Wednesday 21 December 2016

Winter Solstice


  It's the Winter Solstice today. At 10:44 UTC, to be precice.
  
This scene from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
will become clear later in the post
[image via]
  As I'm sure you all know, the solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted the furthest away from the sun (23.5 degrees). This means the Northern Hemisphere experiences its shortest day, while the Southern Hemisphere basks in its longest day.
 However, don't go thinking that the solstice is always on the 21st December. Due to the wobbly old Earth and our not solar-accurate clocks, the solstice can occur as early as the 20th and as late as the 23rd December (although occurrences on those dates are rare - it's more usual on the 21st and 22nd). 

  Anyway, the point of this post isn't to harp on about the Winter Solstice. No, it's Star Trek-related!
I think I can hear people groaning...
  Another social media website I frequent (no, not that one - this one is specifically for Star Trek) holds monthly art challenges (you can see my entry for October here), and November's was this:

Your challenge is to make a Trek "Christmas Card". It can be for any of the holidays celebrated at this time of the year, from Thanksgiving to New Years. It can be an in-universe made up holiday or not. A fairly standard card size is 7x10 unfolded, 7x5 folded.
Get out the glue and glitter and your handy pencils, or crack open Photoshop and shop them photos.

  So, out came the glue and glitter (and scalpel) for this Vulcan Winter Solstice card:




  I wanted to do something non-Christmassy and with Vulcan calligraphy (having come across Korsaya.org), and as Memory Alpha suggests that Vulcans have Paganism in their history, this winter solstice card inspired by the end scenes in Star Trek III sprang forth.
 The calligraphy says "Winter Solstiss". Or it's supposed to - Apologies to Korsaya and any Vulcans whom I have offended.
 
Also, apologies to Ms Scarlet for the shocking attempt at calligraphy. Albeit Vulcan calligraphy.
 And after sitting on my shelf for a couple of weeks or so, I sent this card to a certain (ex?) blogger of my acquaintance, who I thought would appreciate its Star Trek-ness.

  We hope you have a splendid solstice, one and all!



P.S. I won the November Art Challenge with this card, so I had the honour of setting the December challenge!

24 comments:

  1. Um...not a Trekky person, so I'll bow out.But check your email.wink wink nudge nudge...

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Mistress is not only impressed by your card but also by the neatness of your bookshelf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! The side you can see is the Star Trek side. The other side holds all my non-Trek books. Perhaps after Christmas, I'll take a couple of photos and fashion a blog post out of them?

      Delete
  3. Congrats on the win! Brilliant concept and execution!

    Happy Solstice!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You could be the next big minimalists artiste!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can be sure that if success strikes, I won't be selling for minimal prices!

      Delete
  5. I knew the word Vulcan made an association in my mind. I'd keep away from the 'calligraphy' if I were you:
    The serial killer Dennis Nilsen is seeking extra legal aid so he can challenge a ban on receiving homosexual pornography in prison.

    Nilsen claims he is the victim of a policy that discriminates against gay inmates because his chosen magazine is prohibited under prison rules. His lawyers argue that, while images of erect penises are banned, pictures of "obvious and explicit arousal of women" in heterosexual magazines are permitted.

    Flo Krause, Nilsen's counsel, said this policy breached the Human Rights Act.

    Heterosexual soft porn publications such as Escort and Razzle were widely circulated among other prisoners at Whitemoor high security jail in Cambridgeshire, she added.

    But Nilsen's choice, the magazine Vulcan, was banned under prison rules restricting the type of pictorial images allowed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wondered where that was going, Hound. Your comment was practically a blog post in itself! And, thanks to you and Jon, I shall never look at Star Trek Vulcans in the same way again...

      Delete
    2. You mean your blog posts are copied and pasted from the Evening Standard.
      Actually I remember not liking Vulcan very much. I preferred Zipper.

      Delete
    3. Didn't Zipper feature the more burly male form?

      Delete
  6. I love it!! I thought 'calligraphy' before I even read the post. I also thought: I bet he won!
    Congratulations!!!
    Sx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Next time, though, I'm going to make more effort with the calligraphy.

      Delete
  7. Congratulations on a fantastic creation! I love the intense, vibrant colors and stunning images, and the stylish script is just scintillating!

    Happy Holidays to you and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  8. you had me at the solstice & lost me at star trek.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations on the win darling. Your work is stunning. I admit to not being a huge star trek fan but recognised the location immediately! Nice to see that you have upped your game from tinfoil to goldleaf... a really nice touch. And fancy knowing the Vulcan alphabet... the calligraphy is quite impressive too. well done all around, and Merry Christmas to you and yours

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS... I hope Tim liked his card...

      Delete
    2. Thank you, Princess!

      Yes, I hope he liked it, too - I haven't asked him, and he hasn't mentioned it. I hope Royal Mail got it to him OK?

      Delete
  10. Walkun ? Vilcan ? Wolken ?
    I'm ... confused as usual. Happy Tim(e) to You. It's a great card. And yer bookshelf is terribly clean and organised, never could get away with this, really ...
    I once had a little audio file from Mr Worf - a valcon I think - and it was connected to a system incident, forgot what one. Damn I miss that old sound setting, jungle I guess, slightly alternated. I blab, I am tired, sorry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr Worf was/is a Klingon, and has been known to cause (and sometimes settle) star system "incidents".

      If it makes you feel better, my bookshelf is very dusty!

      Delete

Tickle my fancy, why don't you?