Keeping Dry Open Thread

19 Comments

1. 

   seabe on October 28, 2012 at 8:19 pm

   I was waiting for the next thread to post it. Looks like you’re ahead of the curve anyway, CG! I am off as well, but I gotta say I better not lose power. I’d rather be at work working than stuck at home with no power.

2. 

   Errol on October 28, 2012 at 8:26 pm

   Hope you stay dry and pump doesn’t give out.
   Great endorsement video! certainly conveys my picture of what a Romney presidency would be like (hopefully we’ll never know for sure)

   • 

     Errol on October 28, 2012 at 8:27 pm

     nice and subtle the way he’s cooking dinner – lucky he gives himself flexible hours so he can get home in time for that

3. 

   donnah on October 28, 2012 at 8:35 pm

   Stay safe! Stay dry! Thinking of you here in SW Ohio, where we hope to remain on the fringe of the Sandy disaster.

   Thanks for sharing Joss Whedon’s ad. I didn’t think I could love him more, but I do. People don’t realize, or they just don’t care that Romney will truly cast this country down a well that we will never pull out of. A win for Romney would truly be apocalyptic.

   Hang in there!

4. 

   ImNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet on October 28, 2012 at 9:14 pm

   Here in NoVA Sandy has been a nothingburger so far.  A little wind, a little rain.  It could certainly make one complacent.

   I hope folks on the coast are taking the warnings seriously.

   Jeff Masters’ blog at WeatherUnderground:

   Sandy’s storm surge a huge threat

   This afternoon’s 3:30 pm EDT H*Wind analysis from NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division put the destructive potential of Sandy’s winds at a modest 2.8 on a scale of 0 to 6. However, the destructive potential of the storm surge was record high: 5.8 on a scale of 0 to 6. This is a higher destructive potential than any hurricane observed since 1969, including Category 5 storms like Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Camille, and Andrew. The previous highest destructive potential for storm surge was 5.6 on a scale of 0 to 6, set during Hurricane Isabel of 2003. Sandy is now forecast to bring a near-record storm surge of 6 – 11 feet to Northern New Jersey and Long Island Sound, including the New York City Harbor. This storm surge has the potential to cause many billions of dollars in damage if it hits near high tide at 9 pm EDT on Monday. The full moon is on Monday, which means astronomical high tide will be about 5% higher than the average high tide for the month. This will add another 2 – 3″ to water levels. Fortunately, Sandy is now predicted to make a fairly rapid approach to the coast, meaning that the peak storm surge will not affect the coast for multiple high tide cycles. Sandy’s storm surge will be capable of overtopping the flood walls in Manhattan, which are only five feet above mean sea level. On August 28, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene brought a storm surge of 4.13′ and a storm tide of 9.5′ above MLLW to Battery Park on the south side of Manhattan. The waters poured over the flood walls into Lower Manhattan, but came 8 – 12″ shy of being able to flood the New York City subway system. According to the latest storm surge forecast for NYC from NHC, Sandy’s storm surge is expected to be at least a foot higher than Irene’s. If the peak surge arrives near Monday evening’s high tide at 9 pm EDT, a portion of New York City’s subway system could flood, resulting in billions of dollars in damage. I give a 50% chance that Sandy’s storm surge will end up flooding a portion of the New York City subway system.

   (Emphasis added.)

   Stay safe everyone.

   Cheers,
   Scott.

5. 

   Snarki child of Loki on October 28, 2012 at 9:39 pm

   I, for one, look forward to the Halloween decorations, skeletons, witches and all, screaming past the windows in gale force winds.

   It will be a suitable start to a Zomney Apocalypse.

6. 

   Geov Parrish on October 28, 2012 at 9:44 pm

   Joss Whedon is God. That is all.

   • 

     AkamaiGuy on October 28, 2012 at 10:56 pm

     Agreed!  Shiny!

7. 

   boran2 on October 28, 2012 at 10:38 pm

   I, for one, welcome our new zombie overlords.

8. 

   WaterGirl on October 28, 2012 at 11:02 pm

   The video was fun, and funny, and I didn’t even know who Joss Whedon was.  I could feel all the inside jokes as they whipped all around me, but I could only guess at the references.

   Is there any particularly good starting point for getting acquainted with Joss Whedon?

   • 

     seabe on October 28, 2012 at 11:14 pm

     • 

       seabe on October 28, 2012 at 11:21 pm

       TL;DW:

       Because–equality is not a concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who is confronted with it.

       We need equality. Kinda now.

       [Applause from audience]

       So, why do you write these strong female characters?

       Because you’re still asking me that question.

   • 

     RandyH on October 28, 2012 at 11:19 pm

     I didn’t know much about him either. Here’s his very impressive IMDB profile. Mostly writer / producer stuff.

     • 

       Indianadem on October 28, 2012 at 11:42 pm

       Firefly and Serenity ~ oh yeah, I’m a fan.

       • 

         AkamaiGuy on October 29, 2012 at 1:26 am

         +1 !

       • 

         Don Durito on October 29, 2012 at 2:48 am

         And don’t forget “Buffy”.

   • 

     WaterGirl on October 29, 2012 at 8:54 am

     Thanks for all the responses on Joss Whedon.  I am off to poll watch all day, so looking at all this good stuff will be my treat when I get home.

9. 

   hz on October 29, 2012 at 12:10 am

   My goodness.  Thomas Friedman is making sense today.  I wasn’t prepared for that.

10. 

    byzantium on October 29, 2012 at 8:51 am

    Thanks for the Joss Whedon. He’s one of my favorite television writer/producer/directors. I first became aware of his talent with “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” and the spinoff “Angel.” Whedon is also an unabashed Anglophile having gone to school in England in the late 70’s. This is why the stodgy Englishman character Giles played an essential/prominent role on Buffy which allowed Whedon to pepper the series with loads of Anglo references.  
    Whedon is also a third generation entertainment writer. His father and grandfather wrote for television and Broadway productions. He utilizes a writing staff that is known in Hollywood as “The Northwestern Mafia,” since most of them are N.U. grads from around the same time that a young Stephen Colbert graced the campus.