Sol, you rock! I had wondered just what the writers had been smoking when they named the MS “Tallgeese”. Did “geese” imply that this was the first of a new MS line? And if so, was there a scaled-down test model somewhere- the “Shortgoose?” In my saner moments, I speculated that it might have been a reference to the “Spruce Goose,” Howard Hughes’ monstrosity of a flying boat. After all, the SG was built of wood because of the need for metals during the war, and was meant to airlift cargoes that might be sunk at sea. The thing took forever to develop, was flown once, and then mothballed as dead-end tech when the military decided it was throwing money down the hole. Sounds familiar? But I agree that the writers were probably referencing the Mitsubishi Karigane. And as for Zero...I think just discussing Zero the plane and the multiple semantics of zero in Japanese language and culture as expressed in GW...well, there’s a whole ‘nother essay right there.
goosefeathers
Date: 21 Apr 2005 11:13 pm (UTC)In my saner moments, I speculated that it might have been a reference to the “Spruce Goose,” Howard Hughes’ monstrosity of a flying boat. After all, the SG was built of wood because of the need for metals during the war, and was meant to airlift cargoes that might be sunk at sea. The thing took forever to develop, was flown once, and then mothballed as dead-end tech when the military decided it was throwing money down the hole. Sounds familiar?
But I agree that the writers were probably referencing the Mitsubishi Karigane. And as for Zero...I think just discussing Zero the plane and the multiple semantics of zero in Japanese language and culture as expressed in GW...well, there’s a whole ‘nother essay right there.