On Monday night about 9:30 I stepped out into our backyard to catch the Geminids meteors and almost immediately saw one that streaked half-way across the sky and ended in a shower of orange and red sparks. Had the meteors not been happening, I would have thought it was a firework of some sort.

Over the next hour several more nice ones showed up and about 11:30 another really long one flared brilliant green and then an intense blue as it disappeared. Not a bad show from our own backyard, despite the light pollution.


Last night the second DVD in the BBC's The Blue Planet: Seas of Life revealed fantabulous critters that live way down deep. Like their birds shows, these ocean ones contain nothing but superlative photography of nature's wonders, plus good narration and music. I recommend them HIGHLY. In last night's episode we learned tons and tons about the deep ocean, despite both having a good background in biology and things underwater.

Each episode lasts only 50 minutes and if you want to check them out, try The Deep first. You will get to see a real-life critter that served as inspiration for the Alien, and it's pretty scary in real life too, though not so big.