Little Tommy NASA

I know I've let the standards slip around here. Hell, I haven't mowed my "lawn" in years. But I'm really remiss in not commemorating Tom Hanks' birthday on the 9th. He is quite possibly the greatest actor of our time and an even greater patriot.

Patriot. That word gets thrown around and run thru the spin cycle to mean things it isn't. In this case, it refers to the root definition. Tom Hanks is an outstanding example of a true American. After reaching a level of success where he could pick and chose his work, he chose to celebrate the American spirit thru projects like Saving Private Ryan, The Pacific, Apollo 13 and my personal favorite, From The Earth To The Moon.

I remember seeing him on David Letterman during the promotional tour when this was released on HBO and he referred to himself as "Little Tommy NASA". I really connected with him on that. I grew up during the Space Race and vividly remember all the spaceflights. I had an Apollo 11 t shirt that I wore until it fell apart.

NASA was a new hope for mankind and a source of national pride. We were breaking new frontiers. We were boldly going where no man had gone before. It was a very special time. Episode 4 "1968" sums it up nicely. When you have the time watch this whole miniseries. It's truly a masterpiece of television.

Tom managed to wrangle just about every actor he knew into working on this pet project. You'll see many familiar faces throughout the series. I feel safe in saying they didn't do it for the paycheck. They did it for Tom. Please forgive me Mr. Hanks for not remembering your birthday. You deserve a much better tribute for your patriotism, but I hope this salute will suffice.

Here's Episode 1 of the best historical spaceflight miniseries ever made, From The Earth To The Moon.

from the earth to the moon epoisde 1 by UZI4you