An exclusive offer for RUSC subscribers

I hope you enjoyed Gregory's story of how X Minus 1 got its name. Here's the link for anyone who missed it:

http://www.rusc.com/members/news.aspx?ID=127

While we're on the subject of Sci-Fi let us not forget one of the most famous science fiction writers of our times, the wonderfully talented Ray Bradbury. In fact it was listening to him being interviewed on the radio at the grand old age of 83 - him not me *grin* - that provoked my thoughts to a Science Fiction special last month on RUSC.

He was being asked about his opinion on the possibility of finding evidence that life could exist on Mars following his great writings "The Martian Chronicle". It has been a fascination of his since he was a young boy and he concluded by saying that he hoped that he would live to see the day that we put man on Mars. You know he probably will and you just need to a look on:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3302375.stm

to see that there are plenty of people willing to sign up to go to Mars. Are they the adventurous new pioneers or just plain mad? I'll be keeping my feet firmly on planet Earth!

You can find Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles on RUSC under Sci-Fi. It was originally broadcast on Dimension X in 1950.

The episode on RUSC is fascinating but if you ever come across the complete and unabridged version read by Peter Marinker I could highly recommend it as I have recently listened to it. It is 7 hours of thoroughly enjoyable listening so I couldn't wait to get in to my bed each night to hear it.

I did search on the Internet to find a price for the unabridged version of The Martian Chronicles and came up with the following details:

• Borders.com, $54.95, availability 21 days
• Amazon.com, $54,95, availability 21 days

That seemed a bit pricey and a long time to wait so I had a word with the publishers who kindly supplied me with 10 copies at the bargain price of $35 each. If you'd like one of these copies click on the link below and I'll get one straight out to you.

<input type="hidden" name="encrypted" value="-----BEGIN PKCS7----- MIIHTwYJKoZIhvcNAQcEoIIHQDCCBzwCAQExggEwMIIBLAIBADCBlDCBjjELMAkG A1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAkNBMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbiBWaWV3MRQw EgYDVQQKEwtQYXlQYWwgSW5jLjETMBEGA1UECxQKbGl2ZV9jZXJ0czERMA8GA1UE AxQIbGl2ZV9hcGkxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXJlQHBheXBhbC5jb20CAQAwDQYJ KoZIhvcNAQEBBQAEgYC6b0sUF/3GVbJ5nIIrxc8e6jdKQ/xiFzNFBd5dWiYXIG5j HJpGhvAkIZu3Mj36nKS6oxS+OkkZOQPatPGRLHJAW2A2qJTFLT+ycnPnLFNbHy6p MYXn++/cIJpJP54Cl6/aubCezN6Q2t/g1wtX9Co0H6uWvLet6Qv+b1Qv8N/qYDEL MAkGBSsOAwIaBQAwgcwGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAUBggqhkiG9w0DBwQIsBb2hgzFB+iA gajgq+fkgLjbrP5TJYrrVgLGDsXHFD1R7hpWT9/Nq4VDzP636oiBJq/7OJAy7gwj dA6ZpuaUEjFOP9i7eZi+H4Zg4bjekXZENmEQN00/RmCFKjUwJKZO0lxfIra8BmL4 DlxSiLi5LnJALkLQ8Vh6sfKLy4M2RIMNmM+QJNqwxNn3nhUuxyTP179Zm+HSBxJ6 08xaO1egq7Z8FUr+0xSOQkRey9vz0vRyTk6gggOHMIIDgzCCAuygAwIBAgIBADAN BgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADCBjjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAkNBMRYwFAYD VQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbiBWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQKEwtQYXlQYWwgSW5jLjETMBEGA1UE CxQKbGl2ZV9jZXJ0czERMA8GA1UEAxQIbGl2ZV9hcGkxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEW DXJlQHBheXBhbC5jb20wHhcNMDQwMjEzMTAxMzE1WhcNMzUwMjEzMTAxMzE1WjCB jjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAkNBMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbiBW aWV3MRQwEgYDVQQKEwtQYXlQYWwgSW5jLjETMBEGA1UECxQKbGl2ZV9jZXJ0czER MA8GA1UEAxQIbGl2ZV9hcGkxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXJlQHBheXBhbC5jb20w gZ8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADgY0AMIGJAoGBAMFHTt38RMxLXJyO2SmS+Ndl72T7 oKJ4u4uw+6awntALWh03PewmIJuzbALScsTS4sZoS1fKciBGoh11gIfHzylvkdNe /hJl66/RGqrj5rFb08sAABNTzDTiqqNpJeBsYs/c2aiGozptX2RlnBktH+SUNpAa jW724Nv2Wvhif6sFAgMBAAGjge4wgeswHQYDVR0OBBYEFJaffLvGbxe9WT9S1wob 7BDWZJRrMIG7BgNVHSMEgbMwgbCAFJaffLvGbxe9WT9S1wob7BDWZJRroYGUpIGR MIGOMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzELMAkGA1UECBMCQ0ExFjAUBgNVBAcTDU1vdW50YWlu IFZpZXcxFDASBgNVBAoTC1BheVBhbCBJbmMuMRMwEQYDVQQLFApsaXZlX2NlcnRz MREwDwYDVQQDFAhsaXZlX2FwaTEcMBoGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYNcmVAcGF5cGFsLmNv bYIBADAMBgNVHRMEBTADAQH/MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAA4GBAIFfOlaagFrl71+j q6OKidbWFSE+Q4FqROvdgIONth+8kSK//Y/4ihuE4Ymvzn5ceE3S/iBSQQMjyvb+ s2TWbQYDwcp129OPIbD9epdr4tJOUNiSojw7BHwYRiPh58S1xGlFgHFXwrEBb3dg NbMUa+u4qectsMAXpVHnD9wIyfmHMYIBmjCCAZYCAQEwgZQwgY4xCzAJBgNVBAYT AlVTMQswCQYDVQQIEwJDQTEWMBQGA1UEBxMNTW91bnRhaW4gVmlldzEUMBIGA1UE ChMLUGF5UGFsIEluYy4xEzARBgNVBAsUCmxpdmVfY2VydHMxETAPBgNVBAMUCGxp dmVfYXBpMRwwGgYJKoZIhvcNAQkBFg1yZUBwYXlwYWwuY29tAgEAMAkGBSsOAwIa BQCgXTAYBgkqhkiG9w0BCQMxCwYJKoZIhvcNAQcBMBwGCSqGSIb3DQEJBTEPFw0w NDAyMjQxODAxNDZaMCMGCSqGSIb3DQEJBDEWBBTGiKO4SQZH2x7V2SudQdGa7SyH WjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASBgL3W/mZMZKx08MubsZ+D8c/4yJUV4tdj38ffVGas OdAixSzenv4Lh9IC20uvix2KWnO9M93083zAQWa9hG7VP/P56Sf7Lz8vcce6l+pB WZC0ptaqLmI36oPxxfplEyatCDuT5Du5MfRQ/aNs+WByEsV/xt5dkdJeHM79KeyR tMEG -----END PKCS7----- " />

Happy listening my friends,