Did you know there's a tv station that's just a movie of a fireplace?

Yeeeeah....yeah.

Boooooooring! The weather here in northern Maine is much more interesting!

50 and rainy, here in NC

Here in Houston, it's gonna be a two kitty night.
Lots o' cuddles.

My parents always used to brag about their southern California weather, as if 70 and clear was preferable to the bracing weather I now have in the East. They never understood why I was never, ever envious. Maybe you won't either.

How's the air quality, wiseguy?

Raining this evening, 40 degrees, and likely snowing a bit tomorrow here in Pennsylvania, although it has been exceptionally nice much of December, almost fall-like. Often sunny with incredible blue/pink skies at dusk.

Merry Christmas to all.

Peace.

My wife and I went for a walk this afternoon in Whittier Narrows Park, in Los Angeles County. Very nice.

Colin

I guess you're not dreaming of a white Christmas? Or sleigh bells?

Here in CT it's 67 degrees and dry. To turn the thermostat up to 75 would be wasteful.

I'm perfectly content wearing clothes and the cats can put their tails over their noses if they really think the heat is on too low.

Bill Hicks had some worthwhile lines about the guy who calls "home" on Christmas to brag about being in his pool in South Cal. I think too highly of you for that cardboard image to fit, but its funny still. (Arizona Bay)

It was cruddy here in northern Virginia...the reason no one dreams of a wet Christmas.

Here in Duck, er Beaver land, lovely wet sunshine - will add a touch of white for the next two days - Local U, which was the standin for Faber College, where Knowledge is Good, started out the fall playing like Eiders - ended as little teals, when the Mighty Beavers ran amok.

GoreTex rules.

I live in Los Angeles and hate the current weather. Where is the rain? Where are the clouds? Where is the cool wind?

Ugh.

Must every month of the year be sunny and warm?

Yeah, with Santa Anita opening tomorrow on Boxing Day for it's winter meet, won't the punters just hate betting on races run on a fast track and firm turf. Why can't it be more like the FairGrounds - all mud, all day.

Funny thing about horse racing - Owners are either Sheikhs or Publicans - Bettors, or as they say in England, punters, are more of the Democratic types. Give me the Damon Runyon types any day - More honest lads and lassies.

we're having wonderful Christmas weather here in Southern California. Mid-70s, I'd say.

I guess some find the truth convenient.

Rainy and windy in Central Florida;

F2 tornado in Daytona Beach, at Embry-Riddle University.

Unconfirmed reports of Katherine Harris riding a broomstick in the funnel cloud, laughing "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!"

Today in Kansas City was bright and sunny, and a cool crisp breeze was blowing. As my husband says every day since retiring from the Air Force - no matter the weather - It's another beautiful day to be in Kansas City.

Wow, Global Citizen. I was way off. I thought you lived in Alaska. And I don't know how I got that impression!! I kid you not.

How's the air quality, wiseguy?

Actually, today you could see Catalina Island, which most days is just a concept, not an actual visible thing.

But for all that, I miss the weather last week, when it was in the - gasp! - 30s and 40s at night. Now that's some winter. This sun crap I can get all year round - I want me some winter.

Nope, CWA, I'm on the left side of Missouri.

When my husband went to the Balkans I did run away from our families and the Air Force and I took the kids and went to Oregon for 18 months.

Maybe you caught one of my posts where I was talking about taking the kids and the dogs into areas of wilderness only accessible by going down abandoned logging roads to run free from time to time?

Mid-70's in Southern California? If global warming were happening it would be much warmer than that down there.

It's funny how once in a while you kind of imagine what people are like, or where they live, based on these postings. The wing-nuts on this board really drive ya bonkers, how they try to refute even the minor points. I imagine them with big bags of chips and a six pack of warm pepsi cutting and pasting all night, or making it all up as they go along. I'd really be arguing with AL, American Hawk and ex-liberal if I let myself.

I'd really be arguing with AL, American Hawk and ex-liberal if I let myself.

That would be silly. You might as well argue with a dog. Or a horse. Or a horse's ass.

CWA: For what it's worth, you put me in the mind of Elissa Eli. I'm certain you are familiar with her?

My rule of engagement is: Set the record straight when misattributed. Other than that, don't bother.

I just love to comment on politics. I am fairly obsessed.

craigie >"...Or a horse's ass."

Plenty of that around these parts

"Before the Internet, the idiot tended to stay in his own village." - unknown

I believe if I tried to deny an obsession with political commentary that I would get slapped down with a flood of permalinks, so I will confess to being guilty of that same compulsion.

56 degrees, wet and wild in Atlanta. Yow!

Mid-70's in Southern California? If global warming were happening it would be much warmer than that down there.
Posted by: Al on December 25, 2006 at 11:10 PM |

Actually the internets seem to be saying that today set a new high record in Orange County:

The last record (75 degrees) was set only in 2000, and today it reached 76. If this isn't proof of Global Warming I don't know what is.

A-13 - It's been a bad month for music. We lost Jay McShann about three weeks ago, and you all lost James Brown today.

Whenever I hear the Godfather - I Feel Good.

Globe!

I was just listening to I Feel Good, which prompted my, Yow!

Yes, a sad loss. But the music lives on. So I'm celebrating JB's life by spinning some tunes this evening.

Did you see my post up-thread (I think it was this one) about JB playing KC diring the GE anniversary week celebration in 2002?

My boss took that show and left me to tend to the Dave Alvin crowd at the bar. That was a hell of a night for music in KC!

Speaking for myself, if 75 were the maximum temperature in July/August, I'd be content, not happy, but content. If it were 75 on Christmas Day where I live, I'd kill myself. I've always found it odd that Californians--moreso than Flordians, Arizonans, even Texans--assume people are jealous of wearing short sleeve shirts, or whatever it is they think they're bragging about.

Weather is great in Hilton Head, SC. Glad we left Central Florida before noon. Went through storm as it passed St. Augustine.

Green Christmas here in Buffalo......it's been raining half the day.

Must have a helluva concert, Globe.

JB knew how to put on a show, didn't he? May the Godfather of Soul rest in peace.

Must have been a helluva concert.

um, that speed typing thingie got me.

The temp is dropping into the 40s on this rainy night in Georgia...

still digging out of 4 feet of snow here in evergreen Colorado. A wonderful white xmas! Merry Christmas to all (even the wingnuts).

We like our cold winters. Put hair on your chest, and apparently in my case, on your back. I wonder if Santa has a hairy back, too.

A-13, I didn't get to see the Godfather, but he performed at the City Market, just up the rise from the Missouri River bank, and it was July, and a storm came in later, but everyone who was there said the light show in the sky, with the electricity on stage was phe-fucking-nomenol. I wish I had seen that. But on the other hand, I hung out with Dave Alvin and his band until 5:00 am after we locked the bar. And you know, if you spend as many years touring with that totally fuckin' rockin' band The Blasters, you have some stories to tell, and I was happy to listen as long as he was willing to talk.

I moved away from Kevin's assumed paradise because, among other reasons, of the smog. It was literally killing me.

If you don't live within a very short distance of the seashore, you're screwed in SoCal. Even if you do it's pretty awful. I did not fully appreciate how awful until I moved away.

When I go back to SoCal now, I have to limit my visits to no more than about a day and a half, two days max. If I'm there over 48 hours, I get sick via a respiratory illness - every single time.

And this has been true for 14 years now.

I don't miss Southern California - not even a little bit.

Happy Christmas, all.

GC,
Sounds like a night to remember indeed. I'm not familiar with the music of Dave Alvin and The Blasters so I'll check 'em out. See what's available on iTunes.

The forecast for this weekend in Atlanta: thunderstorms, temps in the 60s.

Nope, not jealous at all. That is too warm for Christmas weather.

80, sunny and clear in Honolulu.Ocean is 77

80 degrees Farenheit (or, as the rest of the world refers to it - 27 degrees Centigrade) here in Sydney, Australia. Golly gosh weather IS fascinating & sooooooooo topical too what with global warming etc., but I'm actually equally fascinated by the enduring American fidelity to Farenheit & the other assorted relics of Imperial measurement. The US pioneered decimal currency, after all, but has, despite a zealous modernity in most other matters, clung to the pound, acre, mile, & gallon when the rest of the Empire, which was of course British, abandoned the Imperial, joining the world, decades ago. Is US metric resistance really just un-named Franco-phobia? Or is it one of those bizarre untouchable US policies like the Cuba embargo, death penalty, gun control etc., that nobody in power wants to touch? These aren't rhetorical questions - I'm genuinely keen to understand the thinking behind the resistance to metric measurement.

It's been cool to cold for the last week or so in San Diego--high 60s near the coast, low 70s inland where I live, and into the 40s and 30s at night. We had frost on the roofs several mornings. But it was 77 when we sat down to Christmas dinner.

After growing up between San Diego and Tijuana, I spent two years in Madison, Wisconsin, and five years in Boston. This is better. We do have four seasons; they're just not as painful.

Yeah, with Santa Anita opening tomorrow on Boxing Day for it's winter meet, won't the punters just hate betting on races run on a fast track and firm turf. Why can't it be more like the FairGrounds - all mud, all day. - 3rdP

Um, yeah, it's been nasty down here. Cold wet and rainy. Remind me what the DRF is using these days to replace the old reliable 'M' for 'mudder'?

I'm rooting for Brother Derek today after the crappy deal he got in the BC. Butt you kknew tha already.

Was too interference! Craven 3 Blind Mice!

Quick. I may need an exorcism!

My keyboard may have been possessed by that Brujo (Spanish for witch) guy.

Yes, the day of the Malibu - And 7F should fit for Brother Derek.

Let there be sun in So Cal - Ah, the pleasures of a fast track. Don't get shut out - The lines are long.

I think he's best at 8-9f and should never have been sent out to contest 12 - but the track should be fast...

"There are one hundred and ninety-nine ways to get beat, but only one way to win: get there first."~Willie Shoemaker

To DanJoaquinOz in Sydney, Australia...

Regarding metric units, I think there have been a couple of factors working in tandem over the last half century to keep us in foot-pound land.

First is the sheer size of the country and economy, and the fact that until comparatively recently - roughly the last 15 years or so with the onset of global trade treaties, many businesses could get away with growing nationally rather than internationally.

Second is the knee-jerk aversion to changes mandated by the Federal Government. This has been reinforced by a quarter-century push by the Right, funded by big business, to denigrate any action by the government as inherently inefficient, counterproductive, and wasteful, despite any factual evidence to the contrary. This is also why we don't have any national health insurance except for seniors.

Third is timing. Since 1980, the Republicans have dominated the political discourse. Even in Clinton's presidency, even in the period 1992-94 when the Democrats had a slight majority in Congress, conservatives could easily shoot down most initiatives because there was a significant faction of conservatives among Congressional Democrats. The window of opportunity for the US to go metric was the early 1970's when Great Briton converted. But we had Vietnam, Watergate, Nixon's fall, and the series of oil shocks - bigger fish to fry. In the 1970's, people couldn't see any urgency in changing measuring standards.

There is also the component of culture war embedded in this issue - capitulation to the world community in the eyes of the Right, with UN black helicopters coming to confiscate our guns right behind, blah, blah, blah. There's about a quarter of Americans who eat this stuff up, and they tend to be vocal and vote.

And just to stay on topic a little, it's 61 degrees F (16 Celsius) in Orlando, cloudy but clearing after a wild nasty storm front yesterday.

For what it's worth, I like the fact that Fahrenheit degrees are "finer" than Celsius degress (by a factor of 5/9), although physical sensation of one Fahrenheit degree differences is very very slight.

50 degrees and blowing like Dickens in Florida. Tornados down south of us. So much for silent night.

But let me tell you, that come about 5 or 6:30 sitting at home Christmas Eve, a strange peace flowed over me. I sat and listened to it and for a time, before the NRA inductees drove down our road shooting a gun, there really felt like peace on earth.

30 and dry here, thankgodfully. I am thrilled to be having an unwhite Christmas. I feel a pang for the kiddies, but they'll get over it.

Here in Toronto, it's a gloom ridden rain filled sullen overcast damp day. The type of day conservatives like because the rest of the people are miserable especially the poor who can't afford to keep warm and that will teach the lazy slobs for not working harder. It's a holiday here in Canada....Boxing Day.....another excuse to pick a man's pocket as the conservative's hero puts it.......but cheer up my fellow liberals....the smell of change is in the wind with a new year ahead. Impeachment looms....criminal investigations loom. Graft and corruption investigations loom. The rotten house is going to tumble.

On the other hand, we drive on the right side of the road in the U.S. As to the english vs metric discussion, I suspect that much of the resistance has to do with (or, nowadays, perhaps we should say had to do with) the huge installed capacity in industry, and the huge number of devices -- cars, washing machines, plumbing, electrical circuitry -- that already exist. When you are the world's top automobile producer and there are fifty or a hundred million cars owned by the population, it is an enormous chore to try to switch over. Remember that you aren't just building a car, you are supplying the replacement parts for millions of cars that will require repairs over multi-year lifetimes, and feeding them into a distribution network that is countrywide. Apparently the Brits still haven't gotten around to switching the side of the road they drive on (the Swedes did). Perhaps American manufacturers will begin to produce more and more in metric to the extent that they wish to compete in the European markets.

One issue seems to me to be fairly moot: The difficulties with the english system involve dividing units of length and volume in a non-decimal way; other than that, it is just as arbitrary to assign fractions of a centimeter as it is to assign decimal fractions of an inch, as the ammunition industry has done for a couple of centuries. The only quibble involves the fact that nuts and bolts made in inches are not compatible with metric stock, not a small quibble indeed when you are trying to sell on the world market.

Meanwhile, we do science and engineering in metric (actually, it's the system called SI, which is explained in any introductory chemistry textbook and includes metric distance and volume along with lots of other units), and in that regard, the world is unified. Pharmaceuticals are produced and marketed in milligram units, wine and water are now marketed in liters much of the time, and the recent adoption of widespread computer technology has introduced a unified system based on binary, involving bytes, Mb, etc.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can explain to us how the computer industry assigns specs for computer cards, plugs, etc. Does the rest of the world follow the IEEE specs, and are they now given in metric? Would it make any difference to manufacturers, as long as they know the dimensions accurately?

As to the U.S. consumer, it's mainly in buying food, gasoline, lumber and a few other products that the english system remains strong, but these are products that could be sold according to either measure; it's simply a matter of how the scale or measuring tape is marked, and how comfortable the buyer is with the system. Americans are becoming more comfortable with buying bottles of 325 milligram aspirin tablets and 0.75 liters of water.

Come on, Kevin. We know how you really feel:

The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway;
There's never been such a day
in Beverly Hills, L.A.

But it's December the twenty-fourth,
And I am longing to be up north.

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas....

Americans are becoming more comfortable with buying bottles of 325 milligram aspirin tablets and 0.75 liters of water.
Posted by: Bob G

But I still loathe the damned measuring cups which place the metric version toward right handed users. Can't hold them by the handle and figure out where the 3/4 C mark is. Pain in the butt.

Meanwhile in other climate related news:

Inhabited Island Disappears Beneath Rising Seas
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122606P.shtml
Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited
island off the face of the Earth. Refugees from the vanished Lohachara island and
the disappearing Ghoramara island have fled to Sagar, but this island has already
lost 7,500 acres of land to the sea. In all, a dozen islands, home to 70,000 people,
are in danger of being submerged by the rising seas.

People like Kevin who brag about SoCal weather without realizing how insipid they sound are one of dozens of reasons why I will never live in that place.

"A-13 - It's been a bad month for music. We lost Jay McShann about three weeks ago, and you all lost James Brown today. "

I saw the Godfather of Soul six months ago, because I was upset that I'd never seen Ray Charles or Johnny Cash before they popped their clogs.

He wasn't on form to be honest - he was upstaged by the warmup band. But I'm glad I saw him before he gave the soul.

>>>> My parents always used to brag about their southern California weather, as if 70 and clear was preferable to the bracing weather I now have in the East. They never understood why I was never, ever envious. Maybe you won't either.

I'm with ya. I've lived in Southern California for the last 20+ years, but I've never understood Southern Californians who brag about the weather as if they were somehow personally responsible for it, or as if there weren't something to recommend weather with a bit more variability to it. I always think they sound like assholes.

Then again, Kevin Drum often sounds like a smug asshole to me. I enjoy reading him much of the time, but I can't figure out why he doesn't have the sense to keep his self-aggrandizing preening to himself.

I saw JB at Battery Park in NYC three years ago. He put on a great show, with amazing energy for someone who was 70. I was also blessed to see Sinatra twice, Brother Ray twice, Anita O'Day twice, and Elvis Presley and Lou Rawls once each.

And now they're all gone. Sigh.

What?!! Elvis Presley is dead?! When did that happen?

In the defense of Southern California "winters," I have to add that the warmth of the past few days has been due to the Santa Ana winds, and isn't the norm for this time of year (unless these Devil Winds are blowing). Mentioning the heat from this past weekend but leaving out the Santa Anas seems not so honest, when the temps at night over the last 2 weeks has been very cold for SoCal standards.

My itchy eyes, constant sniffling, and sinus headache can attest to the insufferable Santa Anas. I will take SoCal's version of "cold" any day over this attack on my sinuses.

When it comes to temperature (unlike lengths and weights) there's not much to be gained from switching to the metric system. We don't do arithmetic on temperature (or shouldn't).

Besides, Fahrenheit is better at representing weather: as you go from 0 to 100 you span the range from very cold to very hot in human experience. Whereas in Celsius, the 0 to 100 range corresponds not to human experience but to a scientific concept (from the freezing to the boiling point of water). Fahrenheit was invented for the human environment, Celsius for science.

Lindy: Kevin isn't smug at all. I think he sent the post to keep in touch, to check in--since he said he was taking off for a while. Gees, I cannot imagine posting on someone's blog and insulting them so freely, or deriding their comments on something so insignicant as the weather. You say it's "self-aggrandizing preening?" You sound so bitter. Maybe you were kidding?

No, CWA, I'm not bitter. I'm not sure why you would say that, although of course it's a very popular online debate tactic to suggest that whoever you're talking to is "bitter." In any case, the opinion I expressed above is based on more than just this particular post. I read Kevin Drum fairly often, because he's very clear thinking and I generally enjoy his take on things. But he's got an "Ain't I Grand?" streak that's about a mile wide, and it comes out at times -- and usually in connection with something you wouldn't think would warrant personal smugness. Like the weather in Southern California.

Anyhow, it seems our opinions are different. That's what makes horse races.

Lindy, I wonder if we are reading the same blog. I also read PA for the reasons you mention ("clear thinking") and I have detected no "smugness" or "self-aggrandizing". In fact, very much the opposite.

What makes the blogosphere interesting is the fact that the writers present themselves as human beings, and reveal many aspects of their lives. In my experience, Kevin consistently does this in a modest, self-deprecating way -- except when he has his tongue in his cheek. To see arrogance in a comment about the weather takes the cake, my friend.

JS, Having lived the 1st half of my life using Farenheit & the 2nd half using Centigrade, I can assure you that after the 1st year or so - Centigrade was as accurately descriptive of my human enviroment & thermal experience as Farenheit. There IS a period of adjustment - you translate (27C=80F etc...) until you just KNOW what 27C feels like. It feels nearly hot. 30 feels hot. 35 feels quite hot. 40 feels very hot. 45 feels too hot.

Greg in Florida - thanks mate. Your reply was a comprehensive overview of the US metric resistance. I appreciate your (& JS's) affection for the 5/9 finer tuning of F vs C, in terms of human thermal experience, but I think you both possibly overrate the human ability to distinguish between a few degrees Farenheit. One degree Centigrade is distinctly discernible & humanly meaningful. We are as humans 90-something-per-cent water, so, it seems to me, a 0 to 100 thermal scale based on the freezing to boiling rate of water is inherently relevant to human thermal experience. Plus, I CAN actually tell the difference between 25 & 26 degrees C in a way I personally never could between 75 & 76 degrees Farenheit. Anyway, thanks again for your considered response.

>>> To see arrogance in a comment about the weather takes the cake, my friend.

Did I not say my opinion was based on more than this comment of Kevin's? Also, I said smug, not arrogant. There's a difference.

Anyhow, I simply responded to his post. Now I have you arguing that my personal response is "wrong." Well! Slow day on the ol' blogging front?!

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