In this video Seth Godin talks about how the information society allows people with minority interest connect with other like minded people, no matter where they are in the world.

The movie The Mouse on the Moon inspired me as a boy and as a man I followed the two aspects of micronationality and Space Travel in Founding The Kingdom of Tycho.

In another cosmic coincidence Leonard Wibberley, who wrote the novel the movie is baised on, and I also share the same birth place of Dublin, Ireland.

I believe space development and settlement is the only way forward for mankind. The Earth is too small. There are not enough resources for us here and there are an infinite amount of resources waiting for us to exploit in outer space. If we are to continue to grow and develop then we have no choice but to expand into space. If we stay on Earth we won’t kill the planet, but we will kill ourselves.

Having said that environmentalism and “green issues” will play an important part of our future in space. In small enclosed ecosystems we will have no option but to reduce, reuse and recycle almost everything. The green technology developed on earth will find practical application off planet and the technology developed for space settlement will find good use back on Earth. An example of this is my post on Bioplastics and Desktop Manufacturing, where technology not specifically developed for space can be extremely useful to us.

I consider myself an environmentalist not because I want to save the Earth but because I want to save mankind. I believe in a future where all heavy manufacturing will be moved off Earth and into space, leaving the Earth as a type of natural park. A greener, cleaner Earth is only possible by settling space. The development and utilization of space resources is the only way to satisfy the legitimate desire of the developing world for the affluent lifestyles of western countries. And giving the developing world the same material success as western countries enjoy is the only way to prevent World War III.

So I urge you all to join with The Kingdon of Tycho in opening the last frontier, that of space, and give mankind the room it needs to grow and develop. Don’t do it for the good of the planet, do it to save your own arse and to make a brighter future for your children and grandchildren.

The Salvage 1 team had two main things working for them:

• Firstly they had a brilliant new fuel that was so powerful it could fly a small rocket to the moon (think of the rocket ship from the 1930’s Flash Gorden serials) so they wouldn’t have to build a huge Saturn 5 or space shuttle.
• And secondly they were prepared to take more risks, rather having backups to backups with more backups added for safety like NASA, they designed a simpler and cheaper system.

At the time I thought it was great fun, but we didn’t need to build our own rockets out of scrap/surplus because the Space Shuttle was just around the corner and was going to give us regularly scheduled flights into orbit ever two weeks, or maybe even more frequently!

Around the same time I saw a documentary on TV about a guy who had a similar plan. He was going to fly himself into space using surplus  rocket parts. I didn’t remember his name or know what became of him. Obviously he didn’t succeed in building his rocket – but the Space Shuttle is not going to fly me to the Moon so maybe I will have to search for some rocket scientists to build me my own rocket.

In the meantime here is a YouTube video of some Salvage 1 clips set to “Space Cowboy” by NSYNC.

Don’t you just love those cheap 1970’s TV special effects

And for me taking that first step is the easiest thing in the world to. It is taking the second step, and the third step and the fourth step, step after step, day after day, even year after year, that is the hard part.
I have taken so many first steps that I’ve probably completed 1,000 “1,000 mile journeys”. But because they have all been first steps I have completed relatively little. I have just walked 1,000 little steps around and around in a circle. An uneven staggered circle as a burst of enthusiasm propels me in one direction, and then the next big idea propels me in the opposite.
And so at the start of each journey I resolve to myself that this time I will complete my journey. I will make a map, a plan of what I want to archive. I will list my goals. I will do a to-do list. I will take all the necessary steps needed to complete my journey.
But even then I don’t want to take all those little steps. I want efficiency. I want speed. I want instant gratification.
I don’t want 1,000 little steps. I want one great leap forward. One giant step to take me right to the end. One lotto win that will make my life perfect.
I have started so many journeys not looking at all the little steps, but looking only at the result. “I am looking at the big picture,” I tell myself. I visualise myself standing on the summit of the mountain, not bothering with all the rivers and gullies that stand in my way.
I look for one burst of enthusiasm, one big jump that will take me over all those little rivers and gullies. And then I will magically find myself at the rainbow’s end.
But all those big giant steps look so big. Each one is such a big leap. Each one such a irrevocable commitment. Each one so momentous that I just can’t make myself take the plunge. I just stand, tethering on the edge, until my next brilliant idea takes me back in the opposite direction.
But now I have realised that they are all the same journey. All those false starts are my journey. I have only one life, there is only one journey and each day I take another step, regardless of whether or not I wish it. Each day I am one step closer to the end. I get no choice in whether or not to take each step. But I do get a choice of what direction I take. Each day I get a choice of doing what I want with that day.
Now I no longer look for that great leap forward. I no longer want to suddenly be transported to the end. I want to take one little step forward: write one post on my blog, write one page on my novel, help my children discover one new, exciting thing about the wonderful life they are leading.
And that is all I need to do. Just take one little step in the direction I want to go in. And enjoy each and every moment of this wonderful life that I am privileged to live.
And in due time I will reach the end of my journey, as all journeys must come to an end. But in the meantime I intend to enjoy as many of those little steps as I can possibly squeeze in to my life.

While children’s TV shows and movies, especially those featuring superheros and supervillains, are primarily aimed at entertainment, they do have some educational qualities to redeem them.
For instance take the good role model that the evil villain gives to young impressionable children.
Week after week the evil villain tries to take over the world. He (occasionally she) thinks up some evil scheme, invests lots of time and money building advanced machines and working out to the last detailed how to neutralise the superhero, who is the only person who stands between them and total world domination.
Week after week the supervillain gets off to a great start. Catching the superhero by surprise he defeats him once, twice, even three times. The evil villain believes that this time he has got it right, he has left no stone unturned, he has thought of every angle, there is no loophole for the superhero to escape.
But week after week just as the evil villain is about to achieve his victory, just as total power is within his grasp, the superhero bounces back and in one unexpected, cataclysmic plot twist, the superhero defeats the villain at the eleventh hour.
On the surface this might seem to be a simplistic, even stereotypical, story of good versus evil.
But from the evil villain’s point of view it is a story, week after week, encouraging him to never give up on his dream. The evil villain pursues his dream of total world power week after week with dogged persistence.
Remember the “hero” has to win every week, the evil villain only has to win once. By that I do not mean to imply some prophecy of doom. What I mean is while you might fail 99 times, as long as you have worked hard, followed your dream and given it your best shot you are not a failure.
In the end you only have to succeed once to be a success.
So take a leaf from Dr. Evil’s super-villain’s handbook and never give up. As long as you can see your goal you can reach it.

Believe it. Achieve it.

One of the reasons I have been reluctant to publicise TKoT is for fear of being regarded as a crackpot. Not so much for myself, but because there is little to substantiate TKoT at the moment and, as one never gets a second chance to make a first impression, I would not like a large number of people to think that TKoT was a worthless scheme.

At the moment TKoT is basically a “one man band”. And I, and TKoT through me, am going be considered at best an eccentric and at worst a complete crackpot.

However sometimes poor people, if they are true to themselves and strong enough, become eccentrics(Emperor Norton I). And sometimes “crackpots” become rich(Erich von Däniken).

It is not some scheme that will persuade the government to fund space settlement, or a private venture that in the future will build a moon base, or a non-profit organization that will terraform Mars.

It is a real country that really exists in the here and now and you can join with us and help build mankind’s future in space now.

Please note that this is the first recipe that I have written, also bare in mind that in my cooking I am not much given to following recipes. Where I do “follow” a recipe I tend to treat it more as inspirational guidelines than hard and fast rules and instructions to follow closely. So in this spirit feel free to modify and experiment with this recipe as much as you like.

Ingredients:

• 400-500g of cooked chicken
• 1 medium onion
• A few cloves of garlic (one, none or lots, according to taste)
• 1 each of small red, yellow and green peppers (Capsicums)
• A hand full of mushrooms.
• 1 cup of rice
• 1 block of noodles (fine, medium or tick according to taste)
• 1 lt. of stock.
• Herbs to taste (I usually use lots of Basil with some Oregano, Thyme and perhaps Bay Leaves)

Preparation:

• Cut the Chicken into bite size chunks
• Finely chop the onion, peppers and mushrooms.
• I usually finely chop the garlic, but you can use a garlic press if you prefer

Cooking:

• Heat some olive oil in the pan
• Once the oil is heated drop the onion into the pan. Let it soften for a few minutes.
• Next add the peppers and garlic (I find if you add the garlic with the onion it can sometimes burn). Let the peppers and garlic cook for another few minutes.
• Then pop in the mushrooms.
• Stir everything around, until the mushrooms start to brown.
• Add the chicken and rice.
• Give everything a good stir.
• Then add the stock.
• Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer.
• Add freshly ground black pepper to taste (I usually do not add any salt but you can if you wish) and a couple of drops of Tabasco sauce
• Once everything is simmering drop the block of noodles on top, push it down a little to make sure it is covered by the liquid.
• Cover and leave to simmer for 15-20 min’s until all the liquid has boiled off.

When ready the dish should be moist, but with no liquid; the rice should still have a little bite, and the noodles will be soft.