• you become a fan of Physics on facebook;
• you read The Trouble with Physics in the lunchroom while co-workers read the latest Wal-Mart flyer;
• you spend most of the day singing the chorus from Large Hadron Rap (LHCb sees where the antimatter’s gone…);
• you spend an inordinate amount of time playing Super Mario Galaxy thinking that those are nothing like actual galaxies—they’re more like planetary systems, at best;
• and during the final, climactic scene in WALL-E, when everybody is gathered in the main room of the ship, all you can do think, “That’s not how gravity works!”

All of which I’ve done.

And I’m not talking about that pesky butterfly that keeps making hurricanes. There’s an actual Weather Modification Office in Beijing, tasked with ending droughts, firefighting, and now making sure that the weather is nice for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

This came up in a special I just saw on CBC called, cleverly enough, “Beijing 2008″, about how China is preparing for the games. I love the Olympics, right down to the theme song (as has been well documented—it actual gives me goosebumps), so it was a good show for me.

Now, really all the Weather Modification Office can do is make it rain sooner rather than later, so if it looks like it’s going to rain on the opening ceremonies, they can seed the clouds and hopefully make it rain the day before instead. Something along those lines. It’s hard to say whether it actually works or not (it definitely won’t stop a big storm) but the Chinese government seems to be banking on it. They’ve guaranteed clear skies for the event.

If you’ve been reading anything about the games, you might have also heard that they’re cutting down on polluting cars. At first all I heard was that they’re just reducing numbers, but they’ve also got special cameras that, much like speed cameras can detect how fast you’re going so the police can pull you over, can detect how much pollution a car is giving out. And just like speeding, they pull you over and can even ban the car from the road. All in the hopes that marathon runners (among others) will have clear(er) air to breathe this summer.

So yes, China controls the weather.

What good is it having two showers if you can only use one at a time?

Recently somebody implied that I was being a big couch potato because I wrote a few posts about television. Well for the record, yes, a little bit, but only when I’m home.

My last two weeks have been spent mostly either at work or the local rowing club. It’s interesting going to different clubs (this is my third) and comparing them. The one in Vancouver was a well established affair, a social club with a relatively big and fancy club house with employees and everything to boot. Then of course at McGill it was a university club where the focus was on training, coaches putting you through your paces at every turn and not giving any slack.

It’s hard to tell what exactly exists at my current club. The program I’m in is pretty much dominated by kids from the local high school teams. Though I’m told there are senior rowers around, there is certainly nothing regular or organized. I certainly miss the intensity of the university crew. We have had a couple days where we did erging or running and I was thoroughly worn out by the end, but the days we can get on the water—the area is notorious for thick endless fog—are decidedly less intense.

The thing I miss most is having a set crew. You knew as your alarm went off at 5 am that there would be seven other guys down at the water counting on you to be there, not to mention the cox and coach. If one guy didn’t show up, everybody suffered. Train together, win together.

From my favourite radio show, CBC Radio One’s Go: If Teenage Jesus had a Vlog.

Also check out episodes two and three. “Is that Jesus? He’s off the hook!”