Celebrity New Year's Resoltions 2011

The public love to live vicariously through iconic celebrities who live the lives that many of us only dream about.  We tend to distance the famous from normal people, seeing them as untouchable and sometimes even dieify them to lofty pedalstools and standards.  This is understandable as fame and fortune our influences in life choices and styles that many of us can’t conceive of but labelling someone as better or worse for their influence and media stature is dangerous.  The lives of these individuals are so exposed and reported that fans can have more knowledge of their heroes than their own family and that begs the question of whether these folk we aspire to are worthy role models for society.

The mundane and familiar environmental and social education and influences on these celebrities was perhaps never so evidenced as through their ‘New Year’s Resolutions for 2011’.  The curious and attentive populace wished to know what some of their favourite stars planned to change in the coming year.

The response was very down to earth in most cases with people like Kate Gosselin, of American pregnant reality show fame and Kim Kardashian, producer, actress and model commenting on their dating life and the epic comedian Jack Black voicing the wide spread hope on losing some weight.

A little different but still understandable due to celebrity lifestyles and commitments, Justin Timberlake of singing fame vowed to “get more sleep”, the female diva Miley Cyrus wanting to travel and Anderson Copper of CNN wishing to be a better friend to  his friends.

However some other recognisable faces made statements that in some cases were ridiculous, childish or even offensive.  Mel Gibson, for example managed to comment on his communication, sex life and gardening skills all in one breath.  The notorious actor/director is no novice in newspaper scandals and often diminishes his artistic talent through supposed bigotry and soap box antics on Catholism and Scientology.

Charlie Sheen, famous son of actor Martin Sheen with questionable reviews and success is older and wiser and apparently funnier as the fading star declares his intent to go back to comedy acting.

Brett Ratner, a huge name in the film industry involved in such box office masterpieces as Red Dragon and X-men: The Last Stand is taking some advice this year: “In 2011, I’m finally going to get around to reading some X-Men comics. My assistant says the characters have some really interesting back stories.”  While Ben Affleck of Armageddon and Will Hunting fame merely is desperate not to work in Boston again, ever.

Jerry Seinfeld is as immodest as ever as the award winning comic responses with sarcasim, “I want to make $75 million dollars without doing much of anything. Oh wait, I did that in 2010. I’m such a lucky asshole.”  Natalie Portman is a lot more demur and beautiful as she prays for her unborn baby and then ruefully prophesises her post-pregnant state as “Carrie Fisher frumpy-ness”.  Apparently the curse of Star Wars women.

Leaping Leonids!

Don't you just love this time of year?  The living verdent hues of a green and pleasant land morphing magically into vibrant russets and crimsons, blanketing the earth with a crisp rustle of leaves of Time and change; the lengthening nights and golden diffused ambers of twilight; the season of impossiblitiy and myth and colourful lightning flashes of fireworks, ghostly ghouls and superstitious old wives tales that haven't quite abated even through centuries of history and learned logic?  And now, nature adds her own phemnominal display of celebration.

Tonight thousands will be watching the skies, whether we are alone in the universe or not, the universe is vast and enchanting, beautiful and mysterious.  Tonight the Leonids coome out to play!

The Leonids are possibly the most famous and favoured of meteor showers.  The annual light show peeking around the 17th and 18th November.  They're associated with the comet Temple-Tuttle as it orbit strays too close to the sun (closer than Jupiter's orbit - apparently!), like Icarus and his waxen wings.  Clumps of froozen matter, called metorites, break away from the streaming comet as it rounds the constellation of Leo (thus Leonids).  Wikipedia, everyone favourite online encyclopedia tells us that these fireballs which impact the Earth at 72km/hr "may be 9 mm across and have 85 g of mass and punch into the atmosphere with the kinetic energy of a car hitting at 60 mph. An annual Leonid shower may deposit 12 or 13 tons of particles across the entire planet".

So where to look?  Hang on as I open my Star App - no seriously!  Ok!  At the moment 17:02, the moon is rising in Pisces to the East, but hte best marker for most is probably the 'Plough' - Ursa Major - the Great Bear and at the moment it is on the horizon to the North West (of me - Newtownards - Northern Ireland) and Leo is directly below it, just under the horizon.

The Leonnids will cross the horizon in the NE at 22:39 and move East then south to hit their highest point in the sky at about Seven in the morning, again the best marker being Ursa Major directly above Leo in the sky. The Moon will have set by 03:08 and the Sun doesn't rise again until 07:56 so you're best bet is to scale a neighbours (you don't want to fall through your own- do you?), bring a flask of hot soup and ring in the dawn with some shooting star watching! 

The Leonids are active from the 10th to the 23rd of November but this is the peek of the activity so to all star gazers out there - have fun!