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Re: "The Thing" - 1951: Three Trivia Questions.

199.80.70.126

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.




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