I have much to write about from the last few days Dananigans. I have even more work to be doing as I'm now back in the office, staring at equations, bits of paper strewn about the place, notes that were important at the time and are now indecipherable and a seminar to write before heading to Japan in a couple of weeks. So I shouldn't be writing a post at all now but, though refreshed of mind, the last week has left me pretty tired in body. We've managed to pack a lot into the last 8 days and I'm feeling it a little now.

I'm published, photographically on the web...V.Happy, must explain.

Something that I wanted to chat about for a while are clouds (I write this as Beijing is bathed in a low level blanket currently shedding itself a foot thick over Hadian district...Beijing changes FAST). I've probably written about it before but I don't care. I was pretty affected by this and it stays with me. When I stayed in Boulder CO last summer I spent a good deal of my time looking skywards in wonderment at the stunningly impressive skyscape. First of all, somehow the scale of the sky was larger than I'd ever seen. This may have been because we had the rocky mountains in the distance giving some sort of perspective. It may also have been because the temperature didn't fall much below 30 for most of the month so looking up to the sky gave a warming glow. I took many, many photos when I was out there of a huge number of bizarre cloudscapes which absolutely took my breath away.

Many may have read on various news sites of a web award recently going to the C.A.S (Cloud Appreciation Society), something that sounds like it goes to even geekier depths that I usually would but it's superb. I sent in three of my photos which are now online.

I wish I could link the photos so that they can be seen on the blog but even if you don't look at mine, I suggest having a look at those that I've linked to below.

They've got a page of clouds that look like things and this photo made it in there. Note, I did not write the caption!

I've also got a couple of other photos. One of the most impressive sunsets I've ever seen here


and one of an effect called a nimbostratus with a rainbow poking throughhere

My photos pale into insignificance however compared to these:

Boiling skies with mammatus clouds
Fallstreak holes
and perhaps the most astonishing photo of whirlwinds I've ever seen.

Anyway, back to work, but if you like photography of stunning natural images, have a butcher's.