Tropical Storm Ike (Yes, it's been downgraded!!!) is now moving to the east of Dallas with top winds of 60mph. It made landfall at 2AM local time, right over Galveston. So far, there are four deaths related to the storm, which is miraculous considering how many people remained in their homes. There does seem to be widespread, but not catastrophic damage.
Downtown Houston got the broken glass they expected. In the JP Morgan Chase building, the windows blew out, and office furniture was blown over to the parking structure across the street.
As Ike dissipates, it will merge with a frontal system and bring plenty of rain to the already-drenched Midwest.
Otherwise, the tropics are quiet, especially for this time of year.
Hurricane Ike is still bearing down on the north Texas coast, now with 110mph winds. The center is still 90 miles offshore, but the storm surge has been flooding Galveston Island for hours. Most of the Texas and Louisiana coast are experiencing tropical storm force gusts now, if not sustained winds.
The core of the storm is not far off now. The weather should really start disintegrating soon.
The approximate path that Ike is heading on. This will take it just to the west of Galveston, a worst-case scenario for the city.
Other than Ike, not much brewing in the tropics aside from a couple of shower clusters in the Atlantic.
This isn't the main tropical report for the day - that's coming up. I've got CNN on in the background, and while Hurricane Ike is still 8-10 hours from landfall, and they're only getting the outer rain bands so far...but the issue is the storm surge, which could reach 20-25 feet. The waves are already so high, that they're coming over Galveston's seawall, flooding this city of 58,000.
The scary part? An estimated 15,000 residents decided not to heed the mandatory evacuations, and now face a very real risk of drowning in their homes. :(
I have recently made an interesting but hilarious discovery on YouTube. You see, there's this little group on there that likes to take music videos from India, and "translate" them into English. What this really means is that the subtitles are what the Hindi (or Telugu) words sound like if they were singing in English.
For example...well, check this out. Here is the Telugu version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller":
OK, that video really was looking for that. That was just hilarious, even without the "translation". It was done by the YouTube user "buffalax", who now has a wave of followers, such as the person who did the next video. Here's a sexy number that was, again, "translated" into English. *WARNING* May be NSFW. Depends on how much of a tightass your boss is. Rated PG-13.
Here's the thing. I think the whole thing is hilarious, but does that make me racist? Does that make the "translators" racist? I think probably not. I think it's just fun wordplay. I really like Indian music videos, even though I never know what the hell is going on in any of them. This just gives them a...twist!
Hurricane Ike hasn't changed much in the past 24 (OK, 27) hours. Ike is still a Category 2 hurricane packing 100mph winds. It's also a HUGE storm, covering an area in the Gulf from Florida to Cancun to New Orleans.
What HAS changed is the projected path of the storm. Now, the track has shifted back northward, with the Cone Of Uncertainty reaching from Corpus Christi to Cameron, LA. right in the middle lie Galveston and Houston, which would get a direct hit based on this path.
Ike's projected path as of Sept. 11, 2008. The line goes about 30 miles from Galveston and Houston, but could strike as far as 150 miles away in either direction.
Sadly, that means that a lot of people who were affected by Katrina have to go through this all over again. Houston is where a great deal of Katrina survivors settled, including people who were stuck in the Superdome.
It also means that oil rigs are going to be shut down for a while.
The Galveston area is already under an evacuation order, as this article discusses. If you live in or near this area, PLEASE be on alert. We may have a Category 3 or 4 storm before this is all said and done.
It was seven years ago today that the course of world history was radically changed by some terrorists and a few hijacked airplanes. Let's have a moment of silence if you haven't gone there already.
Done? OK. Let's continue.
We all know the history, and while I feel the need to pay tribute on this day (I did grow up in and near NYC, after all), I don't want my blog to turn into anything morbid. I was one of those people who nearly drove themselves crazy being glued to the news for the remainder of the year, so I don't want to go back to that dark, dark place. Despite this tragedy, there is life out there and a lot of things in the world to make us smile. That is why I am posting this video of a very lovable cat.
The National Hurricane Center has just issued a hurricane watch for the Gulf coast between Cameron, LA and Port Mansfield, Texas, or almost the entire Texas coast. This means that the exact location of the actual landfall is still anyone's guess at this point. It also means, as you've seen in my earlier report, that this is a big storm with a huge wind field. Anyone within 200 miles from the center of the storm's track will have at least Tropical Storm force winds and extremely heavy rainfall. A Tropical Storm warning extends east to the mouth of the Mississippi River, but does not include New Orleans (they should get some decent rains in any case).
The one silver lining is that this storm should track just far enough south to prevent an oil scare.
Hurricane Ike continues its slow move across the Gulf of Mexico today. Winds increased slowly overnight from 75mph to 90mph, but the last advisory gave Ike a boost to 100mph winds. The forecast still calls for a landfall around Fri/Sat, somewhere between Corpus Christi and Galveston, as a Category 3 storm with 125mph winds. There's still a chance the storm could stay to the south of Corpus Christi, which is very sparsely populated.
Projected landfall of Ike near Corpus Christi. The entire Texas coast lies within the cone of uncertainty.
It's Tuesday night, and that means it's time for more of the new 90210!
We start out in the Walsh, I mean Wilson kitchen. Everyone has a busy day and leaves Mama Wilson to sit there and probably contemplate pill addiction as the clan starts its second week in the 90210. Then we quickly cut to West Beverly High, where Ethan is checking on 90210's bitch princess Naomi. She says she's fine, but in a really bitchy way that means she isn't. She then proves that her musical taste is rancid as she's going to a Coldplay concert. Then we see Kelly and the lacrosse teacher flirting in the halls, like the professionals that they are. Then, we see Annie and Ty, who has morphed into Zac Efron, discuss their next date...which Annie doesn't get to go on, because the Wilsons are going bowling instead. It appears that Mama Wilson has chosen to arrange a family night over getting a prescrption for Xanax. Oh well, maybe next week.
Got that? That was the first five minutes. As we return from the commercial, Silver (Kelly's little sis) is trying to sleep at a shelter because mama Jackie is long since off the wagon. The counselor there isn't having it as the place is reserved for people who "really don't have a place to stay". Then she tries Kelly, but she already had plans to bang the lacrosse teacher, so Silver's SOL.
Meanwhile, Ty and Ethan are awkwardly talking with Annie as she tries to break her date. Ethan slinks off as Ty stands there looking really pretty and not acting much.
It's Friday after school, and Dixon is asking Silver to the Wilson family night, and since she wants to avoid her alcoholic mom, she accepts.
Then, Naomi, who is bringing back big 1980's hair, repeats the old Kelly Taylor storyline of getting to do something with her workaholic father, then getting let down at the last second because of some merger, resulting in an expensive guilt gift. In this case, it's a Coldplay concert and the present is a brand new BMW SUV, just like the trophy mom has. It's only a matter of time before Naomi discovers another 1980's pastime, cocaine, and starts spending lots of time in bathroom stalls, just like Kelly used to.
We're back at the bowling alley, whose parking lot is full of BMW's just like all bowling alleys. Meanwhile, the lacrosse teacher and Kelly are on their date. He mentions wanting to meet her son and she gets really uncomfortable as the pedo flag goes up in her brain. Then my phone rang and I had to answer it, so two minutes later and Silver is practically begging mama Wilson to adopt her. Then, Ethan shows up, which is really awkward for Annie since Ty is there. So's the guy whose dad makes pornos. The gang's all here, and they're bowling, bitches! Outside, Annie and Ethan are talking. Ethan is whining like a bitch about how hard his life is, because his divorced parents compete for who can lavish more material goods on him. Then he looks off jealously as Annie walks off with Ty, a real man by comparison. That isn't saying much considering that hairdo of is.
Naomi and Arianna would be there too, but they're cruising around town in Naomi's new ride, looking like trannies. They stop at Naomi's dad's office so she can drop off dinner, only to find him in the parking lot, making out with some skinny whore in a cheap blue dress. Then, Naomi's head explodes as we cut to a commercial.
We're back, and Ty's bragging to Annie about how he knows Chris Brown, which means he'll probably make a guest appearance on the show at some point. Then, Annie's folks try to be cool parents as they free their kids for the evening. Then, the trannies show up and Naomi is once again the center of attention. This time, though, she's not being a bitch as she's too busy crying. This crying works on Ethan as he walks off with Naomi, trying his best not to grab her ass as Annie looks on jealously. We all see where this is going. And now, Ty has to leave, so the girls tag along with the guy's movie night.
We're back with Kelly and the pedo, and he's in some car bitching about how money is evil to a woman who was the Naomi Clark of her generation. Then they start making out and make themselves an official couple.
Now, the night is over, and Silver finally has to go home to her alocholic mom. Of course, this means she's sleeping in her car in the alley behind the Wilson home. Dixon recovers her and she spills all the beans. She admits that she hasn't been home in weeks and that Jackie is just as out of control as she was in 1990, when she had a meltdown at the Mother-Daughter fashion show at WBHHS. Good times. Anyway, Dixon can relate because apparently, he was in some bad foster homes before he came across the Wilsons. He convinces Silver to get his 'rents involved.
The next day is here, and either Naomi and her mom have a beach house, or no one ever told them that Beverly Hills is landlocked. Either way, Naomi tells her mom about the whore in the cheap dress. Mom says that she knows, and that the whore's name is Gail. She doesn't seem to really care as the gravy train that is papa Clark is extra rich and creamy, but mostly extra rich.
And FINALLY, we see the return of drunk Jackie, a moment 18 years in the making, and she is F L A W L E S S. And by flawless, I mean drunk, bitchy, screamy and evil, as she first makes fun of AA, and then banishes Kelly and Silver from her drunk, botoxed life. It was so exciting that I almost didn't realize that Brenda wasn't in this episode. BOOOOOOO! However, the previews do say that she is coming back next week. Will her bitch colors finally show? Will Silver like living with Kelly? Will Naomi start doing lines of coke off her biology textbook? Only time will tell, and I'll be back next week to tell you all about it.
The only thing in the tropical Atlantic being watched now is Hurricane Ike, which is now moving over western Cuba as a minimal hurricane with 75mph winds. This is a huge storm - it's outer cloud bands range from Florida to Cancun. Squalls with tropical storm force winds have been reported in the Keys and the Miami area as well.
Ike should cross over into the Gulf of Mexico by evening, but don't be surprised if it's briefly downgraded to a Tropical Storm before moving over the warm (29-31C) open waters of the Gulf. The National Hurricane Center is predicting a Category 3 storm before hitting somewhere along the Texas coast - though it is still far too early to tell where the final landfall will be.
After trailing far behind opponent Barack Obama for a week or so, John McCain has officially gotten his post-GOP convention bounce. Senator McCain is showing a 3-point lead, which is close to a statistical tie, but still a lead. As you can see below (click to enlarge), the results vary wildly from poll to poll:
National poll results for Sept. 8, 2008
As you can see, Senator McCain has taken the lead from Senator Obama in all major polls. What could be causing such a jump? Well, there's always the post-convention bounce. Barack Obama got his after the Democratic convention, and now it's McCain's turn.
It does seem that the country is somewhat more enthused with McCain, but is it McCain at all? Let's face it: this whole past week, ten days even, has been about Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin, and some more Sarah Palin. Could Americans be intrigued with this unlikely choice of a Vice-Presidential candidate?
No matter which candidate you're supporting (and it looks like we've got mostly Obama/Biden supporters here so far :) ), it's too early to predict any kind of an outcome. It won't be until Sept. 26, after the first Presidential debate, when we'll even have the faintest idea. Stay tuned!
The main storm in the Atlantic right now is Hurricane Ike, which crossed over a not-so-mountainous section of eastern Cuba overnight, and is now about 40 miles off Cuba's southern coast. As you can see in the photo below (click to enlarge), the storm is deviating a little south of its projected path.
Ike moving to the south of Cuba by about 40 miles.
So what does this mean? For one thing, Ike did weaken, but only by about 25mph from its landfall, making it a Category 2 storm with 100mph winds. Now that the storm is over water that is around 30C, it should begin to reorganize today, and possibly strengthen over the next 24 hours or so as it makes a slight turn to the right and heads on a path much like Gustav's path in late August:
Ike's projected path over the next 72 hours. Both Havana and the Isle of Youth are in the "cone of uncertainty", and Key West, FL lies just outside the cone. The Florida Keys are currently under a Tropical Storm Warning.
Remember, Gustav exploded into a Category 4 storm while taking a path just to the left of this. If Ike stays far enough offshore, anything could happen. It should lose a little punch over western Cuba before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico. From there, it's anyone's call. The forecast has it heading towards Galveston, TX (near Houston), but the way the forecasts have been shifting to the left with each advisory, it could hit as far south as Corpus Christi.
Too early to tell how the oil rigs will be affected.
UPDATE: It has been found that Ike has reduced to a Category 1 storm with 80mph winds. This means that western Cuba won't get hit has hard as eastern Cuba, unless it explodes, Gustav-style. However, the forecasters are not expecting more than a slight strengthening at most. Stay tuned!
I remember earlier this summer, when I heard that a young singer named Katy Perry had a big hit with a song called "I Kissed A Girl". If you're one of the twelve people who haven't seen it, here it is:
There. That wasn't so bad, was it? It's a hell of a lot better than most of the crap that's being spewed out there lately. However - and call me old-fashioned if you must - but I cannot help but prefer a 1995 song by Jill Sobule by the same name. The video was very 90's, and even had Fabio! Check it out for yourself:
Maybe I'm getting old, but this is how I see it:
Jill Sobule's "I Kissed A Girl" = Playfully naughty romp into the exploration of one's lesbianism. "I kissed a girl, it felt like kissing me!"
Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" = I kissed a girl, and it tasted like Jagermeister, cocaine, and bile. It's a wonder I have any memories of it.
Tropical Storm Hanna raced up the US East Coast yesterday, moving over 700 miles in 24 hours before merging with a frontal system off the New England coast. It did what a Nor'easter would typically do, and brought heavy rains, flooding, gale force winds, and some light damage and power outages.
Hanna's path, September 6, 2008
With Hanna out of the way, we now have Hurricane Ike to worry about. This morning, it went over the Turks and Caicos Islands as a Category 4 storm with 135mph winds. Grand Turk is reporting 50% of their structures damaged. This storm is headed right towards Cuba, and is forecast to move directly over the island.
Projected Path of Ike, to 72 hours out.
On it's current path over land, Ike will probably lose about half of its punch before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to go back to Category 3 status (at least). However, Cuba is only about 50-60 miles wide on average, which means a 30-mile jog north or south will make a huge difference as far as how strong the storm will be in 2 days.
If you are in the Florida Keys or the entire Gulf coast, please watch this storm carefully. It looks as if another Gustav or Katrina has the potential to take shape.
Owwwwwwieeeee...I have back pain from my bed being old and shitty. Good thing I'm in the furniture biz and I can get a new one easily. Just thought I'd share.
3D offset effect
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This tutorial is based on this image: Step 1. Start with an image. I
already clipped the background out of the image so the effect will only
apply to the m...
The Comforting Ache of the Summer Holiday
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I am sure I have no lost my entire readership after ignoring my blog for a
couple months. That presumes that I actually had a readership, though,
which pro...
Ike at 3PM CDT, 9/13/08
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