Unlike Michael Okuda and many others around the world, I was still too young to remember anything I might have seen that day, somewhere in upper Alberta, two or three time zones away from all the excitement. What I do remember is reading through the Collier's Encyclopedia entry on Space Exploration in the years that followed.

The edition my parents had bought was published at a point where the Apollo program had not yet run the course laid out for it by the Nixon administration in spite of the hopes of many across the world. In fact, the end of it had not yet been written officially when Collier's went to press. The projected mission schedule's forecast still maintained that Apollo flights would number into the 20's before they stopped in favour of the preferred form of space shuttle then expected to succeed Apollo.

I remember the fascination - obsession? - that began with the photography and technical illustrations in that book. It was fed by the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program that ended up being the true last gasp of the first space age. By Space: 1999, by Star Wars, the original Galactica, and eventually Star Trek itself to keep me going until the first of the shuttle launches.

We've been through a lot of flights, good and bad, since then.

And now on this anniversary, we have another first: two Canadians together with eleven others from four nations: the United States, Russia, Belgium, and Japan. One of those is the 500th human to go Up There Into the Black.

From Yuri Gagarin to Christopher Cassidy: only 500 so far.

There should have been much more than this by now. We ought to have done much more than this.

That we've managed this much despite our best and worst instincts is still a miracle when you look at it carefully.

To everyone involved, whether you recognize that involvement for what it is or not: thank you.

Thank you.

FINALLY!

Congratulations to all involved!

Things like this item. Thanks to kradical's friendlist for this one.

I wonder how much of this particular practice is going on in Canada?

Yes, I'm being circumspect for a reason.

Okay. I just got the word from seanhtaylor via Facebook.

John Ostrander needs help, people.

Now.

Ladies, gentlemen, respected others:

We have a call for assistance from the CBC.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/technology-blog/2009/07/moon_landing_space_anniversary.html

Can anyone help them find this person?

To evilvillan_1: Hoping you've had a good one today!

D. Simon Jackson touches on part of my reasoning in a column for cbcnews.ca.

The more I think about it, the more tempted I am by the idea of drafting, rather than electing voluntary candidates. Don't even let them volunteer as candidates for parties, either.

Am I wrong? Am I right?

Some weird things get done to newspaper boxes...



Look closer...

This dates me more than I want to admit.

I got a history/memory refresher courtesy of insidethecbc.com a while ago, with a selection of YouTubed "opening titles" sequences used by The National, CBC's main late-night newscast program from over the decades.

This one in particular whacked me over the head with the "Do you remember when...?" vibe:



I cannot yet recall the name of the typeface they used. I've seen the name, probably in some Letraset catalogue or Corel font library booklet. But cannot yet remember it.

Help?

If that link/embed doesn't work, let me know, okay?

Every so often on a Tuesday night in the summer months between semesters at Algonquin College, instructor Rich Lauzon holds forth in B Building's Rotunda/Portable Feast room, inviting animation, game design and other arts students past and present to get together and sketch whatever suits'em.

I happened to be there for the session the night before Canada Day 2009.

If you're an artist yourself, and the Algonquin Campus off of Baseline Transitway Station's within easy reach for you on the right night of the month in the summer, you might want to have a look.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12032267235

Wishing my friends in the American Union all the best of the day, and much enjoyment of many, happier returns to come!

As shown on viarail_fandom

Revised edition of the earlier map. Added in are the routes serving northern Québec and northern Manitoba, as promised earlier. Also included are direct connections feeding between Toronto and North Bay and Sudbury.

As to the note attached to version one, my apologies for getting the relative positioning of Ottawa and Cornwall wrong. However, I do believe a direct rail link between Ottawa and Cornwall should be on the dream-shopping list for VIA down the line.

In the spirit of the national birthday...



Hoping you all have a good one, people!

(Source material: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Canada.svg If the Trade Marks Act of Canada trumps my little celebratory gesture, I'll take it down. I hope the government won't mind, though...?)

Lots of accidental connections here, triggered in part by bill_leisner's new novel for the Star Trek office at Pocket Books, TNG: Losing the Peace.

So, the novel in question shows up at Perfect Books on Elgin in Centretown this week, and today I picked it up. Speed-reading racer that I am, it's demolished in a day - in the good way, Bill! - and some of the things I note below are accidental connections. Not sure if they constitute meaningful coincidences, and at some points, it's going to look like random babbling.

( Anyway... )

Here's something I'd been working on for a couple of months after I bought Adobe CS4. It served two purposes:

1) Put down in "concrete", printable form thoughts of mine on what I want to see VIA Rail's service network become over the next decade or so.

2) Learn-by-doing with Adobe Illustrator now that I actually have it in hand to work with.

Thoughts on either aspect of the project, anyone?

(Please note: I'll be revising the map to add in the existing routes serving Northern Manitoba and Québec shortly!)

Lest any among us fear a squirrel takeover.

Seen not more than a day ago in an east Ottawa backyard.

But for CBC, I'd almost forgotten...

http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/06/28/

Requiescat in pacem, Terrence. Your Marathon continues.

Cross-posted from ottawa_sf:

On my friendlist this morning, there was a reminder of an Event like few others thus far in human history and its upcoming anniversary: the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo XI landing on the Moon.

We ought to do something as a group to mark the occasion.

So. Suggestions, please, and quickly!

Continuing an irregular series on fictional comics geography...

If you've been reading Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink, then you've heard of this addition to the roster of DCU cities and towns, Liberty Hill.

In Ink # 1, it's described as being "in the shadow of the (American) nation's capital". In # 2, now on sale, one of the main TV stations in Liberty Hill's region is Baltimore. So Maryland's not a bad guess for the town's host state if anyone's interested.

If you're a Trek fan who likes to look at Cool Spaceship Art, get your browser's backside over to Doug Drexler's blog for a sneak peek at the 2010 Ships of the Line Calendar.

Now.