Tuesday, December 23, 2008

57 - Using foam as a substitute for snow

I feel quite sad stepping into a party or an amusement park where it's snowing foam. I mean, it's soap with water fired out of a cannon. I could do that. Give me some soap and water and a hairdryer. I'll show you. It's like how I can pull the plug out of the sink to make a cyclone. It's like creating a waterfall by tipping over a glass of water standing on a table. It's like throwing a rock at a bigger rock to observe the effects of a meteor hitting Earth. It's soap. Soap.


According to this webpage on the Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong has not seen snow in the past twenty years, and since 1967, has seen snow on only four occasions. That sad truth could cause any non-traveler in this city to become insanely jealous of those that have traveled to places with snow.

I, myself, have been to Korea, Canada and the States (including Alaska [but it was just to catch another flight at the airport]). Fluffy, flimsy foam doesn't even come close to the clean, crystalline beauties that snowflakes are. Look at the pictures above and below. The foam is traveling upwards and sideways. Real snow would fall from the sky. Look at the guy in the picture below, with foam all over his face and head. The foam has adhered to his head. Real snow would melt. And are the people in the picture below indoors? Foam can't be served as real snow.


Sigh, it truly is sad that I probably won't see snow for another year since I went to Canada/USA eight years ago. But I found a digitally altered image depicting a snowy Hong Kong that made me smile a little (Click to enlarge. On the right is the Hong Kong harbour without snow for you to compare):



Oh, if only it were real...

Using foam as a substitute does nothing but remind us people living near the equator that we. don't. get. snow. ...It shoves in our faces the fact that we can't have snowball fights, make snowmen, go skiing, go sledding, go snowboarding, make snow angels or uh... make igloos... or um... pee? Pee on the snow? ...I heard that's popular for some reason.

*cough*

Foam-for-snow requires soap, and the power of wind to make it function and even that doesn't produce proper precipitation (prominent and priceless alliteration!). Foam gets in people's eyes and it stings. It gets in people's hair and clothes. The foam accumulated on the floor makes people's shoes and socks all wet and soapy. And the joy of having foam sprayed everywhere is a short-lived phenomenon, as Nature, surprisingly, is not bringing down craploads of it from the clouds.

As a concluding statement, and as I think it's rather playful: 'Foam' is 'phony' and 'sham' put together.

10 comments:

Vulgar Red Pullover said...

haha very good. Foam is nothing like snow, and I can remember people in Singapore saying things as "Look son, real snow!", at the sight of foam snow..

And the foam snow came out of huge clusters, something that snow DOES NOT do.

J.J. in L.A. said...

Have you seen news reports about our (U.S.) midwest and northeast regions? They'd probably be thrilled to be where you are right now. lol!

Michael said...

Stuart: What a cruel parent. Manipulation of a child's mind to believe that something that falls from the sky can be found in their own bathroom.

J.J.: I did this morning. Quite crazy in Toronto too where my family live. They'll be stuck in their own houses for days.

Unknown said...

I live in Chicago with lots and lots of snow. I agree that fake snow sucks and the real thing is better. However, while I like snow, I'm not a fan of digging my car out or shoveling.

A good snowball fight is one of the great joys of childhood, though.

Michael said...

Marcy: I had snowball fights with my family in Toronto. I also helped shovel the car out... It was very joyful.

EURA. said...

3 words [with 4 extra words stuck on the end]:

Come to Minnesota.

We can go sledding :)

i have the sickness said...

i've never actually seen foam used for snow since i'm from minnesota, where we get a million feet of snow every winter. I have seen it used to make a sexy foam party in clubs though. its unpleasent.

Madame DeFarge said...

Real snow turns to sludge, which is a pain or turns to ice, which is a bigger pain. So, maybe fake snow is the way ahead. However, it doesn't stop you going to school, which is one of the chief advantages of real snow. I always adored real snow when I was at school for that very reason, but when I learnt to drive, it became the enemy.

Toivoa ja Elämän said...

oh foam snow sounds really bad lol, but i have never gotten to see snow either, there are a couple places in australia where it snows but unfortunately i have never been during the winter =/

Michael said...

thumbsUpsmile: That would be cool. Imagine years later, when we're 20-something and I finally have the money to travel around. I can bring you to China to see those lovely places!

Short Stick: Then you know what I mean. There's nothing worse than foam being continually fired into a confined space with a crowd.

Madame DeFarge: Snow does have many effects on people, doesn't it? I hope the snows of change alter to your favor these next few days (i.e., it doesn't snow when you're driving around, it snows heavily when the holidays are over)

Larissa: I see. Australia has the best beaches in the world which all other countries are missing out on. Snow's wet and dirty, don't feel too left out. :)