A place where nobody dares to go — showing The Apple to a friend the other night prompted a request to show Xanadu, and thus it was done. It has to be said that of the overblown disco movie troika (English-language, at least), consisting of sai[…]

DESTINY’S CHILD
“Lose My Breath”
I’m a bit surprised at the vehemence this song has inspired over on ILM. I’m not surprised that cosmic twin Dan Perry agrees with me, though — this is some great stuff. To be honest[…]

Up the Pacific Coast from San Diego to San Francisco by submarine
It was travel but not one of the most scenic of routes, in that there wasn’t much to see. But back in 1979 my dad’s submarine the Pollack — as the history notes, he r[…]

And then again maybe you win some after all — looks like things aren’t as bad as I said earlier regarding the Genesis mission. “We should be able to meet many, if not all, of our primary science goals,” said physicist Roger W[…]

Over the river and through the woods… — going to see grandma (and grandpa, on my dad’s side) was always one of those special things for me, because they lived so far away most of the time. Not all the time — for two years, th[…]

I dream of other worlds — Michael Benson is my kind of freak, and Beyond — official book website here — is my kind of book. Ever since I was small I was fascinated by things astronomical — one of my most valued books to this […]

…and you lose some — the Genesis probe that was due to return to earth today, having collected a slew of solar particles, has done so — only not as intended. Success is never guaranteed, of course, but this is in many ways like the[…]

For me, Dizzee Rascal is someone who has become really good over a short period of time rather than suddenly realigning the world from the first single on — not the most popular of views, perhaps, but to my mind it’s telling that while I&[…]

HERO
dir. Zhang Yimou
(There are spoilers a bit, so be warned.)
As a preface, consider The Phantom Menace. Say what you will about it (I actually rather like it but no question, post-Gollum in particular, that Jar Jar Binks was the blown opportunity[…]

The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner route between Santa Ana and Los Angeles-Union Station
The (semi)regular route that I use for getting somewhere which I enjoy the most, hands down, is the one where I get to wait, on either end, in two of the loveliest tra[…]