Snippets: August 2003 Archives

Mars is at its closest to the Earth ever (within the last 56 000 years or so, at least) today, so look up at that sky and take a picture for me! Why? Because it's cloudy; a summer of no rain, no clouds, and then a planetary event comes along - BOOM! Clouds! Grrrr.

For those who care - it's passing through Aquarius; to Northern hemispherons, it will appear toward the south, being higher in the sky the further south you are. You should be able to see surface details with a low power telescope, or high end binocs. In the vain hope that our skies clear, I may dig out my telescope and have a peek this weekend; the planet should still be pretty hefty for the next few weeks.

What's to envy about the loss of power across what may as well have been an entire seabord? That people who've never really seen a starry sky should suddenly realise that there's a lot to be said about looking up? That there are a thousand and two things that you can do, and enjoy, no less, without the intervention of electronics? That the perennial tele-addict should come blinkingly out of a his unnatural stupour to see that there is so much more to his own neighbourhood than the rooms and Café that those Friends never leave?

All that I've read about the power outages in Canada and the US, via the blogiverse, has been, bar the tragic loss of many a tasty food item, largely positive; people, seemingly surprised, coming to notice that communities can really pull together and have fun, that there's something to be said (other than "nuts") about those who choose to live without the 'luxuries' of the modern world. No, it's not convenient, but it's refreshing.

I've only experienced two power outs in the UK in ten years; they lasted less than an hour. Where's the fun in that?

Today was a tremendously busy day at work. So I went swimming. Though it was done under duress, I really enjoyed myself, much to the expectation of the evil work-day-interruptor from the other end of the laboratory. Alien scum, grr!
The outdoor pool, properly called a lido, was massive; at 100 yards, it is the longest in the country, a record which once belonged, funnily enough, to the old pool of my former school, Harrow (founded 1572, under charter from Queen Elizabeth I). It is also unheated and colder than Margaret Thatcher's... stare, which made for much refreshment on a day that has been the warmest in recorded history for Britain. Very happy indeed am I.

In other news, we have ourselves a cloned horse, or at least, the Italians do. Quest'italiani sono pazzi, ma che buona scienza! It is remarkable how quickly such advances are made, though success rates remain low, and I remain hopeful that such knowledge will be put to proper use as it is intended, in medicine, and not for personal gratification. I'm sure it will happen, here and there, even with laws in place; few laws go unbroken.