Once in a Blue Moon

August 31, 2012 Carl Milner 4 Comments

Well skywatchers, tonight (Friday the 31st of August 2012) is that very rare occasion marking the second full moon of August (the previous one occurred on August the 2nd, previous shown on MilnersBlog). It’s so rare, you won’t be able to see two full moons in a calendar month again until July 2015, which is the reason why the phrase ‘Once in a Blue Moon’ appears.
Alas, if you’re hoping to see a “blue moon” you won’t…it isn’t really blue, as my colourised image suggests. The only way a moon can appear somewhat blue is if there’s been a major volcanic eruption that throws up tons of particles in the air, but otherwise the phrase “blue moon” is quite a creature of folklore, with so many claiming its origins, but research has found as the earliest recorded English true usage of the term “blue moon” was in a 1524 pamphlet violently attacking the English clergy, entitled “Rede Me and Be Not Wrothe” (“Read me and be not angry”; or possibly “Counsel Me and Be Not Angry”: “If they say the moon is belewe / We must believe that it is true” [If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true].

Tonight’s Blue Moon will be unique for another truly beautiful reason: It will shine over the private memorial service for astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. He died last Saturday, August 25, at age 82. His family “has suggested paying tribute to him by looking at the moon and giving the astronaut a wink.” I already did my own tribute to his families ‘Wink at the Moon‘ for Neil idea in my last post on MilnersBlog.

UPDATE!!!

Blue Moon images now on @NASAGoddard’s Flickr Page …Click here

Photography

Wink at the Moon

August 26, 2012 Carl Milner 1 Comment

“For those who may ask what they can do to honour Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Family of Neil Armstrong

Wink at the Moon for Neil Armstrong | Leeds Moon 26th August 2012

NASA

One Small Step for Heaven

August 26, 2012 Carl Milner Leave a comment

It’s so sad to see that Neil Armstrong passed away this weekend on Saturday August 25th at the grand old age of 82, the very same age as the other inspirational guy in my life Ralph McQuarrie passed away this year. I couldn’t have found out about Neil’s death in a more fitting way either, a friend in Houston Texas (whose father worked with the Moon rocks Neil brought back to Earth) broke the news to me.

They are so many fitting tributes about Neil over the media at the minute, even a great one from President Barack Obama, but the most beautiful and moving statements regarding this truly sad passing came from his family and his ‘other’ family …The NASA Family

“For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Family of Neil Armstrong

NASA Statement on Neil Armstrong’s passing:

“On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Carol and the rest of the Armstrong family on the passing of Neil Armstrong. As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind’s first small step on a world beyond our own.

“Besides being one of America’s greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted without reservation.

“As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero.”

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden

RIP Neil Armstrong : 1930 – 2012 …My true inspiration

Photography

Human Camera

August 25, 2012 Carl Milner 1 Comment

Luke Evans’ body with slide film inside

I’ve a few experimental photography projects in the pipeline, but this must go down as one of the oddest and original ones I’ve seen: two Kingston students Luke Evans & Josh Lake created human photograms by swallowing 35mm film, expelling it, and recording the results. For their final Uni project they “wanted to bring our insides out” they say. “So we ate 35mm photographic film slides and let our bodies do the rest. When they both ‘expelled’ it in the dark, fixed the silver and then scanned the pieces using an electron microscope in order to record the traces their bodies had left on the film’s surface. As you can see the results are quite outstanding.

One of the final images created by Josh Lake’s insides

Art

Star Wars Saul Bass Style

August 25, 2012 Carl Milner Leave a comment

You can’t beat Saul Bass for his minimalistic style of graphic design, he designed some of the most iconic corporate logos in North America, including the AT&T and American Airlines, but Bass’s most innovative work came from his title sequence design for movie’s like North by Northwest, Psycho and Casino. Inspired by this, Pink Vader has created these Saul Bass inspired Star Wars posters, that have to be some of the coolest that I have seen, I would order the Boba Fett poster if I had to choose one…Which is your favorite?