Despite its daunting size, the huge structure was in fact a very simple machine, essentially a massive slingshot exploiting the rotation of the KBO to hurl objects into space. Slugs of refined, processed matter were loaded into open-topped buckets at the KBO’s surface. For the first hundred kilometres, they were hoisted up the length of … Continue reading Saying “Centrifugal” Doesn’t Mean You’re A Bad Person
Sidlaws: Lorns To Labothie
Lorns Hill (NO 443399, 243m) Dodd Hill (NO 452396, 255m) Carrot Hill (NO 458401, 259m) Labothie Hill (NO 472416, 232m) 10 kilometres 190 metres of ascent This low ridge is an outlier of the main Sidlaws range, and pretty much its eastern last gasp. It stands out on Google Earth as a little curved strip … Continue reading Sidlaws: Lorns To Labothie
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RealSpace Models 1/96 Apollo Block II Command/Service Module: Part 2
Go to Part 1 of this build log Having finished with the Service Module detailing, I had a little bit to do on the Command Module before I could start applying foil. I sanded down the original undetailed cabin hatch on the resin model, and added the photoetched detail from New Ware’s Saturn V Detail … Continue reading RealSpace Models 1/96 Apollo Block II Command/Service Module: Part 2
Sidlaws: Kincaldrum to Finlarg
Kincaldrum Hill (NO 414436, 309m) Unnamed Point 315 (NO 411431, c350m) Finlarg Hill (NO 406419, 336m) 14 kilometres 370 metres of ascent Of the whole Sidlaws ridge, there was one last little section above the 300m contour that I hadn’t visited. I’d looked north-east across Lumley Den to Finlarg Hill when I was on Ironside … Continue reading Sidlaws: Kincaldrum to Finlarg
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RealSpace Models 1/96 Apollo Block II Command/Service Module: Part 1
So this is the first part of my slow assembly of the Revell 1/96 Apollo Saturn V. One of several shortcomings in that kit is that the Apollo Command/Service Module provided is a Block I version. That kind of CSM only ever sat on top of a Saturn V for the unmanned Apollo 4 and … Continue reading RealSpace Models 1/96 Apollo Block II Command/Service Module: Part 1
Opus 100
After Isaac Asimov had written 99 books, he wrote Opus 100, which was a book about his previous books. That was … well, a very Asimov kind of thing to do. I was reminded of Asimov and Opus 100 when the WordPress software informed me I’d just made my 99th post to this blog. I find … Continue reading Opus 100
Glen Doll: Mayar and Driesh
Mayar (NO 240737, 928m) Driesh (NO 271735, 947m) 15 kilometres 930 metres of ascent I had a short bagging trip this week, precipitated by a visit from our niece, who fancied taking in a couple of Munros on a day-trip from Dundee. In the car park at Glen Doll I was overtaken by a wave … Continue reading Glen Doll: Mayar and Driesh
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The Long “S”
Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) That’s Johnson’s entry for the letter “S” in his famous dictionary, and it’s clear that there’s something amiss with his lower-case s—in its printed form it looks more like an f, most of the time. This feature of 18th-century writing and typography has led some people … Continue reading The Long “S”
Reflections In A Spiral Mirror
The title of this post looks like it could be the name of a concept album by a pretentious prog-rock band. But it’s completely literal—I came across the spiral mirror in question while walking back from Tralee into Benderloch the other day. It was an outdoor ornament of the kind that seems to be called … Continue reading Reflections In A Spiral Mirror
Paul McAuley: The “Jackaroo” Short Stories
Ever since first contact, when the Jackaroo kicked off a global war on Earth, and swindled the survivors out of rights to most of the solar system in exchange for a basic fusion drive and access to a wormhole network linking a couple of dozen lousy M-class red dwarf stars, aliens had been tricking, bamboozling, … Continue reading Paul McAuley: The “Jackaroo” Short Stories