Sam C.
(Alias “Bouncing-Man”)

“Off we go, into the wild, black yonder”*. . . could very well be the theme song for this remarkable young man considering all that he has contributed to the world’s space effort. Indeed, in his own unique way, Mr. C. has added a dimension to life in space that likely would not have existed but for his creative efforts.

Has anyone failed to marvel at his now famous "Bouncing-Bal­let," or the equally famous "Free‑Fall-Follies," which owe their in­credible success to Mr. C.'s genius at no‑gravity choreography? Yes, let us give credit where credit is surely due. Congratulations, Mr. C., for a job well done!

But now we must ask where in the world could such a genius have been recognized, stimulated, and nurtured. The success of Sam C. in the area of space-dance (a whole new field of entertainment which he originated himself, of course) can be traced back to the young man’s early days in middle school where he happened to find himself in a Creative Expressions class where he worked under the exceptionally able eye of the Legendary Mr. Christopherson. One action packed day in class this insight­ful teacher planted the seeds of thought in young Sam's head which eventually led to the wildly exciting "Bouncing-Ballet."

As the story goes, the young Sam had been part of a team designated to hang Halloween decorations about the classroom. In an effort to tape a rather large bat's skeleton up near the ceiling (said skeleton having been supplied from the immense stock pile of science materials donated to the school by the Legendary Mr. Christopherson) the boy, standing 15 feet above the floor on a stack of old newspapers, lost his balance somehow and fell. But as luck would have it, he sort of fell at an angle, first bouncing off the near wall, and then bounding against the far wall after having ricocheted back up off the floor. He finally landed with a plop, more or less in the middle of the room, amidst scattered applause from fellow students, many of whom called out, "Hey, Sam, play it again!"

Of course, the Legendary Mr. Christopherson rushed to the boy's side in a quick‑thinking effort to maintain the educational atmosphere of the classroom. The well known educator's first words were, "Thank you Sam for this excellent illustration of the laws of gravity. If you wouldn't mind, I could use your help in my science classes where you could stage a repeat performance of this daring fall routine of yours. Why, if it weren't for gravity, you might have gone on and on, bouncing all around the room, forever. What a sight that would have been! We could have even sold tickets to an event like that."

It was only natural, owing to the fact that students tended to hold the pronouncements of the Legendary Mr. Christopherson in the highest regard, that young Sam snatched up the idea immediately. He began throwing himself against walls or dropping suddenly to the floor in order to gauge the effect of these actions on those around him. Sure enough, people took notice.

As a bruised Mr. C. matured into a young adult, he still spent much of his time and effort attempting to conquer a frustrating problem. How to be able to hit a wall or floor and rebound with enough force to hit yet another wall. He tried and abandoned such solutions as confining himself to a rather small 4 foot square room (this idea was rejected since no one else could fit in the room and watch), or surrounding himself with rubber sheets (also rejected since the large sheets tended to obstruct his ability to see and as he put it, "They make me look fat!").

Well, of course, the answer finally came in the form of an offer from a former fellow student (from that very same class presided over by the Legendary Mr. Christopherson) named R.J. M. (see the Richard M. story for further infor­mation about this also high achieving individual). R.J. was able to provide Sam with a means to visit our growing moon colony. For the first time Mr. C. was able to throw himself against a wall and continue bound­ing and rebounding many times.

One thing led to another and finally today we have witnessed the founding by Sam C. of the first weightless dance school. It was with the help of his many skilled young pupils that he has been able to stage the exceptionally fine dance routines we see in the "Free‑Fall-Follies." What a thrill to watch three hundred people wildly careening about a room randomly, their interacting with each other causing interesting new patterns of chaos. One can easily understand the typical viewer's reaction of "Play it again, Sam!"

* Not to be confused with the "Wild, Blue Yonder," which refers to that familiar near‑Earth phenomenon where the sky pretends to be blue.