starrytimepod

[starrytimepod]

Centaurus: Pop Culture Superstar!

[starrytimepod]

Corona Borealis in Pop Culture

Podcast Episode

Our final Pop Culture episode for season 2 (QUESTS AND CURSES)! of the podcast is now available!

Companion Post

Favorites

Kit: Borealis Vintners -- their website shows they fully understood the assignment! Plus, it reminded me of Corona Australis, Jordan's wished for Australian Vinery from earlier this season!

Link: https://www.borealisvintners.com/

Jordan: A small business with a pun-name that both Jordan and I wish we'd thought of -- Aroma Borealis

Link: https://aromaborealis.com/

Honorable Mentions:

Borealis Freezing Fog (left) - a character from Elden ring, that we agreed had a great name and a less great design

Borealis Philanthropy (right) - a grant intermediary funding social justice initiatives

Borealis Records (below) - a Canadian record label that only signs Canadian artists

Links: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Borealis+the+Freezing+Fog & https://borealisphilanthropy.org/ & https://borealisrecords.com/about-us/

Least Favorites

Two companies that we don't know what they do, but we are confused and they do *sound,* in our opinion, like fictional supervillain companies. To be clear, we just *think* they got some fictional supervillain energy -- they might be perfectly normal... we do. not. know. Purely our highly uninformed opinion!

Kit: Borealis Exploration Limited -- I mean... just look at this website header and the logo:

Source link (Plz also notice that this website that has like 2 pages) : https://borealis.gi/pr_20190927.shtml

Relatedly -- this website for Borealis Holdings (this is the whole website):

Link: https://www.borealis.com/

Jordan: Borealis VC -- a venture capital firm with a statement of purpose we cannot parse... but has words that make us go huh... like "syndicate partners" ... probably this makes sense to business people, but not to us!

Source: https://www.borealis.vc/about

BONUS CONTENT

After we cut the mics, Jordan and I realized we had gotten so distracted by the pick-axe beluga, we didn't talk about other Borealis appearances!

So, Tumblr friends, here are a few more shout-outs to things that we found interesting using the Borealis brand:

Borealis Route on Amtrak -- the ad copy on this, y'all -- beautiful! (top left)

Borealis metal band (bottom left, image from Spotify), but also there is a Borealis Northern Chamber Choir?!

Borealis Backpack -- Perseus needs one of these (top right)

Borealis Fat Bike (bottom right)

Links: https://www.amtrak.com/borealis-train , https://www.thenorthface.com/en-us/bags-and-gear/backpacks-c224451/borealis-backpack-pNF0A52SE , https://fatbike.com/

Wished For

Some of our wishes have already come true... and some are still on the table. Listen to find out more!

With love,

Kit & Jordan

[starrytimepod]

Perseus in Pop Culture

Podcast Episode

Our Perseus in Pop Culture episode is live! Listen here:

Companion Post - Read on!

Favorites

Kit: Much like Jordan's Pop Culture favorite last constellation, this week I was LOCKED IN. How could it be anything but Perseus "Percy" Jackson?! A great MG-YA series featuring Greek myths!

Jordan: Straight out of the Kitchen with this choice -- the Perseus the pickleball racket! Do we know who Ben Johns is? No. Do we know if this is worth the $$$? No. Do we like the space theming and name? OF COURSE.

Least Favorites

Jordan: Jake Sully will never be Perseus... in other words Sam Worthington as Perseus in the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans

Left Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_the_Titans_(2010_film) Right Image: https://screenrant.com/how-jake-sully-became-a-navi-in-avatar/

Though, we both agreed that the practical effects of the 1981 original seemed enchanting! I mean... look at Medusa:

Kit: I loved the mission of this pick ("to make a full record of humanity, as intellectually accessible as possible, to every human being, regardless of linguistic or cultural background")... but why didn't they name it after the Muses or Hermes or... you know ANYONE else?!

Other Notable Perseuses (Persei??)

GTA Perseus Store -- we all know Perseus has *all* the gear, so this at least makes sense to us...

Perseus the Spy -- we saw the wiki and it seemed like a rabbit hole we weren't prepared for, but if you are, here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(spy)

Wished For

Jordan and I both wanted to redeem Perseus & give him a heroic task that was less problematic. Be sure to listen to the pod to find out what we wished we could do with the Perseus brand!

With Love,

Kit and Jordan

[starrytimepod]

Lyra: Pop Culture Superstar

Hello. Hi. Greetings!

Long time no post. We've been active over on Mastodon, so if you're inclined to visit us there, here's a link:

Or, I'll try to get better at popping over to say hi here!

Why I am suddenly back? Well, our most recent podcast episode on Lyra in Pop Culture seems to be cursed. We've recorded it twice and had fatal errors. Twice.

So, this week we'll do something a little different. I made a visual post of our Lyra: Pop Culture Superstar and recorded a shorter solo companion pod for the post.

Here's your audio guide:

Favorites

Jordan Favorite 1: Lyra Belacqua from His Dark Materials Trilogy

Sources: https://www.hbo.com/his-dark-materials/cast-and-crew/lyra-belacqua & https://www.philip-pullman.com/hdm

Kit Favorite 1: Lyra Veronica Esmeralda Taylor

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyra_Taylor

Jordan Favorite 2: Lyrebird (Kit addendum: SCARY!)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrebird

Kit Favorite 2: She-Hulk (aka Lyra -- from an alternate future, daughter of Femizon (!!!) Thundra & Hulk)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She-Hulk_%28Lyra%29

Jordan Favorite 3: Lyra Dawnbringer

Least Favorites

Kit's Least Favorite: Lyra Health -- okay, okay. wait. I don't know anything about this health company, but I do know they provide mental health care which *is* broadly good. However, I dislike the "lyra" brand use here considering... well... Orpheus. Listen to the last episode of the podcast for more details: https://starrytimepodcast.podbean.com/e/lyra-myths-and-retconstellations/

Jordan's Least Favorite (prepare yourself for CONTROVERSY): Lyra Heartstring (although this was Jordan's least favorite, she agreed that this name was very good):

Source: https://mylittleponyyt.fandom.com/wiki/Lyra_Heart_Strings

Wished For

Kit's:

Lyra's Lyres and Other Stringed Instruments Shop (... i know, it's a lil lazy, BUT, my alternative was just the world "Lyracal," which I couldn't make into anything good...)

Jordan's: Lyra Video game -- think Guitar Hero (but with a Lyre) meets Zelda meets Hades. The ultimate prize?! Your LYRE in the night sky! Jordan had a very detailed storyline, which I'll try to tell yo more about on the pod (and if we ever recover the audio, we'll be sure to release it!).

All right, folks, let us know your fav, least favs, and what you wished existed in the Lyra-verse!

With Love,

Kit & Jordan

[starrytimepod]

Season 2: Quests and Curses has started!

Our first episode of season 2 is live! And also, eek, I forgot to post when Episode 12: Sagittarius & Episode 13: Ophiuchus came out 🙃

Anywho, you can listen to them all here or on your fav podcast streaming service (probably):

We've trying out a weekly, shorter-episode format for Season 2 -- and we're kicking things off with the Cosmic Background of the constellation Corona Australis.

In this episode, Jordan and I explore/discuss:

🤔 what this constellation looks like (or doesn't), 🗺️ where to find it ☀️ the brightest star (Bayer comin in HOT for Season 2) 💕 contact binaries, and more!

I'll try not to be so remiss in updates here -- and maybe start aggregating some pictures relevant to the pod here?! Idk sounds ambitious... 😅

Love,

Kit

[starrytimepod]

Space Gym Saga: Finishing the Project?!

Hello again! I'm back this weekend to finish up the chronicles of Space Gym.

What is a "Space Gym," why did I want one, and how did I end up with the final product?

See Parts 1-3 here:

1) The why: https://www.tumblr.com/starrytimepod/705821030963363840/a-space-themed-gym-part-1?source=share

2) The research: https://www.tumblr.com/starrytimepod/706430877328146432/space-gym-the-saga-continues-research-and?source=share

3) The how (and how not): https://www.tumblr.com/starrytimepod/707069778267865088/space-gym-the-saga-continues-trial-error-and?source=share

Whew. It's a lot isn't it?

Here's how the wispy blue nebula evolved and came out.

After a little of this and little of that, and wary of possibly ruining my beautiful mural, I decided the mural was COMPLETE.

Could there be more stars? Sure. More details on the nebula? Of course. But this was better than I had ever imagined, and I was very proud of it.

So, I turned my attention to the rest of the walls.

Here is what the color of the walls in the other parts of the gym were like before Space Gym:

The previous owners loved that sponge paint method... why? idk.

I narrowed the colors down to these four, and we decided to go with the light blue.

Off to the hardware store I went to pick up the paint. It took a two coats, but I love how the blue turned out!

With the mural done, and the walls painted, it was finally time. Time for the JPL posters that started it all. BoP & I picked out six of the prints, and I got them printed. I ordered a set of six plastic fronted frames (after all, they were going in a gym). And here's how they looked once they arrived and I put them in frames:

At this point, BoP was like: Wow! Those look great! Maybe we *should* put them in the living room!!

And I was like:

And he was like:

But all was forgiven, because BoP agreed to help me hang the pictures in the Space Gym and to hang the mirrors.

And... here's how it all came together:

And now. The final reveal. Before and after!

Ultimately, I'm very happy with how things came out, and I enjoyed doing this project. Working out in Space Gym is a delight, and I hope you had fun following the journey.

Please let me know if you start your own Space Gym saga!

Love,

Kit

[starrytimepod]

Inspired by the lovely hosts of @starrytimepod, I decided to paint constellations on to some Farseer cloaks! Libra for me, Leo for them :D

[starrytimepod]

Space Gym: The Saga Continues - Trial, Error, and Success?

Annnd -- I'm back with more to share about my Space Gym project! I'd like to start by saying BoP would like to know the audience for this chronicle, so if you're enjoying it, plz let me know by replying, reblogging, or liking!

Here is Part 1 on the origins (or why I decided to do this): https://www.tumblr.com/starrytimepod/705821030963363840/a-space-themed-gym-part-1?source=share

Part 2 on inspiration and research: https://www.tumblr.com/starrytimepod/706430877328146432

Which brings us here to Part 3 - Trial, Error, and Success?!

Last we left off, I had created these three trial nebulas & even had nebula hands to show for my efforts!

Believing in the promise of space gym, though uncertain that I was going to be able to create the Orion Nebula, I went forward and painted the mural wall black.

Here's how it looked -- sponge murder wall be gone! Presto!

Great news for me: BoP didn't want to help, but my sister (and Starry Time Cohost, Jordan) was coming to visit for Hanukkah and she was ALL IN on Space Gym.

Together we practiced making nebulae on the left side of the wall because there will eventually be mirrors up there.

Confident in my little nebula attempt (middle nebula in the left picture), I went forth and made a big version (right nebula inboth photos below). My sister named her nebula (the far left corner) Puppis (which we insist is pronounced Poopis, even though it's not).

I'll be honest. Things were not hanging together well in the big nebula. It just wasn't scaling up well. But, I thought, it was OK, maybe I just needed to take a break and try blending things together the next day.

I didn't capture the in-between, but let's just say the next painting session ended in me creating this monstrosity out of despair:

Also RIP Poopis, my sister's nebula, which she replaced with the smoky, tendril-y painting on the lower left.

The next day, I painted over the horrifying nebula I made (which was very cathartic), and tried some new techniques. Below, you can see the painted over big nebula. And some new attempts -- the bright blue nebula in the upper left corner, the purple one next to it, and another attempt in the center-top of the wall.

But, honestly, I still wasn't very happy with any of them. That first good test nebula... it was TAUNTING me.

I took a few days off, my sister went home, and I re-evaluated my technique (and life choices).

And then, I watched this video called Mural Joe Live - Galaxy Sky by muraljoe: https://youtu.be/VQg2H08nGXo

And I tried again.

This time producing something that was both a nebula and vaguely resembled the Orion Nebula!!!

First day of painting using the new techniques

!!!!!

The next day, I decided to get rid of some of the tester nebulae, add another more wispy nebula, and to add some more layers to the new center piece of Space Gym.

Let's pause here, and next week I'll show you how it all came together!

[starrytimepod]

Space Gym: The Saga Continues - Research and Inspiration

Let's go forth with the saga of Space Gym (or why/how did I paint a space mural in my gym)! For part 1 (the origin story) see here:

I'll be honest with you, I am sometimes a person who gets very excited about something, tells everyone about wanting to do said thing, and then does not do it. For example, for a while, I talked about becoming a Zumba instructor. Do I like Zumba? Yeah! Do I like follow through: SOMETIMES. I'm just a human, after all.

So, I don't think it's a stretch to believe that BoP thought (hoped?) that my Space Gym idea would fade from reality. But, unluckily for him, I had a break from work coming up and I needed a project.

My initial thoughts for Space Gym was to get something like this (shameless plug for the podcast I cohost here: the one on the right goes along with Starry Time's Season 1 on the Zodiac constellations!):

From Photowall via https://www.photowall.com/us/wall-murals/astronomy-space - L: Galaxy R: Zoodiac Sky IIII.

So, what is this witchcraft?? Peel and stick wallpaper.

Unfortunately, in addition to periodically lacking follow-through, I am also pretty cheap. The wallpaper was too expensive for the amount of wall I needed to cover. Plus, remember, BoP said I had to do this project without him -- and I don't know much about wallpaper, except it seems like a 2+ person job. PLUS, PLUS, it seemed like too much money to invest in something that was going to be in our gym (and the walls in the gym are a lil... uh... not flat, so it seemed like it would be too hard to do).

So, I did what any DIYer would do next and started scouring the internet for videos of people painting space murals. Here are two videos I watched that influenced my attempts at painting:

How to Paint a Space Wall Mural by Gray House Studio: https://youtu.be/Ct5Si2nm0KY

How to Paint a Space Nebula Galaxy Wall Mural by Home Decor Solutions: https://youtu.be/ADcfNusuEj8

Now is probably a good time to remind you that I have never painted anything (except walls with one color). I cannot stress this enough.

I.

Do.

Not.

Have.

Any.

Training.

I have never painted a mural. I have no art experience at all.

Why do I say this? Well, because (spoilers) these aren't the techniques that I ended up using for the central nebula. But, now, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, I watched these videos and looked for photos of nebulas that I thought MAYBE I could paint.

Here are a few of the "inspiration" pictures I looked at:

What do we have here? Top left: Godzilla Nebula via https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia24579-godzilla-nebula-imaged-by-spitzer. Top Middle: Galaxy UGCA 193 via https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/11/A_waterfall_of_stars. Top Left: NGC 1858 via https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-spies-emission-nebula-star-cluster-duo/. Bottom: Dumbbell Nebula via https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/pia14417.html

Ultimately, though, I liked the colors and vibe of the Orion Nebula:

Orion Nebula via https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-02677/

Now, I had some inspiration and some color ideas to work with. Things were starting to become more real. I started telling people that Space Gym was happening. I showed people pictures of the Orion Nebula.

And, you know what, here are some more images of this rad nebula:

Other images of Orion Nebula via: L: CFHT/Coelum (J.-C. Cuillandre & G. Anselmi) M: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2018/05/The_Orion_Nebula_also_known_as_M42 R: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/chaos-at-the-heart-of-the-orion-nebula

And my friends were like:

Which, you know, fair enough... but, I was undeterred, in part, because whatever I did couldn't be worse than the horrific sponge-painted murder wall. And, worst case, I'd just paint the wall black and we'd all pretend Space Gym was a fever dream.

So, I used the Coolors pallet generator (https://coolors.co/) to pick out colors from my inspiration photo(s):

And off I went to the hardware store to order samples -- sorry to the person working who had to mix all of them.

And, here were my first attempts at nebulas (over that scary original wall). The middle one started out with promise, until I splattered paint, tried to fix it, and it turned out... poorly. The one of the far left, well, that looks like a straight up purple people eater. But the far right... well, that had potential! Though, admittedly, my belief in my ability to make anything look remotely like the Orion nebula was fading fast.

STILL. POTENTIAL. Better than I imagined!

Let's pause here, and I'll tell you what happened when I tried to bring my vision to scale next time!

[starrytimepod]

Space Gym: The Saga Begins

Hi. I'm Kit, one of the cohosts of the astronomy and mythology podcast Starry Time. Those of you who have listened to the pod know that my sister (and cohost) and I love space.

Lately, I've been working on a project that I call Space Gym. And I wanted to provide a bit of a chronicle of the journey -- this post has the origin story and a before photo.

So, settle on in for a little story time!

My partner (BoP) and I are working to decorate our new home. Our living room has some empty walls in need of pictures. I proposed we create a set of the NASA space tourism posters and put them up in our living room.

I mean... look at these! THEY. ARE. AMAZING!

Anywho, the conversation went like this:

BoP: Kit, that is very nerdy. Perhaps too nerdy for our main living space. Like, is this the impression we want to make to everyone visiting our house?

Now, to BoP's credit, our bedroom already features 6 prints of the moon and I do have theme park maps all over my office/the guest room. Still, I've loved these pictures for so long. And gosh-darn it, I wanted them in my house.

Me: BoP. We are nerdy. And they need to go somewhere in our house.

Him: What about your office?

Me: I've already put pictures on all the walls!

Him: Hm.

Me: WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO PUT THEM?! THE GYM??

Here's the space that became our gym from before we moved in:

So. Yeah. It's in the basement of our home. And my friends call that sponge wall "murder wall," b/c, well, for obvious reasons.

Conversation continued:

I pause for a few moments. The idea gathering mass.

Me: BoP. Oh my god. Yep. They are going into the gym! I'm going to make the entire gym SPACE THEMED!!! I'll paint a mural and we'll put up the posters, and it will be so amazing!!!!!!

BoP: I mean, you can do that if you want. But, you have never painted a mural...

Me: MINOR DETAILS!

Him: Okay, well, you can make a space-themed gym, but I don't want to help. That's my condition.

Me: Excellent!

And from there, I told pretty much everyone I talked to about this idea of a space-themed gym. A Space Gym, if you will. The next post will show my test nebulas and early efforts!

[starrytimepod]

Episode 11: Scorpius!

Episode 11 on the astronomy and mythology of Scorpius is live!

What awaits you in this episode??

🔴A red supergiant star that makes Betelgeuse seem like a mere main-sequence star.

🤔Kit trying her best to explain the Beta Scorpii system, which as 7 to 9 stars orbiting in various ways, in our new segment Bayer's Variable Star.

🥳Greek myths about a hero who is, as usual, less than heroic. BUT, in a twist, is killed for being a jerk!

🦂Creature corner featuring terrifying facts about Scorpions.

🦂🦂🦂Ret-constellations that give scorpions (and terrible heroes) their due!

Plus, hear us dunk on Scorpios Rex 🦖 (despite our strong love of Brooklyn and co.) and propose new ways to use the Scorpius branding!

[starrytimepod]

✨♎️Ep 10: Libra is LIVE! This episode features: 💓Heartbeat stars 🔵Blue stragglers 🙅‍♀️A goddess who gives up on humans ⚖️Archaeology Attic w/ fun scale history 😬 Questionable pop culture uses of the Libra brand And more!!!

[starrytimepod]

Earth lookin' v. photogenic from a camera on Artemis!

[starrytimepod]

Which Virgo is She?!

In doing the research about Virgo for episode 9 of our podcast, Jordan and I learned there are a number of myths about Virgo. Which begs the question, which Virgo is this 9th c. depiction?

Erigone, the daughter of Icarius and beloved dog mom?

Parthenos, the sister of Rhoio (who Apollo got pregnant, but whose dad did not believe this so he put Rhoio in a box and threw her in the ocean, but don't worry she... is fine?), who totally has a coherent story of her own...?

Persephone, the daughter of Demeter who was tricked into marrying Hades?

Or, Astraea, the “virgin goddess of justice”?

[starrytimepod]

All of these are incredible! My eye, ofc, was pulled right to Chrysomallos, the inspiration behind the Aries constellation myth!

Folktober 2022 Masterpost

Folktober is a October prompt list made by my beloved friend Krista Miller to design creatures from Folklore and Mythology. I ended up falling pretty far behind and tbh, I realistically don't foresee myself finishing it. But the stuff I did make was awesome! Check it out!

You can find the whole thread of tweets here

Would highly recommend looking at the tweets, I wrote additional lore bits in those.

[starrytimepod]

PSR B1257+12 (also known as Lich) is a pulsar with 3 planets orbiting it. Given that these planets are orbiting a dead star, they are named Poltergeist, Draugr, and Phobetor. Another fun fact, 2 of these planets were the first exoplanets *ever* confirmed by the scientific community!

[starrytimepod]

This is most excellent.

Olympians as cats

(because why not)

Aphrodite and Zeus:

Demeter and Poseidon:

Dionysus and Hephaestus:

Ares and Athena:

Hermes and Artemis: