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Direct Hit by Ivan Could Sink New Orleans

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/vulnerable_new_orleans

NEW ORLEANS - The worst-case scenario for New Orleans — a direct strike by a full-strength Hurricane Ivan — could submerge much of this historic city treetop-deep in a stew of sewage, industrial chemicals and fire ants, and the inundation could last for weeks, experts say.

Read more... )



Severe flooding in area bayous also forces out wildlife, including poisonous snakes and stinging fire ants, which sometimes gather in floating balls carried by the current.

Read more... )

I want to see a floating ball of snakes and ants. I don't wish destruction on anyone, but that critter-sphere sounds nifty... strange seeing it mentioned as such a casual happenstance.

scottobear: (Default)

Looks like Ivan is doing a left hand arc around my location.

Good! I hope it leaves as many people alone as possible.



Been *very* flattered lately... I surely appreciate it.



Big Kahuna took call all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday. Happy-happy! I'm disappointed EN hasn't called back or shown much concern about his lost sheet.



Watched Shaun of the Dead, and it was very well done. One of the most entertaining flicks I've seen in a long time. I'm a sucker for slice of life / dark humor / zombie movies. I love how oblivious the guys were. Not as gory as I'd thought it would be, except for a few select places.

They had the worst improvised weapons known to any zombie movie. In it's I've never seen a cricket bat used so well to fend off the undead... and the "We're coming to get you, Barbara!" bit was sharp.

Speaking of which, should a breakout of zombieism take place in South Florida, there are a *lot* of places to hole up securely behind aluminum / wooden shutters, and so much construction stuff to fend off bites. (Not to mention more guns scattered about than the ATF)

Photos from yesterday's brief walkabout to pick up medicine and groceries: Proof of Fort Lauderdale's Zombie Security )



Fearful Symmetry was quite good.... An interesting Super Girl / Power girl connection / STAR Labs not as philanthropic as you might think, and an excellent presentation of the creepy side of the Question. Probably my favorite episode of the new version of the JL yet, if only for Conspiracy Theory and mostly B-characters. I like Green Arrow as Supergirl's mentor, too.

Professor Hamilton's role was surprising, too.

Hooray for folks hosting TV shows online! I swear, it bears having to spin past 1 minute of commercials for every 3 of showtime.



I don't like the term "Patriot Day" for 9/11. Maybe some sort of National Remembrance Day, like Pearl Harbor Day. Not sure how I'd divide it over all the regions affected... but I don't see what patriotism has to do with the tragedy. I feel that's rather what Memorial Day is for.



Archives -

1 year ago - Photo Friday - faith, I have a cell phone, soundless music, skunk ape

2 years ago - nice dreams, wargaming terrain tips, $25 benefit for being a non-litterbug, Tony gave me Ants, Brains, Cities and Software,

3 years ago - Helping, act more - gripe less, Rant about people who say "we deserved it", Long chat with Hala, Worried about DelMarVa, chickenpoo dream

4 years ago - looking for things to do, Newtcam reactivated



Current Mood - I could go for a basket of conch fritters / Got Flouride?

Current Music - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

6944 -

Sep. 12th, 2004 05:47 am
scottobear: (Default)
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman - The dead rose from their graves in the East End cemetery during the dark, wee hours of Sunday morning, Sept. 12. Read more... )
scottobear: (Default)

Pretty cool... a lot of anonymous activity in last Sunday's entry... folks debating about heading down to Orlando this for the honeymoon. I agree, it might be a good idea to postpone. It's rare that I see anonymous non-spam activity. Hope the entry is helpful!



I got 17 out of 18 on the arcade sound quiz. (I missed the one about Zelda/FF/Bad Dudes - I was never a good nintendroid.)






Why is something so destructive, so lovely?



Danny likes "reality tv".

Amish in the City and the Survivor series, in particular.

I remain a skeptic and suspect behind the scenes scripting.



Big Kahuna has been very generous to me lately. I think that having a work ethic while other people act like little punks might have something to do with it. I got a new chair, she offered to take some call this weekend, and some other nice fringes. Hopefully that'll mean a raise sometime soon, too.

Heartbreaking case last night... old man with Alzheimer's. He's a habitual wander off, and apparently his caregivers can't give him the attention he needs. He's constantly taking off on his family. The last time he took off, he had a moment of clarity and tried to commit "suicide by cop".


Now none of my LJ mail is making it to me automatically. Forgive me if I don't reply immediately.



I've had lovely chats with Sammy, Whims, Phillykat, Jen and K lately... it seems I only rarely get pinged from AIM, ICQ, or MSN anymore, with last night being a pleasant exception.

Speaking of the first two... I'm glad to hear Sammy's back in CoH, and There's having trouble opening up on my system. I think it's something to do with the new update. Reinstalled, and it works fine now. Had a grand time running around and getting reacquainted with folks.



Duran Duran got back together... Why couldn't it have been The Talking Heads ? (A whole album is streamable from there.)



Building a cultural bridge through monkey-chanting Read more... )

via [livejournal.com profile] fuzzybumblebeeSite Meter



The Missing Children's Day Ceremony scheduled for Monday Sept. 13th 2004 has been postponed due to the effects of Hurricanes Frances and Charley and the anticipated impact of Hurricane Ivan on the State.



Archive

1 year ago - written missives with bro, newbie likes the doobie, digital clouds, Hurricane Fabian, Stratego, Yoni Yantri, BK snoops, gave frankie the mooch some pasta and a pan.

2 years ago - Great dreams, care-were-bears, Big Bird (IMT) is a thief, Private moon landing. (never took place, sadly.), newtie play,

3 years ago - 9/11 observations.

4 years ago - Tattoo trend, questions memes.. hmm, #4 came true!, Possibility of a Seed donation

scottobear: (1 - time goes by)

Well, I saw the bag lady this morning seeking shelter from the rain under the BK awning. Either she, or a well-made duplicate created to confuse and console me.



EN is going to start as tech next Wednesday, and the Sunday after that. I foresee a week or tow of babysitting from home, just in case, and then I'll have every other weekend off.

Had a good time talking to him about Earthdawn, Magic cards and Etc.



Dear diary, you make me sick - Article

Keeping a diary is bad for your health, say UK psychologists. They found that regular diarists were more likely than non-diarists to suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and social awkwardness.

Read more... )

Maybe people who keep journals are just bigger melodramatic whiney-babies... or more likely to remember little nit-noids that other people blow off? I suspect that a group of 135 people doesn't create an effective control group, especially where there were more than twice as many diarists than non-diarists. (94:41 respectively) I wonder how linkified this news article will be throughout the blogosphere?



Hurricane Ivan, as an Ogre.
Hurricane Ivan, Portrayed as an Ogre.

Hm. He doesn't seem that fierce. Would it help if I told you he destroyed 90% of the buildings in Grenada, and was heading right for us? It's not every Ogre that can weave his armpit hair into a loincloth, either.

He was looking extra-scary yesterday, set on a course right up the middle of the state, but now it seems he's heading back to the gulf.





More nifty shots of WoW - Willow watching the moonrise, and in Bear-form. Dig the big-goofy elfy-ears on the bear! May as well laugh a bit, right before it tears out your Islets of Langerhans. A rustic little footbridge leads to the Vineyards, and a really pretty temple of the moon. Thankies to Whims for all the spiffy shots!



George Bush singing Sunday, Bloody Sunday.... Sampling. ah, it amuses me.

See also, GWB - "Because He Says So"



The Google Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy Cliches



Revised my favicon to be more pawlike. (What's a Favicon?)Site Meter



Dance, Raja, Dance!, I may snag that and host it at my site. (see also the Rastafari Babylon System Jam Machine) I'm a sucker for digital audio loops, it seems.



Police: Puppy Shot Man Trying To Kill Dogs (PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A man who was trying to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs made the .38-caliber revolver discharge, deputies said.)

...and they're so cute!



There's a lot of damage around Kennedy Space Center which might delay the space shuttle's return to space. Florida Today runs a some KSC storm shots. (via)



Someday, when I die, I want all of my useful organs to be donated to medicine, and I'd like the rest of my cadaverous husk turned to ash or mulch.



A German hotlinked to an old palm doodle I drew of Horse shoe/Elf shoe.



Archive -

1 year ago - RPC issue, Badger badger, baboon nose suitcase, RIAA sues a 12 year old, RI's birthday, new opus strip.

2 years ago - Newt Play, vote day, traded some magic cards for heroclix/mage knight, lem-doodles, wobbly

3 years ago - got a lovely poem, found old family letters, cadmean victory, stayed home, assorted news, Anne Heche's wacky interview, 'mat event, observations

4 years ago - embarrassing fight club reference, everway, Chat 'toon review

scottobear: (1 - time goes by)

I live in the future, but I'm not a clone, or a hologram, or anything exciting like that.



Smelly Robot Eats Flies to Generate Its Own Power

Read more... )Site Meter

Step 2 in the carnivorous robot doom plan. It's only a matter of time before we start handing over old people and welfare mothers to ghoul-gizmos to fuel their giant mechanized masters.



Living in Broward - Note to self, check it out, and see what walkabouts look interesting.


No A/C at work yesterday until about 11:30 am. I was a walking river again, only I dried up. Preferred to take a shower for lunch. In the afternoon, it was sufficiently cool again.



Got the first two city of Hero comics in the mail... they're pretty cute. I wonder why they didn't get sent before?


Another Voodoo moment: Maroons

The word Maroon comes from the Spanish cimarron, a term that referred to escaped slaves who hid in the wilderness. These Maroons were common on every Caribbean island, as well as in Venezuela, Brazil and the Guyanas. Many Maroon communities were able to live independently for centuries in Haiti and Jamaica; there were semi-independent Maroon communities in Jamaica as late as the 1930s.Sometimes they formed alliances with Indian tribes; often, however, the two fought each other as well as their European enemies.

Despite the best efforts of colonial authorities, many Maroon communities thrived, often with the secret assistance of slaves within the plantation system, who organized support networks and passed on food, farming supplies and even weapons to their free comrades. In some places, the colonial governments were forced to make peace treaties with these powerful tribes.

The Maroon communities were often led by a priest-chieftain. Many African traditions and rituals were kept alive in these settlements. The Maroons, many of them former members of African secret societies, reinstituted their practices, and created some new ones, in order to avoid being infiltrated by colonial spies. A system of passwords, secret handshakes and even written passports was established among Maroon communities in the Caribbean. Escaped slaves who wished to join were subjected to complex, mystical initiation rites, designed to root out informers. In many cases, fear and superstition broke the will of spies, who confessed and were executed or cast out.

During the Haitian revolution, the Maroon settlements fought alongside the rebellious slaves, and they may have provided much of the leadership and fighting strength that won the war. The Maroons may have also originated many of the Voodoo rituals that survive to this day. Free from supervision by European slave masters, the Maroons were able to continue their mystic practices without interference. It is also believed that the Maroons formed the core of the secret societies that remain an influential force in Haiti to this day.

See also - Queen Mother Nanny



Looking again at Disco Hitler... I wonder if a guy like that could ever come to power more easily, not that mass media is so prevalent, or would it be harder, because it's so easy to change the channel?



A very detailed Ivan Tracking page



Funny thing... at least one of Danny's students, (maybe more) reads this journal. It's odd to hear about someone recounting details of my blog third-hand.



Dang, I'm on call all weekend, again. Good news, the new tech looks like he'll be a strong possibility for the week after. I'll stay in the first week, just in case, but it should work out ok after that. MA has been taking a lot of call off lately, and ADP can't work weekend, which leaves me in the lurch. Mildly peeved at hr, for not being home until about 7pm when she was due at 5.



I haven't been getting all of my lj replies back via email... I thought they ironed that bug out? I wonder what messages will be shaken loose once it's repaired again?

ah, answer - "At approximately midnight PDT (07:00 GMT), the site will be unavailable while we upgrade an important machine. Our apologies for the short notice.

Due to the network problems of last night e-mails from our servers weren't being sent out. Right now we're sending out the messages that were in the backlog along with the regular e-mails, so it might take a while to receive your notifications."



Haven't seen the bag lady since the hurricane. I wonder how she is, and if she migrated? I imagine the HIP folks were busy last week.



Archives -

1 year ago - Run, Trism-Gollum, Run, robot zoo, dirty-sounding words, palm-day at work, lifetime membership in there, time marks the beginning of the end for prop2

2 years ago - oatmeal, remembrance rant, touch screen voting, flash CAD thingie.

3 years ago - hardscrabble, Daily Life in Chaucer's England, (and other daily life books), good things

4 years ago - saw a black tip shark, conch fritters, everway

scottobear: (Default)


Power was off at work until about 2pm... when the server woke back up, it emailed me, asking for permission to stay awake, so I told it to go ahead. Big Kahuna, Rogers and I went in and unpacked all of the other hardware. I got the office up and running in about an hour and a half... one of the benefits of being in a hurricane environment is knowing how to pack and unpack in a blink. The building was *hot*.. sealed up for three days without A/C makes the third floor like an attic, but the place got cranking with cool about the time I left. Too late for me, I was a walking river by that time. (Two floors of machines, telephone and other hardware had to be put back together. I'm leaving it to the office-folks to put pictures and such back. No water damage, but the wind really played havoc with the branches everywhere we went.

Today will be a more straight-forward day.



Disco-Hitler. It's him. He's the supervillain I've been wondering about. (more musical villains here) It's been around for ages, but every time I rediscover it, it kills me.



Ivan looks like he's keeping a Southerly course, sneaking up the West Coast of Florida. Still too early to fret, but at least the weekend isn't wrecked.



The World of Warcraft demo is looking neato! Here's a peek at Whimsy's Night Elf... note the plunging neckline, and freakishly large hands. good size for wallpaper... I like the little flowers on the Guardian Tree's feet and organic feel of the whole place. I'm envious, because she's a druid and can shapeshift into a bear! However, I think I'd have more fun playing the giant tree.


Clickie to biggie.




A 3D chocolate printer in the works. That's a really cool idea... a *lot* of potential there. Made out of lego. superb thought.



Episode 11 of Making Fiends is here!



America's Army is pretty cool. It's a fun bit of military recruitment, disguised as a FPS. Graphics are nice.. I wonder how many folks have been convinced to join up as a result? I'm doing the medic training... it's interesting and educational.



KILLDOZER II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO



once again, Clickie to biggie.


The closest thing to a mech I've ever seen. Look at the size of the thing!!! That's not forced perspective... it's just fricking enormous. (spun into from here)

bigger picture, other angle )

Those little things at the base? A big ol' earthmover, and 2 ant-sized people. Maybe it's my little-kid fascination with giant machines, or perhaps it's the giant bucket wheel "buzz-saw"... but Wowie. What sort of noise?

I thought those platforms that moved the space shuttle were big.

I bet the same mad scientist that's flinging hurricanes at me uses these as party-fun time doomsday device.

The Large Bucket Wheel Excavator

  • Stands over 310 feet tall (higher than the Statue of Liberty)

  • Is over 700 feet long (2 ½ football fields)

  • Weighs over 100 million pounds

  • Cost $100 million, took 5 years to design & manufacture and 5 years to assemble on site

  • Requires 5 people to operate (including CAT D6R bulldozer operator)

  • The Bucket Wheel is over 70 feet in diameter with 20 buckets each of which can hold over 20 cubic yards of material. A 6-foot man can stand up inside one of the buckets.

  • The “Belt Caddy” is separately operated and has a retractable boom which connects it to the Bucket Wheel Excavator

  • It moves on 12 crawlers (each is 12’ wide, 8’ high and 45’ long) - 8 in front and 4 in back

  • It can remove over 100,000 cubic yards of overburden each day
Lego version with demonstrators.



Archive

1 year ago - Meredith moves out, Frankie mooch's wank machine, saw Ray-I, Dubai-mail, some cool links

2 years ago - Got dave into mage knight, Saw Mark Archilla, 12 dragons smells of cat pee, I got some perfect pre-dyed sheets.

3 years ago - If I were, nice night, purple monkey dishwasher

4 years ago - rant and UB-X

scottobear: (sleestak idol (Enlightenment))

Broward PSA

All Broward County Public Schools will remain CLOSED Tuesday, September 7, 2004 as restoration efforts from Hurricane Frances continue. Students, teachers and other school-based instructional staff should NOT report to the schools. Principals and Assistant Principals should report to their respective schools.

District offices and facilities WILL reopen tomorrow. All full-time District employees, including administrative and supervisory, clerical, maintenance and facility service employees should report to their normal work locations. All food service employees should report to their respective work locations as well.

The decision was made to keep the schools and offices closed for another day because of the power outages that persist at several dozen District schools, along with potential hazards to children presented by downed power lines, busy intersections where traffic signals are not operating due to power outages and storm debris that may prompt children to walk in the street to school and bus stops. There is also a concern with the ongoing restoration efforts involving the use of chainsaws and heavy vehicles to cut up and haul away downed trees and branches, as well as the major operation by Florida Power & Light Company to restore electricity to the area.

An additional issue involves scattered sewage and water disruptions throughout the county as the result of power outages. Pumping stations and sewage treatment facilities have been impacted, causing some sewage backups, sporadic water service and boil water orders.

Students, parents and District employees should monitor the District’s Web site at browardschools.com, call the District’s Rumor Control Hotline at 754-321-0321 or monitor local media for updated information regarding the status of the schools.

More Information on District's Status

/PSA



scottodoodle - Regular Scotto-Entry -

Ah, how nice to sleep in my own bed. It's been a long few days. Thank goodness I didn't go to a shelter... I would have gone totally insane. I'm very thankful. The funny thing about hurricane Frances was how many "experts" came out of the woodwork.. like they all have a direct line to Thor/Zeus/Mamma Nature. I wonder how the homeless folks did, under bridges or other semi-public cover? Bro did ok, as did the Mother.

Ivan 5-day Tracking - Ack. D&J may have a houseguest again. I'm not officially worried yet.

Yum... fresh oranges. Nice breakfast, and for some reason, I rarely get 'em. Tasty, and good to eat in the middle of the night as a snacky-snack.

Off to work after a quick phone call...Let's see how things go. Power was off at the company building earlier, so I may go to an off-site location (probably Big Kahuna's house) to continue. I *think* RI is off this week.

I love the fourth piccie of Newt. He's got a little Santa beard! (he caught a light-monster in his jaws.)



Freeware replacements for commonly warez'ed programs

I use openoffice and it's excellent. I'm going to make a point of sniffing around phpEDIT and SharpDevelop

If you're not in the mood for useful utilities, there's these nifty games. (many are decent clones of $$ games) I've dug FreeCiv for a while now... good to fall back on when between other games. There's a palm version in the works too! (hasn't been updated since June '04. ouch!)

As always, check for spyware!

America's Army looks really nifty... I'm pulling that down tonight.



A few storm-related doodles


Caught in the middle of Frances.


My noggin was throbbing for about two of the days... I suspect it was the pressure change, and my general cabin fever-ness.
My barely legible script reads "hurricane hurts my brain"


Newt happy to be back at HQ!
I don't know where my arms are.



Hangaroo Hangman with a mouthy kangaroo - (thanks enigma!)



10 handy CSS tricks



Archives -

1 year ago - Harvest moon, auto-cashiers, acim two-level split, lynching, cluster move, gender genie, newt-bounce,

2 years ago - Sleestaks and Oatmeal, Sculpey and Fimo, Bewitched, cave photo, bad prefixes, dog snoods

3 years ago - lj drama regarding cheaters,lovely long chat where blackie burped, the scents of rose, lavender, gardenia, violette, and muguet (burts bees), Skeletor, Back in 1997, there was an exorcism performed on Mother Teresa, saints.

4 years ago - Suzy goes to jail, actors, cravings, dwbh

Later Journal-gator!

scottobear: (Default)

Back at home base - Power was still out when I arrived, so Dan and I went to publix to get some dry goods and water for me to wait it out here. We had some serendipitous encounters with another shopper... Dan (the big goof) kept prodding me to get her number.

Obligatory tiny quicktime movie of gale-force winds.(~700k) Warning, loudy-loud wind-whoosh.

Power is been back on now, though spotty. Cell phones are still kind of weird in this area, too.

I'm now shaved, showered and re-goatee'd. I'm regretting the office tomorrow.. a lot of work ahead. But, it'll make the day go by that much more swiftly. I figure the majority of the morning will be putting machines back where they belong, and getting the network back to aces.

Newt's so happy to be home, he's practically dancing. I'm delighted to have my own bed again, too, though it wasn't really a hardship staying with D&J. They were very helpful and gracious... I appreciate being able to stay there. Janet's cooking is a lot better than I remembered. The scones were especially good.

Ivan is due next weekend. Some frickin' supervillian is testing his weather machine, I just know it.

Who knows what stuff I missed on the blogs I read...I imagine I'll get caught up eventually.



Um.. Paris Hilton's publishing her "memoirs?" It's a pity that there's even a possible market for that. Site Meter



Snopes link for anyone else that mentions that whole "757 or missile?" pentagon crash thing. Read it top to bottom... it answers every question posted with logical and well-researched answers. I guess it's rearing up again, because the anniversary is drawing near.

scottobear: (Default)

Still no power at my place tonight, so I spend one more here at Danny's. (Beats going black to a dark, hot shoebox.) There's still a wind advisory and a flood watch, but the worst of Frances is over. Wind and water still whistles and batters the outside.

We all went for a midday wet-walk to the gas station, and around the lake to assess damage, and breathe some open air. It's messy here, with a number of blown over fences and snapped trees, but the houses look ok and everything seems mostly intact.

Cell phones are still kaput here, and the land line is spotty.

The Winn-Dixie was open, and people were in and out... not crowded, but had a lot of movement. I think that we're going to get some Chinese Takeout for supper tonight.

The Gamajin movies were a huge success.. Everybody liked 'em, and power only blinked a little bit while watching them.

I wonder how the TV news is able to have so many reporters on the coast... they must be placed just far enough apart up and down the line so that they can't see one another's show-lights.

I've got about 150% the hits in the first three days of September over the entire month of August, thanks to the hurricane, I'm guessing. (averaging 1813 hits an hour??)

Dear Hurricane Ivan:

Leave me the hell alone. I want to spend next week at my own damn home. Please just shoot North, and harmlessly spin some fishies.

Thanks.
Best Frances Photo so far:



I missed the JLU episode I was really wanting to see.. the one with the Question. I'll have to seek out a torrent of it when I make it back to base.

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