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In Reply to: Re: posted by BKing on November 20, 1999 at 12:04:09:
Thanks again BKing for making a valiant stab at the trivial questions; here
are the answers:
(1) By comparing the arrival times of sound waves on their detectors with
the arrival times of impact waves on their seismograph, then computing
the difference, indicating that a traveling object had
crash-landed approximately 48 miles due east of the compound.
(2) Kentucky; right from the horse's mouth.
(3) Tail fin - my guess too. In the words of the crewmember working with
it: "An air foil...possibly a stabilizer of some sort."
(4) General Fogerty, the Commander of the Anchorage, Alaska Air Force
Base; same as the two Fogertys, John and Tom, members of the Credence Clearwater Revival rock group.
(5) Not sure about the mewing, but howling and screeching like some sort
of agitated or wounded wildcat like a lynx or cougar, would be my guess.
(6) Dr. Stern, the botanist, as he staggers through a doorway and gasps,
"...the greenhouse...the thing!". He then collapses on the floor as expedition members gather round him. He tells Capt. Hendry, "...and when
I turned, the thing struck at me...". (These are the only two times in
the film I heard it stated exactly.)
Here are most of the other spoken references to The Thing besides the
mutiple pronouns, "he"; "him"; "it" and "you" - "our vistor"; "stranger in
a strange land"(Dr. Carrington); "Man from Mars"(Scotty); "this creature";
"the body"; "a passenger"; "that thing"; "this thing"; "boogeyman"(Nikki);
"that guy"; "this guy"; "a being"(from another world); "a source of wisdom"
(Dr. Carrington); "X"(Dr. Carrington's experimental protocol); "an enemy";
"phenomenon"(Dr. Carrington); "that what-is-it?"(Nikki); "a vegetable"(Scotty); "some sort of carrot"(Scotty); "intellectual carrot"(Scotty); "super-carrot"(Dr. Carrington); "your prisoner"(an uninformed message from Gen. Fogerty); "martian"(message from Gen. Fogerty); "it's (the spaceship's) pilot"(Scotty).
(7) A Theremin (Thereminvox); named after the Russian physicist&cellist,
Leon Theremin who invented it in 1919. Theremins were used a lot in
early sci-fi films because of their other-worldly, ethereal tonal qualities; however, Theremin, being a cello player, had interests in
orchestral applications; the greatest theremin player of classical music
is reputed to be Clara Rockmore, her CD "The Art Of The Theremin" is on
the Delos label. In modern progressive rock music, the theremin can be
heard in the intro of The Moody Blues recording, "Your Wildest Dreams".
A film documentary, "Theremin, An Electronic Odyssey", is considered to
be excellent, available from Orion.P.S. - There are lots of humorous moments and lines in the film, but one
of my favorites is when Scotty exclaims in awe, "an intellectual carrot,
the mind boggles!", in response to Dr. Carrington during their discussion
of the vegetable-like nature of The Thing.
Re: item 6,
I believe you've missed one. It's been quite a while since I last saw the film, but I'm pretty sure the creature is referred to as 'Gorgeous George' at one point.
Once again it's painfully obvious I don' know my thing. Theremin, huh? Nope, never would have guessed that.
That's why trivia is not only entertaining, it's informative too. You
know more now than before, you knowledge base of "The Thing" has increased.
If you have any further questions about the film, I'd be happy to discuss
them. While I think the film is a masterpiece, it's not a perfect masterpiece, for instance, I feel "The Thing" could have been made to
appear a little more alien-looking; no problems with the humanoid form,
but just wish the face had been more alien-like; I'm sure the make-up
people could have done it. It's easy to see in the more lucid shots of
Arness that it's human looking; all they would have had to do is alter
the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Arness' cranium was enlarged thank
goodness, indicating the probability of a superior intellect, and his
hands were altered with the barbs. Fortunately, the director kept Arness
hidden from clear view for most of the film, so it's not that big of a
complaint...still! I question why
the spaceship blew up so easily when all they did was detonate thermite
bombs, which were designed to burn away the ice. Seems the metal would
have been impervious to our explosives if it were THAT advanced. Of course,
the ship could have been damaged somewhat during the crash, and the thermites finished the job by causing the engines to explode. ????
I also questioned the rampaging, deadly nature of The Thing, but surmised
that no matter how intelligent a being is, he won't be nice to you if his
original source of food, in his case, animal/human blood, is gone, and you
are the only food source left.(There is a delicious irony here.) It is clear that The Thing is not a vegetable creature specimen stored away on the spaceship by possibly more
hospitable, but now dead aliens, because he wore some sort of space uniform with insignia; he was certainly a crew member. He displays intelligence, that's for sure, as he cuts off the compounds heating oil
supply, in an effort to freeze the members out. Fortunately, humans are
intelligent too and guessed that his next step would be to cut the electrical supply, so they holed up at the electrical source, namely, the
generator room and waited for "The Thing". Sure enough, that's exactly
where he was heading and of course, met an electrifying fate, being reduced
to a smoking lump of coal. Finally, I considered questioning the plausibility of a vegetable creature ever attaining such advanced intelligence, but held back, because I certainly didn't want Dr.
Carrington and his scientific associates to accuse me of such human arrogance!
Remember BKing...."Watch The Skies!"
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