dynamic snow load
Geese appear to be less channelled than humans.
Wednesday 13 January 2010
Snow Crisis Blog 3 - Clapham Common
dynamic snow load Geese appear to be less channelled than humans. 
Snow Crisis Blog 2
This is less of a crisis blog than the last...
This snow's been hanging around for a while now, but I hadn't really got out into it very much - just slip-sliding my way to the shops and into college mostly, but last night's new coating re-covered everything and will probably be the last before it warms up next week. So I thought I'd go for a walk and take some pictures of the neighbourhood with all this pristine virgin snow draped over it.
Except I couldn't really find any pristine snow. It wasn't black slush, it was still blindingly blue-white, but there were tracks everywhere. I'd left the house at a little after 8am and already every street, pavements, side alley, grass verge was trampled. Across open spaces sets of footprints arc'd from corner to corner, dog's paw prints zigzagging over owner's straight lines.
It reminded me of those flow diagrams Space Syntax used at the South Bank, looking at how and where people moved and used the site. As I left my quiet side street the number of tracks of the pavements increased, became indistiguishable from the general trampling of the snow into slush. Getting to Clapham, the roads and pavements were back to a shing wet black and grey, thousands had already been here. If you want to know where people are going and in what volume, maybe snow is the best answer... The packed down, black iced areas have seen the most traffic and the rare empty patches of snow, although offering the best footing, have the least.
I carried on to the Common. At least here there would be some untouched snow to march across... but it eluded me. Half the fun of snow is to find the virgin stuff and march across it, leaving your boot marks in a line, and clearly here, I was too late. Others had had the same idea.
Would all these tracks, visible from above, look like some gigantic barium enema spreading through the entrails of the city? Single tracks denoting capillaries, neurons, villi... and darker groups showing veins, arteries, intestines or blockages?
This snow's been hanging around for a while now, but I hadn't really got out into it very much - just slip-sliding my way to the shops and into college mostly, but last night's new coating re-covered everything and will probably be the last before it warms up next week. So I thought I'd go for a walk and take some pictures of the neighbourhood with all this pristine virgin snow draped over it.
Except I couldn't really find any pristine snow. It wasn't black slush, it was still blindingly blue-white, but there were tracks everywhere. I'd left the house at a little after 8am and already every street, pavements, side alley, grass verge was trampled. Across open spaces sets of footprints arc'd from corner to corner, dog's paw prints zigzagging over owner's straight lines.
It reminded me of those flow diagrams Space Syntax used at the South Bank, looking at how and where people moved and used the site. As I left my quiet side street the number of tracks of the pavements increased, became indistiguishable from the general trampling of the snow into slush. Getting to Clapham, the roads and pavements were back to a shing wet black and grey, thousands had already been here. If you want to know where people are going and in what volume, maybe snow is the best answer... The packed down, black iced areas have seen the most traffic and the rare empty patches of snow, although offering the best footing, have the least.
I carried on to the Common. At least here there would be some untouched snow to march across... but it eluded me. Half the fun of snow is to find the virgin stuff and march across it, leaving your boot marks in a line, and clearly here, I was too late. Others had had the same idea.
Would all these tracks, visible from above, look like some gigantic barium enema spreading through the entrails of the city? Single tracks denoting capillaries, neurons, villi... and darker groups showing veins, arteries, intestines or blockages?
Snow Crisis Blog 1
Apparently its not snowing. Actually we are all in the grip of a malicious new ice age, which will last until at least the weekend!!! (please note the entirely necessary additional exclamation marks, it really is serious). Snow!? In WINTER?? What the hell is going on?!
Not only will this calamitous event create treacherous conditions underfoot, but every single old or infirm person will die because they all feel that imminent death from hyperthermia is by far more attractive than getting a large gas-bill in 3 months time. The ice-stiffened fingers will point a condemning finger at the evil energy companies profiting from our misery. MISERY, I tell you.
Obviously the government has failed as well. I mean, where was all this global warming we were promised? They clearly have failed in their contingency planning for this once in a lifetime cold snap, and not ordered enough grit. And Gordon Brown - what a bastard! - lazy i call it... what's he had to do recently? Copenhagen's well out the way, that banking crisis thing was months ago and the election is not for another 4 months! Why didn't he wake up thinking about road gritting in November. That nice David Cameron would definitely have sorted it out.
Not only will this calamitous event create treacherous conditions underfoot, but every single old or infirm person will die because they all feel that imminent death from hyperthermia is by far more attractive than getting a large gas-bill in 3 months time. The ice-stiffened fingers will point a condemning finger at the evil energy companies profiting from our misery. MISERY, I tell you.
Obviously the government has failed as well. I mean, where was all this global warming we were promised? They clearly have failed in their contingency planning for this once in a lifetime cold snap, and not ordered enough grit. And Gordon Brown - what a bastard! - lazy i call it... what's he had to do recently? Copenhagen's well out the way, that banking crisis thing was months ago and the election is not for another 4 months! Why didn't he wake up thinking about road gritting in November. That nice David Cameron would definitely have sorted it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
