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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Mieux vaut tard que jamais.
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385 |
And a concatenated coruscation of Catherine wheels, to celebrate plutarch's posting again.
Concatenating in the spirit of your coruscations, wwh, here is a quote which I admire ... which you might enjoy as well.
"May the scintillations of his wit be like the coruscations of summer lightning, lambent but innocuous."
Sorry I can't give the author credit.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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When I was in the Philippines there was a kind of lightning I have never seen here. At night there were always huge cumulous clouds like enormous creampuffs overhead that would light up brilliantly often enough that a flashlight was unnecessary when walking in the dark. It made no noise. I do not know the physics of it, but I suppose in the hot climate convection currents inside clouds built up sufficient charge to produce diffuse discharge.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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I'm not postive I have right name for those clouds. Dictionary says cumulous are flat and black on bottom. Those in Manila were not really flat on bottom, and they were pure white. On the troopship we used to sail under clouds that had rain coming down out of them and their bottoms were flat and black. We'd all get soaked, but fifteen minutes later we would be dry again. Actually we welcomed getting rain soaked, because we did not have fresh water showers. And in the tropics it was smart to bathe in rain with clothes on, the rain came down so hard. If it hit family jewels it was rather painful. And it did the laundry.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Perhaps Bill means sheet lightning. This is lightning that discharges in a higher layer of clouds and is grounded by clouds below. No discharge reaches the ground, but the clouds light up. It's the most common form of lightning where I come from originally. Fork lightning which hits the ground was most uncommon.
I've actually seen the effect occur from an aircraft at night over Indonesia. Spooky!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Send me an address in PM and I'll mail you a pack for Christmas!
Oh, can I have some too? I haven't got a clue what they are.
In return, I'll send you a fisherman's friend!
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
How does Jo pronounce forks?
Like Fawkes. Is there an alternative? (Thank you for your brave attempt Maverick, it sounded faintly Geordie)
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Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
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>I was surprised to learn that Fireworks are a big deal out here on Hallowe'en. Not just sparklers but the whole 'works including community pyrotechnic displays. Is this a West Coast thing or just a British Columbia thing?
Maybe they are "cherry picking", rolling together bonfire night and halloween. Our bonfire night has bonfires from the tiny to the enormous (I think Shona put in some links last year), similarly the fireworks run from a few friends clubbing together to run a small display in the back garden for the tinies to huge pyrotechnic displays.
Last night we had friends round for halloween, one couple were from Philadelphia and another from Melbourne. The Australians took their children guising and found it very interesting as they had never celebrated halloween before, they particularly found it strange to be effectively, asking strangers for sweets. I hadn't realised that fireworks were banned in Australia and they had never celebrated bonfire night either. The Americans were suprised that the children were all dressed on a halloween theme (not as Disney characters, for example), we had some very spooky ghosts, especially the current fashion for a hood which makes you look as if you have no face (it is a one way gauze). Incidentally, I went into the local supermarket yesterday and the staff were dressed in a similar fashion but because they blended in and no-one really looked at them, it felt like this really was the land of Harry Potter, we were all muggles barely noticing them amongst us. The USns were also suprised that the children arrived with jokes (generally on a spooky theme) and songs to treat us before we treated them, we had some great entertainment. They said that in their part of the USA children all sing the same song.
I think that Edinburgh has had a long tradition of guising and seems to avoid the worst aspects of over-commercialisaion. I remember the little boy next door being far more excited about Halloween than Christmas.
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