On October 27th 1961, 48 years ago, the first Saturn 1 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral. This mission, SA-1, was not a complete rocket, and it did not go into orbit. Only the first stage was live, with the upper stages being merely dummies, and it performed only a sub-orbital loop. It was not [...]

I think there’s a lot to be said in life for never giving up, and fighting on to the bitter end. Take Manchester United. They’ve been pretty much at the top of English football for nearly twenty years now, and a lot of that is due to them never giving up. I don’t think any [...]

How many of you guys reading this remember the now infamous cover of Starlog #35 (right) in which, just ahead of the UK release of The Empire Strikes Back, they totally blew the main revelation of the story (that Vader was Luke’s father), thus totally ruining the film for anyone unlucky enough to catch a [...]

I have a dilemma when it comes to second-hand bookshops. It’s daft, illogical, and perhaps even eco-unfriendly I know, but I worry that by buying a second-hand book I’m letting down its author, who will receive no payment from me for reading his or her work. Don’t get me wrong: I think second-hand bookshops are [...]

Dear Sir or Madam,
I apologise for the vagueness with which I’m addressing you; mythological literature is somewhat lacking in detail when it comes to determining just who is responsible for train-based transportation.
Regardless, it is now clear to me beyond all reasonable doubt that you exist.
A few weeks ago I informed a colleague of mine that [...]

The writer and journalist Mark Barrowcliffe seems to be many things to many people. To some, he is the author of the excellent D&D memoir, the Elfish Gene (Amazon.co.uk link). To others, he is the author of the vicious attack on D&D and its players, the Elfish Gene. To me, he is the man who [...]

It’s just been announced that the London Evening Standard is to become a free paper (at present it’s 50p) and will most likely merge with it’s already free London Lite sibling. Now I have a number of issues about this, not least of which is that I like the Evening Standard and generally buy it [...]