Mythocentric

Nah! I gave up on that after I found out the Chinese have a dragon in the moon at which point it all got a bit confusing! I bet Andrews disappointed about the lack of mice though. Mind you one or two of those little craters around the edge do look suspiciously like holes! Cracking photo though and it does show how accurate my NASA 3D model is. On the subject of books, that NASA volume was actually quite interesting overall given my love of 'heavy metal' (in the sense of military aircraft!). What got me were the two chapters on computer modelling of fluid dynamics, etc apparently written by a computer geek with the intention of setting a world record for the greatest number of acronyms in one essay! What it actually did was set a world altitude record for going right over Bill's head! . Anyway! It was interesting enough to get me started on volume 2 which begins with a discussion on turbulence in the boundary layer of supercritical airfoils.................ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Hummm! One thing I did learn though is that a surprising number of modern aircraft, military AND commercial, are so inherently unstable that they would be very difficult to fly without the use of computer-controlled fly-by-wire systems. I'm not naming any names but the next time you go on holiday and fly by any of the Airbus series, take a good look at the weather before you board! I'll definitely have a look for those Patrick Moore biographies at the weekend! Meanwhile, on the silly side of life, our pals the Alien CT brigade have discovered (Surprise! Surprise!) a series of mysterious pipelines and obvious artificial domes on........PLUTO! YEAH! Regards Bill

Just been reading about NASA's MMS mission which is a group of four spacecraft flying in formation around the Earth to study it's magnetic fields. Whats so unusual about that? It's just more boring space stuff, you might ask! The difference is that these particular spacecraft are keeping formation and navigating by...............GPS! Yep! Just like the one you have in your car! So whats the betting that at least one of them ends up in Milton Keynes then? Regards Bill

Hi Jeff! Currently idling the day away reading NASA's Contributions to Aeronautics Volume 1. Not the easiest book to read but if you have trouble sleeping I'll send you a copy. Guaranteed to knock you out within minutes! Regards Bill

Never mind Duncan (and those others amongst you who have suffered the dreaded Teitel!) I've found the perfect antidote! Regards Bill (currently standing under a cold shower!) :no:

The weather is a problem I didn't consider when I bought it being, as I mentioned earlier, in a major cloud-formation area. However, the only way to deal with a problem is to overcome it! I suspect the colder months may prove to be 'my' time because I've spent countlessly long hours on the Stone Jetty night fishing, and more often than not, looking up at those clear, starry skies which is how I first started to look to astronomy as a pastime again. It's perhaps just as well I have a lot of thermal clothing handy and waiting! The weather is also responsible for some of my least-favourite memories of my Cooper. First was having to keep the distributor dry by wrapping it in polythene because it got soaked in even the lightest rain shower (or heavy dew fall!!!) and killed the electric's! There was a 'glove' available to cover them but you could never get hold of one because they tended to sell out very quickly. Second was the wipers which were driven by one motor via what looked like a spring wrapped around a heavy length of wire and which tended to fall apart at the most inconvenient moments. Witness one day having to drive back from Ribchester in a very heavy downpour which I achieved by leaning out of the side window and wiping the windscreen with my shirt! Aah! The joys of motoring! I hope thats one you're planning to frame Jeff, it's a cracking image! Our Amy is not someone you should watch more than once , unless you have a good anger management councillor, or come to think of it, that guy from APL who presents New Horizons Update. How I sometimes wish someone would superglue his hands to the desk! Anyway I'm off to watch Wainwrights Walk's until I calm down. Thank the saint's for the lovely Julia! Regards Bill

I have a question! I've just been on the NASA, New Horizons website and what I want to know is.....What is it about watching Amy Shira Teitel (the presenter of Pluto In A Minute) that makes me want to go out and kill something? Regards Bill

Welcome back Andrew! I must admit we were getting a bit worried. When we were told you were changing your internet provider I didn't realise you were building your own server!!! Regards Bill

As John said, "Mighty impressive!" Theres a certain cachet between looking at a photograph in a book and seeing one from one of your own gang that says 'Hey! This is real!' It does bring that amazing creation out there a bit closer to home! I'm beginning to wonder whether I should keep PSP for my own graphic's and send my own upcoming photos to Jeff for post-op processing! Jock: I think were going to have to introduce Freddie to my youngest grandaughter Lucy. Three years old and as inquisitive as they come! Her favourite pastime when she's here is 'birdies' and she loves being on the Stone Jetty where we can watch them feeding at the waters edge, sometimes in their thousands, as the tide floods. Mind you! I dread to think how much I've spent on books to answer her when she pipes up with her usual, "What's that one called Granpa!" I like photographing them whem the mood strikes but when it comes to naming them......BLANK!!! You sometimes forget how expensive kids can be. On the other hand, it is rather cute when I tell her and she holds dolly up so that she can see too! Regards Bill PS: Jeff. Don't forget you've still got to find the mice for Andrew! Keep your eyes on the skies!

I must admit it nearly had me fooled Allan! It was the lack of a chin sporran that clinched it! Are you really going to post a picture of THAT windmill or can I take my tin helmet off and come out from behind the settee now? Regards Bill

Well said Peter! When I came on earlier I must admit I was absolutely fuming so I left before I posted something I'd regret. It's a pity because I was under the impression that the silly stuff had been dealt with two threads back, and I'd hate to see another of Andrew's threads come to grief because of the juvenile antics of a few miscreants. Thank you for putting it much more diplomatically than I would have done. Regards Bill

Nature in action Don. My former home was not far from the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and some of the older bridges had budding stalacmites and stalagmites forming on the walls. They were also present in Houghton Quarry below the overhangs until a bunch of gobsh*tes from a national rock climbing association rented the quarry for their own use and removed them (by the simple expedient of smashing them up) together with all the vegetation to make it easier to reach the rock faces. Why I'll never know because the quarry had been a popular rock-climbing destination for many years previously without any problems. One thing I've puzzled over was the presence on some bridges of hard, dark green, glassy 'blobs' usually near or on the flagstones. I'm very impressed with Amazon Jeff because I ordered it on Saturday morning and it arrived within 24 hours. I'll be ordering the books you recommended in due course. Meanwhile I received a book from FLO called Making Every Photon Count by Steve Richards (Chanctonbury Observatory) which came highly recommended and from what I've read so far I suspect it will become my astro-imaging 'bible'. Although aimed mainly at beginners it doesn't look down at the reader and explains the whole process from the beginning to processing the final image in a clear, well-written form with ample illustrations. On the subject of imagefinders, I must admit that the LED gizmo is not my favourite object. It does work but I'm not impressed by the way that the red dot can blot out the object you're trying to find, even with the dot set to it's smallest size. Nor am I particularly impressed by the fact that looking through it from a slightly different angle every time can throw things off by quite a few degrees, so I'd be happy to hear your recommendations for a decent finderscope! Regards Bill

At the moment Jeff you can definitely put me down as a definite Grumpy Old Git. I've just been over to Pencarne Junction and quite frankly I'm bloody annoyed because the thread has been highjacked by a bunch of 'comedians' led by our self-styled 'Sausage Man'. I know Andrew is a lot easier going than me but I hope he finds them as amusing as they seem to think they are themselves! Thanks Jock and Jeff! To be honest our Sara is not difficult to inspire because, like her mum, Amanda who was never a doll sort-of person, she's an explorer and loves to find out new things (and follow them up!). I'm delighted by the way she's taken such an interest in her world and the universe we live in. Your comment about space to explain the Solar System demonstrates how lucky I am to have a handy promenade nearby. One of her great loves is ancient life, especially dinosaur's (like most young ones) and one day last year I tried to show her the time-scales involved, so we took a walk along the prom starting at the end of the road marking each era and the relevant stages in the worlds evolution starting with the Pre-Cambrian (near the Yachting Office about a quarter-mile away!). We had a load of fun and it was fascinating to see it dawn on her just how long life has existed and the many forms it has taken. I think the biggest surprise came with the arrival of man (about ten steps of our journey) by which time we were in Heysham and I was completely knackered! She's really taken up with the scope and I can't wait to show her just what incredible sights are waiting for anyone who is willing to take the time to look! Just our luck that it's been cloudy and raining today! I know she'll be a bit disappointed when she goes home on Tuesday but we've arranged a little surprise for her. While she was unpacking her bags on Friday (having brought enough to equip an expedition as usual) me and mum stuck my spotting scope and a tripod into the car boot for her! Regards Bill P.S. The guy from Amazon has just turned with PSP X7 Ultimate. OK! I know I was going into Lancaster for it but I'm pleading old age and idleness, not to mention a reluctance to walk all the way out to PC World at Green Ayre and pay £70 for the privilige. Anyway I'm off to install it and play catch-up with Jeff. Have fun!

The garden looks brilliant Jeff. A labour of love which well deserves praise! It's also nice to see you've perfected your mosaic techniques. I must confess I haven't turned the TV on for weeks though when I do indulge I admit to a sneaking admiration for Shaun the Sheep! My youngest grandaughter Lucy loves it and we always watch it when she's over for a visit! Not to mention the fact that I have to record them and send them to her when she's not! We went out with the 'scope earlier to give our Sara her first look at the moon! To my amazement she actually had tears in her eye's because, "it's really beautiful when you can see it properly like that!" She spent the rest of the night before bedtime planning more expeditions and pouring over the SkyX program on my laptop. I do believe we've got a budding astronomer (astronomiss?) in the making! Regards Bill

Certainly impressive so far Jeff. I think the scientists on the NH team are just as surprised as the rest of us. I suspect it's going to re-write quite a few text-books in the near future! Regards Bill

Good to hear Jeff! Grass by Christmas? Regards Bill

One of my mates, Mark Neuman used to have a Mk 1 Escort RS. Superb handling (probably due to the near solid shock absorber settings) and acceleration. I well remember one memorable night travelling down to Almwych with stone walls zipping past at close quarters with just the headlights and spots for illumination as Mark tried to establish some kind of journey time record, fortunately with success being a keen amateur rally driver. My own favorite was my first car, a Mini Cooper. Lovely machine despite it's slightly weird sideways driving position. I think one of it's finest moments was 'shutting down' some guy in an E-Type Jag (renowned for lifting the front end from a standing start under acceleration) when he tried to burn me off from the traffic lights on the Blackburn Ring Road. I held him right up to 70 mph, after which I slowed up (you could just hit the ton on a good day!) and watched him pass me glaring as I waved! Regards Bill

A couple of book series for the readers among us! I've been reading the 'The Railway Detective' series by Edward Marston for a while now and I'm about a third of the way through and, so far, thoroughly enjoyable! Set in the 1850's the main characters, Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming investigate a series of cases set on the Victorian railways across the country. Well-rounded characters and plenty of authentic detail for the period. The second series deals with Flavia de Luce, a precocious 11-year-old amateur sleuth and budding chemist (with an affinity for poison's). Written by Alan Bradley, I've read the first two so far, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed That Strings the Hangmans Bag. An excellent insight into the world of a child in the 1950's, Flavia lives in a tumble-down stately home with her dysfunctional family and an ability to get into 'situations' often with hilarious results. Enjoy! Regards Bill

Cheers Jeff! That's just what I needed so that's on the list together with a t-ring adaptor for my camera, which I'd almost forgotten about! The latest book I have is Patrick Moore's Yearbook of Astronomy for 2010 so I'll chase your recommendations down. I also found a booklet from Philip's called Guide to the Northern Constellations which comes with the Planisphere so it's probably lurking around somewhere. All I have to do is start digging through the pile of junk I call my filing system! (Probably easier to buy a new one!). I popped outside a while ago to check the sky and found the usual cloud cover for this time of year. That's the downside of living in a cloud-formation area so it looks like the winter months are going to be prime for me. I only hope I don't end up at Lancaster Royal one night with my eyeball frozen to the eyepiece! Duncan and Jock. You have my sympathy! It's among that batch of 10 updates and apparently it's caused problems for an awful lot of people! That's typical Microsoft I'm afraid. Issue patches to fix the bugs then issue patches to fix the bugs caused by the patches then issue patches to fix the patches until it gets so unwieldy it all collapses under it's own weight, at which point they bring out another new bug-ridden OS and start the process all over again and make even more money! That's why my new workstation is a Mac (I'm definitely in LURVE! :tender: ). I must admit, there were times last week when I almost dug out my old Amiga 1200! Remember them? Plug it into the telly and away you went, not to mention it's massive 16 Mb of RAM! I still have one lurking at the back of the wardrobe which apparently is now worth three times what I paid for it in the first place! Regards Bill

Blimey! You don't hang about do you Allan? I've been building the goods shed for Slitheroe for two years now and I still haven't got the bloomin' roof on! Regards Bill

Thanks Jeff! Much happier than I was last week, though theres still the possibility that a certain Bill Gates could gain the addendum 'Deceased' if I ever meet him! I'm delighted with the telescope and I can't wait to get going, though Sara did make me promise not to use it until she arrives on Friday. Still I suspect I might just have a play with it tonight, weather permitting! (Hee Hee!). A couple of questions at the moment. I'm going to order an external power pack this week and I'm wondering whether it would be appropriate to aquire a x2 Barlow while I'm at it? Also I would be pleased if you could recommend any appropriate books to steer me in the right direction. I'm going into Lancaster on Thursday to pick up PSP X7 and I'll be passing Waterstones on the way, so I may as well pop in. Regards Bill

It's good to see Andrew back in full flow again, but you're a bit naughty leaving that poor old kettle stranded in the bay while you run all those blue thingies! :locomotive: Regards Bill

A quick update! I've just found out what was causing my laptop to crash! Turns out it was one of Microsoft's innumerable updates which appears to be incompatable with everything, including Windows. I popped it into my local computer shop yesterday to get it checked out and the owner started laughing when I described the problem! It took him around 10 minutes to fix the blasted thing (i.e. He removed the stupid @@@@@, @@@@@ update!)! It seems that Microsoft have a lot of explaining to do (AGAIN!). I only wish I'd known that before I did a full system recovery!!!!!!!!!! On a brighter note I've just finished installing everything to the new Workstation and it's running like a dream! (I think I'm in LURVE! ). Also the new bits have just arrived for my kaliedoscope and it actually works so I'm now an official apprentice astronomicker! I only hope Jeff doesn't mind answering the million and one questions I've got!!! :nono: Regards Bill

Thanks Dave! I hope you are patient too because as you've probably noticed my progress can sometimes resemble continental drift! Regards Bill

Hi John! Thank you for your interest. Slow progress as far as track laying is concerned because I took the decision to build it myself and started again from scratch. That meant C&L and until recently you could only buy it online via a credit card (which I refuse to have) or by picking it up at the exhibitions they attend. Happily that's now become easier by using Paypal so things should get moving again soon! I've also pulled up some sections to rebuild because I was fortunate enough to contact Martin Wynne via the Templot Club when I requested help with designing a three-way for the yard entrance (The L&Y loved them!), and Martin generously responded by designing the whole trackplan including a three-way which curves on all roads as per the prototype! Brilliant stuff though I must admit I haven't got around to building it yet! At the moment I'm working on the station buildings which have lots of small, but vital details, typical fussy Victorian architecture, so I'm slowly but surely making progress there. The trouble is work keeps getting in the way so its a matter of achieving a fine balance between that and play! Ridiculous really because I've never been so busy in spite of (officially) retiring two years ago! Still. As long as the people want it I'll keep going because it's that, after all, which is paying for the layout! Regards Bill

Thank you Andrew! Young Bill? When the young lady from Israel, Kay, e-mailed me for info I think she was a bit gobsmacked when I told her how old I was! Theres a general belief that people who work in computer art are all "young creatives" (Horrible term!) so I was more than pleased to put her right! As for getting paid, well that usually takes months for it to filter through, especially where Russia is concerned. The copyright laws over there seem to consist of "we'll take what we want and theres naff all you can do about it". On the other hand they did contact me through my agent who is married to a US National Guard officer, Joe, so if they don't cough up I might just be able to order up an air strike on their office! Nuclear holocaust anyone? They're probably keeping a low profile Jeff while they photoshop all the pyramids, buildings, etc., out of the pictures! I don't know about NASA using my stuff but there is a certain alien conspiracy site which is rather excited about a photograph of the Yacht Race Office at Morecambe taken at dusk which includes a strange unidentified object high in the sky! Consensus so far is that it is genuine proof. The uploader didn't give his real name but I have the strangest feeling that he might be getting in touch again sometime in the near future and giving them a lesson in Photoshop compositing! Repeat after me: "You are a very evil person William. You are a very evil person.............." :devil: Regards Sauron, eer! Bill