Why Dont You Blog?

A while ago I posted about how “uncommonly warm” the weather was for February. This got me thinking about the recent weather in general, and it seems fairly safe for me to say that despite the one or two days where it was cold enough to snow it has been very warm this winter.

As some more examples, this is a picture taken at Old Sarum on 25 Nov 06. Although you cant see how warm it is, trust me it was warm - and English Heritage sites such as this are not known for their nice climate…

Normally, when you visit an English Heritage site which dates back to the iron age it is like taking a holiday in a fridge. Only windier and colder.

This year, it has been very different. The weather has been nice all winter, the skys have been clear and while there has been a fair bit of rain, it has not been anything major. The sun, on the other hand, has been brilliant.

Now I am not going to make the same mistake as last time, so I wont joke about the “joy” of Global Warming, but having such a nice, warm winter has been…. fun…

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Popularity: 23% [?]

After the faux-spring we had a few days ago it seems winter has arrived at last. At last the weather has reverted to what you expect for this time of year, possibly going further as an excited presenter on local radio today exclaimed this was “the first snow in ‘this’ area for nearly 10 years.” I am not convinced how true that is, but nevertheless, snow is rare here.

While the snow does indeed make everywhere look beautiful and is always fun to play in, this is a big shame. Following the blinding sunshine and really warm days we have been having, lots of plants and flowers (and I can only assume insects and animals) must have assumed it was really spring. I suspect this “sudden” cold snap will prove fatal to lots of them.

This really is a shame. Especially because snow is great.

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Today’s news papers (for example the Guardian) have been talking about the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which says that, for those really slow on the uptake, climate change is influenced by human behaviour. How this is news is beyond me, but there are some unreported aspects which I thought people should be aware of.

Today is 3 Feb 07. It is winter. February is traditionally the coldest, snowiest, month of the year in the UK. When I was younger, there would be so much snow schools would close. Dont even get me started on the rain.

However, this is today (Photos taken at Old Sarum, an English Heritage Site in Wiltshire):

Today it was clear, very sunny and really warm. No wind. Not a cloud in the (perfect blue) sky. Fantastic. On Flickr there are a few more pictures which are worth checking out:

(before anyone gets all hyper, the title was a joke - it is not trying to imply there are any “good things” about Global Warming. If you were offended - get over yourself.)

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Popularity: 28% [?]

Further to the post on No winter, it seems that the Americans are currently getting the winter for 6 other countries.(Typical Americans, you might say.) There are some pictures on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6267273.stm showing beautiful snow scenes in unlikely locations.

Americans use even more resources than we do in Europe. They are responsible for a disproportionate share of the activities that are seen as responsible for climate change. They are also fairly forward in refusing to accept any responsibilty for restraining human impact on the climate.

Appalling as the impact of freak weather - such as the ice storm and last year’s New Orleans disaster, is on individual Americans, maybe some general good could come out of it. The US population might start applying some political pressure on its leaders to take the issue of climate change more seriously.

(No smugness, here. Europe is hardly blamefree or immune from the impact of changing weather patterns.)

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Popularity: 17% [?]

WhyDontYou has added a few new features to it’s posts - the main one is a “light box” for inline images (note: this does not include the images on Flickr and the like).

To see how this works, click on these images:

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Popularity: 40% [?]

jokulsarlon glacial lagoon,
originally uploaded by krmuir.

Sorry to keep the photo thread going… but this lagoon shot looks amazing. Some excellent work done on some fantastic landscape there.

(I will try to limit my use of superlatives soon…)

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Popularity: 19% [?]

This has got to be one of the oddest but most welcome holidays.

Odd? It doesn’t have a set date. It’s something to do with phases of the moon, I believe. Who works it out? Every year, calendars tell us when Easter is. Who tells the calendar manufacturers? They could print all the diaries and Western calendars in the world by just working out the leap years and setting the length of February - making sure they remember the old “February has 28 days clear… etc saying” to work out how long the months are. They can easily set out the dates of Christmas and New Year and May Day. But when it comes to Easter and Whit and Pancake Tuesday and all those other days (sorry, Days) that depend on Easter - who tells them?

Also odd, because if it’s supposed to be the date of the crucifixion, then why not just set one, as has been done with Christmas? The obvious argument is that it’s the old spring festival and reflects the progress of the northern hemisphere’s yearly cycle. Which is obviously true and fair enough. But why doesn’t this apply to Christmas? It’s always a couple of days after the Winter equinox.

Welcome? Good Friday is the only bank holiday that’s on a Friday, which makes it seem particularly well-named as Good. All other bank holidays allow you to miss a work Monday, but there isn’t that much you can do on a Sunday that requires an extra lie-in on Monday. Bank holiday Mondays turn Tuesdays (so-so) into alternate Mondays (bad). Good Friday turns a Thursday (so-so) into a Friday (good) AND gives you an extra Saturday (excellent). And even gives you an extra Bank Holiday in the next week.

Even better, Easter comes at a time when you have to be clinically depressed not to feel some optimism relating to the next few months of warmer longer days, no need to wear overcoats and boots and tights (this is only an advantage if you’re a woman, normally). This year it was perfectly timed to match the first decent weather seen all year in the North of England.

More good things - even if you have 30 kids, nephews, nieces, friends’ kids, grandhildren and great-grandchildren to buy presents for, you can get them all an Easter egg and have change out of £40. Try doing that at Christmas.

(Buy them Cadbury’s Creme Egg multipacks and you’ll have change out of a tenner, but you have to be on the dole or a pensioner to get away with that, really. Even better, you can get those candy-coated little chocolate eggs that are speckled to look like real birds’ eggs. However giving one of those would probably be worse than just not giving anything. Ideally, you have to put a few in tissue paper in a fake bird’s nest made out of Flakes. )

And you don’t have to go round a million shops choosing things. If it’s chocolate and it’s even remotely oval* - it will do. They’ll not notice any difference after the first one or two anyway, and it’s ten to one they’ll vomit them all up within 3 hours of waking anyway.

Altogether, it’s hard to find anything bad to say about Easter as a holiday season. As a religious festival, it’s hard to say anything that won’t offend somebody in some way, so I won’t.

… Or not much anyway. This is a bit related to its religious side. The music is rubbish. Christmas has fantastic carols. Easter doesn’t have much in the way of songs. “There is a green hill far away” is about it. This has miraculous powers to bring tears to the eyes of any child who’s ever had to sing it in Assembly. However, set it against the full set of carols and Christmas wins hands down over Easter. But that’s probably the only thing its scoresheet is down on.

So, Happy Easter

* A Terry’s chocolate orange will do at a pinch. In fact, a box of chocolates is OK as well, unless it only has square ones, in which case it’s all nougat or toffees and NO ONE will thank you for it.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Popularity: 19% [?]