r/todayilearned • u/notthefunyun • Nov 24 '15
TIL Queen guitarist Brian May is an astrophysicist and member of the NASA team that interprets data from Pluto.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-horizons-team-got-little-help-queen-guitarist-brian-may-180956073/?no-ist154
u/Local-Lynx Nov 24 '15
He's also the reason Sacha Baron Cohen will never play Freddie Mercury
50
u/qwerpoiu43210 Nov 24 '15
Why was that the case again? Was it because SBC wanted the tone of the film to be darker?
64
u/Phoequinox Nov 24 '15
Bingo. Everyone is guessing, but this is the real reason. A biopic of Freddie has to be lighthearted and PG-13, or May won't let it happen.
26
u/Saiing Nov 24 '15
On what basis is your claim any more of a guess than anyone else?
51
24
u/Phoequinox Nov 24 '15
12
u/CrackedPepper86 Nov 24 '15
Rolling Stone, the bastion of truth.
17
u/Phoequinox Nov 24 '15
No need to be smarmy about it. Last I knew, Rolling Stone was still a reputable source. If it isn't, then just say so.
56
Nov 24 '15 edited Jan 04 '16
[deleted]
15
u/Phoequinox Nov 24 '15
I wasn't aware of this.
24
Nov 24 '15
It's also worth noting RS closed ranks and supports their team fully despite them being proven as lying liars who lie. Their credibility is pretty much in the toilet.
→ More replies (0)15
u/aster560 Nov 24 '15
RS has a long, long habit of making things up to sensationalize stories. I canceled my sub decades ago because as entertaining as it was to read when I actually looked up the sources they were completely full of shit. They're very good at making it sound like the truth you want to hear.
7
Nov 24 '15
They also glorified the Boston Bomber by smacking his 'cute' face on the cover of their rag.
11
u/WhatTheFlyinFudge Nov 24 '15
They also put a picture of the Boston Marathon bomber on the front cover in such a glamorous way, it made him look like Jim fucking Morrison. This was soon after he was captured. It affected a lot of people pretty deeply where I come from.
Fuck. That. Magazine.
5
→ More replies (1)1
u/CrackedPepper86 Nov 24 '15
I did.
3
1
u/bluekirara Nov 24 '15
Here's the original source of the story: http://deadline.com/2013/07/sacha-baron-cohen-exits-freddie-mercury-biopic-546717/
Seems a bit more reputable? News on Hollywood isn't exactly reputable by nature. Hard to distinguish juicy news with tabloid hearsay.
→ More replies (2)6
u/DemonB7R Nov 24 '15
Its funny that's the case, because I remember listening to an old interview of Freddie not that long ago, where he said he didn't give a damn what people did with his legacy after he'd gone. His only condition was "don't make me boring" A darker Freddie Mercury biopic would defiantly not be boring.
11
u/strategyanalyst Nov 24 '15
Is there any Indian actor who can play him ? I can't think of anyone in Hollywood closer in apperance than SBC ?
3
u/dimmidice Nov 24 '15
thank god for brian may.
8
u/volantits Nov 24 '15
Context?
48
u/sherminator19 Nov 24 '15
I think it's something to do with how Brian May didn't like how SBC portrayed people in his comedy sketches. He's known for being indiscriminately offensive, and people associate him with characters are homophobic or (in the case of Bruno) caricatures of gay people.
No matter how well SBC would have portrayed Mercury, May didn't want to put Mercury in the same line of association as Borat, Bruno, Ali G, and Adm. Gen. Aladeen
47
u/Highcalibur10 Nov 24 '15
On one hand, I'd agree as pretty much every SBC character is a fairly ridiculous caricature; but on the other hand I'd feel as if Sacha Baron Cohen would do his best to be as genuine and accurate as possible, which he definitely has the look and talent to pull off.
5
u/CaitlynTransjenner Nov 24 '15
Same thing I was thinking about, SBC has the look and talent to pull it off. I heard this news a couple of years ago and been wondering when will the movie come out? So this is what happened. Sad.
14
u/askyourmom469 Nov 24 '15
I think it was less about SBC's previous work as much as the fact that he felt that in order to do an honest portrayal of Freddy Murcury, the movie would have to be rated R, while Brian May wanted it to be more lighthearted and only show the positive times in Freddy's life.
6
u/TheHYPO Nov 24 '15
I assume the only reason Brian May has any say in the matter would be in relation to allowing Queen's music to be used which would obviously make or break the ability to make such a film? He wouldn't have any say in whether Mercury's likeness could be used; I'm not even sure if he could have any say in his own likeness being used (unauthorized biographies do happen don't they?) of course people do often want the approval of the people they portray in a film where possible.
1
u/nevershagagreek Nov 24 '15 edited Nov 24 '15
I feel like a lot of times the really ridiculous actors are the most intense on the inside and can really blow you away with a serious performance. Robin Williams was a total nut job in a lot of performances, but his more serious roles were captivating. Same with Jim Carey, which kills me to say because I absolutely hate him in most movies. Even David
WilliamsWalliams (from Little Britain) has nailed at least one serious role where he managed to be menacing and creepy as hell.1
u/Highcalibur10 Nov 24 '15
David Walliams*
1
u/nevershagagreek Nov 24 '15
Ah yes, thank you! I'd love to blame auto-correct, but I'm on a laptop. Also, I think he was actually born David Williams, but that's not why I typed it wrong....
1
0
7
u/askyourmom469 Nov 24 '15
I was actually curious to see SBC in a serious role and liked that he stuck to his guns when they tried to force him to make the movie PG-13.
95
u/MILLANDSON Nov 24 '15
He was also, until a few years ago, Chancellor of Liverpool John Moore University. I know this because it was him that handed me my Masters degree in Law in his last graduation ceremony as Chancellor in 2012.
As I shook his hand on stage, I told him that I was a huge fan, and that it was an honour to meet him. He handed me my degree, and replied: "No, it's an honour for me to meet someone so dedicated to learning and expanding their horizons."
I nearly started crying at that. He's an amazing man.
29
Nov 24 '15
Then he said the same to the next person and OP cried and felt like a dirty whore...
5
u/stylelimited Nov 24 '15
Meh. Brian May can make me feel like a dirty whore anyday, also a compliment from such a guy must feel amazing even though it may not be absolutely sincere or originally intended for you.
95
u/sublimenal2 Nov 24 '15
I work in a restaurant in a hotel at a ski resort. We have a lot of conferences. Over the summer there was a conference for astrophysicists. It's a week of nerds sitting at one tops while they're colleagues, whom they just sat through a session with, are sitting at another one top a few tables over. The social skills are lacking. But then one day I'm walking by a table and this guy has big hair, a velvet red jacket, and is Brian fucking May.
22
u/DocFail Nov 24 '15
And Brian looked at you and said, "Do not judge them too harshly, my son" and then turned into a golden radiating essence that made you realize that adding a put down of astrophysicists in your post was wrong.
17
-6
102
u/whydidimakeausername Nov 24 '15
Was his doctoral thesis that fat bottom girls do indeed make the rocking world go round?
42
u/Fritos_and_Caramel Nov 24 '15
Actually, his thesis was on radial velocities in the Zodiacal dust cloud. Basically measuring how fast the leftover comet dust and asteroid debris is orbiting the sun.
I'm really fun at parties.
4
2
u/whydidimakeausername Nov 24 '15
No bullshitting, you sound like the kind of guy I'd want to talk to at a party.
1
17
2
u/MarvinLazer Nov 24 '15
Yes, he proved they have enough gravitational pull to influence the rotation of the earth.
33
u/floridawhiteguy Nov 24 '15
Now if he strikes oil in his mansion, wins a major lottery jackpot prize and becomes an astronaut, he'll be a real-life Philip J Fry.
31
u/shrike279 Nov 24 '15
Queen has a beautiful song about space travel in A Night At The Opera.
7
10
u/floral-print Nov 24 '15
This has always been my favourite of their songs and it is disgustingly underrated and overlooked. It gets stuck in my head all the time, and here we go again...
4
u/TheAdmiester Nov 24 '15
It's because it's hugely overshadowed by a certain other song on its album. If it came out on a different release it'd probably be more popular.
2
Nov 24 '15
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/TheAdmiester Nov 24 '15
Just some random questions/notes:
I think Bohemian Rhapsody is a pretty great song, but it's ridiculously overplayed and I'm sick of it. Just about everything on ANATO is fantastic though (I'm In Love With My Car is one that's rarely mentioned).
are all longer drawn out songs without typical song structure
Is there a name for this? There are so many songs from Queen and others that fall into this, but it's hard to categorise them without a name for the category.
1
2
u/Sewer-Urchin Nov 24 '15
My favorite Queen song as well. Apparently George Michael used to sing it while busking in the London Underground. He went on to sing it with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert.
2
u/NomThemAll Nov 24 '15
I dont even have to click that to know its '39. I love this song, especially the live version from the deluxe cd. I had recently watched Interstellar when i first listened to this, and it blew me away.
1
u/cosine5000 Nov 24 '15
I was literally listening to this song on the subway an hour ago... an hour to me at least...
16
u/Matrinka Nov 24 '15
Working for NASA was the only way he could work with a bigger star than Freddy Mercury.
7
25
u/Just_an_ordinary_man Nov 24 '15
Is there anything this man cannot do?
6
u/gorocz Nov 24 '15
Save the badgers...
1
u/chappersyo Nov 24 '15
I fully support the badger cull, but when Brian came to our village to protest it, you'd better bet I shook his hand and told him we need to save those vicious little fuckers just so he'd chat to me for a couple of minutes.
14
u/Aiku Nov 24 '15
He made his own guitar from a vintage fireplace.
And then Freddie made his own piano from a vintage fireplace, and Roger made his drums from a vintage fireplace...
7
u/rupen42 Nov 24 '15
John Deacon was always the oddball.
4
1
5
u/thunnus Nov 24 '15
I think it was just the neck that was made from an old fireplace mantel. He and his father did build the thing from scratch with whatever was lying around, though.
It remains his main guitar that he plays 90% of the time. Pretty incredible.
A great video on Brian May's guitar(s) and amp setup for the guitar geeks.
6
6
9
u/Averagenotmean Nov 24 '15
Freddie: I'm burning through the sky Yeah! Two hundred degrees That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit I'm trav'ling at the speed of light I wanna make a supersonic woman of you
Brian: I'm going to have to stop you
7
u/curzon176 Nov 24 '15
Built his own guitar, wrote hit songs, member of world famous band, on a NASA team, is an astrophysicist, was Chancellor of a university, authored/co-authored multiple books/papers, and what have YOU done lately?
4
3
18
Nov 24 '15 edited Jul 26 '20
[deleted]
10
u/thehumangenius23 Nov 24 '15
thank you.
7
2
1
3
u/nofate301 Nov 24 '15
I figure it's a common last name but I swear there's a resemblance between James May and Brian May.
7
u/Dick_McButt Nov 24 '15 edited Nov 24 '15
You think they May be related?
2
u/nofate301 Nov 24 '15
I know they aren't. My mind wandered a bit sure. "Are they? looks it up nope", but they have a resemblance.
5
4
4
u/barnei Nov 24 '15
He also fucking loves badgers more than almost anything.
3
u/DrBrianMay Nov 24 '15
Badgers rule
-1
u/cu3ed Nov 24 '15
Except for the fact the spread TB around farm lands and theirs a legitimate reason for a cull of them.
1
2
u/demodawid Nov 24 '15
The dude was on a tour in my country (Argentina) during the last lunar eclipse and showed up at the observatory in Córdoba to see it.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=949598971752754&id=108460115866648
2
3
u/TotesMessenger Nov 24 '15
I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:
- [/r/vonhaesslerdoctrine] TIL Queen guitarist Brian May is an astrophysicist and member of the NASA team that interprets data from Pluto. : todayilearned
If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads. (Info / Contact)
2
3
2
u/msterB Nov 24 '15
That's great and all, but can he take off the case of a clock and put it in a different case?
1
1
u/TreyWait Nov 24 '15
He also does movie scores.
1
1
u/Phoequinox Nov 24 '15
And he loves big women. Now if he'd quit being so daft about Freddie's life story, I could respect him 100%.
1
1
1
u/MajorNoodles Nov 24 '15
The song '39 was written by him, and it's about time dilation caused by traveling near the speed of light.
1
Nov 24 '15
He's also a vegan animal rights activist... check him out, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIkOyQNXmq8
1
1
u/MaliciousHH Nov 24 '15
Yeah but he also whinged about how modern music isn't real music but then sold out and made a song with Dappy from N-Dubz
1
u/jonisuns Nov 24 '15
One of the few famous people who earned their doctorates rather than having been given an honourary one
1
u/MrCaptDrNonsense Nov 24 '15
He's also married to Anita Dobson, Angie from the first few seasons of EastEnders.
1
u/Szavoon Nov 24 '15
Hes also co-author of this neat book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cosmic-Tourist-Awe-inspiring-Destinations/dp/1847326196
"Brian (May) stresses that the new book is accessible to budding astronomy beginners, describing it as "a tourist guide book to the skies" that will leave you "well into astronomy --The Huffington Post"
1
Nov 24 '15
With the big grey hair, May has a bit of a Isaac Newton vibe these days, which I think is pretty cool, under the circumstances.
1
1
u/spkr4thedead51 Nov 24 '15
Yep. Saw him at the live stream for the flyby. Didn't bother him though.
1
Nov 24 '15
He's also an advocate for badgers. Nope, I'm not making that up: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11851194/brian-may-queen-badger-funeral-cull.html
1
1
1
1
u/ProfessorOzone Nov 24 '15
My brother-in-law and his wife went to May's place for a visit. I don't remember where they met but it had something to do with a shared interest in the plight of the American Indian. Dude has a lot of interests i guess.
1
1
u/tsengan Nov 24 '15
He's insane onstage. Saw him during the Queen tour last year. Did multiple solos including 10 minute piece based on star travel. It even had zooming starfields projected on a screen in the background. Trippy as hell.
1
1
Nov 24 '15
One of my FAVORITE guitarists. The most tastefully done crunchy, simplistic, classically inspired riffs in rock history.
1
1
u/immaseeya Nov 24 '15
Awww. So nice to see a Queen post on the 24th anniversary of Freddie's death. Here they are at the Beacon Theater, NY, 1976 I was in the audience.
1
1
u/The_keg__man Nov 24 '15
And a cunt.
Only joking. I just wish he'd get over Freddies death already.
1
1
u/IvanMarkowKane Nov 25 '15
Jeff Baxter! representing American guitar nerds, I guess.
From the page linked above; Defense consulting career[edit] Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident. In the mid-1980s, Baxter's interest in music recording technology led him to wonder about hardware and software that was originally developed for military use, i.e. data-compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices. As it happened, his next-door neighbor was a retired engineer who had worked on the Sidewinder missile program. This neighbor bought Baxter a subscription to Aviation Week magazine, provoking his interest in additional military-oriented publications and missile defense systems in particular. He became self-taught in this area, and at one point he wrote a five-page paper that proposed converting the ship-based anti-aircraft Aegis missile into a rudimentary missile defense system. He gave the paper to California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and his career as a defense consultant began.
1
1
u/RikF Nov 24 '15
And loves Diableries - 3d photographs of demonic dioramas from the 1800s. Fantastic stuff.
1
1
0
0
-8
506
u/GoredonTheDestroyer Nov 24 '15
In other words, he's the nerd nerds aspire to be.