Would you rather have been a Beatle, or have walked on the moon?

the experience of writing and playing good music is pretty transcendent to me and I suck compared to the beatles.

it seems dumb to me to fantasize about going to the moon if you haven't even done something like go scuba diving. like who am I kidding, I would probably never go to the moon, even if space tourism were relatively inexpensive.

I understand that but I think shouldering the adulation and creepy fixations of the full range of the human scrum would be a bigger pain in the ass than anything astronauts had to put up with (aside from spending all that time in Texas and Florida).

there was that conspiracy dude that Buzz Aldrin punched that time

idk if it's fair to call going to the moon an experience rather than an accomplishment; i mean, i get that they didn't do it alone (all those george martins back at mission control) but, like, it's a lot of dangerous work to go to the moon! they didn't just buckle up and put in earphones and then pile out when they got there.

Yeah, I'm assuming the choice includes guarantees that 1) We survive the flight or 2) Some crazy guy doesn't shoot us in front of the Dakota.

Interesting discussion. I just want to jump in and say that dylann's point, upthread, about groupies is basically irrelevant. I'm sure Buzz Aldrin had/could have had his share of effortless sex.

u hv read or seen The Right Stuff?

It's interesting you bring up the stress and drawbacks of fame, Morbs. I was talking about this with a friend recently and he said that extremevfame and the corresponding lack of public anonymity is so fundamentally different from his experience that be couldnt say for sure how bad the drawbacks would be. In this way its like goung to the moon: i will never really know what its like, so its hard to say how great/powerful an experience it would be.

I suspect the life of a Beatle incorporated more freedom and more fun than being an astronaut. Look at Ringo. Walking on the moon would be beyond awesome.

I understand that but I think shouldering the adulation and creepy fixations of the full range of the human scrum would be a bigger pain in the ass than anything astronauts had to put up with (aside from spending all that time in Texas and Florida).

Morbs otm.

George Harrison got stabbed and John Lennon was shot and killed due to their Beatles fame, I would not want to deal with the unrelenting creepiness of obsessed fans every day. I think that would be a paranoid and sad way to live.

Thats true, the type of obsession the Beatles inspired was unique and put them in danger. It wasn't just that they were super famous.

I'd probably choose to be Ringo, since he didn't really have much to do with the legal shit towards the end. And he hung out with Keith Moon.

But if you've read Peter Doggett's You Never Give Me Your Money, you're likely to come away thinking that being a Beatle was an endlessly frustrating ordeal.

it seems to me that walking on the moon is one of those things that's only awe inspiring because nobody else has done it. like being the wright bros vs. some schmuck on a commuter flight. obviously there must be something inherently amazing about being on the moon, but how great could it really be compared to acid?

drop acid on the moon obvs

Be s beatle, buy a trampoline

michael jackson did the moonwalk & bought the beatles catalogue, I wonder which he enjoyed more

fucking little boys, presumably

ON ACID

It's amazing that just three weeks after Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon the Beatles successfully walked across Abbey Road. Things happened so fast in the '60s.

it's amazing that both walks were accompanied by speculation of fakery

The real Paul McCartney was on the moon while his double crossed Abbey Road iirc

Thankfully none of the later moon missions landed four men on the moon, because only that fact spared us the inevitable "funny" recreation of the Abbey Road cover.

(The photo of Jason Spaceman crossing Abbey Road seems not to exist...)

I'd rather walk on the moon than be Paul McCartney.

THE MOON THE MOON THE MOON THE MOON wtf how is this even a question jesus christ some of you people itt

i am going to FP every single one of you jerks who does not vote walking on the moon

there is nothing that the Beatles ever did in their career that is as REMOTELY as cool that compares to being able to have a photo LIKE THIS taken in your career

http://www.stvincent.edu/uploadedImages/SVC_Pulse/Blog/John_Smetanka/young_neil_armstrong.jpg

It seems so weird to me but then I remember what ILM is like. xp

survival training in the desert to make Sgt Pepper? NO I DIDN'T THINK SO

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/armstrong082712/s_a04_S6414507.jpg

Seeing the home of us all reduced to a humble tennis ball vs mccartney/lennon shit is no competition at all.

you cannot fuck with space

space always wins

always

i thought we didn't even like the beatles anymore tbh

the only way that the Beatles and the Apollo astronauts are in the same conversation is if Abbey Road could realistically explode in flames with the Beatles inside it at any given moment throughout their recording career.

zero beatles died making their first album.

this question really annoys me

A LOT

What if the choice was between the moon and being a member of Floyd while recording Astronomy Domine THEN WHAT I ASK YOU?

MOON
MOON
MOON
MOON
MOON

"if Abbey Road could realistically explode in flames with the Beatles inside it at any given moment"

travelling to the moon is the most dangerous exploration ever taken by humanity and that is including some silly shit we have done in the past on this rock.

Even Syd, bless him is mediocrity compared to the brave nutters who went to the moon.

Beatle, easily.

walking on the moon obviously trumps anything the beatles ever did

Haven't read through the thread--I'm hoping, and assuming, I'm not the first person to strongly disagree with this. I'd say the Beatles effect on the course of history was incalculably greater. If we eventually set up colonies on the moon, I'll reconsider this.

whaaaat

explain yourself

Forget the big picture here Clemenza, if you saw our planet from distant orbit it would change your life more than being a pop star.

i wonder if the first 4 astronauts on the moon will as a group outlive the first 4 beatles?

I'd say the Beatles effect on the course of history was incalculably greater

no

let's see one is the apex of scientific achievement and exploration of the species. the others made a bunch of records/money. hmm

we did something no organism from this planet has ever done before and you're like "oh b-b-but We Can Work It Out!" gtfo

The apex you say? Good news science, Shakey says you can pack it in, first round is on me!

We have working robots on the surface of Mars right now jftr

Culturally, the Beatles turned the world upside down--it was a drastically different world in 1970 than it was in 1964, and I'd say the Beatles had more to do with that than anyone. (I'll concede that MLK, Dylan, and maybe Warhol rival them.) The moon landing was a great thing--I'm not trying to diminish that--but I just don't see that it transformed the world in the same way.

I realize there's room for disagreement.

way easier to put a computer in a hostile environment than a person obvy

xp

we did something no organism from this planet has ever done before

This is true of basically everything ever btw