Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in Northamptonshire and East London.

Week 382, Saturday 9^th until Friday 15^th October 2021.

But everything this year has changed with private companies Blue Origin, Space X and Virgin Galactic who have all successfully travelled into sub orbit for a few minutes (Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic), or low orbit for several days and long visits to the ISS (Space X).

One day I dream of seeing a launch with my own eyes for real standing a few miles away following the rocket uphill as it passes through the clouds as vibrations rattle through my chest.  All the launches I have witnessed live have been over the internet, including watching in secret at work with the bosses sitting nearby.  Every time I watch a live launch/landing or Spacewalk is a thrill.  These last couple of weeks I watched two launches that captivated me in a way that others haven’t.  Space X’s Insprisation4 low Earth orbit three-day mission (max altitude of 364 miles – 585km) and Blue Origin’s second passenger sub orbital flight which lasted about 10 minutes up and down (which reached an altitude of 66 miles – 107 km).  These really have made me feel that Space flight will become at some point in the near future (30 to 50 years) as routine as travelling on a Jumbo.

Watching actor William Shatner travel with Blue Origin this week gives me hope that I might get the chance to view Earth as he did.  Of course this won’t be for years to come, but if technology continues to improve, resulting in more and more launches this should bring the price down.  Think of how expensive airplane travel was between the 1940s to 70s, better and bigger planes made travel more affordable (not always cheap) for many.  There is a real possibility that ordinary people will be able to travel into orbit and look back in wonderment at our home slowly turning in space.  The type of trip I am talking about is what Captain Kirk did this week, straight up have a look out of the window experience micro gravity for a couple of minutes before strapping in and return to terra firma.  Sadly longer journeys to the Moon and beyond won’t be possible for a very long time.  Maybe my nephews and niece future children will have the chance to travel to places I can only dream of today.

Space flight will become routine one day, I desperately hope that I will be around to strap in and experience the pull of multiple G’s before seeing the blue our of fragile atmosphere above the land passing below.  If I do manage to suddenly make a bucket of money because of being arty, writing a bestseller and/or directing a movie I will be contacting Elon, Jeff and Richard straight away to book my seat.  If my arm was twisted and I had to say who would I really like to travel with, it would be Space X because I want to go as fast and as high as possible and wear a funky launch and landing pressure suit.

William Shatner has always been a favourite actor; Captain Kirk is a hero to me and many others.  This week I think he touched many more people’s hearts with his passionate speech about what he experienced.

And Now For Something Completely Different……

The temporary admin job has commenced and I am enjoying it, bet you never thought you would read a comment like that.  All I am doing is moving specific data from one system to a spreadsheet which is submitted daily by email.  Sounds very boring, but after feeling so stressed for years working in a call centre boring is good.  At the moment I suspect I have a couple of weeks of work left, after that I really don’t know.  Because it’s part time I really must use the extra spare time I have wisely, it’s all in preparation for next year.

And Finally……

After spending time (weeks and months) befriending a couple of neighbour’s cats that regularly visit the garden.  This week they both realised I was not a threat and approached close enough to be stroked.  In the grand scheme of life it’s not much of an achievement, but both occasions pleased me so much.

My Mid Life Crisis Conts……

This week I have watched:

“Click”, (TX: 09/10/21).  “Babylon 5”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 4).  “Blakes 7”, (SB, ep 11).  “Blue Origins – NS-18 Shepard Space Flight Mission With William Shatner – Live Launch and Touchdown”, (YouTube)(TX: 13/10/21).  “Entertainment Insider – How Hollywood Twins Scenes Have Evolved Over 100 Years”, (FaceBook)(TX: 12/02/21).  ”Entourage”, (S8, ep 2 to ep 8).  “Final Space”, (S3, ep 6).  “Fort Salaam”, (S2, ep 1 & ep 2).  “Futurama”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 3).  “Guilt”, (S2, ep 1 & ep 2).  “Late Night Mash”, (S1, ep 7, TX: 14/10/21).  “Monkey World”, (S11, ep 2, TX: 2018).  “No Time To Die”, (2021).  “Only Murders In The Building”, (S1, ep 8).  “Orangutan Jungle School”, (S2, ep 1, TX: 31/07/19).  “Rich House, Poor House”, (S2, ep 2, TX: 26/10/17).  “Spitting Image”, (Britbox)(S2, ep 5, TX 09/10/21).  “Star Trek (Original Series)”, (S3, ep 17).  “Stargate Atlantis”, (S3, ep 1 to ep 3).  “Starship Troopers”, (1997).  “Taskmaster” (S12 (S3 on C4), ep 4, TX: 14/10/21).  “The Blob: A Genius Without A Brain”, (TX: 29/09/21).  “The Bureau Of Magical Things”, (S1, ep 14).  “The Conjuring”, (2013).  “The Conjuring 2”, (2016).  “The Goes Wrong Show”, (S2, ep 4 & ep 5).  “The Golden Girls “, (S5, ep 11 & ep 12).  “The Great British Bake Off”, (S12 (S5 on C4) ep 4, TX: 12/10/21).  “The Orville”, (S1, ep 10).  “The Ranganation”, (S4, ep 2, TX: 10/10/21).  “The Sky At Night”, (TX: 10/10/21).  “The Walking Dead”, (S11, ep 8).  “Whose Line Is It Anyway”, (S10, ep 7 to ep 9).  “Van Helsing”, (S5, ep 3 & ep 4).

“Doctor Who watched this week”……

“Skyfall, Part 1”, (S12, ep 1, TX: 01/01/20).

“Skyfall, Part 2”, (S12, ep 2, TX: 05/01/20).

“Orphan 55”, (S12, ep 3, TX: 12/01/20).

This week I have listening to:

“30 Animals That Made Us Smarter”, (BBC World Service/Sounds)(S2, ep 16, 11/10/21).  “Box Of Delights”, (S3, ep 7, 25/02/20).  “Brian And Roger”, (S5, ep 3, 13/10/21).  “Clinton Baptiste Paranormal Podcast”, (S4, ep 2, 12/10/21).  “Coronavirus Global Update”, (BBC World Service) (09/10/21)(10/10/21)(11/10/21)(12/10/21) (13/10/21)(14/10/21)(15/10/21).  “Doctor Who”, (The Incomparable/TeeVee)(S12, ep 3, 13/01/20)(ep 4, 20/01/20)(ep 5, 26/01/20).  “Don’t You Want Me?”, (ep 4, 14/10/21).  “Full Disclosure With James O’Brien”, (S1, ep 3, Simon Amstell, 18/03/19).  “Griefcast”, (S8, ep 2 (ep 150) 13/10/21).  “In Poor Taste”, (ep 124, 13/10/21).  “Lazy Doctor Who”, (ep 222, 12/10/21).  “Maximum Power: A Blakes 7 Podcast”, (SA, ep 4, 10/10/21).  “Mystery Hour”, (14/10/21).  “NASA Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 217, 15/10/21).  “Nick Abbot Whole Show”, (09/10/21)(10/10/21)(15/10/21).  “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell”, (S3, ep 27, 12/10/21)(ep 28, 15/10/21).  “Smersh Pod  –  The Living Daylights”, (Pt 1, 04/05/20)(Pt 2, 05/05/20).  “Smersh Pod – The Man With The Golden Gun”, (Pt 1, 18/05/20).  “Space And Things”, (STP12, 19/11/20)(STP59, 14/10/21).  “Space Soldiers Podcast – Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe”, (Chapter Three, “Walking Bombs”, 09/10/21).  “Star Trek Universe”, (11/10/21)(14/10/21).  “The Adam Buxton Podcast”, (ep 164, 10/10/21).  “The Audio Guide To Babylon 5”, (The Incomparable)(ep 49, 20/03/16).  “The Friendship Onion”, (S1, ep 22, 11/10/21).  “The Froth With Rhod Gilbert And Sian Harries”, (S4, ep 3 (ep 39) 12/10/21).  “The Nick Abbot Habit”, (11/10/21).  “The Space Above Us”, (144, 15/10/21). “Toby Hadokes Happy Times And Places”, (24.1, “Dalek”, 11/10/21).  “WTB”, (S3, ep 10 (ep 52),15/10/21).  “What’s Your Problem With Nick Abbot And Carol McGiffin”, (11/10/21).  “Wolf And Owl”, (ep 45, 13/10/21).

Songs I enjoyed this week, were by:

“Morrissey”,  “Air”,  “Arlo Parks”,  “Artic Monkey”,  “Aztec Camera”, “Catatonia”,  “Del Shannon”,  “First Aid Kit”,  “Fleetwood Mac”,  “Florence And The Machine”,  “Jean-Michel Jarre”,  “My Morning Jacket”,  “Pixies”,  “Shakespeare Sister”,  “Shed Seven”,  “Sixpence None The Richer”,  “Tame Impala”,  “The Beautiful South”,  “The Clash”,  “They Might Be Giants”,  “Thompson Twins”,  “Yazoo”.