Lunar Twilight 2020

 

 

It is here again, that after hour party of reflection upon 2020.  For 12 more nights the last Moon of 2020 shines on.  Although we are officially finished with the year of 2020.  We still have a left over ember from 2020, that will shine on for 12 more evenings.   Then within a fortnight, on January 14, 2021, finally will the nights and days of 2021 sync up.

Symbols are a part of vexillology, and there is one symbol that has two ways of being written: the dollar sign.  It can have 1or 2 lines.  For this font it usually has just one line $.  But in the original  Capcom's Duck Tales video game, 1989, the dollar sign had two lines.  Another vexillological note is the medal one wins at the end of the game credits.  Below the image of Scrooge McDuck is a medal.  

It is funny how things work; who knew that a silly video game from Capcom would become the spark of a lunar lullaby.  The original 8-bit Nintendo game is based upon Walt Disney's animated television series in the later 1980s Duck Tales.  Somehow, a little diddy from Japan based upon an American franchise has become an Anthem for the Moon.  The original score was written by Hiroshige Tonomura.  

From America, to Japan, and back to the world, suspended in time for over 30 years, this is one theme song of the Moon that is appropriate to opening Lunar Twilight 2020!  The original game of Capcom's Duck Tales was created 20 years after the first human landing on the Moon by the USA (1969-1989).

Lunar Twilight counts down the nights of the remainder of 2020, that kicks back only at night time.  The first 12 days of 2021 are officially 2021, but at least at night when the Moon shines the nights revert back to 2020, in a spiritual sense, as the last Moon of 2020 fades from heavens.  Lunar Twilight is an all inclusive celebration for everyone, no nation is left out, nor is any one race honored.  Rather it is a celebration for all the colors of humanity.  It recognizes our intimate and genuine connection to starlight afar and moonlight near.

Lunar Twilight officially starts after the first sunset of January 1, 2020.   So at around 6pm on January 1, 2021 when the Sun disappears from the sky.  The Lunar Twilight Candlemast should be lit with all the candles.  Then until the first and shortest candle disappears, then they are all put out until next evening.  Each successive night a candle burns out, to honor what was and remind us that our time is limited to make to most of each day for the New Year.

Golf Flag from Space Jam 1996

 

A unique golf course flag can be seen in the epitome 1990s movie, Space Jam.  When Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Bill Murray and Wayne Knight are playing golf.  Jordan mysteriously gets a hole in one and they pose for a picture. 

WB Looney Tunes Flag

In 1996 the official Looney Tune flag was presented to the public in the epic movie of the 1990s, Space Jam.  On the right side of the stage you can see a green and white flag.  We can assume it represents the flag of Warner Brother's Toon Land.  On the left side of the stage you can see the US Flag. 

From a distance you can see that there is white area near the bottom.  We never get to see the entire flag unfurled.  A proper Roman vexillum would solve this issue, but cultures are adapted to seeing flags in this draped non-discernable mode.   

 

Tune Squad Team Colors - Space Jam 1996

 In the 1996 the keystroke moment in culture and sports was a combo of Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny.  Jordan was the epitome athlete of the 1990s.  He rounded out his dynamic persona in Space Jam that bleeds the spirit of zany 1990s.  

In this cinematic wonder, Jordan is drafted into to save the Warner Brother's cartoon gang to fend off intergalactic slavery.  The toon gang is challenged in a basketball game and they recruit Jordan, for to save their race.  

The livery of the Tune Squad is blue, orange, and white.  They have the circular bullseye WB cartoon logo with the word Tune Squad written upon it.  It should read as Toon Squad, but it is a moot point.  

Another 1990s decaderal institution is Wayne Knight, who played as the lovable pudgy sidekick.  He was the 1990s King Fatman.  Previously John Candy reigned as the Fatman in the 1980s, but Knight was the 90s' F-man of extra space, due to this presence on Seinfeld and Jurassic Park. On Knight's jacket, you can see the generic Toon Logo with a capital letter T.   

Jordan in the Tune Squad uniform.  This was a unique movie that captured the zeitgeist of the 1990s.  Space Jam was a movie for children, but it was a strange hybrid of cartoons and sports that gave way to the collective memory of America. 

Jordan will always be remembered as a Bull, but he was also a Wizard, a Tar Heel, Olympian, Baron, and Buccaneer.  Perhaps his highest note of fame for any child who grew up in the 1990s, was a his number as #23, for the Tune Squad.

Wayne's World Flags 1992

 

It started with Bill and Ted, then there was Beavis and Butthead.  The 1990s seemed was focused on a pair of jokers, one with blonde hair as the side kick, any the other and lead brunette. Wayne's World started as a skit from SNL and became a feature movie.  It was one of the few times that a movie made from a short segment became reality. 

Along the stairways to the basement you can see the pennants of the Chicago sports teams.  Missing is the ultimate 1990s team of the Bulls.  

In the professional studio you can see the six flags of Texas, they always forget about the Republic of the Rio Grande, this is due to a myopic Western bias.  This republic was short lived, and was a rebellion led by Mexican-Texans.   Thus, it should be the 7 flags of Texas.

UK Iceberg Submarine Cap

 

The flag of the UK appears in the ultimate 1980s James Bond film, A View to a Kill.  The British ensign appears atop a clandestine iceberg sub.  

 

 

 

Rick and Morty - Flying Ship Flags

 

Science fiction is something recycled every generation.  From the twilight zone to today, ideas find their way into our imagination.  With Rick and Morty, they were able to take that charm and make their own in this adult oriented animated series for Sci-fi fans, yet dipped in that modern cartoonish glow. 

In the homemade sailing UFO of sorts a flag can be seen aloft on the rear mast.  It is small pennant with a green field and nearer the hoist is light green/whitish stripe.  A political kind of side-bumper sticker can be seen on the side with a partially visible American flag for an election in 86'.  

Also in this episode, you can can see another green pennant in Morty's room.  It has the words SCIENCE written in all caps in white on a field of green.  Again a thick white horizontal header near the hoist is visible.   This indicates that Morty really has fondness for 'SCIENCE.'  The posters youth post on the wall indicates their interest and lofty goals.  In this case.  Missing from Morty's room are athletic posters of any kind of major league broadcast sports.  A person who decorates their room with a science pennant is unlikely to have any kind of ball game posters in his room.  But the two are not mutually exclusive. 

 The inside of the flying ship is deeply reminiscent of Back the Future.  This was done on purpose, as the the name of our hero Morty is so very close to Marty.  However Morty is few years younger.  And the Doc of this show has perfected trans-dimensional travel, in that Buckaroo Banzai kind of way.