BS: Blue Moon this weekend

Subject: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 07:31 PM

I received the following from by bruv, Freereeder, today, and it seems worthy of airing.

This Saturday (31 July) is a special day --- because it's a blue moon.

It's a relatively rare event that we get two full moons in one calendar month, ie: thirteen full moons in a Gregorian calendar year. That's because the lunar month is 28 days and the calendar month varies between 28 and 31 days.

Where this occurs, the second full moon of the month is called a blue moon. Whether this is actually the origin of the phrase once-in-a-blue-moon is, surprisingly perhaps, a matter of some debate.

The last f/m was on Friday July 2nd, so this Saturday we have a blue moon.

I thought everyone should know about this!

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 03:47 AM

I shall be out to check the colour! Do you know, the Chinese don't have the Man in the Moon, they have the Rabbit in the Moon? Check t out on Saturday: you'll spot the ears easily enough, althugh you might have a bit of trouble identifying the other bits.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 04:00 AM

I promise to remember, and stand outside singing the appropriate song for the occasion.

Thanks!

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 05:49 AM

So what is the appropriate song then? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: kendall
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 07:03 AM

Blue Moon of Kentucky

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 07:10 AM

It's here in NZ' and we are going to have a thumping frost - Sam

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 07:18 AM

Thanks Kendall..that's the one!


..xx..e

(Though I guess I could also do "Blue Moon"...I'll wait to see if the cats start howling after the first one!)

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 08:14 AM

Bomp-Ba-Ba-Bomp Ba-Bomp-Ba-Ba-Bomp Bomp-Ba-Ba-Bomp A-Ding-A-Dang-Ding
:0)

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: PoppaGator
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 04:59 PM

That's right, Strollin' Johnny -- the Marcells!!

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 06:43 PM

Funny, I was singing that only last week..... whilst wearing a purple shiny skirt and stockings, with proper court shoes..... and that only happens once in a blue moon! Limpit ran screaming upstairs declaring she wanted her real mummy back!!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Mudlark
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 09:08 PM

Well, last night's nearly full blue moon was still silver and astonishingly beautiful as it came up over the hills that rim this valley, brilliant in the still blue sky.

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: JennyO
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 11:58 PM

Bloooooooohhhhooooooooooooooooo mooooooooooooooooooooooon
you saw me standing alooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnne
without a dream in my hearrrrrrrrt
without a lurvvve of my owwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnn
wah wah wah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Blackcatter
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 01:28 AM

Here's some information that shall explain what is meant by "blue" moon:

Calling the second full moon in a month a blue moon is a realtively new thing.

An older definition for the blue moon is recorded in early issues of the Maine Farmer's Almanac. According to this definition, the blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Why would one want to identify the third full moon in a season of four full moons? The answer is complex, and has to do with the Christian ecclesiastical calendar.

Some years have an extra full moon—thirteen instead of twelve. Since the identity of the moons was important in the ecclesiastical calendar (the Paschal Moon, for example, used to be crucial for determining the date of Easter), a year with a thirteenth moon skewed the calendar, since there were names for only twelve moons. By identifying the extra, thirteenth moon as a blue moon, the ecclesiastical calendar was able to stay on track.

"Blue moon" appears to have been a colloquial expression long before it developed its calendrical senses. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first reference to a blue moon comes from a proverb recorded in 1528:

    If they say the moon is blue,
    We must believe that it is true.

Saying the moon was blue was equivalent to saying the moon was made of green (or cream) cheese; it indicated an obvious absurdity. In the 19th century, the phrase "until a blue moon" developed, meaning "never." Like the common phrase "Whe pigs fly." The phrase, "once in a blue moon" today has come to mean "every now and then" or "rarely" — whether it gained that meaning through association with the lunar event remains uncertain.

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:40 AM

Well if the second full moon in a month is called a blue moon...tonight is the first full moon of august....so the blue moon will be around the 28th/29th August!

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:42 AM

sorry got dates mixed up! In the forest tonight so I hope i can see it through the trees!!

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Mr Red
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 08:48 AM

Yes we get this explanation occasionally and once in a blue moon I hear the one about forest fires in Columbia sending particles into the upper atmosphere and colouring the moon.

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: M.Ted
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 09:33 AM

For the interesting and highly entertaining lowdown on this, check this: Folklore of the Blue Moon

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 10:39 AM

I heard the one about Krakatoa's eruption leaving particles in the atmosphere, colouring the moon and sunsets.

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: JennyO
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 02:27 PM

There was an amazing wide ring around the moon tonight. For a long way out, the sky was clear, then there was a noticeable cloudy ring - not your usual ring, but much further out than usual. Someone said they thought it had something to do with ice crystals. Whatever it was, it was a rare sight - all of which I'm sure has nothing to do with whether it is a "blue moon" or not.

Still, it was good for another chorus of.......

Bluuuuuuuuueeeeehooooooooooo moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon
You saw me standing alooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnneeeeee
Without a dreeeeeeeem in my hhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt
Without a love of my oowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: open mike
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:01 PM

nanci griffith's signature song....
"I found your letter in my mailbox today
you were just checkin if i was o.k.
....
Just once in a very boue moon and i feel one coming on soon..."

other tunes i plan to sing at my gig tonight...
Bad Moon risin'
Coyote--the k.d. lang song that has howling in it!
NIght rider's lament where they read by the light of the moon and yodel
others??
for more info about blue moons see this link:
http://spaceweather.com/
and this one too:
http://science.nasa.gov/

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Mr Red
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 02:02 PM

JennyO - the blue moon was clear in the UK (or did I just clean my specs? **BG** )

What is not as well known is the the rods and cones in one's eye work better at different light levels and, in moonlight, in the blue end of the spectrum it the eye more sensitive. So any discolourisation tends to have a more blue in it. Even if the brain can do a good job of compensating.

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 10:27 PM

The first place I go online daily--here is yesterday's blue moon photo:

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 12:37 AM

That is an incredible picture!

Didn't look anything like that Saturday night, but I was as tired and emotional as it is possible to get and still remain upright.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Blue Moon this weekend
From: GUEST,Dáithí mag Fhionnaín
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 07:46 AM

Happy Lammas/lughnasash, CatsPhiddle!