Blue
Blue is the colour of sadness and also that of the sky on a perfect sunny day. A sunny day can also be a blue day for a person who is sad. Blue Rodeo is a band based in Toronto, that has been active since 1984. Talking a blue streak means talking fast and loud and nonstop and, often, using coarse language. The Blue Streak also refers to a particular automobile engine installed in some GM products in the 60’s.
The blue train, or more properly, Le Train Blue, is a very high speed train that runs between Nice and Calais via Paris. At one time the route extended all the way to Rome. We booked a bedroom on that train overnight and it was amazingly smooth and a bit of a ‘wow’ to realize the distance that had been covered. The name ‘Le Train Blue’ derives from the colour of the luxury sleeping cars.
A blue moon is a second full moon in the same month. The saying ‘once in a blue moon’ speaks to the rarity of the event, about twice a year. To blue a piece of plate steel is to sort of ink it and then use a stylus to scratch out the cuts that are needed to make whatever you are making with it. Blue is the colour or erotica even though red is the colour of love (think Valentine’s Day). So a blue movie is one showing lots of skin.
The blue ridge mountains are a range of peaks in the Carolinas of the USA. The term is also used to describe a range near Sydney Australia. In both cases in certain light conditions these mountains actually do look blue. Blue Boy is the title of a famous painting of a young lad, dressed in blue of course, in Victorian style clothing. There is a partner painting entitled Pink Lady. Yes, you guessed the colour correctly.
The colour blue was the hardest to make so we don’t see it in cave paintings, for instance. It can be made using cobalt or azurite or plants like woad or indigo. The colour blue is often used by painters to suggest mood. There are many shades of blue that have connections to things in life such as Navy blue, connected to the colour of the sea. Blue eyes, some say, are attractive. Alberta blue refers to the colour of the sky.