The talk was very much a tribute to Carl Sagan and I was pleased to give Chandra a namecheck as well. I enjoyed it – hope you all do too.

For one week only, until the BBC’s iPlayer moves on, you can listen to this afternoon’s interview. It’s between 2:37:25 and 2:42:30.

On Tuesday I’m heading over to Science Oxford to give a talk on Starstuff and Supergiants, which will be a bit of a science of Johnny Mackintosh sort of thing. I came up with the title ages ago, with no plan of what I was going to say on the subject. I thought I’d have months to prepare – where does the time go?

Happily, it’s kind of all sorted and I’m hoping to make it as fun as I can and also inspiring. It’s the first time in my life people are paying to see me (the princely sum of £3), so I’m desperate to give everyone their money’s worth, and a bit more besides. It will be great (if scary) if the place is full.  Science Oxford is

1-5 London Place
Oxford
OX4 1BD

This is part of the wider Oxford Science Festival that runs to the 21st March. If you can’t be there in person, I have a dreadful feeling this might be webcast at some point. Just off to buy props…

It’s not often that singing superstars Katherine Jenkins and Rolando Villazon are to be found a few yards in front of you belting out YMCA, complete with actions. So begins Friday evening at ITV’s London Studios for the latest instalment of Popstar to Operastar. Jenkins and Villazon are joined by fellow judges Meat Loaf and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, equally good sports as they whip the audience up before filming begins.

It’s week three and Blur’s Alex James and The Saturday’s Vanessa White have both left the show. I have the best seat in the house, right beside Rolando and Katherine, to discover who will be next. Rolando sets the bar high, performing an epic pre-record that the world will hear while they’re awaiting the results of the public vote. It must be nerve wracking enough for whichever competitor goes first, but following that would be especially daunting.

Marshy gets the gig. That’s how she’s known to fellow Hear’Sayer and co-host Mylene Klass, but to much of the nation Kym Marsh is also Michelle Connor, barmaid of Corrie’s Rover’s Return. She starts us off singing Habanera from Carmen, armed with a black Spanish fan to hide behind. The performance over, Klass’s co-star Alan Titchmarsh quizzes the judges.

“Meat” starts the ball rolling saying, “That was like sex. One minute, forty-five seconds of pure ecstasy.” The one-time scriptwriter in me is praying one of the other panelists will respond with, “That’s a long time for you, Meat,” but they’re all far too kind and the moment passes.

During the breaks, Katherine and Rolando’s stylists rush in to beautify their charges. As magic potions are sprayed onto Rolando’s ringlets, I ask if they might help regrow my own disappearing locks.

Before the show I tweeted that Jimmy Osmond would be next to go. He surprises me and the panel by turning in a decent operatic performance of Amor Ti Vieta. Afterwards, he comes up and shakes all the judges’ hands, coming across as a totally great and genuine guy.

The other performers left in are Marcella Detroit, Danny from McFly, Darius and Bernadette Nolan. I’m sitting behind Marcella’s friends and family (with the McFly boys, their girlfriends and Katherine’s mum a couple of rows in front). Everyone’s nervous because Marcella’s up next singing Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute, apparently the most difficult piece in the opera canon. As she reaches the end, pretty well note perfect, and hits the highest, most difficult to reach one of them all, Rolando beside me punches the air in triumph. If you’re quick enough to catch this week’s video on the website, you’ll see me laughing beside him (1:03 to 1:10 seconds in).

Clearly nervous after a failed rehearsal, Danny takes a while to get going, but finishes strongly. The panel are still quite damning. It’s because he’s not fulfilling his potential – there’s a clear desire for everyone to do well. Danny’s upset. Katherine’s upset that they were too hard on Danny and wonders about finding him to apologize. While this is a live show, during the VTs (videotape inserts) and the ad breaks there’s plenty of time to stretch your legs and wander around. All the while the crew on the studio floor perform magnificently – I’ve worked on some live shows and it was the best drilled group I’d seen.

Darius (hit my baby one more … time) Danesh/Campbell has had a bad week. You can tell because there are dancers on stage, a sure sign the producers want to distract from the vocals. They needn’t have worried. Opera suits the once pony-tailed would-have-been Pop Idol, and he rises to the occasion. Last comes Bernie Nolan. If you, like me, recall the original Nolan Sisters (who later underwent a radical rebrand to the Nolans), you wouldn’t have expected too much from the final act of the evening. You’d also have been very surprised. Bernie pulled it off big time – I thought it all the more impressive she had to sing some of the piece sitting down (on a chez longue Llewelyn-Bowen could easily have leant the studio for the occasion). We awaited the vote.

I love the way all these shows announce the acts going through “in no particular order”, giving strategists and psychologists hours of potential fun wondering who should be announced when for maximum impact on future shows. Sadly, I can’t even remember the order now, but we were left with Danny and Jimmy standing before the judges. My earlier prediction hit the spot and the one-time long-haired lover from Liverpool is the one to go.

Afterwards it’s back to the green room, past various interviews taking place behind the scenes. The stars change and make their way up to join us. I’m struck by the great vibe all round – everyone’s friendly and happy to talk. Katherine looks after her mum while my friend Eddie forces me to take a photo of him with Kym Marsh, who’s totally lovely and happy to oblige. Had I remembered, I could have reminded her that the first (and only other) time I saw her, was in another ITV green room when I was talking with Midge Ure. Way back then, Marshy asked Midge for his autograph, so there’s no need to be embarrassed.

A great way to spend a Friday night and very different indeed from my last night at the opera – with only three shows left, I hope I’m able to get back for another.

Some people say there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Earlier this week, mine lasted 32 hours, beginning with a grand American breakfast (eggs sunnyside up) in downtown San Francisco, followed by a cable car ride up Nob Hill, clinging onto the outside which they’d never let you do in London.

A little shopping preceded a walk along the waterfront, staring out towards The Rock, otherwise known as Alcatraz, on which Jo Rowling’s Dementor-guarded prison of Azkaban was based. Her third title, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, is many reader’s favourite so it was fitting to see it as I’ve spent a little of the past few days getting back to the third Johnny Mackintosh book.

Great cities have great architecture and San Fran is no exception. There’s the landmark Transamerica Tower and, as you can see above, I managed to catch a glimpse of the unforgettable Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Mason Hill before heading back towards the hotel, having lunch (a pastrami and swiss sandwich even Joey Tribbiani would have been proud of), and then on to the airport, scene of my first ever full body scan where the security guards can see right through your clothes (I felt so sorry for mine!). We talked about these on The Science of Spying exhibition that I worked on, so it’s amazing to see them already in action.

On the plane it was a lamb curry, two disappointing films (Aliens in the Attic and the animated 9) and a chat with neighbour Katy who showed me photos of the prizewinning cats she breeds. She’s also a dog lover and there’s an Old English sheepdog in the family, so we talked about Bentley. To get over the poor movies I also re-watched the first half of the terrific Time Traveler’s Wife, which is a splendid adaption of a great but difficult book to bring to the screen. I could be wrong but the film seemed to die in the UK from a near total lack of publicity, after a very delayed global release. Some fans of the book weren’t keen on the casting, but Rachel McAdams is seriously underrated and always splendid and Eric Bana did a great job too.

Sadly, not much time for sleep, before leaping onto the Heathrow Express and heading for lovely London town – it’s always good to come home after some time away. One of the tricks to defeat jetlag is to stay awake as long as possible and not succumb to the thought of “a little lie down” which could turn into several hours and then you’re scuppered for the week. To keep me going, I had the prospect of the 30th Brit Awards Launch Party to look forward to, which was happily an early evening affair.

Arriving at the Dome, I confess I eschewed the red carpet, thinking I didn’t look quite my best having been up for more than 24 hours at this point. I’ve just started Tweeting (you can follow me @KeithMansfield) so had checked in on presenter @FearneCotton during the day. She’d suggested a choice of three outfits and people were sending their preferences. The power of the internet meant she picked blue. I bumped into her as I entered Indigo where the event was being held, but was a bit too jetlagged to twig and say hello. The next moment she was up on stage introducing 80s throwback synth singer La Roux.

Performances from JLS (X Factor runners up made good from a couple of years ago), Ellie Golding (winner of the most promising newcomer award) and Pixie Lott – the night could largely have been retitled “Here Come the Girls”. I’m sure everyone performed fine. Though I was struggling to stay awake by this stage, everyone was enthusiastically cheered on by the kids from the Brit School who were down at the front.

It’s the thirtieth anniversary of The Brits. For me the greatest ever was the night Sam Fox presented with Mick Fleetwood and it was total chaos, but the organizers prefer not to talk about that one. Sadly, a little self-indulgently, the award for “Best Live Act” has been dropped this year for “Best Performance at the Brits”. In an era when the industry is being devastated by illegal downloads, we’ve seen a great resurgence of live music and it seems short-sighted not to recognize this.

Even so, the Brits is the music award everyone wants to win (or even go to so it was great to have an invite). As if he doesn’t have enough on his mantelpiece, Robbie Williams is up for this year’s lifetime achievement gong. The main event is in Earl’s Court on 16th February.

By the time it had all finished, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going, got on the Tube in the wrong direction and spent about an hour stumbling around Canary Wharf  buying supplies I didn’t need before finding the way home, all ready for a 6.30am start for work the next day. I’ve survived the week relatively unscathed when it comes to jetlag, but confess to still feeling rather tired.

So, as I wrote it, Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze became my new favourite book and I struggled to contain my excitement over some of the chapters. That said, it’s embarrassing now to look back on the first draft – we’ve probably reached something like version twenty-five or so now and each has been a major imporvement on what went before. I’m still excited to read it, but now can’t wait for the thrill of book three. For today Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze is published. You can read the cover copy and the opening page over at JohnnyMackintosh.com.

This is a time of great uncertainty, as an author never knows how a book will be received. My fervent hope is that you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Can I take a moment to say how much I love the county of Dorset, have spent much time there and think the DSLS is clearly run by a very enlightened bunch. Not wishing to influence the shortlisting process in any way, I’d add that it would be great if everyone votes for Johnny Mackintosh. I was delighted to set the fictional town of Yarnton Hill in the southwest on the Dorset/Somerset border so there’s even the added incentive of having a base for evil aliens right on your doorstep.

I also want to add how much I love the name of this award because New Horizons is also the first spaceship ever that will visit the dwarf planet Pluto – at least that’s what NASA thinks. Early on in Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze, the Spirit of London gets there first!

Image credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute (JHUAPL/SwRI)

Publication is Thursday 7th January, but you can pre-order Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze from any of these sites.

Partway through last month I went on a trip to one of the most amazing places in Britain. The stones at Stonehenge have stood for over four and a half thousand years. There’s been a monument of some kind at the site for even longer. Our very own wonder of the ancient world was erected around the same time as Egypt’s pyramids and it’s amazing to think that, even when the Romans invaded Britain, Stonehenge was standing tall and proud as an ancient mystery.

The great thing about the visit was that I was able to walk inside the stones, after dark, with hardly anyone around. To coincide with the winter solstice, the day was organized by the Royal Astronomical Society to mark the end of the International Year of Astronomy. Archaeologists were on hand to explain the different elements of the site, while astronomers were there to talk you through the night sky above.

Sadly, the day was overcast. I was especially disappointed because the first thing one of our astronomer guides said was that Cassiopeia, Johnny’s very own constellation (his Star Mark) would have been directly overhead, set against the backbone of the Milky Way. There’s even talk of making the area the UK’s second designated dark sky park, following on from Galloway Forest Park in Scotland.

For millennia, indeed since before Stonehenge was even thought of, people have gazed upwards at the night sky in awe. The stars have driven humanity’s progress, whether it was calculating when to plant crops, navigating ships or racing to the Moon. Now it’s rare to be able to see the night sky and there’s a danger we’ll lose our interest and sense of wonder at the heavens. It’s important for our futures and those of our descendants that this doesn’t happen, and the International Dark Sky association are doing their best to fight against light pollution everywhere.

As well as the stones, the site was hosting the IYA’s From the Earth to the Universe exhibition. If that doesn’t have enough spectacular space shots for you, check out today’s entry in the Twelve Days of Johnny Mackintosh, over at JohnnyMackintosh.com.

It’s actually a beautiful White Christmas here in Nottingham, having snowed this morning and then turned into a gorgeous sunshiny day. I hope you’re enjoying yourselves as much as I am.

I would like to think that some of you may have been more than a little disappointed not to receive a copy of Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze in your Christmas stockings this morning. Well, although the new book doesn’t publish until 7th January, don’t despair.

Everyone’s heard of the twelve days of Christmas. From tomorrow, over at JohnnyMackintosh.com, I’ll bring you the twelve days of Johnny Mackintosh. Continuing every day until publication, I’ll post twelve images I’ve created or picked out that follow sequentially through the book, giving a little taster of what’s to come, but without spoiling anything.

As if that’s not enough, I thought I’d leave you with a Christmas brainteaser. Below are three anagrams, the solutions to which are chapter titles in the new book. Thinking caps on!

A Venus pro (9)

Hello Keith – try in rebel flats (2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4, 6)

Draw on exit path (3, 4, 7)