Better late than never.

- Sid

P.S. The instructions on the card said to pick it up and wave it around, which produced additional cool lightsaber noises, but the camera I was using for the video artifacted the motion like you would not believe.

Project Apollo.

Thank you for your interest and for helping to keep alive the spirit of space exploration and its history.

Kipp Teague
October, 2015

I don't normally just post links to online content, but I've made an exception in this case because it's such an astonishing resource.  Kipp Teague, who is an IT Director in Virginia, has had a long association with NASA and the presentation of visual records of space flight.  His most recent project is the creation of a Flickr archive containing over 11,000 (yes, ELEVEN THOUSAND) unprocessed images from the Apollo missions.  The archive is unedited - there are blurry images and shots of random pieces of hardware mixed in with the more impressive photos, but personally I think that adds to the value of the collection, it's like getting a real time view of the events being recorded.

The archive can be found at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/ - if you have any interest in the history of space exploration, I strongly recommend browsing through the gallery.  And, if you happen to be part of the lunatic fringe that thinks the whole thing was a hoax, I welcome your comments on how poorly the images have been faked - I enjoy a good laugh.

- Sid

Counting down.

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown,engines on
David Bowie, Space Oddity

It's 8:30 on Sunday morning as I start to type this - we leave for Japan at 4:20 PM on Tuesday.

When I originally posted my travel plans at the start of this year, I had every expectation of making the trip to Japan on my own. The biggest (and best) change since then has been the addition of the gorgeous, smart and funny Karli to my life.

Initially Karli was reluctant to join me on the trip - I couldn't quite afford to pay full fare for two people on my own, and she wasn't sure about spending the money.  However, I had the good fortune to find a great deal on flights from All Nippon Airways, and that was enough to tip the balance. (To my intense satisfaction and happiness.) 

The framework of the trip hasn't changed very much - we'll start by visiting Kyoto, then spend time in Tokyo and Yokohama before making our way to Takasaki to stay with my friend Terry and his family for a few days.  A pilgrimage to the geek Mecca of the Mobile Suit Gundam statue and exhibition is still very much on the list, but now I don't have to take my own picture there, there will be someone with me to take care of that.

Thank you for agreeing to come along on my adventure, Karli!  It's going to be infinitely better with you there to hold my hand and enjoy it with me, my love.

- Sid