Remember, remember the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes, Occupy Movement, Operation Cashback)

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

Over in Britain, the 5th of November becomes a special night where people up and down the country let off fireworks and light bonfires to celebrate Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night.

The tradition stems back to the events of the 5th November 1605. Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder plot, was caught guarding explosives which were set to go off under the House of Lords – in an attempt to assassinate King James I whilst he attended the State Opening of Parliament. Guy Fawkes was then found guilty and hung, drawn, and quartered; a rather grizzly end.

With the plot failed, the government proclaimed the 5th of November as a day of thanksgiving and since then celebrations in one form or another have taken place across the country on this day.

Most local towns and villages nowadays will have a fireworks display, and will occasionally burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on the large communal bonfire.

***
You may have recognized the photo above as a still from the film V for Vendetta, based on the comic book series by Alan Moore.

From wikipedia:
The series depicts a near-future UK after a nuclear war, which has left much of the world destroyed, though most of the damage to the country is indirect, via floods and crop failures. In this future, a fascist party called "Norsefire" has exterminated its opponents in concentration camps and now rules the country as a police state. "V", an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, begins an elaborate, violent, and intentionally theatrical campaign to murder his former captors, bring down the government, and convince the people to rule themselves.

The face of "V" is also being used today by many of the Occupy protestors as a sign of discontent.

Today many customers of big banks are transferring their money into smaller local institutions such as credit unions to show solidarity with the ever-growing Occupy movement. You can read my Bank Transfer Day / Move Your Money Project post from yesterday.

There's also been word that the hacktivist group Anonymous will host a series of attacks on various institutions waged by members of the online collective Anonymous. Among the rumored targets this weekend include Fox News, Facebook and a notorious Mexican drug cartel. 

Anonymous posted a video on YouTube regarding this:

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V


"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." -  John F. Kennedy

Destination Space for Virgin Galactic

UPHAM, N.M. — Virgin Galactic's Sir Richard Branson, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and prospective astronauts gathered in the southern New Mexico desert Friday to celebrate the completion of the runway at the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.

Spaceport America is the world's first facility designed specifically to launch commercial spacecraft. The celebration of its nearly-two-mile-long runway comes less than two weeks after another major step for Virgin Galactic: the first solo glide flight of its space tourism rocket ship.

"Today is very personal as our dream becomes more real," Branson said. "People are beginning to believe now. I think the drop flight two weeks ago, which went beautifully, I think it made people sit up and realize this is really reality."

The British billionaire said the next is more rocket testing, and getting the vehicle called SpaceShipTwo into space. He said he expects flights for space tourists to begin in nine to 18 months, and he will be among the first passengers.

Stretching across a flat dusty plain 45 miles north of Las Cruces, the runway is designed to support almost every aircraft in the world, day-to-day space tourism and payload launch operations.
Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant of the taxpayer-funded spaceport and plans to use the facility to take tourists on what will first be short hops into space. State officials want to add companies for other commercial space endeavors, such as research and payload delivery missions.

"Each flight we make, we'll learn more, we'll experience, we'll open up more opportunities that we cannot even conceive of today," Branson said. "This history, we're making it right now."
Virgin Galactic's White Knight Two — the special jet-powered mothership that will carry SpaceShipTwo to launch altitude — also made an appearance Friday, passing over the spaceport several times before landing on the new runway.

Tickets for suborbital space rides aboard SpaceShipTwo cost $200,000. The 2½-hour flights will include about five minutes of weightlessness. Some 380 customers have already made deposits totaling more than $50 million, Virgin Galactic officials said Friday.

Branson, the president of Virgin Group, which counts airlines, entertainment and mobile communications among its businesses, partnered with famed aviation designer Burt Rutan on the venture.

Until now, space travel has been limited to astronauts and a handful of wealthy people who have shelled out millions to ride Russian rockets to the international space station.

Some of the soon-to-be astronauts attended Friday's runway dedication, joined by Buzz Aldrin, who walked on the moon in 1969 as part of NASA's Apollo 11 mission.

While space tourism projects such as Virgin Galactic's venture receive plenty of publicity, the commercial space industry is seeing rapid developments with companies like SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., seeking to win NASA work to supply the International Space Station.

SpaceX has successfully placed a dummy payload into orbit and has contracts to lift satellites next. Other firms, including Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., and Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwell, Texas, are testing systems that would carry unmanned payloads to space.

Last month, Congress approved legislation that affirms President Barack Obama's intent to use commercial carriers to lift humans into near-Earth space.

 

Book a flight directly from Virgin Galactic for $200,000 - deposit of $20,000

Book with your local Space Agent

[Source Virgin Galactic and AP]

Zombie Wasteland casting call for Haunted House.

SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises money for local charities, "one SCREAM at a time." Each year they produce Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house adventure—guaranteed to chill you to the depths of your soul!

There's a casting call for it as well. They need lots of zombies.

Here's the low down from their site.

Sunday September 19th, 5pm
Galaxy Dance Studio, 1700 S. Lamar
 
SCARE 2010 Roles

    * Bus/Van Drivers, Loaders, Unloaders
    * Crazy Cart Driver (Tech)
    * Crazy Nick
    * Cult Leader
    * Cultists
    * Entry Officials (military officers)
    * Exit Helper
    * Guards (barricade, parking, outpost, facility, hallway)
    * Lab Assistant
    * Lab Scientists
    * Merchandisers
    * Nick's Daughter
    * Outpost Guards
    * Outpost Mayor
    * Reception Committee
    * Resistance Fighters
    * Resistance Helper
    * Scouts (Senior, Regular, Rookie)
    * Sgt. Rico (military officer)
    * Tower Guard (Tech)
    * Zombies
    * Zombie Earl






[Source: Scare for a Cure]

Captain Planet Day on Sept. 15 (20th anniversary)

Twenty years ago, the environmental movement got a colorful supporter in the heroics of Captain Planet, the world’s “first and only eco hero.” The creation of Ted Turner and Robert Larkin III, the children’s animated show “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” ran from Sept. 15, 1990, to Dec. 15, 1992. And now, the city of Atlanta has decided to honor Captain Planet on this twentieth anniversary of its original air date.

On Sept. 15, the people of Atlanta will watch Mayor Kasim Reed present Captain Planet with the Phoenix Award, the highest award granted by the mayor. Further, Georgia  Gov. Sonny Perdue will give Captain Planet a commendation to celebrate this milestone. In honor of the day, Captain Planet has asked the world to perform a green action like planting a tree, recycling, saving water, and/or volunteering in your community.

Captain Planet tells the story of Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, who awakens to find the planet threatened by human activity. She sends out five magic rings with the power to control nature and the heart, each worn by an industrious teenager around the world.  These are Kwame from Africa, Wheeler from North America, Gi from Asia, Linka from Eastern Europe, and Ma-Ti from South America. Gaia sends the five adventurers around the globe to stop various acts of eco-destruction. And together, the five can summons Captain Planet for help. Their collaboration is symbolic of the world’s need to come together to save the Earth.

“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” is the brainchild of media mogul Ted Turner. The first series of its kind to merge education and entertainment, the show was developed and co-produced by Turner Program Services and DiC Entertainment. The show ran on 185 stations nationwide and in more than 50 countries until 1992. A sequel, “The New Adventures of Captain Planet,” ran for an additional three years through Turner Broadcasting and Hanna-Barbera Productions. Episodes can still be seen on Cartoon Network’s sister station, Boomerang. You can also watch Captain Planet and his Planeteers save the Earth exclusively on MNN.

The day also honors the Captain Planet Foundation (CPF), started in 1991 by Ted Turner. The purpose of this organization is to help children to experience the world through “learning experiences that engage them in active, hands-on projects to improve the environment in their schools and communities.” The work of those receiving CPF grants in 2009 alone extended across 24 states and even into Costa Rica.  The foundation is currently involved in over 3,000 projects throughout the United States.
WorldShares lets you earn donations for your favorite nonprofit.




[Source MNN]

You are cordially invited to a post-apocalyptic party: Wasteland Weekend 2010

Source: Wasteland Weekend

Wasteland Weekend is a three-day post-apocalyptic party in the desert.  Friday, October 22nd to Sunday, October 24th 2010.

Join the hundreds of fans coming from all over the the United States (and beyond) to gather in the Southern California desert.  Set up camp at our wasteland compound, surrounded by specially-built sets.  Costumes are required and post-apocalyptic campsites and vehicles are encouraged.  Live for three days in a world pulled straight out of the Mad Max movies, beyond the grip of so-called civilization.

Top DJs from all over will provide the soundtrack, fire dancers and bonfires will light up the night, and modified vehicles will shake the earth with their engines. Don’t miss it!  Tickets on sale now.

This is an ADULTS ONLY event.