M&M; space shot demonstrates the theory of price relativity
You may recall the story of Van Halen’s contract, which stipulated that the group be served M&Ms; backstage -- minus the brown ones.
Well, a bidder at a recent auction wanted a brown M&M; -- wanted one so badly, in fact, that he or she paid $1,500 for it. Of course, it wasn’t just any brown M&M.; This one had ridden in 2004 aboard SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed craft to leave Earth’s atmosphere.
Pilot Mike Melvill took about 20 of the candies aboard, not for snacks, but to demonstrate weightlessness and prove SpaceShipOne had reached outer space.
“He wanted something that was light and small,” said Victoria Campbell, the chief executive of Aurora Auctions of Bell Canyon. And she added, he wanted objects that wouldn’t impede the craft if they fell. Also, Melvill’s initials are MM.
The buyer of the one space chocolate up for auction was not identified, but Campbell said it “went into a private collection.” The Internet took notice. Commented the blog bookofjoe: “Melts in your mouth, not on reentry.”
Hardly down to earth: In a recent discussion of overblown real estate terms, I included a photo of a sign in Hesperia that said, “Mobile Home Estates.” To which Ronald Widman responds: “Hmpf! Yucaipa can trump that.” Yucaipa doesn’t just have mobile home estates, it has ... well, check for yourself (see photo).
More spacy stuff: For your it’s-a-strange-world file, Ann Doskow submits a towelette with small print written by someone who was all wet (see accompanying).
And in London, Diane Keay found a soup that may not be so hot (see photo). “Although we knew Londoners drive on the wrong side of the road,” Keay said, “we didn’t realize they cooked in the fridge!”
And, finally, Beth Herzhaft uncovered evidence of an obscure military force -- the Beverly Hills Adj. Navy (see accompanying).
Who wears the pants in his family? I’m wondering if these two crime blotter entries in the Huntington Beach Wave were related:
* “A fast-food restaurant cashier called police when a man pulled up to her drive-through window Jan. 24 not wearing pants.”
* “A suspect was detained after a pair of jeans was stolen from Kohl’s, 8:45 p.m.”
The important things in life: The L.A. Downtown News published three pages of Valentine’s Day wishes, including this sentimental missive: “SBA ... Thanks for taking out the trash ... K.”
miscelLAny: But back to Van Halen. The brown M&Ms; story is true -- with an explanation. The group told snopes.com that it had so much equipment it had to ask promoters for numerous specifications in its contract to avoid accidents. The brown M&Ms; provision was inserted to make sure the lengthy contract had been read.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.