Johnny Carson R.I.P.

RichA wrote:
You can take Carson two ways; One, he had some terrific attributes,
but people who remember Jack Parr have said that while Jack was kind and
considerate to his guests, Carson could be almost rude to them,
sometimes.

If he was rude, it was either before I watched him (early 1980s or so),
or it was off-camera. I always saw him be quite considerate to his guests,
much more so than, say, Letterman. (I also like Letterman very much.)

Also, he was a friend to Sagan until Sagan got off astronomy and went
on an enviro-nut crusade. His preachings quickly lost him his slot as a
Carson regular.

I don't know that Sagan ever got off astronomy completely, but he did use
his prominence to promulgate his environmental views. That might have
put Carson off. From Sagan's last book (Billions and Billions), I don't
get the impression the feeling was mutual; he seemed to have liked Carson
to the last.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

kapella wrote:

On 23 Jan 2005 13:38:47 -0800, "RMOLLISE" wrote:


Dusty wrote:
He has been missed and now more so. You know that he was an amateur
astronomer? At least in the 1980's he still used his Cave 10"
Newtonian
(maybe had his limo take him out to some dark place). Now both guys
are
gone.


Not only was he an amateur astronomer, but a close friend of Carl
Sagan. He was also a professional magician and like James Randy, a
debunker of people who claimed paranormal powers. He knew every trick
in the book, and he caught every guest claiming to have special
powers, and exposed their trickery. His support for science and
rational thinking was amazing.

It took him a while to debunk Uri Geller. I noticed he stopped having
Kreskin on the show too.


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Brian Tung wrote:

RichA wrote:
You can take Carson two ways; One, he had some terrific attributes,
but people who remember Jack Parr have said that while Jack was kind and
considerate to his guests, Carson could be almost rude to them,
sometimes.

If he was rude, it was either before I watched him (early 1980s or so),
or it was off-camera. I always saw him be quite considerate to his guests,
much more so than, say, Letterman. (I also like Letterman very much.)
snipped

Comedy in general has become much meaner, which is why I gave up on
Leno. The dancing Ito's was the last straw for me. Letterman never did
any jokes about the OJ trial for weeks.


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Johnny also had a C-8 and had it on one of his shows in the mid-70's as I
recall. I remember him showing it on his desk.

His New York Times obit actually included an astro joke:

Once he was asked how he became a star, and he replied, "I started in a
gaseous state, and then I cooled." Don't you love it?

Old enough to remember the first time I was allowed to stay up late enough
to watch this brilliant man. I send sympathy to all of you whose lives he
touched.

Karen


"Dusty" wrote in message
...
He has been missed and now more so. You know that he was an amateur
astronomer? At least in the 1980's he still used his Cave 10" Newtonian
(maybe had his limo take him out to some dark place). Now both guys are
gone.


DustyCaveFriend

"Rod Mollise" wrote in message
...
HI Gang:

Very sad news. Former Tonight Show host and long-time amateur astronomer
Johnny Carson has died at 79. :-(


Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

Karen Smith wrote:
His New York Times obit actually included an astro joke:

Once he was asked how he became a star, and he replied, "I started in a
gaseous state, and then I cooled." Don't you love it?

I do! (Although perhaps it would have been more accurate--in more ways
than one--to say that, instead of cooling, he was subject to intense
pressure, leading him to shine.)

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

John Dobson was on the show and he was one of the few guests that
Johnny saw in their dressing room before the show. Johnny asked him
lots of questions on the nature of the universe.

I also heard that John went to Johhny's oberservatory w/ a C-14 at his
home in Malibu and John gave him pointers. John was picked up at the
airport in Johhny's limo.

-Steve

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 16:28:10 -0800, Steve D. White wrote:

John Dobson was on the show and he was one of the few guests that
Johnny saw in their dressing room before the show. Johnny asked him
lots of questions on the nature of the universe.

I also heard that John went to Johhny's oberservatory w/ a C-14 at his
home in Malibu and John gave him pointers. John was picked up at the
airport in Johhny's limo.

-Steve


That's a great story!

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 16:28:10 -0800, Steve D. White wrote:

John Dobson was on the show and he was one of the few guests that
Johnny saw in their dressing room before the show. Johnny asked him
lots of questions on the nature of the universe.

I also heard that John went to Johhny's oberservatory w/ a C-14 at his
home in Malibu and John gave him pointers. John was picked up at the
airport in Johhny's limo.

-Steve

Johny came up to Griffith Observatory once in the '70s to observe with the
12" Zeiss refractor. I think this was just before I became one of the two
operators of the scope in 1976. The other operator, Gordon Mitchell, had
seen Johny mention something about astronomy and observing on his show and
contacted him to invite him to the observatory. The scope is open for the
public every clear night but I think Gordon gave Johny a little private
observing time before or after public observing. Sorry, but I don't know
any other details.

Mike Simmons