LAMPSHADE SPACESHIPS

 

I took this shot lead down looking up at a lampshade. I dunno, I just liked it!

My favourite lampshade picture - at least i think its a kind of lampshade-type prop - is Mel Birnkrant's card art for the Colourforms Outerspacemen.

I love Alpha 7's illuminated disc as he heads for Mars. Looking underneath it the disc really does hint at lampshadeness.

and my personal fave, the large lampshade-like personal airship of Xodiac, the Man from Saturn.

You can read more about these on Mel's own amazing website and drool over the original backing card photographs like this one of Xodiac. 

http://melbirnkrant.com/osmgallery/page14.html

I think its one of the most beautiful toy photographs ever. What do you think readers?

ARTO'S MARVELLOUS HOVER SPACE TRACT

The unusual dome is the on-off switch on the Space Tract.

This is the scarce Hover version of the more common grey Mego Space Tract.

Special thinks to Arto for sharing pictures of his terrific find.

Mars Unbarred

As Perseverance gets it bearings on the red planet, data is beginning to filter in from the probe itself, the lander and the orbiting Mars probes Odyssey and HiRise which assisted in the landing operation, by coordinating the approach and choice of landing site, in the crucial seven minute automatic descent.

With JPL and NASA providing unrestricted access to the imagery and cameras following every stage of the manoevre, it is possible to see amazing coverage of the landing with a birds eye view from the SkyCrane and a distant view of the lander descending by parachute onto the surface.

With the rover safely confirmed to be settled in its initial spot, the multitude of checks and status reports are being carried out, before the rover can begin its quest. The image above from the front Hazard Avoidance Camera, slung beneath the front of the chassis, shows the view ahead after the removal of the protective dustcap. Over the next few days, the solar panels will begin topping up the batteries for the rover and its small helicopter passenger, Ingenuity. All the cameras on the rover are fully High Definition and video will be recorded in colour and at 4k, so as the mission progresses, the view will be spectacular.
 

Once more life begins to imitate art and ideas which resided purely within the realms of science fiction are rapidly becoming everyday fact. Can we begin to hope that this unrivalled access to the planet may uncover signs that life may have existed on our near neighbour ?

As Cold As Ice

A big shout out for the BBC for showing the fantastic supernatural horror series 'The Terror' this Wednesday. A pseudo-historical drama based on the 2007 book by Dan Simmons about the Royal Navy attempt to find the North West Passage in 1845. The two ships 'Terror' and 'Erebus' were reported lost with all hands and the AMC production, overseen by Ridley Scott, attempts to unravel the mystery.

Besides being a great story from the first opening, it is visually and historically exacting and is played beautifully by a largely British troupe of actors. Not for the faint hearted or the weak stomach, it is grisly and unflinching in its depiction of both the privations and the accidents that the beleagured crew must endure, but also of surgical procedures and elemental savagery in an alien land.

Watch the trailer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p096q6b5

The series went on to a second season, 'The Terror: Infamy' which documents the struggles of japanese residents in wartime America, again based on historical data combined with a sinister supernatural threat. For me though, the first series set in the Arctic is head and shoulders above most recent historical dramas.
 

G R E E N L A N D

Not seen a new blockbuster for, well a year, so I thought I'd check out Gerard Butler's new apocalypse Greenland on Prime last night.

Unlike my Missus, I like disaster movies and the bigger the disaster the better, so an extinction level event is a no brainer. The Butler usually delivers big on the no need to think much stakes too so I was sold when I saw it advertised. The title Greenland was intriguing too.

It's a comet movie pure and simple, but I won't give anything away, although you can guess what happens if you watch the trailer. I'm not sure Greenland tells us much more than we already knew about the end of the world. OK, maybe having a 'full tank of gas' might help somehow.

Imagine Deep Impact and 2012 spliced together and you have Greenland. I don't think it deals with the whole comet thing as well as Deep Impact or older entries like Meteor or When Worlds Collide for that matter, but you'll make your own mind up as it approaches.

I often ponder if this kind of movie can still be classed as Sci-Fi or is it something else? Interestingly 'disaster' means evil-starred event.

Anyways, I wonder if you'll be taking a trip to Greenland?

KEVIN'S CRAGSTAN MARVEL

Hi, here is my anti-futuristic Cragstan car!

Vroom, vroom

Kevin

UK

WILL OSBORNE'S CRAGSTAN WONDERS

Here's a couple of Cragstan tinplate toys. I believe someone once told me that supercar was based on the Ford Gyron . It does look a little bit similar. The other photos are of the Cragstan Moon Mobile.

Will O.

UK

Have you got anything like this?

SHELLEY HACK'S CHARLIE SCENT

Further to my comment that my Mum wore Charlie, blog reader Paul has dug deeper into the scent!

Hi Woodsy

   Charlie perfume!

     Prior to appearing on the TV series Charlie's Angels as Tiffany Welles in Season 4, model turned actress Shelley Hack appeared in a series of television and print ads for a perfume called Charlie, made by Revlon.

Above is a photo of a print ad that I found on line.

Then there is a compilation of five old TV ads, featuring Shelley Hack. In all these she only wears trousers, never a dress. Each features a different singer - the only one I recognise is Mel Torme in the fourth ad. It looks as though these ads had a sizable budget.

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie! - YouTube

Everything in the Universe is connected to everything else - somehow.

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Did your Mum or Sisters wear Charlie back in the day readers?

Did you like Charlie's Angels?