Dark Skies

Are there any anxieties that the suburbs cannot be made a metaphor for? In the new film "Dark Skies," a family dealing with money troubles, domestic discord and social unease is forced to face down what the spoiler police have requested be referred to as "a dark force" in their struggle to achieve modern perfection. Pursuing the right fixtures in the kitchen, the right school for the kids, the right friends and connections, they are forced to fight for their right to remain a family unit in suburbia, with mysterious entities looking to spirit them to parts unknown, perhaps even a less desirable ZIP Code.

Spring and summer are the ripe seasons for dance mega-fests and their six-figure headliners, which means March is the month when the weirdos come out. L.A. hosts a nice slate of outsider electronica this month that dips into disco, noise, bass music and svelte minimalism. Here's the best of the lot this month. On Friday, pool-party-skulking house savants Guy Gerber and Droog hold down at Sound (1642 N. Las Palmas Ave.), while the disco revivalist Daniel Wang brings roller rinks and big pianos back at the Eagle (4219 Santa Monica Blvd.)

The biggest full moon of the year Saturday (tonight) will bring the highest and lowest of tides too. And, according to NASA Science News , dogs may howl and the bright glare of moonbeams may keep you up that night. (If you don't believe me, watch the video above that explains it.) In fact, the "perigree moon," as it's known, occurs at 8:40 p.m. Pacific time when the moon in its orbit comes closest to Earth -- and only super-keen observers will be able to distinguish it from a regular full moon.

Are there any anxieties that the suburbs cannot be made a metaphor for? In the new film "Dark Skies," a family dealing with money troubles, domestic discord and social unease is forced to face down what the spoiler police have requested be referred to as "a dark force" in their struggle to achieve modern perfection. Pursuing the right fixtures in the kitchen, the right school for the kids, the right friends and connections, they are forced to fight for their right to remain a family unit in suburbia, with mysterious entities looking to spirit them to parts unknown, perhaps even a less desirable ZIP Code.

The sun had set behind a 30-foot sandstone mountain when a short, stocky man with a Brooklyn accent addressed a crowd of about 75 people standing in a parking lot near the Hidden Valley picnic area at Joshua Tree National Park. Behind him, a cloudless, darkening sky stretched over a flat sea of sand, Joshua trees and rust-colored boulders.

Southern Arizona's dark skies established the region as an international hub for astronomy in the 1960s. Observatories and other sky-gazing research facilities have brought prestige - and millions of dollars - to the state. Today, riches on the ground - or, more specifically, below it - also have the potential to enrich the state, resulting in an odd collision between mining and astronomy. Since 2007, when Rosemont Copper, which is owned by Canada's Augusta Resource Co., announced its plans to build a mine in the desert just south of Tucson, the environmental community has warned that the project will devastate the desert landscape.

That yucky creatures from another planet were to blame for bad things befalling earthlings was the one theory not offered by O.J. Simpson's criminal defense attorneys. It is by Bryce Zabel and Brent V. Friedman. They created "Dark Skies," the NBC series whose two-hour (but feels-like-three) premiere tonight rests on the belief that what you see is often something else and that, as Zabel says, "Our future's happening in our past."

Much have I traveled where no man grows old, And many winsome girls and women seen; Round many L.A. poolsides have I have been Which bards in fealty to Narcissus hold. Oft of middlescence had I been told That sharp-eyed Erickson made his domain; Yet did I never feel its edge so keen Till I heard Sheehy speak out loud and bold: Then felt I like some surfer of dark skies When a new starlet swims into his ken; Or like Hugh Hefner when with bloodshot eyes He retreating sirens scanned--and his limp men Looked at each other with a mild surmise-- Silent, atop Disney's cold Matterhorn.

With the Oscars telecast airing on Sunday, Hollywood is preparing for the biggest weekend of the year. There won't be as much to celebrate at the box office, however, as two new films are expected to have lackluster debuts. "Snitch," an action film starring the beefy Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is expected to start off with an underwhelming $12 million, according to those who have seen prerelease audience surveys. That means the picture will have to compete for the No. 1 spot with "Identity Thief," the Melissa McCarthy comedy that is still doing brisk business as it enters its third weekend in theaters.

Ladies and gentlemen, don your raincoats. Conditions may be just right in the coming days for a moonbow at Yosemite National Park. A moonbow, also called a lunar rainbow, occurs, oddly enough, at night. The Yosemite National Park website says an optimal view is the result of  "clear skies, enough water in Yosemite Fall to create sufficient mist, dark skies, bright moonlight not blocked by the surrounding mountains, and the correct rainbow geometry. " I can make no iron-clad promises, but Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said conditions look right: There is a lot of runoff at Yosemite Fall, the snow pack is enormous and the weather is warm.

Death Valley National Park gained a new distinction Wednesday for its night sky and the care it has taken to protect and preserve the darkness. The International Dark-Sky Assn. selected Death Valley as an International Dark Sky Park for its exceptional skyscape, educational programs and steps it has taken to reduce the glow and glare of artificial lights inside the park. There are 11 parks worldwide that have received the dark-sky moniker. "Death Valley is a place to gaze in awe at the expanse of the Milky Way, follow a lunar eclipse, track a meteor shower, or simply reflect on your place in the universe," National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in a statement.

With the Oscars telecast airing on Sunday, Hollywood is preparing for the biggest weekend of the year. There won't be as much to celebrate at the box office, however, as two new films are expected to have lackluster debuts. "Snitch," an action film starring the beefy Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is expected to start off with an underwhelming $12 million, according to those who have seen prerelease audience surveys. That means the picture will have to compete for the No. 1 spot with "Identity Thief," the Melissa McCarthy comedy that is still doing brisk business as it enters its third weekend in theaters.

Southern Arizona's dark skies established the region as an international hub for astronomy in the 1960s. Observatories and other sky-gazing research facilities have brought prestige - and millions of dollars - to the state. Today, riches on the ground - or, more specifically, below it - also have the potential to enrich the state, resulting in an odd collision between mining and astronomy. Since 2007, when Rosemont Copper, which is owned by Canada's Augusta Resource Co., announced its plans to build a mine in the desert just south of Tucson, the environmental community has warned that the project will devastate the desert landscape.

The biggest full moon of the year Saturday (tonight) will bring the highest and lowest of tides too. And, according to NASA Science News , dogs may howl and the bright glare of moonbeams may keep you up that night. (If you don't believe me, watch the video above that explains it.) In fact, the "perigree moon," as it's known, occurs at 8:40 p.m. Pacific time when the moon in its orbit comes closest to Earth -- and only super-keen observers will be able to distinguish it from a regular full moon.

Ladies and gentlemen, don your raincoats. Conditions may be just right in the coming days for a moonbow at Yosemite National Park. A moonbow, also called a lunar rainbow, occurs, oddly enough, at night. The Yosemite National Park website says an optimal view is the result of  "clear skies, enough water in Yosemite Fall to create sufficient mist, dark skies, bright moonlight not blocked by the surrounding mountains, and the correct rainbow geometry. " I can make no iron-clad promises, but Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said conditions look right: There is a lot of runoff at Yosemite Fall, the snow pack is enormous and the weather is warm.

The sun had set behind a 30-foot sandstone mountain when a short, stocky man with a Brooklyn accent addressed a crowd of about 75 people standing in a parking lot near the Hidden Valley picnic area at Joshua Tree National Park. Behind him, a cloudless, darkening sky stretched over a flat sea of sand, Joshua trees and rust-colored boulders.

The movement's motto might be "Let there be dark." Calabasas has joined the growing number of communities worldwide that want skies illuminated by stars, not Klieg lights. Limiting light pollution has long been a goal of the upscale community in the west San Fernando Valley, according to Mayor Lesley Devine. The city is now hammering out a so-called dark skies ordinance that takes a common-sense approach to outdoor lighting, she said.

Gen. Bloomer proposed a rational, if not, alas, presently politically practical, solution to the dilemma of a burgeoning John Wayne Airport, after he presented a chilling assessment of the perils of Orange County's overcrowded skies. Brig. Gen. W. A. Bloomer, commander of Marine Corps Air Bases West, had asked the question, "Are we crowding ourselves out of the El Toro skies?" as the title of his talk last Wednesday before the University Forum at UC Irvine's University Club.

The movement's motto might be "Let there be dark." Calabasas has joined the growing number of communities worldwide that want skies illuminated by stars, not Klieg lights. Limiting light pollution has long been a goal of the upscale community in the west San Fernando Valley, according to Mayor Lesley Devine. The city is now hammering out a so-called dark skies ordinance that takes a common-sense approach to outdoor lighting, she said.

That yucky creatures from another planet were to blame for bad things befalling earthlings was the one theory not offered by O.J. Simpson's criminal defense attorneys. It is by Bryce Zabel and Brent V. Friedman. They created "Dark Skies," the NBC series whose two-hour (but feels-like-three) premiere tonight rests on the belief that what you see is often something else and that, as Zabel says, "Our future's happening in our past."