Friday, May 15, 2009

An Observation

On the way to pick up Noi in Geylang this evening I drove through dense rain on the AYE / ECP only for this to suddenly cease a little way up Tanjong Katong Road, moving away from the coast. The lower part of Tanjong Katong Road was so damp you could easily imagine it flooding - something I experienced more than once when I taught in the area, but all was clear further up and Noi and I enjoyed a little walk to Zain's Café (great teh tarik) without being accosted by a drop of rain.

This isn't the first time I've driven out of the rain leaving the coast behind. Indeed, I almost took it for granted that the rain would dramatically ease off this evening as I moved north. I assume there's some sort of meteorological explanation for the phenomenon, I just don't know what it is.

Mind you, every time I read or hear about glaciers melting, a fairly frequent occurrence these days, I imagine the East Coast of the island under water. Folks here always seem remarkably sanguine about rising sea-levels, and I suppose that's not a bad way to be considering the possibilities ahead. I don't think it will be pretty. Thank goodness we live on the second floor.

2 comments:

Trebuchet said...

Heh, I was visualising the orchestra and it struck me that with all the shiny bits, they'd look a lot like a court. I also keep thinking of Alexander's Feast (both music and poem).

I suppose stuff like that is culturally equivalent to the next X-Men movie or something. It's fun, sometimes there is a deeper message (e.g. X-Men 2) and sometimes not at all (e.g. X-Men 3). But it's fun.!

Brian Connor said...

Nice point about the band. They're there after all, and visually compelling. I suppose that's why Wagner sent them down below at Bayreuth. Incidentally according to Bryan Magee, sort of philospher and Wagner-freak, Strauss preferred the open pit of the Italian opera despite regularly conducting at Bayreuth. He seemed to want them on show.