South Bank

We went to look at beds at the factory where they’re made. They had a stuffed cat.

Great series of articles if, like me, you grew up as an Apollo-child.

From Universe Today:

It’s the handy man’s secret weapon, and has become a must-have item for astronauts, too. While duct tape alone didn’t save the Apollo 13 crew, it certainly would have been difficult for them to have survived without it. Even though the accident which crippled the ship took out the two main oxygen tanks in the Service Module, having enough oxygen really wasn’t an issue for the crew. A big problem was having too much carbon dioxide (CO2), which came from the astronauts’ own exhalations. The Lunar Module had lithium hydroxide canisters to remove the CO2 for two men for two days, but on board were three men trying to survive in this LM lifeboat for four days. However, with a little ingenuity and duct tape, the Apollo Mission Operations Team was able to fit “a square peg in a round hole.”

Read the full piece here.

Apart from anything, this is a gorgeous snap. Despite the crisis, they adopted the useful mantra of ‘if in doubt, take a picture’.

JG Ballard. Gagosian. London.

I took quite a few from-the-hip pics trying to get told off and thrown out before I saw several people just taking pics. No fun.

So, there’s no accidentalism here. Ah, but some of these are from-the-hip.

Anyway, this was an essential exhibition for me – I grew up in Ballard. The metalness. The mixing of people and machines (flesh and metal). Industrial when I was industrial too. When beauty was in urban and industrial decay.

It’s because of Ballard that chicken and mayo sandwiches make me heave. Why driving down a motorway makes we very conscious aas to what’s on the edge of the motorway. Why I have always wanted to live at the top of a concrete tower block. And drive fast. And walk around deserted industrial estates. Insulated and immersed. Edge.