This is a small Danish convention with a few hundred people attending. Only foreign Guest was Norman Spinrad. The con was held in the "Vanloese Kulturhus" (cultural house) in nice large rooms and a terrace. Even the weather cooperated and we could sit outside chatting along between the programmed events. I arrived there after a long (12 hour) drive and a few hours of sleep.

On Saturday I went to the interview with Niels Brunse who has translated a large amount of English language books into Danish, and also written stories of his own. He was, among other subjects, talking about the difficulty of making a good translation, something I can relate to in a limited capacity, having attempted translation in both directions between Danish and English. Some elegant words or phrases in one language translate *very* poorly into the other.

Sunday had a surprise guest speaker, the Danish physicist Holger Bech Nielsen, giving a presentation of his version of the "theory of everything" : "Random Dynamics". He is a *very* lively lecturer, and it is always fun to see him, his enthusiasm for the subject is just radiating from him. This was the first time I saw him "live", the other times were just on television.

Arthur C. Clarke :

For me the best part of the programme on Sunday was the panel discussion about Arthur C. Clarke, the panel consisting of 3 Danish fans and the guest speaker Norman Spinrad. Spinrad had sopme cooperation with Clarke in the 1960's and could tell us that the final scene of the movie "2001 - A Space Odyssey" was in fact not the one we saw in the movie. Clarke had envisioned a scene with very beautiful aliens, but it was not technically possible to do to his satisfaction - meaning the scene had to be rewritten.

Clarke's relatively optimistic view of the future has by some been regarded as naive, but it most probably is an expression of his dream about the future.

Finally there was a discussion of Clarke's unusual combination of hard science fiction and the "mystical" (for lack of a better word), something very prominent in "2001", but it is in much of his other work.

Of course, you cannot mention Arthur C. Clarke without talking about his strong influence on science and technology (as well as science fiction), interesting to see how many of his early thoughts have come true already.

All in all a very enjoyable week end, I will try to attend next year as well

The 4th season of the "New Doctor Who" has started on the BBC.

BBC started last Saturday with the episode "Partners in Crime" , quite a fun story, where Donna Noble from the Christmas Special 2006 reappears searching for the Doctor, misses him several times , and we see them meet again in a very amusing scene - that could have been a little shorter, but nonetheless I enjoyed it. We also briefly meet an old friend under mysterious circumstances , I will say no more , you will have to enjoy the moment for yourself.

Second episode brings us back about 2000 years to "witness" the destruction of Pompei, for the first time the Doctor Who team has been filming outside the UK. Quite a spectacular illustration of the volcano blowing up and the city buried under the ashes. As usual , when the Doctor arrives , things go awry, and he has to correct the flow of history , being put into a bit of a dilemma.

I quite enjoyed both episodes, and I am looking forward to the next ones , and solving the mystery of the first episode.

The Soyuz spacecraft has successfully docked to the ISS today.

Yesterday I listened for radio communications from the Soyuz, and was rewarded with hearing a few exchanges in Russian. They were likely talking to the ground station in Moscow. The frequency for Soyuz is 121.750 MHz, if any of you should have a scanner receiver. The signal was quite strong, even with a wrong sized antenna, so it should not be too difficult to hear.

Good hunting if you try - They will probably be radio-active for a day or two when they leave the ISS and return to Earth.

In the meantime , if you are in Europe, you can listen for the ISS , in the rare cases when they talk back to Moscow, on the frequency 143.625 MHz.

Yes - it is true ...

The first ATV - Automatic Transfer Vehicle - has arrived and doced with the ISS. The name given to this ATV is "Jules Verne" , honouring the famous author (1828 - 1905) of old Science fiction classics like "Around the World in 80 Days", "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", "From the Earth to the Moon" and "20.000 Leagues Under the Sea".

The ATV is a European contribution to the ISS, along with the Columbus module - launched with the Space Shuttle and added to the ISS in February. The spacecraft pioneers the use of automatic docking, absolutely no human intervention. Only option would be to break off the docking procedure with a "go away" order. The ATV is designed to transport supplies to the station , and - as its final act - be filled with the garbage from the station and sent back into the Earth's atmosphere. We could call it a cargo ship and an advanced garbage truck - combined with an incinerator.

Another function of the ATV is as a booster for increasinf the orbital altitude of the ISS, since the station is slowly being dragged towards a lower orbit due to that fact that there is still a *tiny* amount of atmosphere up there.

Read more about the ATV at http://www.esa.int/esaMI/ATV/SEMJXMS1VED_0.html

Last year I went with a friend to visit ESTEC's space exhibition in The Netherlands. During a tour of the Estec facilities we got to see the Columbus module and the ATV, as they were being tested at the time. Nice to have seen real life spacecraft - knowing that both the station module and the ATV are safely orbiting the Earth.

More info at http://www.esa.int

My ISP has offered an "Advanced Website" to go with my subscription. Last year the speed was increadsed t the maximum possible for ADSL2+, this year they increased the max speed for the next lower level ADSL. They then had to offer something extra for mine.

So I took the offer , and moved the stuff from my "standard" homepage , plus added a few new items.

http://www.babylonlurker.net/

When STS122 had just been launched, I went out to see if I could spot it and the ISS. The ISS arrived right on time and was *very* bright and easy to see (I missed the Shuttle, though). I had also brought my scanner radio receiver with me, and just before the ISS went into the Earth's shadow , I heard a carrier wave for a few seconds , followed by [chorosho] (Russian for "good") and a few more words in Russian, since they were communicating with a ground station in Russia.

In the first few orbits after launch of the space shuttle(s) and the last few orbits before the re-entry (landing) the shuttle uses the frequency 259.700 MHz (AM) for clear voice communications.

A few weeks later, when the STS-123 was launched, I joined a group listening for the Shuttle "Endeavour". but since the high power (10 Watts) transmitter of the spacecraft was out, they were only transmitting with the low power (0.25 watts) transmitter. with my simple antenna and a long cable in to the receiver the signal was lost here, but a few other people around in Europe did hear them.

Since then I have had a preamplifier mounted at the antenna , so the loss in the cable has been compensated.

In the last few orbits before re-entry I listened for Endavour again - and even with their low power transmitter it was audible here. Signals were weak and noisy, but a few sentences were clearly heard here. Next time I will have to do some recordings.

I know this happened last week, but the preparations for going to the Eastercon/Orbital2008 have overshadowed most other things. See also previous posts.

I first became aware of Atrhur C. Clarke through the movie/novel "2001 - A Space Oddyssey" which made a considreable impression on my young self.

One of my favorite longer stories by Clarke is "Rendezvous With Rama".

I have on my shelf a brick of a book with about 100 short stories by Clarke , I think I will slowly work my way through those.

At the convention I found a signed copy of "Tales From the White Hart", and despite the (understandably rather high) price I just had to get it. Should read the short stories in that one, too.

I see Arthur C. Clark as one of the giants in science fiction, and a very influential science writer - one of the few science fiction writers with a scientific writer's background.

It was good to see a last minute addition to the Eastercon programme of a panel discussion about Clarke's influence in science as well as science fiction. On top of that, one of the panelists had been the secretary for Arthur C. Clarke for about a year, and he could bring light on theless public sides of the author. Nicely done.

He will be missed in the scifi community

Essentially no people came to watch "The Lost Tales today , so I went to the Neil Gaiman Guest of Honour performance wtih the author reading a bit of his work , and questions firm the floor. I was slightly surprised by the reply to the question of "free circulation" of his works. He apparently has no personal objection to that as such , since it gives more people the opportunity to read his works . You could see it as free advertising. On the other hand , some of the works, like audio books are not his own property , so he can not just say :"go ahead".

A hastily panel discussion has been organised in the response to the death of Arthur C. Clarke's influence in science, space exploration and science fiction. He was one reason for me - and many of the panelists/audience - to get into science fiction, as well as igniting the interest for space travel and science.

I have always had an interest in astronomy, and I could not resist going to a video presentation playing the two editions of BBC and Patrick Moore's program "The Sky at Night".
I have always found that he possessed an enthusiasm for the subject, and a very good sense for making the complicated scientific more understandable to the general public.

Of course - lots of talks to other fans - meeting people ... very enjoyable.

Last day tomorrow will be a little shorter in the programme items.

Saturday's activities :

Morning panel : "Doctor Who - Trickstergod ?"
Paul Cornell , writer of the double episode of the new Doctor Who : "Human Nature/Family of Blood"

Paul Cornell is a very lively panelist , lots of fun to see/hear. the discussion touched on a similarity with the Doctor and the Shadows from Babylon 5 - both being a sort of "Agents of Chaos" - quite a thought.

Lots of people reacting to the Ranger Pin , so had lots of B5 talks. Sunday "The Lost Tales" will be shown in the video room, I will be there and hopefully get some more good B5 talk.

Got some pictures - will come later - of Ranger Hilary in a very well made costume.

How about a B5 Ranger meeting a Klingon - good fun (got a pic of that as well.

In the afternoon a good panel discussion of "Religion in SF" , always a subject to generate a good discussion.

Had the "Day of the Dead" script signe by Neil Gaiman . Asked him about his position on a collection of non JMS B5 scripts , his reply sounded positive to me.

Sunday morning now - so writing this directly from the con.

This afternoon a programme point not foreseen : A tribute to Arthur C. Clarke - Have to be there.

Having a lot of fun - that is the main point.

Arrived safe and sound at the Eastercon in London.

Friday meeting up with a lot of new people.

Having a Babylon 5 Ranger pin helps finding other B5 fans - or they spot me ...

In the morning a nice discussion about the future of the Star Trek franchise. In the end we agree that tere is indeed a future for Star Trek (no real surprise there)

Being in London, which con will be without Doctor Who in its programme? Friday had a discusion about Russel T. Davies : Fanboy let loose ?

Of course he is both a fan and the one who revived the Doctor Who as a series.

Sunday Babylon 5 is on the programme , "The Lost Tales will be on the programme - my only regret it that it is at the same time as the Neil Gaiman as Guest of Honour. difficult choice. Well , I want to meet some B5 fans here , so I guess "The LOst Tales"it will be.

Just hope to Get to have my "Day of the Dead" script book signed by Neil Gaiman.

Main point : Having a good time

I am off to the Eastercon/Orbital 2008 in London this Easter.

If I get the opportunity , I will write some posts directly at the con.

The only Babylon 5 related guest I know of is Neil Gaiman , who wrote the script for the 5th season B5 episode "Day of the Dead".

If anyone reading this is coming to the con, my Nickname will be on my badge.

As we all know, a lot of science fiction involves space travel. We sometimes tend to forget that real life space travel already takes place, albeit on a somewhat limited scale.

This week end I did a little listening to spacecrafts on the radio. You may not believe it, but space communications is not as difficult as many people would think.

I was finding out when the ISS came over the horizon here and started listening to a relay station for ham (amateur) radio situated on the ISS. If there is not any spacewalks going on, the relay station is active listening on the 435MHz (uplink) band (70cm) and transmitting on the 145MHz (downlink) band (2m).
The downlink on 145.800MHz was clearly audible with a scanner radio and a simple whip antenna, as soon as I went out on the balcony of my apartment. On average the period with audible signals is 10 minutes per pass, shorter when the pass is near the horizon and longer when the station comes over my head.

Many years ago I sometimes set my receiver to 143.625MHz in order to listen for the MIR space station (yes - the Russian one), and have heard that one talking to the Earth station.

On some occasions it is possible to have a contact with one of the astronauts on the ISS, if they have the free time and interest. Almost all the astronauts have the license to transmit from up there.

In fact, the radio hams have several satellite relays orbiting the Earth, giving them the opportunity to try out space communications. Most of those are in a low Earth orbit, and therefore they are only useable for a short time. Some have a very elongated orbit (not really any right now), giving the opportunity for longer communication periods.

Most of us know about TV and communications satellites in the geostationary orbit (the satellite follows the Earth's rotation and seems to be stationary over a certain point on the Earth). The dream of some radio hams is getting their satellite out there, giving 24/7 communications.

Just a dream ... but maybe not any longer. There seems to be negociations going on between the AMSAT (Amateur Satellite) organisation and Inmarsat, about getting a lift with one of their satellites, and even sharing the power from the solar panels. We never know if this will come true, but I sure hope so.

Do not forget that the Space Station is a rather big satellite and is very easy to see when above the horizon. So - even if you cannot receive it on the radio you can go outside and observe a *real life* manned spacecraft. if you want to know when it can be observed at your place , go to Heavens Above and find out. it is a good idea to register, so you can have your location recognised when you log on.

Recently I registered for the Eastercon/Orbital2008 in London (Heathrow) .

I have been reading Neil Gaiman's "Stardust", since he is one of the guests of honour at the con.
I like the story. For the signing I intend to bring the script book for the Babylon 5 episode "Day of the Dead" that he wrote.

In the pile of books I got just before Christmas I found China Miéville's "Perdido Street Station", since he is another guest of honour at the con. I have got through the first couple of chapters, but have not yet been caught up in the story. I have decided to work my way through the first part, and then decide if I want to continue. .... I know - I try not to judge a book by its first chapter , but I am afraid it is not really my type of story. The initial chapters are a little too much Dystopian for me.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year 2008.

I will be visiting a friend with no internet , so will be off for some days

Here's to a lot of posting in 2008 ...

...no worries - my friend is a scifi afficionado, so I will have my fun. probably going to watch second season of "The 4400" and some other stuff.

Count me lucky.I just got a really good early Christmas present.

I talked to a friend of mine on the phone the other day and mentioned my interest in scifi, and he promptly said he probably had something for me. He had collected a pile of books for an English speaking lady in Denmark, but it turned out most of it was SciFi, and she was not really interested. But they both thought that the books should find a home and not simply be dumped. So I received 4 shopping bags full of SciFi/Fantasy books, about 100 books by authors like::

Tad Williams, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Asimov, Heinlein, Alfred Bester, Stanislaw Lem, Michael Stackpole (Fortress Draconis), Frederik Pohl, Joe Haldeman, Robert Jordan, Larry Niven, Greg Bear, David Brin, Philip K. Dick, George R.R. Martin, Kim Stanley Robinson (the full Mars Trilogy) and more ...

Most of the books I did not have already, so a very neat addition to my collection. Many of the books were even unread.

Another bag had some "normal" classic stories from Alexander Dumas and others.

Wow for an early Christmas gift! Now for finding some new shelf space.

I wonder when I find the time to read all this ...

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and a Happy New Year 2008.

Just came across this info from Entil2001

Sad news as I have come to like "The 4400" as a solid story.

Let's hope (there is always hope) for a speedy end to the writer's conflict - and that the writers will get the recognition needed.

After a pause the posts begin again. Time has been a bit crazy, both at work and at home.

Yesterday I went to see "The Golden Compass" at the movies.

The movie is based on the first novel in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy "Northern Lights" - also known as "The Golden Compass", a fantasy adventure story.

The orphan girl Lyra , played by Dakota Blue Richards , sets out to save a friend kidnapped by the Gobblers, something that happens frequently, the children never returning.

Since I have not (yet) read the novels, I can not compare the movie with that, this may come later. After all a movie is never the same as the book it may have been made from.

I liked the movie , found the story captivating. The spiritual (some may say religious) aspects of the film were well treated and came through with a good balance. just that you know - I distinguish between (organized) religion (dogmatic beliefs in texts) - and spirituality (wisdom coming from within - the soul ?)

From the creepy Christopher Lee - and Nicole Kidman for that matter, to the support characters it is well played, including the very young Dakota Blue Richards. Special effects are made to tell the story, not effects for the sake of effects, making the film a pleasure to watch.

The universe Pullman has created is rather different from ours - yet has so much in common.

Very recommended for young and old alike.

After what feels like an eternity of cloudy weather I got to see comet Holmes.

A bit of clear sky appeared , and the comet was just visible to the unaided eye here (the sky is heavily light polluted where I live).

Without any optical instruments it looks like a star to me - maybe it would be fuzzy in a darker sky.

Using a pair of binoculars at 15x magnification the comet is much like the pictures as seen here , with the exception of the faint green haze outside the brighter disk.

It looked bigger than I expected, and I noticed thet in order to get the most from the view, I had to use "averted vision" that is focusing the view a bit away from the comet. The brighter core is a little elliptic looking and a little offset from the centre of the disk.

If you have a pair of binoculars, you should go out and take a look. The Sky and Telescope link above gives you what you need to find the comet.

This is the third comet I have seen, only Hale-Bopp in April 1997 was bright enough to be clearly seen in the heavily light polluted skies of the western Netherlands, but this unexpected view is much better with a pair of binoculars , or better a telescope using a not too high magnification 20 - 50x should be fine.

Good luck comet hunting.

As my luck goes : clouds - clouds - clouds

Two days ago Comet 17P/Holmes was an insignificant piece of ice barely visible in amateur telescopes under dark skies.

Yesterday all that changed . If you have a clear sky, take a look in the constellation Perseus, there you will find an extra "fuzzy star" - visible to the unaided eye. With a visual magnitude og between 2.5 and 3 it should be about as strong as the stars in the "Big Dipper", "The Plough", "The big Wagon" or whatever you may call the most well known constellation in the Northern sky. The increase in brightness is about a million times in about 24 hours - quite amazing.

Take a look at Spaceweather.com for more information - and a star map to find the comet, and Cometography for a bit of history of this comet.

Stop Press: Latest estimates are now magnitude 2 .... even brighter ... so the outburst is still in progress.

Here's hoping for a little clear sky at my place i The Netherlands ...

Good luck with comet hunting.