THE GREAT WHITE SPACE

I'm reading a novel called the Great White Space.

Dated 1974 it was penned by Basil Copper.

My paperback was published by Sphere.

Its a story about the exploration of an underground realm but the remarkable thing is the number of similarities with the film Prometheus.

In The Great White Space the intrepid explorers come across colossal doorways and caverns covered in strange hieroglyphics. 

They stumble across vast arrays of huge vases, which contain inhuman creatures held in oozing liquid and there is speculation about the architects of the caverns, who they call among other things engineers!

The cover of another edition of the book hints at the huge doorways hewn through cavern walls by unknown architects.

Have you read the Great White Space readers?

FIRST MOON

There are so many TV programmes and movies about the Moon Landing I'm getting dizzy.

There was First Man at the cinema, then there's ARMSTRONG in the cinemas for one night only tomorrow on the 9th and then there's 8 Days to the Moon and Back this Wednesday 10th on BBC 2.

Did you see First Man?

MY SCRATCH ROCKET TRANSPORTER DIARY

A really tricky part today, the sides of the Transporter.

In the end I used thick card to create 3D wheel arches on each side and the rear of the vehicle too.

I also opted for an asymmetric placing for the pilot's cab rather than bang in the middle of the vehicle's front.  The original could be in the middle or off-centre like mine. Its hard to tell.

My humbrol 'lemon' paint has arrived too!

Having found some small LED string bulbs leftover from my Daughter's wedding I had a fit of electrickery and installed lights into the four red headlamps, the driver's cab and an orange hazard light on top.

I have lights! Yay!

Using soft plastic, glue tops and some lego pieces I fitted out the business end of the Transporter with its characteristic A-frame stand, some small orange units, a lever and a bed for the rocket to lie on.

The whole thing got the first of four coats of paint too.

The rocket 'bed' - two glue tops and an orange lego brick - is purely artistic licence on my part as there was too much space left over next to the A-frame.

I stared at the two Tri-ang illustrations of the Transporter for inspiration, together with Scoop's old 2009 concept drawing and opted for this simple solution with the stuff I had to hand.

NEW FLYING SAUCER PACKAGING

This is one for those of you who collect or are interested in JR21 toys.

I saw this on an online auction this year, the New Flying Saucer.

The image shows what appears to be the inner card packaging, although it looks home-made to me.

Does anyone have the inner card packaging for this toy?

What does yours look like?

Do you have this toy?

LISTENING TO.....SARAH 1972

If you like Thin Lizzy then I wonder if you've heard this, the lesser known version 1 of Sarah, From the Shades of a Blue Orphanage LP 1972.

A ballad to his Grandmother, Phyl Lynott's words and voice are wonderful, the sense of the song almost chivalrous.

Enjoy.

I adore this soft rock tune so much that I've posted the lyrics!

Captain's hair

shone softly in the sun

Rode on his best mare

to Sarah

Schoolboy eyes

would stare in innocent fun

Never told no lies,

he loved Sarah

[Chorus:]

Whispered by a bramble,

carried by a brook

to every fishers hook,

"Sarah"

Fragrant fields

Playing croquet in the sun

Nothing appeals

like Sarah

SCRATCH TRANSPORTER DIARY

I've abandoned my first 'box'.

Box 2 is a cake of CD and Cassette cases. Yep, that's Lynyrd Skynyrd on top! Sweet Home Alabama! 

I think I have the angular look I was after now.

The driver's 'cab' is a perfume bottle top. Don't tell the Missus!

The Rocket Transporter has begun!

I KNOW, LETS TAKE A TELEPHONE WHEREVER WE GO!

I have one of the earliest mobile phones going I reckon.

Not so much a phone. More a brief case full of a huge battery and a phone nestled at the side.

I bought it in 2000 when Ebay landed in the UK. The phone was cheapish but the shipping from the US nearly sank Woodsy Inc.

From the 1970's my attache case telephone must be the forerunner of what we now call mobiles. It even says Portable Telephone on its baseplate. 

There are about 15 big buttons to push down and I've often pressed them and wondered what they did and who they would have connected too. I'd love to fire it up! I'd probably need permission!

Costing thousands of dollars at the time - it came with all its paperwork -  there can't have been that many of these things around in the US in the late 70's surely? or?

I will blog the phone in detail soon but wondered if you had a briefcase telephone or a an attache case walkie talkie, either a real one or a toy?

Maybe an early mobile brick, a field phone or a toy Batphone or a James Bond communicator in an attache case? I had a Secret Sam case but I'm sure there wasn't a walkie talkie or even a radio in there but maybe it was just a secret!

Let's hear from you!

SCRATCH TRANSPORTER DIARY

This is my first attempt at the boxy body of the transporter.

I used a plastic box I've hacked up a bit and some fencing from a fly swatter.

Not sure about this yet. 

The picture on the backing card is hard to visualise exactly as to shape and size.

What I am relying on is that its very very angular and very yellow.

I am still transporting ideas.