StarDate February 29, 2008

Today is Leap Day, an extra day added every four years to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. It was created when Julius Caesar ordered an overhaul of the calendar more than two millennia ago. Later, the calendar was fine tuned by omitting three leap days every 400 years.

Antares, the "heart" of Scorpius, stands above the Moon as they rise in the early morning. They are in the south at first light.

Jupiter is low in the southeast early tomorrow. The planet looks like a brilliant star to the upper right of the Moon. Through binoculars, four of its big moons look like tiny stars flanking the planet, aligned roughly along the line between Jupiter and the Moon.

More fun links for speaking Scots

Welcome tae the Scuil Wab

http://www.scuilwab.org.uk/index.htm

Parliamo Scots?

http://www.rampantscotland.com/parliamo/blparliamo_index.htm

follow-up

Well found ! As I see it, there is a language called Scots, and within it, there are the dialects of Doric, and Lallans. Now, I was brought up with Lallans, but I also understand Doric, and they are very different dialects, and in the "old" days, one was unintelligible to the other. In amongst all this, there was the language I call Scots, I am not in any way an expert, I only know what I've heard, and all 3 are different. There is a problem with people who don't seem to know this. All the dialects and language are mainly lowland, the Highlander spoke Gaelic, and English only came in after the Clearances, when the Gaelic was banned, and it was said that the Highlander spoke the "best" English, as they were taught by the occupying English, and many people think that even the Highlander spoke "Broad Scots" but they didn't, and still don't, and they don't understand Doric, anymore than a Borderer does! by the same token, they don't understand Lallans either, they do however understand Scots, but they often got the grammar wrong There is a story told in Newtonmore, of an old woman who lived at Strathmashie, who kept her cow across the road from her croft, the Prince of Wales was visiting at the time ( Victoria's son !!! ) and when she was asked if she had been moving her cow when he passed, said she was, and on being asked if she had spoken to him, answered "Yes, said I to he, is you the Prince ? Said he to me, I is " and she thought that she was speaking "good" English, she wasn't a stupid woman, but English was her second language, and she was inclined to translate, in her mind, before speaking. Now I don't know who has set up this site, but I hope he has it right, and understands the differences.

- Luna (Scottish History Forum)

A Scots-language version of Wikipedia

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Scots-finds-home-on-gey.3809981.jp

Scots finds home on gey muckle website
By Marc Horne

AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA in the language of Rabbie Burns is now available at the click o' a moose.
A Scots-language version of Wikipedia has already attracted more than 2,200 entries on subjects as diverse as "airchaeology" and "sodgerin".

The English-language edition of the free online encyclopaedia has become one of the great success stories of the internet age with more than two million contributions.

Scots enthusiasts, already buoyed by the SNP's decision to add the "mither tongue" to the school curriculum, have hailed the site as another shot in the arm for the long-neglected language.

But the Scots Wikipedia has also been ridiculed as an embarrassing parody of the language used by Sir Walter Scott and Hugh MacDiarmid.

The site – which claims to be the first encyclopaedia in the Scots leid, or language – has already attracted more articles than longer-established sites in the Maori and Kashmiri languages.

But the site's "leet o' weel kent Scots fowk" features just 13 individuals and there is no room yet for icons such as Robert the Bruce, John Logie Baird, Alexander Graham Bell, Alexander Fleming, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Hume and Adam Smith. Modern-day names such as Sir Sean Connery, Alex Salmond, Gordon Brown and Ewan McGregor are also absent.

Instead, alongside Burns and William Wallace, there are entries for GMTV presenter Jenni Falconer: "She haes forbye presentit the ITV traivel shaw How to Holiday"; Gail Porter, who shot to fame because of a "gey muckle FHM photie on the Hooses o Pairlament wi aa her claes aff"; and Oor Wullie, "a loun that sits on a bucket wi a moose cried Jeemy".

One of biggest entries is for Glasgow Airport attack hero John Smeaton who gets more than 200 words compared with just 70 for Wallace. Smeaton's entry states: "He became inrowed in coonterin a failt terrorist bellum on the airport."

Other subjects covered in the Scots Wikipedia include "airchitectur". "the airts", "eddication", "releegion", "ingineerin" and "pheesics".

Dr Chris Robinson, director of the Dictionary of the Scots Language, was delighted by the increasing numbers of people visiting the site. "What is particularly encouraging is that it gets people accustomed to reading a huge range of different things in Scots and not just literature," she said.

"The fact it is doing well gives a lie to all those people who decry Scots and try to do it down."

But Robinson conceded that attempting to create universal spellings for Scots words could be a "minefield". "It is a very difficult job to come up with one spelling that doesn't alienate half of the country," she said.

Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday's literary editor, felt the site failed to do justice to the rich heritage of Scots.

He said: "I don't think anyone nowadays considers Scots as slang or 'incorrect English'. However, this seems convoluted at best, and an absolute parody at worst.

"The great tradition of Douglas, Burns, Scott and MacDiarmid means more than just altering the vowels and dropping the g from present participles."

Ted Brocklebank, culture spokesman for the Scottish Tories, felt attempts to create a universal Scots language were contrived and doomed to failure.

He said: "There are a number of rich variations of the English language spoken in Scotland, from Doric in the north-east, to Lallans in the Borders and the Nordic Scots of Orkney and Shetland. But none of them qualify as languages in their own right.

"This website appears to be a cheap attempt at creating a language. Simply taking an English word and giving it a Scots phonetic does not make it into a Scots word."

Language or dialect?

The use and status of Scots has caused numerous stooshies – or rows – over the centuries.

Originating in Denmark, Scots is related to the language of the Angles who invaded the no
rth of England in the fifth century and used words like hoose, coo and stane.

Scots is also influenced by the culture of the Vikings, whose language, Norse, contained words like greet, muckle and midden.

Scots was brought to Scotland in the 12th century by the English servants of Norman lords. In 1603, the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England signalled the end of Scots' official status in favour of its southern sister language, English.

Critics have long argued that Scots is at best a dialect and at worst a poor version of English.

Ted Brocklebank, of the Scottish Conservatives, said: "We have dialects of English such as Doric and Lallans, which are very rich, but they are not separate languages."

But Rob Gibson, an SNP MSP, disagreed, saying: "It produces internationally recognised literature and inspires our understanding of past literature."

The full article contains 790 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.

Last Updated: 23 February 2008 7:16 PM

Lunar Eclipse

A ghealach lan
Rothar ban
Geal, airgid, agus glan
Eirigh suas annsa speur
Dearg, or, ban, is gearr

Oh Moon full
Wheel white
Bright, silver, and clean
Rise up in the sky
Scarlet, golden, fair and sharp

Brian (Scottish History Forum)

StarDate Februaury 20, 2008

The Moon, Sun, and Earth will create a total lunar eclipse tonight. It begins at 7:43 p.m. CST, when the Moon first touches the dark inner portion of the shadow. The Moon will be completely immersed in the shadow, starting the total eclipse, by around 9 p.m. Regulus, the "heart" of Leo, the lion, is to the upper right of the Moon during the evening, with golden Saturn to the lower left.

StarDate February 19, 2008

The full Moon will put on quite a show tomorrow night as it passes through Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse. The full Moon occurs in the middle of the eclipse. The full Moon of February is known as the Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, or Wolf Moon.

StarDate February 14, 2008

Symbols of love and war highlight tonight's sky: the Moon and Mars. They are high overhead at nightfall. Mars looks like a bright orange star east of the Moon. In Greek mythology, the Moon represented a goddess who figured into many love stories, while Mars was the war god.

"...give birth to a dancing star."

Young Stars In Their Baby Blanket Of Dust

(gorgeous pic!) http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2008/02/080212142525.jpg

Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 12, 2008) — Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in a new dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called "Rho Oph" by astronomers, it's one of the closest star-forming regions to our own solar system. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the nebula is about 407 light years away from Earth.

Rho Oph is a complex made up of a large main cloud of molecular hydrogen, a key molecule allowing new stars to form from cold cosmic gas, with two long streamers trailing off in different directions. Recent studies using the latest X-ray and infrared observations reveal more than 300 young stellar objects within the large central cloud. Their median age is only 300,000 years, very young compared to some of the universe's oldest stars, which are more than 12 billion years old.

This false-color image of Rho Oph's main cloud, Lynds 1688, was created with data from Spitzer's infrared array camera, which has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's three imaging instruments, and its multiband imaging photometer, best for detecting cooler materials. Blue represents 3.6-micron light; green shows light of 8 microns; and red is 24-micron light. The multiple wavelengths reveal different aspects of the dust surrounding and between the embedded stars, yielding information about the stars and their birthplace.

The colors in this image reflect the relative temperatures and evolutionary states of the various stars. The youngest stars are surrounded by dusty disks of gas from which they, and their potential planetary systems, are forming. These young disk systems show up as red in this image. Some of these young stellar objects are surrounded by their own compact nebulae. More evolved stars, which have shed their natal material, are blue.

The extended white nebula in the center right of the image is a region of the cloud which is glowing in infrared light due to the heating of dust by bright young stars near the right edge of the cloud. Fainter multi-hued diffuse emission fills the image. The color of the nebulosity depends on the temperature, composition and size of the dust grains. Most of the stars forming now are concentrated in a filament of cold, dense gas that shows up as a dark cloud in the lower center and left side of the image against the bright background of the warm dust. Although infrared radiation at 24 microns pierces through dust easily, this dark filament is incredibly opaque, appearing dark even at the longest wavelengths in the image.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Spitzer's infrared array camera was built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The instrument's principal investigator is Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation, Boulder, Colo.; the University of Arizona; and Boeing North American, Canoga Park, Calif. Its principal investigator is George Rieke of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Adapted from materials provided by National Aeronautics And Space Administration.

song to The White Stag

De'n Ghaidhealtachd
(Highland Stag)

Th' am fiadh geal
Caol ged trean
Ag ruith tharais
Beann is gleann.

A bheist uasal!
A bheil cuimhn' agad
an aois sean fada
De Ghaidhealtachd?

The bright deer
Is running,
Sleek yet strong
Over mountain and glen

Oh! noble beast!
Do you remember,
The long ancient age
Of the Highlands?

- Brian (Scottish History Forums)

StarDate February 11, 2008

Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, the charioteer, stands low in the northwest late this evening. At the same time, Arcturus, in Bootes, the herdsman, is climbing into view in the east. Arcturus is the fourth-brightest star system in the night sky, while Capella ranks sixth. Both look yellow-orange.

http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly.php

out of the mist

White stag like a ghost among the heather

IT IS like a ghost fleeting among the heather, a beast of myth whose precise location must be protected from those who would do him harm.

The white stag, an animal of such rarity that it was revered by the ancient Celts as a messenger from the afterlife, has been seen on the west coast of Scotland.

These exclusive pictures show the rare beast grazing quietly among young red stags, unaware of his celebrity status as the only known example in Britain.

The animal was spotted during a recent field trip by Fran Lockhard, the partnership manager with the John Muir Trust, who photographed and filmed the white stag.

"It was amazing to crawl up so close to such a magnificent looking animal," she said. "He looked almost ghost-like next to the group of young red stags that he was mixing with. I am thrilled to know that there is a white stag roaming free out there in the Scottish Highlands. We will be watching this animal with interest, particularly as he will be reaching his full potential in the next couple of years."

The exact location of the sighting is being kept a secret for fear of putting the animal at risk from bounty hunters. The last-recorded wild white stag in Britain was shot by poachers in October last year on the border between Devon and Cornwall.

It was decapitated and its 300lb carcase found hanging from a tree. It is thought the stag's head, along with its antlers, had been claimed as a trophy and could be mounted and possibly sold for thousands of pounds.

White deer are often mistakenly thought to be albinos, but their unusual condition is caused by leucism, a rare genetic pattern that causes a reduction in the pigment in the animal's hair and skin. Unlike albinos who have characteristically red eyes, deer with leucism have normal colouring in their eyes.

A spokesman for the Deer Commission for Scotland said: "White red deer are rare, but not unheard of."

IT'LL BE ALL WHITE ON THE NIGHT

WHITE deer are potent figures in the mythology of many cultures and it is said to be very bad luck to kill one.

The Celts considered them to be messengers from the other world. They are closely identified with unicorns and their appearance is said to herald some profound change in the lives of those who encounter them.

In the Chronicles of Narnia, the White Stag is fabled to grant wishes to whoever catches him. There is a Scottish dance called The White Stag of Arran and, according to local tradition, a white stag is said to appear near Brodick Castle when one of the Hamilton chiefs dies to herald him to the other side.

Video at http://news.scotsman.com/video.aspx?VideoPath=SCOT/whitestag.wmv&VideoID=13033&ArticleID=3763034

StarDate February 10, 2008

Hydra, the water snake, slithers across the south tonight. It is so big that it takes more than seven hours for the whole snake to rise. The stars that mark its head rise in late afternoon, while its tail won't clear the southeastern horizon until after midnight.

Free Will

Destined To Cheat? New Research Finds Free Will Can Keep Us Honest

ScienceDaily (Feb. 1, 2008) — With the start of the New Year millions of Americans have resolved to lie less, cheat less, put the holiday hangovers behind them, or otherwise better their lives. Some will moderate their bad habits; others may make significant changes and become shining examples of integrity. But most of those well-intended New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail. In an age where cheating scandals plague elite universities and major corporations are brought down by unethical actions, the debate about the origins and nature of our decisions play into a larger debate about genetic determinism and free will.

It is well established that changing people’s sense of responsibility can change their behavior. But what would happen if people came to believe that their behavior was the inevitable product of a causal chain beyond their control -- a predetermined fate beyond the reach of free will?

Surprisingly, the link between fatalistic beliefs and unethical behavior has never been examined scientifically -- until now. In two recent experiments, psychologists Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota and Jonathan Schooler of the University of British Columbia decided to explore this knotty philosophical issue in the lab, and they figured out an innovative way to do it.

Vohs and Schooler set out to see if otherwise honest people would cheat and lie if their beliefs in free will were manipulated.

The psychologists gave college students a mathematics exam. The math problems appeared on a computer screen, and the subjects were told that a computer glitch would cause the answers to appear on the screen as well. To prevent the answers from showing up, the students had to hit the space bar as soon as the problems appeared.

In fact, the scientists were observing to see if the participants surreptitiously used the answers instead of solving the problems honestly on their own. Prior to the math test, Vohs and Schooler used a well-established method to prime the subjects' beliefs regarding free will: some of the students were taught that science disproves the notion of free will and that the illusion of free will was a mere artifact of the brain's biochemistry whereas others got no such indoctrination.

The results were clear: those with weaker convictions about their power to control their own destiny were more apt to cheat when given the opportunity as compared to those whose beliefs about controlling their own lives were left untouched.

Vohs and Schooler then went a step further to see if they could get people to cheat with unmistakable intention and effort. In a second study, the experimenters set up a different deception: they had the subjects take a very difficult cognitive test. Then, the subjects solved a series of problems without supervision and scored themselves. They also "rewarded" themselves $1 for each correct answer; in order to collect, they had to walk across the room and help themselves to money in a manila envelope.

The psychologists had previously primed the participants to have their beliefs in free will bolstered or reduced by having them read statements supporting a deterministic stance of human behavior. And the results were just as robust. As reported in the January issue of Psychological Science, this study shows that those with a stronger belief in their own free will were less apt to steal money than were those with a weakened belief.

Although the results of this study point to a significant value in believing that free will exists, it clearly raises some significant societal questions about personal beliefs and personal behavior.

Adapted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

U2

I had the following email exchange with a friend:

Dear Cindy,

It's a bit late in the game, but I have recently discovered the wonders of U2!

My brother gave me a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble for Christmas. Is there a 'Best Of' album that I should get first?

I bow to your expertise.

:)Shelley

As well you should!!!

First things first...you MUST get Joshua Tree. If you do not have it, stop reading now and go buy it!! It's a "what would you take to a desser island" type of thing. There are two Best of CD's. The first is the one you should start with...Best of 1980 - 1990...the other is Best of 1990 - 2000. Rattle and Hum is excellent, as is All that You Can't Leave Behind. One word of warning...DO NOT BUY "POP"!!! It was the mistake album! :o)

TTFN...Cindy

.......

Anyone want to add to that?

quote

"There are no unnatural or supernatural phenomena, only very large gaps in our knowledge of what is natural... We should strive to fill those gaps of ignorance."

-Astronaut, Edgar Mitchell

tip-toeing through Jung

Books by or about Carl Jung, the chief promoter of psychological alchemy, can be very heavy going because there's so much theory involved. To cut to the chase for practical, useful, and illuminating application, I heartily endorse the three that I own by Robert A. Johnson:

'WE: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love'

- Very Celtic. Examines the saga of Tristan & Iseult as a harbinger of our Western culture's ongoing confusion about what makes a lasting love relationship.

'SHE: Understanding Feminine Psychology'

- Examines a woman's inner growth through the allegory of Eros & Psyche. A real eye opener for me!

'Owning Your Own Shadow'

- How to come to terms with the bits of you that you don't want to admit are there


He has more besides. The readers' reviews at Amazon were very helpful.

a poem

Art & Alchemy

Art;
Intention made manifest through alchemy,
By unifying the higher and lower self,
Marrying seen and unseen worlds,
The impossible yielding to infinite possibilities

- Ray Lucero

A Dabbler's Alchemy

I first encountered the word 'alchemy' in the big "How and Why Wonderbook of Chemistry" that my father gave me for Christmas when I was 5. It typified all alchemists as charlatons and/or fools who left behind a lot of useful symbols and not much else.

In the last few years, having encountered the word again in its
symbolic usage by Carl Jung, I was surprised to discover that there are still practicing alchemists, replicating the detailed and often tediously complicated experiments out of pre-chemistry's deep dark
past.

Most seem to be focused on creating synthesized color suspensions that neither fade nor separate. Other's have tried another tact, investigating etheric flower remedies or aromatherapy with an eye toward the alchemical principles of balance and harmony.

For fun, and I mean STRICTLY for fun (no claims here) I came up with a schedule of herbal tea infusions that complement the color that is assigned to each day by the alchemists:

Sunday, Golden-Yellow, Lemon

Monday, White, Apple-Chamomile

Tuesday, Red, Strawberry or Celestial Seasonings Moroccan Pomegranate Red Rooibos Tea

Wednesday, Orange, Peach

Thursday, Blue, Blueberry

Friday, Green, Mint

Saturday, Purple, Blackberry

I put a teabag in a cold glass of water, wait 20 minutes, and then sip my sugar-free beverage, certain of ingesting a few anti-oxidants, and contemplating the mystery of nature, which I hope will never be completely unraveled.

StarDate February 9, 2008

The Rosette Nebula, a large cloud of interstellar gas and dust, stands almost due east of Betelgeuse, the bright orange star at the northeastern corner of Orion. Good binoculars or a telescope reveal a score of stars in a cluster at the nebula's center.

Clam 'Chowdah'

History of Manhattan Clam Chowder

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Chowder/ManhattanChowder.htm

New Yorker's insist on tomatoes in their chowder and call it Manhattan clam chowder. Cookbook writer and chef James Beard (1903-1985) described Manhattan clam chowder as: ". . . that rather horrendous soup called Manhattan clam chowder. . . resembles a vegetable soup soup that accidentally had some clams dumped into it."

Tomato-based clam chowders came about with the new-found popularity of the tomato in the mid-1800s and the large population of Italians in New York and the Portuguese fishing communities of Rhode Island. By the 1930s, this tomato version had come to be called Manhattan clam chowder.

In February 1939, a bill was introduced by Assemblyman Seeder to the Maine legislature to make it a statutory and culinary offense to put tomatoes into chowder.

(recipes for a tomato based chowder are found at the above link)

...but for the Real Thang -

Recipe: The Cliff House Clam Chowder from The Cliff House in Ogunquit, Maine

http://gonewengland.about.com/od/morerecipes/r/recclfhschowder.htm

The Cliff House Clam Chowder has been on the menu since 1872. From The Cliff House in Ogunquit, Maine. Reprinted with permission.

Serves six.
INGREDIENTS:

* 1 slice hickory-smoked bacon, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon butter
* 1 cup onion, minced
* 1 medium garlic clove, minced
* 1 teaspoon The Cliff House Spice Blend (see below)
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1 can clams (6-1/2 ounces)
* 1 cup bottled clam juice
* 1-1/2 cups Half and Half
* 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
* 2 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced

PREPARATION:
To Create The Cliff House Spice Blend, blend 4 tsps oregano, 4 tsps dried parsley, 2 tsps marjoram, 2 tsps dill, 4 tsps thyme, 4 tsps basil, 1 tsp sage, 4 tsps rosemary, 2 tsps tarragon, 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, crushing in a mortar if possible. Store in a resealable plastic bag to refrigerate.

In a heavy-bottomed, 4-pint soup kettle, sauté bacon, butter, onion, garlic and The Cliff House Spice Blend over low heat. Do not allow to brown. Drain clams and set aside, reserving the juice. Slowly stir the flour and clam juices in the sauté mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Add Half and Half and simmer 20 minutes. Add white pepper, potatoes and clams. Heat to serving temperature. Do not allow to boil, as this toughens the clams. Serve at once with crackers and warm cornbread.

Sting Writes (4th excerpt)...

(heard this song on the way home, so thought I'd add the story too...)

"In England our house is surrounded by barley fields, and in the summer it's fascinating to watch the wind moving over the shimmering surface, like waves on an ocean of gold.
There's something sexy about this sight, something primal, as if the wind were making love to the barley. Lovers have made promises here, I'm sure, their bonds strengthened by the comforting cycle of the seasons."


Fields of Gold

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in the fields of gold

So she took her love
For to gaze awhile
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in the fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold
I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in the fields of gold
We'll walk in the fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold

Sting Writes (3rd excerpt)...

"I was sitting moping under a tree in the garden, and as the sun was sinking toward the western horizon, I noticed that there was a lot of sunspot activity.
I turned to Trudie. "There's a little black spot on the sun today."
She waited expectantly, not really indulging my mood, but tolerant.
"That's my soul up there," I added gratuitously.
Trudie discreetly raised her eyes to the heavens. "There he goes again, the king of pain."


There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a little black spot on the sun today
(That`s my soul up there)
It's the same old thing as yesterday
(That`s my soul up there)
That's a black hat caught in a high tree top
(There`s my soul up there)
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop
(That`s my soul up there)

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a blue whale beached by a spring tide's ebb
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
(That`s my soul up there)

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread

King of pain

There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a black-winged gull with a broken back
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

king of pain
king of pain
king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain . . .

Sting Writes (2nd excerpt)...

"The early '80's was an uncomfortable time to be an Englishman in the west of Ireland. The IRA hunger strikes were taking place across the border, in the north, and feelings were running high. I'd spent some time in Belfast in the mid-'70's, and whenever we took a cab into town, I was told to keep my mouth shut. I looked too much like a "squadie" and my English accent sealed it.

"Invisible Sun" is a dark, brooding song about the lurking violence of those streets, patrolled by armored cars, haunted by fear and suspicion, and wounds that would take generations to heal. I'm happy that the glimmer of hope in the song's title was somewhat prophetic and pray that the sectarian violence that destroyed so many lives is well and truly over."


I dont want to spend the rest of my life
Looking at the barrel of an armalite
I dont want to spend the rest of my days
Keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say
I dont want to spend my time in hell
Looking at the walls of a prison cell
I dont ever want to play the part
Of a statistic on a government chart

There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole days done

Its dark all day and it glows all night
Factory smoke and acetylene light
I face the day with me head caved in
Looking like something that the cat brought in

There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole days done

And theyre only going to change this place
By killing everybody in the human race
They would kill me for a cigarette
But I dont even wanna die just yet

There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole days done

Sting Writes (1st excerpt)...

"I was accosted late one night on Highgate Hill by a staggering drunk. He grabbed me by the lapels and, after tranquilizing me with his foul breath, pointed to the moon, which had swollen to its fullness, and demanded of me threateningly, "How beautiful is the moon?...How beautiful is the moon?" He repeated it as if he would kill me if I were to give the wrong answer.

"Thinking quickly and not wishing for an early toxic death, I fixed him with my eye and declaimed, "My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun." Shakespeare is always useful, I've found, for calming down violent drunks, if only because it gives them the impression that you're crazier than they are.

"A goodly answer..." he said, "a goodly answer," as he set off on a tack for Kentish Town like a listing galleon.

"Sister Moon" is a song for lunatics everywhere, for all those whose sanity is dependent on the phases of the moon."


Sister moon will be my guide
In your blue blue shadows I would hide
All good people asleep tonight
Im all by myself in your silver light
I would gaze at your face the whole night through
Id go out of my mind, but for you

Lying in a mothers arms
The primal root of a womans charms
Im a stranger to the sun
My eyes are too weak
How cold is a heart
When its warmth that he seeks?
You watch every night, you dont care what I do
Id go out of my mind, but for you
Id go out of my mind, but for you

My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun
My hunger for her explains everything Ive done
To howl at the moon the whole night through
And they really dont care if I do
Id go out of my mind, but for you

Sister Moon

Sting's book

Back in October, I got the following email notice from Barnes & Noble:

Lyrics
by Sting

Lyrics is a career-spanning collection of songs penned by the world-renowned musician and human rights activist, Sting. Featuring more than 100 songs, the book includes original commentary from Sting about his writing process, the inspiration behind the albums, and the evolution of his career as a songwriter.

List Price: $28.00 |
Member Price with
Coupon: $15.12

Before he joined The Police, he was an English teacher (about highschool level I think), and very much into Carl Jung, so his songs are literate and a probing of the inner world.

And I have the book! Yay!!

So after I'm done grazing here, I'll go explore Sting's mind until I'm too cross-eyed to stay awake.

Sting: The Police

I can't get Sting's voice out of my head!

Here are some videos by The Police...


Don't Stand So Close To Me -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXU8kCrRHJY


Roxanne -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-xsXlwYBus


Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5W2Vr6HU7s


Wrapped Around Your Finger -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRoUpDON0_0


Every Breath You Take -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnejNGprm3I

Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
Ill be watching you

Every single day
And every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
Ill be watching you

Oh, cant you see
You belong to me
Now my poor heart aches
With every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
Ill be watching you

Since youve gone, Ive been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around but its you I cant replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby please

Oh, cant you see
You belong to me
Now my poor heart aches
Every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
Ill be watching you

Every move you make
Every step you take
Ill be watching you
Ill be watching you

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
(Ill be watching you)

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
(Ill be watching you)

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
(Ill be watching you)

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
(Ill be watching you)

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
(Ill be watching you)

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night...

Cosmic Collision

Gas 'Finger' Points To Galaxies' Future

ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2008) — Like a fork piercing a fried egg, a giant finger of hydrogen gas is poking through our Milky Way Galaxy from outside, astronomers using CSIRO radio telescopes at Parkes and Narrabri have found.

The location of the intrusion may give a crucial clue to the fate of the little galaxies the gas flows from, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

"We're thrilled because we can determine exactly where this gas is ploughing into the Milky Way -- it's usually extremely hard to get distances to such gas features," said the research team leader, Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths of CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility.

The gas finger, called HVC306-2+230, is running into the starry disk of our Galaxy about 70 thousand light-years (21kpc) away from us. On the sky, the point of contact is near the Southern Cross.

The finger is the pointy end of the so-called Leading Arm of gas that streams ahead of the Magellanic Clouds towards the Milky Way.

Until last year, astronomers generally thought that the Magellanic Clouds had orbited our Galaxy many times, and were doomed to be ripped apart and swallowed by their gravitational overlord.

But then new Hubble Space Telescope measurements showed the Clouds were moving much faster than previously thought. In turn, this implied that the Clouds are paying our Galaxy a one-time visit rather than being its long-term companions.

Knowing where the Leading Arm is crossing the Galactic Disk may help astronomers to predict where the Clouds themselves will go in future.

"We think the Leading Arm is a tidal feature, gas pulled out of the Magellanic Clouds by the Milky Way's gravity," said Dr McClure-Griffiths.

"Where this gas goes, we'd expect the Clouds to follow, at least approximately."

The team's measurement of where the Leading Arm intrudes into the Milky Way is more in line with the models that assume the Magellanic Clouds have been orbiting our Galaxy than with the models that have the Clouds just passing by.

Dr McClure-Griffiths cautions that this is not the final word on the subject, saying that the latter models were far from ruled out.

But the new result suggests that the Magellanic Clouds will eventually merge with the Milky Way, rather than zooming past.

StarDate February 5, 2008

Monoceros, the unicorn, gallops high across the south in mid-evening. It is a faint constellation that resembles the letter W, with the western side of the W stretched out a bit. Monoceros is east of Orion, between the bright "dog" stars, Sirius and Procyon.

an excerpt

the last 8 lines from Walt Whitman's, 'Passage To India'


Sail forth—steer for the deep waters only,
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou
....with me,
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared
....to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

O my brave soul!
O farther farther sail!
O daring joy, but safe! are they not all
....the seas of God?
O farther, farther, farther sail!

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Escape at Bedtime

The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,
Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
And the star of the sailor, and Mars,
These shown in the sky, and the pail by the wall
Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
And the stars going round in my head.

StarDate February 4, 2008

Bright orange Mars is high in the east at nightfall, near El Nath, a star that represents the tip of one of the horns of Taurus, the bull. This region of the sky is opposite the center of the Milky Way galaxy, so it provides a view toward intergalactic space.

Babes With Blades

I remember Dawn Alden when she was a gangly 14-year-old singing 'The Hills Are Alive' in a nun's kerchief in Jr. High. I also remember the former boyfriend who nicknamed her Samson (good riddance). The years have been good to her, no question about it.

http://stage-directions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=632&Itemid=39

Women Warriors
Written by John Bliss
Jan 31, 2008

Babes With Blades KICK BUTT and take names

It’s a frosty Sunday morning in December. But inside the Chase Park field house in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, the air is charged. A handful of women in their 20s and 30s, dressed in everything from workout garb to sweats, are swinging rapiers and thrusting daggers. “Never cheat on the duck!” a young blonde, her hair tied back, calls out to one of the others. What’s going on here? It’s just a normal workout session for Babes With Blades.

Babes With Blades is Chicago’s — and probably the nation’s — premier all-female stage combat theatre company. Sam Alden — “Sam” is short for Samson, a nickname bestowed upon her by a former boyfriend — founded the company in 1997, in response to the lack of opportunities for women trained in stage combat. She moved to Chicago after receiving her MFA because she heard it was a great fight town. What she discovered was that while she had plenty of chances to choreograph, the roles for women fighters were slim. She explains, “I had the wrong equipment.”

Alden met other women actors who had the same experience. The group decided to stage a two-day showcase production, to show local casting directors and artistic directors what they were missing. Notices went out to the papers, and the two shows quickly sold out. After an additional two performances also sold out, the women realized, “Hey, we may have something here.”
That fall, the group staged its first show titled “Babes With Blades.” As with the showcase, the show was a series of fights connected by a common theme. “It was a way to provide the maximum number of women the most opportunities to both perform and choreograph,” says Alden. The show ran for 10 weeks and was a hit. The company, also called Babes With Blades, was born.

Subversive Weaponry
In a sense, the very name of the company is subversive. It conjures up the only situations in which female actors once were allowed to come to blows: “fur bikinis and barmaids get angry.” Artistic Director Stephanie Repin says that when she first heard the name, “I thought it was beneath me. I thought, ‘I’m very serious, and I want to be taken seriously.’ Now, I realize we can be serious about our work without taking ourselves too seriously.” Amy Harmon, the company’s managing director, adds, “The humor with which we work is part of our success.” While there is a political aspect to the work, it never has to be overt because the company is political by its nature. “What we do is the statement,” says Alden. “We don’t need to make a statement.”

In a greater sense, the company is just a group of women actors working with tools their male counterparts have had at their disposal for years. Alden speaks of how working with stage combat has helped her unleash her “inner badass.”

“Growing up as a woman, I was not taught how to handle anger or conflict. In doing stage combat, you learn to wear those feelings comfortably. You’re not scared of them — you know how to work when they are upon you. Now, I can use that in my acting — I have more colors in my palette. When you only play passive roles, you don’t get to experience all of the emotions and all of the actions and all of the choices that are in you. Having been a warrior, I make different choices in my acting. They’re more interesting, they’re more exciting, and they’re definitely more active.”

Repin agrees. “Once you start doing stage combat, you build a confidence in yourself as a person. I walk differently now. I couldn’t throw a punch to hurt someone, but I look like I could. It’s an amazing tool to increase your confidence.”

Despite their experience, the Babes still find they struggle to be accepted by male fighters. Repin speaks of being treated at stage combat workshops as a “little sister.” Or worse. “Men will look at me — literally look me up and down — and then find another partner.” Alden blames it on “misguided chivalry.” “I’ve been in workshops where my male partner didn’t want to do moves with me because he didn’t want to hurt me. Or a man with far less experience than I will try to show me how to do things. They assume that because I’m a woman, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Full-length Battle Royale
In recent years, Babes With Blades has moved away from the showcase style of their earlier pro-ductions, and toward more fully scripted plays. As Alden observes, “You care about the outcome of a fight in direct relation to how much you care about the characters who are fighting.” And as the Babes are actors first and warriors second, the progression to full-length productions was natural.

Since scripts with fighting roles for women are scarce, the company decided to develop their own. In 2005, they launched an international playwriting competition called Joining Sword & Pen. Writers are asked to create a script based on a piece of art. The only requirements are that the work must feature women in lead roles and that the fight scene pictured in the painting must appear in the play. The first competition, based on Emile Bayard’s “An Affair of Honor,” netted two one-act winners, one drama and one comedy. This spring, the company will produce Los Desaparecidos, inspired by “Duelo de Mujeres” (The Duel of Women), a painting by José Ribera.

The company has begun a new play development program as well. Each year, two scripts go through a nine-month gestation process, which includes three workshop productions. Last sea-son’s Girl in the Iron Mask — a reworking of the Dumas novel — was written by a graduate of this program.

Over the past 10 years, the company has single handedly created close to 100 new scripts with fighting roles for women. They are now working to make these plays available to women around the world, so that their mission of expanding opportunities for women in stage combat is not limited to Chicago.

Repin says, “If I wasn’t still geeked about it after 20 years, I wouldn’t be doing it. The bones creak, I’ve got carpal tunnel in both of my wrists and arthritis in my knees. I take care of it as best I can so I can keep doing it. I plan to be the 80-year-old sword-fighting woman.”

“When we did the first showcases,” adds Alden, “we would walk down the sidewalk feeling like gods. We were doing this amazing thing we always wanted to do. It made us feel like there was nothing we couldn’t do. I want women to leave our performance with that feeling — with that sense of ‘I can.’ And I want men to leave with that same sense — that women can.”

http://www.babeswithblades.org/DawnAlden.htm

StarDate February 3, 2008

Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon line up low in the southeast at dawn. The Moon is to the right of the bright planets on the 3rd and below them on the 4th.

The Moon stages a beautiful encounter with Venus and Jupiter at dawn tomorrow. They are quite low in the southeast at first light. Both planets are just above the Moon. Venus is the brighter of the two and is a little closer to the Moon.

StarDate February 2, 2008

The planets Venus and Jupiter blaze quite low in the dawn sky tomorrow. They are side by side, just a few degrees apart, with the crescent Moon close by. Venus and Jupiter are the brightest pinpoints of light in the night sky, with Venus a good bit brighter.

http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly.php

Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury

February 1, 2008
Some of the brightest stars in the night sky form the Winter Circle, which fills much of the southern sky this evening. The circle's hub is bright orange Betelgeuse in Orion, the hunter. Seven other bright stars encircle Betelgeuse. Venus and Jupiter, the brightest objects in the night sky after the Moon, are low in the southeast at first light. Venus is brighter, with Jupiter to its lower right. The star Antares stands to the left of the Moon.

Mystery of Mercury: The Shrinking Planet

(Mercury image) http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/31/mercury.jpg

Images from the never-before-seen side of Mercury reveal that Mercury is a lot more exciting that we ever knew. Mercury has always been a bit of an oddball as the only planet in the Solar System that does not follow a basically circular orbit. Although, it does have one other oddball to commiserate with. Earth and Mercury are the only two planets in the Solar System to have a magnetosphere.

Now new images revealed that the planet is shrinking, covered in volcanic scars and sporting an unusual "birthmark". A huge spider shape is fascinating scientists and causing speculation and some debate.

The spider shape captured is "unlike anything we've seen anywhere in the solar system," said mission chief scientist Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The image reveals what appears to be some kind of large crater with "legs" radiating out from it.

It is as if "something is pushed up," said MIT planetary scientist Maria Zuber.

The new photos also reveal that Mercury is more colorful then we knew. NASA high-tech enhancement techniques revealed delicate colors. Mercury also had a firey past in the form of heavy volcanic activity. We used to think that Mercury was just a bigger version of our Moon, until these photos revealed more intimate details of the planet's past.

"It has very subtle red and blue areas," said instrument scientist Louise Prockter of Johns Hopkins University, which runs the Messenger mission for NASA. "Mercury doesn't look like the moon."

Planetary scientist Robert Strom, who was part of both the Mariner 10 and Messenger teams, said, "This is a whole new planet we're looking at."

And Prockter noted "there are some features we haven't been able to explain yet."

Mercury is shrinking. As the planet contracts, bits of crust are pushed over another, forming what Prockter calls "wrinkle ridges." As the core of Mercury cools, it contracts and the whole planet becomes smaller. It was once believed that this could also be why Earth has mountains, but the idea was later proven to be wrong in regards to Earth. However, the theory does appear to hold true for Mercury, Solomon said.

Remnants of past volcanoes are scattered across the landscape, and at least one crater seems to be filled with Mercury own version of lava, Prockter said.

NASA launched Messenger on the 5 billion-mile mission in 2004. It will now fly by Mercury two more times this coming October and September 2009. Messenger will take more pictures, measure the planet's atmosphere, and its unusual magnetic field.

Strom, a retired University of Arizona scientist who worked on Mariner 10, said that as he awaited Messenger's flyby earlier this month, "I couldn't sleep at all. I was like a kid on Christmas Eve."

Only he had to wait 30 years for his presents. It was worth it, he said: "What I saw was astounding to me."

Posted by Rebecca Sato

Source:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080131/D8UGKM000.html