Can’t tell for sure, but something catastrophic happened a couple miles from where I live, and I think it might have been a gas well issue. A dozen fire trucks and and equal number of ambulances went screaming through town, more than I have ever seen even in a parade. I was a member of the fire department from 14-19 here, so I know they scrambled not only our VFD but the West Liberty guys and Mickinleyville, but probably Independence, PA,too. On top of that, there were three helicopters circling about 3-5 miles away, but it looked like they landed in the soccer fields about 1/2 mile away. One of the helicopters was so big I thought it was a shithook, there was so much cavitation when it flew overhead.
Weird. I’ll fill you in tomorrow.
Unless, of course, it’s the fucking Communists, in which case, Wolverines, and can someone text me a safe IRC channel?
Just Some Fuckhead
Did you ever have to rescue anyone in their bathtub?
max
Unless, of course, it’s the fucking Communists, in which case, Wolverines, and can someone text me a safe IRC channel?
Wouldn’t that be #wolverines on irc.nro.org? Or possibly #sekritsecure on irc.newsmax.com?
max
[‘Ze internets de say nothink. Probably not large.’]
Fiasco
Sounds like all kinds of freedom goin’ on. Probably a bunch of patriots burnin’ some regulations!
Freedumb!
PeakVT
All the fracking apologists (frackheads?) say we can look forward to hundreds of years drilling in places like WV.
Yay.
Jerzy Russian
It seems like there have been many mishaps with propane, gas wells, chemical plants etc. lately.
google seems to be of little use in terms of shedding some of the mystery, at least for the moment.
Comrade Mary
I even tried Twitter, but then I realized, of course, that John lives there and he would have found something there first.
(Hey John, can you give us a current count of number of pets in lap?)
Warren Terra
Terrible news with the passing of the blogger known as Doghouse Riley, known for his brilliant excoriations of Mitch Daniels and coverage of other matters Indianan.
Memorial contributions have been requested to the American Heart Association
kc
@Warren Terra:
Aw, damn. I hate to hear that.
Yatsuno
@Warren Terra: And Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, and Tony Scalia still breathe.
Roger Moore
@Fiasco:
Sounds more like Job Creators at work. Look at all the jobs they created for doctors and lawyers!
TaMara (BHF)
@Yatsuno: Words right out of my mouth, brother.
Roger Moore
@Yatsuno:
Are you sure Dick Cheney is breathing? I thought the undead didn’t breathe.
NotMax
After a full day of torpid air, unrelenting oppressive heat and dense humidity, now know firsthand what meat inside a crock pot experiences.
metalgirl
@John, I’m really enjoying the pictures and stories about Steve – keep them coming.
I’m very excited that there’s going to be a BJ meetup for NC Triangle area followers on Aug. 5 in Durham. They actually moved the date from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 so I could attend :) I’ll be wearing my Tunch “Feed” shirt!!
I was relieved to hear Obama say yesterday that the justice dept is planning to go after every state that has made voting harder after the Supreme Court decision – TX is just the first. Since NC is going out of it’s way to be embarrasingly backwards, I hope they turn their attention to us next. As long as it’s fixed prior to 2014, we’ll kick these MFers out. The over-reach is really going to bite them in the ass and I can’t wait!
chrome agnomen
shit. i read him every day. thought he came out of the mike royko school of cantankerousness. cantankerosity?
Specialed5000
A couple years ago there was an explosion at the Bayer pesticide plant in Institute WV here near Charleston that came closer than they admitted at the time to releasing methyl isocyanate (see Bhopal, India) in a metro area of 300k
I heard the blast at my house 10 miles away, we were warned to shelter in place, etc.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aOnvwuLxlF.Y
max
@Warren Terra: Terrible news with the passing of the blogger known as Doghouse Riley, known for his brilliant excoriations of Mitch Daniels and coverage of other matters Indianan.
Fuckin’ bummer.
max
[‘I’m gonna guess that was a heart attack.’]
mdblanche
@Roger Moore: The undead breathe. They just don’t have pulses.
BillinGlendaleCA
It took me a minute to figure out what a VFD was. All the places I’ve ever lived had either a city fire department and/or a county fire department.
BillinGlendaleCA
@mdblanche: Cheney has a pulse now, he ripped some poor unsuspecting person’s heart out and stuffed it in his chest cavity.
Mike G
@Warren Terra:
That’s horrible news. BLTR was one of a dozen or so blogs on my regular reading list.
Maybe it’s selective memory, but bloggers seem to pass away relatively young at a disproportionate rate.
Villago Delenda Est
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the lingo/jargon, a “shithook” means a Chinook CH-47 which is a pretty good sized cargo helicopter that can haul around things like howitzers. BIG things.
Sounds pretty serious, John. Hope the situation is under control.
Oh, and words and amens on all the Doghouse Riley comments. You know there is no justice when DR died but Mitch Daniels continues to live and inflict his fascist stupidity on the state of Indiana.
joel hanes
Indiana and the nation are poorer places today than they were yesterday.
I shall greatly miss reading the rants of James Briggs Stratton “Doghouse” Riley.
Yatsuno
@Roger Moore: You raise a decent point. However since words expel from his maw still it is fair to assume the vocal cords are still functional. One little EMP that’s all it would take…
NotMax
Literally down to the wire, and the confirmation deal specified “by July 30.”
First time since 2003 the NLRB has had five confirmed members on the board.
chopper
@Warren Terra:
godammit. shit, fuck.
The prophet Nostradumbass
PG&E had another gas line problem this evening, about a mile and a half from where I live. Someone driving down the street noticed a bulge in the pavement (!) and the smell of gas, and called 911. Luckily, it was discovered and capped before it blew up.
mdblanche
@BillinGlendaleCA: Cheney Ram, Sudha Ram.
NotMax
@The prophet Nostradumbass
Something for which people can thank the government is the legal requirement that something be added to natural gas (which is odorless) so that people could sense it in case of a leak.
Originally horseradish was used as the odor of choice, but no doubt the odor is now induced by an artificially-produced substance.
Yatsuno
@NotMax:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanethiol
It’s a byproduct of wood pulping.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@NotMax: Absolutely.
@Yatsuno: So that stuff is made by an artificial farting machine?
Yatsuno
@The prophet Nostradumbass: Also, apparently, by eating asparagus.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Yatsuno: How dare you cast aspersions on my asparagus.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@BillinGlendaleCA: Thank you for the dispatch from the distinguished gentleman from Mars. Now, back on Earth…
BillinGlendaleCA
@The prophet Nostradumbass: I believe he’s from Texas, however there may not be a discernible difference.
wasabi gasp
Mad Daddys – Daddy Needs a Mama
BillinGlendaleCA
I found this interesting web site last night:
What Was There
I was looking for the location of “Court Flight”, it’s like “Angels Flight” but a few blocks away, and ran across this site. It has geolocations from old pictures and superimposes them over a current Google Street View.
NotMax
Comment in moderation limbo for no discernible reason or language faux pas.
Perhaps someone will be kind enough to remedy that.
Oh, and FYWP.
Yatsuno
@BillinGlendaleCA: Reminds me of Omoide no Shotokyo which is just an amazing piece of public art.
wasabi gasp
Marietta Fafouti – Ouverture
wasabi gasp
Pentaphobe – Kitten Pig
wasabi gasp
Sue Raney – Once Was a Time I Thought
wasabi gasp
Stina Nordenstam – Everyone Else In The World
Cermet
John, it was another one of those Alien ship’s crashing! Maybe even the same one that hit Area 51 back in the nineteen fifties… it tried to escape and was shot down by our great ABM system – whay system is that, yo uask? You know, the missle system that needs the warhead (singular and with no decoys) to have a homing transponder built in so the missle can hit the damn thing – that pile of cheney system is so, well cheny’ed that like all such things, shit appears good compared to it … . So John, you had better scoop up the dogs and cat and head for the hills before those evil mexican aliens get you … oops, wrong aliens … before those outerspace Aliens get you. They want our woman .. .wait, you’re safe, after all. No woman at your place … .
wasabi gasp
Archie Shepp – Prelude to a Kiss
Debbie(aussie)
@Cermet:
Speaking of aliens. Was channel surfing when I spotted one of those true cops shows, Arizona I think? And the voice over goes’ another stressful but successful night of capturing and stopping ailiens getting into our great state’. I burst out laughing. Aliens, really! Disgusting as we can be regarding asylum seekers and immigrants- Aliens? One of those if you don’t laugh you’d cry situations.
NotMax
@Yatsuno
From that same page:
First cousin to butyl mercaptan, more commonly known as skunk, which is also used to odorize natural and propane gas.
Wonder how a certain senator from KY would respond if asked about that intrusive government mandate on industry?
raven
@Debbie(aussie):
Types of “alien” persons are:
An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country. This is a very broad category which includes tourists, guest workers, legal permanent residents and student visa resident aliens.
An alien who has temporary or permanent residence in a country may be called a resident alien of that country. This is a subset of the aforementioned legal alien category.
An alien who is visiting a country be called a nonresident alien of that country. This is a subset of the aforementioned legal alien category.
An alien who is present in a country unlawfully or without the country’s authorization is known as an illegal alien of that country.[2]
An enemy alien is an alien who is a national of an enemy country.
raven
In Australia, alien status is regarded in relationship to citizenship status. The following documents normally constitute evidence of Australian citizenship:
a valid Australian passport
a birth certificate issued by or on behalf of an Australian state or territory (only for those born before 20 August 1986)
a certificate of evidence of Australian citizenship
an Australian naturalisation certificate
a certificate of Australian citizenship by descent
NotMax
@Debbie(aussie)
Firesign Theater had a nice comedy riff on government registration of aliens. Far as I am aware, it was released only on a single which was intended for use by radio stations.
Fort Geek
Unless, of course, it’s the fucking Communists, in which case, Wolverines, and can someone text me a safe IRC channel?
I just use #van_2 at irc.nsa.gov — it’s always been a cool place to–just a sec, someone’s knockin_*%^%$(–NO CARRIER
raven
@NotMax: rancho malario, if you lived here you’d be home now. . .
BillinGlendaleCA
@Fort Geek: Hmmm, I noticed that an access point called FBI Surveilllance VAN #139 when I do a WiFi scan. Should I be concerned?
MeDrewNotYou
@Villago Delenda Est: I guessed that he was talking about a Chinook, but I leave the tv on the Military Channel a lot. They air a great WW2 documentary series from the 70s called “World at War” and the more recent series “Nazi Collaborators” is good too. If you can get past the jingoism and the obvious ‘The US is never wrong’ bias, it’s a pretty good channel. Especially now that History Channel and Discovery Channel are all reality shows all the time, Military, H2, and Science are the only watchable channels in that block.
The Dog House Riley news is a huge bummer; I loved reading him. He was the first Hoosier on the Internet that made me feel a little less alone in this crazy state. Wherever he is now, I’m sure that he’ll never have to deal with Mitch Daniels or Mike Pence again. Tell me that ain’t a comforting thought.
raven
@MeDrewNotYou: The World Fishing Network is great but it’s not HD here!
NotMax
@NotMax
Did find some info on what was a dim memory.
NotMax
@raven
Posted links to a couple of nice shots found online which you might like of the phantasmagorical lightning storm here on Monday.
Multiple direct hits by lightning confirmed, including a hole right through the roof of someone’s house, but apparently no injuries or fires resultant.
raven
@NotMax: here
raven
@NotMax: My bride and I were admiring them right before we crashed! Read about the hole on the Maui News!
raven
@NotMax: Do you know about W.S. Merwin’s place?
Besides the poetry he is best known for–he has twice won the Pulitzer Prize and was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2010 to 2011–W.S. Merwin has spent more than 30 years planting a unique palm forest on 19 acres of largely abandoned and abused land on the island of Maui.
NotMax
@raven
Thanks. Actually have the single recorded (showing my age again) on reel-to-reel tape.
And yes, still have a reel-to-reel machine. Several, in fact. Oldest tape I have is an oddity – a machine was set up during a cocktail party at parents’ house (sometime in mid-1950s) and just left to record whatever transpired.
MeDrewNotYou
@raven: My Dad would love that channel, but we don’t get it. He really is the stereotypical old man watching The Weather Channel.
Side note- I’ve never really ‘got’ fishing. I see the appeal of the hunt, but true devotees seem to regard it as a Zen-like experience. Me? I’m not baiting a hook or touching a nasty, pissed off fish. I’ll get my zen from Pink Floyd, thankyouverymuch.
NotMax
@raven
Yup. In fact, though I’ve never met him, Merwin has become a close friend of a friend of mine whom I inveigled into moving here from the mainland several decades ago.
Did pass by both Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s and Frank Herbert’s homes here many times while each was still living, but respected their privacy by merely giving a quick stare.
Schlemizel
@raven:
Remain calm and take off your shoes
I think they are tapping the line
On a personal note I am often struck how many of your posts mesh with my own memories. Other than my being 4F we must share some similar experiences. Maybe it was the time of year (or maybe it was the time of man). But it wierds me out some times
J R in WV
@NotMax:
Great pics, it’s really hard to do lightning justice!
fka AWS
59 is too damn young. R.I.P. Doghouse Riley.
I didn’t visit his home place too often, but he was a regular at Roy Edroso’s joint, and always worth a read there too.
NotMax
@raven
Don’t know if you’re aware of the venerable TV fishing show still being done in Hawaii (most commonly remembered as “Let’s Go Fishing.”)
Longtime, best-remembered by locals host was Hari Kojima.
Some episodes (different host) seem to be available for online viewing.
Linda
@Roger Moore: I’m sure he bribed a mirror to fog up at appropriate moments.
raven
@MeDrewNotYou:This is my brothers Floyd cover band in LA.
raven
@NotMax: Hell yes! I’ve been very interested in what seems to be a feud between Fuzzy and other booking agents there. He got a really shitty review from someone and it seems to have escalated. I had some pretty sketchy experiences with some of the agents before I booked directly.
raven
@Schlemizel: It was quite a time and, for a while, it seemed like we were all in it together.
raven
@NotMax: I brought home an Akai reel to reel, Sanusi amp from you know where.
SiubhanDuinne
Test
Fort Geek
@BillinGlendaleCA: Nothing to worry about, Citizen! The black helicopters are merely hovering to mess with the preppers.
Viperbuck
Don’t look up at the helicopters, keep your eyes on the ground lest you discover yet another new sink hole:
http://www.wtrf.com/story/22969813/sink-holes-to-be-addressed-at-meeting
Steve in the ATL
“I know they scrambled not only our VFD but the West Liberty guys and Mickinleyville, but probably Independence, PA,too”
Is it just me, or does that sound like Grandpa Simpson?