ response is, "I'll see if I can find it," or "I'll pass your request along to the air-staff."

Then he said, "My name is Frank and I work at Wal-Mart. I listen to you all the time and I think you guys are wonderful." He went on, "I'm fifty-five years old and I lost my son about four years ago when he was fourteen. You play some wonderful music that helps me feel better. Sometimes I come out to the lake at night and listen to you on my little headset and watch the water. I'm sitting here looking at the lake right now." I could hear the station playing softly in the background.

I tried to offer a kind word, but I was a little choked up. I could hear the loneliness in his voice. I could hear the gratitude he felt toward us for being there-- a friendly voice in the darkness, playing songs from better days. It seems odd that someone could feel such a personal connection to people who hadn't a clue he even existed, but perhaps that voice in the darkness was the closest thing he had to a friend. I wonder how many Franks there are, alone in the night, tuning in to the voice like a beacon of human contact. Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to imagine for some it is the only thing connecting them with the rest of humanity.

Maybe in a way the music that we play is somehow a shared experience, as if they feel we are choosing each song just for them; saying to them, "Hey Frank, remember when you brought your kid to the lake and he caught his first fish? This song was on the radio then too." I wished that he could remember the title of the song he had wanted to hear. I wished that I could play it for him. I stumbled through the perfunctory promise to look for it in the music library. I thanked him for his call and wished him well. He expressed his thanks again and we hung up. I came home to write this. Frank returned to the voice, the darkness, the waves, and songs from better days.

Call it coincidence, fate or the mysterious hand of God, but I needed to hear Frank's voice tonight as much as he needed to hear mine. I hope that by some quirk of luck the satellite DJ will play the song Frank was hoping to hear. I hope he feels that he made the connection he reached out to make. I know I won't soon forget him. I know why I'm going to work tomorrow.

When I read this over again tonight it kind of reached out and grabbed me by the throat. It has not a thing in the world to do with Hal Graham, other than perhaps to remind us that even in the briefest encounters with our fellow humans we make an impression. We never know when or how a simple off hand remark might build up-- or tear down-- another individual. Hal, with his good nature, gentle humor and mad ukulele skills impressed me as a man to look up to and emulate. I know he was a friend and mentor to many in the rocketbelt field. I know Dr. Amarena would agree.
A little later I will sort out all this blogging nonsense so that Dr. Amarena can put together his memorial. I'm honored that he would like to use my interviews. I'm proud to be a small part of the tribute to Harold "Hal" Graham, Rocketbelt Pilot, ukulele player and all around mensch.

Thank you all for your indulgence in my little digression into Songs and Darkness. I don't know why, but I just felt a need to share it again.

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Greg Grunberg from NBC's "Heroes."

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:02:43 -0600

11-02-09 Greg Grunberg

Interviewed by Mike Cope 11-02-09

I interviewed Greg Grunberg from NBC's "Heroes" today.* Usually when TV stars do radio interviews they have to crank them out like sausages. You're lucky if you get eight or ten minutes, tops. Greg was gracious enough to talk to me for twenty minutes.

Grunny As Harry Mudd

He's been hitting his pal J.J. up to play Harry Mudd in the Star Trek prequel-sequel. I think he'd be great in the part. I've heard rumors that Jack Black wants the role (if it exists). Not that he wouldn't make a great Harry Mudd himself, but let's hope J.J. Abrams decides to keep it in the "family."

Yowza is the big non-acting project in Greg's life right now. Yowza is an iPhone app that zaps coupons straight to your mobile phone. You can check it out here.

The cause near and dear to his heart is epilepsy awareness. Please visit talkaboutit.org to find out more.

*Recorded on 10-29-09. Broadcast 11-02-09.

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The Morning After

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:41:18 -0600

11-2-09 Halloween Post Mortem and Movie Talk

Mike & JR

J.R. and I discuss Little Sprouts trick-or-treating adventure then digress into a discussion of the movies.

You can watch a slide show of photos from the build and trick-or-treating while you listen.

You can check out my Flickr set of the robot build and Halloween here.

Flickr Slideshow of Halloween 2009

Andy Buckram's Tin Men

This is one of the first books to inspire my love of robots and a
desire to build them. It is the story of a kid who builds robots out of
old Cambell's Soup cans and junk parts to help him with chores around the farm. I remember one robot had hooks for hands so he could carry buckets down to the river to fetch water. ...Boy, that Andy sure was
clever.

After I read that book in the second grade my dad and I built a "robot"
out of a cardboard box with a Folgers Coffee can for a head. Dad rigged
up a couple of flashlight bulbs for eyes wired to batteries and a
toggle switch in the back. I took it to show-and-tell. You should have heard the "Ahhhhs" when I lit up those eyes. I guess kids were prettily easily impressed in the early 70's....

Runaway Robot

When I was a little kid and my brother was a young teen, he picked up extra money working for a guy down the street. I'm not sure how this neighborhood tycoon fit into the publishing industry, but whatever he did involved ripping off covers of magazines that didn't sell and sending them back to the publishers.... The guts of the magazines, comic books and paperbacks were mere waste by-products and Bro was free to bring home whatever he wanted. A few found their way home with covers intact, like this beauty. See a resemblance between the T-450 and Rex here?

I can still remember a part in the story where Rex damages his "Refractor Bulb" and has to replace it with an obsolete black and white model. Rex was much on my mind as I created the T-450 suit, refractor bulb included.

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Trick or Treat!

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:30:22 -0600

Trick or Treat, puny human!

The robot costume was a big hit. Little Sprout was a real trooper about wearing it too. It had to be uncomfortable and difficult to maneuver, but he had fun and only fell down once. Even then he just took a knee and we caught him before he pitched over face first on the sidewalk.

Ready For Treats

We got a late start because true to form, I was still putting finishing touches on the darn thing as the sun began to set. The paint wasn't dry yet when we loaded up the kid, the suit and his flashing pumpkin and started on the 20 mile journey to Brownwood.

Things That Go Blink In The Night

By the time we got to town trick or treating was wrapping up for the night. Sprout only got to visit half a dozen houses, but everyone who saw him was delighted. I was pleased as punch at how the suit turned out, happy that Little Sprout was happy, and tickled at how cute he was walking around in the thing. The voice changer and voice activated flasher "mouth" really enhanced the effect. You should have heard him screeching out "Trick or Treat!" He sounded like a Dalek.

Take Me To Your Candy!

Lil Devil Field Test Painting

I was satisfied with the end result. The suit had good ventilation, field of vision and range of mobility. Although we got the arms in the wrong sockets at first and one of the LEDs on his power pack refused to flash, nothing fell off, everything else worked and we required no repairs in the field. We returned late to May exhausted but happy with our little robot crashed out in the backseat. All in all a successful field test.

I'll post some video when I get it edited.

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4:02 A.M. October 31

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:04:52 -0500

Torso Lit

Torso Unlit

I gotta go to bed for a few minutes...

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T-450 Costume Update

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:40:07 -0500

10-30-09 Robot Update Day before Halloween

Mike Cope and JR Williams

Front Panel on Workbench Unlit

Front Panel on Workbench Lit

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T-450 Robot Costume Update

nobody@vox.com(Tie-dyed Tehuti) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:20:14 -0500

T-450 Lil' Devil Battle droid

Here's a little banter from the show regarding the robot costume I'm making for my six year old grandson for Halloween. I'm also posting a few pics from the build. Little Sprout is excited, although he can't quite picture in his mind how it will all fit together. I'm enjoying the project, but dying from sleep deprivation. I can't wait to get it finished.

Mike and JR

Mike & JR

Reactor Chamber Lighting Effects

Starboard Antenna Assembly

10-28-09 Robot Update

Mike & JR