the most brilliant emerald
“In the morning . . . while standing on an ice hummock about seventeen feet high, and looking toward the east, I had observed the upper limb of the sun, as it filled a triangular cleft on the ridge of the headland, of the most brilliant emerald colour, a phenomenon which I had not witnessed before in these regions.”
—Captain Back; J. Murray, Captain Back’s narrative of the voyage of the H.M.S. Terror, 1838.
a brilliant emerald tint
“The capriciousness of the flash led some scientists to suggest it was a purely physiological phenomenon rather than a physical one. . . . It is true that if you close your eyes after looking at a bright red light the afterimage will be greenish. Those who held to this explanation clearly had never personally beheld the green flash. The afterimage from retinal fatigue is a dull complementary image that only slowly fades after some tens of seconds. The green flash is a brilliant emerald tint that lasts for only a split second before it too follows the set sun below the horizon.”
—Aden & Marjorie Meinel, Sunsets, twilights, and evening skies, 1983.
a curiously interesting theory
“In 1887 a curiously interesting theory evolved from the many sightings of the green flash from shipboard: that it was caused by sunlight passing through the crests of waves on the horizon. The green color was said to be due to the passage of light through the green sea water. However, the observation of the green flash over land as well as sea means that this theory is not sufficient or even plausible.”
—Aden & Marjorie Meinel, Sunsets, twilights, and evening skies, 1983.
The green flash
“The green flash appears at times so vivid, even to the naked eye, that it is surprising that the earliest references to it are of comparatively recent date. One would have expected that such diligent observers as the early astronomers of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Egypt would have noted the phenomenon.”
—D.J.K. O’Connell, The Green Flash, 1958.
live in full color
TOKYO — Coca-Cola Japan Co has redesigned its cans and bottles as part of its “The Coke Side of Life” marketing campaign. The beverage maker said Monday that the new look can will hit the Japanese market on Jan 29 before its introduction to the world market in March. “We live in a world where we make choices every day and ‘The Coke Side of Life’ encourages people to make those choices positive ones,” said Marc Mathieu, senior vice president for carbonated soft drink core brands, marketing, srategy and innovation. “This new campaign invites people to create their own positive reality, to be spontaneous, listen to their hearts and live in full color.”
—Japan Today, 2/25/07, http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/396879. Photo is of a Coke campaign in Antwerpen, Belgium. Oh, to live in full color!
Green flashes
“Green flashes are real (not illusory) phenomena seen at sunrise and sunset, when some part of the Sun suddenly changes color (at sunset, from red or orange to green or blue). The word “flash” refers to the sudden appearance and brief duration of this green color, which usually lasts only a second or two at moderate latitudes. . . .
There is a distinct, but related, phenomenon that really deserves the term “flash.” In this much rarer display, a green flash of the ordinary kind is followed (at sunset) by a brief ray or glow of green, which often appears to shoot up from the sunset point. It often accompanies, or follows, a “green dot.” These very rare displays are grouped under the term “green ray,” although the ray form is only one of several.”
—from An Introduction to Green Flashes, at http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/. Photo by Pekka Parviainen.
the prime color of the world
“Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.”
—Pedro Calderon de la Barca.
the putting green
“The game of golf would lose a great deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green.”
–Ernest Hemingway.
Britney
“If Britney would paint her ass green, I’m sure you could spot green asses all over LA as soon as the word was out.”
—Billie Joe Armstrong.
A green flash
“A green flash is a tropical phenomenon.”
—David Janssen.