Some Rather Nice Snapshots

Are you in the mood to be flabbergasted, stunned, flummoxed, astounded, and made to feel absolutely minute? Well, then, I have something for you. One of my friends introduced me to Astronomy Picture of the Day yesterday, so I pass it on. Note that the tab on the bottom of the page will take you to the archives, so you don't have to wait until tomorrow to further your exploration of the universe. A good many of the photos are, like today's shot, impossibly wonderful vistas that you just don't run across in your usual terrestrial wanderings, but there are some equally amazing ones that include the earth in the picture as well. This one was unexpected, and quite clever--it looks like something that should have appeared, in gold leaf, of course, in the margin of a Book of Hours.

Of All Sad Words. . .

Here is a photo from the past weekend in Long Beach that might have been something grand. You will note, it encompasses not only the UCR Pipe Band (Grade IV champions), but the Queen Mary, some impressively inclement weather, and, faintest of all, a rainbow running through the middle of everything. At the time, I was only sorry that I couldn't find a decent angle for a clean shot at the ship, the band and the rainbow, all at one go. On seeing the results here, however, I am much sorrier that I never followed the rainbow's end to its logical conclusion. That must have been some kind of beer!

Hot Club of. . .Bluegrass?

I know, I know--this constant dependence on videos is a rather sorry state of things. I will write something one of these days (whether that counts as a promise, or a threat, I don't know). In the meantime (once again), here is a rather above-average jam.

Relativity and Baroque Music

The local Classical Station has recently started broadcasting Sunday Baroque, which, though I've never yet managed to catch it in its entirity, or anything even remotely near its entirity, I consider a huge treat. This past Sunday the airwaves were exquisitely alive with a piece called "Folies d' Espagne," by a group called the Palladian Ensemble. If you go to their record label's website, you can hear a tiny clip of the piece, the very last selection on the CD. There are several other impressive versions to be heard on YouTube, my favourite, so far, being the one below, a solo by flutist Mario Caroli, but having heard the Palladian Ensemble's arrangement first, I miss the lively interplay between the recorder and the viola da gamba.



Now, veering off in an entirely different direction, here is a very intriguing article that is only related because the link was posted on Sunday Baroque's Facebook page. . .and it does mention Bach a couple of times--and the Theory of Relativity a couple of times. It's about Einstein's musical side, which was considerable.