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Moon Gazing

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“See yonder fire! It is the moon
Slow rising o’er the eastern hill.
It glimmers on the forest tips,
And through the dewy foliage drips
In little rivulets of light,
And makes the heart in love with night.”

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christus, The Golden Legend (1872)

It may seem strange to some, but a full moon can take my breath away. I stop and stare.  It seems to draw me in every time with a mysterious magnetism. And, it’s just so big and bright and beautiful! I always find myself wanting to share the experience with whoever may be nearby— ‘Look at that amazing moon!’  I also typically snap half a dozen photos trying to capture the moment (never does look quite as beautiful as I’d actually seen it, but I keep trying).

 

Over the years, the response to my moon gazing has been somewhat mixed. Although friends will kindly indulge me with a look up, and everyone is interested in special events like the January 2018 Super Blue Blood Moon, many don’t quite get my fascination with the Moon.

Following a special lunar event, a full moon may seem very ordinary to some as it happens every month (well, almost every month– February 2018 was a month without a full moon), or there’s sometimes a tendency for people to believe nothing good happens during a full moon (or worse– something really bad happens).  I feel nothing negative or ordinary at all when gazing at the Moon, and decided long ago this moon thing might have something to do with my zodiac sign, Cancer the crab. According to astrologers, Cancer is ruled by the Moon – making me a ‘moonchild’.  However, astrology can’t explain everything because there are plenty of non-Cancer moon gazers out there, and it’s been going on for thousands of years.

 

 

The Moon was revered throughout ancient societies as humans began to recognize the Moon’s influence on life cycles– crops, tides, fertility, and some form of moon worship can be found in most ancient religions, from the ancient Celts to the Egyptians.  Probably the most enduring and enthusiastic moon gazers are the Japanese.

Tsukimi (or ‘Otsukimi’, literally ‘moon-viewing’, also known as ‘Jugoya’) refers to the Japanese tradition of holding parties to view the Harvest Moon (typically September/October in today’s calendar).  Still popular today, this celebratory moon-viewing in Japan is an aesthetic custom with a spiritual component that can be traced back as far as the Heian period (794 to 1185) when Japanese aristocrats held events aboard boats to view the Moon’s reflection on the water’s surface.  Modern Tsukimi festivities continue with the traditions as people gather on the evening of the full harvest moon at a place the Moon can be clearly seen, decorate with pampas grass, and serve white rice dumplings and other seasonal foods known collectively as Tsukimi dishes, and sake as offerings to the Moon.  In Buddhism, a full moon is a symbol of enlightenment, and the phases of the Moon represent the changes of life. In Shinto, the Moon is a symbol of the wonder, beauty and awe of natural phenomenon. There’s also a long-established obsession in Japan with the Moon and its affect on poetic inspiration.

When you’re an avid moon gazer or a newbie, it helps to know the best dates and times to look for the Moon as it changes with the seasons as well as moon phases.  Below are Moonrise/Moonset time/position tables (along with explanatory notes) provided by Karen Masters, Ask an Astronomer – Cornell University, and full moon calendars .

 

Moon gazing is a long-established tradition, and will fill you with wonder and inspiration.

 

Moonrise/Moonset Times

The time of day the Moon rises or sets depends on its phase. The table below summarizes moonrise and moonset times. [Note: “Local noon” and “local midnight” as used in the table are the points in time when the Sun crosses the meridian, and exactly 12 hours later. This can be different from the time on your watch because that time reflects time zones used to determine local time. Zola uses Willy Weather website and free app to find the times for moonrise and moonset, but you can search any local or online weather related resource for that information.]

If you're a moon gazer, it helps to have Moonrise and Moonset time tables

Moonrise/Moonset Position

When the Moon is new, it rises and sets with the Sun, and the position of Moonrise and Moonset varies just like that of Sunrise and Sunset. When the Moon is full, however, the pattern is inverted. The chart below sets it all out. [Note: The chart is for the Northern Hemisphere. For Southern Hemisphere moon gazers, exchange North for South in the chart.  A certain amount of variation in the direction depends on your latitude.]

If you're a moon gazer, it's good to know what direction to look. So, here's a Moonrise and Moonset position chart.

FULL MOON CALENDAR

I must admit my moon gazing avocation is haphazard.  I tend to just look up at the night sky and see what’s up there as there’s pleasure in every moon phase, and a dark, clear night with no moon is the perfect time for stargazing.  But, there are those that prefer to make a moon watching plan to avoid missing something special, prepare telescopes and camera equipment, schedule a visit to an observatory, park area with good moon viewing, or attend a moon festival to add more to the experience.  It’s a great night for a party, field trip or peaceful meditation — your choice.  Below are 2019 & 2020 Full Moon Calendars for US and Canada (times indicated on tables are Eastern Time Zone) courtesy of the Old Farmer’s Almanac).  [Note:  A full moon occurs around the globe at the same moment regardless of location, but there’s a difference in date and time because of time zones.  To find the exact date/time of the full moon anywhere on Earth, go to the moon phases – lunar calendar ⇒ here and search by location and year.]

LUNAR SPECIAL EVENTS 

Hey there moon gazers!  If you missed the first full moon and lunar eclipse of 2019, there’s still time to watch a video recording of this very special total lunar eclipse.  Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button on the media player below ↓

 

⇒⇒ Did you miss the July 27, 2018 stream broadcast of the longest total lunar eclipse (aka “Blood Moon”) of the century?  Or, do you want to see it again?  There’s still time to watch a video recording of this special event via Photographing Space camera positioned in South Africa.  Just click/tap the play button in the center of the media player below↓

 

Information/Resources:
How Does the Position of Moonrise and Moonset Change? Cornell University – Ask an Astronomer
April 2018 is Global Astronomy Month, and the Moon will celebrated this year with a series of special programs for rediscovering this bright, beautiful orb in Earth’s night sky (Astronomers Without Borders)
A Planet’s Domicile in Astrology (Wikipedia) – In astrology, a planet’s domicile is the zodiac sign over which it has rulership, and the assignments of the ruling planets appear to be based upon the Northern Hemisphere seasons. The Sun was awarded to Leo and Cancer the Moon as the months the Sun passed through these two zodiac signs were the warmest and had the longest days in ancient times.
Photography: John William Draper (1811-1882) was the first to successfully take an ‘astrophotograph’ in 1840, a quite amazing detailed photo of a full moon.
Tsukimi history, Wikipedia

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Feature photo of moon gazing at Mount Tamalpais State Park, California, USA is courtesy of Todd Diemer/Unsplash CC0
Moon gazing photo is courtesy of Flickr user, Hank Conner, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Zola’s moon gazing photo album, © 2018-19 Zeester Media LLC

Earth from Space

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When Earth is viewed from the vantage of space, the experience is awe-inspiring. It’s called “The Overview Effect”, described by astronauts as an overwhelming feeling and realization that our planet is beautiful, fragile and an “interconnected whole with one destiny”.  Seeing Earth from space is also the best place for scientists to learn about our planet, and the ability to fly into space satellites that continuously gather data and images has provided an important tool to our understanding of the Earth and its environment.  Watch these videos for a short ride above the the Earth and see for yourself. 

Time-Lapse Earth is a short video produced by Bruce W. Berry Jr. using sequences taken from the International Space Station (ISS) as it orbited Earth.  ISS makes the trip about once every 90 mins at a speed of 27,600kmh/17,150mph and altitude of 400km/250mi.

 

NASA’s The Earth: 4K Extended Edition offers ultra high definition views of Earth captured in 2016 by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams during an ISS mission.  You’ll see the French Riviera and the Sahara Desert, cross North America from Texas up to Canada, and more as the camera orbits Earth from 250 miles up.

 

NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman served as Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station for Expedition 41 from May through November of 2014, and in an episode of NASA video series Down to Earth, he explains his thoughts and feelings while seeing Earth from space — “I never imagined in my entire life getting to see something that beautiful”. 

 

In this December 6, 2017 Gravity Assist podcast, Jim Green, Director of Planetary Science at NASA, is joined by Tom Wagner of NASA’s Earth Science Division, to talk about the Earth, it’s sea ice and volcanoes, and how studying planets like Venus and Mars helps provide clues about the future of our home planet.  Just click/tap the play button ▶ to listen to the audio recording.

 

Apollo 17 photo taken December 13, 1972 on the lunar surfaceWant to see more from outer space?
It’s free to watch the Cosmos video on demand channel, a collection of On2In2™ selected ‘out-of-this-world’ short videos.

 

 

 

Galaxy M74 is a stunning example of a spiral galaxy with its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms emanating from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars and glowing pink regions of ionized hydrogen.Take a look at these incredible views of the Universe
—- Mysteries of a Galaxy 

 

 

 

 

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Feature photo courtesy of NASA, sourced from Unsplash CC0

Art Transforming Trash

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“The opposite of beauty is not ugly… it’s indifference.” — Richard Lang

There are many complex issues involved in the elimination of pollutants from the environment, but there’s at least one problem easy to identify and understand — trash.  Take just one walk on a beach, and you’ll quickly see the ugly truth.

More than 8 million tons of plastic makes its way into the Ocean each year, and the stuff doesn’t go-away or disappear.  Just one plastic bag takes 1,000 years to decompose.  Much of this garbage can be seen floating on top of the ocean surface.  Between California and Hawaii, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is more than double the size of Texas, and it’s just one of many similar floating debris patches.

Ray Ives, a retired Royal Marine and commercial diver, saw even more during his 40+ years of deep sea diving,……“You can’t believe some of the things people dump in the sea.  It’s like the biggest rubbish dump in the world”.

Artists are using their creative talents in amazing ways to help make positive change as their works of art bring attention to the plastic pollution problem the world faces and inspire all of us to “rethink plastic”.

Gyrecraft is a short film about crafting objects at sea, in the past with whale’s teeth and in the future with plastics collected from Ocean waters.

Studio Swine went on a 1,000 nautical mile journey through the North Atlantic Gyre, from the Azores to the Canaries, collecting plastics as they sailed.  (The North Atlantic Gyre is one of five large systems of circulating ocean currents.  The vortex of currents traps man-made marine debris into a large, dense floating debris zone called  the ‘North Atlantic Garbage Patch’.)  Using a specially designed ‘Solar Extruder’ machine, the plastic pieces collected during the trip were melted on board ship with heat from the Sun, creating a ‘sea plastic’ material used to create art works.

 

In the short video, Sea Chair, watch as a stool is built on a boat from the plastic collected in a fisherman’s nets.

 

Since 1999, Richard and Judith Selby Lang have been visiting a special spot at Kehoe Beach at the Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, collecting plastics that have washed up on shore. The Lang’s then take their treasures home, wash and sort the items, and create works of art.  Over the years, they’ve collected tons of the stuff, learned a lot about ocean pollution, and discovered each little bit of found plastic has an interesting story to tell and provides an insight into human culture.

 

Aurora Robson is a multi-media artist known for her work with waste materials, and the founding artist of Project Vortex a collective of creatives who work with plastic debris as a medium and support organizational efforts to reduce the amount of plastic littering the oceans and shorelines of the world. She has said the intention of her art is “to take something negative, try to change the direction it’s going, and turn it into something positive”.

 

Inspired to create your own “environmental art”, but not sure how to start?  David Edgar creates marine life art forms from plastic bottles, and his instructional fish project video is a how-to guide for beginners. In the demonstration, you’ll learn that creating a sculpture requires scissors and a couple of simple tools, and reshaping plastic can be accomplish with heat from a hair dryer.  Really, the possibilities are endless because unfortunately, so is the trash.

 

Information/Resources:

Point Reyes National Seashore  Point Reyes is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean, supporting a large diversity of species throughout the food chain and ecosystem.

One Plastic Beach  The Lang’s offer workshops, presentations, art sales, commercial and residential artwork commissions

Aurora Robson  See more art and media

Washed Ashore – Haseltine Pozzi, an artist and longtime art teacher, made it her mission to collect garbage that washes up along the Oregon coastline and use it to create large art sculptures in an effort to bring awareness to the enormous amount of plastic pollution in oceans and waterways and inspire change.

Project Vortex is an international collective of artists, designers and architects creating art works with plastic debris in support of projects that intercept plastic waste in innovative ways and help water cleanup efforts.

Plastic Ocean by Tan Zi Xi – an inspired art installation simulating the environment of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch created the experience of being immersed in a space covered with trash.

Healthy Seas – a joint venture of non-government organizations and businesses dedicated to cleaning ocean of litter and recycling it into new products such as socks, swimwear, textiles and carpets.

International Coastal Cleanup Day is celebrated annually the third Saturday in September.
(Save the Date:  September 21, 2019)

Plastic Oceans Foundation – a non-profit organization with a mission to engage people through education and media projects, campaigns and global partnerships

Underwater sculpture museums contain breathtaking works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness and appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.You’ll be surprised to see what lies
beneath the waves – Art Underwater 

 

 

The Ocean is an essential life force, and we must stop its destructionOur Oceans are suffering from many decades of
abuse and neglect, but each of us has the power to help heal it 

 

 

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Hallelujah

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“Many different hallelujahs exist.” — Leonard Cohen (1934 – 2016)

It was a cold, early December day walking the streets of the Strasbourg Christmas Markets when my friends and I stumbled upon the 2,000 year old St. Thomas Church and decided to take a look inside.  The interior was stunningly beautiful, welcoming and warm, and stagehands were busy setting up while a small choir began rehearsing.  We decided to take a seat in the pews and watch.  Then, a lovely performance of Hallelujah filled the church and touched us all with its powerful message.

Written by Canadian singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen, after years of torturous writing sessions and 80 draft versions, Hallelujah has been covered and performed by over 300 singers since its first release in 1984 on Cohen’s album Various Positions, using a mix of different lyrics and a variety of interpretations and tones ranging from the melancholic, inspirational to joyous. [Recommended reading: The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”]*  Here are just two of the 300+ versions, both with the power to inspire and move you to tears.

Information/Resources:

St. Thomas Church Strasbourg  Église Saint-Thomas (nicknamed the ‘Protestant Cathedral’ and ‘Die Late Dame’ (the Old Lady) is a historical building in Strasbourg, France, and has been the city’s primary Lutheran church since the Strasbourg Cathedral became Catholic after annexation of the city by France in 1681.  St. Thomas today is an impressive example of Alsatian Gothic architecture, and contains the Maréchal de Saxe, a masterpiece of 18th-century baroque funerary art.

Hallelujah – BBC Radio Soul Music – Series 20, a music and lyrical analysis (April 14, 2015), artists tell their personal stories of the song’s affect on their lives

The word ‘hallelujah’ is used in both Jewish and Christian prayer, and often spoken in modern English to express happiness that a thing hoped or waited for has happened.

*Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission for a book or music purchase you make via the links within this page. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

Feature photo is courtesy of Zac Durant/Unsplash CC0

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How to Beat the Funk

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If you are feeling down in the dumps or just need a good laugh, watch a few of the short videos in this fun, free-to watch On2In2™ video collection of dogs being dogs and their inspiring stories of love and joy.    

In 80 unique photographs of dogs captured in meditative, serene moments of ‘Zen’, photographer Alex Cearns celebrates the wisdom, beauty and power of dogs.  Zen Dogs is a book for every dog lover and anyone looking for a little of that doggy peace, love and joy.  *Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission for a book purchase you make via the link within this page. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

 

If you're wondering what your dog is thinking, you should listen to this dog as he reveals thoughts and feelings about life and love.If only we knew what our dogs were thinking!  Martin, a dog with some issues, tells his story in “Dog Speak”, providing a few clues to the mystery of what dogs know and think.  And, a lot of laughs, too.

 

 

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Epic Skimo

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Ski Mountaineering (Skimo) involves climbing a mountain on skis or by carrying them and descending on skis using varied ski touring, Telemark, backcountry skiing and mountaineering techniques. A recreational as well as competitive sport, skimo requires a high level of physical ability and stamina along with technical know-how and skills.  Enthusiasts enjoy the adventure, variety of terrain, extreme challenges, and pushing limits.

In the mountains, you may find a ‘Netherworld’ … “where pain, grief, joy and exhilaration mix into moments of transcendent beauty”.*   

In 2018, ski mountaineers, Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison, completed the first ski descent of the 27,940-foot (8,516 m) Mount Lhotse, part of the Everest massif and the fourth-highest mountain in the world.  An incredible accomplishment when you consider the extreme challenge of just climbing to the summit of Lhotse (less than 400 climbers have summited Mount Lhotse and at least 20 have died trying), and there have been about a dozen failed attempts to ski down. Video documentary, Lhotse, tells the story of Hilaree and Jim’s extraordinary climb up and ski descent with personal and expert commentary and mind-blowing photography of this “mini-miracle” skimo adventure.    

 

 

In 2016, Aaron Rice set out to climb and ski 2.5 million vertical feet in the backcountry without using climbing assistance from motorized equipment (e.g., chair lifts, helicopters), challenging the world record of 2 million vertical feet set by Greg Hill in 2010.  It’s an epic endurance test as Aaron must chase after snow around the world and ski more than 330 days in order to accomplish his record breaking goal.  Watch this amazing journey in the short video 2.5 million, filmed, directed and edited by Tyler Wilkinson-Ray.

 

Video documentary Follow Through tells the story of skier Caroline Gleich’s motivation and determination to ski the 90 difficult and insanely dangerous ski mountaineering lines in the backcountry of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains first described by ski mountaineer Andrew McLean in his **1998 book “The Chuting Gallery: A Guide to Steep Skiing in the Wasatch Mountains”.

 

Information/Resources:

International Ski Mountaineering Federation – governing body for ski mountaineering competitions
United States Ski Mountaineering Association –  sanctions and governs competitive ski mountaineering racing in US, and promotes recreational ski mountaineering.  The USSMA website includes how-to information, resource links and videos.
*The Long Road To Lhotse by David Bunker, Tahoe Quarterly, Winter 2018-19  

 

If you ski, board or ride in the backcountry or live in snow covered mountainous terrain, avalanches are a destructive and deathly threat that must not be ignored.Avalanches are a powerful and deadly threat to ski mountaineers as well as anyone living or playing in snow-covered mountainous areas;  therefore, no one should venture out in the backcountry unless up to speed on avalanche safety and accident prevention measures.

 

 

Follow adventure skiers as they travel the world in this 3 season video series, A Skier's Journey.You should also watch Adventure Skiing (Free to Watch, On-Demand video documentaries)  Adventure skiers travel the world, discovering great beauty and dangers in the mountain landscapes of Europe, Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East.

 

 

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Feature photo is courtesy of Robson Hatsukami Morgan/Unsplash, CC0

If Stars Could Speak

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Awake by Zach Rogers is a short video beautifully photographed and produced using a time-lapse process that results in mesmerizing views of star filled skies above stunning landscapes.  It was a 3 year “passion project” involving the selection of 6,870 photos from a collection of 50,000.

“A philosopher once asked, ‘Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?’ Pointless, really…..  Do the stars gaze back? Now, that’s a question.” — Neil Gaiman, Stardust (1999)

Experiencing a night sky teeming with glittering stars awakens curiosity, perspective and inspiration, and is a recreational activity enjoyed by amateur astronomers throughout the world.  The opportunity to see such a sight, however, is getting more difficult as dark skies are vanishing from the glaring effects of light pollution.  In fact, more than 99% of people living in North America and Europe see light polluted night skies rather than stars, and the Milky Way is hidden from more than 1/3 of the world’s population. The International Dark-Sky Association (“IDA”) works to protect night skies and ecosystems within parks and conservation areas around the world.  Find dark skies for your best stargazing experience via the IDA locator map HERE, and look around for Telescopes and Stargazing Guide Book * to learn more and get started.

The short video Lost in Light by night sky photographer, Sriram Murali, dramatically demonstrates the affects of different levels of light pollution on our view of the night sky.

 

The Witch Head Nebula is a reflection nebula located in the Eridanus constellation.If you can’t get outside—-Watch the Night Skies channel here to see more amazing stargazing views captured on video by talented photographers.

More about stars⇒   Sol Invictus     Super Star Sorcery     Mysteries of a Galaxy

 

 

 

 

 

Watch this how-to seminar on astrophotography techniques and equipment, and take better photos of the night skyPros give advice on how to take great photographs of the night sky in this free-to-watch info-video series → Shooting Stars 

 

 

 

A big, bright full moon over the Santa Monica Mountains from Malibu Road was a moon gazers delight

Have you tried moon gazing?  Humans have revered the Moon for thousands of years, and celebratory customs of moon viewing add a spiritual component to the experience of seeing a big, bright, beautiful moon in the night sky.  Simple, but awesome.

 

 

References/Information:

“Light Pollution Hides Milky Way from 80 Percent of North Americans, Atlas Shows” by Nell GreenfieldBoyce, NPR All Things Considered (June 10, 2016)

Night Sky Network – Search tools to help you find astronomy clubs and special events throughout US

Earth Sky (List of astronomy events, festivals, star parties & workshops)

Ten of the Most Breathtaking Night Skies on Earth by Michelle Douglass, BBC Earth (August 27, 2015) Some the world’s best dark skies are over remote, hard to reach locations, while other sites are astrotourism hotspots encompassing national parks and observatories.

Lassen Volcanic National Park (located approximately 3 hours northeast of Sacramento, California) has meadows freckled with wildflowers, jagged peaks, clear mountain lakes, a rich diversity of plant and animal life as well as numerous volcanoes, steaming fumaroles (steam and volcanic-gas vents) thumping mud pots, and boiling pools.   Stargazing & Astronomy→ park info       Dark Sky Festival

Atacama Desert, Chile 

Pic du Midi – Hautes-Pyrénées, France 

Rakiura National Park, Stewart Island, New Zealand – This ‘Land of Glowing Skies’ was designated an International Dark Sky Sanctuary in January, 2019

Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve – Mackenzie Region, NZ 

Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve

Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona becomes International Dark Sky Park in June 2018

Dark Sky Festival – Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California USA

Acadia Night Sky Festival   – Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine USA

Jasper Dark Sky Festival   – Jasper National Park, Jasper, Canada

Night Sky Festival  – Joshua Tree National Park, California USA

Mayo Dark Sky Park  – Newport/Mulranny/Ballycroy, Ireland

Brecon Beacons National Park – South Wales, UK 

Galloway Forest Park – Scotland  

Dark Skies Festival   – North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, UK

Winter Star Party  – Florida Keys, USA, usually scheduled each year during the full moon in February

OzSky Star Safaris  The “Classic” is held at the outskirts of Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, and the “Spring Edition” takes place at NSW Southern Tablelands

Exmoor Dark Skies Festival – Family stargazing weekend at Exmoor National Park, a large beautiful and peaceful area of wild countryside in the South West of England and Europe’s very first International Dark Sky Reserve

Star Search:  A Night Guide for Urban Texans by Wes Ferguson (Texas Monthly, March 2018) – Where to find dark, wide-open skies or a big telescope for star gazing in the state of Texas

Thebacha & Wood Buffalo Dark Sky Festival, Canada

Fountain Hills Dark Sky Festival, Arizona

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The feature photo is a still shot taken from the video, “Awake” by Zach Rogers

The title of this article “If Stars Could Speak” comes from the title of original music by Alexandr Fullin. It was used by Zach Rogers as the soundtrack to the “Awake” video.

*This page includes an affiliate link to a shop website. If you purchase a product or service directly through the link, Zeester Media LLC may earn a small commission.  This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

Alpine Ski Racing LIVE

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Mountain and snow make for fun skiing. Watch the best videos of winter fun on skies and boards.It’s all down hill in alpine skiing, and oh — what a fun ride.
Fun to watch, too.

While humans have been sliding down snow covered mountains for thousands of years, skiing as a recreational and competitive sport did not catch on until the 19th century.

The first slalom competition was held in 1922 in Mürren, Switzerland, and both men’s and women’s alpine skiing debuted at the Olympics in 1936, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Today, there are many types of alpine ski competitions, but they can be categorized into two major disciplines:   Racing, which includes Downhill, Super-G (aka super giant), Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Combined, and Freestyle which involves moguls, aerials, halfpipe and skicross.

Here’s a quick run down of alpine ski racing events (freestyle we’ll leave for another day and a separate post):

Downhill is all about ultra-speed.  Skiers start at the top of a long, wide race course, and ski down as fast as possible to the finish line, reaching speeds of up to 93mph (150 klicks).  I like this race – point ’em down hill and go – fast with just a few easy turns.  It’s a great experience for a recreational skier like me.  But, can’t image going anywhere close to 90mph on skies.  Elite athletes make it look easy, but it’s dangerous and takes courage as well as skill.

The Super-G is similar to the Downhill as the race course is wide and fast, but it requires a skier to make sharper and more frequent turns than in Downhill, making for lots of speed and thrills.

In Slalom, technique is the major focus.  Skiers must maneuver around a bunch of poles and make very sharp, quick turns while going as fast as possible.  I tried to go down a slalom course once.  Think I got through maybe 3 gates, and that ended my career.  I watch Slalom in awe.

The Giant Slalom is best described as somewhere between the Super-G and Slalom because the race course requires turns around gates spaced closer together than a Super-G race, but not quite like the turns in Slalom.

Traditionally, an alpine Combined competition consists of one run of Downhill and two runs of Slalom, raced on separate days, and the skier with the fastest total ‘combined’ time is the winner.  A modified version of combined competition is called the Super Combined with one speed race (either a Downhill or Super-G) and one Slalom.

WATCH LIVE & FREE On2In2™

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2019 French National Alpine Ski Championships (March 23-25), there’s still time to watch video recordings of the competition.  Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the event posts located in the right top corner of the media player below ↓

If you missed the 2019 Europa Cup Giant Slalom competition in Tignes, France, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the competition.  Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located on the media players below ↓

 

 

If you missed the live streaming broadcast of Night Racing in Parallel Slalom Europa Cup competition, you can watch a video recording of the event.  Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located on the media player below ↓

 

If you missed the men’s 2019 Europa Cup Giant Slalom, there’s till time to watch a video recording of the competition.  Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button located on the media player below ↓

If you missed the 2019 Europa Cup Men’s Slalom competition at Val Cenis, there’s still time to watch a video recording.  Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button located on the media player below ↓

Sun Valley, Idaho was the host to the 2018 US Alpine Championships March 21 – 26, and it was huge and fast with US Ski Team members, Olympians, collegiate and international skiers competing on Bald Mountain for men’s and women’s titles in the Alpine Combined, Super G, Slalom and Giant Slalom.

Kicking off the competition on March 21, Olympian Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT) won the alpine combined national title, and the young, talented A.J. Hurt (Carnelian Bay, CA) got the women’s alpine combined victory, her first national title.

 

 

 

Watch the power, speed and grace of telemark skiing through the backcountry and live stream broadcast of 2017-18 World Cup racing LIVE & FREE via On2In2™Telemark skiing is a hardcore test of stamina, power, speed and grace in the mountains.  WATCH  FIS World Cup Telemark competition LIVE, and if you miss a race, video recordings are available for viewing.  

 

 

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Ballet Backstage

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Ballet originated in 15th century Italian Renaissance courts, later developing into a performance dance in France and Russia, and over the centuries, has become a widespread and influential art form with many evolving stylistic variations (from classic to contemporary) and teaching methods (no less than half a dozen).

A ballet dancer [danseuse (female) danseur (male)] is a dancer who practices the art of classical ballet based on traditional technique and vocabulary.  Many years of extensive training (starting as early as age 2) are required before a ballet dancer has a chance to join a professional ballet company, and there is an established hierarchy ranking system within a company as well as strict gender roles.  Ballet training also takes a toll on a dancer’s body, making ballet dancers prone to serious injury after years of continuous physical strain.

The strength and stamina required of ballet dancers are not always obvious to a spectator as they make the physical demands of jumps, turns and lifts on pointe appear to be effortless during a performance, and there’s seldom a mention of a dancer’s personal sacrifice and total commitment.  In these short videos, ballet dancers tell their stories and provide a glimpse of the goings-on backstage and behind-the-scenes.

 

 

En pointe (‘on the tips of their toes’) is classical ballet technique performed wearing special pointe shoes that enable a dancer to support all body weight on a fully extended vertical foot. Consequently, the construction and wearing of pointe shoes involves a very complicated process unique to each ballet dancer.

 

The tutu is a costume dress worn in a ballet performance, made of fabrics such as tarlatan, muslin, silk, tulle, gauze and nylon.  There are two basic types of modern tutus as well as several derivative styles: the Romantic tutu is soft and bell-shaped with the skirt reaching down between a dancer’s knee and ankle;  the Classical tutu is short, stiff and projects horizontally from the dancer’s waist and hip.

 

One of the most famous of all ballet dancers is Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans), a sculpture created in wax by Edgar Degas in 1880 of a student at the Paris Opera Ballet dance school, named Marie van Goethem.  After Degas’ death in 1917, his family authorized copies of Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer and other Degas wax and mixed-media sculptures to be cast in bronze in order to preserve and sell the compositions.  Louisine Havemeyer, an Impressionist collector, acquired the first bronze cast of Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, and bequeathed it to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1929, where it can be viewed on display.  [Editors Note:  The original wax sculpture (a reworked version of the original sculpture that was shown in Paris at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition of 1881) is located at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and other bronzes can be viewed at museums around the world — Cathy Marie Buchanan, author of the novel ‘The Painted Girls’, provides a list of locations ⇒ HERE ]

The bronze dancer’s tutu has been replaced a few times since the Met’s acquisition, and a curator recently decided it was time for another update as the skirt looked “tattered and dirty”.  The task was given to Costume Institute’s conservator, Glenn Petersen, and he tells the story of the historical research, fabric, design and color selections used in creating the dancer’s new tutu in the short video ‘Met Degas Tutu’.  Peterson’s goal for the new skirt was that it would be harmonious with the sculpture as well as depict a sense of movement to add to the way people view Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, and most would have to agree that he accomplished that goal and more.

 

Watch the great ballet dance performances from around the world LIVE & FREE On2In2™FREE To WATCH:  Ballet performances from around the world

 

 

 

 

 

Watch:  The DanceThe free-to-watch Dance Channel features On2In2™ collection of favorite dance videos, an On2In2™ video collection of dance performances and inspirational stories

 

 

 

 

 

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Feature photo is courtesy of Flickr user, Pilar Castro, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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