First Ark showcased at Avatar Movie Zone!

http://www.avatarmoviezone.com/

http://www.surrealaward.com/avatar/science19.shtml

I had a sudden and surprising e-mail from someone on Myspace:

Hello Mr. Ahad,

I just wanted to drop you a line that I have showcased your book at www.AvatarMovieZone.com - an unofficial fan site for James Cameron's upcoming Avatar. Go to the link and you can see on the front page it is a featured Science of Avatar article.

Thanks you for sharing your talents with the world!

Regards,
Tom Powell
www.AvatarMovieZone.com

That is brilliant, Abdul! What a buzz!

That is fantastic. Someone has been so impressed by your work to feature it like this. Well done Sir!!

Congratulations again. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
You've taken the small step and I have a feeling that the giant leap is in the offing.

Thank you, folks.
I am overjoyed by little surprises like these and I honestly can no longer say that my books have been "overlooked".

And that site will bring it lots of well-deserved new attention.

Ann

What would an Ark that's 12 miles in length, made up of material harvested out of an asteroid look like when it's spinning in space?

Well, it wont look very pretty...even if it is called a "Centauri Princess".

In 2001, a NASA spacecraft visited the 21 mile long asteroid 433 Eros:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/433_Eros


Here's a 3D rotation movie of asteroid Eros made from NASA footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXv--TMefbs

Rough cut model I prepared earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NroF0pBor1U

Very impressive, Ahad!

Good job, Ahad.

Looks good Ahad.
I was wondering why it jumps around instead of a steady revolving cylinder.

{modelling technique snipped!}

Knowing how it was filmed, it is understandable. I'm surprised you got it that good.

Ahad,

Fantastic.

Carol

Imagine walking into a small village community, a few miles out of town, and asking them:

"Erm... excuse me folks, you wouldn't have any reservations if I like take your beautiful lil' village and wrap it up inside a cylindrical colony ship... and like blast it trillions of miles out into space now, would you?"

One mean looking villager walks up to you, looking greatly enraged by your sarcasm, and he replies:

"Excuse me mate, but what planet are you from?"

Luckily, I have a friend whose parents happen to live in that village and they stood up for me!

http://www.biggleswadetoday.co.uk/541/Toddington-could-be-put-into.5556675.jp

When can I audition?

Nice to see you're following your vision Ahad.
I hope all goes well with the project.

Wow! I'm impressed! And it's not like you just sat back and waited. You have worked toward your goals and shared with us your trials and success. This is exciting!

Shelagh, we're holding the Auditions on 3rd September... but yes anytime for you .

You can come to Luton that day if you like... all are welcome.

This is actually quite amusing. The "budget" to make this film in Hollywood is gonna be no less than US$100 million. We're not spending 1 million... we're not even spending one tenth of one million...

So I'm not sure how it will turn out!

So happy with you, Ahad.

How exciting, Abdul! We'll all be following your progress on this project. What an adventure!

Aaaargh! Help! This has become something like X-Factor!

The two lead female roles have been heavily oversubscribed:

http://firstarktoalphacentauri.wikia.com/wiki/Alcyone

http://firstarktoalphacentauri.wikia.com/wiki/Caroline


"Excuse me, but you have had no previous acting experience. Would you be willing to play one of the supporting characters instead?"

"No! but I love that character so much. I do, I do, I do!!!"

Ahad,
It's good to follow your progress. The role of author and director must have its problems with lots of difficult choices to make. Sounds like you're excited. We're excited for you.

Thank you Abe!

It's really quite something. I know if I had continued to wait and wait for either of my books to get translated into film by some hopeful production company, it may never have happened. I dare say, it is probably a sad but true fact that most authors will not realise a movie dream from their books until they have been long perished. From what I have experienced so far, I can say it really does take some extra energy to persevere with such an ambition and to shore up worldwide support for such a production.

I know that in the modern digital age fewer and fewer younger people are reading books. So I'm hoping that my "creation" will at least live with a bigger audience, should I succeed in making it into a movie. Five years ago, to this very month of September 2004, I started a dream with a jokey usenet thread:

"Interstellar Propulsion Idea using an Asteroid and a few Comets"

That dream has now flourised through two novels, an in-depth scientific evaluation:

http://firstarktoalphacentauri.wikia.com/wiki/Centauri_Princess

... all the way to the pre-production of a feature film.

I feel very privileged indeed that a local reporter would now give me the glossy titles of "producer", "screenwriter" and "director"... without having any proven experience in either of these three highly demanding film making arenas.

Those are great titles, Ahad. You're becoming famous.
I look forward to seeing the movie.