Blue Moon, by Arthur Tebbel – Pop Art #107

December 21, 2010 Arthur Tebbel 1 Comment

Dear Art,

There was a stunning lunar eclipse this week.  Taking place close to the winter solstice meant the moon was particularly high in the sky for easier visibility.  In addition the high amount of volcanic activity made it a red color not often seen.  It was truly a monumental celestial phenomenon.  What, you didn’t see it?  Oh that’s right, I completely blocked the view for all of Los Angeles.  I’m here to stay man.  I know I’ve been here since Friday morning but I’m staying through tomorrow at least.  This doesn’t have to be hard man; a lot of displaced east coasters say they miss me.  Is there any way we can be friends?

-The Rain

Rain,

Fuck you man.  I know no one wants to hear someone in Los Angeles complain about the weather.  That people in the freezing cold and snow probably think that putting up with six consecutive days of rain is probably a fair trade for something like 350 days of sunshine.  Maybe they would even be right.

What they don’t understand is that living in Los Angeles has given me what must be the most sensitive case of seasonal affective disorder in the history of the world.  The thought of not seeing the sun for a week has depressed me to no end.  It’s been getting into the high 40s overnight and sometimes I wake up shivering.  If the Art of three years ago could see me now, the guy who lived in a pre-war Brooklyn walk-up with suspect heat at best, the guy who had to walk through the snow most of the winter, that guy would punch me right in the face.

I tried to work around you for this eclipse. I think I heard it will be over 400 years until a lunar eclipse falls on the winter solstice again.  NASA offered a live web stream of the eclipse on their web site.  It turns out watching a video of an eclipse is exactly as boring as it sounds.  It looks like I’ll have to settle for the Hale-Bopp comet being the coolest astronomical sight I’ll see in my life.

I suppose LA needs the rain.  This is a desert and without rainy periods like this (and ample help from the Colorado River) we would have no water at all.  It sucks really badly and I’ve stocked up on food so I can potentially spend an entire day without having to leave my apartment.  I’m not going to let you get me down though.  If I can’t see a cosmic spectacle I’m going to do the next best thing and see a man-made spectacle.  I’m going to see Tron: Legacy.