Firefly Aerospace and ISpace launch moon landers 2025

Aerosopace companies Firefly and ISpace (Japan) launched their lunar probes on a SpaceX rocket, January 15, 2025.  

Firefly's Blue Ghost landed on the moon in the Mare Crisium basin, March 2, 2025. Its mission will study the moon in preparation for human exploration in the future.

Japanese country ISpace's Hakuto-R Mission 2 (Resilience) crashed onto the lunar surface on June 5, 2025.

Book reveiw: "Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders" by Gyles Brandreth

 

I was intrigued by the title of Brandreth’s book Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders, since it promised to depict a giant of literature as a detective.  In fact, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the main character, with him as the narrator in first person, with Wilde as secondary.  However, as the story unfolds, it is Wilde who employs Sherlock Holmes’s techniques to solve a mystery and murders unfolding in the Vatican.  Although Doyle is the creator of Holmes, one of the world’s greatest detectives, he is relegated to playing Watson to Wilde’s Holmes. 

Doyle is depicted as clueless and Wilde is the observant one, who eventually solves the mystery.

During the heyday of Doyle, the author received volumes of fan mail, including many messages for Sherlock Holmes.  In Brandreth’s novel, Doyle receives several packages addressed to Holmes, which he opened weeks and months after receipt.  Doyle had been delinquent in responding to his mail, which moved slowly in the late nineteenth century.  Among the correspondence, Doyle found a mummified hand, a severed finger with a rose-gold ring, and a lock of hair.

Since the packages were sent from Rome, Oscar Wilde convinces Doyle that they must travel there to discover the source of the objects, the purpose in sending them, and solve the mystery of their origin.

To Wilde, money is no object and is more than willing to throw it around to conduct the investigation in luxury, with good food and drink. 

Brandreth employs Wilde’s flair and witticism throughout the novel.  But his treatment of Doyle is bland in comparison.  Doyle seems dull and without personality.  Of course, compared to Wilde, most everybody would be ordinary.  In this story, Doyle meets a charming young lady, “Irene Sadler” (an obvious reference to Irene Adler, who appears in A Scandal in Bohemia, and is the only person to outsmart Sherlock Holmes). It seems Doyle is smitten by Irene Sadler based on Wilde's observations, but there are no inner thoughts or acknowledgement of his feelings toward her. 

Weird.

If you’re an Oscar Wilde fan, you might enjoy this novel, but it really did not hold my interest and took me a while to finish it.

Happy birthday, Benny Andersson!

Benny Andersson, born december 16, 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden, is best known as the keyboardist for the super-group ABBA.  He co-composed the musicals Chess and Mamma Mia! He has been nominated for a Tony Award and a Grammy for Mamma Mia! 

Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze" certified gold 1972

Summer Breeze, released by Seals and Crofts August 1972, was certified gold December 14, 1972.  It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was described by Bruce Eder of AllMusic as "one of those relentlessly appealing 1970s harmony-rock anthems...appropriately ubiquitous on the radio and in the memory". 

Chang'e 3, Chinese spacecraft, lands on the moon 2013

Chang'e 3, the Chinese lunar explorer, landed on the moon, December 14, 2013. The lander is equipped with a radioisotope heater unit, a telescope to observe galaxies and other celestial bodies, an extreme ultraviolet camera, and soil probe.

Unfortunately, the rover Yutu experienced a "mechanical control abnormality" before it could leave the lander.  Although it could transmit data, it ceased to transmit in March 2015.

Remembering Dame Patricia Routledge (1929-2025)

Dame Patricia Routledge, born February 17, 1929, died today at age of 96. Although she was a hugely successful stage actress, she is best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket on the television series Keeping Up Appearances.  She won a Whitbread Award in 1966, and a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Darling of the Day in which she starred with Vincent Price.  She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Candide.

First season of Star Trek: The Next Generation wins three Primetime Emmys 1988

The first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation generated seven Primetime Emmy nominations and won three at the 40th annual ceremony August 28, 1988.  The Creative Arts awards ceremony was held the previous evening.

Television during the 1987-1988 season had some pretty great series, and a couple of pretty lame ones as well.  I highlighted the wins from my favorites.  I liked Cheers, but never connected with it.

Star Trek: The Next Generation faced intense scrutiny won during its first season, since the original series from the 60's had been elevated to cut status, with four blockbuster movies.  Yet, the newest installment in the Star Trek franchise stepped up to the challenge.  It won Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for the episode Conspiracy.  This was well-deserved achievement if you have seen the episode.  It also won Outstanding Costume Design for The Big Goodbye, in which the officers of the USS Enterprise become trapped in the holo-suite running a 1940s noir program.  The episode 11001001 won for Outstanding Sound Editing.

The series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling, Outstanding Achievement in Makeup, Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.

The Golden Girls was nominated for eleven Primetime Emmys and won three.  Bea Arthur won Outstanding Lead Actress and Estelle Getty won  Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.  The Golden Girls won Outstanding Technical Direction/Electronic Camerawork/Video Control of the episode Old Friends.

Rue McClanahan and Betty White were nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress.  Herb Edelman and Geraldine Fitzgerald were nominated for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. The Golden Girls was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Editing for a Series-Multi-Camera Production, and Outstanding Sound Mixing.

The series was nominated for Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Comedy Series but lost to The Charmings.  Seriously? 

The Vietnam War series China Beach won Outstanding Achievement in Costuming for a Series for the pilot episode.  It received three more nominations: Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series, Outstanding Editing for a Series-Single Camera Production, and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.

Designing Women won Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for the episode I'll Be Seeing You. The show was nominated for Outstanding Editing for a Series-Multi-Camera Production and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.

I watched the TV movie The Secret Garden, which won for Outstanding Children's Program. Well-deserved.

Angela Lansbury was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series her work on Murder, She Wrote, but lost to Sharon Gless for Cagney and Lacey. Oh, well.  The show was nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series.

Newhart was nominated for Outstanding Editing for a Series-Multi-Camera Production.  Peter Scolari and Julia Duffy were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Actress.