Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889–1977) is considered one of the first movie stars ever and made film history with his acting and his works. He is also one of the few artists who managed the transition from silent films to sound films.
Because of using archetypal imagery and symbols in his films, it is natural that the moon could also play a part somewhere. We found four references:
A moon bridge is a pedestrian bridge, of which the semicircular arch completes a full circle through its reflection in the water and reminds of the full moon. In the old days, the high arch especially, served the purpose for barges to comfortably pass through underneath. Moon bridges originate in the Asian culture and were often built in Japanese and Chinese gardens. The mostly used materials were wood, stone and metal.
Sleepwalking is the term for a sleep disorder where the person concerned will move to an upright position in bed, or get up and walk around without waking up. It is also referred to as somnambulism, which derives from lat. »somnus« = sleep and »ambulare« = to wander. A further outdated term is »lunatism« and stems from the former belief that the light of the full moon coaxes the sleeper into leaving the bed. This misconception is scientifically disproved: sleepwalking takes place outside the lunar cycle.
In 1984, the song »New Moon on Monday« was released by the British music group Duran Duran. This was deep in the 80’s, when men and women artistically draped their hair and wore gear that makes you chuckle looking at them from today’s perspective. The ambitious music video tells the plot of an underground rebel group called »La Luna«, who fight against a military regime, and who call upon the power of the Moon to help them. Back then, this was shot in the French village Noyers with great efforts during winter temperatures.
The Sonoma Valley is a valley in California, close to San Francisco Bay and is also referred to as “Valley of the Moon”. The original Native American Indians who inhabited this valley, called it “sonoma”, which means “Valley of the Moon” in their language. The Miwok and Pomps were Native American tribes that spread in the northern part of California and also settled in this valley. In a legend of the Miwok tribe, it says that the Moon rose from the Sonoma Valley and is there in complete harmony with nature.
The comedy horror film »The Fearless Vampire Killers«, directed by Roman Polański in 1967, is a classic of the genre. The film tells the story of the vampire scientist Professor Abronsius and his assistant Alfred (played by Roman Polański), who go on a vampire hunt in the snowy mountains of Transylvania and encounter various bizarre figures, and of course the beautiful daughter of the inn keeper Sarah (played by Sharon Tate, whom Polański married in 1968). The film entrances with its absurd and simultaneously funny atmosphere, created by the skillful interactions between light, music, scenery and actors. Thereby, satirical elements resonate as well, when the rotten aristocracy is represented in the form of the undead.
Times and times again, you read about the possibility to purchase lunar property. Is this to be taken seriously or more of a gimmick or a clever sales idea? If looked at more closely, some astonishing details are coming to light …
When the manned space flight started in the 60s and a trip to the Moon became more likely, nations tried to regulate the topic such as ownership in space, and created an »Outer Space Treaty« in 1967, which prohibits states to use space or its celestial bodies for self-serving or military purposes. This treaty was signed by 98 states, amongst them the superpowers, at the time USA and Soviet Union.
As reported back in September 2013, NASA sent the lunar probe LADEE (short for: Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) into space, to circle and to explore the Moon. Especially, the formation of ice at the lunar poles has been of great interest. The space probe also collected measurement data of dust particles and gases that are close to the Moon’s surface.
When examining it thoroughly, we humans will never be able to touch the Moon directly, because even when an astronaut is standing on its surface, there is always the glove of the spacesuit in between, without which, life could not exist on foreign celestial bodies (consider also Mars).
There are a variety of dangers that the spacesuit protects the wearer from: vacuum, cold and heat, weightlessness, micrometeorites and radiation. Hereby, a distinction is made between suits that are only worn inside the space capsule during specific maneuvers, and suits that are used for space walks and actually leave the spacecraft.
When the sun light is reflected and diffracted in fine water droplets in the air, a rainbow arises. So what happens if the same occurs in the moon light, is there also going to be a rainbow? Well, we find the idea of a moon rainbow quite fascinating …
Let’s take a short detour into physics. What we recognise in a rainbow as an arched bow made of colourful light, are the spectral colours that develop when the “white” sunlight fans out in its different wavelenghts, which we perceive in different colours. This decomposition does also take place, when the light is sent through a glass prism.
Bathing during the full moon or in the full moon light, is a fascinating experience, which one or the other has surely made. Two ways to interpret this is either bathing in the water at the full moon (outdoors or in the bath tub), or bathing directly in the moonlight (when the light of the Moon shines onto your skin, just like sunbathing).