Blood Moon

Tongith is a full moon, the one for September, and it is also a Blood Moon. I know it was a full moon (I do because I'm a werewolf, no just kidding), but I did not know it was a Blood Moon. My wife informed me and, at her suggestion, we all went out when evening had started falling to see the Blood Moon. We could not even see the moon. All the same, it was nice being outside when the sun was falling down. It is a simple pleasure we need to enjoy more often. Oh, and a question about full moons: are there any "normal", regular full moons? It seems that each and every one of them is a Blood Moon, or a Strawberry moon, or a Blue Moon, or a Whatever Moon.

Halloween Passenger Car

 I might come off as obsessive, but I simply could not wait until October for this one: I saw on the Twitter account of : LGB hasa new wagon, a Halloween passenger car. I want it. I really, really, badly want it. It might be even better than the other Halloween trains they have made before. It is just so perfectly spooky, with its scarecrows and the witch in the full moon and the evil ghostly tree. Oh if storage space and money were no objections...

Eclipse

I think this song is in order today... Oh and long live Pink Floyd. The greatest rock band ever.

There is a Full Moon Pub

There is something I recently learned from this book and which I cannot get out of my head: there is a pub called The Full Moon in Cholesbury. Now let's just that sink in. I know there are other pubs named like this one. I mean a quick Google search can easily help you find more. But this specific Full Moon is fairly close to us. And, from the pictures I could see, it looks absolutely lovely, an old fashioned pub like I love them. And of course there is the name. That's why I want to visit it one day: how cool is that name? I don't now how accessible it is from where we are, but I want to visit it very badly now. And have walks nearby of course, but this is now my new quest: to visit it. Let's say instead of a pub crawl, it is a pub quest.

Mafalda et la planète

Parfois, parce que le monde me décourage et désespère, je veux relire Mafalda. Il y avait deux personnages qui apapraissaient dans ses rêves, des aliens, qui vivaient je crois sur la lune, d'où ils observaient la terre et commentaient sur l'humanité. Ils parlaient une autre langue, mais on pouvait comprendre ce qu'ils disaient. Enfin bref. Nous vivons dans une bestiaplanete. Vraiment.

Demi-lune de jour

Ma cousine Amy m'a envoyé quelques photos assez saisissantes récemment (à ma demande et rien que pour le blogue), dont celle-ci, que je trouve magnifique. Je partage donc. Je suis très mauvais pour prendre une photo de la lune, même de nuit. Elle, elle réussit à en prendre une de jour. (PS:Il y a aussi un avion qui a été prise dans la photo par inadvertance. Essayez de la trouver.)

Halloween Events of Old (and a bookmark)

For today's countdown to Halloween, I am sharing an old, old leaflet which I found I cannot remember where. I believe it was in one of the local libraries, but it could have been a local pub. Back in 2008, the town of Maidenhead was doing some special event in the week just before Halloween. We went there, but a bit late, so we missed pretty much everything: pumpkin carving, scary stories told (by a certain Baron Bloody, I need to find that guy if he still exists), evrything that is, but the owls display. But I kept the leaflet because the image looked so good, with the witch flying with her cat, with the moon in the background. Since then I have been using the leaflet as a Halloween bookmark, which I use to read my Halloween related books, come this time of year. It is old and wornout, but it is the coolest bookmark ever.

#MoonDay Books

I did not do anything to celebrate the anniversary of the moon landing, except this post. Our local bookshop did far much and far better: they made it a special event, with one display of books about the moon and space travels (and space travels to the moon). Abd they shared this picture on social media, with the hashtag #MoonDay. I did not share it on the anniversary then, but decided to do it today because... Well, because it is Monday. I haven't been to our local bookshop recently. I wish I had paid it a visit then, if only for a moment. But any excuse is good, so I should find one soon.

Man on the Moon

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. I didn't witness it, in fact my parents hadn't even met yet. The bad thing about it is, I miss an important historical event by almost ten years. The good thing is, I am almost ten years younger than said event. Nevertheless, I think such an important event needs to be celebrated on this post, so tonight I decided to put here Man on the Moon. Yes, it's truly about Andy Kaufman, but it's a lovely song and the moon landing is mentioned. Sort of. But I love the song in any case, and it is as good as any and better than most to mark the anniversary of that first step outside our world.

The Village Hall's witch

Today, we went to a nearby village for a special messy play day for babies, toddlers and children. It was in the village hall building. As an ensign, the hall has a witch, flying on her broomstick right before a crescent of moon. I have no idea whatsoever why they have a witch as a village ensign, but I want to find out and will work very hard to solve this mystery. I think there is at least one good scary story to write for Halloween, inspired by this witch. Also, as a bonus anecdote, I showed it to Wolfie, who was very impressed. And he now knows how to say witch and sorcière...

Eclipse

We cannot see the solar eclipse from here, not much of it anyway, but I thought I needed to mark it on the blog somehow... And then decided that this song from Pink Floyd was perfect for the circumstances.

Des lunes et des hommes

C'est la pleine lune ce soir, ce que je souligne parfois. Si la lune est la compagne du poète peu importe son quartier, lorsqu'elle est pleine elle est l'objet de beaucoup de superstitions, mais aussi de légendes urbaines. Voir cet article du Journal de Montréal pour un survol. Je n'ai jamais prêté foi à ce qu'on dit sur les effets de la pleine lune, même quand j'étais un enfant superstitieux et à l'imagination fertile, mais j'avoue que l'idée de la pleine lune ayant des effets réels sur nos comportements est amusante, à défaut d'être plausible.

La pleine lune demain

Cette photo a été prise en juin, lors de la "strawberry moon", je la mets ici parce que je n'ai pas eu la présence d'esprit de prendre en photo la lune ce soir. On revenait du centre-ville (enfin ce qui tient lieu de centre-ville dans le patelin où l'on demeure)quand j'ai vu la lune comme toute embuée de nuages. C'était magnifique. J'ai vérifié sur Google et il semblerait cependant que la pleine lune soit seulement demain. J'essaierai de prendre quelques bons clichés. Je me demande si c'est une pleine lune "ordinaire" ou si elle aura un nom singulier comme il semblerait que ce soir toujours le cas lors des pleines lunes.

Black Moon

Apparently, tonight is  a Black Moon, which is apparently a rare lunar event. Again. After the strawberry moon this summer, the blood moon last year, the blue moon when there is one... Well, like blood moon, the Black Moon sounds deliciously sinister. Which has to be a particularly good time for werewolves, or to read stories about them if you are not one or don't have one handy. Even though this is not a full moon, I am sure lycanthropes must change shapes on the night of a Black Moon. And, fittingly enough, tonight will start the official countdown to Halloween, so all the more reason to celebrate the Black Moon rising. And to watch this space, as I will of course blog about Halloween in the upcoming weeks, almost exclusively.

Parce que c'est la pleine lune ce soir

J'ai pris cette photo en juin, c'était la "strawberry moon". Ce mois-ci c'est je ne sais pas trop quelle lune, enfin je veux dire quelle sorte de pleine lune. Y a-t-il une pleine lune "normale"? Une pleine lune qui n'est pas bleue, rouge sang, à la fraise ou je sais pas quoi? Une pleine lune medium saignante? Une bonne pleine lune bien pleine pour inspirer les poètes, bons et mauvais et les autres artistes sans inspiration? J'en ferai sans doute une question existentielle un jour (enfin, une nuit). Mais bon, c'est donc la pleine lune ce soir et donc je voulais le souligner avec une photo et vous rappeler de la regarder s'il n'y a pas trop de nuages.

Strawberry Moon

Yesterday was the summer solstice, which I blogged about here. It was also the full moon and more precisely a strawberry moon. Which apparently means the full moon of June closest to the solstice. Apparently a strawberry moon meeting the solstice is a unique event that happens rarely, once in a... strawberry moon? But after last year's blue moon, blood moon and other variations of full moons, I wonder if the ordinary full moon is not the rarest occurrence. All the same, like many other suckers, I took pictures of the strawberry moon and decided to upload one, the least bad one, on Vraie Fiction. Because it is still a full moon and I love them.

Hail to the King!

This was yesterday evening's poison. As my readers know, the products of Wychwood Brewery, as well as their imagery (based on creatures and characters of folklore), are among my favorite of all the microbreweries I have known. I usually drink the Hobgoblin, because it is their flag beer and because it is the most readily available, but the others are great too. And yesterday, I tried for the first time King Goblin. It is a rarity among their beers, because it is only brewed on a full moon. I had wanted to try it for ages, so when I saw it in a supermarket yesterday, I jumped on the occasion. It is a much darker ale than I usually have, and with a far higher alcoholic content: 6.6%. I rarely go above 5%. When I was a teenager it was different: I was all about drinking strong beers. Anyway, King Goblin is definitely a king among beers: strong, full of character and rich taste, it's a real treat. An ale you do not drink to quench thirst, but to savour like a fine wine.

The Rising of the Moon

This week is Saint Patrick's Day, so it is about time to put everyone into an Irish celebration mood. So it was about time I uploaded some traditional Irish music here. Played and sung by The Dubliners. It is The Rising of the Moon, a revolutionary ballad I guess you can call it. A proud song for a proud people. I hope it gets you in the mood in any case.

Howell At The Moon

Tonight is the full moon, a time for... well, a time for werewolves, with Halloween being imminent and all, it is even more a time for werewolves. So for my countdown to Halloween post, I wanted something werewolf related. I thought I would share (figuratively speaking) a beer I drank this weekend in a local pub, which would be very fitting for tonight. It is from Belhaven Brewery and is fittingly called Howell At The Moon. It is a very dark ale, that tastes dark as much as it looks. A fitting beer for a wolf, or a man turning into one.
I felt very much like a werewolf drinking it. Where I come from, being a heathen and a drinker is actually be enough to risk becoming a werewolf, so this beer might just be what I need to grow fangs, claws and hairs. Well, more hairs than I have now. And even if it does not, it's a perfect beer for a night of full moon when Halloween is around the corner.

Des hiboux, des fantômes et Passe-Partout

J'ai pris cette (pas très bonne) photo dans le Derbyshire, je l'utilise comme d'habitude afin d'illustrer mon propos. L'Halloween s'en vient et je pensais qu'il était temps d'écrire des billets en français concernant la fête, ou certains de ses éléments. Vous vous rappelez l'épisode de Passe-Partout où les trois Passes se rendent chez Fardoche et ils font un feu de camp avec lui? Ils y chantent une chanson sur un fantôme sur la lune, avec un fantôme sympathique, et puis Fardoche leur raconte une histoire de hibou ensorcelé. Enfant, j'ai adoré l'histoire du hibou et la chanson du fantôme. Or, j'ai retrouvé la séquence sur YouTube. J'ai décidé donc de la mettre ici. Ce n'est pas particulièrement épeurant, en fait je crois que c'était conçu pour calmer les peurs des enfants (des fantômes gentils et un peu mélancoliques, un mauvais sort qui est plus un désagrément qu'autre chose, des créatures de la nuit qui ne sont pas malveillantes envers les hommes, etc.), mais c'est charmant.