19/12/06

The Winter Solstice and Seasonal

The winter solstice is upon us, marking the beginning of winter. It's the day when the Sun's setting position along the horizon stops changing. Solstice means "sun stop." Ancient peoples observed the position of sunset with care to be able to determine both the winter and summer solstices as a way of keeping time, making calendars. Stonehenge in England is just such an observatory. Solstice celebrations marked the rebirth of the Sun in Roman and other ancient cultures. Today, we also hold celebrations in December, and some traditions from ancient solstice celebrations remain. Decorated trees, Yule logs, mistletoe, and communal celebrations date back thousands of years as people observed the Winter Solstice. As the holidays approach, the weather chills (here in the northern climes), and people remark upon the seasons. "Brrrrr ... sure is cold. Must be because we are farther from the Sun in the winter." Wrong, the notion that our distance from the Sun determines the seasons is a widespread, common misconception about the Earth and its relationship to our star. As reasoning creatures, many of us compare the temperature variation through the seasons from long, hot days of summer to cold short days of winter with the experience of standing next to a fire. It's hotter close up, and cooler at a distance. But this common sense notion is not the cause of the seasons.
It is true that the Earth's distance from the Sun actually does vary during a year--but it is not enough to drive the seasons. The Earth's orbit is an ellipse with the Sun sitting at one foci. The closest approach of the Earth to the Sun is called perihelion, and happens on January 4, 2003 about two weeks after the winter solstice. Aphelion occurs when Earth is farthest from the Sun, and will happen on July 4, 2003, a couple of weeks after the summer solstice. The difference in distance? About 3 million miles, or about 3% of Earth’s total distance from the Sun, not nearly enough to explain the temperature difference between a cold day in January vs. a hot day July.
So, if it's not the distance, then what? It's the amount (in hours) and concentration (in watts per area) of light/energy striking the surface. That is determined by tilt of Earth's axis and its location in its orbit around the Sun. The Earth is tilted 23 degrees 27 minutes off perpendicular to its orbit. So as it spins (causing day and night) and orbits, the North-South axis points gradually away from (winter) and toward (summer) the Sun. This determines how many hours of daylight and darkness each of us receive at different seasons. Here, in the Northern Hemisphere, as we approach the Winter Solstice, the daylight hours are short and the weather is cold. Earth's North-South axis is pointed away from the Sun (from our perspective), and the Sun rises late, travels a low path across the sky, and sets early. The average energy per square foot per day is low compared with our northern summers.
It's not winter over the entire planet. If you travel down under to, say Australia, on the same date, it's the hot season in December. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the hottest weather for the people of Australia, Africa and South America. The "Winter Solstice" is the "longest day of the year" in Australia at the same time it is the "shortest day of the year" in the USA, Europe and other northern sites. So, as you celebrate a cold, and perhaps snowy holiday season, remember that when the Aussie's sing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" they're headed to bright white sandy beaches to celebrate the beginning of a long hot season.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

10/12/06

Zardoz (1974)
Director: John Boorman


It's the year 2293. Zed (Sean Connery) is an exterminator, whose role it is to cull the population of brutals, primitive humans. He and the other exterminators receive orders from their god, Zardoz. This is a flying stone head, which makes pronouncements like "The gun is good, the penis is evil" and provides the exterminators with all the ammunition they need. One day, Zed stows away inside Zardoz and finds himself inside the Vortex, in the land of the eternals. The eternals are immortal, so reproduction is no longer required. As a result, women dominate and men are impotent, and the eternals' culture has settled into a lazy, bored decadence. May (Sara Kestleman), a scientist, wants to keep Zed for testing, and soon finds herself attracted to him - much to the disgust of Consuella (Charlotte Rampling), who wants to have Zed killed...
Made on a very low budget on attractive locations (mostly around Boorman's home in County Wicklow), Zardoz doesn't always make a lot of sense. This isn't helped by a story construction that withholds vital information for about half the running time, and a frequently obscure second half. It's certainly not as profound as it thinks it is, portentous dialogue and allusions to Nietzche and T.S. Eliot notwithstanding, and The Wizard Of Oz... hence the title. But what it has in its favour is Boorman's visual flair (helped by Geoffrey Unsworth's scope camerawork) and willingness to take risks. When it doesn't work, which is often, it falls flat on its face. But you do have to admire Boorman's nerve, and you can't help liking the end result.
Zardoz flopped badly on its original release, but has since picked up a considerable cult following. Perhaps in recognition of this, Fox have put together an excellent DVD (encoded for both Regions 2 and 4). The disc has an anamorphic picture in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with the soundtrack remixed from mono to Dolby digital 3.0 with extras: director's commentary, a very psychedelic trailer, a stills gallery, four radio spots.


MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler


(Brexians lair)

6/12/06



το ανοιξαμε και παλι το μαγαζι





MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

2/12/06

χωρις λογια






















MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(
Brexians lair)