I’d like to express my congratulations to Scaled Composites, who yesterday successfully became the first private organisation to send a person into suborbital space without any government funding or facilities. Congratulations — a big step towards winning the Ansari X Prize.
Unfortunately it seems there were some problems with the craft during the flight, so they’re going to want to check things very carefully before they think about doing another flight. I would guess that we’re unlikely to see them win the X Prize before October or November, which is cutting it close as the competition expires at the end of the year. But then what do I know?
What I do know is that Alanis Morissette’s new album ‘So-Called Chaos’ is excellent. I just wish I found it easier to remember how to spell her surname — I usually end up adding too many ‘r’s, and have to check it every single time.
I also got hold of a copy of ‘Liege and Lief’ by the Fairport Convention, which I had high hopes for as it was voted the most influential folk album of all time by the Mike Harding show on Radio 2. Unfortunately it was very disappointing; some of it’s excellent (‘Matty Groves’ and ‘Tam Lin’ stand out particularly) but their version of ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ can’t hold a candle to June Tabor’s recent rendition of it on ‘An Echo of Hooves’, and ‘Reynardine’ likewise is nothing next to Maddy Prior’s version on ‘Arthur The King’. So four or five good tracks out of 10 surely doesn’t qualify as the most influential of all time… does it?
Still, I bet it made an impact when it was first released. Maybe I’m just spoiled by June Tabor, Steeleye Span’s new works, the sublime Kate Rusby and the rather surprising Jim Moray.