On Friday - December 24^th, 2004 - Hour 25 brought you readings of holiday stories with a twist of the supernatural.

The holiday season at the end of each year has been a reason to celebrate for most every culture since the beginning of time. Some festivals, like the Saturnalia or the Winter Solstice, are ancient. Christmas and Chanukah are not quite as old, while others, like Kwanzaa, are of more recent origin.

Many of the religious and non-religious traditions of Christmas were adapted from the rituals of those older religions and belief systems. And many of those holiday traditions involve magic. It is said that animals have the ability to speak at the hour past midnight, toys can talk and move about as well, and ghosts can appear at the stroke of midnight. {Is it any coincidence that that magic hour just after midnight is often called the twenty-fifth hour of the day?}

We at Hour 25 also have our own tradition. At this time of year we bring you stories of the season with a magical or science fictional or ghostly twist. While this year's readings tend toward a more traditional Christmas theme, we think that the spirit in them conveys the themes of all beliefs. Because whatever tradition you follow, the holiday season is a time for reflection, for charity, and for cherishing the time spent with the ones we love. For as was said in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, "When happiness comes to a party, be sure to give it a comfortable seat."

Tonight's Stories

Christmas Greeting from a Fairy to a Child by Lewis Carroll, read by Suzanne Gibson.

Christmas Eve in the Blue Chamber by Jerome K. Jerome, read by Warren W. James.

The Sword in the Stone from Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, read by Suzanne Gibson.

A Christmas Greeting from the Moon

It seems like only yesterday, but it was 36 years ago today when humans first reached the Moon. {But with any luck - and if I have any say in the matter - humans will again be going to the Moon in another ten or twelve years, maybe sooner.}

On Christmas Eve 1968 the crew of Apollo 8 orbited that cold gray world and saw the Earth hanging over their horizon like a bright blue ornament plucked from a Christmas tree. Their Christmas greeting to the world was one of the most moving moments from the Apollo Program, no matter what your particular religious views might happen to be.

And from all of us at Hour 25, we wish you the very best for this holiday season. May all your dreams come true in the coming year.

Listen to this show
Click here to listen to the entire show. {40:58} Or

Click here for the show's intro music.{0:41}

Click here for the show's opening. {5:21}

Click here for a Christmas Greeting from a Fairy to a Child by Lewis Carroll. {1:17}

Click here for Christmas Eve in the Blue Chamber by Jerome K. Jerome. {18:49}

Click here for The Sword in the Stone from Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. {8:18}

Click here for my thoughts about Hour 25 and the Holiday season. {2:16}

Click here for a Christmas greeting from the crew of Apollo 8.{2:01}

Click here for the show's closing.{2:15}

For more Hour 25 holiday readings you can listen to our Christmas shows from 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000.

And to add some music to your holiday season you might want to listen to our previous show featuring holiday carols with a Lovecraftian twist.

Click here for our current show.

Click here for links to all of our previous Shows that you can listen to on the Hour 25 Web Site.

If you enjoyed this show and would like to know when other interviews are uploaded to the Hour 25 Web Site, then send an email to me at wwjames@earthlink.net and I will add your name to the free Hour 25 Newsletter mailing list. That way you'll get a brief notice in your email every time a new show gets uploaded to the web.

Links for more information relating to this week's show

Space Related Organizations
If you are interested in learning more about current space activities there are many local and national organizations you might want to know about. Joining these organizations and taking part in their activities is a good way to stay abreast of things going on in space as well as a way to show your support for those activities. Listed below are some of those organizations.

The Organization for the Advancement of Space Industrialization and Settlement has long been place for persons living in the Los Angeles area to gather and discuss the promise of space. Be sure to check out their Web Site for information about their meetings and other activities.

The Orange County Space Society is another Los Angeles area organization that provides a focal point for persons who are interested in space developments to get together and share their ideas. They have created a number of displays explaining the history and importance of space exploration that have appeared at various public events. Be sure to check their Web Site for information about their meetings and other events.

The National Space Society has a long history of being an advocate for a vigorous space program and provides much information to its members through their magazine and Web Site.

The Space Frontier Foundation is a strong advocate for a non-governmental space program and serves as a focal point for much activity in that arena. Their annual conference in Los Angeles during the Fall is a great way to find out what is happening in the non-government space arena.

The Space Access Society is focused on reducing the cost of going into space by promoting non-governmental launch vehicle programs. Their annual conference in the spring is a major source of information on non-traditional launch vehicle activities.

The Planetary Society is focused on the exploration and has a wealth of information for its members and others.

Space News - Mars

For more information about the Mars Exploration Rovers be sure to check out the MER Web Site at JPL or this Mars Rover site at Cornell University.

To learn more about the Mars Express mission you can go to this ESA Mars Express Web Site, this Mars Express Web Page from JPL, this NSSDC Mars Express Web Page, or this Web Page from Mars News.Com.

For more information about the Exploration of Mars be sure to go to the JPL Mars Exploration Site, the Center for Mars Exploration at NASA Ames, or the Mars Missions Web Site at the Planetary Society.

Information about the data returned by previous Mars missions can be found at this Mars Web Page at the NSSDC.

Information about the Phoenix Mission to Mars can be found at this Press Release from the University of Arizona. You can view a 3D picture of the Mars Phoenix spacecraft here.

For more Mars news be sure to check out the Mars News.Com Web Site.

Percival Lowell did much to shape our ideas about Mars in the early years of the 20th Century. You can learn more about his work by reading this on-line copy of his 1895 book Mars.

Space News - The Cassini Mission to Saturn

Much information about the Cassini mission can be found at the Project's Official Web Site at JPL.

JPL is constantly releasing pictures from Cassini. You can find them by going to this JPL Web Page.

Additional information about the Cassini mission can be found at this ESA Web Site.

For On-Going Updates on Space News

Links relating to the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia can be found here.

The Reusable Launch & Space Vehicle News Web Site Web Page that is part of the Hobby Space Web Site is a really good place to watch for news about, well... Reusable Launch Vehicles and related subjects. I check it out just about every day and often find news there that doesn't show up anywhere else. Give it a look. {And while you're there be sure to check out some of the site's other pages. Wow! Is there a lot of information there.}

The Space Today Web Site is a great place to find space news from all over the 'net.

The Spaceflight Now Web Site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?

The NASA Watch Web Site is another great place for getting information about current space missions. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

ISS News

The Florida Today Web Site has a very interesting report about the causes of the ISS budget problems and their impact on the space program. It makes very interesting reading.

Click here to view the press kits for various ISS missions.

Check out the NASA International Space Station Web Page or the Boeing Web Page to learn more about this project.

A great source of news about Russian space activities, including their work on the ISS, can be found at the Russian Space Web.

Do you wonder where the Space Station is right now? You can use your browser to view real time maps showing the location of the ISS by going to this link at the NASA Space Link Web Site or here at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Please note that your browser must support Java to make use of this satellite tracking software.

You can find out when the ISS - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA Web Page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

Click here for information about the audio files used for Hour 25 and for information about configuring your browser and downloading audio players.

Please note Web Pages from external sites will open in a separate browser window and that Hour 25 Productions are not responsible for the content of any external Web Sites.

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Bill DeSmedt Listen to this show

On Sunday - December 12^th, 2004 - our guest on Hour 25 was Bill DeSmedt chatting with us about his novel Singularity, a cracking good yarn that combines the intellectual pleasure of hard SF with the excitement of a cutting edge techno-thriller.

In 1908 an explosion as large as the detonation of an atomic bomb occurred in Tunguska, Russia. It hurled a cloud of dust so high into the atmosphere that the sunlight reflected from it made it possible to read a newspaper in London at midnight. Was the Earth struck by a comet or large meteor? Or was it something else?

Bill DeSmedt has taken that catastrophic event from 1908 and used it as the background for a very exciting story involving international intrigue on the grandest of scales. For in Singularity the Tunguska event was caused by the collision between the Earth and a microscopic Black Hole. But rather than passing through the Earth, it became trapped inside the Earth and is now orbiting within the Earth just a few miles below our feet. And while potential disaster skims just below the Earth's surface, Russian oligarches, technocrats and former KGB officers hatch a plot that could change the history of the world.

Singularity starts off at a nicely measured, if not deliberate pace. And then as you turn the pages the pace keeps getting increased, until you reach the final chapters where it races at a break-neck pace. Once you are drawn into the world of this book you won't want to put it down. Don't start this book on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or you'll be dragging yourself sleeplessly into work on Monday morning. Start it on a Friday so you've got the weekend to savor it. Enjoy!

Most highly recommended.

Bill Desmidt, Photo Copyright © Warren W. James, 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Dateline: Mars

NASA is releasing all of the images from the two Mars Exploration Rovers almost as soon as they arrive at JPL. The raw images for the Spirit rover can be found at this Web Page and raw images for Opportunity can be found here. The images that have been released to the press, along with animations and explanatory text, can be found here. You can find larger versions of the images shown below at that last NASA Web Site.

Opportunity

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

This picture shows Burns Cliff and on the right side of the image is what appeared to be a path leading out of the crater that Opportunity has been exploring for the past few months. But careful examination of that path showed the engineers that the slopes would be too dangerous and the path was too narrow for a safe traverse. So they are continuing their search for a way out of Endurance Crater.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Grab your red-green glasses to enjoy this stereo anaglyph of Burns Cliff.

Spirit

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

The above image shows the route that Spirit has taken while it drives into the Columbia Hills. Also shown is the planned traverse route that the rover will take as it ascends to the top of Husband Hill.

Listen to this show

Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:03:29}
Or

Click here for the show's intro music.{0:41}

Click here for the show's opening. {13:29}

Click here for our interview with Bill DeSmedt. {47:33}

Click here for the show's closing.{1:46}

Click here to listen to a conversational out-take that was recorded before the interview started. {4:26}

Click here for our current show.

Click here for links to all of our previous Shows that you can listen to on the Hour 25 Web Site.

Links for more information relating to this week's show

Bill DeSmedt, Microscopic Black Holes and the Tunguska Event

For information about Bill DeSmedt be sure to go to his official Web Site.

Singularity is published by Per Aspera Press. For more information about this book, or to purchase a signed first edition, be sure to visit their Web Site.

For information about the real physics behind the theory that the Tunguska Event was caused by the impact of a small (mini, micro or whatever) Black Hole be sure to go to the Vurdalak Conjecture Web Site. {This site has many other links to web pages with information about the Tunguska Event.}

For more information about Black Holes you can visit this NASA Web Page or view this article about Black Holes from the Wikipedia.

This story from Science News has more information about small Black Holes.

For other perspectives on the Tunguska event you can view this Web Page produced by astronomer Dr. William K. Hartmann or this article from the Wikipedia.

Space Related Organizations
If you are interested in learning more about current space activities there are many local and national organizations you might want to know about. Joining these organizations and taking part in their activities is a good way to stay abreast of things going on in space as well as a way to show your support for those activities. Listed below are some of those organizations.