If you're a teenager and your high school has let off for summer break, you would probably be the most ecstatic person on earth.
What's queer about summers is that, while the days seem longer, we tend to turn nocturnal.
Here I am jabbing at my keyboard at 3 in the morning(shhh!) with my headphones on and the volume turned up high.
Have you ever noticed that the epitome of a Utopian summer 'freak-out' concerns slumber parties, midnight movies, night clubs etc.
The listless couch potatoes of the morn mystically transform into the life of the party by night.
While the sun is glowering outdoors at noon, the only insane nomads of daylight are workaholics choking and retching with their stifling, horribly fluorescent ties; the rest of the world is under covers, with slumber kissed eyelids and the adrenaline pumping energy of a sloth.
Yes, we, humans are exotic creatures.
We choose to rest while the animals frisk in the glory of radiance and warm light and while they hibernate with peaceful arrogance in the bitter, biting cold months of unforgiving Winter, we are alive with esprit, up and running!
Showing posts with label The Beach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Beach. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Stonehenge Dance!
The 21st Day of June.
The longest day of the year.
Coincidentally, it is also the day la fĂȘte de la musique is celebrated in France, especially Paris, la capitale de l'Art.
Yet the celebration of the Summer Solstice is a universal phenomenon of joy and cheer as people rejoice nature's official marker of the beginning of summer.
The history of the commemoration of the Summer Solstice dates back to over 5,000 years ago when "people placed huge stones in a circle on a broad plain in what’s now England and aligned them with the June solstice sunrise".
The Stonehenge now a magnificent tourist attraction hewn in stone is a living memoir of such festivities.

"We may never comprehend the full significance of Stonehenge. But we do know that knowledge of this sort wasn’t isolated to just one part of the world. Around the same time Stonehenge was being constructed in England, two great pyramids and then the Sphinx were built on Egyptian sands. If you stood at the Sphinx on June 21 and gazed toward the two pyramids, you’d see the sun set exactly between them."
The Summer Solstice is supposed to be the longest and hottest day of the year.
"This solstice takes place on Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 5:46 Universal Time."
"The earliest humans knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year.
They built monuments, such as Stonehenge, to follow the sun’s yearly progress.
Today, we know that the solstice is an astronomical event, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis, and its motion in orbit around the sun.
Because Earth doesn’t orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth’s northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly.
At the June solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that the North Pole is leaning 23-and-a-half degrees toward the sun. As seen from Earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23-and-a-half degrees north of the equator, at an imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Cancer. This is as far north as the sun ever gets.
All locations north of the equator have day lengths greater than 12 hours at the June solstice. Meanwhile, all locations south of the equator have day lengths less than 12 hours."
Parts of this post have been taken from http://www.earthsky.org/article/49667/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-solstice-on-june-21
Hope you enjoy your longest day out!
Pack the sunscreen, get out the shades and head on out to the Stonehenge and party the day away while it lasts!


Blog Bubble: The sunrise and sunset of the Summer Solstice are one of the most beautiful spectacles that nature conjures every year. You don't won't to miss it! So set your sundials!
The longest day of the year.
Coincidentally, it is also the day la fĂȘte de la musique is celebrated in France, especially Paris, la capitale de l'Art.
Yet the celebration of the Summer Solstice is a universal phenomenon of joy and cheer as people rejoice nature's official marker of the beginning of summer.
The history of the commemoration of the Summer Solstice dates back to over 5,000 years ago when "people placed huge stones in a circle on a broad plain in what’s now England and aligned them with the June solstice sunrise".
The Stonehenge now a magnificent tourist attraction hewn in stone is a living memoir of such festivities.

"We may never comprehend the full significance of Stonehenge. But we do know that knowledge of this sort wasn’t isolated to just one part of the world. Around the same time Stonehenge was being constructed in England, two great pyramids and then the Sphinx were built on Egyptian sands. If you stood at the Sphinx on June 21 and gazed toward the two pyramids, you’d see the sun set exactly between them."
The Summer Solstice is supposed to be the longest and hottest day of the year.
"This solstice takes place on Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 5:46 Universal Time."
"The earliest humans knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year.
They built monuments, such as Stonehenge, to follow the sun’s yearly progress.
Today, we know that the solstice is an astronomical event, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis, and its motion in orbit around the sun.
Because Earth doesn’t orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth’s northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly.
At the June solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that the North Pole is leaning 23-and-a-half degrees toward the sun. As seen from Earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23-and-a-half degrees north of the equator, at an imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Cancer. This is as far north as the sun ever gets.
All locations north of the equator have day lengths greater than 12 hours at the June solstice. Meanwhile, all locations south of the equator have day lengths less than 12 hours."
Parts of this post have been taken from http://www.earthsky.org/article/49667/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-solstice-on-june-21
Hope you enjoy your longest day out!
Pack the sunscreen, get out the shades and head on out to the Stonehenge and party the day away while it lasts!


Blog Bubble: The sunrise and sunset of the Summer Solstice are one of the most beautiful spectacles that nature conjures every year. You don't won't to miss it! So set your sundials!
Labels:
The Beach,
The Research Centre
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Hot. Hotter. It's Here!
The tee-shirts and shorts are back in vogue, people strutting down the street in skimpy outfits.
There are gigantic glossy billboards advertising for air conditioners and outlet sales.
The ice cream man has sky-rocketed with his business and the money in his pocket is tinkling as much as his irksome jingle.
The community pool is crowded with swimmers and sun-bathers of all ages and sizes.
The litter at the beach is mounting in piles.
Little children sit on the sidewalk, licking their stubby fingers and Popsicles, trying in vain to ebb the growing patter of coloured drops, splattering the heated tar.
Televisions with cable are finally playing new movies instead of their exasperating re-runs of Herbie and The Little Elf who Saved Christmas.
Parasols have been set up and umbrellas have been tucked in.
Neighbours have finally taken down their Christmas lights.
Flip-flops have replaced Uggs.
The sun seems to wake you up before your alarm.
You find your curfew of sunset has become longer.
School Reports are soon due. You've been buying expensive Dolce & Gabbana perfumes for your teachers.
You can feel the glorious sunlight tingling your skin, toasting it Mediterranean brown.
Your days are carefree and you seem to have more time for your friends.
Your dog is going hyperactive.
Like the sun, the days are just Brilliant!
It's official-- It's Summer!
There are gigantic glossy billboards advertising for air conditioners and outlet sales.
The ice cream man has sky-rocketed with his business and the money in his pocket is tinkling as much as his irksome jingle.
The community pool is crowded with swimmers and sun-bathers of all ages and sizes.
The litter at the beach is mounting in piles.
Little children sit on the sidewalk, licking their stubby fingers and Popsicles, trying in vain to ebb the growing patter of coloured drops, splattering the heated tar.
Televisions with cable are finally playing new movies instead of their exasperating re-runs of Herbie and The Little Elf who Saved Christmas.
Parasols have been set up and umbrellas have been tucked in.
Neighbours have finally taken down their Christmas lights.
Flip-flops have replaced Uggs.
The sun seems to wake you up before your alarm.
You find your curfew of sunset has become longer.
School Reports are soon due. You've been buying expensive Dolce & Gabbana perfumes for your teachers.
You can feel the glorious sunlight tingling your skin, toasting it Mediterranean brown.
Your days are carefree and you seem to have more time for your friends.
Your dog is going hyperactive.
Like the sun, the days are just Brilliant!
It's official-- It's Summer!
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