Why does the old adage go "It's always darkest before dawn?"

That's patently false. Anyone who's stayed up all night--doing healthy non-hedonistic activities of course!--can plainly see that the sky lightens pretty gradually and evenly as the Earth turns us towards the sun.

It's actually darkest at Midnight. That is to say, twelve hours after real Noon, or about twelve hours after the sun has reached its highest peak in the sky. (n.b. Daylight Savings plus the arrangement of time zones make it so these don't precisely sync with 12am or 12pm.)

At true Midnight, the sun is on the direct opposite side of the planet, meaning that's when the least amount of light will reach us in this hemisphere.

And to be really pedantic, it's officiallly darkest at Midnight during the new moon phase of the lunar cycle.

So next time you're despondent and try to find solace in telling yourself it's always darkest before dawn, just remember that science says you're only halfway through your problems.

Smile!


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Dismiss-a-Band

I think I overheard a stranger sum up the general feeling I have toward all the metal bands I've been hearing lately--at live shows, that is, which is how I prefer to listen to music. Recordings are so twentieth century. Anyway, this unknown-to-me nailed it. Here 'tis:

"Bah, this band is all 'ch-chunk chunk!' Where's the 'Meedly meedly meedly meeeee!!!' "?!

Nice. It also reminds me that I need to go check in on what Strongbad is up to these days.

Liquor and Liqueur

I've always found it odd that the pronunciations of the words "liquor" and "liqueur" seem to be reversed. Liquor, pronounced "lick-er", is spelled like it should be pronounced "lick-or". Likewise, liqueur, which is pronounced "lick-or", looks like it should be pronounced "lick-er".

I was once a bartender and this is the kind of stuff I would think about on slow days.