On Tuesday - December 25^th, 2012 - Hour 25 joins you for a celebration of the season with readings of Christmas stories with a twist of fantasy and a sprig of whimsy. Join us while we offer up stories where goblins - be they naughty or just mischievous - become a part of the Christmas celebration.

In our first story - The Goblins' Christmas - a group of goblins try and get the best of Santa Claus but end up playing an unexpected role in the Christmas celebration.

And in our second story - Christmas with the Baron - a cruel landowner learns an important lesson from a goblin and a gaggle of fairy workers on a cold Christmas eve.

So here's hoping that you're having - or had - a fine Christmas. Enjoy this time with your friends and family. Let the love of your family warm you and ready you for adventures to come in the years ahead. And remember, when happiness comes to your party be sure to give it a comfortable seat.

From all of us at Hour 25 we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Listen to this show

Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:10:23} Or

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

Click here for the show's opening. {2:22}

Click here for Suzanne's reading of The Goblins' Christmas by M. Elizabeth Anderson.{9:50}

Click here for Warren's reading of Christmas with the Baron by Angelo J. Lewis. {53:15}

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

Click here for the show's closing.{2:14}

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 to listen to 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 with Useful Information

Space News - Dawn - A Mission to the Asteroids

Updates and additional information about the mission of the Dawn spacecraft can be found at the project's Home Page at JPL or at this NASA Web Site.

Additional information about asteroids can be found at the NASA Near Earth Asteroid (NEO) Web Site.

Dawn is a part of the Discovery Program of deep space missions. Information about Dawn and other missions can be found at the Discovery Program Web Site.

Space News - Mars

Much information about the Phoenix mission to Mars can be found at this JPL Web Site or at this Web Site from the University of Arizona or this NASA Web Site. Additional information about various past NASA missions can be found here.

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. You can also get information about the MER mission by reading the News Updates posted by Dr. Steve Squyres, the project's Principal Investigator.

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.

The University of Arizona Web Site for the imaging system used to take the Huygens pictures of Titan has much information about how they were obtained and processed as well as a collection of processed and unprocessed images.

The Huygens probe carried a microphone and recorded the various sounds that it heard while descending to the surface of Titan. You can listen to those sounds at this Web Page sponsored by the Planetary Society.

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.

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 of the Solar System and has a wealth of information for its members and others.

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.

Halloween Readings - 2012

Listen to this show

On Wednesday - October 31^st, 2012 - Hour 25 rose, like the Great Cthulhu, from its undead hiatus and joins you for a celebration of Halloween with stories about ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night.

We open our show with a tale of of a man who manages to trick death not once but twice in the story Jan Schalken's Three Wishes by that prolific author Anonymous.

After that we bring you a story by Mark Twain that combines a scary encounter with a giant phantasm with Twain's signature dry humor when we read you A Ghost Story.

Please enjoy our stories but after that, for goodness sake, get away from your computer and go out and have some Halloween fun. That's what Suzanne and I will be doing. And then tune back in in a couple of weeks for more interviews and news from the worlds of science and science fiction.

Tonight we wish you and yours the very best haunted Halloween ever.

Listen to this show

Click here to listen to the entire show. {37:46} Or

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

Click here for the show's opening. {1:51}

Click here for Suzanne's reading of Jan Schalken's Three Wishes by Anonymous.{13:20}

Click here for Warren's reading of A Ghost Story by Mark Twain. {19:51}

Click here for the show's closing.{2:03}

For more readings and interviews you can listen to our Halloween shows from 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 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 to listen to our current Show.

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

Don't forget to vote in the Presidential election on November 6, 2012.

Cthulhu for President in 2012
Don't vote for the lesser evil

Links for more information relating to this week's show