8:14 AM CST 12-19-11 (14:14 UT). 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, LG VX8360 cell phone camera. Click for larger view. Today, December 19, 2011, is the tenth anniversary of the USA film release of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I love the original books by J.R.R. Tolkien, and [...]
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Waning crescent Moon December 19, 2011; Symphonic 10th Anniversary Tribute to “Fellowship of the Ring”
Posted in Astronomy, Astrophotography, LG VX8360 cell phone camera, Lord of the Rings, Moon photos, Music, Music I like on December 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Waxing crescent moon December 1/2, 2011, with bonus “Sleigh Ride” by Amy Grant
Posted in Astronomy, Astrophotography, Christmas, LG VX8360 cell phone camera, Moon photos, Music, Music I like on December 2, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The skies cleared up after all! 8:05 PM CST 12-1-11 (2:05 UT 12-2-11), 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece. Below, 8:07 PM CST with the 17mm eyepiece. Just north of Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity), craters Eudoxus (smaller) and Aristoteles (larger) are now in sunlight, though parts of their interiors are still shadowed. LG VX8360 cell [...]
On being a small part of something big and excellent
Posted in Christmas, Devotional Articles, Music, Music I like on November 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Below: The Concordia Choir performs Eric Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque (“Light and Gold” in Latin) at the 2005 Christmas Concert of my alma mater, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota My college and others like it are preparing now for this year’s Christmas concerts, and I love seeing and hearing each new group of young people participating in [...]
Duckprints in the snow, with bonus Yellow Submarine
Posted in Birds, Humor, Music, Music I like, Pets, Wildlife on November 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
About 2:30 PM November 21, 2011: Our first lingering snow of the season has fallen, but a nearby warm water discharge keeps ducks and geese in the neighborhood all winter. Pluto investigates signs of webbed-feet activity. To my eye these duck footprints in the snow are creating a multistable perception effect. How about for you? [...]
Sunrise-Creation Waits, by John Michael Talbot; Jupiter October 22, 2011
Posted in Astronomy, Astrophotography, Jupiter photos, LG VX8360 cell phone camera, Music, Music I like on October 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Left to Right: Ganymede, Io, Callisto, Jupiter, Europa. 6:05 AM CDT 10-22-11 (11:05 UTC), 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, LG VX8360 cell phone camera.
Songs with odd lyrics: “Three Wooden Crosses”
Posted in Music, Music I like, Songs with odd lyrics on October 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I like this song … … but it seems to me that if you just turn around and head the other direction, the three wooden crosses will be on the left side!
Nearly Full Moon October 11, 2011; J.M. Talbot’s “Pleiades and Orion”
Posted in Astronomy, Astrophotography, Moon photos, Moon's orientation, Music, The Bible on October 11, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The Pleiades and Orion are a glorious part of the predawn sky in October. Here’s some beautiful music to go with them: The nearly full Moon shone dramatically and majestically in the western sky this morning: 5:45 AM CDT October 11, 2011 (10:45 UTC). 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, LG VX8360 cell phone camera. Click [...]
Like a rolling, rhyming stone (an ultra-brief defense of rhyme in poetry)
Posted in Music on October 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I’ve heard it claimed that rhyme is a hindrance in poetry, getting in the way of communicating the point. I suppose that can happen, but I’d like to cite the unique, powerful rhyming scheme of this classic as a counter-example, as the rhymed phrases are exactly what drives the point of the song like a [...]
Not quite ready for the rehearsal!
Posted in Christmas, Devotional Articles, Music, West Douglas County Record on December 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This article was first published in the West Douglas County Record on December 9, 2010: Once when I was in college (back in the mid-1980s!), I was enjoying a mid-morning snooze at about 9:30 on Saturday morning, when the telephone rang. I sleepily got up and answered the phone. It was my cello teacher, Dr. [...]
Blue Moon!
Posted in Astronomy, Astrophotography, Humor, Moon photos, Music on November 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »
No, the Moon doesn’t really look blue like this at any time, nor did I take this picture today! I took this picture at 4:36 AM CDT last September 22, 2010 (9:36 UTC), and this is what came out when I was playing with the “aqua” setting on my cell phone camera. The Moon was [...]
