We are kinda due..but no matter.

Maybe Earl will be a big deal, maybe not. So I wanted to reflect a bit on my minor experience with another Hurricane.

BOB. Yes Hurricane Bob in 1991. At the time I was living in West Bridgewater.

Gosh was it a great time! Being all of 8 years old, this was an adventure!

(So that picture on the right I’m not quite 8 yet, but aren’t I cute??)

I got to build a fort in the basement, we had candles and a fire in the fireplace. (In August!) I mean cool stuff. I kept thinking this would be a perfect time to go fly a kite. The trees and the leaves whipped around everywhere. A big branch came to rest on the house, no damage, but many trees came down around town. Overall, it was fun.

Now that I’m older and know better, along with the tragedy of Katrina, I do look at hurricanes a bit differently. Still, I can’t say that I’m not  just a little excited. Lets hope it stays that way and is just “fun weather” and not a reason to call the insurance agent.

HURRICANE EARL

So “Earl” is not the first time this name has been used for a hurricane/tropical storm:

• Hurricane Earl (1980) — drifted over the central Atlantic Ocean without affecting land
• Hurricane Earl (1986) — drifted over the central Atlantic Ocean without affecting land
• Tropical Storm Earl (1992) — headed towards eastern Florida then veered away. No damage was reported
• Hurricane Earl (1998) — struck the Florida Panhandle, causing approx. $79 million damage and 3 fatalities
• Tropical Storm Earl (2004) — travelled across the Windward Islands, then dissipated. Its remnants became Hurricane Frank in the eastern Pacific Ocean
• Hurricane Earl (2010) — currently active

Hmm, I guess the “E” name pool is kinda shallow? So whats the difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane?

New for 2010 is an expanded set of abbreviations indicating the storm strength:
D: Tropical Depression – wind speed less than 39 MPH
S: Tropical Storm – wind speed between 39 MPH and 73 MPH
H: Hurricane – wind speed between 74 MPH and 110 MPH
M: Major Hurricane – wind speed greater than 110 MPH

WILL EARL HIT CAPE COD?? I don’t know. I do know there there is gonna be a lot of annoying panic in the meantime, but of course we want to be safe, so yes I got batteries and some jugs of water and I’ll be filling up the bath tub, (anyone else do that?) However, I live mainly of Cape Cod during the weekend, and have plans to head outa here on Friday. But I have thus been informed that if the winds are up to 70mph, the bridges will be closed. Not to mention i’m gonna have to battle the tourists (and others) fleeing. Crap.

I hope you all stay safe and have a happy hurricane weekend. And just in case here’s a list of hurricane “To Do’s” before you can’t..do them. Courtesy of the Town of Falmouth.

EMERGENCY SUPPLY KIT

Prepare for at least 14 days
Every family should have an emer- gency supply kit ready to grab and go in the event of a disaster —such as a hurricane or flu pandemic— and every family member should know where the kit is located. The kit should be stored in a dry cool place. Water and food supplies should be replaced every 6 months to ensure freshness. Remember to review the kit annually and account for any changes in family needs. You will need to pack some essen- tials whether seeking shelter else- where or for evacuation. Plan on enough supplies for every family member .

Bring the following list with you to the store and pick up a few items each time you go grocery shopping:
WATER – 1 gallon per person per day (2 quarts for drinking/2 quarts for food prep and sanitation) NON-PERISHABLE FOOD-ready to eat canned meats, fruits & vegetables, canned milk, juices and soup. 2-week supply per person in household. HIGH ENERGY FOODS – peanut but- ter, jelly, trail mix, granola bars, dried fruits. SPECIAL NEEDS FOODS –baby foods & pet foods, specialty foods for elderly or family member with allergies, if re- quired. UTENSILS– manual can opener, dis- posable silverware, cups & plates (to avoid needing wash water). COOKING AIDS– sterno, camp stove or charcoal or gas grill for outside use only. BATTERY OPERATED RADIO – with extra batteries. FLASHLIGHTS- with extra batteries.

SIGNAL FLARE AND WHISTLE UTILITY KNIFE PLIERS DUCT TAPE
MATCHES-in water-proof bag SHUT-OFF WRENCH (to turn off household gas and water) SANITARY ITEMS– toilet paper, moist towelettes, instant hand sani- tizer, feminine products, bucket with tight fitting lid. CLOTHING/BLANKETS– blan- kets, pillows, sleeping bags, sturdy shoes, wet and cold weather outer- wear (rain gear, hats, gloves) FIRST AID KIT– Sterile adhesive bandages in assorted sizes, 2 and 4 inch sterile gauze pads (4-6 each) ,hypo-allergenic adhesive tape, scissors, tweezers, needle, antiseptic, thermometer, safety pins, latex gloves, bug repel- lent, sun screen.

PLASTIC GARBAGE BAGS– with ties PRESCRIPTION/NON- PRESCRIPTION DRUGS– aspirin, non-aspirin pain re- liever, anti-diarrhea medication, antacid, laxative.
***Every 6 months remember to change your stored water and rotate your stored food supply to ensure freshness***

WHEN THE STORM IS OVER
•   Use extreme caution when entering your home or business after the storm. Hurricane-driven flood waters may have damaged buildings where you least expect it. Carefully watch every step you take.
• Wear sturdy shoes. The most common injury after a disaster is cut feet.
• Use battery-powered lanterns or flash- lights when examining buildings.
• Examine walls, floors, doors, staircases and windows to make sure that the build- ing is not in danger of collapsing.
•    Inspect foundation for cracks or other dam- age. Cracks to damaged foundations can render a building uninhabitable.
•    Look for fire hazards. There may be bro- ken or leaking gas lines, flooded electrical circuits or submerged furnaces or electrical appliances. Fire is the most frequent haz- ard following floods.
•    Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise quickly leave the building.
•    Look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or /frayed wires or smell burn- ing insulation call an electrician.
• Pump out flooded basements gradually (about 1/3 of the water a day). If the wa- ter is pumped out completely in a short time pressure from the water outside could cause the basement walls to collapse.

Now that is some major air!

Two Door Cinema Club

Trimble and Halliday first met whilst attending Bangor Grammar School. They met Baird when he was trying to get with girls they knew. The band’s name came about after one of the members mispronounced the name of local cinema Tudor Cinema, and this stuck. In 2007, Two Door Cinema Club was formed, and following an increased interest in their music on their MySpace page, they gave up their university places and began work on studio material. An EP “Four Words To Stand On” was released in January 2009 and was positively received by critics. A number of music blogs featured articles about the band and their popularity increased In July 2009, Two Door Cinema Club began recording their debut album at Eastcote Studios in London with Eliot James. In September, the band began mixing the record with Phillipe Zdar at Motorbass, his studio in Paris.

In December 2009, Two Door Cinema Club were featured in the BBC’s Sound Of 2010 Poll, which was decided by 165 British”tastemakers”.

In January 2010, Two Door Cinema Club announced the track listing and details of their debut album in an interview with NME. It was released on 26 February 2010 in the Republic of Ireland and on 1 March 2010 in the UK. The album, entitled Tourist History, was released in the USA on 27 April 2010. The album was preceded by the singles “Something Good Can Work”, “I Can Talk” and “Undercover Martyn” which both featured on television advertisements for Vodafone and Meteor.

It had been reported that Two Door Cinema Club were to work with Kanye West on new tracks, with Daft Punk producing. However this was dismissed by the band as an ‘April Fools joke’.

The Lost Symbol

Released on September 15, 2009, it is the third Brown novel to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon, following 2000′s Angels & Demons and 2003′s The Da Vinci Code. It had a first printing of 6.5 million (5 million in North America, 1.5 million in the UK), the largest in Doubleday history. On its first day the book sold one million in hardcover and e-book versions in the U.S., the UK and Canada, making it the fastest selling adult novel in history. It was number one on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction for the first six weeks of its release, and remained there until January 24 of the following year.

The story takes place over a period of 12 hours in Washington, D.C., with a focus onFreemasonry. Robert Langdon is summoned to give a lecture in National Statuary Hall at theUnited States Capitol, with the invitation apparently from his mentor, a 33rd degree Mason named Peter Solomon, who is the head of the Smithsonian Institution. Solomon has also asked him to bring a small package which he had entrusted with Langdon for safekeeping years earlier. When Langdon arrives at the Capitol, however, instead of an audience for his lecture, and after receiving a phone call from the person that he thought was from Solomon’s office he hears screams coming from the Capitol Rotunda. Running, he finds the severed right hand of Peter Solomon mounted on a stick, directly in the middle of the room. The hand contains tattoos on each finger, and Langdon recognizes it as the symbolic Hand of the Mysteries, which seemingly points straight up to the fresco The Apotheosis of Washington on the inside of the Capitol dome. Noticing Peter’s ring on one of the hand’s fingers, Langdon realizes that it is the hand of his kidnapped friend, and from messages already received he knows that the kidnapper wants him to find both the Mason’s Pyramid, which Masons believe is hidden somewhere underground in Washington D.C., and the Lost Word, which will complete the task that the kidnapper has given himself.

Hey y’all. Kaz Gamble has remixed the Boy Band song ‘I Just Want To Dance’ and has entered it in Ellens Dance Anthem competition. Help make some hype about the video and help Gamble & Burke win the top spot so their song can be the new Ellen Dance Song. Tweet it, post it on facebook and myspace, and just shoat it out!!

Relic

Set in and around a fictionalized version of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History, a few select characters must solve a string of brutal murders that take place inside the museum during the days preceding the opening of “Superstition”, a spectacular blockbuster exhibition.

Evidence begins to point suspiciously to a doomed expedition undertaken by the museum several years earlier to the Brazilian rainforest in search of the lost Kothoga tribe. It becomes apparent that behind the murders is Mbwun (translation: “He Who Walks On All Fours”)–the Kothoga’s crazed lizard god, whose father happens to be a demon analogous to Satan, according to Kothoga legend. A relic depicting Mbwun is to be shown for the first time at the upcoming exhibition.

It also appears that several museum leaders had known about previous murders on the museum’s premises, and that they had conspired to keep these murders a secret so as not to damage the reputation of the museum.