I was thinking of the episode in TMWSTM where Harriman displays a correctly-scaled image of the full Moon, with a soda-pop logo painted on it in colored dust (cleverly deployed from a fireworks rocket).
I know I'm missing a reference here, but all I can think of is the Harriman who was Enterprise-B's disaster of a captain, during her tragicomedy of a shakedown run. My vote, in that case, is Bezos, the twerp who thinks money=wisdom.
Heinlein's Furure History stories. Harriman was the guy was the driving force behind the first Moon Landing. That was in the story The Man Who Sold the Moon.
He at least gets mentioned in a few other stories, but as I recall, the only other one he appears in is Requiem.
Well, you might like some of Heinlein's earlier stuff. Some folks draw the line at Starship Troopers, others draw it later (I Will Fear No Evil is what I peg as the low point).
The Juveniles and the older Future History stuff are generally considered to be halfway decent if not great. And many of the short stories are excellent.
Though a lot of people don't realize that the shorts they are objecting to are not "the same old idea" but the *first* stories to use those ideas. For example All You Zombies and By His Bootstraps are the source of those particular time-travel ideas.
Harriman wasn't a robber-baron, he was a hustler. A conman with principles if you like. Witness him convincing two soda companies (obviously meant to be cola and pepsi) that their rival was about to sponsor him to write their brand name across the face of the moon. So they'd each pay him to do no such thing.
Branson is no hustler, and Bezos is just a straight up shark. Branson would solicit sponsorship from whomever could pay the most, and Bezos would take both companies money and then renege on the deal and sic his lawyers on them.
I counter-propose that the closest we have to Harriman is actually Elon Musk. He has that element of showmanship that neither of the other two have, but he also has no need for anyone else's money to get where he's going... which btw, is lot more ambitious than anyone else, including Harriman! He's proposing to single-handily (well, him and his company) build all of the necessary infrastructure to successfully colonise Mars. Even Harriman only aimed for a privately funded version of an apollo moon-shot, not building a million strong city on Mars.
Pepsi wasn't around yet when the story was written. While un-named the soda company he went to was pretty clearly Coca-Cola. And yes, even ther "Coke" logo wouldn't be readable.
The 6+ that he was wearing was also obviously a stand-in for 7UP, whose logo *would* be naked eye readable.
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He at least gets mentioned in a few other stories, but as I recall, the only other one he appears in is Requiem.
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The Juveniles and the older Future History stuff are generally considered to be halfway decent if not great. And many of the short stories are excellent.
Though a lot of people don't realize that the shorts they are objecting to are not "the same old idea" but the *first* stories to use those ideas. For example All You Zombies and By His Bootstraps are the source of those particular time-travel ideas.
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Ever notice the parallels between _Requiem_ and the subplot and ending of _Space Cowboys_?
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On the other hand Robert Vaughan's character in Battle Beyond the Stars has a some resemblances in his fate.
ps. a number of local fans refer to Battle Beyond the Stars as "John Boy in space" :-)
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Harriman was at least likeable, so Branson I guess is nearest of the two.
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Harriman wasn't a robber-baron, he was a hustler. A conman with principles if you like. Witness him convincing two soda companies (obviously meant to be cola and pepsi) that their rival was about to sponsor him to write their brand name across the face of the moon. So they'd each pay him to do no such thing.
Branson is no hustler, and Bezos is just a straight up shark. Branson would solicit sponsorship from whomever could pay the most, and Bezos would take both companies money and then renege on the deal and sic his lawyers on them.
I counter-propose that the closest we have to Harriman is actually Elon Musk. He has that element of showmanship that neither of the other two have, but he also has no need for anyone else's money to get where he's going... which btw, is lot more ambitious than anyone else, including Harriman! He's proposing to single-handily (well, him and his company) build all of the necessary infrastructure to successfully colonise Mars. Even Harriman only aimed for a privately funded version of an apollo moon-shot, not building a million strong city on Mars.
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The 6+ that he was wearing was also obviously a stand-in for 7UP, whose logo *would* be naked eye readable.
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huh, yeah you're right. I misremembered that. Still, the idea still stands. It was a hustle.
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Maybe we need a transporter "accident" to merge the two. ;-)
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