SYTYCD & Many Moons

New season, new judges, new format. So You Think You Can Dance may be on its last dancing legs in Season 12. It seems like they’re stretching when they don’t need to. Let’s see, Cat Deely is still there in all her long-legged beauty, and Nigel Lythgoe is still judging and producing but seems to be a bit red-eyed this season. But where’s Mary Murphy and her hot-tamale-train screams? She was canned for some reason but I can’t find out why or by whom. And she’s being replaced by Paula Abdul and Jason Derulo. Okay to Paula, but why Jason? Are they using him to stretch out to younger, blacker viewers? I’ll wait a few shows before I judge too harshly. Now, what about the new format? The initial explanations aren’t very clear. Those who audition must commit to one broad form of dance or the other—stage or street. Those selected make it to Vegas where Travis Wall will coach the stage group and Twitch the street group. Those two groups will be narrowed to ten each. Ten what? Five males and five females or simply the top ten regardless of sexual orientation (and even that designation is no longer as clear as it once was)? After they decide the top twenty, how will they be paired? Only in their own dance genre or crossing over? I don’t know. That little detail was never clarified. We’ve been faithful SYTYCD fans from the beginning, but we may not make it past Season 12. SYTYCD may not either.

Last night we were treated to something that happens only once in a blue moon—the sight of a Blue moon. Well, actually, it was the precursor of the real blue moon wihich is the second full moon in a calendar month, the first taking place on last night on June 2 and the second on June 30. When it happens in June, it's also called a strawberry moon, since June is the month of ripened strawberries. But in Europe, where there are no strawberries, it’s called a Rose moon or a Hot moon. When a new moon occurs twice in one month, the second is called a Black moon. One could get moony (or loony)over so many designations for moons. There are waning and waxing moons. There are Harvest moons, sometimes called Full Harvest moons or Full Hunter’s moons. And finally, Blood moons, when we witness a total eclipse of the moon and it appears to be red or brown. There, that should be enough information about moons. You should find Mel Tormé’s version of “Blue Moon” and give it a listen as you amble outside on June 30 to see one in the flesh.

You might consider, as you amble, taking a beer with you.