Remember their comic characters Speed Gordon, Buck Rogers and Brick Bradford pioneering space exploration in their rocket ships and visiting other planets.

But it’s all happened. We’ve walked on the moon, put space stations in orbit and landed the rover Curiosity on Mars.

Back on earth top British cosmologist Stephen Hawking this week warned scientific progress is almost certain to bring some sort of world disaster and the solution is to flee into space to other stars and establish self-sustaining colonies so a disaster on earth wouldn’t mean the end of human life.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden also believes colonising Mars is essential to ensure our survival.

So maybe that’s an option for people opposing council amalgamations in shires like Cabonne and Blayney.

If they’re so concerned about threats to their future if Orange takes them over they could start planning a new Cabonne Cosmos Colony way up there among the stars.

A Dutch company and European Space Agency is already looking to establish a settlement on Mars with colonists living in pods and sharing inflatable work areas and a plant production unit to grow greenery.

Disgruntled Cabonneites could lead typical day-to-day lives but would need to wear space suits to step outside.

If Blayney Shire people also decided on a celestial future they could become a binary star and orbit Cabonne, something like birds of a feather.

Would that be a better future for them than becoming part of Orange?

It’s getting to the stage where we’ll soon need two Australia Days: one for the normal people who want to celebrate living in our great country and the other for the sour minority, nutters and spoilers who want to rain on our party.

It’s the same old story every year.

State premiers, their boring fellow travellers, Labor leader Bill Shorten and Australian of the year David Morrison dragged out the republic push, another lot had what they called an invasion day rally and the boring change-the-flag mob again hit the headlines.

Old Aunty ABC mocked the national anthem by playing a version by Adam Hills to the tune of screamer Jimmy Barnes’ song Working Class Man.

He calls it the working class anthem.

The government frowns on messing with the anthem and says it should be treated with respect and dignity while its tune or tempo should not be modified, parodied or demeaned and alternative words should not be used.

Fair dinkum. Can’t we have an Australia Day without all this annual rot.

AN Orange driver believes he’s been dudded by a $248 parking fine in the dead-end section of Colvin Lane that the Office of State Revenue staff refused to overturn.

He was booked while unloading two small boxes to a business that backs onto the large open area at the end of the lane that runs off Lords Place.

The yellow bomber on the infringement notice wrongly described the offence as being “between Kite Street and Summer Street”.

The area also is not what you would describe as a normal street but rather a big backyard for several businesses with little traffic activity and no footpath or kerbing.

 The no standing signs are stuck on the back wall of a building and face outwards. They’re not on any posts like in a street and cannot be seen by anyone approaching them in the laneway.

The driver, asked by the Summer St business owner to unload at the back door because of congestion in the main street, didn’t see them at all.

He was gone only a few minutes but that was long enough for the yellow bomber to strike.

 The money-hungry Office of State Revenue staffer said it was the driver’s responsibility to look for and check the signaposted (sic) restrictions to ensure he was parked legally.

“The no stopping zones were often in an area where it was unsafe for vehicles to stop or park where they might cause a hazard to other vehicles or pedestrians and it was important to ensure the safety of other road users”, the office stated. “Our investigations conclude the penalty still applies.” 

So was the fine a rort or not?

THANKFULLY the Australian tennis open will soon be over and we won’t have to put up any longer with this lot of over-paid, complaining, grunting and screeching pampered, precocious players.

It’s time somebody started an anti-tennis league in answer to the painful antics many of them get up to like smashing racquets and abusing umpires that’s more akin to spoiled five-year-olds.

Nick Kyrgios is an absolute pain and an embarrassment to tennis with his ratbag antics. His mate Bernard Tomic isn’t far behind.

Lleyton Hewitt was fined $3580 following his spray at officials and then calling chair umpire Pascal Maria a “friggin’ idiot” and “so full of yourself”.  

But most annoying is the banshee shrieking after every shot by the likes of Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, so much so you have to turn off the sound on the TV if you’re watching.

Players needlessly bouncing the ball before serving, mopping the brow with a towel after every rally and taking a rest every few games completes the painful scenario.

So good riddance to these tennis wusses.

Bring on the rugby league season.

TAKING home-cooked cakes to work has become a favourite pastime for Orange workers and it’s probably not all due to the popular TV cooking shows like Foxtel’s Great Australian Bakeoff.

It seems there’s no better way to impress your workmates than turning up with a plate of freshly-cooked orange and grapefruit curd cup cakes, a layered pavlova torte or a spiced raspberry tart for morning tea.

Workers once only took a cake to work for a colleague’s birthday but now baking a treat for everyone is a pretty regular thing in many shops and offices.

And no doubt those who want to climb the ladder look to win some valuable brownie points from the boss.

 Believe it or not, men are also getting in on the act by ducking into a cake shop on the way to work to buy some treats for their colleagues and passing them off as their own cooking.

What next?