This feature highlights a number of meteor showers, comets and asteroids which are visible during the month of November 2009. Jupiter continues its reign as not only king of the planets but king of the evening sky. November also brings the Leonids which may put on a good show for some observers this year.

Note: If anyone has pictures or observations of these objects/events and want to share them, send me a comment and I’ll post them on the blog.

Planets

Jupiter - Jupiter continues to dominate the evening sky. At magnitude -2.4, Jupiter is ~10 times brighter than the brightest stars in the sky this month. Of all the planets, only Venus, and on very rare occasions Mars, are brighter.

Jupiter is located high in the southern sky by the end of dusk for easy observation. As has been the case all year, it is slowly moving through the southern constellation of Capricornus.

Nov 23 - Moon passes 3° from Jupiter

Neptune – For those with a telescope or binoculars and a dark sky, Neptune is located within 1/2 to 3/4 degrees of Jupiter. Jupiter will be a bright magnitude -2.4 while Neptune will be a faint +7.9. Even Jupiter’s 4 large Galilean moons are about a dozen times brighter than Neptune even though they are much smaller. The big reason for the faintness of Neptune is its distance from both the Earth and Sun. It is roughly 6 times further away from us and the Sun as Jupiter. The distance also explains its apparent small size of 2.3″. A good sized telescope will be required to see Neptune as anything other than a faint star.

Uranus – Uranus is located in western Pisces and is bright enough to be seen in small binoculars at magnitude +5.8 but will still require a telescope in order to see it as anything other than a star (it’s disk is only 3.5″ across).

Mars – Mars can be seen rising in the eastern sky late in the evening (~11 pm at the start of the month and ~9 pm at the end of the month). Mars is rapidly brightening and will reach magnitude 0.0 by the end of the month, matching that of many of the brightest stars visible in the morning sky. Mars will continue to brighten as it approaches its opposition on Jan 29 of next year. This month Mars marches through eastern half of the constellation of Cancer.

Nov 9 – Moon passes close (3°) to Mars

Venus - Venus rises an hour before dawn. When it is visible it is easily the brightest “star” in the sky. It was at its highest in the morning sky back in August and is continuing its slow crawl lower. It is located just above the horizon in the ESE sky right before the start of dawn. For binocular and telescope users, Venus will appear nearly full and is much smaller than it appeared this spring (now 11″ across versus 50″ last spring).

Nov 15 – Moon passes 6° from Venus

Mercury - Mercury starts the month behind the Sun with superior conjunction occurring on November 5. For the rest of the month, Mercury slowly pulls away from the Sun into the evening sky. Southern hemisphere observers will be able to catch a glimpse of Mercury low in the WSW sky during evening twilight. Northern observers will have to wait till December for their chance at seeing Mercury again.

Nov 5 – Mercury at superior conjunction

Saturn – Saturn is easy to observe during the last few hours of the night. Located in Virgo at magnitude +1.0, Virgo only rises right before the start of dawn. Telescope users should note that Saturn’s rings are still close to edge-on.

Nov 12 – Moon and Saturn within 7° of each other

Meteors

November hosts the sometimes great Leonids. In addition, the background rate of meteors is near an annual high. The year is usually split in 2 with January through June having low rates with few major showers while July through December (really through the 1st week of January) have high rates with many major showers.

Sporadic Meteors

Sporadic meteors are not part of any known meteor shower. They represent the background flux of meteors. Except for the few days per year when a major shower is active, most meteors that are observed are Sporadics. This is especially true for meteors observed during the evening. During November, 12 or so Sporadic meteors can be observed per hour from a dark moonless sky.

Major Meteor Showers

Leonids (LEO)

The Leonids have produced some of the most spectacular meteor displays in history. Rates as high as ~70,000 meteors per hour (that’s ~20 meteors per second) were seen in 1833 and 1966. Every ~33 years, the parent comet of the Leonids, Comet Tempel-Tuttle, returns to the vicinity of the Earth. For a few years after Tempel-Tuttle’s last perihelion in 1998, the Leonids produced enhanced rates of meteors as high as 100s to 1000s of meteors per hour.

What will 2009 bring? In a normal year, the Leonids produce maximum rates of ~10-15 meteors per hour. This year there are a number of predictions of enhanced activity.

J. Vaubaillon presents his predictions for this year’s Leonids at the website of the L’Institut de Mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides (IMCCE). The Earth will encounter 4 dense dust trails produced by the Leonid parent comet. On November 17 at ~21:43 UT (or half an hour to an hour later), the Earth will encounter a trail produced in 1466 which may produce as many as ~115 meteors per hour from a dark site. At nearly the same time, November 17 at 21:50 UT, the 1533 trail may produce 80 meteors per hour. Combined the 2 trails may (may being the important word) produce ~200 meteors per hour. A display this strong would not be considered a “storm” but would be better than the Perseids or Geminids at their best by nearly a factor of 2. The predicted times favor observers in central Asia. Unfortunately for those of us in the US, we will miss out.

Two weaker and much more uncertain trails will be observable from the Western hemisphere. On November 17 at ~7:27 UT, the 1567 trail may produce 25 meteors per hour. Since this is in addition to the usual background rate of Leonids may result in total rates of 35-50 per hour which is comparable to last month’s Orionids. Also on November 18 at ~3:29 UT, the very old 1102 trail may enhance activity by 10-50 meteors per hour.

What does this mean? Most of us, especially in the United States, will only see the “normal” maximum on the morning of November 17 with hopefully an extra dozen or two meteors per hour from the 1567 trail. For those located in central Asia, a very good shower may be visible. The Leonids are best observed in the hours before sunrise. They will appear to radiate from the western part of the constellation of Leo.

Minor Meteor Showers

Minor showers produce so few meteors that they are hard to notice above the background of regular meteors. Starting this month, info on most of the minor showers will be provided on a weekly basis by Robert Lunsford’s Meteor Activity Outlook.

Northern and Southern Taurids (NTA/STA)

The Taurids never produce more than ~5 meteors per hour. They make up for their low rates by being active for over two months and by producing many bright fireballs. Their fireballs are more apparent to the average observer because, unlike most meteor showers, the Taurids are observable all night long rather than just in the morning. There is a chance that the Taurids will produce a higher number of fireballs this year than usual. There is a good chance that most fireballs being reported this month will be Taurids. They are active for the entire month of November with the northern branch (NTA) peaking around November 14. Though named after the constellation of Taurus, theTaurids radiate from a point between the constellations of Taurus and Aries this month.

The Taurids are produced by Comet 2P/Encke. Encke is an enigmatic object with the shortest period for any known comet at 3.3 years. First observed in 1786, it has been observed over ~60 orbits and has been seen every year since 1993.

Additional information on these showers and other minor showers not included here can be found at the following sites: Robert Lunsford’s Meteor Activity Outlook, Wayne Hally’s and Mark Davis’s NAMN Notes, and the International Meteor Organization’s 2008 Meteor Shower Calendar.

Comets

Naked Eye Comets (V < 6.0)

None

Binocular Comets (V = 6.0 – 8.0)

None

Small Telescope Comets (V = 8.0 – 10.0)

Comet 88P/Howell

P/Howell is an evening comet and currently the brightest in the sky. Howell is a short-period comet and takes only 5.49 years to orbit the Sun. Ellen Howell was a student at Caltech when she found the comet on photographic plates taken on 1981 August 29 with the 48″ Palomar schmidt.

In 1981 the comet was on an orbit that never brought it closer to the Sun than 1.62 AU (perihelion distance). As a result, it never got very bright. A relatively close approach to Jupiter in 1990 changed its perihelion distance to 1.40 AU. Further perturbations by Jupiter have decreased its perihelion distance to 1.36 AU. The closer perihelion distance allows the comet to get bright enough for small backyard telescopes. In addition, the comet seems to be running about ~2 magnitude brighter than usual. No obvious reason for the additional brightening has been observed yet.

This year perihelion occurred on Oct 12 so the comet is currently moving away from the Sun and should be fading. A day after perihelion I observed the comet from Tucson with a 12″ dobsonian. The comet was very difficult to observe from the city. At the time, I estimated its brightness at magnitude 8.5. The comet should be a little fainter (from 8.8 to 9.5) this month. The comet is located low in the southwest sky after dusk and will spend most of the month in Sagittarius. At mid-month P/Howell will be 1.41 AU from the Sun and 1.79 AU from Earth.

A finder chart for Comet Howell can be found at Comet Chasing and Aktuelle Kometen (in German).

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen)

This comet was discovered nearly 3 years ago on 2006 November 18 by Eric Christensen of the Catalina Sky Survey north of Tucson. At the time the comet was located 8.7 AU from the Sun which is nearly the distance of Saturn.

The comet reached perihelion at a rather distant 3.12 AU from the Sun on 2009 July 6. Because of its large perihelion distance, the comet will only slowly move away from the Sun and, though it will slowly fade, it should remain bright enough to be seen in modest sized backyard telescopes this month.

At mid-month, the comet is 3.37 AU from the Sun and 3.82 AU from Earth. Though observed as bright as magnitude ~8.2 it is now around magnitude 9.5 to 10.0. It is moving southeast while paralleling the summer Milky Way. This month the comet can be found in southern Aquila near the Sagittarius and is well placed for evening observing. This will probably be the last month that this comet will be observable in small scopes.

A finder chart for Comet Christensen can be found at Comet Chasing and Aktuelle Kometen (in German).

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Comet 217P/LINEAR

217P/LINEAR is also a short-period comet though it takes a little longer than Howell to circle the Sun, 7.83 years versus 5.49 years. P/LINEAR also comes closer to the Sun with perihelion at 1.22 AU from the Sun. The comet is already a month past perihelion which occurred on Sept 8.

P/LINEAR was first observed by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey on 2001 June 21 though it wasn’t until 2001 July 11 that it was recognized as a comet. The 2009 apparition is the first return since the discovery apparition.

Though P/LINEAR and P/Howell have similar perihelion distances, LINEAR is a much fainter (or less active) comet. While Howell is ~9th magnitude at a rather distant 1.65 AU from Earth, P/LINEAR is a little fainter at magnitude ~10.0 though it is much closer (0.61 AU from Earth). This may be the last time to see P/LINEAR in small backyard telescopes until its 2048 return when it will pass within 0.40 AU of Earth. All the returns between 2009 and 2048 will be more distant.

I was able to observe 217P/LINEAR with 30×125 binoculars on the morning of Sept 25. In order to see the comet I had to drive out to a dark site. The comet was a rather nondescript smudge about 1.5′ across and with a brightness of magnitude 10.1. On Oct 16, I dragged my 12″ dob to a dark site. The comet was easy to observe with a nice short 0.08° long tail. At that time, the estimated brightness was magnitude 9.9.

This month the comet will be visible in the morning sky in the faint Milky Way constellation of Monoceros. It should remain at magnitude ~10 or a little fainter for the entire month. At mid-month the comet will be 1.49 AU from the Sun and 0.64 AU from Earth.

A finder chart for Comet LINEAR can be found at Comet Chasing and Aktuelle Kometen (in German).

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring)

This long-period was first seen on 2007 August 25 by Donna Barton of the Siding Spring Survey in Australia. This past Oct. 7th the comet reached a rather distant perihelion at 2.25 AU from the Sun. Unfortunately, the comet and Earth are located on opposite sides of the Sun so the comet is rather far from Earth. Still the comet is observable before the start of dawn as a ~9.0 to 9.5 magnitude comet near the Leo/Virgo border. At mid-month the comet is 2.30 AU from the Sun and 2.71 AU from Earth.

A finder chart for Comet Siding Spring can be found at Comet Chasing and Aktuelle Kometen (in German).

A nice collection of images can be found at the VdS-Fachgruppe Kometen (Comet Section of Germany) and Seiichi Yoshida’s Comet Homepage.

Asteroids

Binocular and Small Telescope Asteroids (V < 9.0)

(3) Juno

Juno was the 3rd asteroid to be discovered after (1) Ceres and (2) Pallas. It was found by German astronomer Karl Harding on September 1, 1804. With dimensions of 320×267×200 km (192 x 160 x 120 miles) Juno ranks as the 10th largest asteroid in the Main Belt though it is the 2nd largest stony S-type asteroid.

This month it will be moving slowly southwestward in Aquarius. Peak brightness occurred at opposition on Sept. 22 when Juno was as bright as magnitude 7.6. In November it will fade from magnitude 8.4 to 8.9. Twenty degrees or so to the east of Juno is another bright asteroid, (18) Melpomene which is described in its own section.

A finder chart (needs to be flipped upside down for Northern Hemisphere observers) can be found at the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Finder chart for Juno from Heavens Above.

(18) Melpomene

About 25 degrees to the east of (3) Juno lies another nice asteroid target for small telescopes. (18) Melpomene is located in the constellation of Cetus and is roughly the same brightness as Juno, in November it will fade from magnitude 8.3 to 9.0.

Melpomene is another stoney S-type asteroid and similar to Iris was also discovered by John Russel Hind. Found in 1852, it is his 5th of 10 asteroid discoveries.

A finder chart (needs to be flipped upside down for Northern Hemisphere observers) can be found at the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Finder chart for Iris from Heavens Above.

(4) Vesta

Though not as large as Ceres, Vesta is more reflective making it the brightest asteroid in the Main Belt. Vesta is peculiar in that it appears to have evidence of volcanism on its surface. Similar to the Moon, Vesta may be covered with large expanses of frozen lava flows. It is classified as a V-type asteroid and is the only large asteroid with this classification. Many of the smaller V-type asteroids are chips of Vesta blasted off it by past asteroid and comet impacts. Vesta is similar in size to Pallas with dimensions of 347×336x275 miles or 578×560×458 km. Vesta will also be visited by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft which will arrive in 2010.

Vesta is once again observable in the morning sky before the start of dawn. It is brightening from magnitude 8.1 to 7.7 as it travels eastward just north of Regulus in Leo.

A finder chart (needs to be flipped upside down for Northern Hemisphere observers) can be found at the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. Finder chart for Vesta from Heavens Above.

Calliope- Epic poetry

Erato- Love poetry

Euterpe- Flute Playing

Melpomene- Tragedy

Thalia- Comedy

Klio- History

Urania- Astronomy

Polyhymnia- Religious songs and rhyme

Terpsichore- Lyric poetry and dance.

Daily Draw September 13th, 2009

Today I am using a triangular deck called The Circle or the Circle Deck by someone whose name I’ve forgotten. Anyway, two or more years ago when I bought this I had planned to do up a review. I rarely review decks as I like to spend hours on them and reviews can take me up to 40 hours or more apiece, so the deck really has to pop with me for me to be interested in writing and drawing or making jewellery or whatever takes my fancy as I do a review. I enjoy relating how a deck inspires me to make things and to learn. That takes time and familiarity and I don’t like dashing off reviews otherwise.

Usually I am inspired by the colours in a deck and then create my own thing, but for some reason long forgotten, I took a notion to take about an inch square scanned directly off one of the cards, or maybe two cards I think, and create a triangular necklace pendant to echo the shape of the cards, and beads in conjunction with a review. I told the author/artist, he of the forgotten name, and he went ballistic, sending me a checklist of things I could and could not do if I used a snippet of the card. I wasn’t to sell it or put pictures up on the Internet and several other things, also forgotten. I’d already explained to him that I had no interest in selling it, it was to show people how to be creative with decks they liked.

I threw the stuff I had prepared out. I had no problem with his view at all. As I say, I usually use the cards or colours as inspiration like in my reviews for the Dreaming in Color Luman Deck or the Mirrors of the Heart deck or the Graven Images Oracle and the recent necklace I’ve been working on for the Rumi Tarot.

What I did have a problem with was his stroppy, pedantic attitude and language. Dear old Mr. Love and Light wasn’t quite so lovely in actuality. Perhaps he had a bad day, I don’t know. I have been stroppy myself at times, but then I don’t proselytize like a religious fundamentalist about how we are all one and filled with the love of the Universe. Bright blessings and love and light, and a stab in the back if you don’t believe or follow the path as laid down by the tarot fundamentalist of the week.

I came upon this deck while rummaging in my collection for cards that reminded me of the Intuitive Tarot I was working with yesterday. I feel sorry for it. It cost quite a lot and I find most of the artwork charmingly simply and primitive. It came with a spiral bound paperback that was filled with repetitive, vapid, “we are one” pithiness for every card. I was rather shocked that it was so silly and empty, and eventually gave up and shredded the poor book so that I could form my own associations and meanings. I live in fear that the author will swoop in on me again should I dare to post a picture of a card or write about it!

Oh yes, we are one, namaste, as long as you do **exactly** as I say in my checklist.

However, the deck does have cute pictures so here is a card for today (highly reduced and compressed with a large, attendant copyright symbol lest anyone be tempted to STEAL the artwork):

APPEARANCES

These look like theatre masks. Every now and then this symbolism turns up in card decks. Regrettably, in my experience of this deck, it reminds me of how a person can smile at you one minute and the next minute be scowling and screaming at you with a very unpleasant countenance.

I once looked up the history of these masks of Tragedy and Comedy in relation to their depiction in another deck. They come from the theatre of ancient Greece where comedy and tragedy were strictly separated. Various other masks were used of gods and such, much like Japanese theatre, where characterization is often a part of the mask with exaggerated features and wild hair or headdresses. Part of it was simply so that people in the back rows could recognize a character or so that emotions and good and evil characterization would be immediately recognized, but also to indicate female gender of a character since all the actors were men. It would seem that Shakespeare took his cue from ancient Greece in a similar separation of his plays into tragic and comic delineation.

All that remains to us is the iconic symbolism of these masks for tragedy and comedy, universal symbols of the theatre, life, and the human condition. They are said to sometimes represent the two faces of Janus, and also the aspect of Dionysus wearing a mask during his revelries and being uninhibited. The masks eventually became associated with the Muses: Melpomene is now associated with Tragedy and Thalia is associated with comedy and they are often depicted in statuary, etchings, and paintings holding their respective masks.

Hey, a good segue into scanning more cards. These are from the silver foil edition of the Mantegna Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. While they don’t carry the masks, their faces and instruments seem to reflect the Tragedy and Comedy associations. Melpomene is blowing a dirge on her horn with a tragic, troubled face, and Thalia is stringing music of gaiety with a smile, and laughter not far behind.

Due to recent troubles in our lives, I get the sense that tragedy and comedy come to every human, but also that good things can come out of tragedy and see you laughing again. So, that’s my message today. I eventually got there via my circuitous route.

Conhecidas filhas de Zeus são elas:  Calíope deusa da poesia épica,   Clio deusa da história,   Érato deusa da poesia erótica,   Euterpe deusa da poesia lírica,   Melpômene deusa da tragédia,   Polínia deusa da poesia sacra,   Terspsícore que se tornou muito conhecida por causa de um  filme musical com Rita Hayworth fazendo a deusa, deusa da dança e do canto,   Urânia deusa da astronomia    e Tália deusa da comédia.

Gender: Female
Origin: Greek
Meaning “to celebrate with song and dance.”
English (mel-PAH-meh-NEE); Greek (mel-po-MEH-nee)

The name is found in Greek mythology by the Muse of Tragedy. She was often invoked by poets and singers before they performed. She was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne.

The name comes from the Greek Μελπομενη meaning “choir.” Another form of the name is the French Melpomène (mel-poh-MEN).

Published by Paula Bray on February 28, 2009 in Photo of the day.

Powerhouse Museum – Sydney

Thalia and Melpomene

This is an exhibition view of Inspired! Design across time.The two painted terracotta sculptures were modelled by John Broad for Doulton in England about 1899. They represent Thalia, the muse of comedy, and Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. These ceramic Greek goddesses were originally part of the group comprising Apollo and nine muses which decorated the facade of the Apollo Public House on corner of Tottenham Court Road and Torrington Road in London. Inspired! is one of our long-term displays and shows an amazing selection of Australian and international ceramics, glass, jewellery, graphic and decorative arts and design objects dating from the late 1700s to now.

Photography by Jean – Francois Lanzarone
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0
Post by Iwona Hetherington, Rights & Permissions officer

© Copyright Powerhouse Museum

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Me voilà de retour du Dollshow 24 !

Petite explication pour ceux qui passeraient par ici et ne serait pas familiers de la chose. Le Dollshow est l’une des conventions de poupées les plus importantes à Tokyo. Peut-être même la plus importante. Sur 4 étages, elle regroupe je ne sais combien de vendeurs (quelques marques, entreprises et boutiques officielle, mais surtout beaucoup de stands amateurs) et des centaines de visiteurs sur une journée, de 11 heures à 16 heures. C’est une grosse organisation, et ça impressionne vraiment quand on s’y retrouve pour la première fois. On ne sait pas où donner de la tête, il y a tellement de stands tous plus chouettes les uns que les autres ! Et donc les gens y vont pour acheter (c’est quand même le but premier je pense), ou vendre bien entendu si ce sont des vendeurs, voir de jolies choses et les futures sorties (beaucoup de marques pro en profitent pour montrer des previews), retrouver leurs amis, s’amuser.

Personnellement je n’y vais plus trop pour acheter pour moi, je n’ai pas vraiment les finances depuis quelques temps. Ca enlève une partie du charme, c’est sûr. Soit on regarde quand même tout ce qui est en vente et on se laisse tourner la tête et on est super frustré (ou on s’endette si on a moins de volonté et des sous dans le portefeuille), soit on regarde beaucoup moins dans le détail les articles proposés et on se concentre sur autre chose. Personnellement je me suis plongée dans la prise de photo du coup. ^^ En fait depuis le tout premier je fais plein de photos à ce genre d’events, pour avoir des souvenirs, parce qu’il y a plein de belles choses, pour faire partager. Mais maintenant ça devient mon but premier, avant le repérages de “trucs super chouettes que je ne peux pas laisser passer”. XD Du coup j’avoue qu’on s’habitue plus vite, parce que d’une session à l’autre tout n’a pas forcément radicalement changé, l’oeil s’habitue et on devient plus sélectif sur ce qu’on prend en photos, il faut que ça frappe. Enfin je pense que la sélectivité accrue est aussi due au fait que je commence à connaître quelques personnes là-bas, et que quand on passe du temps à papoter, bah forcément après il en reste beaucoup moins pour les photos ! ^^; Mais je n’ai aucune envie de revenir en arrière, parce que j’ai vraiment rencontré des personnes super via les poupées, et je suis à chaque fois très contente de les revoir. C’est d’ailleurs véritablement devenu une partie importante du charme de ces events. Je suis contente d’y aller en sachant que je vais revoir telle ou telle personne et qu’on va discuter. Et puis ça me fait travailler mon japonais de manière un peu plus intensive ! ;p

Bon ceci dit, je ne suis peut-être pas non plus devenue si sélective que ça, parce que je suis tout de même rentrée avec plus de 500 photos. Donc désolée mais encore une fois il faudra être patients avec moi, parce que ça risque de prendre du temps pour tout trier et mettre sur Flickr. Je vais commencer la semaine prochaine, histoire de ne pas laisser traîner trop longtemps (comme plein d’autres events que j’ai encore à montrer). J’essaierai de raconter des trucs ici en même temps si certaines photos appellent des commentaires.

Bref, donc sinon, j’ai passé une super chouette journée ! Fatiguante (levée tôt, debout longtemps, galère pour porter sacs et manteau et prendre des photos en même temps, séance intensive de japonais), mais vraiment plaisante ! J’ai revu des amis, rencontré de nouvelles personnes, vu de belles choses. J’ai le plaisir de savoir que j’ai plein de chouettes nouvelles à partager avec vous ! Et puis j’ai pu faire un peu la pub du blog auprès des gens que je connais grâce à de jolies cartes de visites que j’ai faites exprès vendredi. J’ai enfin mes cartes de visites moi aussi ! ^^ Bon ok, elles sont valables justes pour les events de poupées, mais c’est généralement là que ça me manque le plus. J’ai hâte de remettre ça ! Après un peu de repos ceci dit, parce que là, claquée… mais j’ai vraiment hâte de revoir tout ce monde et de parler poupées.

Sur ce, je vous laisse avec Melpomène et Calliope qui posent à la sortie du Dollshow, et je vais me mettre au lit ! A très vite !

PS : si vous venez au Dollshow un jour, je vous conseille vraiment de prévoir d’y rester tout du long, parce que ça n’est vraiment pas de trop pour tout voir et tout photographier (surtout si vous voulez aussi acheter).
PPS : je me rends compte que je n’écris pas exactement la même chose dans toutes les langues… là j’ai retapé le texte à chaque fois, par traduit, du coup si vous voulez vous pouvez faire un tour sur la page anglaise aussi pour quelques détails différents. Désolée ! ^^;

Today I went to the Dollshow in Tokyo. ^_^

I think we can say it’s the biggest doll event in Tokyo. Four floors full of people selling stuff for dolls. Hundreds of visitors who come here to buy, see, play, see their friends. I love those events, although they’re very tiring. Especially when you stay the whole time (from 11am to 4pm) and arrive earlier than 11 to get a chance to have a good number ticket. They give you a ticket when you buy your pamphlet (which describes the shops at each floor). If you arrive earlier than let’s say 9:30/10am, you have to pick your ticket randomly. I guess they do that to prevent people from sleeping there the night before. ^^; When you arrive after, you get them in your order of arrival, but usually I guess you won’t have a number under 500 or 600… Some items here are in very limited quantities, and if you’re interested in those you’d better be there before that. I’ve learned that from experience.

Usually I stay the whole time because you really need that time to see and photograph everything. And now that I have friends there, I chat a lot more, so even that is not enough! ^^; Although I can’t complain that I get to talk with them, because I love that, and it’s a big part of the fun of going there now. If you go each time you get used to it, and it doesn’t seem as magical the 5th time as it was the first. This is sad, I know, but it’s true. :s I think that part of it though comes from the fact that I’m not able to spend as much money now as I could the first times. If you can’t buy, you just take pictures, and then after some time some things look the same. But don’t get me wrong, I will go to the future Dollshow, because even if I get used to it a little, I still love it! I don’t want to miss any.

Today I got to meet Bubujojo, who was there for the first time. She’s really nice! And I’m happy I got to see her work for real (I had seen Jardin de Money when she was exhibited, but it’s not exactly the same), because she makes really cute stuff! I was surprised to see a two foreigners that I didn’t know, among whom one journalist it seems.  And of course I got to see my friends and the people I met before once more, which made me really happy!! I talked a lot with some of them. And I could give them the address of this blog with the brand new cards I made on Friday. ^^ But I’m afraid I forgot to give it to some people, I’m not used to it yet… :s Hopefully I will be able to give them the cards next time!

I thought I had taken less pictures than what I’m used too, because I got late and had to skip more than half of the 5th floor (didn’t get to see Each Style’s booth or the display by F.L.C. for the Hajimete no DCR at Graphic-sha booth -_- ) and got quite quickly through the 4th, but I still have more than 500. So please be patient, I want to start uploading them on Flickr next week, but I don’t know how long it will take, since I have to sort and resize them. I’ll try to write some reports here if I have interesting things to say about some of them.

And now I’m going to bed because it’s all I dream of since I came back home! See you soon. ^^

今日、DS24に行って来ました！初めから終わりまで．．．とても疲れたけど、嬉しい。楽しい日でした。
たくさんきれいなドールと服を見て、友達と話し合って、新しい人々に会いました。本当に楽しかった！ありがとうございました！！

来週にFlickrに写真のアップロードを始めます。でも写真が沢山あるから、長くなります。全部をアップロードするために数週間待ってください。写真は527枚．．．^^；
一斉にここにリポートをします。

フランス語と英語でのブログに書いて、眠りに行く!

Judith e Holofernes, de Caravaggio, 1598

Nota: A crônica a seguir foi publicada originalmente na Diário do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, em 3 de outubro de 1864, há exatos 144 anos.

O Brasil acaba de perder um dos seus primeiros poetas. Se ele tem em alguma conta a glória das musas, o dia em que um destes espíritos deixa a terra, para voar à eternidade, deve ser um dia de luto nacional.

E aqui o luto seria por um duplo motivo: luto por mágoa e luto por vergonha. Mágoa da perda de um dos maiores engenhos da nossa terra, talento robusto e original, imaginação abundante e fogosa, estro arrojado e atrevido. Vergonha de haver deixado inserir no livro da nossa história a página negra do abandono e da penúria do poeta, confirmando hoje, como no século de Camões, a dolorosa verdade destes versos:

O favor com que mais se acende o engenho

Não no dá a pátria, não, que está metida

No gosto da cobiça, e na rudeza

De uma austera, apagada e vil tristeza.

Todos sabem que a vida de Laurindo Rabelo foi uma longa série de martírios. Se não tivesse altas e legítimas aspirações, como todos os que sentem vibrar em si uma corda divina, os padecimentos ser-lhe-iam menos sensíveis; mas, cheio daquela vida intelectual que o animava, dotado de asas capazes de subir às mais elevadas esferas, o poeta sentia-se duplamente martirizado, e a sua paixão atingia proporções dos maiores exemplos de que reza a história literária de todos os países.

A figura de Prometeu é uma figura gasta em alambicados necrológios; mas eu não sei de outra que melhor possa representar a existência atribulada deste infeliz poeta, espicaçado, não por um, mas por dois abutres, a fatalidade e a indiferença. A fatalidade — se é lícito invocar este nome — assentou-se-lhe no lar doméstico, desde que ele abriu olhos à vida; mas, se ao lado dela não se viesse depois sentar a indiferença, a vida do poeta seria outra, e aquele imenso espírito não teria atravessado por este mundo — amargurado e angustiado.

Consola um pouco saber que, na via dolorosa que o poeta percorreu, se já lhe não assistia a fé nos homens, nunca se lhe amorteceu a fé em Deus. Os sentimentos religiosos de Laurindo Rabelo eram os mais profundos e sinceros; ele tinha em si a consciência da justiça divina, em quem esperava, como o último refúgio dos desamparados deste mundo. Em seus últimos momentos deu ainda provas disso; o seu canto do cisne foi uma oração que ele improvisou para ajudar-se a morrer. Os que ouviram essa inspiração religiosa dizem que não se podia ser nem mais elevado nem mais comovente. Assim acabou o poeta cristão.

Laurindo Rabelo era casado há alguns anos. A família foi então para ele o santuário do seu coração e o asilo da sua musa. Os seus labores nestes últimos tempos tendiam a deixar à companheira dos seus dias uma garantia de futuro. Não tinha outras ambições.

Um grande talento, uma grande consciência, um grande coração, eis o que se perdeu em Laurindo Rabelo. Do talento ficam aí provas admiráveis, nos versos que escreveu e andam dispersos em jornais e na memória dos amigos. Era um poeta na verdadeira acepção da palavra; estro inspirado e imaginação fecunda, falando a língua de Bocage e admirando os que o ouviam e liam, tão pronta era a sua musa, tão opulenta a sua linguagem, tão novos os seus pensamentos, tão harmoniosos os seus versos.

Era igualmente uma grande consciência; consciência aberta e franca, dirigida por aquele rigorismo de Alceste, que eu ouvi censurar a mais de um Filinto do nosso tempo. O culto da justiça e a estima do bem eram-lhe iguais aos sentimentos de revolta produzidos pela injustiça e pelo mal. Ele desconhecia o sistema temperado de colorir os vícios medíocres e cantar as virtudes ilusórias.

Quanto ao coração, seus amigos e companheiros sabem se ele o tinha grande e nobre. Quando ele se abria, aos afetos era sempre sem reservas nem refolhos; sabia amar o que era digno de ser amado, sabia estimar o que era digno de ter estima.

Se este coração, se esta consciência, se este talento acaba de fugir aos nossos olhos, a pátria que o perdeu deve contar o dia da morte dele na lista dos seus dias lutuosos.

Há oito dias comemorava eu uma perda literária do país; hoje comemoro outra, e Deus sabe quantas não sucederão ainda nesta época infeliz para as musas! — Assim se vão as glórias pátrias, os intérpretes do passado diante das gerações do futuro, os que sabem, no turbilhão que leva as massas irrefletidas e impetuosas, honrar o nome nacional e construir o edifício da grandeza da pátria.

Ouço que se pretende fazer uma edição dos escritos de Laurindo Rabelo. É um duplo dever e uma dupla necessidade; o produto auxiliará a família viúva; a obra tomará lugar na galeria literária do Brasil.

Quanto a ti, infeliz poeta, pode-se dizer hoje o que tu mesmo dizias em uma hora de amarga tristeza:

A tua triste existência

Foi tão pesada e tão dura,

Que a pedra da sepultura

Já te não pode pesar.

Cometi uma falta no folhetim de domingo passado; não falei de uma obra e de um artista. Cumpre-me reparar a falta.

Quando se festejou a Exaltação da Cruz na igreja de Santa Cruz dos Militares foi inaugurado o retrato a óleo do atual provedor o Sr. general Antonio Nunes de Aguiar. É um retrato de corpo inteiro.

A obra foi olhada como digna de apreço e de estima. Estimar a obra de arte é prestar-lhe uma honra elevada. Os conhecedores e amadores não hesitaram em dar este gênero de homenagem ao trabalho com que a irmandade da Cruz resolvera perpetuar na memória dos vindouros os seus sentimentos de gratidão.

É que realmente a simples vista do quadro faz adivinhar um pincel adestrado e inteligente. O nome do autor corresponde a essa apreciação. O Sr. Rocha Fragoso é um dos nossos artistas mais capazes e mais dignos de apreço. Dotado de talento real para a pintura, foi um discípulo esperançoso da nossa academia, e quando mais tarde voltou de Roma, duplamente condecorado, — com o aplauso dos mestres e com a comenda de S. Gregório Magno, — os seus irmãos de arte o receberam como uma honra da classe.

Dando ao Sr. Rocha Fragoso os meus sinceros aplausos, não deixarei de consignar aqui o desejo de que novas provas de seu apreciado talento venham conquistar novos aplausos, dando-me ainda o prazer de escrever muitas vezes o seu nome neste folhetim.

Que a arte e os artistas vão ganhando neste país um lugar distinto, é o melhor desejo de todo o coração verdadeiramente brasileiro. Vem a propósito mencionar mais sentou a tragédia Judith e a comédia As primeiras proezas de Richelieu.

Calçar na mesma noite o coturno de Melpomene e a chinela de Talia, passar da tenda de Holofernes e dos rochedos de Betúlia aos paços de Luiz XIV e ao camarim do sobrinho do Cardeal, era dar prova de um talento vasto e variado. A artista quis entrar nessa prova, que, aliás, já dera ao público do seu país. Aquela circunstância e a de ser o espetáculo em benefício da artista encheram o vasto salão do teatro Lírico.

Choveram nessa noite aplausos, flores e coroas.

O primeiro espetáculo que se ofereceu aos olhos do espectador ao levantar o pano, foi, como já se tem visto em outras peças, o de um asseio e ordem cênica a que não andamos muito acostumados. Essa primeira impressão é já de si agradável e dispõe o espírito do espectador.

Como sempre, o espectador assiste distraído às primeiras cenas até a entrada de Emília das Neves, e daí em diante é a eminente atriz quem lhe atrai exclusivamente a atenção.

Os dotes que eu já tive ocasião de reconhecer em Emília das Neves, e que são de primeira ordem, acham-se perfeitamente acomodados à figura de Judith e às condições da tragédia; voz, figura, gesto, fisionomia, tudo corresponde a uma ação trágica. Emília das Neves, que possui estas duas condições — a inteligência e o natural — uma para compreender, outra para reproduzir, soube entrar no espírito do papel e desempenhá-lo ao vivo, mediante os recursos de uma arte que lhe é familiar.

Se houvera tempo e espaço para estabelecer preferências nas diversas situações da tragédia, eu desenvolveria os motivos pelos quais a eminente artista me agradou mais no 2°, no 3° e no 5° atos. Limito-me a assinalar aqui essas preferências, que de modo nenhum concluem contra o desempenho, aliás excelente, do resto do papel.

Mas quem dirá que a figura trágica, a voz potente, a gesticulação larga, mas sóbria, como deve ser, — quem dirá enfim, que a atriz talhada para a reprodução das grandes paixões, pode tão facilmente acomodar-se ao gênero familiar da comédia, em que sorri, brinca, moteja, em que de águia se faz pomba, apenas com o intervalo de um quarto de hora?

Conheço alguns artistas que possuem o dom de enternecer no drama e alegrar na comédia; mas não são muitos, de certo, posto que quase todos procurem vencer a mesma dificuldade. Esta dificuldade só muita natureza e muita arte podem vencei-a; se eu admiro, portanto, a intenção de todos os cometimentos desta ordem, estou muito longe de admirar-lhes os resultados.

Com a artista de que me ocupo duvido que se possa exigir mais. Mesmo pondo de parte a circunstância de ter representado na mesma noite os dois gêneros, o que tornava mais flagrante e mais vivo o contraste, o desempenho do papel do menino duque não podia ser mais completo do que foi. Fora sem dúvida para desejar que, em vez das Proezas de Richelieu, comédia do gênero anedótico, sem grande alcance nem grandes pretensões literárias, a empresa fizesse representar uma verdadeira comédia, uma comédia da boa escola, onde o talento de Emília das Neves pudesse entrar no largo estudo que a comédia das Proezas lhe não permitiu.

É verdade, porém, que uma comédia nessas condições não teria um pessoal completo, à exceção da artista de que me ocupo, e do Sr. Gusmão, que não deixarei de mencionar aqui pelo desempenho do barão de Belle-Chasse.

O papel de madame Patin, burguesa ridícula que o leitor pode encontrar, até com o mesmo nome, mas tratada com outro talento, no Chevalier à la mode, comédia de Dancourt, sofreu com o desempenho, não tanto por estar longe de ser completo, como pelo contraste que se apresentava à memória, comparando-se com o excelente desempenho que fez há anos a eminente artista dramática Gabriela da Cunha.

Dizem que a peça escolhida para a próxima recita é a Adriana Lecouvreur.

Terminarei anunciando uma transmigração; morreu a Cruz, mas a alma passou para o Cruzeiro do Brasil — continuando assim a mesma Cruz, revestida de novas galas, segundo a expressão singularmente modesta da redação.

Procurei as novas galas, mas confesso ingenuamente que as não encontrei. Quer-me parecer que ficaram na intenção dos redatores.talia,

Proust: “Erano troppo grosse, quelle sbranze…”
Huxley: “Macché! Dai, dai! Tutti sottocassa!”
Tersicore: “Yayyy!”
Calliope: “Non le avrà messo gli occhi addosso?”
Melpomene: “Tranquilla, tutta scena.”