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Friday, 26 June 2009

The Best Form of Water
There is certainly no better physical state for water to be in than that of snow. Unlike rain, it does not pound into your skin, rather, it gently floats down and settles itself quite cozily. Unlike hail, it does not rip things to shreds, break glass, or bruise skin. What other weather form can be moulded and shaped into forts, people, semi-deadly weapons, etc.? It is like sand, but without the annoying itchiness and general discomfort. Sand gets everywhere and resists being removed, snow gets everywhere and just melts and is gone. No clean-up! Evidence of snow's inherent versatility is seen in the many states it can be in. For instance, there are more than 40 snow-associated words in the Spanish language alone!
Examples:
- la nieve amontanada: driven snow
- la nieve artificial: artificial snow
- la nieve derretida: melted snow, snowbroth
- la nieve dura: crusty snow, packed snow
- la nieve fresca: fresh snow
- la nieve fusión: snow that becomes almost liquid when it is skied or slid upon
Also, snow is a fantastic insulator, due to the fact that fallen snow is about 90-95% air. In conclusion, it is obvious that there is no form of water quite as amazing and perfectly wonderful than that of snow. It can amuse you and amaze you....and I suppose you could eat it. :D

Thursday, 25 June 2009

When Yard Decorating Goes too Far

There are many beautiful yards out there, many of them with exquisitely manicured lawns, so much so that it seems as though each blade has been hand clipped, or at least lasered off at the exact same height. These yards also seem to have perpetually green grass, even through the winter. Sometimes I question the legitimacy of such grass, and secretly hold to the theory that these yards are either A) Genetically Mutated, B) Spray Painted (like a spray on tan, but for grass...and green), or C) It's fake. However, upon closer inspection, C can almost always be ruled out. It may look too good to be true, but I have yet to find a yard with actual fake grass. This does not prove true, though, for all elements of Yard-iness. A certain small state, especially, has a certain almost cultural infatuation with a bizarre yard decoration. And no, it is not gnomes, flamingoes, or toilets (though I have seen all of those, and approve wholeheartedly of the second). I happened upon this...unique yard element some years ago. It was the dead of winter, and everything was dead and brown save the heartiest of grasses and the evergreens. And...our neighbours tulips, daffodils, zinnias, and marigolds. No, this was not a greenhouse. They were there, growing in the yard. Except, they were not growing. Upon closer (and surreptitious) inspection, I found these flowers to be fake. They were ordinary fake flowers such as you might buy from Walmart in the craft section. I was dumbfounded. I had truly never heard of such a thing as planting fake flowers in the ground. And my neighbour was by no means alone! Once that secret was out, it seemed as if these cloth/plastic nuisances "grew" everywhere! Is our culture so far gone that not only are noses, hair, and grass easily faked, but even flowers!?
*shakes head and sighs*
There is possibly no more controversial question, no debate more heated, and no reasoning more convoluted than this one I am about to speak of. It has haunted so many generations, leaving them scratching their heads, crying desperately, "Why!?" But finally, the answer has been found. The question? What is the difference between "Partly Sunny" and "Partly Cloudy"? In fact, is there even a difference!?
It has long been surmised that Partly Sunny means more sun, whereas Partly Cloudy means more clouds. But is this really the case? Or have we been led astray by the Man, the Weather Man!? It seems we have. Indeed, even the Weather Man has! A quote from Mr. Jamey Singleton, of WSLS Channel 10, shows that he too, has fallen under the spell of that hypnotic weather channel music, "I believe the official definition of 'partly sunny' actually means slightly more clouds than sun, whereas 'partly cloudy' means more sun than clouds." If you carve deeper into the grisly hide of weathery truth, however, you find that this is not so. If you fight your way to the top of Weather-y Knowledge, there you will find...The Weatherman (notice this is with a capital T in the, designating him as more important than "the weatherman").
"Partly cloudy and partly sunny are essentially the same thing," said David Wert (The Weatherman, also know as the meteorologist-in-chief with the National Weather Service), "Both are used for conditions when the average amount of opaque cloud cover ranges from 45 percent to 75 percent. We usually use 'partly sunny' for daytime conditions, and 'partly cloudy' for nighttime conditions under these situations. It wouldn't make too much sense to use 'partly sunny' for a nighttime condition."
So, now we know. The two names are merely a psychological trick, it seems. Saying "partly sunny" when it's daytime encourages us to go outside, whereas using "partly cloudy" for nighttime...well, no one really cares about cloud cover at night, unless you are watching for some stars.
Case Closed.

Sources:
http://www.roanoke.com/weather/wb/wb/xp-12366
http://www.komonews.com/weather/faq/4347721.html