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.

Green Destiny

“I took the name Green Destiny from—well there is such a sword called Green Destiny. It is green because you keep twisting it, it’s an ancient skill, you keep twisting it and knocking it and twisting it until it is very elastic and light.”

—Ang Lee.

green palaces

“In such green palaces the first kings reign’d,
Slept in their shades, and angels entertain’d;
With such old counsellors they did advise,
And by frequenting sacred groves grew wise.”

—Edmund Waller.

the green grass above me

“Be the green grass above me, with showers and dewdrops wet;
and if thou wilt, remember, and if thou wilt, forget.”

—Christina Rossetti.