Total lunar eclipse
Tonight, as I sat at the computer listening to “The Galaxay Song” from Monty Python‘s “The Meaning of Life,” (Part V: Live Organ Transplants) I received a call from my wife asking if I had seen the total lunar eclipse, which was in full bloom. 
I am a sucker for irony (and astronomy, having roomed with an astronomy major [I hope that you are doing well, Dave!] all 4 years at Ohio State), so I dropped what I was doing and walked outside. The moon was low in the east and at least 3/4 of the visible half was darkened. Lunar eclipses are always a little eerie (and, of course, dark) to me, but tonight’s was pretty cool!
I am also a sucker for Monty Python, ever since graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where the local PBS station, WHA-TV, ran the series, as well as the series, “The Two Ronnies,” (Corbett and Barker). I have always enjoyed absurdism and British humo(u)r, and the absurdist comedy of the group appeals to me. I was given the complete DVD set for the Monty Python series, so that I can watch dead parrots and spam to my heart’s content.
Wikipedia, true to form, has an article on the February 21, 2008 lunar eclipse (tomorrow’s news today – but it is always “tomorrow” [or “yesterday”] somewhere in the world). In the Americas, the date is February 20. The next total lunar eclipse will be December 21, 2010.
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo
