I have been busy busy lately and didn't think I would get anything done for Ilustration Friday again this week. But I managed to come up with a drawing at the end of the day yesterday thanks to TV reruns. In 1982 Larry Walters tied 42 helium weather balloons to his lawn chair and took a trip. He wanted to go up a bit and hover over his neighborhood for a while. Instead he shot up to 16,000 feet (three miles) ... where it is pretty cold. A couple of airline pilots reported seeing a man in a lawn chair holding a gun as they flew by him. He had planned on shooting out some balloons to come back down. When he did descend, he tangled in some power lines and blacked out a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes. The stunt got him a $1,500 fine from the FAA, and appearances on the Tonight Show and David Letterman.
Pixar's next movie is UP and looks like it may have been inspired by Larry. CLICK HERE to see the trailer. I can't wait!
11 comments:
Great drawing, and interesting story behind it. Would have loved to have heard the radio dialog between the airline pilots and tower!
Well done, Doug! I had considered doing it but you pulled it off better than I could have!
Click & Clack (Tom & Ray, the Car Talk guys) retold the story on their show this weekend (must have been a re-run). So funny to hear they're guffaws as they told it!
Great drawing Dugg, as always. Your guy looks a lot like Jim Backus (sp?) and the guy in the movie trailer looks a lot like Mr. Magoo. Coincidence?
I saw the UP trailer on Thanksgiving, then heard Car Talk on Saturday... so I got this image planted in my mind. I wanted to draw an old codger (more fun) but the real guy was in his forties, I think.
I am becoming more like Mr. Magoo all the time...
some men are old codgers by the time they hit their 40s.
hell, my first husband was an old coot when he was 19.
This is a really nice drawing! Great technique and line work. :) I think I'd rather see your SocMo in the chair, though. :P
hahaha... can't believe someone actually tried lifting off on his chair like that... always have wanted to try lifting off with some balloons but have never tried... there weren't enough balloons... :P
P.S. i weigh a ton... literally...
Great job! You must be a professional.
hahah Great piece!
Wow, this looks real SIMILAR to the one you did last week on "Balloon". Oops. My bad.
So... ARE you a professional???
AWESOME!!! :))
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