Spacex Recovery Vehicle by Kevin D.

A Spacex Tractor T5 recovers a downed Pleasure Cruiser 1 from deep desert and delivers it to a remote tracking station.

Kevin D.

ideas about the origin of fab1

I was interested in this old article by J. Lester Novros II about the possible provenance of Lady Penelope's FAB1.

http://lester.demon.nl/superm/tbirds/seattle-ite.html

What do you think?

did your mates comes round on christmas day when you were a kid?

When I was a kid in the Sixties I never went to see my friends on Christmas Day.

I suppose on the face of it this doesn't seem that strange. Christmas was a time for family and Christmas Day was its pinnacle when the house was full of my folks, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, dog and all the gang.

My friends were doing exactly the same anyway with their own families up and down the road.

We were all quarantined in each of our own glittery worlds of family and fantastic new presents.

Yet it does seem odd now I look back. My friends back then were the best I ever had. We all lived in the same street and went mostly to the same first school. We were inseparable, spending nearly every moment together that wasn't demanded elsewhere by grown-ups.

It was an era when we could play out together all year round  - in the street, in each others homes, in each others gardens and on the local park - and our parents simply weren't fearful in those days.

So to not see any of my friends on a day devoted to children seems out of kilter somehow.

My friends would have been welcome for sure and I'm pretty certain I would have been if I'd have gone round to theirs. But we just didn't.

This festive isolation lasted two days in total, Christmas Day and Boxing Day after which normal service resumed and I spent time with my mates again and playing together with all the stuff we'd got that year.

How do you remember this readers? mates at Christmas?

strombecker booster rocket

Hi Woodsy

[spotted on Ebay. Is this the] origin / early version of the Valigursky illustration? - that lead to the SWORD booster rocket? 

Cheers 

Jim

Ed Valigursky's painting below

Woodsy asks:

Has anyone got a built up of this Strombecker and the SWORD Booster Rocket at home so we can see them together?

WOTAN wades in: The Plastic Fantastic site is a fab resource for vintage new garage kits. Here is the page for the Strombecker model: 

http://fantastic-plastic.com/convair-manned-lunar-reconnaissance-vehicle-by-strombecker.html

brian's weird new jersey

Hi,all at Moonbase. From time to time I hear mention of the Weird NJ publication. I am very familiar with it and I often find things even I, a New Jersey native,wasn't aware of.

A few months back ,a very familiar face appeared on the Magazine's cover.(see photo).This giant gorilla is the greeter to Mighty Joe's Market,a rest stop and convenience store not far from where I live,and this past weekend,I took a drive to see it.

He towers over a gas pump island near the parking lot.There is a plaque on his chest(see photo) telling a touching story about a young man who was known to his loved ones as "Mighty"Joe and had passed away at a young age.

The huge ape,and the family business are dedicated to his memory.I snapped a photo of him myself.The simian squinting away in front is me!-Brian in(Weird) NJ.

Brian F.

did you give your parents christmas gifts?

I recently found an old Christmas list of presents I was planning on buying my family one year in the  early 1970's.

I must admit I was amazed how much thought I put into it.

Each present seemed personally pitched: the novel SHOGUN for my Mum, a Car Waxing kit for my Dad, Sports car Soap on a Rope for my two older brothers and so on. I don't think there was anything home-made, which I'm surprised about.

My memory is shot though and I don't recall how and when I got pocket money  as a kid but I must have done to pay for all this lot.

I do have another old list which details records I was selling to my mates at school, mostly singles, so maybe that's how I paid for people's Christmas gifts. I just can't recall, dammit.

I know one year I got my old Mum a book on how to recognise hallmarks on silver and my brother a novel called The Dark by Stephen King.

Somewhere I even have a home made Christmas label I made for my folks' gift. It has a hand drawn Samurai on it. Typical of me to foist my early teenage obsession with the Orient on my family, even at Christmas! ha ha.

I wish I could remember much more than I do.

Did you give your parents and siblings Christmas gifts when you were small?

gerry anderson on laser disc

The last post yesterday got me interested in whether laser discs are still available on Ebay UK. I was particularly interested by way of a test if Gerry Anderson shows were listed.

Four are available within the UK, two of which are the same title, Stingray Invaders from the Deep but I was fascinated that any Anderson shows were on offer.

There were six listings from international sellers.

You can seem in a screenshot below. I've redacted the prices.

Have you any Gerry Anderson on Laser disk?

What do you think?

fireball xl5 music video

Hey Woodsy!

This showed up in my feed today despite it being several years old. I've not seen this video before but I do like the feel and look of it. They captured that 60s vibe without being cliche. The CGI work is fairly nice especially sine its just for a music video. Hope you enjoy it.

Lance