Roman goddess. She was the wife of Jupiter and queen of the gods. Also known as Hera by the Greeks.

A free advertiser-supported Internet service provider. It started as a spiffy little email service, operated by a custom client, but now they offer TCP/IP access with a little ad banner that's always on the screen.

Although Juno has many enemies that overuse the word "sucks," I like the service. However, I did receive a message from them indicating that if my usage patterns exceed what is considered normal, that I will somehow be sanctioned.

Either way, it beats paying $20 per month, since I really only use it at home on the weekends, when I'm away from the office network.

The Canadian equivalent of a Grammy award, the Juno is awarded by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Originally called the Gold Leaf Awards, the first ceremony was held in Toronto in 1970. The name changed to Juno in 1971, and the first telecast was aired in 1975.

One of the larger asteroids in our solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Juno is technically classified as a "minor planet", and was discovered by one K Harding in Lilienthal, Germany on September 1, 1804. It is visible by telescope from Earth, with a magnitude of between 8 and 9 at most times, and is currently (April 2002) to be found in the constellation of Cancer. The 3rd minor planet to be discovered, it has a diameter of roughly 250 kilometers, orbits the sun once every 4.36 years, and exerts a gravitational force 0.8% as strong as that of the Earth. It's shaped a little like a potato.

Juno has for some reason captured the imagination of science fiction writers and futurologists - Greg Bear's bestselling novels Eon and Eternity feature an advanced human civilisation who have transformed the asteroid into a kind of spaceship by hollowing it out and attaching massive engines. Not only that, but the inertial damping mechanism they invented to stabilize the buildings inside Juno unexpectedly had the effect of warping space-time to the extent that the inside of the asteroid becomes larger than the outside.

The Solar System Tourist website, run by amateur astronomers, also features an article describing the possible advantages of colonizing asteroids, using Juno as an example.

Juno is one of five asteroids which normally figure in astrology, with influence over "marriage, partnership and collaboration", indicating where and with whom these partnerships are likely to emerge. The other astrological asteroids are Chiron, Ceres, Pallas and Vesta.


Juno: http://www.rasnz.org.nz/MinorP/Juno.htm
Solar System Tourist: http://users.efni.com/~brentt/tourist/ss02.htm
Astrology: http://medicinegarden.com/Astrology/misc3.html
Vanessa: Your parents are probably wondering where you are.
Juno: Nah. I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?

A teenage girl reflects on a chair; her boyfriend was good "in chair," that one time. Then she begins to down a quart of Sunny D as she walks to the local store to take her third pregnancy test.

The test once again shows her the "doodle you can't undo." She's pregnant, and has some difficult decisions to make.

Principally about characters, Juno (2007) features first-rate performances. Ellen Page does a memorable turn in the title role. Bright and outwardly happy, she and best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) live largely separate from the superficial angst of high school. Juno manages to be resilient and mostly cheerful, yet not unrealistically so. She feels the pain of her situation; she just refuses to play the victim. Juno's attempts to control her difficult circumstances do not always succeed, but they win our applause.

Despite the film's comedic and satiric tone, the relationships all play believably. Michael Cera as befuddled quasi-boyfriend Paulie continues his streak of awkward young men. He appears to lag behind his fellow track athletes in a number of respects. By the film's end, we see his true character. We're shown developments in Juno's relationships with her father (J.K. Simmons), stepmother (Allison Janey), and the would-be adoptive parents, Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner). As Juno's belly expands these relationships grow into places we cannot always predict, but which feel entirely plausible. The psychology of the adoptive parents, in particularly, impressed me. Given what we first see-- yuppie professionals who advertise for a child in the Pennysaver and display photos of themselves on their walls-- it would have been very easy to play both for one-note comic effect. However, writer Diablo Cody has drawn complex characters with inner workings we can believe if not always embrace.

Even incidental characterizations work well. One scene shows Juno's interactions with her peers in a science class. This brief, amusing encounter has very little to do with the rest of the story, but the characters recall high school more than the tiresome stereotypes of most teen movies. The same can be said of an annoying jock character, one rooted in real-life cliché. His final, fleeting appearance provides ones of Juno's biggest laughs.

The film captures the levels of suburban society in a way that suits the film but never intrudes inappropriately into the narrative. The setting has been depicted neither with an excess of hostility nor affection.

The witty writing recalls Ghost World, though the film's tone is less pessimistically ironic, its view of life more affectionately stylized-- and its verbal shots less consistently funny. For every two or three gems, we have to tolerate teens swearing "Honest to blog!" and the like.

Indeed, the film tries too hard at times to be hip, in that pop-culture-referencing way, and one may tire of every second character spouting quirky wisecracks. However, Juno succeeds because, in the end, it manages to be genuinely entertaining while illuminating a corner of humanity.

Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Diablo Cody

Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff
Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker
Olivia Thirlby as Leah
J.K. Simmons as Mac MacGuff
Allison Janney as Bren MacGuff
Jennifer Garner as Vanessa Loring
Jason Bateman as Mark Loring
Emily Perkins as the receptionist
Valerie Tian as Su-Chin

Ju"no (jU"nO), n.; pl. Junos (-nOz). [L.]

1. (Rom. Myth.)

The sister and wife of Jupiter, the queen of heaven, and the goddess who presided over marriage. She corresponds to the Greek Hera.

Sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes.
Shak.

2. (Astron.)

One of the early discovered asteroids.

Bird of Juno, the peacock.

 

© Webster 1913

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