Saturday, October 21, 2006
Halloween dilemma: What's a Weather Geek to Wear?
Today's forecast is no treat
Andrew Freedman @ 11:25 PM
I'm under considerable pressure this year to come up with a good Halloween costume. As an improv comedian in Chicago I'm expected to be funny, smart and conceptual in my costume choice, which means no ready made store bought costumes. Last year I went as the "Bird Flu" which went over well. I had a friend who went as Leo Trotsky (I initially confused him with Lenin), and another who went as Mary Todd Lincoln immediately following the assassination of her husband, complete with a blood-stained reproduction of the actual playbill on that evening. Picking a Halloween costume has never been fun for me. As a kid I found a scary mask in the basement and went as "scary mask guy" for three years in a row because it was low maintenance. It may be because of the difficulty I have in making decisions and sticking to them, or a fear of looking like an idiot, but I don't want to be bothered with devising and making a costume.
Jason Samenow's Forecast
Today: Increasing clouds this morning with spotty light rain in the afternoon. The rain will not be particularly heavy, persistent or widespread. Highs should be around 60.Tonight: Turning cooler in the wake of the cold front. Lows should be 40-45 (city to suburbs).
Tomorrow: Becoming mostly sunny, but brisk. Highs in the upper 50s.
Check back tomorrow for Jason's week-ahead forecast.
I'm debating several weather-related ideas this year in addition to dressing as a bag of tainted spinach to continue last year's theme of going as the year's biggest health scare.
I could use some input from the CapitalWeather.com community. I'm entrusting you with a very serious responsibility, and will reward you all with a picture in two weeks of me in the costume I choose with your help along with a quote from a friend upon seeing me in the costume. I promise it will be tasteful. Well, the picture will be anyway.
Here are some of my ideas:
- A melting Greenland ice sheet: I'll dress in white but with a blue upper half (a blue shirt?), with large blue tears taped to myself indicating an active melting process. I'll have a spray bottle to ensure a sweaty brow. Throughout the evening I'll make comments such as "Did the Arctic just warm by five degrees on average, or is it just me?" and "I'm shvitzing out here." Also I may say "Man, if this doesn't affect the thermohaline circulation, I don't know what will" and "Oh man, talk about a changing albedo! Am I right or am I right?"
- NASA Climatologist James Hansen: I'll dress like a stereotypical scientist/bureaucrat, with a retro shirt, paisley tie, and a shirt that says "Muzzle me. I dare you. I am NASA!" I'll warn any cute women I talk to that we only have about ten years to make significant progress in stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions below dangerous levels, and to begin solving the problem I'll need to go home with them to conduct an emissions inventory.
- A cold front (literally): I'd put snowflakes all over my chest and stomach and an icepack under my shirt, with a sun on my back. The drawback with this one is I'd have to explain it all night, with an emphasis on the pun. The question is if the pun will be enough to compensate for the conventional concept.
- An F5 Tornado: I'd make my hair all disheveled and windblown, wear torn clothing caked with dirt. I'd tape five letter "Fs" across my chest and frequently call out "Where's Renfro?" which will be the name of my missing baby.
- Jason Samenow, chief meteorologist of CapitalWeather.com: I'd dress like a weather geek (See James Hansen costume), carry around golf clubs and unveil new forecasting terms such as "Clowncast: A forecast for birthday party clowns" and "Normcast: A forecast for people named Norm." This idea is problematic because no one in Chicago knows who Jason is.
Comments are closed for this archived entry | Link | 
Email this post
Email this post
