Althouse: Supermoon.

March 18, 2011

Supermoon.

The biggest full moon in 18 years. Tomorrow night.

23 comments:

Chip Ahoy said...: Are you trying to tell me the moon grooz?; 3/18/11, 9:53 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Also, July of this year has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays, and that only happens every ... happens every ... not very often at all.; 3/18/11, 9:56 PM
Gordon Freece said...: Maybe that explains that unemployed dishwasher union groupie who's threatening you.; 3/18/11, 10:11 PM
Unknown said...: When The Blonde was floor nursing, we used to have a game when as the moon finally went full and she usually nailed.

People went nuts. Now it's just the pups, although they can be plenty.

(I swear they've been getting ready the last few days); 3/18/11, 10:12 PM
David said...: Ooooooooowwwwwwwoooooooooooo!; 3/18/11, 10:13 PM
Roger von Oech said...: Hey Chip Ahoy!

I've been getting constant emails from my friends in China about how rare it is to have 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays in a month.

But it's no big deal! We'll have it three times this year: January, July, and October.; 3/18/11, 10:21 PM
Christy said...: Didn't Orwell do an entire book about being a dishwasher, Down and Out in London and Paris? Only he had a much cooler name for the job that I can't quite remember because I listened rather than read. Are audiobooks messing with my brain?; 3/18/11, 10:33 PM
vbspurs said...: Oh. Never mind. I read "Super Moan".; 3/18/11, 10:36 PM
vbspurs said...: And may I take this opportunity, yet AGAIN, to pimp the iPad to all y'all?

I loooove my astronomy apps. Highly recommend two to any prospective buyers, Redshift and Starwalk.

Cheers,
Victoria; 3/18/11, 10:38 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: You know what this talk of calendar columns reminds me of?

<anecdote alert>
One time I struck up a conversation with a deaf girl while in line at the college bookstore. She described her schedule in sign language so eloquently it blew my mind. I adopted her technique and used it ever since. She finger-spelled the letters, M, T, W, T, F in a row, not held rigidly in the same place as ordinary finger-spelling, but rather as if showing me the top row of a calendar. Then going back to the spot where the M was, she made a new M and drew it straight down as if marking off all the Ms in a solid column on her imaginary calendar. Then the same thing with the W and the F, which showed me as clearly as if she had held up an actual calendar that she had classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I stood there stunned and deeply impressed thinking, "That's beautiful and brilliant!"
</anecdote alert>; 3/18/11, 10:42 PM
vbspurs said...: Chip, we're all waiting to find out if you got her digits.

wv: kewlful...LOL!; 3/18/11, 11:03 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: No, we parted digitlessly.; 3/18/11, 11:09 PM
vbspurs said...: !!

How does one sign "W T F"?; 3/18/11, 11:14 PM
RuyDiaz said...: It is the biggest moon in 18 years because it's part of an 18-year cycle.; 3/18/11, 11:17 PM
Methadras said...: Might explain the unhinged nuttiness in Madison. If they start to howl, then that's confirmation.; 3/18/11, 11:17 PM
Methadras said...: RuyDiaz said...

It is the biggest moon in 18 years because it's part of an 18-year cycle.

Well, that is because in reality the moon is actually moving further away from the earth.; 3/18/11, 11:18 PM
Methadras said...: Don't tell the moonies.; 3/18/11, 11:30 PM
Gregg said...: For a science-based take on what this "supermoon" means, see astronomer Dr. Phil Plait's post today or, more concisely, astrophysicist's Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson's tweet.; 3/19/11, 4:53 AM
Gabriel Hanna said...: Stuff like this is why I get my news from crazy people on the internet. I can see how badly journalists report on things I know a lot about, so I don't trust them to report well on things I don't know about.; 3/19/11, 6:02 AM
Merny11 said...: that video was so god awful it made me laugh out loud - thanks!; 3/19/11, 7:13 AM
rhhardin said...: It means unusually heavy menstrual flows.; 3/19/11, 8:38 AM
Largo said...: Ah WestVirginiaRebel, you beat me to it! (You got any Mango Biscuits to share?); 3/19/11, 12:23 PM
Anonymous said...: And for those of us without Flash a you tube version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-jsklGcBw&feature=youtube_gdata_player; 3/19/11, 2:53 PM