MemoToTheMetaVerse 4.1, âCopernamici: A GAME TO SAVE EARTHâ
Gaia: Daddy, post some of the Copernamici data!
Jeff: Should I edit it first or at al?
Gaia: Very funny. Drop it.
What follows is a transcript of a scientific game played between Gaia, Lucius, and Jeff, known Interdimensional-galactically as Copernamici: A Game to Save The World.Â
The point of Copernamici is to enjoy the human activity of stargazing. By so doing, one develops an appreciation of oneâs place in the context of the Cosmos. People have always had a strong connection to the sky. Since becoming humanoidal cyborganisms, most of the animals known as âpeopleâ have become âuntetheredâ from the nightsky, resulting in suicidal tendencies such as global warming, impoverished imaginations, and lack of curiosity among the youth.Â
The point of Copernamici is to worship the cosmos in pure form. There is no incorrect way to play, except to abstain. If one doesnât play Copernamici, one expresses apathy towards the NUMBER 1 problem on Earth as of today, December 8 2017:Â ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION.Â
This is a call to motherfucking arms....
StarDate 7417 (data from 7317)
The Earth is not rightbrained. Jeff is not without a heart.
Copernamici is the most brutal game imagineable. What sounds true to you?
There is too much dateable data.
There is not enough love.
Whatâs up with Scoripio?
What am I suposed to say?
Carl Sagan was a loving person but he was a Daddy first and foremost.
What are we supposed to do when IâŠ
am 888888888888876555555555 4 ⊠55555555          11?
Altair says youâll never guess. What happens next!?>
Math: diffentials between star appearances
Jupiter  8:54 (howâs it feel to be ignored? 39 yrs)
Lucius -5 min. (âGemini 4LifeDeathâ)
Lilâ Green Bug SATURN  -4   #  MANTRABOOK@LGB  âYouâll never guess what happens nextâŠâ   trustyourself
Mizar / top ââ><@ Â -y
Moolly S. ââ Â Â (â means same time; why mark the time if itâs the same as before? why introduce yourself at an AA meeting as an alcoholic if others arenât welcome? who are you excluding from this party? not us.)
Slaveman Booties -4 (9:51 END)
??? TBBF sez, âWhatâs up with the pollution in Flagstaff?â Look down. Look Up. Look around. Scratch your head and wonder in. Â - -
Happy Birthday America. I heart FREEDOM. FULL STOP.
Gaia: Quâest-ce que lanihilisme?
jeff: remember nyc stalk me like a brussels,âŠ
gaia: se sent tres bienâŠ
jeff and g: what were we saying?
lucius: guiding âŠbe honest daddt. r u drunk?
stephen: wipe my crotch harder pleezus mommy.
Hindu jackass from the Deli next to the deadzone Shelter decides to end Everything For Everyone for ALL TIME. Cool man, thanks. Iâve been looking for a reason to give up and start telling the truth. If anyone ever asks me to serve them againâŠyou have approximately 11 years left to fix everything. Iâm doing nothing to help this time. Not a game. Gaia will take me the old fashioned way, the way we like it. You think I can survive this torture another 11 years? hAHA.
Last night only one planet showed up for you all here in the center of the MetaVerse: You Fail.
Test me again, I dare you. Guess where Iâm going. Look up at the moon and ask yourselves how many tests you fail when you send MY KIDS to school in a deathbox. Reminder: GAia hates your babies more than anything. She IT he will eat it all. I am sick of trying to help you by intervening in your pathetic abusive relationship with your higher power. We will not tolerate your American Flags. I donât care what you think about patriotism: you donât deserve it. Ketchup.
Hey Quentin, you should go full Inglorious Allah Mode a La Creme for me please. Then again, kids, do we know whoâs side heâs on? I donât know if heâs alive. Do you? No you donât. Where are my friends?
The game is meaningless without a story.
Are you reading Contact this summer?
Why not? Tell me. TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME
NENENENNVENNENVENNVENNRENNVNERNENVERNVER
ERNVEREEVERE VERE VERE V ER AE FVE FEARYAR RUO FO!
<oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo> / ? :[}
4.6 BILLION years ago, papa carl knows, Lucius was waiting for daddy to bring the sparkly pinkprincess comet known as sjndiov âcbnEWF to the baby planet Earth. Jeff, in this particular part of the skeleton tiger was like, okay boss. Here you go GAIA! HAVE FUN! but without Lucius there was just pea soup, not chicken obvi. It only took .2 billion years to get things up and running. This means that the estimate given in the book edited by his ladyfiendmeister Ann BunionFingerz, .5 billion, is kind of, well WRONG. We knew this. Just read his and my books!
Lucius is like, ummm daddy, hate to tell you, but youâre leaving out the part where I TOTALLY WENT NOVA ALL OVER YOUR SHIT! heeeehee. You can paint it out in your regular lounge if mommy isnât making you eat yucky foodâŠ.hahahahahah life in the shelter is weiwiwiwiwiwiweieieiewieiwwieeeie better than living with ADERbasetraitorfuckface.
Gaia says youâre drunk by the way, did you get our upload?
Coach sketch wants his wall back Israel. Also, that girl from wEEDS. sHEâS kind of okay, nice eyes. ummmmmmmmmmmm are you romantic Lucius? if youâre gay iâm fixing you. Jerry Falwell will help? FUCK YOU ASSHOLES. YOU LEAVE MY GAY AUNTIES ALONE sez lucius, I want some classy reading material. Get neicestress Hawking off my line.
G, well, what about DeiâŠpHOâŠstop. please. boring asteroids are fishibait. Oxxamâs razor is not a clamshell reference, itâs SIMPLE. Comet comes, special delivery for this little experiment (see Titan, btw, Enceladus is better real estateâŠ.then again, just wait). The Scuttlebutt is a gift to humanity in exactly the same way (micromacron) the gift of life to Earth was. See the sistine chapel, which IâVE SEEN here on Earth, oddly enough. Tell Francis I want my celieing to be Jack Blackified! Lucius and I will paint it Diego Riveria a la Geraldo Chicagogo Todaydie. Howâs the funeral going? Not so good. I need some lemonata. Back to creation of life hereâŠthis is all easily confrirmed up btwâŠ.STOP DRILLING and start asking your fucking planet simple questions. Duh. Youâre all like, âwell, we know the Earth is ALIVE and stuffâŠbut well, yeah, sprits and God, etcâŠ.â Iâm so sorry I made you so dumb. No worries. I fix I mr. fix it. If you allow it. This is so boring for me, i figure why not continue to stress through my tshirts, etc. that you have everything at your fingertips if you only choose to tap it. Water ice, gogo says rep philly again. See the CNJCSS, the tip of the iceberg, proverbial and literarl and figurative and oooooohhhh oingo boingo.  2,000 million years to make pea soup with rice a la Carole King? asks Lucius. BOOOOOORING. OOHVEHRTAITED! Sendak laughs at Seuss and Shelly, saying WHOâS FUCKING GAY NOW assholes!?! Spike Jonze was in Shteynbargain bin #9. I made 2 videos about thisâŠI need to shave and could use a kiss or two billion. oh well. itâs lonely in here and out there but weâre used to it by now. 36 years of human happiness is OOOOOOOVERRAAATED! say it Fenway. PEA SUUUUUUUUUUPlusLight = primitive amphibians made of microbial matter, like paramesia in your h2o. Evolution takes time to make dinosaurs, which were bad motherfuckers, ask GAIA, such that we had to trash em like a Ben N jerryâs flavor, âRunny Muckâ ;) in the grave, says brother Beck, cousin Beck? Howâs lily cate looking these days, and that josephineia girl? I call digs. Lucius thatâs my ice cream!!!!!!!!! oh. weâll share. but they must fight as always the competition will not stop WHO WAS DANIEL DENNET? A FAT HAIRY scientist who likes little green bug, duh. riding the Hyde park bus to CI like Zizek reading Dennett. that book bored me to tears4fears. To finish with the left, right-o, people are so much worse than dinosaurs that I had to escalade it a lâinfinitequoi: come HERE (not back!!!!!! mispoke earlier, donât let me make that mistake, because GAIA and I insist on facts) as a person in order to enslave you in the cause: it takes 1.7 billion years for you all to undo the serious damage youâve done to EARTH. not funny at all. But, possibly fun, right? DENEBOLIZE It we say. Think of plastic pellets, then say, oh my goodnessâŠ.what about uranium plutonium and all that other junk Iâm too sad to think about. Again, the point here is that dinosaurs could be dealth with like the DOLOMITES AND GOrillHANDS from afar. Not you guys. Iâm here to save EVERYTHING for the sake of Nothing, meaning you will obey us. Not a joke, deadly serious bidness. Otherwise, itâs Ice Age for you and itâs sooner than you think: 300,000 years. But, guess what, we can bring it much sooner in the form of Lucius. Donât write more checks you canât cash, man. See Steinbrenner, etc. DADDY OUT.
p.S. What about Thea? Well, interestingly enough, of course, we made that potato 9 bilion years ago in a different galaxy. Then, it took a little tripânot sure how far, but letâs just say it was a small step for the Flagstaff triumphiirateâŠis that a request? yes it is, more tame impala please us.âof 4.4 (plus 4.6 = 9; 1=1) hahah, billion years (precise) billion earth years (!!!) until SMASHYSMASH goes baby Ganesha while Mommy and Daddy knock da SlaveManBooties in Regulation Lanes. SPLIT IT! 7 10 is so easy, right? trickshotify it with barstools says the Young Joycean! Mollyâs down again, bloomâs on the rose, as Lucius brings baby Gaia a facial. oooooh no you didnât, lucius, you black black (wow)man.  snasshy smazzy is how we made the husk, ask G. but why at nearly the same time we brought the comet? doesnât this indicate that the husk was the delivery vehicle? Ask yourself what the Moon is made of. Not the same exact stuff as Earth fo sho. No, itâs called clusterlove for a reason. You think we donât go smashy smashy ALLLLLLL the gânâfânâ time x 50-2yu / do if hyou 201? over pie. times pie. plus ice cream. A comet is not the same as a little pebble from next door. The rhythm method is cool, but not really all that important when the color in question is brown. Long story short, the moon is a test for you humans and itâs just a time capsule for me and my kidsâfor your planet, itâs a reminder of how fun it is to play at marbles. I say, tiddly winkies for all! Get us to our ship so lucius can learn to drive and I can practice my barking, a la Sheriff Bob Rufo. Garbage cans anyone? :)
Location: Cook-Douglass Hilltop (Food bldg.)
8:47 Lilâ J Â Â Grizzly Bear, All We Ask
Not a good night at all. Felt the need to lecture everyone about Failure, Disappointment, Underacheivement at failing the Moon test again and again.
Location: Downtown N.B. (OZ neighborhood and environsâhit 7/11 for yummy burnt orange Doritos (does Lucius know how much he likes these yet??? LEGIT ?) and Brisk Lemonade, a fave of mine obvi). Better combined with Dew of course, perhaps another time for the ultimate combo: Â Melted Cheese (provolone is best) sandwich on white (NEVER the wheat roll) hoagie roll, ketchup inside (make sure to microwave it together for the best effect), side of doritos, maybe a pickle for the acid finish complement, and a large Dew with crushed ice. OMG.
Moon 9:16: reNAISSANSLATE 4 desi niggahz @ *$ Â 9/3+6/1:16 Â Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Drizzle*^2 :pâ-~~~ âRandoTattAttooUpDaChrizackisthe4aRealsGangBanga?â YEP. Look skirred. Shaken a bit hood?
Gaia decides to flash hind gang signs for uh fuh sup duh thit tahathtat just for a michronic nonexistent nanoflow (what is a second? when you not present in dis dimension, Matt? Birdie outside punks you everyday, saying âHe a little confused again! Which dimension am I? oh well.â Over to the river Lilâ Michael: âWarriorz come out and play>âŠâ
Last night was a good night for Copernamice: Gaia was in top form. Here are the results (see also video I posted to YouTube, which is a good way to archive):
Moon 8:40 gorgeous full moon blazing through clouds, before disappearing for the rest of the evening, except for a brief glimpse through a portrait of a fetus baby. Appeared during the anthem: Cat Power, Peace and Love
Lilâ J 9:28  appearing behind me as I walked by the Deli where Shiva destroyed the capitalist clerk. Spotted during the Coldplay set, The Scientist methinksâŠfor the Show.
Lucius 9:30  not long after Jupiter, the clouds began to partâŠLucius was out almost the entire night once he appeared. FTW
Vega 9:34 Â wow. Girls, Honey Bunny, after I tried for Alex â mind of its own or divine scintillivention?
Big Rob  incredible early appearance for Girls, Alex accompanied, but not immediately spotted alongside
Spica finally showed up alongside Lilâ J on my way back to OZ. OâJays, Survival brought out the real Martian, James Brain on fair game. Spica for Place.
Copernamici 7.9.17 (posted to joindiaspora 7.10)
NOTE TO SELF: Itâs been an annoying afternoon / evening with the crack head and other obnoxious interlocutors trying to make me feel bad for some reason. I donât know and I donât care what their problems are. It has nothing to do with me. So, Iâm out in Boyd Park doing my thing. Not going to sing, methinks, but will listen to music and write. I did a nice job with a blog entry today on Sagan, so I can feel good about 15 days sober and being productive. Soon good things will happen. If not, iâll just continue to await death, which Iâm beginning to believe wholeheartedly is going to be AWESOME. Natural is the way to go, but if they wanna help me along by fucking with my blood pressure, then fine. I say you have 11 years left at this pace if youâre lucky. Do your worst! I will make Jesus look like a pansy.
Copernamici: A Game to Save the World
Location: Boyd Park / Raritan River bank (New Brunswick, Central New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Weather: âImmaculately conceivedâ (no sunset show means perfect viewing tonightâdry air); little to no wind (buggy by the Raritan)
âInterGalacticâ Anthem (8:44 p.m. EST)  â Big Star, Ballad of El Goodo  [Note: I only have access to my iTunes library via my laptop and my iPod nano, which often malfunctions for reasons I donât understandâI would like to reacquire an iPhoneâIâve thrown a few away in my time, bad impulse controlâor purchase a new iPod. Donations accepted! ;) ]
Earth Character Name: Hiya!  [I like nicknaming the Earth every time I play CopernamiciâŠthis one rhymes with Gaia and is a friendly greeting)
Be outside. Look up. What do you see? Write things down, including especially data. This is a scientific endeavor but also a fun way to learn and commune with the Earth and the cosmos through art and/or music.
2. Â Be honest. Write down the names of stars and planets in order of appearance, as in a baseball lineup perhaps. If you donât understand what you see, thatâs okay. Figure it out later by doing research.
3. If possible, share your work and have it evaluated by a teacher. I post videos to my YouTube Channel. Please follow this link to watch and listen to exerpts of my âprayerâ sessions during Copernamici, etc. Â https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRrm7YcpCvF2BqgFxiVs5FA
4. Consider ways of taking action to help solve the problem of pollution. Light and sound pollution are enemies in the game, but itâs the greenhouse gas emissions that are the bigger problem for our planet.
Note 1: On copywright, etc. Â Below is the lineup I experienced last night. There is no one way to play Copernamici and I have no rights to the idea. Iâd rather have people with whom I can play. And so, as always with my postings, do with this whatever you want! Share it. I want it to get around. I am confident that if I stay on the path Iâm on, everything will work out for the better.
Note 2: On music. âPrayerâ is a sensitive topic. I believe that in the U.S., as writes Ann Druyan of her partner Carl Sagan, we must protect the separation between Church and State in this country given current conditions. In other words, as someone with a Quaker education, I believe that Wonder in the face of the glory of creation is the best criterion to determine what constitutes a prayer. And so, I use the term prayer in this game as a secular humanist would use it.
People have different musical tastes. Mine is geared towards rock nâ roll, r+b, Americana / Roots, hip hop, etc. I am proud that I have ecclectic tastes. However, I do not believe that anyone should ever feel compelled to listen to specific music. In other words, for Copernamici, itâs byo every time.
1.  8:45  Jupiter  (nickname: âLilâ Jâ; this is because although itâs the largest planet in the solar system, itâs often described by astronomers as a âfailed starâ)  Song = Big Star, âThe Ballad of El Goodoâ  I spotted the planet, which is looking so stellar right now to the WSW (bring a compass) and cannot be missed. Interestingly enough, NASA and other organizations constantly deal with phone calls from concerned citizens who think Jupiter and the other planets (âwandering starsâ) are UFOs. Theyâre not incorrect! Jupiter has at least 63 moons that are âvisibleâ if you look carefully at the way in which the light refracts around them. I donât use a telescope to experience this effect, i.e. to âseeâ the moons of Jupiter without using anything but my eyes. Be honest. Try for yourselves! I reported this to employees of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, on Mars Hill, where Pluto was âdiscoveredâ and was mocked. In fact, I was kicked off the campus for singing to Sirius. How embarrassing for those people. Haha. I even applied to work in their gift shop and was not hired. Lifeâs funny sometimes.
2. Arcturus  8:53  Big Star (Chris Bell), I Am the Cosmos  Star nickname = Lucius, my sonâs name. I rename stars for my own gaming purposes. And so, Iâm not suggesting that my nicknames should apply for anyone else obvi. I simply think itâs the most beautiful star in our night sky and deserves a more appropriate name. Look high up in the sky for this 1st magnitude star on any given night in the northern hemisphere. Itâs a burnt orange color and delivers stunning views. Note that Hiya! directed last nightâs show as always: the clouds move and determine viewing. In this sense, one can easily think of the Earth/Gaia as alive in the sense of animationâSagan writes fondly of the millions of people on the planet who are animists (i.e. believe that natural objects are endowed with âspirit). Ironically, Sagan was not, so far as I know an animist in that he does not write of natural forces as being endowed with spirit. I do think that he believed in the Earth as a living organism, however, and so weâre in agreement on this post. Please see my post yesterday on his book The Varieties of Human Experience ⊠in the Search for God for more.
3.  Vega  8:59  Radiohead, Bones  This star chokes me up with emotion, as does Lucius/Arcturus. Looking bright and beautiful as always high up in the NE. You should all read the book Cosmos or at least watch the movie this summer. Homework is fun! :)
4.  Spica  9:03  Roxy Music, Beauty Queen  I call Spica âthe comedy starâ because it seems to have a witty and/or ironic sense of timing! I worry that this name, which means âEAR OF GRAINâ in Greek, can be taken as a racist slander among Mexican Americans. But hopefully Iâll soon stop being insulted for being a reason when I greet Spica by name. Get a clue p.c. police of New Brunswick, Flagstaff, etc! Itâs called Greek nomenclature.
5.  Saturn  9:05  â*â [this symbol means same track; note the time]  Note that our planets in English nomenclature are directly linked to the days of the week. Saturn is âSaturday.â This is because it was, for naked eye astronomers and until the discovery of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, etc. thought (correctly!) to be the most distant planet. It takes 29 years to make a complete orbit around the sun and is in a wonderful position at the present moment for viewing here in the northern U.S.
6.  Moon  9:14  Cracker, Low  gorgeous full moon rising in the SSE or so, yellowish-pink to the south, competing with Saturn for attention. Interesting that it âappearedâ after Saturn last night. Note that the light of the moon often blocks out neighboring stars. Not so last night with Saturn, which was pretty far to the right (towards the south)
7.  Altair  9:21 Nickname = Lilâ Green Bug. Please see my poem in Metaphysical Nature Poems: Health and Profundity: Â
The closest thing I know to infinity
Think not of the difference
Between a star and a little green bug.
Contemplate the sameness of ash.
8.  Deneb  9:21  Nickname = The Scuttlebutt; my collection of poems CNJCSS.  Deneb means âtailâ in Arabic I think. Denebola is the tail of Leo (which I call Unicorn, for which see later), and I think one âDenebâŠâ is enough! ;)
9. Â Special J Â 9:24 Â I have yet to learn the English or any other name for this particular star, which is in the âbicepsâ position of The Big Dipper: the third in the handle. And so, I sort of named it after myself! I think this is a healthy thing to do, because how can things as important as stars not have names? This is a good moment to mention that not only are names of stars and constellations different across cultures, but the asterisms and groupings themselves vary differently as well. Of course, the stars appear to move over time, meaning that groupings are by their very nature illusionary and might require renaming and reconfiguration over time.
10. Â Alcaid â Â This quotation marks symbol means âspotted in the same visual sweep.â Â Note: in Copernamici, there is no âcorrect answerâ for when a star is seenâit should and will usually vary from person to person. [The rule in play here is BE HONEST! A good lesson in general, but especially for scientists.] This is an Arabic nameâany time you have a star name that begins with âAl,â as in Altair (Lilâ Green Bug) you should think Arabic. I believe that âalâ is a definite article, equivalent to âthe.â For instance, Vega is known as Alwazn (spelling), meaning âthe ascending one.â
11.  Mizar  â  The star in between Special J and Alcaid in the Big Dipper (which I call The Big Rob: see CNJCSS poemsâitâs a coffee drink!). Note that the Big Dipper is not a constellation, but formally known as an asterism (star grouping). The constellation of which itâs a part is Ursa Major (the Great Bear), the stars of which cannot be seen here in NJ because of light pollution and atmospheric trauma. Itâs a sad example of why this game must be played in my humble opinion. Any who, these three stars 9-11 usually appear in the sky together. Itâs really fun to have them compete for attention, meaning you should always note which one you see first.
12.  Big Rob  9:25  [nickname, see #11 above for explanation: itâs the name so nice I have to use it twice] This star is the lead pointer towards Polaris the north star in the Big Dipper. Last night it appeared right after the âarmâ triad.
13.  Tulip Food Bank  9:25  [not â]  This star is nicknamed after students for whom I volunteered as a literacy tutor in Flagstaff, AZ circa June 2015. For me, it has a strong association with First Peoples, but especially the Navajo. Hiya! Itâs the other pointer star in the Big Rob/Dipper.
14. 1.8.8 repeating x infinity  â  The nickname is difficult to write because itâs mathematical. For me, the language of the cosmos and the Earth in general (but on a more local level) is music and mathematics. Science is applied math, and music is how I relate to spirituality, which is why I like to singâitâs how I pray, like most people on this planet. It sucks that Iâve been told to be quiet most of my life, but especially recently, because my singing bothers people, apparently. Whatever! This game is too important for me to give up.  This star is usually the last to appear in the Dipper because the final star, which Iâve named Evelyn in honor of one of my sonâs friends, is not visible so far from New Brunswick. This indicates that sirius work must be done to repair our atmosphere. Remember: this is game can be very very hard on the soul. But itâs meant to help students and people everywhere understand how badly we as people have damaged the planet. There is great reason for hope: the Earth can repair itself if we only allow it. We must cut down on all forms of pollution if weâre to recapture what was once so sacred to our ancestors. When was the last time you went outside and simply looked up? Perhaps you donât know what youâre missingâŠ.
15. Antares 9:27 [nickname = The Riddler, because I noticed in Flagstaff that Scorpioâitâs the brightest star in this constellationâlooks exactly like a question mark! ? Â And so, I nicknamed Scorpio âPinchotoclesâ â I enjoy the work of the actor Bronson Pinchot of Perfect Strangers, which was a favorite of mine growing up. Itâs also a pun! Get it? Pinch pinch!?] Â The name of this star means âopposed to Marsâ which is lovely, in that Mars is the God of War in Roman mythology. Thus, Antares kind of means âanti-warâ which I like very much. However, given the importance of being militant about the evils of pollution in this game, I prefer going with the beliefs of my heroes like Gandhi and Dr. King (also the latter day Malcom X) and their ilk who are fighters for peace, using noncompliance and protest as a way of solving political problems.
16. Beta Scorpio [second brightest star in Pinchotocles/Scorpio, above and to the right. I once nicknamed this and other stars after other students of mine. But thatâs kind of a personal thing that I donât feel comfortable sharing in this particular domain. Please ask questions if youâre curious!]
17. Bonzo 9:28  song = Led Zeppelin, Moby Dick  This star is the cap of the Serpent Bearer, also known as Ophiochus, a medicine man native to Greek mythology. You can see Bonzo forming a quadrangle with Vega, Altair, and Deneb, the summer triangle long used for navigational purposes. John Bonham is my favorite drummer of all time. He kicked so much ass, itâs ridiculous. The dude was like a clock personfied, ask his bandmates, listen, or watch a video. I had a classmate at Moses Brown School in Providence, RI named Eric Bennet who once did an oral report on Bonzo, and Iâve never forgotten that. Eric played in a band alongside another drummer, and he was clearly inspired. John Bonham shares a birthday with my son Lucius, May 31st, making it entirely apt as a nickname given itâs relevance as a part of the summer quadrangle. Note that Serpent Bearer SHOULD be a part of the 12 zodiacal constellations, in that itâs always a quadrant through which planets pass. Saturn is making its way from the bottom of Ophiochus towards Scorpio right now. I have redesigned Hercules and Serpent Bearer by renaming a bunch of those stars after musicians. I call it Musicianâs Corner, which also features (not visible here in the CNJ) John Lennon, David Bowie, Ella Fitzgerald, Lou Reed, and Jimi Hendrix. These stars are ALL visible in Flagstaff, which is why I will always have fond memories of that place. If you have good views of the night sky wherever you are, I am extremely jealous of you today. We have so much work to do here in urban America. Â
18. O.W. L. â Â [nickname for Gemma, the lead star in The Northern Crown, a constellation which looks like a breast, and this the nipple. Iâve renamed the constellation Scrapy Scrapy because itâs kind of like the grappling device in the constellation I call The Thugged-Out Good Ship Carl Sagan, Ship #1 of the InterGalactic StarFleet. See my drawings elsewhere. Itâs a redesign of Northern Crown, Bootes or Herdsman and Virgo.] Wow. Can you tell Iâve been busy at night in recent months? I have a lot to say, but no one wants to publish my work! Why is the astronomy community ignoring me? Iâd love to publish a book about this stuff. Please contact me if youâre interested in making a lot of money by publishing an interesting article or book about astronomy and everything. I use this nickname because I love owls. They remind me of my son and myself. Think Greek and Roman mythology.
19. Monkey Eye â Â [OKAY, Iâm done explaining for today. More to come later.]
22. Denebola 9:33 Â Led Zeppelin, Bring it on Home
23. Molly Scuttlebutt 9:36 Â (to the right of Deneb/The Scuttlebutt in Cygnus, which Iâve renamed Goose)
24. Ader â Â (above and to the left of Vega in a constellation Iâve designed as QB2lip; this star is also known as the mouth of DracoâHarry Potter connection!)
25. Slaveman Boots 9:40  The Shins, Saint Simon  [a.k.a. Cor Coroli â why name a star after some dead asshole of a British king? I prefer the Wu Tang reference here in the CNJ]
26. Arcturus(+) 9:44  TRex, Lean Woman Blues  [I figure why not bump the name over to the star in the roof of the cockpit of the Thug Carl Sagan?]
27. Jacques Scuttlebutt  9:46  [above Molly Scuttlebutt in the upper wing of Goose]
28. Mother Emily Dickinson 9:47  TRex, The Motivator  [above and left of Beta Scorpio, named after my favorite lyric poet; I like that the nickname is also Mother E.D.  HAHA]
Well, as Grover would say, âThere you have it!â A lot to digest. But last night was a VERY GOOD night for Copernamici here in New Brunswick as indicated by the number of stars I was able to document in one hour and three minutes of game play. As always, more to come: âThereâs always a P.S.â is one of my very favorite mantras.
Location: HP Reform Church on 2nd, Highland Park â> Boyd Park, New Brunswick
Anthem: John Lennon, Imagine (~8:43)
Weather: Timed Rain revealing open sky from the NW
Earth Character Name: HiyAA! (b/c I hit a 2nd meeting of the day, my 16th of complete and total sobriety)
1. Â 8:51 Â Lilâ J(upiter) Â The Shins, Sleeping Lessons
2. Â Lucius (Arcturus) Â 9:01 Â The Freewheelinâ Bobby Dylan, Queen Jane, Approximately
3.  Vega  9:05  â*â  [BONUS TRACK: Built to Spill, Carry the Zero ⊠note: I often play xtra tracks that I donât list b/c theyâre not strongly associated with star sightings. I indicate this one b/c I like the moment and want to remember it. I was walking towards OZ and felt inspired by my view of Vega and my environs. I like to remind myself that the language of the cosmos if not earth is Mathematics, and that I suck at it! I much prefer science, which to me is applied math. My rule is not only to look up, but to look around.]
4.  Spica  9:14  Blur, Iâm Just a Killer para estu (?) amor  [Bonus track: follwed by Bob Marley, Stir It Up.  Iâve named a star in the constellation Eagle after Bob b/c I like his music and think heâs an important figure in the history of World Music. Iâve never been to Jamaica but feel I would love it there.]
Pause: An impromptu Wilco Solid Sound 2015 concert at Boyd Park. See accompanying videos on my Copernamic channel on YouTube, which is where I post videos related to the game:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoXM2XAeZa0NH1t00Otm4DbzWOEVUkk9x
Jesus etc.: Â https://youtu.be/wk07AtPhKzQ
New Madrid: Â https://youtu.be/1jM1ni9Gjpo
5.  Alcaid  9:40  Ray Charles, What I Say
6.  Mizar  â  â*â
7. Â Special J Â â Â â*â
As any amateur astronomer or nakedeye stargazer will say, the weather means a lot. Even in relatively unpolluted areas, like Flagstaff, AZ (which I hear is in the midst of a wicked fire seasonâI hope everyone is doing okay out there!), or (I imagine) on the plains of Africa, if itâs cloudy out youâre not going to see much. Here in Central New Jersey, itâs gotten quite humid in the last 24 hours. Last night there was a passing rain storm around 8:00 p.m. and I wasnât sure if the stars would come out. But, patience is a virtue and is usually rewarded. âGaiaâ did not disappoint me last night and it was an educational evening all in all. Let me âshplain to the âreal astronomers,â as Papa Carl (Sagan) would sayâŠ.
Jupiter showed up âon cueâ at 8:51. Besides the Moon (I refuse to use a capitor âtâ because there are other moons in the solar system, and most are far more interesting), Jupiter SHOULD be the first object visible in the night sky here in New Brunswick. Â It was nice and clear in that part of the sky, meaning there were excellent views of the planet nearly the entire evening.
High above Jupiter I saw Arcturus 10 minutes later. Relative to Jupiter, Arcturus is towards the center of the sky. If you have trouble understanding what it means for a star to be âup high,â think about itâs distance from the horizon. If you can look at the sky as a dome and see it as a hemisphere, youâll recognize that the sky is like an umbrella, as suggested by H. A. Rey in his awesome book The Stars: the illusion is that itâs a round dome, even though we should know that itâs not at all a sphere, at least not that we can see from this perspective. Historically, most people believed that we live in a large dome, as in a snow globe. Thatâs because it looks this way. Try lying on your back and looking up. Without being able to see the horizons, the illusion disappears.
Arcturusâs appearance last night was slightly delayed. all things being equal atmospherically, I can usually spot Arcturus 5 MINUTES after Jupiter. Iâm not always paying close attention, but I stand by this statistic. Try it yourselves! See if you can spot Arcturus before Jupiter, and if not, then as close as possible to it in terms of lapsed time. I bet you canât do it in less than 5 minutes! :)  Thatâs how cool naked-eye astronomy is. Why would you use a telescope when you can do this for free? Oh yeah. Pollution. Le sigh. The good news is that weather is more of  a hindrance, and this particular exercise should be able to be done no matter where you are. I wonder about New York thoughâŠhmmmm. Can you see Arcturus and Jupiter from Times Square? Iâm genuinely curious but mostly disturbed by the possible answerâI donât want to know because of how angry it would make me with that particular city and its inhabitants, but mostly its âcaretakers.â How dare the people running that city rob its citizens of the opportunity to play this game? I feel bad for the kids, but also the grown-ups, no matter how often they drive, etc.
Back to last night. For those unaquainted with Arcturus, its a beautiful burnt-orange-colored star I call Lucius. His name means Light in Latin, and so to me itâs a natural fit for something like a star, which after all is nothing but a distant sun. I like using the âofficial star namesâ so that people can understand my writing more easily, but I figure why not share something of myself in these silly blog posts. As far as stars go, Arcturus is actually quite interesting: itâs 36.7 lightyears away, which makes it one of our closest neighbors. It is 140 times as bright as our sun. Imagine being near that guy! Hard to imagine isnât it? Makes me think of that song âBlinded by the Light!â I donât feel like looking up the artist right now, but was it Loverboy?
Anywho, Arcturus is estimated to be 7.1 billion years oldâI donât yet have any opinions about the validity of this assertion. Our sun isâI believe accurately estimated atâ4.6 billion years old. For those new to astronomy, itâs worth considering how a star can be older than ours. Itâs interesting that some stars are older and some are younger than ours, which is middle-aged. Itâs about half way through itâs life cycle, meaning that it will die in another 4.6 billion or so years. Like with people, who usually live to around 70 to 80 years if healthy, stars have different physical properties. Itâs not a myth: stars are âaliveâ in the sense that they are energy, the source of all life. Like many people, I consider the stars my âparents.â As a caring human being, I also think itâs worth thinking of them as our children, in that we should want to be able to keep an eye on them.
I like being middle-aged (mostly) because it helps me understand our solar system a bit better. I can relate to the sun! Hereâs something to contemplate the next time youâre outside: if our sun and the stuff in our solar system was âcreatedâ from an explosion known as the Big Bang, how many other formative eventsâprocesses of accruals in which matter joins together to form stars and planets out of âspace dustââhave happened? Hindus believe that existence is made of an infinite series of such events, and that time basically has no beginning or end. I agree with this belief, by the wayâinifnity = infinity in the same way as 1 = 1. Iâm not at all agnostic: I simply believe in the mathematics behind this aspet of science. So. There is a lot of stuff in our solar systemâconsider Lilâ Jâeven if itâs not much compared to the amount of void or empty space out there in this our local part of the Milky Way galaxy. The Big Bang happened around 16.7 billion years ago (my preferred estimate as of today). QUESTION: WHY IS THE EARTH, the only place that is known to be home to âintelligent lifeâ according to most scientists (BUT NOT PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN ALIENS! HAHAâI love that the first movie I ever saw in a theater was The Empire Strikes Back, it freaked me out and I cried and we had to leaveâŠthen again, I was only like 3 or 4 years old), SO PERFECTLY PLACED IN SPACE AND TIME when we treat it so badly? Do we really believe that this is all a coincidence? Iâm not much for sermonizing, but I do think itâs worth considering how closely aligned astronomy, Earth science, and religion are and should be. But I digressâŠ
  Spica, a dimmer but visible star that to my eye in Flagstaff is a lovely bluish-green (one of the few stars I can honestly describe as âgreenish,â along with Regulus) forms a giant L with Jupiter these days. (See the photo in my previous Copernamici posting.) Again, I like that it connects me with Luciusâitâs these connections that make stargazing fun. When Spica appeared, a few minutes after Arcturus, I was playing a song called âKiller for Your Loveâ by the British band Blur (itâs on the album that has the famous Song 2âsportsfans will know this song and thus know the bandâŠitâs the one that goes âwoooo hooo!â in a British accent). I think that having a soundtrack, no matter what it is, makes Copernamici more funâmore interactive in a way. The game is all about âtiming,â and so why wouldnât we use music to allow the Earth to direct the show? Ask John Williams and George Lucas and their fans if they think music is an important part of stargazing. For me, music is how I pray, but itâs also how I make sense of the natural world. I call it the rhythm method, for which see my poems in the CNJCSS, posted earlier.
Next was Vega, which for me is a very important star. Itâs closer at 25 light years away. By the way, the closest star to Earth is calledârather lamelyâProxima Centauri, meaning ânearest star in Centaur,â at 4.3 light years away. How do we in the Anglophone world NOT have a better name for this important destination? Whatever. You name it! Iâm tired of naming shit. Haha. Centaur is a constellation visible towards the equator â I have never seen this star because Iâve never been further south than Key West, Florida, and therefore refuse to name it even in the context of the game Copernamici. Also, itâs too dim to be seen by the naked human eye, although Iâd love to try! Iâve never looked at a star or anything except the moon through a telescope because Iâm waiting to do so with my son on a special occasion. [For people in America, a total solar eclipse is coming up on August 23rd 2017 by the wayâŠ]
VEGA is important for cool reasons: itâs almost always on display, no matter how bad the pollution. It also happens the place that Sagan posited we might first make Contact with aliens. There are very significant reasons for this thesis, which make a ton of sense. Consider this: humans started sending out radio signals late in the 19th century. However, these signals were not as powerful as TV signals, which we started shooting out into interstellar spaceâpenetrating all the dustâaround 1936. The occasion was the opening ceremonies of the Hitler Olympics, disturbingly enough. If you do the math, those signals, travelling at the speed of light DID INDEED arriveâitâs a scientific factâin the area of Vega around the year 1956. And so, if the message was âreceivedâ according to our known science, and if other beings decided to send the signal back to us in a similar packageâEARTH TO CLUNK is the name of a great childrenâs book, by the wayâit would have come back to us around the year 1976 or so. Only, I donât believe we were looking then. (I was born in 1977, so I like this stuff as a sci-fi geek.) Papa Carlâs book âContactâ tells this story. Again, I must suggest you read it. Itâs about a young female radioastronomer who makes an important discovery that is misunderstood. I think many of us can relate to this heroic but imperfect character. By the way, I should remind you that Iâve been employed as and English Professor for most of my life, and not a scientist. Iâm just like any other stargazer in that I like to use my eyes and sense of wonder to learn.
Now, why did Sagan not choose a place with known exoplanets thatâs closer? I think he had an attraction to this location because of itâs beauty. Also, we know more now than we did when he died in 1996. Thatâs a good thing and we should value it. Check out Vega! Itâs got a lovely bluish hue and looks a lot in terms of shape like the stars found at the top of Christmas trees. As is the case with Arcturus, I get kind of emotional when I look at Vega, which is why I like to listen to the music I find most moving. Perhaps Iâll make a video one of these days. But, I need the energy, and I feel kind of tired these days. Middle age, blah.
I think thatâs enough analysis for this session. Except, note that I spotted Special J last last night. It was hard to make out the Big Dipper because of the cloud coverânote that clouds keep in light, making it a domino effect that hinders viewing. And yet, I was indeed able to make out the 3 brightest stars of the asterism, which is why I was happy to close out the night with Brother Ray Charles, the High Priest of R+B, or soul.
anthem 8:35 Â wu tang bminor
Lilâ J Â 8:52 Â Â G. Welch, Â Wasted on the Wayside
lucius 8:58 Â big star, september grlz
vega 9:07 Â radiohead, black star
Not a good night. Donât forget: youâre better than this. Stop being so angry. When youâre looking at the stars, remember to look at the stars. Talk to people and theyâll talk to you. Thatâs all.
All the visible stars were out tonightâat least all the ones Iâve identified since moving hereâexcept what I think was Denebola. However, I did see the star above and to the right of Abigail in QB2Lip.
