Black Box-ing Day: Paint It Black?

I was watching the above performance of the Russian Alexandrov Red Army Choir and Ensemble performing Smouglianka and Palekh Boxes at the Quebec City Military Tattoo in 2011 on the above You Tube and couldn't help thinking it sure has been a dark Christmas this year with a plane belonging to the Defence Ministry that was taking 64 members of the world famous choir to Syria crashing into the Black Sea and then today I see that Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to declare Monday a nationwide day of mourning, while crews look to recover the plane's flight recorder, or Black Box from the Black Sea.

Flowers on the shore of the Black Sea

Russia searches for victims of Black Sea crash as investigators look into possible causes

In my part of the world (Australia) Monday (it's Tuesday here now) was Boxing Day.

Ironically Palekh Boxes are painted small boxes, cigarette and powder cases etc.

"Palekh miniature (Russian: Палехская миниатюра) is a 
Russian folk handicraft of a miniature painting, which is done with tempera paints on varnished articles made of papier-mâché (small boxes, cigarette and powder cases etc.).
Palekh Russian lacquer art on papier-mâché first appeared in 1923 in the village of Palekh, located in the Palekhsky District (Ivanovo Oblast), and is based on a long local history of icon painting. 

This handicraft and style of miniature painting bore different names throughout its development, such as the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting (since 1924), Palekh Artists’ Association (since 1932), and Artistic Production Workshops of the Artistic Fund of the USSR (since 1953)."

Then there was also the passing of George Michael on Christmas Day.

George Michael's influence felt in China after landmark 1985 Wham! concert

Yet one more world star leaving the stage in 2016.

Not to mention the truck in Germany killing those poor innocent bystanders just before Christmas.

And maybe because I had been playing Leonard Cohen's melancholic album, 'You Want It Darker' over Christmas, which seemed to match my mood over the Holidays, being the first Christmas my own father wasn't around for, I couldn't help thinking of the Rolling Stone's hit, 'Paint It Black', especially when reading about Palekh Boxes.  

Hopefully the New Year won't turn out to be as dark as 2016 seemed to suggest.

Happy New Year ... hopefully we'll Get Lucky.

#17?
2017? 

Starman/La La Land/StarLAnd?

Astronomer Vera Rubin

Astronomer Vera Rubin, who helped discover dark matter, dies at 88

"Rubin discovered galaxies do not quite rotate the way they had been predicted to, which lent support to the theory some other force was at work — namely, dark matter.

Dark matter is thought to make up about 27 per cent of the universe, while dark energy accounts for about 70 per cent. 
Both are invisible and have never been directly observed.
Normal matter, including stars, planets and gas, is thought to constitute less than 5 per cent of the universe.
Scientists better understand what dark matter is not, rather than what it is."

We can only keep searching I guess?