Still Life With Robin: Snowzilla, The Un-Fake Event!

Snowzilla 2016, photo by Aude via Wikimedia Commons

by Peggy Robin

Every week the Cleveland Park Listserv runs two columns. On Thursdays we run an events column called “Get Out!” and on Saturdays (or sometimes on Sundays, like today) we run this column, Still Life With Robin.

This week, the events column turned out to be mainly about things that did not (or will not) occur because of the snowstorm. Now, if you’ve been reading that column for a while, you also know that there’s always one event listed that never takes place, and that’s the weekly fake event. It’s typically a write-up of a workshop, lecture, performance, or some other sort of gathering that starts out sounding somewhat plausible, but as you read on, turns out to be ridiculous. Just our little amusement in a column that is informative but otherwise dry as toast.

This week, as it turned out, none of the real events after Friday are happening....but the fake event turned out to be totally for real! Here was the fake event:

Thursday, January 21 at 7 PM, “Name That Winter Storm - A Brainstorming Session.” According to the winter storm naming scheme announced by The Weather Channel on October 13, 2015, the predicted monster snowstorm that will hammer us from Friday to Sunday will be known as Winter Storm Jonas. But if this is indeed the Storm of the Century, it needs another, more appropriately fearsome but colloquial name, such as “Snowmageddon” or “Snowpocalypse.” Now is your opportunity to attend a brainstorming session at which participants will offer up their best suggestions, and see which ones garner support. There will be a first round of voting to winnow the field to the top five choices, followed by discussion and debate, and then a final vote to determine the winner. This event is sponsored by a committee of the top local TV meteorologists, who have agreed to use the winning name in all future broadcasts. To register for this event and to register your suggestion for the storm’s name, go to: http://bit.ly/cpfakeevent.

And here’s what really happened. No, there wasn’t a meeting or in-person balloting, but the Capital Weather Gang did indeed call for a popular vote on the name of the snowstorm, after declaring the name “Snowstorm Jonas” inadequate. The readers responded, and the resultant top vote-getter was “Make Winter Great Again.” Then in a dramatic power-play, the cabal of decision-makers at Capital Weather Gang simply threw out the people's choice and declared their own candidate, “Snowzilla” to be the winner. So “Snowzilla” it is. (See http://wapo.st/1S472Rr for the story)

Thought we were making this stuff up, but we weren't!

While the Capital Weather Gang may have held sway on the naming business, the people out in the trenches still rule when it comes to photographic contributions to Capital Weather Gang's Twitter feed, supplying some of the top photos and videos of Snowzilla 2016. The full collection is here: https://twitter.com/capitalweather

Some of the best ones are (go to https://twitter.com/capitalweather and scroll down to the Tweeters and titles indicated):

Leah Boudreaux ‏@msboudy 

Snowmander in Chief  #Snowzilla @capitalweather

LucyH ‏@moonduststorm 

Nearing whiteout at the cathedral  #blizzard2016 @capitalweather

Jill Koder ‏@kiwiijam 

@redbricktown @capitalweather

Skiing Oronoco St in Old Town VA

Michael Chorost ‏@MikeChorost  @capitalweather

Got this cool picture of snow windsculpted between cars in NW DC

Alejandro Alvarez ‏@aletweetsnews 

This is DC right now, in case you were wondering. (taken in Cleveland Park) @capitalweather #Blizzard2016

But my winner for the best snow video of Snowzilla 2016 was this one tweeted by Laurie Trayers (@ltrayers) ‏@capitalweather:  

Deer in streets of Cleveland Park DC this AM. 1 of a kind video by @LaurieTrayers.

More: http://wapo.st/1lFu0jc   

If you’ve got anything that can compare to any of the above, by all means post your video/photo links to the Cleveland Park Listserv!

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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays….and in case of snow emergencies, on Sundays.