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INSTITUTE NEWS ARCHIVE
For Immediate Release:
The Banzai Institute salutes the heroes of the Space Shuttle Columbia
Rick Douglas
Husband
(Colonel, USAF) Commander
Born: July 12, 1957, Home: Amarillo, Texas
Survivors: Wife, two children
William C. McCool
(Commander, USN) Pilot
Born: September 23, 1961, Home: Lubbock, Texas
Survivors: Wife, three children
Michael P. Anderson
(Lt. Colonel, USAF) Payload Commander
Born: December 25, 1959, Home: Spokane, Washington
Survivors: Wife
Kalpana Chawla
(Ph.D.) Mission Specialist
Age: 41, Home: Born in Karnal, India
Survivors: Husband
David M. Brown
(Captain, USN) Mission Specialist
Born: April 16, 1956, Home: Arlington, Virginia
Single
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, M.D.
(Commander, USN) Mission Specialist
Age: 41, Home: Racine, Wisconsin
Suvivors: Husband, one child
Ilan Ramon
(Colonel, Israel Air Force) Payload Specialist
Born: June 20, 1954, Home: Tel Aviv, Israel
Survivors: Wife, four children
"The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind
is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration
of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into
space will go on. "
- President George W. Bush,
February 1, 2003
For Immediate Release:
Banzai article nominated for award
(1/2/03) Banzai fan Sean Murphy's article on the Buckaroo Banzai docudrama film has been nominated for "Best Article" in this year's fannish Classic Horror Film Board Rondo Hatton Awards. Murphy's article, which appeared in issue #82 of Video Watchdog magazine, features interviews with Banzai director W. D. Richter and Reno Nevada (in the persona of Earl Mac Rauch), who discussed the making of the Banzai special edition DVD for MGM Home Video, as well as the making of the docudrama and the Buckaroo Banzai cultural phenomenon in general. Murphy began work on the article in 1997, in hopes of spurring studio interest in a Banzai DVD. Ironically, it was not until the DVD was in production that Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas was able to publish Murphy's article.
The informal Rondo Hatton Awards were named for an obscure film actor, and were organized by David Colton, front page editor of USA TODAY, a long-time fan who also created the AOL horror boards. Institute members are encouraged to vote for Murphy's work (and to cast votes on other genre-related material) by sending an e-mail to taraco@aol.com. A complete list of nominees can be found here. Votes are expected to be tabulated around the first weekend in January, 2003. Sean Murphy, also known as Figment, is the author of a comprehensive Banzai FAQ (at http://www.figmentfly.com/bb/bbindex.shtml,), and is co-author of the Banzai Institute's own FAQ .
For
Immediate Release:
Clancy Brown stars in new HBO series
(11/19/02) Actor Clancy Brown has joined the cast of Carnivale, a new genre series in production for HBO. Starring Nick Stahl and Adrienne Barbeau, the series is a dark fantasy set in a traveling circus in the Oklahoma dust bowl during the Great Depression. Clancy Brown, who won popular acclaim for his portrayal of Rawhide in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension, plays a character named Brother Justin.
Carnivale is expected to air on the HBO cable service sometime in late 2003.
For Immediate Release:
Meteor storm to hit Earth early November 19!
(10/11/02) Resident astronomers at the Banzai Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Strategic Information have asked all Blue Blaze Irregulars to exercise extra vigilence during the very early morning of Tuesday, November 19, 2002. That's the morning that Earth is expected to plow through a cloud of space debris from comet 55/P Tempel-Tuttle, causing the annual meteor shower known as the Leonids. Early-rising observers in North America and in Europe may witness a spectacular show, with predicted rates of as many as 2000 meteors per hour in some parts of North America. The best viewing will be in places far from city lights (or on board the International Space Station), but viewers in many cities may also get a good view at peak times. BBIs may recall that a meteor impact several years ago in the New Jersey area turned out to be a Lectroid thermopod from Planet 10 (see previous news item). While there is no specific reason to suspect that any of the Leonid meteors might be of Lectroid origin, the Banzai Institute is advising caution.
More information (including predicted peak times for many
cities) is available at the NASA website:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/09oct_leonidsforecast.htm
and at
http://www.spaceweather.com/
For Immediate Release:
Planet 10 discovered?
(10/8/02) NASA scientists have
announced the discovery of the largest object in the solar system
since the discovery of Pluto 72 years ago. The new object, dubbed
"Quaoar" (pronounced kwa-whar) orbits the sun at a
distance of about 4 billion miles, well over a billion miles
further than Pluto.
Quaoar, also known as "2002 LM60," was measured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It is the farthest object in the solar system ever to be imaged by Earth astronomers. The question of whether or not Quaoar is to be considered to be a planet has yet to be addressed by astronomers, but its orbit is circular, unlike the highly elliptical trajectory of Pluto. Although smaller than Pluto, Quaoar is greater in volume than all the astroids combined. Astronomers believer, however, that it has only about a third the mass of the asteroid belt, because it is probably icy rather than rocky.
According to Dr. Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, this finding yields important new insights into the origin and dynamics of the planets, and the mysterious population of bodies dwelling in the solar system's final frontier: the elusive, icy Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune. Brown, along with Chadwick Trujillo (also of Caltech), reported the findings on October 7, 2002 at the 34th annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Birmingham, Ala.
Earlier this year, Trujillo and Brown used the Palomar Oschin Schmidt telescope to discover Quaoar as an 18.5-magnitude object creeping across the summer constellation Ophiuchus (it's less than 1/100,000 the brightness of the faintest star seen by the human eye). Brown had to do follow-up observations using Hubble's new Advanced Camera for Surveys on July 5 and August 1, 2002, to measure the object's true angular size of 40 milliarcseconds, corresponding to a diameter of about 800 miles (1300 kilometers). Only Hubble has the sharpness needed to actually resolve the disk of the distant world, leading to the first-ever direct measurement of the true size of a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO).
Like Pluto, Quaoar dwells in the Kuiper Belt, an icy debris field of comet-like bodies extending 7 billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit. Over the past decade more than 500 icy bodies have been found in the Kuiper Belt. With a few exceptions all have been significantly smaller than Pluto.
This latest large KBO is too new to have been officially named by the International Astronomical Union. Trujillo and Brown have proposed naming it after a creation god of the Native American Tongva tribe, the original inhabitants of the Los Angeles basin. According to legend, Quaoar "came down from heaven; and, after reducing chaos to order, laid out the world on the back of seven giants. He then created the lower animals, and then mankind."
Officials of the Banzai Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Strategic Information have had no comment on whether or not Quaoar is indeed the homeworld of the mysterious Lectroids that tried to seize control of Earth several years ago.
Photo credit: NASA and M. Brown (Caltech)
For Immediate Release:
Jet Car Pilot Pushes Assault Envelope
(9/13/02) Quantum physicist-rock star Buckaroo Banzai was allegedly provoked into an altercation with Bryce Sibilant when the latter "poked" him repeatedly with a copy of TV psychic Miss Cleo's autobiography as Banzai exited a nightclub following a performance by his band, "The Hong Kong Cavaliers."
Banzai Institute spokesman Reno of Memphis said Sibilant "blocked the way" as the band tried to get to their car. Memphis said Banzai was "forced to protect himself when he was aggressively and somewhat imbecilicly confronted" outside of "Leo and Dexter's," a Lawton club specializing in syncopated music. Witness reports indicate that Banzai allegedly remained calm until Sibilant proclaimed that Banzai's "hoax" resulted in the death of Rawhide, a long-time friend of Banzai.
"I guess that was the last straw," said Sergeant Kelly O'Shield of the Kalamazoo Sheriff's Department who took the report. "Heck, I'd've punched the guy myself." O'Shield said police will interview both men and file a report with the Kalamazoo District Attorney's office.
Sibilant, 43, of Lawton, Mich. is an outspoken critic of what he calls "fraud science." His statement to police indicates that he was trying to get Banzai to swear on Miss Cleo's book that Banzai had never driven through solid matter during his widely publicized Jet Car experiment. Sibilant said he had tried to get other colleagues of Banzai to swear similarly on five other occasions, but none would do so.
"This half-breed is perpetuating a public fraud for unknown reasons of his own devising," said Sibilant, who has created and offers for sale a video called "Moving Through Nothing That Matters" which purports to have evidence that the Jet Car test and other major scientific breakthroughs never occurred.
Memphis said, "All I can tell you is that Doctor Banzai did drive through that mountain. And in case there is any question, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin really walked on the moon, as well."
(with a grin and apologies to K. Reich, L.A. Times)
For Immediate Release:
Banzai designer gets Emmy nom
(7/18/02) Production designer J. Michael Riva received a nomination in the Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special category for the 2002 Emmy Awards by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced today in Los Angeles. Riva, who served as production designer on the 1984 docudrama The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, was nominated for his work on the 2002 broadcast of the Academy Awards. J. Michael Riva's other credits include the 1993 presidential fantasy Dave and Charlie's Angels I and II. More info on the 2002 Emmy awards is available at the television academy website.
For Immediate Release:
Silver Fox chases
Eight Legged Freaks
(7/16/02) The Banzai Institute's own Silver Fox, aka Terry Erdmann, is credited as the production publicist on the new movie Eight Legged Freaks, which opens this week. "I've had the opportunity to work on many projects since joining Dr. Banzai in his battle with Lizardo," Erdmann says. "Most of them have been Science Fiction projects (that's SF as in Silver Fox, naturally). But none of them has been more fun--or scary--than this encounter with giant arachnids. It reminds me of the giant bug pictures that proliferated in the late l950's--except that the visual effects could eat you alive. This sounds like one for the Blue Blaze Irregulars." Silver Fox, who was the publicist for the original theatrical release of the Buckaroo Banzai docudrama, is featured in a Banzai Radio interview on the Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai DVD. More info on the new Warner release of Eight Legged Freaks is available at the film's official website.
For Immediate Release:
Banzai
star interviewed
(6/23/02) Peter Weller, who played the title role in the critically-acclaimed Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, is featured in an interview on the Scifi.com website. The interview, focuses on Weller's role in Showtime's new science-fiction series, Odyssey 5. Also featured is Odyssey 5 creator Manny Coto. The new series premiered on June 21 on Showtime. The article included a link to Scifi.com's review by Kenneth Newquist of MGM's Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai DVD. The entire interview, conducted by Kathie Huddleston, can be found here. (Thanks to ArcLight for this item!)
For Immediate Release:
Banzai
novel reviewed
(6/8/02) Needcoffee.com, a website devoted to pop-culture, has just reviewed Earl Mc Rauch's Buckaroo Banzai biography. After reading Dr. Banzai's bio, the reviewer indicated he wanted to "grab Rauch by the lapels and demand more." He goes on to say, "It's not only in characterization and backstory that you get more bang for your buck, but also in crucial Banzaiverse details." The review, which is quite positive, can be read HERE. The book, a must for any follower of Buckaroo and his cohorts, is available in bookstores everywhere.
For Immediate Release:
Weller stars in Odyssey 5 on Showtime
(5/14/02) Showtime Networks has annoucned that its new science fiction series, Odyssey 5, will premiere on Friday, June 21, 2002. Peter Weller, noted for his portrayal of neurosurgeon Dr. Buckaroo Banzai in the cult favorite docudrama The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, stars as space shuttle commander Chuck Taggart. In the pilot episode, Taggart and his crew see the Earth destroyed, then travel five years back in time to try to prevent it. Besides starring, actor Weller took a turn at the director's chair, helming three episodes of the series. The premiere episode of Odyssey 5 was directed by David Carson, whose credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation and From the Earth to the Moon, Tom Hanks' miniseries about the Apollo moon landing program.
For Immediate Release:
Attack of the 50 Foot reviewer!
(3/30/02) Attack of the 50 Foot DVD, a website devoted to science fiction and fantasy films on DVD, has reviewed the Buckaroo Banzai DVD, calling it "the movie that was too cool for the 80s." Reviewer Dr. Freex calls the MGM Home Video release "an astonishing amount of entertainment," and speaks highly of the DVD's extensive extras (which he describes in considerable detail.) Dr. Freex describes the film itself as being " filled with off-kilter dialogue, sly Zen humor, and a frankly astonishing cast." You can read the entire review at the Attack of the 50 Foot DVD website. Thanks to Agent 13 for the heads-up on this one!
For Immediate Release:
Rawhide rides again!
(3/18/02) Actor Clancy Brown, whose portrayal of our own Rawhide was one of the highlights of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension, will guest star in an upcoming episode of the new Star Trek spinoff series, Enterprise, according to fan news website Trektoday.com. The website said that Brown plays a charismatic alien leader named Zobral in an episode titled "Desert Crossings," which is scheduled to air later this season on UPN. Brown, who still speaks highly of his experience working on the Buckaroo Banzai docudrama, was the star of the genre seeries Earth 2. Brown also played Dr. Ellis West in several episodes of ER and most recently appeared in The Laramie Project, a feature film set in the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard.
For Immediate Release:
Banzai director interviewed
(3/15/02) W.D. Richter, director the the popular docudrama The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension, along with Reno Nevada, have been interviewed for the cover story of the April, 2002 issue of Video Watchdog magazine. The interview, conducted by Banzai fan Sean Murphy (aka BBI Figment), discusses the amazing story behind the release of MGM Home Video's Special Edition DVD of the docudrama. Murphy conducted the interview in 2001, shortly after Richter and Nevada recorded their commentary track for the DVD. Murphy assisted Mrs. E. Johnson with the FAQ on the Banzai Institute website, and has been webmaster of his own Banzai website for several years.
For Immediate Release:
Reno Nevada interviewed
(3/7/02) Banzai Institute fellow Reno Nevada, sometimes known as Reno of Memphis, is featured in the regular "Twenty Questions" feature of the Destroy-All-Monsters.com website. The site, devoted to Asian-American pop culture, regularly poses twenty questions, ranging from the trivial to the profound, to noted celebrities. Our friend Earl Mac Rauch passed the questions on to Reno, whose answers can be read at the Destroy-All-Monsters website. Last month, the site published an extensive review of MGM Home Video's Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Special Edition DVD, giving the disk "the highest of recommendations." Reno Nevada is widely recognized as the chief chronicler of the life and times of Dr. B. Banzai.
For Immediate Release:
Filmcritic.com gives Buckaroo 4-1/2 stars
(2/28/02) Reviewer Christopher Null of filmcritic.com has given the MGM Home Video Special Edition of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension a 4-1/2 star rating. Null calls the cult favorite "a delicious and funny piece of sci-fi with the same appeal that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series has long held." Null praises the added scenes on the Special Edition disk, noting that the "new cut attempts to address the concerns of many critics" who found the film's quirky, take-no prisoners, offer-no-explanations style to be confusing. Null also notes that "loyal fans will find tons of fabulous extras," including the jet car trailer and the commentary track. The entire review can be found at filmcritic.com.
For Immediate Release:
DVD Authority reviews Buckaroo
(2/10?02) Another Internet-based critic praising the MGM Home Video release of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension is DVD Authority. Reviewer Fusion3600 called thedocudrama's story "terrific" and praises the disk's supplemental materials, sayhing that "you can tell this one was aimed at fans." Says the reviwer, "this one is highly recommended without any hesitation at all," giving Buckaroo 4-1/2 out of 5 stars. The review appears at the DVD Authority website.
For Immediate Release:
Extensive Banzai review at Destroy-All-Monsters.com
(2/6/02) Destrtoy-All-Monsters.com, a site largely devoted to Japanese fantasy films, has posted a detailed review of the Buckaroo Banzai DVD. Destroy-All-Monsters reviewer Musashi calls the Banzai docudrama "a cinematic experience that is both bewildering and exhilarating." Regarding the MGM Special Edition DVD itself, Musashi says, "Given the overall high quality of the presentation, and the number and quality of extras, I can't help but give this disc the highest of recommendations." Musashi's review discusses the Banzai media phenomenon, as well as the supplements on the disk.
For Immediate Release:
Video Premiere Awards reviews Buckaroo
(2/4/02) The Video Premiere Awards website review of the Buckaroo Banzai Special Edition DVD has given the docudrama yet another thumbs up. Video Premiere Awards writer Samantha Clark calls the MGM Home Video release a "well concieved" disk that "caters to the cult film's fan base of left-of-center fantasy lovers." Clark calls Banzai a "hot property" and speaks highly of DVD producer Michael Arick's efforts to use the disk's supplemental features to expand upon the docudrama's story. The Video Premiere Awards review also lists some of the supplements.
For Immediate Release:
MGM promotes
Buckaroo Banzai DVD
(2/1/02) MGM Home Video is promoting the release of the Special Edition DVD of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension with full-page advertisements in major national s-f media magazines. The MGM ads, which appear in Starlog and Cinescape magazines, feature a color photo of the docudrama cast with a caption proclaiming that they are "armed with brains & electric guitars." The ads, which also publicize the Special Edition DVD of Mad Max, invite readers to visit the official MGM website for further information, and a sweepstakes. Buckaroo Banzai has been among the top selling DVDs for Internet superstore Amazon.com since the disk was released in early January.
For Immediate Release:
Richter
discusses Banzai Institute series concept
(1/30/02) Filmmaker W.D. Richter revealed the possibility of a new Buckaroo Banzai TV series in an interview appearing in the February 2002 issue of Starlog magazine. Richter, who directed the 1984 docudrama The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension, said that he and Earl Mac Rauch are developing a new concept for what he describes as a "free-form" program. Richter said that the concept would combine elements of a variety show, talk show, and a back stage documentary that would originate from the Banzai Institute. Said Richter, "We want to do something that's freer in form" than the action-adventure format of the popular feature film docudrama. Richter said that no deal yet exists for the new Banzai Institute series, although he indicated that the Sci Fi Channel has expressed some preliminary interest. Richter also revealed that Earl Mac Rauch is currently developing further adventures of B. Banzai to be published in novel form by Pocket Books, although he did not give any timetable for publication.
The article in Starlog magazine delves behind the scenes of the bestselling MGM Home Video DVD, and features extensive coverage of the docudrama itself, and the failure of the original studio marketing campaign for the film. Also covered in the Starlog article is Buckaroo Banzai: Ancient Secrets and New Mysteries, an earlier Banzai series concept developed for Fox TV.
For Immediate Release:
BB a strong seller for Barnes & Noble
(1/28/02) Barnes & Noble, one of the nation's top booksellers, reports that The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension is proving to be a "surprise sleeper hit," according to Pocket Books executive editor Margaret Clark. Despite the fact that the Earl Mac Rauch novel was published during the second week in December, traditionally a bad time for new titles, Barnes & Noble has reportedly sold 50% of their stock in less than one month.
According to Clark, what's especially remarkable is the fact that there's been very little drop off in Banzai's weekly sales, even though the industry norm is for a book's sales to fall dramatically in its second and subsequent weeks. Clark, who describes Banzai's performance as "mind boggling," says that a decision on a second printing of Buckaroo Banzai is expected as early as mid-February.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension
is available online through Barnes & Noble's Internet store, as well
as from retail booksellers everywhere.
For Immediate Release:
Suncoast
Video publishes promotional booklet
(1/27/02) Suncoast Video, a major national retailer of home videos, has published a limited edition souvenir booklet to promote the recent release of the DVD edition of the Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension. Suncoast is currently offering a copy of the booklet free to customers who purchase a copy of the MGM Home Video DVD. This handsome, 8 page publication includes rare behind-the-scenes photos from the film, as well as pictures of Buckaroo, his associates, and Lectroid nemeses. Supplies are limited. Images from this booklet may be viewed at the Banzai Institute website's archive page.
For Immediate Release:
Peter Weller to star in s-f thriller
(1/22/02) Actor Peter Weller, noted for his portrayal of the peripatetic Dr. Buckaroo Banzai in the 1984 docudrama, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension, is set to star in Odyssey 5, a science-fiction series for Showtime Networks, Inc. The new series, slated to premiere on Showtime this summer, follows five astronauts who witness the destruction of Earth from the vantage point of an orbiting space shuttle, only to return home five years in the past, where they struggle to change the future. (PR Newswire)
Widmark,
Banzai to Visit Area 51
Washington Chronicle - October 24, 1998
The White House announced today that renowned
physicist and surgeon Buckaroo Banzai
will accompany President Widmark on a fact-finding mission to
Roswell, New Mexico.
White House Press Secretary Benjamin Huntington explained that the Freedom of Information Act requires annual approval of the Executive Branch to renew the "top secret" status of the area and events surrounding Roswell.
"The President feels that, in order to make a well-informed judgment, he should enlist the aid of a man who has actually met an extra-terrestrial."
When asked if this acknowledges the existence of extra-terrestrials at Roswell, Huntington quickly reminded reporters "Until this visit is completed, any information is still classified."
The official visit is tentatively scheduled for mid-1999.
Hikita to Address 'Consciousness' Conference
WNN News Service - August 13, 1997
Professor Toichi Hikita has accepted
an invitation to participate as the key-note speaker for the
International Conference on the Exploration of Consciousness
which will meet in Stockholm, Sweden next January.
"Traditionally, the conference centers around the non-traditional," says Hansin Jornesborg, Director of the 1997 conference. "Professor Hikita's research at the Banzai Institute has led to tremendous breakthroughs in the area of multi-dimensionality which we believe to be an extension of consciousness."
When reached for comment, Banzai Institute spokesman, Reno Nevada would only say, "It could be highly revealing."
Arizona Clears Sale of Desert Parcel
Phoenix, AZ - May 1, 1993
Public records filed yesterday reveal that the Arizona State Department of the Interior has approved the purchase of 250 acres of desert lands, approximately 50 miles north of Phoenix.
The land, which includes two decommissioned nuclear missile silos, is currently owned by the United States Department of Defense.
The court filing includes approval for refit and usage of the facility as a particle accelerator, atrium, research lab, living quarters, a full medical facility, complete rehearsal hall, and a musical recording studio.
The name of the purchasing party is being withheld at this time.
'Sonar'
Tour to Support Dolphin ResearchNew Brunswick - December 7, 1992
Buckaroo Banzai and The Hong Kong Cavaliers announced today that all the proceeds from their 33-city "Bouncing Sonar Tour" will be donated to the Waterwog Center for Cetacean Research.
"It's a wonderful offer in many ways," said center director and founder, Molly Waterwog. "Not only because of the funding, but also the heightened awareness of the work we do here."
Besides bringing attention to the cause of dolphin research, the tour will promote the Cavalier's newest album, "Echo Location."
Jet Car on Loan to NASATechnology Today - November 4, 1989
A spokesman for the Banzai Institute confirmed today that the Jet Car will be temporarily loaned to NASA, along with one of its designers, Perfect Tommy.
While neither party would elaborate on the exact nature of the loan, industry speculation focused on the Jet Car's revolutionary suspension system which experts claim would be useful in a vehicle designed for for long-term exploration of Mars.
Defense Contractor Goes Under
New Jersey Times - December 12, 1985
In a long-anticipated
action, the stockholders and investors of Yoyodyne Propulsion
Systems filed for bankruptcy today in New Jersey Superior Court.
"The company has been in trouble ever since that nonsense about the spacemen," said acting CEO, John Mop, referring to the much-publicized rumors of an attack by extra-terrestrials last July. "We may be down, but we're not out."
One reason may be the rumored take-over bid by rock star Henry Shannon's World Capital Lending.
"W.C.L. would definitely pump new juice back into this place," Mop said.
A spokesman for World Capital could not be reached for comment.
Food From the Skies?
New Jersey Times- October 28, 1985
It wasn't exactly manna from Heaven, but residents of New
Brunswick were treated to a rare sight yesterday. A helicopter
hovering above an abandoned industrial park dropped watermelons
10,000 feet to the concrete below.
Miraculously, many did not break.
The somewhat bizarre experiment is part of an on-going research project by the Banzai Institute. The ultimate goal is to drop the melons over famine stricken areas as a means of delivering much-needed food.
In a statement issued by the Institute, project coordinator Perfect Tommy said, "If we can grow these, instead of collecting food and wrapping it for dropping, it should shorten emergency response time, as well as lessen the costs of such endeavors."
Early tests included compression of the specially enhanced
watermelons between two industrial strain gauges.
"We learned a lot from those tests," Tommy said. "Mostly
we learned to cover the lab in plastic tarps before we begin."
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