Tuesday 30 November 2010

Night Flights, an RC heli gimmick?



What do you reckon, pointless gimmick or uber cool extension of your hobby?! 

Friday 26 November 2010

Nasa's Image of the Day...

These are soooooo cool!!!  Is it a bit spoddy to get excited by these?  Well we don't care!! :0)

We love that Nasa take the time to share these amazing images with Jo Public.  This is the Expedition 25 Landing...

The Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft with Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin touches down near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. 

 Welcome home peeps & happy Friday to all :0)



Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Friday 19 November 2010

Danny Macaskill... crazy biker strikes again

Created by MacAskill in collaboration with Red Bull, "Way Back Home" shows the cyclist riding across Scotland to his hometown of Dunvegan in the Isle of Skye.




Travelling with his friend and filmmaker Dave Sowerby, MacAskill performs stunts at Edinburgh Castle, leaps over rocky terrain and jumps onto and over bridges in the Scottish Highlands.



The journey culminates with a return to the place where MackAskill first learned how to ride, his hometown of Dunvegan, where he skips past local hotels, jumps off railings and even front flips off a building.
Talking about his experience of riding from Edinburgh to Skye, MacAskill said: “My favourite spot in the riding clip is probably the bakery wall ride in my local village.  I found it by walking out of the bakery with a big pasty. And then I saw the grass bank and the wall and thought I could maybe jump up there one day.  One of the hardest tricks in the film was probably the front flip off Edinburgh Castle as it was blowing a force 10 hooly. It was also raining really heavily, if it wasn't for that it would have been easy.”



Danny MacAskill's first video, Inspired Bicycles, received 300,000 views online overnight and has since been played more than 21 million times.  This guy is awesome - I'm not even happy to take one hand off the handlebars for more than a few seconds, never mind the amazing shenanigans he achieves with what looks like effortless grace!!

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Local Bike shop in "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows" fame!

We've had some fun ourselves, sending a few bits & bobs to Leavesden Studios to be turned into a bit of wizarding magic, but not in quite such a spectacular way as Watsonion Squire Ltd of Moreton - they have supplied Hagrid's bike & sidecar for the latest installment of wizarding wonder, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows... 



The company have been making sidecars since 1912 - Watsonian Squire Ltd supplied a number of sidecar outfits to be used in the dramatic chase sequence, filmed on location in and around London.

According to the story, the motorcycle and sidecar originally belonged to Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black. Although it appears to be a normal ‘muggle’ [non-magical] vehicle, it can fly as fast as a broomstick.




Click here to visit the official website for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Since their appearance in the film & subsequently on BBC regional news, Watsonian report an increase in interest for their sidecars - I don't think they can all fly though people, just the very special ones!!

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Scalextric - possibly the world's best track...

Now this is dedication, check our James Harlan's pride & joy:


An American Scalextric enthusiast has built what appears to be the most realistic slot car circuit ever constructed in the basement beneath his house.   But James Harlan of White Lake, Michigan, USA, didn't simply buy as much Scalextric clobber as he could get his hands on - he spent $5,950 (around £3,700) and took three years to customise an incredible 145ft racing track.  Mr. Harlan used a mixture of fibreboard, copper tape, electric wires and some paint to create the 1:32 scale circuit, which includes 19 corners.  It also features life-like pit lanes, a 19ft-long bridge and incredibly accurate scenery that includes skyscrapers, safety cars and television cameras.



Mr. Harlan has no shortage of friends queuing up to play. He often holds race nights with around 30 people, which include rigorous qualifying laps prior to a full-length race.
He has also recreated the famous Le Mans 24-Hour race, but shortened the length to 14 minutes. On track lighting was used for the night-time part of the race.
"I suppose I've taken it pretty far beyond what has already been done," said Mr. Harlan.
"Sometimes when I sit back and look at it, I realise I have created something quite extraordinary, but this isn't the end - I've only just begun."



It makes my figure-8 track with Michelin Tyre bridge look just a little bit sad... :0)

Friday 5 November 2010

High-tech screen cleaner...


I know you don't clean your computer screen very often - I don't either, it's hard to do the inside!
So I was delighted to find this gadget, it's made all the difference...


Just click here and presto, the inside of your screen will be cleaned!  You might have to wait a moment...



Happy Weekend Everyone!!!!

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Tuesday 2 November 2010

UK End 2 End - Fundraising for ACTION MEDICAL RESEARCH

UK End 2 End - Fundraising for ACTION MEDICAL RESEARCH

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention!


Starting On Wednesday 3rd November, BBC1 7.30pm, join Wallace & Gromit in their World of Invention!  Wallace turns his hand to TV presenting and takes an eccentric look at some cracking real-life contraptions – accompanied by his faithful side-kick (turned camera-dog) Gromit.


Play the game
Build your own invention

The shows follow on from their succesful exhibition at London's Science Museum last year, which I was lucky enough to see.  It was like walking through their house & garden & was just AMAZING!!!!  I took many pictures, pressed lots of buttons & generally had a smashing time behaving like a four year old (no change there then!!).



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NASA have an 'image of the day' on Twitter!

And here it is...

"Discovery's Latest Ride" - Nasa 'image of the day' 1st November 2010

How awesome is that?!  I think it is also pretty amazing that you can check out lots of cool stuff at their website http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html - you can even watch NASA TV , but I am simply delighted that one of those busy peeps at NASA has time for a daily photo sesh & subsequent tweet!!!! 


Monday 1 November 2010

UK Gravity Sport Festival Cadwell Park 13.11.10

Gravity Sports return to Cadwell for the fourth annual Gravity Festival. What ever you ride, you're welcome. Gravity Racer, Soap Box, Street Luge, Classic Luge, Downhill Skateboards ,Gravity Bike and new this year, Gravity SIdecar.
This year will see the first King Of The Hill Competition. The fastest rider in each discipline will fight it out to see who is the master of gravity. Races will be held on two different hills. Hills open to freeride after the racing.

Over the last three years Cadwell has proven it's self as one on the best events on the calendar. This famous and spectacular venue simply must be ridden by everyone.

Check this out for a track's-eye view:



For more info and sign up online go to http://www.appleheadgravitysport.co.uk/ 
 
The Cadwell track featured on Channel Five's Gadget Show recently - to see the track vid click here http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid16457163001?bctid=17683709001

TV Fishing Extravaganza...

...well, two shows anyway!

ITV's "River Monsters" is back on Tuesdays at 11.35pm


Biologist and extreme angler Jeremy Wade is on a mission to get face to face with some of the world’s most terrifying river monsters.
Throughout the series, Jeremy travels to Brazil to find out what lurks under the murky waters of the Amazon and attempts to get to the bottom of stories of piranha attacks on humans. He also investigates a river monster just ten miles away from a 21st century European capital city, Berlin, as well as visiting America’s deep South to come face to face with the alligator gar. If you miss any, you can now watch any missed episodes on the ITV Player.




On Mondays at 9.00pm, Robson Green is back on Channel 5, with "Extreme Fishing" featuring some of the biggest & scariest fish you have EVER seen...



although this picture doesn't illustrate the point very well!!

In his Extreme Fishing World Tour, Robson spends four out of five months on the road and travelling over 60,000 miles. From the Amazon River to the Indian Ocean, and from the jungles of Papua New Guinea to the plains of Africa, the nation's favourite fisherman (?!) will be meeting all manner of crazy characters and risking life and limb to tackle the scariest, most powerful fish on earth - including Bull Shark, Swordfish, Tiger Fish and the deadly Japanese Puffer. And of course he'll be doing it all with his own unique brand of supercharged Geordie fishing enthusiasm. It's Robson's most epic adventure yet - but can he handle it?  Missed any, then go to Demand Five to catch up.