Friday, September 30, 2005

Bat-poking, not a good idea

Just got a university-wide email from the Director Environmental Health & Safety at UT-Austin.
"If you touched a bat near E.P. Schoch (EPS) on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, you need to immediately contact the Austin/Travis Country Health Services at 972-6055 or The Texas Department of State Health Services at 254-778-6744. If your phone contact is outside normal working hours, please leave a message and phone number. State 'you were exposed to a bat Tuesday at UT-Austin and were advised to contact them.' These messages are monitored and calls returned every few hours."
Sigh. Suffice to say, touching bats is a bad idea. Bats on the ground are usually wounded or sick. Wounded or sick mammals can bite defensively (though apparently bats mostly don't). Animal bites transmit rabies. Ergo...

Bat Conservation International has a great page that answers questions about rabies transmission from bats (it's rare). Also on that page is the text of a 1999 resolution from the North American Symposium on Bat Research. It outlines the symposium's opposition to the idea that all bat contact incidents be medically handled as bites, i.e. rabies shots, based on an evidence-free "undetected bite hypothesis".

This whole thing is fascinating to me as a person deeply interested in public health, emergency room treatment, and bats. Two more things to love about Austin; home of Bat Conservation International and North America's largest urban bat colony. Oh, and hospitals.


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Lots of medical pics, but text only. So don't freak.

Aw yeah. I just found a Flickr photostream called Clinical Cases and Images. These x-rays and pictures are cool, kinda gross, rather nasty, and quite foul. Sadly, the photos stop at the beginning of the summer (probably used for a class), so I went looking and found the x-ray photo cluster which led on to related subjects. Clusters was a great idea for Flickr.

A guy started a site called Hot or Not?-style rating site for scars, Scarmageddon. There are check-boxes on the side to show scars that are still bleeding, open wound, stitched wound, fully developed, or ScarSafe (very tame). Of course I would argue that the first three categories are not scars at all, merely potential ones, but don't let that get in the way of giving yourself a raging case of the willies.

The current top voted pic is this weird scar from a rattlesnake bite. Eeesh. The full story of the bite is here and the dude has some seriously cool/ball-retracting pics (suitably hidden behind a warning) of his arm during surgery. Like skin cut away and muscles exposed. Wow.


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Not sure if I want some of these kids as colleagues

X-ray of a collapsed lung

Today in Anatomy & Physiology class we discussed air pressure as it relates to the lungs. To inspire, or breathe in, the diaphragm contracts and creates negative pressure in the chest cavity, which causes air to flow into the lungs.

We're going over material already presented in the textbook and the professor asked the class of roughly 75 students what happens when a person is stabbed in the chest, puncturing a lung or the lining around them.

Cricket, cricket.

So I finally spoke up that the person can't breathe in; the pressure in the lungs is already equalized by the open wound and the lung is probably collapsed. Professor nodded and asked the class what this is called.

Cricket, cricket.

She looked back at me and I, rather annoyed by my classmates, responded, "Pneumothorax." C'mon people! This is basic stuff for even a casual watcher of ER.

Seriously, give a medical vocabulary test to my class and fans of Trauma: Life in the ER and the couch potatoes would kick the students collective ass. I shudder to think of the timidity and shaky hands of my classmates when we practice drawing blood on each other. Sure, everybody's got to learn, but the fear and lack of enthusiasm is kinda depressing.

If you are into such things, the Trauma: Life in the ER website has an ER simulation game where you can pretend to be a doctor. I haven't played it yet, but it looks fun. The intro doesn't say, but I assume you can simulate what it would be like to commit negligent homicide or manslaughter, if you are into such things.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Two last bits about ACL 2005

During the Arcade Fire show, they threw out water bottles. Some of the weirdo fan-boys were treating them like holy relics so Win said, "Don't keep them, drink the water!" To which Richard noted the eBay potential, "Water bottle previously owned by The Arcade Fire. No reserve." Funny guy.

Also, ACL has posted pictures from the fest (most of which are unimpressive) and managed to misidentify The Decemberists as The Arcade Fire in several pictures. I emailed the Fest about it, let's see if it gets corrected.


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Tuesday, September 27, 2005

My mind is reeling

First, I read that Kathy Griffin has filed for divorce from Matt. There was a weird vibe between them on her reality show, but having no basis for comparison, I assumed it was just their way. How sad.

Then, pushing the relative shallowness of celebrity marriage completely out of my head was this post by AmericaBlog alledging US soldiers posted gruesome photos of dead bodies on a porn site. He does a good job of laying out why he's inclined to believe it as well as provide an analysis of what it might mean. The post contains examples of the photos, but they are censored to eliminate the gore, so don't let that stop you from reading it.

UPDATE: AP has picked up the story.


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Sunday, September 25, 2005

Austin City Limits Festival 2005

Austin City Limits sign

Austin City Limits Festival was just okay this year.

Friday:

Kasabian were boring. dios (malos) were a welcome surprise. Clearly I need to see them again soon. Mates of State were good, but poor Kori was already bright red. Get that woman some sunscreen please. What I like about them is that their vocals are slightly off-key, but it works. Like Exene and Jon from X. Sound Team was a disappointment. They'd been signed by a major and had spent a lot of time holed up working on songs, but the music and performance was just blah.

Upon the advice of a friend, I watched a bit of Thievery Corporation, but to me it sounded like sex music for a couple who just bought a copy of The Kama Sutra, so I left.

Spoon was pretty good. Having gone to college with them, I've been a fan for years and seen them more times than I ever will another band. It's got to be north of 50 times, so they have to really kick-ass for me to be impressed. The ACL set was good, but not great. A rushed "I Turn My Camera On" lost its power. "Paper Tiger" was, as usual, an expanded version with washes of roaring guitar. Love it.

In a moment of synchronicity while I was writing some of this post, the new TV show "Kitchen Confidential" used the Spoon song "Stay Don't Go" in its second episode.

John Prine's voice is shot, but he's still a compelling performer speaking truth to power. Introducing ""Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore", he said, "I retired this song in 1978. Well George Bush made a liar out of me."

After a few more Prine songs, I hustled out of there to get to The Arcade Fire show at Stubb's.

I started a photo set of interesting "Here I am!" flags that people bring so their friends can find them.

Flying Spaghetti Monster & Jolly Roger flags

I particularly loved this Flying Spaghetti Monster flag.
More pics here.

Saturday:

Woke up late and missed some of the morning bands. I got there in time to see Mike Doughty.

Mike Doughty

He's touring with a full band now, and even though I wished for him to do just that, it was a bit dull. No "Janine" to end the set either. He did do "St. Louise is Listening" which might be my favorite Soul Coughing song.

Built to Spill kinda sucked. When they aren't into a show, their energy and performance reflect it. I've seen them kick-ass and I've seen them suuuuck. This show was closer to the latter.

Death Cab was better than I expected, competent and energetic. Still, I've never been a fan, though their current single "Soul Meets Body" is currently holding me in thrall. From the size of the crowd, either The OC has plenty of influence on musical taste or Oasis fans are willing to wait four hours (through Jet too!) in the hot sun.

Eleanor of The Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces were great in that they confused the audience. Clearly, many people were just waiting for Bloc Party. FF threw them for a loop. I don't think I'll be buying any FF albums soon, but I did enjoy the show and got some great pictures.

I wandered around and ate after that, watched Bloc Party for a couple songs, then headed out to the Built to Spill/Decemberists show at La Zona Rosa.

Sunday:

The day that saved the festival from mediocrity. If not for this day, I would have been disappointed.

My roommate didn't want to go and so gave me her intact wristband, which I gifted to friend Amy. I'm so glad friend Amy was able to go see her two favorite bands.

Anthony Gonzales aka M83

We got to Zilker Park a little late, but saw the whole M83 set. Damn they are amazing. Loud, bombastic, beautiful songs. Wish I could have seen their Friday show at Emo's. Anthony Gonzales writes great music and is very cute.

From a distance, Doves were blah. Amy and I worked our way towards the front as they played that one song which is pretty cool. Can't be bothered to look it up now. We just wanted Arcade Fire.

The Arcade Fire

Despite having just seen them on Friday, Amy and I needed to experience the majesty again. Whoo-boy did they deliver. Despite the heat, they dressed up and played some of the songs even better than Friday. "Haiti" was incredible. Very excited crowd, very awesome band.

Amy went off to see The Decemberists and I went to Bob Mould. Bob was cool, but I knew that I'd enjoy another helping of The Decemberists more so I hiked over to their stage. I got there in time to hear Colin Meloy launch into one of his now-standard bits.
“Yesterday I was hanging out with Ben Gibbard [Death Cab for Cutie and I asked him, ‘Ben, how do you write songs of such pathos?’

And he said to me, ‘It comes from my upbringing.’

‘How’s that?' I said. And he picked up his guitar and sang me this song.”
The band then launched into a rousing, extended version of “Chimbley Sweep” complete with the shushed breakdown where Colin got most of the crowd up front to crouch down quietly (the one holdout got a drink thrown at him by a fan). It was going to be a hard song to top, but they did with "The Mariner's Revenge Song" complete the requisite whale attack. Sure it's old hat to fans who've seen them before, but the crowd, including many non-devotees, ate it up.

After a Wilco song and half of Franz Ferdinand one, Amy and I headed out. Despite the awful heat and dusty air, it was all worth it.

Many more photos here, including way too many Arcade Fire pics. I love them so.

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Friday, September 23, 2005

The Arcade Fire, non-ACL show 9/23/05

There was nobody I wanted to see at ACL on Friday night, so friend Amy and I went to see The Arcade Fire at Stubb's. We got there early enough to secure a place up front.

In a moment of telepathy, Amy and I had the exact same thought about opening band The Black Keys, "It's not my thing, but they are very good at it." I'm hyper-pleased with the photos I took of them. Blurry, yet in focus also. I really need to figure out how to do it on purpose.

The Black Keys

The Arcade Fire started on a melancholy note with lead guitarist/singer Win Butler saying he used to live in Houston. The band sent out best wishes to the people of the Gulf Coast with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". It was sad and beautiful.

They went from there into their standard opening song "Wake Up". It was amazing being in the midst of a crowd that loudly sang out the "ohhh" parts. They played a surprising number of non-Funeral tracks (setlist here), including songs from their re-released first EP and "5 Days", a David Bowie song. The highlights for me were "Tunnels" and "Power Out", great songs on album but stunningly powerful live.

Overall, it was a great show, though my prediction has held true, their show in January in Emo's is still the best thing I've seen all year.

The Arcade Fire 9/23/05 in Austin

The Arcade Fire 9/23/05 in Austin

More pics of both bands here.


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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Percussion quintet plays DJ Shadow

Brian Udelhofen is a music teacher with great taste. He arranged DJ Shadow's "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and "Changeling" for Percussion Quintet then taught it to his students. Nifty video of their performance.

At the risk of sounding stoned and tautological, cool stuff is cool.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Talk Like a Pirate



It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Uh, I mean, Yarr! 'Tis be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Rock on.

There's tons of websites with good pirate content, but take five minutes and listen to the famous (in England) Million Pound Radio Show sketch Pirate Training Day. It's funny.

Much less funny, I had a piece about the holiday published today. Happily, I managed to work in a mention of Pastafarianism. Unhappily, my editor cut the pointers on how to talk like a pirate. Arr! So I've self-published them.

Talking Like a Pirate: The Basics

It may seem daunting at first, but talking like a pirate is just a matter of practice. Follow these pointers and soon ye’ll be leavin’ landlubber talk behind ye.

  • “Hello!” is “Ahoy!”, “yes” is “aye”, and “a wealthy merchant” is soon “gone down to Davy Jones’ locker”.
  • Pirates always speak in the present tense. “I have been plundering vessels for some time now,” is properly said, “Aarr! For many a year I be a gentleman o’ fortune.”
  • All instances of “is” become “be” and the pronoun “my” becomes “me”. So the observation, “Whoah! There is a big bag of gold coins over there,” is instead, “Shiver me timbers! Thar be treasure.”
  • Gerunds lose their terminal “g”. Pirates like sailin’, pillagin’, and drinkin’ (actually that last one should be “splicin’ the mainbrace”).
  • Beginners should start sentences with a hearty “Aarr!”* You’ll find it’s easier to continue from there.
*It’s “Aarr!” or "Yarr!”, not “Arrgh!” Pirates say “Aarr!” People unwilling to part from their jewels say, “Arrgh!” Well, they do when run through with a cutlass.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Another great in-store

Saturday I went to another great in-store at End of an Ear. Big Dan is doing a great job booking acts and drawing a crowd.

Great Lake Swimmers and Palaxy Tracks were thoroughly enjoyable, made all the better than it was free and there was pizza and beer.

Great Lake Swimmers, a band

More photos here.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Ring the bell and drooling begins

For a little extra spending money, I referee volleyball games. Mostly intramural games on campus, but also 5th-8th grade girls’ games all over the city. The pay’s not bad, and the girls’ games at least are easy. Their play is not quite up to the bump-set-spike level; it's quite a sensation when the balls stays inbounds for more than a minute.

I was officiating at a girls’ game the other evening and a mom kept yelling, “C’mon girls!” in such a way that my brain immediately responded, “Do you believe in love? Cuz I got something to say about it, and it goes something like this!” Mom kept yelling it periodically and every time I was unable to stop myself. It was like a Pavlovian Madonna-song trigger.

During the break between games, I started to wonder if there were other such Material Girl-dependent switches buried in me. I ran down a list of Madonna songs and was troubled to realize that, when someone says "God?", a gospel chorus starts "oooh"-ing in my mind followed by church organ and Ms. Ciccone singing, "Life is a mystery..." I also think, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Sadly I must conclude that if I was dressed in rubber clothes, then handed a crop and a Chihuahua, I would be unable to resist fake-spanking the dog.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

I'm not as think as you drunk I am

ethanol molecule

When people are brought into the ER for being drunk, their "complaint" is often listed as ETOH. More properly written EtOH, it stands for ethyl alcohol (OH being the oxygen+hydrogen functional group that, when attached to an organic molecule, makes it an alcohol - I paid attention in organic chemistry). Ethyl alcohol is better-known ethanol or "that shit that gets you fuuucked uuuuuup" as I once heard a frat boy explain.

After checking them out to make sure nothing else is wrong, the patient is usually just left to sleep it off. Sometimes the med staff will hang a banana bag (IV fluid containing a multivitamin which causes the yellow color, thiamine, folic acid, and sometimes magnesium sulfate).

Registering these patients can either be really easy or really difficult. If they're passed out, you try one "Mr. [name]!", then just mark off that they are unresponsive. If they're awake, getting them to respond to questions can be a lengthy and tiresome chore. Gold star if you successfully get an intoxicated person to sign paperwork while dodging their flammable, bile-tinged breath.

One night EMS brought in a young man that was loaded. Completely out. It was his 21st birthday and he'd attempted to down as many shots. Sigh. After taking care of his medical needs, several nurses and techs surrounded the bed and sang a rousing version of "Happy Birthday" to his unconscious body.

I've mentioned before the sense of humor pervasive in our ER. It feels like home to me.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

RGC show


Last night I went to see Retribution Gospel Choir at Emo's. It was a good show, made better by the lack of cigarette smoke in the air. Yay for the smoking ban!

I was busy taking pictures and just enjoying the show, so I didn't take notes on the actual setlist. The set list as written:



I know they didn't play "Destroyer" and did play "Down By the River" (Neil Young).

Alan Sparhawk and Mark Kozelek's voices sounded great and it was nice to hear them both play loud as they both come from much quieter bands. Surprisingly big crowd for a new band on a Tuesday, but I guess the "big names" fronting it brought people in.

More photos.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies

My friend Amy sent me a link to The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies. Animated bunnies, but still. I drew looks of fear and concern from fellow students when I started choking with laughter. (Make sure to click on the dancing bunny in the balcony at the end of the clip)

Turns out, the Jennifer Shiman have done a slew of these, all hilarious. She seems to have a particular affection for horror and science fiction. You really can't argue with the logic of Jaws + animated bunnies = funny.

What I'm most impressed with is Shiman manages to get the plot across in 30 seconds while still throwing in unnecessary but memorable scenes from the films. This made my day.

Revenge of a gospel choir

I had an article published today in The Daily Texan newspaper. It's about a band called Retribution Gospel Choir.

I'm not thrilled with my writing, but then I'm rarely am. Also, writing articles is torturous. I love interviewing bands, love going to the show, love getting the CD for free, and hate hate hate the misery of writing the article or review. Figuring out an angle, crafting paragraphs and transitions, coming up with descriptions that aren't total cliches, the whole thing is a gut-churning, headache-inducing exercise in madness. And yet, I'll do it again and again. So welcome to my pity party, I'm completely ridiculous.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Katrina shaking up US media?

Looking for a short respite from school-related work, I got sucked into a multi-hour Katrina-centric reading frenzy.

Take five minutes to watch this incredibly well-delivered, stinging critique from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. Or read it (scroll to the September 5, 2005 8:58 p.m. ET entry). Is Matt Wells right? Has Katrina saved the US media? Got some more time? Watch this compilation of media actually doing their job.

Harper's has posted an essay from their upcoming issue for free on their site. "The Uses of Disaster: Notes on bad weather and good government", written by Rebecca Solnit before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, is thoughtful and illuminating.

Naomi Kline is advancing a great idea, "Let the People Rebuild New Orleans". She reasons that disaster relief money rightly belongs to those victimized by the disaster rather than the no-bid contractor buddies of government officials. So, the people affected most should lead the effort of reconstruction. She also cites two relevant examples of how it can go terribly awry when business interests supplant human interests: the 1995 Mexico City earthquake and last year's tsunami.

Just as they did with 9/11, The Onion finds a way to make me laugh when all I could manage before was tears and rage.

A bleeding head story

I haven't come through on my promise for more ER stories yet, so here's one.

EMS wheels in a gurney with a guy strapped to it. Lac to the top of the head and he's really drunk. As many people know, cuts on the head bleed a lot. This guy's hair is dyed red and gummy from the blood. His face is streaked with it. He'd look fantastic lying on the ground in a war movie or lurching about in a zombie flick. And yet, he's fine. No need to send up a pint from the blood bank.

For no good reason, the rest of this will be in Q&A format.

How did he split his scalp open?

He got drunk, started showing off, and fell down.

Why was he drunk?

He was at a bachelor party.

For who's wedding?

His.

Really?

Oh yes.

When is the wedding?

In three days.

Wow.

Yeah.

He's going to look awfully funny in the wedding photos isn't he?

Well, before the stitches get put in, his hair is going to be trimmed all around the laceration. So unless hairstyles change radically in the next couple of days, yes he's going to look funny.

Of course, there may not be any wedding photos once his fiance gets wind of this.

At least we'll have a chart started if she's sends him back our way ball-less or something.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

+ a few gravities

A few weeks ago, I went to Six Flags Over Texas with my sister. I hadn't been there in years and was seriously jonesing for some coaster airtime. Having grown up in Dallas, Six Flags was a yearly summer ritual sorely missed.

We went on a weekday after school had started for the youngsters so as to avoid the crowds. Still, we were astounded to find the park practically empty. We never waited more than a minute or two in line for any ride. Gloriously, I rode most of the rollercoasters several times in a row. With so few people, there was no reason for the staff to make riders leave after one circuit.

In four hours, we had criss-crossed the park, riding everything we wanted to multiple times. My sister was great in that, while she didn't accompany me on most of the big coasters, she never complained about waiting while I rode them again and again. She's cool like that. We ended up going on rides we didn't really care about just for the hell of it. Same time next summer, definitely.

Fairly early on, I wanted to get over to Judge Roy Scream. It's a wooden coaster built in 1980 tucked away on the edge of the park. It's not as intense as some of the other coasters, but it's still my favorite. In general I find wooden coasters inferior to steel ones. They're slower, can't incorporate looping elements, and tend to bang the rider around. Judge Roy Scream overcomes these drawbacks though. It has the rickety, sway-and-creak quality of wooden coasters that makes up a large part of their charm, without the furious jostling of the loathsome Texas Giant (also at Six Flags Over Texas).


You pull out of the station and take an immediate right to begin ascending the first hill. The clickety-clack of Judge is especially beautiful. To the right is an artificial lake and the rest of the park which you can contemplate as you ride to the top, then it's up and over. Two hills and five camelbacks later, you're done. Elegant and absolutely wonderful.

My favorite part of any ride is that floaty feeling in your stomach as you plunge downwards at 22 MPH every second, cancelling gravity, before pulling up and doing it again. Judge Roy Scream's series of five camelbacks is pure "airtime" heaven. I rode it six times in a row, mostly in the front car. I told ride-operator Jessica, "It's probably just the endorphins, but I think I love you."

I had another great ride on Shockwave. Built in 1978, it's notable for it's double loop at the bottom of the first hill.

The loops are great and riders are under significant positive Gs during them. I didn't ride it at night this time, but after dark it's lit up with lights all along the sides of the track which is particularly cool as you go through the loops. They're fun, but I like the drops. Airtime is best.

After a couple rides, I came back into the station and saw that not only was there was no one waiting, but the other six or so people on it with me were getting off. I moved up to the front car and rode it out of the station alone.

What a glorious experience it is to ride a coaster alone in the front car. As little as possible between you and the track. No one screaming or whoooo!-ing. Swinging back and forth between positive and negative Gs. Slowing exhaling through the drops with my arms in the air. Sublime.

(Click on the coaster photos (by Joe Schwartz) for more)

The last great ride I went on was Titan. This was a new one for me as it was added in 2001 after my last visit. As space in the park is somewhat constrained, they took out some parking to accomodate Titan.

I got a little nervous on the loooong ride to the top of the 255" tall, first hill. The drop is a monster that bottoms out in a tunnel. Aside from it's height, what makes Titan interesting is the two helices you go through practically on your side. One spirals up to the third drop, the other spirals down near the end. While pulling 4.5 Gs, you can look over and see the ground turning underneath. It's intense.

On my way out after a second ride, I went over to the booth that shows pictures of the riders right before they enter the tunnel at the bottom of the first hill. The girls in the front were screaming with eyes shut tight. The guys in the middle had their fists in the air with "YEEARGH!" expressions on their faces. In the back I wore a serene, Buddha-like smile. Enlightenment through acceleration?

Running out of things to do, my sister and I decided to go on Yosemite Sam's Gold River Adventure. It's terrible. Since he says it better than I ever could, I'll quote Kevin Tuma's review from Theme Park Insider:

"Once this ride was great dark ride, called "the Spelunker's Cave". It was a fascinating, mystical water ride filled with animated elflings, that started from a tropical cave's mouth and ended in an alpine snow flurry. Then along came Bugs Bunny. The original ride was destroyed in order to make a corporate franchise ride. It's pretty darn awful too--it does Bugs no favors."



As a child too small and fearful to ride the coasters, The Cave was a favorite of mine. I practically fall into a nostalgia fugue state remembering the feel of the tub as it traveled along, the cold air, the musty smell, the reverberating music, and the slighty sinister Spee-lunkers [the "correct" spelling].

Here's a in-depth description of the ride with pictures. For those who actually remember riding it, a righteously geeky fan has sonically recreated the experience.

It used to be weird and unique, now it's loud and trademarked. Sigh.

The day ended with my sister and I riding the Texas Star Carousel. Not an exciting experience mind you, but a nice digestive at the end of the day. Like having Armagnac and chocolate at the end of a meal. Which I've only done once aboard an Air France plane from Rome to Houston, but still.

Six Flags Over Texas, I will see you again at the same time next summer with as many friends as I can drag along.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Yeah, I'm still here

Haven't posted in a while due to:

1) School starting
2) Funeral of my uncle
3) Guilt from other projects I'm supposed to be doing
4) An avoidance of the struggle that is sitting and writing

However, today I organized my school and various-bits-of-work schedules, then read Craig Thompson's Carnet de Voyage. As is often the case, when I see or hear great art, I'm inspired to get off my ass and make something, however meager and amateurish. This post is not that thing. Things are percolating though.

In the mean time, join me in getting riled up by this.

UPDATE: The link above is dead, so here's another to the same account by EMS workers Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky.

More interestly, This American Life aired an all-Katrina episode last week that has an interview with Lorrie Beth Slonsky and others from the same group.

(Scroll to Last Week, the show's called "After the Flood", interview starts at 21:05)