FEAST OR FAMINE

Winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere in 2023 occurs on the evening of Thursday 21 December or the morning of 22 December, depending on where you are in the world. It is the shortest day and the longest night. A day is 24 hours, so the shortest day and longest night refers to the number of daylight and night-time hours in a 24-hour period. In the Southern Hemisphere, summer solstice is the longest day and shortest night.    After the winter solstice, the days become longer, and the nights become shorter, until the spring equinox (equal hours of day and night). In the Southern Hemisphere, after the summer solstice, the days become shorter and the nights become longer, until the autumn equinox (equal hours of day and night).   For example, in London, UK, the shortest day during the winter solstice – 22 December – will have 7 hours and 49 minutes of daylight and the longest day during the summer solstice – 22 June – will have 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight. During ...

  The Order of Time  by Carlo Rovelli (1959) is about the physics of time and space: ‘We are time. We are this space, this clearing opened by the traces of memory inside the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We are longing for a future that will not come.’   The book is divided into three parts: 1) The Crumbling of Time, 2) The World without Time, and 3) The Sources of Time.    Part One is an account of modern physics and time – from Anaximander (‘the Earth floats in space’) and Nicolaus Copernicus (‘the Sun is at the centre of the Universe’) to Albert Einstein (‘the equations that describe how proper times develop relative to each other’) and others.    Poets, artists, philosophers, and scientists have all been fascinated by the mystery of time. The more humans develop, the more they transform their understanding of it.     Carlo Rovelli talks of altitude, speed, the midday sun, timezones, Earth’s hemisph...

  The Australian Embassy in Paris is hosting the ‘Eureka! Scientific Australia’ exhibition from  3 March to 30 June 2022. Science, technology, and innovation in the Australian government, as well as in business and research, are displayed to showcase international partnerships, such as with France.  The exhibition focuses on three projects in Australia related to the environment and the Universe: 1) the development of low emissions technologies, 2) protecting the Great Barrier Reef, and 3) astronomy.    MARTINA NICOLLS MartinaNicollsWebsite   Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website Flower Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES  MARTINA NICOLLS   is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author    of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015),...

  Montaro Caine (2013) is a futuristic novel written by actor and director Sidney Poitier (1927-2022), known for the movies  Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner  (1967) and  In the Heat of the Night  (1967).   Montaro Caine is the Chief Executive Officer of the Fitzer Chemical Corporation, a New York mining company. He started Fitzer when he was a teenager, and now it was collapsing after a mining disaster and economic setbacks. He lives with his wife Cecilia and their teenage daughter, with teenage issues. Montaro is losing control of his company and his family.  When he was eight years old, his father gave him a mysterious hand-carved wooden object made by Luther, a 14-year-old boy. It was like a ship, which Luther called the Seventh Ship. Montaro still had this wooden object. In his office, there is a couple have a coin-like object, made of an unknown metal, found in the hand of a baby girl, and Montaro knows instantly that it is precious and could be a m...

MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Moon Magic: A Handbook of Lunar Cycles, Lore, and Mystical Energies (2020) is a primer, a guidebook, on the phases of the moon.   In addition to practical aspects of moon-watching, this handbook highlights the different states of being and wellbeing for each phase of the moon, including the cycles of nature. It also contains chants and rituals for every celebration of the full moon.   There is a section on lunar herbs, such as lavender, jasmine, willow, moonwort, pumpkin, and sandalwood.    It can be taken as seriously or as frivolously as readers wish. Nevertheless, it has some interesting facts and it is beautifully presented and illustrated.  MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020...

The College of France, in the Latin Quarter of Paris at Marcelin Berthelot Place, held a European Heritage Weekend on 21-22 September 2019. The College of France, established in 1530, has a rich heritage in learning and research. It began as the ‘Master of Bookstores’ translating ancient works of literature with five readers: Pierre Danes and Jacques Toussain who read Greek; Francois Vatable, Agacio Guidacerio and Paul Paradis who read Hebrew; and Oronce Fine who studied mathematics. Its motto is ‘Docet omnia’ – he teaches everything.  For the European Heritage Weekend 2019, the College of France opened its doors to the public to show its 2,000 years of history from its construction to the new science laboratories opened in 2014.  The main attractions were the main courtyard, the foyer displaying architectural and archaeological items, the neo-classical architecture and busts, the statue of Guillaume Bude, the hall of professors, the Egyptian library, the No...