Last week I ruminated pointlessly about good names for fictional planets and/or countries, as opposed to the lame ones we've all come across from time to time ("The United Federal People's Democratic Republic of Arcticstan," etc). That got me to thinking of another SF convention that's kinda' odd.

The European Space Agency’s Mars-500 project simulates a trip to the red planet. Six astronauts were confined in a Bio-Dome for eight months without sun or fresh water until they finally reached Mars. On February 24th three crew members entered a descent module without an engine, and landed on a giant sandpit inside a large hanger in Moscow. For 30 days the crew used drills and geological tools to perform experiments and drove a virtual buggy over Mars. Currently, the crew is returning to Earth where they will land on November 5th.

I've kind of had it with Mars, and I've totally had it with NASA. I was two when we landed on the Moon, five when we abandoned it, and I was *supposed* to be fourteen when we landed on Mars. They promised.

In fact, they were lying: the 1970 Mars plan (Spearheaded by Spiro Agnew, and very feasible) was DOA as soon as it hit the press. For whatever reason, just six months after Armstrong and Aldrin, public opinion had switched to "Let's fix all the problems on earth, and then go into space in a century or three," mode.

Stupid hippies.

"Jackson Mendoza" was an Australian duo consisting of the Mendoza sisters. This song spent 10 weeks on the Australian charts, peaking at number 24. It's not entirely terrible. It's got one or two good hooks burried in there, and it's got an overally "Shampoo" vibe (If either member of that duo could sing, which I'm pretty sure they couldn't). Production values are deliberately in the Power Rangers realm, and the whole song is obviously aimed at 12 or 13 year old girls. The rap doesn't really work, of course, but it's mercifully short. Check it out under the jump.