The Watcher And The Tower, Waiting Hour By Hour

I dunno, but for the last 6 months or so I've found myself gazing up at the moon with boyish wonder. It has loomed large and bright in the night sky here over the last few months and we've been lucky to have had many a crystal clear night in which to gaze up. I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't pulled over by the rozzers for swerving about the road looking up at it instead of where I was going. I'm really not sure why it holds this fascination, or why at this time in my life I've suddenly begun to ponder the enigmatic hold it seems to have over humankind. I was certainly interested in space when I was a kid, and I was as fond of the idea of swooshing a lightsabre as the next kid, but I was never interested in the moon per se. I suppose when I was at primary school, it was accepted that humans had been to the moon, and that was that. Never in us from the beginning was the wonder instilled in previous generations. How would we do it? What was it made of, Cheese? Were there oceans there? Were there aliens? No one knew, and that made it all the more special when we went. I imagine that generation still holds the fascination, but for us it was just cold hard fact, rock and dust, and some metal in a museum.

I'm assuming that it started during my trip to KSC, where I saw the incomparable Saturn V rocket that took 24 men on the almost mythical journey to the moon. You can't help but wonder what it must have felt like to make footprints in the dust, in the knowledge that they'll still be there millions of years after you've turned to dust, or to plant the flag of your country in the soil, or to stand and take in the vast, colourless desolation all around.

The big yin doesn't understand my fascination either. Standing in borders looking at pictures taken on the moon landings I commented: 'isn't that truly magnificent?' She replied, 'not as magnificent as this', showing me stunning pictures of nature in it's finest here on earth from the beeb series 'Planet Earth'. 'Anyway, it's just a big ball of rock with nothing on it!' And she's right. It is just a big ball of rock with nothing on it, but I wonder if it's possible to truly appreciate the beauty and fragility of life on this planet unless you've stood on the face of a big ball of rock with nothing on it and looked back in the inky blackness towards this small yet wonderful oasis of life in the vast barren desert that is our galaxy? I'm a firm believer that humanity needs perspective, and what better perspective than being 250,000 miles from home. I'm sure that would make us appreciate everything that we have, and maybe jolt us into the realisation that there is only one earth. Once it's gone, it's gone. All the money you could dream of won't bring it back.

I believe America are going back to the moon in 2019. If they need a general layabout of a crewmember for a lunar landing mission, I'd be the first to volunteer. Besides, I make a mean freeze-dried cheese toastie. Hey, I know it's just a dream, but I'm definately going to be the first guy to plant the Saltire in the lunar soil.....well actaully, I'd be the second, and this brings me neatly on to my next topic......

This is Steven Mason, (First Scot on the moon) ;-p Sadly, it was only his dream too! I absolutely live for music. I know that's such a lame thing to say, but it's true. It seems to bring order to my life, and at the moment the glue that's holding me together is The Beta Band. I know I probably spend way too much time banging on about how great all things Scottish are, (When I'm undoubtedly looking through tartan tinged specs) but these guys truly deserve it. Not hugely famous, despite being quite prominently namechecked and played in hollywood movie 'High Fidelity', they quite simply are rock chocolate.

I can't really attribute them to any particular style, except to say they most comfortably straddle the Alternative Rock genre, but they stubbornly refuse to be categorisable. Some people describe them as Flip Hop, meaning that they are a mix of Folk and Hip Hop, but I would just say that I like them. A lot. And I would encourage anyone who remotely likes any kind of music to give them a try. In this world of downloads, it'll only take a minute or two of your lives to find them, but I'm sure you'll get the bug too. The best albums to try are Hot Shots II (The final song 'Eclipse' is a must hear for all sane people!!) and their last (and best album) Heroes to Zeros. They were short lived, and I wish they would come back. They were like a comet, streaking their otherworldliness across the bland face of british music. I emplore you to give them a shot. Happy listening!!

'You can't get a decent brew on this damn space station!!'