Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Wonderful Flight To The Mushroom Planet


(Click on images to view full size-scans.)

Written by Eleanor Cameron in 1954, this charming children's book is one that holds good memories for me. The cover art above is scanned from my copy, still intact but a little dog-eared after all these years. I was about nine years old, in 1969, when I bought this through the Scholastic book program at school, and re-read it many times. The story of two boy's journey through outer space in a homemade space ship to another planet really captured my young imagination. The idea of a trip to meet aliens in an self-made (but alien technology-enhanced) ship was echoed in the film "Explorers," which I enjoyed many years later.


I remember reading some of this book while tucked in one of my own cardboard box spaceships, which made it even more fun. Of course, my parents worried how I could spend hours on end in a cardboard box, but little did they know my mind was soaring off on amazing adventures. With my canteen full of Goofy Grape soft drink, a peanut butter sandwich, and a good book, I would be ensconced for hours in my make-believe space capsule. Now that I have a five-year-old grandson, I will be reading it to him very soon!

Monday, August 2, 2010

1978 TV Sci-Fi Schedule

From the collection cabinet comes an article from the first issue of the low-class magazine "Space Trek," one of many genre exploitation rags ground out by publishing mogul Myron Fass. It's significant that this magazine, along with all the other generically-named versions (which cropped up overnight and expired just as quickly) all occupy the bottom shelf of my cabinet. The paper was the lowest-grade pulp, one step below the toilet paper at the corner service station, and the photos were washed out and spotty. But, sometimes these mags, too, offer up interesting articles, like this one with serves as a snapshot of the sci-fi/fantasy programs coming up that fall and winter of 1978. If you were a kid or teen during that time, reading about all these shows when they were new will bring back some (hopefully fond) memories. The article concentrates on the biggest, "Battlestar Galactica," but features info on many others you will remember, and some you might have missed. Nanu, nanu!

(Click on images to enlarge.)