Well, not quite. But here are a ton of links about one of the funniest SF (well, mostly)-related shows out there! MST3k! Everybody sing! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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To follow up on two previous postings about explorations of our Solar System, it is nice to see NASA finally realizing that a working spacecraft in outer space is definitely cheaper than a spacecraft that is designed from scratch. Two probes had successful missions: Deep Impact rendezvoused with Comet Tempel-1 on July 4, 2005, examining the comet as it flew by and also getting a peak inside by releasing a probe that impacted with the comet. The Stardust mission flew through the tail of Comet Wild-2 in order to collect samples of the comet's coma as well as (later in the mission) samples of interstellar dust. These samples were returned to Earth on January 15, 2006. Missions over, right? more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So is William Gibson becoming the new Edward Whittemore? This description of his upcoming novel, Spook Country, via BoingBoing sure sounds like he is mining the same territory. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 12:22 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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As the sun went down into the sea, a great red-golden ball, so into the eastern sky there rose the moon, a great golden-yellow ball, as full as a moon could be. It was not a rare phenomenon; indeed it was a very usual one; yet this time, for purity of sky, the particular degree of humidity and no doubt a host of less obvious, rarely coinciding factors, it had an extraordinary perfection, and all hands, even the ship's boys and the loquacious, thick-skinned Old Buggers, watched it in silence.

(Chapter 9, The Thirteen-Gun Salute, Patrick O'Brian)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I feel a heart attack coming on just looking at this thing. Pigs in a blanket around a pizza? Bacon, sausage, pizza rolls (on a pizza) and more! Well, at least there are a few vegetables scattered on it...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Jay Lake's Mainspring is on the ever-tottering Mount Toberead. Over at SF Signal (their review here), they link to a posting by David Levine. I think I've found Project Rho's (see the Atomic Rockets sub-site) missing twin!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:07 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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An aircraft carrier. It floats and has support vessels! I am in awe.

More here. How the heck does the guy transport it from his home to the lake/river?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here at TexasBestGrok, deep dark questions keep us up at night. Well-fried beans made from scratch or canned? Salsa from New York City or local products? What kind of chilis make the best hot sauce? Discuss.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:13 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Sad news in private space this week. Rand Simberg has some thoughts, and we turn to Robert A. Heinlein for more thoughts.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yet another sign of the End Times. The return of John Norman's "classic" series. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:42 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Got "tagged" by the fine folks at SF Signal. Remind me to start proofing their posts even more carefully. Heh.

Let's see...

-Start Copy-

It's very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

Just think- if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn. *****
-http://www.neonscent.com

2. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. ****
-http://www.bushmackel.com

3. Don't let money change ya! ***
-http://www.therandomforest.info

4. Always reply to your comments. ****
-http://chattiekat.com

5. Link liberally -- it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. **
-http://chipsquips.com

6. Don't give up - persistance is fertile. *
-http://www.velcro-city.co.uk

7. Give link credit where credit is due.
-http://www.sfsignal.com

8. Pay it forward.
-http://flyingsauce.livejournal.com/

Ten people? O.K.

Friends: Pete Young at Flying Sauce. Steve Hart at Stevenhartsite. Joe Zitt at The Year of Living Musically. Ron Fischer at Ronzobot.

Blogs that I read regularly: Rand Simberg at Transterrestrial Musings. Mark Whittington at Curmudgeon's Corner.

Authors: John Scalzi at Whatever. Paul McAuley at Earth and Other Unlikely Worlds. Paul Glister at Centauri Dreams. Walter Jon Williams at Angel Station. Tobias Buckell at...errr...Tobias Buckell. Ken MacLeod at The Early Days of a Better Nation.

Finally: The Diary of Samuel Pepys. The man who blogged well before the invention of the term.

Hey, that's more than ten. Well, I never said math was my strong point.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 10:05 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Following up on this posting, here's a quick update. Both Spirit and Opportunity are being threatened by large dust storms that are girdling the martian globe. It's not so much the force of the winds involved (remember that sequence from Mission to Mars?), but the amount of dust being raised. Both Spirit and Opportunity rely on solar power to keep them going and the amount of light getting through the dust is decreasing, as this sequence of pictures from the Astronomy Picture of the Day site shows. Will this be the end of these plucky devices?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Following up on the Scaled Composites post, there's a lot of other interesting stuff going on in the areas of private and quasi-private space. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites and Northrop Grumman have announced that NG is going to increase their stake in Scaled Composites from 40% to 100%. A buyout, in other words. Maybe this is a positive, and NG will allow Rutan to run a Skunk Works for NG, employing his talents. Possibly, or equally possibly they take the current ideas, find that the cultures "don't match" and he'll move on. Klyde Morris has the best take on why it might be that somebody who was so independent seemed to agree to the deal that ran contrary to much of what we heard from this smaller shop.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of those cases where life is stranger than fiction! On the other hand, the brilliance of the criminal mind was not shining that brightly.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Reading Mark Kelly's comments from a preview, as well as Gary Westfahl's in-depth Locus Online review makes me wish that all cinema types would do two things.

First, they should refrain from being influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Second, they should read some science fiction. And some science. Lots of science.

Sigh. Some of the reviews I've read have been absolutely gushing. But like those folks who have "discovered" the remade Battlestar Galactica and gush how it really isn't science fiction, they just show their ignorance of the genre.

Given the comments in the two links, I'll pass. Time for another good book instead and I'll avoid stale popcorn and flat soda as well!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey, one of my all-time favorite shows is returning, sort of. Same premise, more or less the same crew, slightly different format and direct to DVD. Presenting Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Mark 2.0!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Read the entry here. Please keep David Portree and his daughter, Samantha in your thoughts.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Heinlein Society is holding a short story contest for the best tale to reflect the philosophy and spirit of Robert A. Heinlein. It's open to both professional and amateur writers and first prize is $5,000.00, considerably more than Heinlein himself would have won if he had sent his first tale into a contest, rather than submitting it to Astounding Stories. You have a year, so start writing!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Following up on last week's posting, that concentrated on the inner planets, we now move outward in our solar system and visit three current or pending missions.

First up is the Dawn Mission, designed to explore the Asteroid Belt. This could almost be called the Phoenix Mission (except that name is already taken!) as the mission has gone from being active, to almost being canceled, and then back to a go again. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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