Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

From beermat to beermat, a complete 360 panorama of the CiXen barbeque on 10th August 2002. Be warned - the image linked from the thubnail is big (but not as big as the 3MB original!).

Many years ago I read Willy Ley's The Conquest Of Space, beautifully illustrated by Chesley Bonestell.

The book gave a vision of the future, of a plan for a space programme radically different to the one we have ended up with. Now (thanks as usual to Boing Boing) I have discovered a group in Australia that is trying to make a short film of this alternate road to the stars in the shape of Man Conquers Space. Mixing CGI and real images, it's a film that intends to trace humanity's alternate road to the stars, from shuttle launch to the moons of Jupiter.

The teaser trailer is well worth the download, and the site itself is a good jumping off point for anyone interested in the space programmes we never had...

Just as the latest Vector drops through my letter box with Stephen Baxter's fascinating dissection of the future history constructed around Gerry Anderson's puppet television SF in the TV21 comics, I find a copy of Graham Bleathman's facsimile collection of Lady Penelope and Thunderbirds strips in the shape of Thunderbirds Classic Comic Strips. Wonderful stuff, with excellent artwork all round.