Check out today's Google doodle. In celebration of the 151st birthday of composer Claude Debussy, Google put up this charming animated doodle and included the music of Debussy's classic piano piece, Clair de Lune (Moonlight).
Except that it cuts off the piece right before one of the nicest passages, below is a very nice little video giving a bit of information about Debussy and the musical composition.
For a little more biographical information about Debussy, check out this article in The Guardian.
Around 11:00 PM tonight, the show of the summer begins! Skygazers will be treated to the annual show of shooting stars from the Perseids meteor shower.
The name "Perseids" is derived from the fact that the annual celestial show appears to originate from the part of the night sky occupied by the constellation Perseus. This constellation appears in the northern sky - look to the northeast if you are in North America.
The Perseids meteor shower is caused by a collision of the earth's atmosphere with debris leftover from a comet. As the earth crosses the orbital path of the Swift-Tuttle comet each August, it blasts through the comet's debris field, and little pieces of that debris burn up in our planet's atmosphere, causing the "shooting stars" which delight stargazers every summer.
The constellation Perseus
If you are lucky enough to be at a distance from city lights, and can sit out under the stars between 11:00 PM tonight and dawn tomorrow morning, just do it! You won't be disappointed. The show gets better as the pre-dawn hours approach, due to the tilt of the earth. If you can't stay up late, set your alarm clock and get out there before sunrise tomorrow morning.
At it's peak (tonight and tomorrow) the Perseids can produce more than one shooting star a minute - 90-100 per hour. It is going to be quite a show!
ENJOY!!
If you cannot get away from city lights, please take a moment to enjoy this wonderful video produced by stargazer Henry Jun Wah Lee at Joshua Tree National Park, August 10-15, 2010.
For your Monday Music entertainment - Cyndi Lauper!
Girls Just Want To Have Fun
I come home in the mornin' light
My mother says, "When you gonna live your life right"
"Oh Mommy dear, we're not the fortunate ones
And girls, they wanna have fun
Woah girls, just wanna have fun"
The phone rings in the middle of the night
My father yells, "Whatcha gonna do with your life?"
"Oh Daddy dear, you know your still number one
But girls they wanna have fun
Oh girls, just wanna have"
Thats all they really want
Some fun
When the workin' day is done
Oh girls they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have fun
(Girls they wanna)
(Wanna have fun now)
(Wanna have)
Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun
Oh girls they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have
Thats all they really want
Some fun
When the workin' day is done
Oh girls they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have fun
(Girls they wanna)
(Wanna have fun now)
(Wanna have)
They just wanna, they just wanna
(Girls, girls just wanna have fun)
They just wanna, they just wanna have fun
Girls just wanna have fun
(They just wanna, they just wanna)
They just wanna, they just wanna
They just wanna, they just wanna have fun
(Girls, girls just wanna have fun)
Girls just wanna have fun
When the workin'
When the workin' day is done
Oh when the workin' day is done
Oh girls, girls just wanna have fun
They just wanna, they just wanna
They just wanna, they just wanna
Oh girls, girls just wanna have fun
(They just wanna, they just wanna)
When the workin'
(They just wanna, they just wanna)
When the workin' day is done
(Girls, girls just wanna have fun)
When the working day is done
Oh girl, girls just wanna have fun
During the summer months, posting will be light - I plan to repost some golden oldies - but today, in the middle of this over-heated season, I want to share a much-needed tonic with you all.
These are challenging times. Life is challenging. From time to time, we all could use a tonic.
This video is one of my offerings for tonic for the human mind, soul and body. Enjoy!
