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A Jaws-like Mako
Check out the picture of this huge Mako caught off of Nova Scotia. I wonder what they were using for bait… Reminds me of the time when Brian, Steve, and I used some beef blood to make a bait slick when we went fishing off of the pier next to UCSB. We didn’t catch a thing, but then again who catches great stuff off of piers anyways? At least we had a few 6 packs.
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Friday Facial
One good reason I don’t want to go fishing for squid this winter (although half my island’s population will be lining the shores): LINK
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Praying Mantis style
Even though it’s way late, my complete and utter devotion to Neal Stephenson’s writing compels me to point out his interview on Slashdot. That’s the most interesting read I’ve had all year; I was watching the progression of the scroll tab on my browser and dreading its end. Also, check out this article featuring Stross and Doctorow on the PopSci site: Is Science Fiction About to Go Blind?
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Touching Base
Between the damage done by the typhoon last week and a freak wave of work that slammed over my desk quite unexpectedly, I just haven’t felt like writing lately. It’s kinda depressing driving around because the traffic is really bad – the drive to work usually takes less than 15 minutes, but now it takes up to an hour. Last week I mentioned that a couple bridges had broken, but it turns out that several more suffered structural damage that wasn’t seen at first and have since been closed to traffic. Road conditions have been appalling – the thick layers of river silt on the asphalt dried out the first…
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Depleted stock
Empty shelves at a convenience store are a sure sign that something bad has happened.
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Blockage
Mountain of trash obscuring an ancient shrine.
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Muddy streets
This ojisan fell off the Cub right after I snapped this shot.
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Damage Report
First off, me and mine are OK. I know the rest of the world can hardly be expected to notice yet another typhoon hitting our little island this year, but let me tell you, this one was by far the worst. It has caused destruction on a scale I have not seen in person since the Hanshin earthquake almost a decade ago (although, luckily, it wasn’t nearly as destructive as that). The big river that runs through Sumoto overflowed for the first time in anyone’s memory (perhaps the first time, ever), as did most of its branches and tributaries. The city, for the most part, was not prepared for flooding…
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Humbolt Squid off of Long Beach
If you live in Los Angeles and you want to go fishing for squid, right now is the time to do it- apparently these large squid were spotted as far North as Washington state. If you want to go salt water fishing, then you have a free source of bait waiting for you on the beach. The seagulls must be having a feast! Fishing for Humbolts would kick the pants off of cuttlefish fishing on Awaji, but I still wouldn’t go squid fishing even if I had the chance. They just can’t fight that well, and there’s always the possibility of being shot with a stream of brine, or even…
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Riding the Big Lizard (Typhoon Tokage)
So typhoon Tokage (lizard) almost washed me and my poor car away (liveblogging posts are on my sidebar today; here is the permanent link), but after 2 hours of endless waiting at flooded intersections and negotiating some gnarly mudslides, I have gotten home safely. Unfortunately, not everyone was as fortunate, so I helped push one car out of a ditch and gave someone else a ride to their car. I can’t believe they turned us out of the office just in time to face such heinous weather and road conditions. “Why did we have work today at all?,” was a common complaint overheard in the moments after the announcement to…
