Is it just me or is the weather becoming part of the entertainment world? Yeah, I remember talking about the weather and all that, still a "fabric" of discussion. No, I don't mean that.
I'm talking about things like the Weather Channel. Computer weather maps and forecasting. All those pretty weather maps and the pretty people that point at things and read the teleprompter. All the Live Channel 4 Super Doppler Storm Team Weather Lab stuff. Sounds impressive. Weather is cool. Weather is hip. Weather is scary. We can't control it. It's like Godzilla!!! Run for your basements.
But then it becomes ingrained in our psyche's as a fear. So for instance today, my son was going to stay after school to do some homework, but they sent all the kids home early because of the POSSIBILITY of severe thunderstorms. Same thing happens in winter. Oh my God, we're supposed to get hammered tonight. On the bus today, I heard someone talking about the wind getting up to 100 miles per hour. Funny how the velocity creeps up during the day. I'm all for accurate predicting of weather and that, but it feels like it's gotten way out of hand. Instead of helping, it sends people into a panic. Just what we need: more fear. As if all those color coded "alerts" aren't enough......
Of course, if my windows blow out tonight, I'll be eating these words........
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On the other hand, I can't count the number of times when school ought to have been cancelled due to the high probability of severe weather (mostly snow) and the local school district, in its infinite wisdom, refused to do so. Safety taking a back seat to anticipated complaints.
Weather as entertainment... I almost never watch television, but once every now and then I'll watch the news (to see how the Packers did, or something) and catch the weather in the process. What really strikes me is, first they tell you what they're going to tell you. [commercial break] Then, they come back and tell you what they told you they were going to tell you, [commercial break] following which they tell you about what they already told you, all of which is not much, but they sure get a lot of advertising in there. [commercial break]. Now, on to sports! In a moment, we'll look at whether or not Sadam Hussein would have been a better draft pick than Tony Mandarich, right after this. [commercial break]
If you really want to hear informative weather broadcasting, listen to WORT FM. I can't remember what day of the week it is, the Monday morning show or the Thursday morning show (9:00 - 12:00), that they have this weather dude come on and he tells you more about the weather than you ever wanted to hear, and the guy is almost always right! He makes forecasts that explain what's happening to cause what kind of weather pattern and what that will mean a week from now, depending on what direction the butterfly is facing when it sneezes. All this, and no advertising! Although you may be forced to listen to some good music.
This morning, one of my students said, "The weatherman LIED!" I had to explain that, no, he didn't lie, he was just wrong and the weather may be predictable, but not THAT predictable and so on and so forth.
Considering that the weather all around us was pretty nasty, I guess that canceling events was a good call. But I agree, the almost hysteria that accompanies it is a little much.
“The storm was really giving it everything it had. This was its big chance. It had spent years hanging around the provinces, putting in some useful work as a squall, building up experience, making contacts, occasionally leaping out on unsuspecting shepherds or blasting quite small oak trees. Now an opening in the weather had given it an opportunity to strut its hour, and it was building up its role in the hope of being spotted by one of the big climates.
It was a good storm. There was quite effective projection and passion there, and critics agreed that if it would only learn to control its thunder it would be, in years to come, a storm to watch.”
from Terry Pratchett’s “Wyrd Sisters”
yeah, the guy on WORT seems to actually know stuff as opposed to being a "pretty boy" (or girl)....I only watch the Cubs on TV,but I have noticed the same long, boring progression you have. And it makes me wonder: would Saddam Hussein have been a better draft pick than Tony Mandarich.
Like the quote, Ed. But I was wondering, would it eventually become a Perfect Storm? (in years to come)
In its dreams. Only in its dreams.
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