Tag: Travel

Lunar Real-Estate – An Earth Facing View

On By cjx07sterIn Innovation, TravelLeave a comment

Ferodo was sitting at a side table in the club lounge of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Delhi.  His local Indian colleague and friend Tanish was sitting there across from him.  Scotch this time, it was late, in the evening, dark and monsoon out, it had not been a good day, after three weeks of bad days, the pair had just about had enough.

The desk clerk Anuga, at the lounge dropped by and since there were few people around, and not so busy, asked how they were doing.

Really not so bad, said Ferodo.  We’ve been out, and now we are back.

“So, what brings you to Delhi then ?” asked Anuga

Ferodo said “actually we are… in real estate”, “there is a united nations sponsored conference on here in Delhi at the moment.”

Anuga said “oh really, I hadn’t heard of that one.”

Putting down his glass, Tanish stepped in and added “yes, it is not that well publicized, but my friend here, Ferodo, is a scientist and is helping with some key questions”.

Ferodo looked over at Anuga more intently and said “You see we’re looking into real estate on the moon.” and took a careful sip of scotch.

Anuga looked between both of them, somewhat incredulous, and assumed they were both pulling her leg.

“Yes that’s right”, said Tanish, “you see Ferodo is an astronomer, and so he knows all about the conditions on the moon and is advising the UN and the real-estate brokers all about the situation of housing on the moon. I myself sell real-estate, so I’m selling land on the moon.  Well, not yet though we are still finalizing the details.”

Tanish an ambitious kind of guy, got up and left saying he would be back shortly.

Anuga looked at Ferodo, Ferodo looked at Anuga.

“You see it is like this”. said Ferodo – “there are several key features about the situation of real-estate on the moon, and many misconceptions.  For a start  The moon has a day, almost like the earth’s.  So day and night is not a problem.  The real problem is that it is constantly facing the earth.”

Anuga said “Yes like the man in the moon right ? It always looks the same.”

“Right”, said Ferodo, “It always looks the same, it is always facing the earth, even though the Earth spins past, it is always facing it. ”

“So why is that a problem ?” asked Anuga

“It’s simply a problem for humans, not for the moon. If you were sitting on the earth facing side, you would see the earth.  Always. You could never stop seeing it.  Even when the moon went round the back of the earth at night, you could still see the lights of Taiwan, Japan, UK, not so much India, but you could still see it.”

Ferodo sipped his scotch and gazed out the window as if drawn by a problem too hard to solve.

Anuga said “Really !, I never looked at it that way. But that would be good woudn’t it ?.”

Tanish had rejoined the pair at the table, but had missed the conversation.  Ferodo asked Tanish to explain why a permanent earth facing view was a problem.

Tanish said “You see the real problem is that the earth is always always in the same spot in the moon’s sky.  So if you put a house on the moon, it can only see the earth in a particular position.  So one of the key features is ?”

“An earth facing window !” said Anuga. “Wow, Let me get you another drink and you can tell me more.  I don’t see that is a problem.”

Anuga went off to organise some more drinks.

Ferodo explained to Tanish, “You better tell her about the earth facing side, and the non earth facing side of the moon.”  “Like you cannot sell land on the non-earth facing side, i.e. the dark side, which is not dark, just can’t see the earth.”

Tanish, the ambitious one, said “Not a problem. There must be many people who really don’t want to look at the earth, reminded of the place they left, where their family and ancestors are, where their old long lost friends are.” “Living on the non earth facing side would be perfect for them.”

Ferodo waited.  Anuga returned.

Anuga, looking excited told Ferodo. “i know what the problem is, I figured it out, but I have a solution.  You want to hear it ?”

“OK go on” said Ferodo

Anuga kept her voice low and said quietly “You just need special blinds, you know special blinds that you can close.. and then just open them whenever you feel like looking at the earth, you know, to remind you of home”

Tanish was thinking as was Ferodo, perhaps it would work.  They might each mention it at the conference in the morning.

Australia – Tectonic Magma Boat

On By cjx07sterIn TravelLeave a comment

See it wasn’t that long back that I found out, we were all really really on an island… I mean, at school, the teachers told me, I did’nt believe them.  Something wrong with my whole concept of an Island right.  Obviously Australia is an Island… got confusing, since it was such a big one, and it of itself had islands of it’s own… like Christmas Island.  Christmas Island is a part of Australia, so far from Australia it is out of site, by a long way… but close enough for people in boats to make a dash for there lives in Terra Australis… I know I know, this is what apparently we used to be called, and before that .. other things…  but relatively speaking now, I found out about the so called Northward movement of our ancient Island .. crashing bit by bit into Indonesia.. when I found out that all the Maps had to be reset to match GPS coordinates.  So eventually I guess, we just won’t be an Island any longer.. then people will not need a boat to get here..

But it will take a while… way beyond my lifetime.. in the meantime, I will just enjoy the idea of living in a continent, island, lets call it a boat, since it is floating on an apparent sea of Magma down below….slow boat.. for some time longer.  The Kookaburra’s and Kangaroos won’t mind either, living with all of us, boat people on a really slow boat to China.

Loons and Booms and Smooby Tunes for Lizard Planets

On By cjx07sterIn TravelLeave a comment

The sky is dark quiet for a while.  This morning the four planets, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter are lining up for the kookaburra’s to have a laugh at them.  Saturn apparently off on the other side of the solar system right now, so just the four today. The humans will look on in wonder, and think things astrological, but the ‘burras will be laughing mate, looking for that snake, or lizard for breakfast.  Loons keep coming back in my memory, another spooky bird I encountered on lakes up North on the outer side of our planet.  Loons have nothing to laugh about, they seem to want to fill up the space with sound, and leave quiet to rush back in and make you wonder whether you ever heard it.  I heard it, really, was that a Loon ? ever seen one ?  Nup, not like the Kookaburra that just sits there like a king on a throne, on that telegraph wire, out the front, looking not looning, looking and waiting for the early rays of the sun, to sneek past all the planets lined up, and warm up that rock over there, that rock of sandy color, darkened by leaves, on which a lizard will attempt to get warm… very soon now.  So, you just know what a kookaburra is thinking, until of course it opens its mouth and just laughs about the situation, about mars lining up, pretending to be like Jupiter for a while, maybe just flirting with Venus since she’s out there early in the morning looking for love.

A long kind of enveloping smooby boom which goes right through you makes the loon, like the only sound in the place, in the cold, near the lake.  So many lakes in New England, but they freeze solid hard and thick.  Like that one Australia Day in January a few years back, after playing cricket in the snow in Franklin, we drove up to a lake where we could walk out.  Out on the lake and it was clear and icepick hard as a wrock, with no Loons, but the same boomy sound where the ice would crack as it warmed up for the day.  And those cracks would rocket through the ice at the speed of sound and shoot right under your feet in an instant.  But those cracks just created wonder and awe in a clear sheet looking right down into the lake below. How slowly and carefully that ice must have frozen, to be so devoid of white, to be so clear and blue looking down into the depths below – frozen in time too, the fish, little guys stuck in the ice – like small things, all color and silver, but not moving – not swimming – just frozen.  Still the boomy sound went on heralding in air the crack in the ice below, as it warmed.  No one was out there, only us aussies, who had never seen anything like that before.  So real and cold and hard and soundy.  Something you could touch and skate on and look through, like a looking glazz into the cold watery lake world below.

So much of the world is a sound escape, where you can go and hear a laugh, or a boom, or a smooby tune for a swooning loon.