August 17, 2017

I might be getting sick of the solar eclipse.

How about you?

Test yourself. Ready?

Here's a news story that went up this morning:
News that’ll surely leave you beaming — ’80s icon Bonnie Tyler will sing her enduring pop-rock hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” during the looming solar eclipse in a move that will surely leave the cosmos shook.
Reaction??
 
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90 comments:

Caroline said...

Actually the eclipse will be welcome relief from the neverending "dialogue on race"

Rick said...

When is it? Nevermind. Someday I'll wake up and find I missed it.

Wince said...

‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ Was Almost a Meat Loaf Song.

Paddy O said...

Of course she is. How often does an aging star get a chance to be heard again, though it's a lot like the guy at a beach party bonfire who starts playing his guitar thinking people are there to hear him.

That said, the video for Eclipse of the Heart is always worth pondering.

MountainMan said...

I am looking forward to it being a nice diversion from all the current hysteria. Who knows, it might become a great unifying national event.

But I doubt it.

The Bergall said...

I still have tickets for sale...cheap!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Will skin color matter when the sun is blotted out?

Fabi said...

I'm as close to 100% occultation as it gets. Forecast officials 20% cloud cover. I hear that the raccoons are going to freak out! I'll plan to throw some free-range organic baloney at them!

Ann Althouse said...

"Actually the eclipse will be welcome relief from the neverending "dialogue on race""

That's what you think. I say it will become part of the dialogue on race. Why? In critical race theory, you start with the assumption, then figure out why:

1. The path chosen by the sun privileges white people.

2. The solar eclipse will grab the nation's attention on Monday, breaking up the sustained media focus on racial justice.

3. Under cover of 2 1/2 minute darkness and a day of diversion from politics, evil forces have an opportunity. Trump knows this and I predict he will take advantage.

4. The sun is fascist, without nuance, without empathy.

Laslo Spatula said...

"4. The sun is fascist, without nuance, without empathy."

And it gives people cancer.

I am Laslo.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

The media could make you sick of hearing about the Second Coming of Christ.

Ann Althouse said...

Dylan predicted it:

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, “Death to all those who would whimper and cry”
And dropping a barbell he points to the sky
Saying, “The sun’s not yellow it’s chicken”

Ann Althouse said...

"And it gives people cancer."

Just like Mitt Romney.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

First Aid Kit

Valet cleanser

The Godfather said...

I'm not going to watch the eclipse, but I'm looking forward to Trump's tweets about it. Then the next day (actually the next several days) I'm looking forward to the media's condemnation of Trump's tweets about the eclipse as insensitive and racist. condemnations

Unknown said...

I've looked at clouds from both sides now.

rehajm said...

Nerds are ignoring all the pop hysteria...about the eclipse as well.

madAsHell said...

I'm hearing of a lot of people heading into central Oregon (Bend, Madras, John Day). I can't imagine why.

It will be a traffic nightmare.

Unknown said...

You flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia...

Michael K said...

"It will be a traffic nightmare."

My stepson lives in McMinnville, right in the eclipse 100% path. They are expecting 750,000 people in that small town.

We visited last summer about this time and were expecting to do so again. Hotels are all booked well into September.

Quaestor said...

I've looked at clouds from both sides now.

Often means an IFR landing.

Michael K said...

I actually like the song. This might ruin it for me.

gspencer said...

Like the USSC, I'm in the penumbra zone, formed with a bunch of emanations.

Nonapod said...

One of my favorite IDE's is Eclipse, which is primarily for Java, but I've only ever used Ruby in it.

Levi Starks said...

I will enjoy the total rapture of this total solar eclipse from the solitude of my backyard, and the make the peaceful 2 mile trip to my second shift job.
What amazes me is the fact that all the local state parks are requiring reservations and will be booked to the limit for people who want to watch the eclipse. I don't understand the need for it to be a shared event. It's not a fireworks display where you're trying to get the best possible vantage point. If you're in the zone, great! Enjoy it.

CStanley said...

Not sick of it, I find the hype kind of fun.

Funniest eclipse related story I've read was a mother who posted a message regarding a community event for watching the eclipse. She noted that it was occurring in the first day of school and asked if the date could be changed.

I can't stop laughing when I think of this.

Cath said...

For the hard-core 80s experience, try the Klaus Nomi "Total Eclipse" song instead:

https://youtu.be/HmLk2vSXXtk

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Here's all the eclipse pop culture you need (in reverse order): http://www.peanuts.com/search/?keyword=eclipse&type=comic_strips&cpage=1

Bob Boyd said...

The Eclipse needs a more contextual, creative advocacy.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Total Eclipse of The Heart video - literal version

MadisonMan said...

Anything that requires Participation by the Masses tires me out very quickly.

Now I'm flooded with emails that Eclipse Glasses Might Not Be Safe!

Please, save everyone from their own foolhardiness.

pacwest said...

Been there. Done that.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Ann Althouse said...That's what you think. I say it will become part of the dialogue on race. Why? In critical race theory, you start with the assumption, then figure out why:

1. The path chosen by the sun privileges white people.



BostonGlobe: Solar Eclipse Coming to Trump Country


Yuuup!

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" has been forever unmade for me by the "literal video" version. I mean!

"I walk out on a terrace where I think I'm alone,
But Arthur Fonzarelli has an army of clones.
They do the Macarena, but I'm still not impressed,
They're begging me to dance with them, but not in this dress!"

later:

"I'm swaying side to side, these dancers need to stop!
The gayest man on Earth would call this over the top"

Hell, all the lines are great, I can't even pick 'em. And despite multiple attempts by YouTube to take it down, it's still up there, if only via versions watched by a virtual cat on a TV, so not "original content."

As I've said, Salem is right in the totality zone, so we will be watching. Along with a couple of million other people, who hopefully will not all come down our cul-de-sac.


Hagar said...

I don't think there is any "dialogue on race."
Black people are just cannon fodder in this culture war.

tcrosse said...

The path chosen by the sun privileges white people.

The moon is in collusion. Or cahoots.

madAsHell said...

My stepson lives in McMinnville

Well.....at least they have a lot of good wine in that neighborhood.

Rick.T. said...

Glad I just have to walk outside at my current gig. I AM getting very tired of the local news having a segment every freaking night for the past three weeks about some aspect of the eclipse.

It did peg the irony meter this week that Vanderbilt Medical Center is recalling 8,000 pairs of eclipse glasses they handed out at the local county fair recently as not being verified safe to use.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

CStanley,

Yes, I saw that. I'm opposed as a general principle to calling anyone "dumb as rocks," but there are exceptions, and this is one of them.

Matt Sablan said...

I'm not. I have an eclipse shirt.

Paddy O said...

Hoodlum, thanks for posting that! I totally forgot about that version. Essential eclipse viewing right there.

(and before you ask, I'd be against someone taking down that video)

Scott said...

This weekend I will be visiting a part of South Dakota that is a 30 minute drive to the eclipse band in Nebraska and Wyoming. I'm trying to decide if I should extend my stay a day so that I can witness it.

Bob Boyd said...

I remember when Mt. St. Helens erupted I got very sick of hearing Jimmy Buffet's 'When The Volcano Blows'.

Ann Althouse said...

"Total Eclipse of The Heart video - literal version"

I love that. Blogged it years ago. Was going to look it up for this post. Thanks for providing the link. Very funny!

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Rick Turley,

Same thing here: I bought five pairs of "eclipse glasses" from Amazon, then got a sorta-kinda recall notice a couple of days ago. To the effect that they couldn't verify the ISO rating, so we'll refund your money, no need to ship them back, and, hey, just don't use them, OK?

My name goes here. said...

"We visited last summer about this time and were expecting to do so again. Hotels are all booked well into September."

They do know that the eclipse will be over by then, yes?

tim in vermont said...

What about I'm Being Followed by a Moon Shadow?

Bay Area Guy said...

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Ken B said...

I prefer the Nicki French version.

Birches said...

I don't even have eclipse glasses yet. Apparently, people are going nuts trying to find them. Meh. I suppose I should care more than I do. Oh well.

Ann Althouse said...

It's really dangerous to run upstairs in a long billowy skirt. It's insane to wave your hands around instead of using them to gather the skirt together and hold it up so you won't trip.

I wish the literal lyrics had attended to that disturbing aspect of the video.

Birches said...

4. The sun is fascist, without nuance, without empathy.

But the sun kills more white people than brown, so maybe it's already a SJW.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Bob Boyd,

I remember when Mt. St. Helens erupted I got very sick of hearing Jimmy Buffet's 'When The Volcano Blows'.

Yeah, Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move" got old pretty fast after the Loma Prieta quake in the Bay Area. But the all-time winner for me was walking into a Rite-Aid two days after 9/11 and hearing John Denver:

"So I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again"

Jayzuss, people.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Literal version - literally is hilarious. Literally.

pacwest said...

Fun post Althouse. Loved the comment. I can hear the eye rolling from way over here.

I liked the old days better, when people hid the women and children and hoped the world didn't end. Good times.

Deirdre Mundy said...

I bet how you feel depends on whether or not you're going to be in the totality zone!

Big Mike said...

Who is Bonnie Tyler? I'll see an 85% eclipse from the glider swing on my back deck. Don't need no effing music.

iowan2 said...

I have spent the hour I need to do a very little research. I know why, when, and where. After that, I just dont find eclipse headlines intriguing at all. Random questions that pop up, are quickly despatched with Bing. Why submit my self to some other persons filter of interest tries to feed me.
I thought about setting up to do pictures, but to do it right you need expensive equipment, and the bigger point is, we are just going to experience the eclipse, no give away time to trying to do what we dont have the knowledge to do. Just watch and enjoy

Bob Boyd said...

I always think of these lyrics when there's any eclipsin' going on.

Well I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse, naturally, won
Then you flew your Learjet to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun

rhhardin said...

Rush was eclipsed. Several loops of My City Was Gone and then silence, on two different stations. The silence on one triggered commercials after 30 seconds.

Howard said...

Reading about nonsense is optional, I'm going to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance instead.

Sam L. said...

My response is None Of The Above. I'm planning to see it.

Bob Boyd said...

I actually got a traffic ticket in Missoula Montana the day after Mt St Helens erupted.
For "Exceeding 15 mph during a volcano emergency." Cost me 65 bucks.
I told the cop I didn't know it was 15 because this was my first volcano emergency. He said, "Its on the radio."
I said, "I had a tape in. They keep playing that Jimmy Buffet song."
The cop said, "What are you guys supposed to be?" I had three friends in the car. We were dressed like Arabs. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. I don't remember why now. We were on a beer run at about 11 o'clock in the morning.
My friend said, "Arabs. Don't you think it looks like the desert? Kinda?"
The cop asked him, "Does your mom know you have her bath robe?"

damikesc said...

I live in Columbia, right in the middle of the eclipse zone.

It's going to rain, which will piss off folks.

Fernandinande said...

I can't see the point unless you have a telescope to observe the solar flares...come to think of it my "super zoom" camera could do it. Oh well.

Greek Donkey said...

I hope it rains.

Darrell said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TTPGAy5H_E

William R. Hamblen said...

I hope the weather is nice. I've seen a total solar eclipse before, and I'd like to see another one.

Carter Wood said...

Jim Steinman wrote "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and not surprisingly, it sounds like his power ballads he wrote for Meatloaf.

In McMinnville, Oregon, where I will watch the eclipse with nonagenarians. It should be better than the 1979 eclipse in February (?) when it was cloudy north of Hood River, where we sought the sun.

Clark said...

The eclipse is a McGuffin that led to me sitting here on the balcony of a cabin looking out over mountains in Montana. The sun and blue sky are glorious, the sound of the creek is delightful, the black labs are ready to greet anyone who makes the drive up from the valley. In other words, we are not getting sick of the eclipse here.

Bill said...

"Turn around, bright eyes"

BARF

rehajm said...

Bob I'm passing along your story to a friend in Seattle who will make it into a movie...

Earnest Prole said...

This cultural moment was preordained; why resist?

Jim at said...

Traffic is already backed up on US 26 and US 97 in central Oregon. Hours-long delays.

Four, freaking days before the eclipse.

Morons.

Anonymous said...

What, is the song going to issue from every speaker within the path of totality for the duration of the event? No?

Okay, then.

TWW said...

I'm flying my Lear Jet to Nova Scotia to watch.

dwarzel said...

"a move that will surely leave the cosmos shook"

Shook? Shook? It's quite a professional standard these contemporary media types have to live up to, isn't it?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

I made some bitchin' eclipse glasses my stapling three Rollens lenses together. Can't get much more Cracker than that.

Bob Boyd said...

"Can't get much more Cracker than that."

Let me try...what in tarnation is a Rollens lens?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

A disposable sunglass without bows. Held to the temples by the curvature of the plastic "lens".

SoLastMillennium said...

#notmyeclipse

SoLastMillennium said...

Why isn't Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz one of the choices??

dreams said...

Beware of little green men too.

"HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The quiet, dark of night can be uneasy. For Geraldine Sutton Stith's family, what lurks in the dark is terrifying.

Her dad, mom,and a couple friends came down from Evansville, Indiana, on Aug. 21, 1955, to visit her grandma's farm in Kelly, Kentucky. Before turning in for the night, they took a quick trip to the well to grab some water.

"As he was standing out there he heard something, looked up toward the sky where he was hearing this from and saw a silver oval-shaped object just streaking across the sky," Sutton Stith said. "They saw a little three, three-and-a-half-foot being coming out from the woods behind the house. Large eyes, glowing eyes. Large ears. Big head. Arms almost touched the ground. And they were floating atop the ground."

Total panic. Absolute frenzy."

http://www.wdrb.com/story/36162427/62-years-later-total-solar-eclipse-comes-to-hopkinsville-on-anniversary-of-alien-encounter

GRW3 said...

Anybody flying their Learjet to watch?

SweatBee said...

My reaction was "meh." I was already aware of several eclipse-viewing events that were puns on the song, like "Total Eclipse in the Park"

That being said, I was tired of the eclipse talk in May.

joated said...

I am leaning toward Phil Collins--about everything on the national scene.
https://youtu.be/xLpfbcXTeo8

Armed Texan said...

We have not reached peak eclipse until we find out it is caused by global warming/cooling/climate change.

cf said...

I am in a grinning peace about all of it, and however I get to experience it, hey, it's cool, an exotic few minutes.

But I admit I am tuning out all the constant reports about it.

Bright spot: cashier talking to me who lives in Molalla -- a sweet little farmer town in the totality zone 20 miles south of here -- she is all jazzed, her and her sister have made 150 burritos, frozen ready to share (for a price :^), along with other preparations she is cheered to welcome wanderers and share the day among them.

In that spirit, a toast: May all eclipsers and be in their right spot, and same for all non-participants, ease & grace & wonder to all.

cf said...

I didn't say it right. That cashier from Molalla gave me something that, if the Eclipse does nothing else, it has caused me to witness this golden soul, the kind of good people I have come to know here in Oregon, the best reason to be here.

I witnessed a joyful generous American woman excited to share her world and her good location with others strangers be welcome.

Sometimes for me I Think I know what I am headed for, but "the
sword of Light" strikes from the side and I am gained in wonder and understanding Not with the event I was headed for, but along the way. Or much later on the way back home after It is over. This cashier is one of those for me and this eclipse.

cf said...

Truth is, (just saying what I already said makes me realize) I am in full Mind/body/whole being Experiment Mode, I like being a living test tube in body/mind/spirit stuff, yoga meditation etc. so shoot, to witness this momentary alignment and optical transformation that even now is clicking in on our cosmic clock. Why not observe in wonder?

I figure this is an opportunity to rest in whatever right alignment volunteers itself, including ZzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, haha. (Althouse will be liveblogging?) For me it is a natural, a great opporunity for simple experiment/observing. being in repose to the degree possible. Resting/attuning to one's right posture and breath, alignment, instinctive, reflexive, indegenous in us. And go with this quick sunset/midnight/sunrise in the middle of the day.

Some of my experiments like this failed to bear fruit, but that in itself is excellent information. Perhaps the alignment has no affect on us humans, none at all, except for the media onslaught about it.

So, oh boy, i am observing myself. I am personally experimenting the Whole. Damn. Way. Wahoooo.