DEAR SMIRK, I MISS THE DAYS WHEN YOU WOULDN'T DO BASIC FACT-CHECKING. BUT YOU SEEM TO HAVE DONE IT AGAIN! THE GODDAMNED SOLSTICE IS TOMORROW. NOT TODAY. GET YOUR SHIT ON LOCK-DOWN AND QUIT LYING TO PEOPLE ABOUT BASIC FACTS OF COSMOLOGY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/decemb…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec…

GRAHAM: this year's solstice is at 5.30 am GMT on Dec 22, which is 9:30 pm PST on Dec 21. Unless you are secretly British, you owe Smirk an apology.

Agreed. Solstice in PST happens at 9:30 tonight. (Also ... pssst ... Graham ... WHEN YOU TYPE WITH YOUR GODAMNED CAPS LOCK KEY ON it makes you sound like an asshole).

@DMITRIR: BUT NOT ON THE EAST COAST. FUCKING CLOCKS, HOW DO THEY WORK? WHATEVER. I'LL NEVER-EVER APOLOGIZE TO SMIRK.

@ALLENINK: MY KEYBOARD IS BROKEN AND I CANNOT DO OTHERWISE.

The weird thing is that, although the sun starts setting later after the solstice, it also starts rising later for a while:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astr…

Does anyone know why that is?

God.

FUCK THE EAST COAST, THIS IS PORTLAND! Besides, you provided a link to The Guardian. Face it, Graham, you have outed yourself as secretly British.

Solstices, how do they work?

Graham is actually Matt Davis!

This moving around of the sunrise and sunset times was a popular topic last year in my office and was put right by the artist known as "billbot" (and source of my name).

His short email on the subject from about a year ago:
"Yeah, it is because of the 'Equation of Time' which is a combination of the sun declination (how far above/below the equator it is) and where we are in our elliptical orbit around the sun.

The Naval Observatory website explains all this in some detail at
http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical…"

RE: The Equation of Time.

I refuse to believe that something that sounds like an episode of Doctor Who explains why the sun rises later for a few days after the solstice.

Does this mean we get an extra hour of drinking time?

Down with collective despair!

Graham likes spotted dick.

I tried the egg thing. Didn't work.