Thanks.

Thank-you all for making it such a wonderful day. Words cannot express how happy we are that you were able to share this moment with us.

Cosmos

The last post got me thinking about "Cosmos", the great series that was first broadcast in the UK in around 1980. Carl Sagan is totally responsible for my interest in science, and over the years I have read many of his books.

Although much has changed in the years since it was made it still stands up incredibly well and is definitely worth viewing. I can't put into words the impact that this program had on me when I was 11, it opened up the Universe for me.

Carl Sagan was a one off. He took science and made it romantic and poetic. His language coupled with his clear love for what he did was infectious.

Enjoy episode 1! It comes with a short introduction from Carl's wife Ann Druyan.

How cool is this!!

New 'super-Earth' found in space

Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface.

The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.

Scientists made the discovery using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile.

They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.

"Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky - like our Earth - or covered with oceans."

Xavier Delfosse, a member of the team from Grenoble University, added: "Liquid water is critical to life as we know it."

He believes the planet may now become a very important target for future space missions dedicated to the search for extra-terrestrial life.

These missions will put telescopes in space that can discern the tell-tale light "signatures" that might be associated with biological processes.

The observatories would seek to identify trace atmospheric gases such as methane, and even markers for chlorophyll, the pigment in Earth plants that plays a critical role in photosynthesis.

'Indirect' detection

The exoplanet - as astronomers call planets around a star other than the Sun - is the smallest yet found, and completes a full orbit of its parent star in just 13 days.

Indeed, it is 14 times closer to its star than the Earth is to our Sun.

However, given that the host star is smaller and colder than the Sun - and thus less luminous - the planet nevertheless lies in the "habitable zone", the region around a star where water could be liquid.

Gliese 581 was identified at the European Southern Observatory (Eso) facility at La Silla in the Atacama Desert.

To make their discovery, researchers used a very sensitive instrument that can measure tiny changes in the velocity of a star as it experiences the gravitational tug of a nearby planet.

Astronomers are stuck with such indirect methods of detection because current telescope technology struggles to image very distant and faint objects - especially when they orbit close to the glare of a star.

The Gliese 581 system has now yielded three planets: the new super-Earth, a 15 Earth-mass planet orbiting even closer to the parent star, and an eight Earth-mass planet that lies further out.

Future observatories will study exoplanets for signs of biology
The latest discovery has created tremendous excitement among scientists.

Of the more than 200 exoplanets so far discovered, a great many are Jupiter-like gas giants that experience blazing temperatures because they orbit close to hot stars.

The Gliese 581 super-Earth is in what scientists call the "Goldilocks Zone" where temperatures "are just right" for life to have a chance to exist.

Commenting on the discovery, Alison Boyle, the curator of astronomy at London's Science Museum, said: "Of all the planets we've found around other stars, this is the one that looks as though it might have the right ingredients for life.

"It's 20 light-years away and so we won't be going there anytime soon, but with new kinds of propulsion technology that could change in the future. And obviously we'll be training some powerful telescopes on it to see what we can see," she told BBC News.

"'Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask."

BBC

Tom Waits.

"Martha" is a song from the Tom Waits album "Closing Time". I had been aware of his work for years but never really connected with it. In all honesty I hadn't really tried that hard, being put off by the fact that what I had heard sounded like an unintelligible drawl.

Shame... I had missed out on a rare talent.

A friend of mine had a copy of "Closing Time" and I borrowed it thinking that I would give him "one more try." I've been a huge admirer of his work ever since. He will always polarise people into love/hate groups but all the best music tends to do that. "Closing Time" is probably one of his more accessible albums but none the worse for it. For me, I think of Tom Waits as a storyteller more than anything else, a gin soaked pianist sitting at the piano at two in the morning singing about his life.

Why this song? It made me cry like a baby when I first heard it, that's why.

Venue....

Just a wee message to those of you coming on Saturday. We are both looking forward to having a great day. Above is a pic of the venue taken with my new bit of kit, a Canon Powershot G7. So far it's proving to be a great little camera.

Le Show.

A heads up to all of those of you out there that like to listen to something that's satirical and topical.
Harry Shearer's "Le Show" has been broadcasting on public radio in America for years. Harry is probably best known to those of us in the UK for his voice work on "The Simpsons" and his semi-legendary status as member of the loudest rock group ever "Spinal Tap".

"Le Show" airs once a week (Sundays) from the studios of KCRW in Santa Monica. I've known about it for a while but only had access to it from last year when I FINALLY got broadband and could download the show every week.

It's a real treasure.

For those of you that worry that all of the U.S.A is like George Bush this is the show for you. It's a side of America that we don't hear from that often because our exposure is limited to CNN, Fox News and the like. The format is very straightforward. Harry goes through some of the major stories of the week, as well as the ones that occasionally get buried, and gives us his thoughts on them. Simple, honest, scary sometimes and very funny.

If you want to give it a try it's available on iTunes as a free podcast as well as kcrw.com and harryshearer.com.

Have a listen. Keep up the good work Harry!

Mr Deity.

As a postscript to the last post I thought that I would add this video. You can find all of the Mr Deity films on youtube and I highly recommend them. They are, for the most part, brilliant. You can also check out www.mrdeity.com.

I guess you know what my feelings on religion are now. I wonder when the hate mail will start arriving.

The Big "G" Delusion..

A while back I said that I was going to recount a short tale about my experience reading "The God Delusion" in a public place.

It's not a long story.

Not that long ago I was sitting in a local coffee shop (I won't name the chain here, but think of a Roman Emperor) reading. My book was, as I said, "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.

Now.... I'm not going to get drawn into a religious debate, the fact that I'm reading a book by Richard Dawkins and consider Carl Sagan a hero of mine should give you a hint as to which side of the fence I am on. So, I'm reading my book when all of a sudden a hand appears out of nowhere and moves the book out of my field of view. I look up and see a rather annoyed woman of the Penelope Keith mold staring down at me.

"Despicable!" she says. (women of a certain age speak like that in surrey)

"Pardon?" I reply.

"He has NO idea that awful man, who does he think he is!"

"Er.."

"I can't believe you are reading such rubbish. Where would we be if we all thought like that?"

And she promptly walked away.

"Where would we be if we all thought like that?" That was my favourite comment. Where would we be?

Atheists and better off is all I can think of.

The fact that she got so wound up by what I was doing that she was willing to walk over and confront a complete stranger is staggering to me. I don't get wound up when I see someone reading the bible and feel the need to walk over and admonish them in public. I don't even get that annoyed when I'm in Piccadilly Circus and there are those Christians with megaphones telling me that I'm going to hell!

Maybe I'm too passive.

It's a great book by the way.

For the last few years I have been mostly working at.....

This is my place of semi-employment. I say semi because I'm really supposed to be part-time but appear to spend more time here than is strictly necessary or healthy.

When I'm not off on one of my arty endeavors they are kind enough to let me hang around here. It's a great little shop, one of a dying breed I fear. It isn't a pure independent as it is run by a small company run out of Guildford. Does owning 5 shops count as a chain? Anyway... we do our best to be a little more eclectic than your average shop and pride ourselves on our customer service and lack of that "Waterstones" feel.

Ok... Advert over.

I love working here, it's a relaxed place where you get to know the locals and people often just drop in for a chat. All was well here until about a year or so ago when this happened.....



Literally opposite us!

Bastards.

Best Headline Ever!

I apologise to anyone out there who is of a religious frame of mind, but this was too good to pass up.

Catholic fury at chocolate Jesus

Staff and agencies
Friday March 30, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The unveiling of an anatomically detailed sculpture of Christ made entirely out of milk chocolate has infuriated Catholic groups in New York.

"This is one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever," said Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League. "It's not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing - to choose Holy Week is astounding."

The 1.8-metre-high sculpture, which depicts Jesus suspended as if from the cross, has been dubbed "My Sweet Lord" by its creator, Cosimo Cavallaro.

It is scheduled to open at the midtown Manhattan Lab gallery on Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Good Friday, with closing planned for Easter Sunday.

"The fact that they chose Holy Week shows this is calculated, and the timing is deliberate," said Donohue, whose group represents 350,000 Catholics countrywide.

He called for an economic boycott of the hotel, which he described as "already morally bankrupt".

The gallery's creative director, Matt Semler, said the Lab had been overrun with angry telephone calls and emails about the exhibit.

Although he described Donohue's response as "a Catholic fatwa", Semler said the gallery was considering its options.

"We're obviously surprised by the overwhelming response and offence people have taken," said Semler, adding that the Holy Week timing was an unfortunate coincidence.

"We are certainly in the process of trying to figure out what we're going to do next."

I hope this is a spoof. . .

Wha?

I hope this is a spoof.

Twin Peaks Season 2!!

Stumbled upon this a moment ago! AT LAST! It's been six years since the season 1 boxset came out, and most of that time was taken up with all sorts of legal wrangling over distribution rights, but it's here.

Sort of....

It seems to be available in the U.S, but not the U.K as yet. Come on guys! Time to make it available to those of us in England who like a good cup of coffee and a slice of cherry pie.

This was such a HUGE show when I was at college, and I have fond memories of my friends and I trying to work out what the significance was when a unicorn appeared in Laura Palmer's living room. Truly original telly. The Show took a slide halfway through season 2, but it's good to be able to see it from start to finish.

Shows like "The X Files" & "Lost" wouldn't be around today if it hadn't blazed the trail it did.

Ideas..

After mentioning "Big Trouble In Little China" the other day, it occurred to me that a blog is as good a place as any to push some of my favourite films, music, books and oddities. I'm going to try and stay away from the more mainstream stuff and concentrate on the more esoteric items in my collection.

That said, my next post will be a short story about what happened to me today (April 3rd, 2007) while sitting in a coffee shop in my home town reading a copy of "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.

It's a true story.

I am aware that posting it on the Internet will mean that it will have it's truthfulness questioned right off the bat. But there you go.

405

Just one more. This little film has been around for yonks. It really showed (me anyway) what you could do with off the shelf PC software. Ok.. so the guys that made it were pros, but the equipment was all stuff that was readily available in stores. This is a good few years old, I can only imagine what they could come up with now.

Neat...

This is a great little spoof of an irritating advert that's been on TV for a while now. I also updated the links to the Scotney episodes as the original host was a bit pants. Gradually I'm adding more of my books to the LibraryThing list as well. Have a browse!

Parodie Pub Citroen
Uploaded by Kamechi

These pics have been popping up all over the internet for a while, but they never cease to amaze me. Street art has never been so cool. I'll put a link up at some point.

One more post before bed! I was looking through some of my dvd's tonight and came across the above. I can't make the point strongly enough about how great this movie is. It has a very strong cult following but I always felt that it deserved more recognition. It's easily the best thing Kurt Russell has ever done (faint praise I know) and has some of the most quotable lines ever committed to film.

Kung-fu, romance, monsters & magic! What more does a film need?

New Who!

Just finished watching the first episode of series 3. I have been watching this show since I was a kid and have always loved it no matter how "uncool" it became in the 80's.

Well that's not really true, during the Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy years my patience was severely tested. I stuck with it though.

The new episode was fun, but I'm beginning to tire of the histrionics of some of the new shows. Screaming, shouting, fast editing and all manner of noise. I know I sound like a grumpy parent but it seems to me that the show often hits 100mph from the first frame and then never lets up. This leaves little room for light and shade, with intimate character moments squeezed into the smallest possible spaces between shouting aliens and whizz-bang special effects.

That said, it's still the best bit of family entertainment on telly at the moment. Lets face it, what other family show on TV this Saturday night had vanishing hospitals, alien rhino police and blood sucking old ladies!