So I’m setting off on another golfonthemoon mission on Sunday 27/03/11. Do join us if you can. Yet again it has been organised by gonzogeographer extraordinaire Gordon Joly who is using this walk as an excuse to celebrate Gonzo Mean Time. We assemble at 1pm at North Greenwich Station.
My chief aim will be to map out Moon Golf Hole #3 here on earth. The results of our last walk were excellent. By mapping out our route, documenting our progress and gaining much insight from my fellow moongolfers along the way, I came up with Moon Golf Hole #2:
It reminded me very much Google’s map of Apollo 14’s famous moongolf expedition (note pin number 20):
And now see how well these two maps work together. Uncanny!:
For this Sunday I’m looking not only to create a third hole (and then find the right place on the moon where it fits), but also to meet new people who might be useful for my mission*.
As we walk and talk, I’m hoping to document our conversations, learn about others people’s lives here on earth and generally use the civic (and sometime privately-owned) space we're traversing as both a playground and a space research lab. As fellow Splacist and sometime moongolf collaborater Paul Conneally has described it in the past:
"The game of 'golf on the moon' involves a hole being set up somewhere, and a tee being set up somewhere some distance away with a particular significance - a place where ley lines converge, perhaps.
The players tee off and then pick up their balls to walk back by whatever route takes their fancy to the hole location - along the way they are encouraged to talk to each other and engage with their surroundings - they too become looked at a little more than usual as they are carrying golf clubs.
When they reach the hole location they put their balls back on the ground and putt until they hole out. Everyone wins."
I would add that dressing up as an astronaut, wearing a GPS device for mapping our course and practising a few golf strokes along the way is (for me) also part of the game, but I appreciate I may be playing at a more advanced level than the rest of you.
DON'T LEAVE SPACE TO THE PROFESSIONALS!
*In case you’re new to my lunar obsession, I should remind you that GolfontheMoon is a long term & resolutely amateur project of mine to get to the moon before I die without the aid of any corporate or government support (aka interference!).
When I finally get there (preferably with David Bowie as my wingman or caddie), I will do what human beings have always done with new wild frontier landscapes: I will create a golf course. The name of my project is Play Golf On the Moon! (with David Bowie).
Obviously there are several stages to this rather complicated and deliberately ramshackle mission.
For the moment, I am following NASA’s original plan for its Apollo astronauts; that is, to ‘pretend’ to be on the moon whilst actually goofing around on Earth. I'm also talking to people who can help Bowie and I live long enough to complete the mission. And we're always on the look out for rocket scientists who might build us an affordable mode of transport - preferably out of Lego and the other cheap play components I have at my disposal.
Only £3 entry for adult £1 for children!
