January 6th, 2010
#932 – Flipped
It really blew my mind when I learned about the seasons being different in the southern hemisphere. I didn’t really understand it correctly right off the bat. I imagined that the people in the southern hemisphere somehow existed in time 6 months in the past. The truth was a little less exciting.
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January 6th, 2010 at 12:06 am
@Chris:
That’s sort of how I felt when I learned that most of the world drives on the left side of the street. “They’re all going the wrong way!”
January 6th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Its good down here in Aus, and it’s funny hearing about some of the things people think about Aus.
Sadly, we don’t get snow much here. Only a little bit in a few places. Summer is always a “fun” time… being 35-40 degrees celcius… thats apparently 95-104 fahrenheit? Winter is about 25-30 celcius… though it can get down to 15 in the day and alot colder at night. What a wonderful climate we have >.>
January 6th, 2010 at 2:50 am
You also have to wrap your mind around the fact that people living on and near the equator have no seasons at all.
January 6th, 2010 at 4:13 am
Oh buy, I’d forgotten, but I used to think the same thing about the reverse seasons, childhood misconceptions, oh boy!
January 6th, 2010 at 4:24 am
I wondered why, living in Iowa, my store was selling non-toxic fake snow, and one lady clued me in: She told me she sent some to relatives who lived in warm climates who’d rarely or never seen snow for themselves.
January 6th, 2010 at 8:16 am
An Aussie woman here and ohh yeah – we were literally dripping with sweat today. But it’s still probably been one of the mildest summers I’ve had.
I’ve only ever seen snow once, years ago, for about 12 hours when an uncle took me to a snowfield 1500km away. Before then, I had no idea what snow was like because it was just such an alien concept (our winters here usually sit around 10 – 20 degrees Celsius and rarely even hit single digits). As kids, we used to scrape the fluffy ice off the inside of the freezer, back before they were frost-free. We would squish the fast-melting freezer ice into a tiny hard slushy ball about the size of a marble and try to hit someone with it before it completely liquefied… you had about half a minute, if you were lucky.
January 6th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Oh lovely snowball, packed with care
Smack a head that’s unaware
Then with freezing Ice to spare
Melt and soak through underwear
Fly straight and true
Hit hard and square
This, oh snowball, is my prayer.
Free internets for the first to name that quote. If you need to google it you fail.
January 6th, 2010 at 8:48 am
”Biff realized that Austria and Australia are different countries.”
January 6th, 2010 at 8:48 am
@Stephen; Don’t need any free internets, but that’s Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes, planning on smacking Susie Derkins a good one with a high-powered slush-ball.
- 4C here this AM, with light snow flurries. Average high day time temps have been -1C for the last two weeks, and 50+ cm of snow in the last three weeks.
Yeah, we gots some winter. But no as much as my sister in Alaska has!
January 6th, 2010 at 9:35 am
I live in vancouver, we’ve been having an absurdly mild winter this year, christmas day was 10C and sunny. This is unsettling with the olympics coming up, the local venue mountain has been stockpiling snow from their machines, just in case.
January 6th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Here on the Mid Atlantic states of the US of A, we’ve been freezing our toucas off. Had my pipes freeze for the first time in 6 years – when I moved here. Single digits to low teens Fahrenheit here at night. Sorry, no converter handy for Celsius. Usually here we get a week of that around the first week of February before the temp very slowly starts to rise. This is too soon for that level of cold. Got me worried about what the next month will be like. Where did Biff find that cheap vacation package?
January 6th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Oooh yes. Calvin and Hobbes reference above.
Once again I’ll reiterate: My fondness for Biff is largely because the feel of the humor is the sort of reverence I have always held for Calvin and Hobbes, even though the two comics are very unalike except in total, delightful irreverence. *L* ^^
January 6th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
PS I didn’t need the internetz either for the reference. I have practically all the books ever put out about Calvin and Hobbes.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
I live in great old PA, thats right amish country very cold here. Especaily when your in the woods looking for deer where there are none at 6 AM in -10 degrees F thats -23 degrees celsius for the rest of the world sitting with six inches of snow covering you with only a thermos and a rifle and about 5 inches of clothing and 3 pairs of gloves and socks on to stay warm and 2 hats and a hood. Its cold and quiet. But hey thats what I do for fun every december
must be odd to be on the other side of the world to go hunting in june or july or august. very odd.
January 6th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
That’s six months in the FUTURE
January 6th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
@ Stephen You WIN! Calvin and Hobbes I knew it as I read your comment ” I only throw consecrated snowballs.”
Poor Biff, I wouldn’t know that either.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
that’s how I felt when I learned about the whole iceland/greenland being reversed thing.
January 8th, 2010 at 12:45 am
speearr, this is also true of southern California.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:52 am
But, the truth is that they live a day in the future! How is that not exciting?
January 10th, 2010 at 12:56 am
Chuck – Kalifornians have other problems, though.
regarding cold..it’s all relative. I spend a lot of time outside these days, and catch a lot of flack from my co-workers. Not because I bundle up, but because I don’t. It was something like -10F the morning, and I’m walking around with my coat unzipped, no hat, no gloves… and I’m comfortable.
The stopped beating on me, though, when they found out the A/C in my truck was turned up full-blast, too.
Now.. they just stay away from me.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Im sure he means “austrian”, like beeing in “Austria”. Because that would make sense, even if you can ski here in summer too, but only on the few remaining Glaciers. Also, I dont think there are Mountains as high as in the picture in Australia, while here in Austria, there are.
January 11th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I meant Australia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thredbo,_New_South_Wales
January 11th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
It was confusing when I was a kid to see Christmas imagery of snow and cold on TV when outside in Australia it was sweltering hot…
January 11th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
@Chris Thanks for knowing the difference between Austria and Australia, it means a lot to your Australian readers!
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:06 am
I always laugh when here in Australia we get marketed snomen and snoglobes and other white things when snow in austrlia is rare, and nonexistent in summer-christmas
March 7th, 2010 at 6:33 am
@Duber2au Yeah, Christmas wrap is always covered in snow and other American icons…its very strange
Iv only seen snow once, and where I work, the temperatures are often 42 – 46 degrees Celsius! (day before yesterday was 48) …oh how I wish for a cool day of 28!