The Moon will be eclipsed by the Earth tomorrow morning and there will be a blood (red) moon due. That means that as the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon the light rays from the Sun are refracted by Earth’s atmosphere. Blue light is scattered more but red light continues towards the Moon and illuminates it. (in a similar way that at sunset the sky can turn red).
Moonlight has been important in my life, from the Moon landings from 1969 and seeing it in its various phases. I remember being in my bedroom sitting on my bedroom window ledge as a child and reading books by moonlight. I loved being able to read even though we had to turn the lights out. I used to enjoy it.
Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.
There may already be one?
A day to celebrate the Earth, a day to spend thinking about how to improve and support the world. Trying to clean the rivers and seas, reducing pollution, supporting poorer countries so the world uses greener and safer technologies. Actually caring about the land under our feet. Working out how to capture carbon and start to reduce gobal temperature surges. Hoping that the richest people get involved too.
Why? Because it’s needed, it could be the most important holiday that we ever create.
I keep seeing posts on Facebook about the earth being flat. So I thought for a few minutes and posted this…. . If the earth was flat the sun would set AT THE SAME TIME EVERYWHERE. There would be no time zones. New years eve would be celebrated at the same time everywhere. Clocks would all be set to the same time. If you live in a big country like America the sun would rise and set at the same time, so you wouldn’t need Eastern standard time and pacific time or whatever it’s called. THERE WOULD BE NO SEASONS, AND THE TEMPERATURE WOULD BE THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD. If the Earth is a globe and tipped you get seasons. If it’s a globe and not tipped, no seasons, flat earth? No seasons, no gradient in temperature. And the sun would rise and set at exactly the same time every day… Sorry rant over.
Blurry photo of my painting Air, part of four images including Earth, Water and Fire. I imagined the spirit of Air, rather like the faces of cherubs with puffed out cheeks blowing storms across ancient mariners maps the yellow and orange at the top is the sun being hidden behind clouds. I like the cheeky and mischievous face that stares out of the painting. It’s probably a little anachronistic, almost Victorian in style, but it’s a semi abstract acrylic on canvas. I just wish I’d taken a better photo. It is for sale.
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
The, Martian is the book I’m currently reading and the film was recently on TV.
I like it because the story by Andy Weir is more science based for a sci-fi film than fantasy. It depicts an astronaut who is abandoned on Mars after a freak accident. His colleagues assume he is dead and have to leave because their escape rocket is about to topple over which would trap them on Mars.
Why do I want to be the character in the film? I like the problem solving that has to happen to save the astronaut. He has to work out how to increase his food supply, chemically create water, travel across Mars and communicate with Earth after the communication system was destroyed. There are humourous episodes throughout the film, and tension increases as various mishaps occur. Not all the science is right but it is an enjoyable film. If I knew I was going to survive and come home I would do it.
A painting from a few years ago, a bit burry with camera shake. It’s one of four I did to represent Earth, Air, Fire and Water. It was a series I really enjoyed. Working with the flow of paint, allowing my imagination free rein. It’s acrylic on canvas. Two of the set had already been sold and I was thinking of painting replacement images. I wish I had, I’m not sure I ever will. X
If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?
I wish I didn’t need to use the word poverty, in this country and about the rest of the world.
Poverty can be relative, a millionaire can feel poor in relation to a billionaire. But that’s not real. Or someone who lives in a first world nation can struggle to survive on a very low income, having to chose between heating and eating.
But I think true poverty is in countries wracked by famine, war, sickness or all three. When starvation is rife, and children are stunted by lack of food and clean water.
And yet there are eighty men in the world that own the same amount of money as half the world’s population. That’s 80 : 4,000,000,000. Each one has an average amount of money equal to 50,000,000 individuals.
If only our world was not so unequal. I’m not talking about complete equality, people would fight to the death over that, but perhaps a bit more generous support for the poor and more taxes for the rich. Perhaps charitable foundations to spread food and medicine, to reduce wars, to care for one another. I know that trickle down economics does not work. The trickle is stemmed by the slightly less wealthy. But somehow we must change things, stop poverty, be fair, and tackle the climate change to which is having the most detrimental effect on the poorest in society.
So instead of poverty my new word would be fairness.
There is a super blue moon tonight and tomorrow night. All that means is that there are 13 full moons in this twelve month period and this August there are two in the same month. This is the second and ‘blue’ moon. The moon also happens to be at its closest approach to the Earth, a few thousand miles closer, so it appears slightly bigger in the sky. The moons orbit is elliptical, so it has two centres of gravity and so sometimes it appears closer and sometimes further away. The next super blue moon will be in 2037. There are lots of articles on the Internet about it today.
1. The Earth is an oblate spheroid. That is it’s almost a sphere but it is fatter around the equator because of its spin.
2. Crisps are crunchy and made of potatoes that have been thinly sliced and fried (who said these had to be serious? ).
3. The Sun is approximately 93 million miles away from the Earth. But because the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse it has times when it is slightly nearer, and times when it is slightly further away.
4. Water freezes at 0°Celsius. I don’t know if it’s the same in Fahrenheit.
5. Too much sugar and salt is bad for you. But you need some to maintain your electrolyte balance.
6. Halleys comet comes back into the inner solar system every 76 years, it’s next due in the 2060’s (I’ve forgotten the exact year)
7. Cats don’t have 9 lives, they just pretend!
8. I know for a fact that I don’t get enough sleep!
9. Green plants absorb all the other colours and reflect green? I think.. I’ve forgotten the physics behind it though.
10. Singing really can help your mental health. It’s good for breathing too.
Well those were a few random (and probably useless) facts. I tend to pick up a lot of ideas, and as I have a retentive memory I hold onto facts that are not much use to anyone.
I think about spirituality sometimes and I question whether it is part of religion or not?
I don’t really know what I believe in. I was brought up as a Christian but I also think there are other aspects of spirit and life that come into your thoughts. I cannot be dogmatic or “born again”, I think you have to question things. Just because the bible says the world was made in seven days does not mean it was. That explanation seems like a simple way of understanding the Earth and the Universe. As we grow and learn we have to take on board science and all the knowledge that has come about over the centuries.
I could be an atheist, and not believe in a God or Gods, but in fact I’m more of an agnostic. I don’t know what I believe in, but if the universe is infinite and “God” is infinite how can I possibly know anyway?
I love John Lennons song “Imagine”, imagine there’s no heaven above us, and no hell below (I don’t think I’ve got the words right). I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t know if there is anything after life, and if there is, what comes after that?
I enjoy Yoga, and we do breathing and meditation exercises. I think that helps me cope with my life. I think there are aspects of spirituality that I could question more, but I don’t know whether I should.
Mallaband-Brown 