Friday, March 30, 2007

Streaking Shrek^^^^

Shrek, the giant ogre, became very famous after his movies. With his enormous strength and kind heart, he continued his fight against evil into the 21st century. Needless to say, the United Nation felt that its own role as peacekeeper had been usurped and decided to issue a challenge to Shrek which they felt he surely could not do. .


"If you can leap around the Earth in a single bound, we will accept you as the true guardian of peace" they said.


Shrek could not shirk this challenge and started his training (to the tune of Rocky, of course). The critical day finally arrived and of course, the media had worked up the population to near hysteria. Will he do it? Can he do it?


All was set! A dwarf got down on his hands and knees at the starting/finishing line. He was to be Shrek's springboard! Now Shrek started his run almost a kilometer away. Building up speed rapidly, he literally blazed towards the starting line. (Of course his clothes burnt away due to air friction, but that is another (x-rated) feghoot) At the starting line he stepped on the dwarf, got a boost and vanished towards the horizon.


He was tracked via satellite as he flew round the Earth. Ninety minutes later, a small speck was seen on the other side. It was Shrek! He landed (some say crashed) a mere 100 meters past the finishing line. He had made it!


As the microphones from the world media were pushed into his bruised face, he called his dwarf pal to his side, pointed to him and uttered those historic and immortal first words.


"That's one Small Man for Step, One Mankind Leap for Giant"
(That's one Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind)
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Dedicated to all the Astronomers, Scientists and Engineers who put Neil Armstrong and others into space. I looked at the moon and Saturn with my 3-inch Newtonian when I was maybe 8 and astronomy has been my passion ever since. Thank you Voyager, Apollo, Hubble and the rest. Also to astronomer Prof McCord at MIT for whom I worked part-time while studying.

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