| OCTOBER 2007 | © brianmay.com | |
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As
always, the opinions expressed in these pages are purely
and personally those of myself, Brian; they are not the
official views of Queen, or of any other organisation or
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Welcome
to BRI'S SOAPBOX |
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**Wed 31 Oct 07**
I also got lucky tonight! ha ha! No ... perhaps not what you think! But I think it's pretty fortunate! I opened the shutter to test a new lens and a meteor immediately streaked across ..... it's quite close-up too, which statistically is quite a scarce occurrence. You can see the two very well-known star clusters of Taurus, the Pleiades (top) and the Hyades, an open Vee-shaped group at the bottom. The meteor seems to have exploded half way along its track. Nice. But perhaps not for the meteor ...which possibly wandered the Universe for a hundred thousand years, before meeting its fiery end in our skies. Cheers © brianmay.com |
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**Wed 31 Oct 07**
OK ... I got a better lens ...and spent a bit of time getting some shots to stack up ... I'm much more proud of this! The comet is in fact moving away from us, I understand - sorry, I'd heard differently yesterday. But the 'shell' of gas it has pumped out (for this seems to be what it is, rather than a tail as such) is getting bigger all the time ... every day it seems to be blowing up like a balloon .... wonderful to see. And unique, as far as I know. Why did it do this? Again, that bright 'star' near the middle of the cloud is the nucleus - the rock which is the body of the comet itself. There is a great animated picture, showing the growth of this object over the last few days on the Astro Picture of the Day - "Comet Holmes' Coma Expands" at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071030.html http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html Check it out !! Cheers ! Bri © brianmay.com |
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**Tue 30 Oct 07** Why are 'Flash' and 'The Hero' not on the DVD? It's a very good question and there is a very simple answer. Saul Swimmer and his mates cut out "Flash" and "The Hero" from the version they put together, all those years ago, and threw them away, along with all the visual out-takes. Well, at least, as far as we know, they threw them out - unless, somewhere in the world, the bits of film from their cutting room floor are hiding, awaiting rediscovery ! ! It's a cryin' shame - but there is obviously no chance of putting a proper version of these songs on any DVD. However ... the good news ? The multitracks survived intact (well, in pieces that were rescuable, like the rest of the show!), and our boys mixed them with just as much love and care as the rest of the show. They appear on the CD version (and in the beautiful boxed Vinyl 3-record set) ONLY! Well, you just have to close your eyes and imagine ! I actually like them a lot ... they steam along just great. cheers! © brianmay.com |
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**Tue 30 Oct 07** Yes, I can now offer you, courtesy of Jamie Cooper, a better picture of the intriguing Comet Holmes ....
His technique in this shot, not with a telescope, but with a telephoto lens, shows the comet very much as it appears in a good set of binoculars. In this, with better resolution than I managed, you can detail in the 'tail' which seems to surround the nucleus. You can also see stars through the coma, and the nucleus itself can be seen, looking like a bright star, near the centre of the fuzzy ball. Apparently, although the comet has passed its closest approach to the Sun, it is still getting nearer to the Earth, so it will be exciting to watch what happens in the next few days. The moon is now moving further away from the line of sight, too, so we will be able to see Holmes in a fairly black sky from tonight onwards ... Elementary, my Dear Watson ! Cheers © brianmay.com |
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**Tue 30 Oct 07** It's a game !
Spot Comet Holmes !!! Cheers © brianmay.com |
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**Tue 30 Oct 07**
Rollover Image Well, it's still there .... The unusual COMET HOLMES. I got a few moments again tonight [written early morning], before the clouds invaded .... this is my best shot -- the average of 3 digital images .... I was just getting going!!! But it does show the shape of the comet's 'coma' quite well ... This is a great sight! You only need a fairly decent pair of binoculars to see it like this. My map from yesterday should make finding it not too hard. It's worth the effort! Cheers ! And big thanks to my friend Jamie Cooper, who alerted me to this event, and who gives me good advice on astro photography ... bri See? You don't even need clear skies any more ... you can comet-hunt on this web-site ! ha ha! Cheers! © brianmay.com |
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**Sun 28 Oct 07** There is a fascinating new comet in the sky .... and this time - it's VERY easy to see ! It doesn't look like the classic comet shape with long tail streaming out (well, not yet) - but it is visible as a star as bright as almost any star in the sky. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere ... it's high up in the sky pretty much all night, and all you need to know is what the constellation of Perseus usually looks like.
Rollover Image above to see Constellations and in close up....
Hopefully my diagram will help, here. I managed to find a gap in the clouds tonight, and here you can see my photograph of the comet. It's not what you'd call a great photo, but it does show where the comet is in the sky. You can see the moon, partially obscured by my chimney top, and this in itself is a good locator for the comet. But the constellation diagram shows that there is apparently an extra star in Perseus, just outside the shape of the constellation .... and that is IT ! Comet 17P Holmes ! In binoculars it looks like a fuzzy star ... but the fuzz is quite big ... I know very little about this object (have been too busy to follow it up) but my guess is that the tail is streaming directly away from us, so we just see a fuzzy ball of gas around the nucleus. Check it out !! (tomorrow the Moon will have moved away a bit ... to the left and downwards in this picture). There are some nice photos of it on the Net, if you Google it. cheers © brianmay.com |
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*Sun 28 Oct 07** [SEE QUEEN NEWS - article from GayNZ] A rave review for WWRY New Zealand !! Wow ! Yes ! Hats off to this guy Larry ! Thanks for being so open - and getting it ! And getting it good ! Cheers ! And hats off to our WWRY New Zealand team !!! Rockin' !!! Cheers © brianmay.com |
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**Sun 28 Oct 07** [SEE QUEEN NEWS - article from New Zealand Herald] Oh yes. Pretty silly review. Typical "press mentality", really - these people really think they are clever enough to see things in our show that we haven't! (even in 6 years!) A tiny bit foolhardy, wouldn't you think ? It's a very careless piece of writing, so we probably should not bother 'answering' it ! But I can assure her, and anyone else, that WWRY is not sponsored by any "corporation" and it is not a 'tribute show'. That should have been evident if she were only half listening. It's a piece of entertainment, devised by us and Ben, to entertain. It has a very similar mix of honesty and humour to that which you will find on our albums over the years. And the "pompous musings on the nature of real rock" ? It's called comedy, darling. The irony obviously went clean over your head ..... wheeeew ! There it goes !!! ha ha! And, once again, the people have spoken ... in the ticket sales !!! thanks, good folks of NZ !! It looks like we have a smash !! I hope our show brings you joy. It is in great hands ... that's a spectacular cast and band and team you have there !! Rock !! ! Love © brianmay.com |
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**Sun 21 Oct 07** Interesting article, about the renaissance of the Uke! [HERE] According to my Dad, the George Formby model was called a Ukulele-Banjo - a Banjolele was something else .... I think they may have got this wrong ... but I'd have to check ... Well, I still have my Dad's one ... with Formby's picture on the Head-Stock ... I must take a photo .. who would have thought they would become trendy again! hurrah! Contrary to some impressions out there, George Formby was not just a happy chappie with a flair for innuendo .... he was technically great on the Ukulele ... just try emulating some of his solos ... on "Sitting on the Ice in the Ice Rink", "Chinese Laundry Blues", or the immortal "Leaning on a Lamp-Post" ... all recorded live in situ, on the spot, of course ... apparently he had to stand very close to the mike, because he was competing with a large loud band most of the time .... you can often hear him lean in, when it's time to solo. Wonderful stuff! Well, better put out "Good Company" as a single!!! Bri © brianmay.com |
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