August 15, 2003 Archives

I've volunteered to host Emmy judging tomorrow. So far, the response has been really poor, and it's a shame for the weather people in St. Louis that we won't have a bigger crowd to see their tapes.

Helaine asked if I would go and weed our two front beds, so we might make a good impression. Yikes! That stuff grows like... oh yeah, I guess it's supposed to.

It's funny. If you plant tomatoes or flowers or anything you really want, you have to take extra special care to make sure they grow healthfully. But a weed! It doesn't give a damn. It will grow anywhere.

I've seen weeds growing in the cracks in a sidewalk, through concrete, and my favorite, in the rock face that makes up the 'canyon walls' on the Cross Bronx Expressway.

Weeds are the pigeon of the flora world.

While I was down on my hands and knees weeding, I did notice one unusual thing. This is a major year for worms. I couldn't believe how many of them I found. They were all very fat and anxious to get away from me.

I'm sure they noticed I was wearing gloves and realized that meant any worm inhibitions I might normally have were out the window.

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Last Friday, after a dreadful week full of clouds and rain (in fact rain on the first 9 days of August), I thought it was time to resurrect Andy Savas, playing the part of "The Crying Man."

In tonight's episode, Andy is a high official with the Cape Cod Tourism Association.

Andy cut this tape years ago. It's probably been 2 or more years since I last used it. Having this video squirreled away in my desk is like money in the bank.

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The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program takes pictures of the earth from space and usually I don't get to see them. Over the past few evenings - clear evenings - as they flew over the Northeastern United States they were taking visible light images (it maybe their norm... they don't share with me), literally looking at the nighttime sign of civilization most noticable from space - electric light.

At the TV station, we mostly use infrared satellite images because they show weather patterns even when it's dark. And we use geosynchronus satellites, whose orbital position seems to remain motionless in relationship to the Earth.

The DMSP photos here are from a low Earth polar orbit satellite sensing visible light, a totally different animal.

With clear skies Wednesday and Thursday, the setup was right for an incredible comparison of before and after during the Northeast Blackout.

Very impressive.