Tuesday, September 27, 2005

... Wow...

It's happened. They've finally done it.

It's strange, because I was lying awake wondering about this a few nights ago. Because, naturally, it's the sort of thing I lie awake thinking about.

And today, Slashdot brought this gem up.

Scientists have finally filmed a live giant squid in the wild.

So... yeah...

Long week. Tired.

So eventually I need to write about what a strange country Salt Lake City is. And yes, it is a different country.

I have some comics to read and a samurai movie to watch. And then I'm going to sleep.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Bullet... Dodged!

Heard from my Dad today. My brother and his family are fine for now. His house suffered no damage from Rita, and no flooding in his area as of yet. They still have power (!) and his cell phone is still working (!!), which is how he contacted my parents.

So, phew. What a relief. Thanks for all the prayers/thoughts/animal sacrifices.

I hope my brother's case is the norm for most of the folks down there.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Hurricane Rita. Uhoh.

I just found out my older brother Dean and his six kids are trapped in Houston and they can't get out. I thought they were already safe. They've boarded up the house and are going to have to wait it out. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depends on how you look at it, his wife is in Boise, ID right now.

Traffic is not moving, the gas stations are empty, and cars are just running out of gas on the highway. People are just turning around and heading back home. He decided not to risk running out of gas in a minivan with six kids in it.

Positives: They live on the higher end of town, so hopefully flooding shouldn't affect them as much. Also, Houston isn't New Orleans: no levee.

So if you could pray to whatever deity you worship on behalf of my brother and his kids, I'd appreciate it.

The really scary part is knowing that we won't hear from him for days to know if he's okay. Here's hoping we've learned something from Katrina.

Geez.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Sick.

I'm sick.

Don't talk to me.

Don't look at me! Don't ever look at me!

With any luck, I'll be too sick to work tomorrow morning.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Good stuff.

Pretty interesting little story.

I was raised in the country, and I'm living in the big city now.

Helpful hint: the country is better.

Not to knock cities, I've lived in several all over the country. But city life is terrible.

Here's why: Fireflies.

Where I grew up, every summer our yard would be full of fireflies. If you could imagine the most magical place on Earth, that place would have to be our front yard.

Fireflies don't live West of Kansas. They also don't tend to hang out in cities.

If you've got fireflies where you live, I truly and wholeheartedly envy you.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Don't Do This.

Don't do this. Just don't. Here's the recipe for a perfectly apocalyptic Friday night. This will do strange things to your mind.

10pm-12pm - Watch the news, check some news sites, fill your head with imagery of the New Orleans Katrina disaster.
12-1am - Read some issues of Robert Kirkham's zombie comic "The Walking Dead."
1am - 3am - Sit down and watch George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead."
3am - 4:30am - Read some more "Walking Dead" issues, and stare at the Zombie Infection Simulator for a while.
4:30am - 5:30am - Swallow the fact that you're not prepared for a disaster of any kind, hurricane, zombie, or otherwise.

Zombie movies are a good thing. In between all the silly special effects and goofy extras wandering around with bad makeup, they provide a public service: to tell you that sometimes bad stuff happens, and that if something major goes down, you might be one of those victims. You could be one of those poor folks trapped at the Superdome.

Don't be complacent. Do something. Prepare yourself. Take some first aid classes. Store some food up. Learn how to get clean drinking water. Do you know how to build a fire? Read up on some survival techniques, and try them out. Do you have an emergency kit, something that will keep you alive for 3 or 4 days? Go out to the shooting range, at least until you feel comfortable holding a gun.

Don't just change channels and see what's on the WB.

No one's going to accuse you of being a right-wing militant. Not after this week. It behooves you to prepare yourself, and not be a victim. The idea is that you learn these things and hope you never need to use them.

What if it's your city next time?

Friday, September 02, 2005

Me loves the Interweb.

And this is one of the reasons why:

Flying Spaghetti Monster

I'm undecided on the whole Intelligent Design thing. I haven't researched it enough to make an informed opinion.

Either way, this was (to me) very amusing.