Taking the Temperature  It's so cold in Pennsylvania that…
(All together now): HOW COLD IS IT?
It's so cold, the snowmen have taken to coming inside. Actually, that's a clever Christmas decoration one of our neighbours made. We thought he looked happy with the tangerines, and he's even lit the candle in his little house to make the setting all cosy. With all of this Gemütlichkeit going on, we almost don't envy Willem in the summer heat down there in South Africa.
Almost.
Willem's kind, and doesn't brag too much about how warm he is. Instead, he shares this beautiful critter with us. We're not sure what it is – some sort of fugitive from Fairyland – but we can't wait to find out.
Speaking of magical landscapes, Galaxy Babe's been keeping track of the enchanted world of orbital exploration. She'll tell you all about what Major Tim's been up to, and why it brought the tears. You know, even us non-Brits are proud of him. Go, ESA!
More magic for you: SashaQ is starting a column. With typical h2g2 guile, Sasha hasn't actually told us what the column was about…but the first installment is pretty interesting. It deals with the choice of cool logo. So bookmark 'Join the Q', the latest addition to the Post's regular (sort of) columns.
And, speaking of Pennsylvania…was I? Yes, I was…Your Editor will not be attending tomorrow's festive announcement at Gobbler's Knob. Even though it is only 30 miles to Punxsutawney from this computer, and that's like living within spitting distance of the Delphic Oracle. (Come to think of it, I did used to live within spitting distance of the Delphic Oracle. Didn't bother her, either.) Unfortunately, there are three good reasons for staying put on 2 February: 1. I have pressing work deadlines, and the West Coast doesn't 'get' the ground hog, 2. There will be at least 10,000 extra loony people over there (twice as many as the normal population), and 3. It's colder than a popsicle out there. We'll get the news quickly enough. If the web doesn't carry it, we can always call over and ask.
However, this does mean one thing: y'all had better hope it's not sunny in my backyard on the Second. Because if that furry guy sees his shadow, we're in for more of this. And I, for one, am getting tired of looking at that white stuff. Why, it's so cold that even the snowmen…
Stay warm, everybody! And send Stuff!
PS. (Knew we'd forgotten something.) Now that it's February, we have a new Create theme. It's called 'Tears in Rain', and the Create Team offer it in tribute to the 2016 incept dates of Roy Batty and Pris, the replicants from Blade Runner. (If you didn't know this, don't feel bad: the Create Team had to explain it to one of their members.) When Roy was dying, he lamented that his memories were not part of the shared human record: they would be lost, 'Like tears in rain.' So Create want you to think, hard, about what memories you should be sharing before they, too, become tears in rain…To get you started, Create member and crack Artist FWR has given us a haunting short story called 'Second Sight'. Be sure to read it and get inspired. Remember, this is a short month, so don't procrastinate as much as you usually do. [Can you pass the Voight-Kampff test? Advisory: Your Editor is 25% likely to be a replicant.]
Dmitri Gheorgheni
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