(pronounce more or less "eyafyatlay[œ]k[Y]tl". each time you pronounce it wrong Thor chops a kitten’s head off. fact. )
Note: Eyjafjallajökull is the name of the glacier where the eruption is taking place. The volcano itself, or the crater, doesn't have a name yet. (Actually, there’s two of them.) If you want to name it go there and tell them. Anal sex and farting references are disqualified.
For those who aren’t sure what the hell this is about and who suspect i am making some weird shit up just for the sake of putting a cool-looking Icelandic name on the front page of the world famous DC blog, a few words of introduction :
Eyjafjallajökull is a glacier in the south of Iceland, the site of two recent eruptions, the latter still going on as i type this. The first eruption started on March 20th, after high seismic activity for the past year or so.
As you may or may not know, Iceland sits right on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which gives it very high geological activity. So to be honest those eruptions aren’t particularly extraordinary, or unexpected. But i figured it was a good excuse to put some badass volcano pictures up.
Note: to be more precise the area of eruption1 is closer to Fimmvörðuháls than Eyjafjallajökull, but how many weird-ass icelandic vowels can you take, boy?
On the 14th of april, after a pause and while we (the excited vulcanophiliac geeks) thought the eruption was over, another eruption started, at a different place and deeper under the glacier this time, creating massive billowing smoke clouds.
As you'd expect from an eruption under a glacier, huge amounts of water melting mixed with debris, tephra and bits of iceberg form some seriously immense flood. That’s called a Jökulhlaup. One day i’ll have a dog and that’s how i’ll call him.
Here it is, rushing down the mountains towards the sea:
The main Icelandic road that goes round the island had to be broken (literally) to allow those floods to go through and thus save bridges.
broken Highway One
Jökulhlaup crossing the road.
Check It Out :
- The Reykjavik Grapevine's website has regular reports on the eruption (or anything Iceland-related, for that matter.)
- NASA’s pictures. We like nasa, preciousss, YESSSS.
BETTER THAN GHOSTCAM! VolcanoCam! at least what you see really is there!
- Three webcams (at time of writing) have been set up around the volcano. I recommend having a look at it first thing in the morning while having coffee. Helps put the rest of your day back into perspective.
Note : one camera is down right now but it might be back up when you read this.
(the three cameras are the blue arrows on the left under “Vefmyndavélar”.
- For all the tech data that i could not be bothered with, wiki is, as per usual, your friend.
( I'm writing this on the 15th or april, and obviously, the headlines today were all about flights being cancelled and how very fucking dramatic that was for us The People. Clearly that's the only thing that matters, humans having to wait a few more days to take a plane.
This is the ME era so if you're not whining and navel-gazing you're anachronistic! COME ON guys get with the damn program!)
NOTE: as i was compiling this day, this, here, is the point where everything went all “oh fuck it, let’s shove loads of those pics and videos and links together and stop trying to make that a structured thing”. Cause you see, like the Dude would say, “new shit is coming to light” every goddamn minute so i keep sending poor Dennis updates to add to the day, and it’s becoming ridiculous.
THEREFORE, in true volcanic fashion, let’s erupt it all here in a big messy ashy cloud of web-data spit. If this day makes no sense to you, well, you know. Tough shit. Nothing in this world does. EH.
MORE VOLCANOCAM FUN:
another volcano webcam
http://www.vedur.is/vedur/athuganir/vefmyndavelar/surtsey/
and a list of all the volcano-cams:
http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/vefmyndaen.html
webcam stills:
http://picasaweb.google.at/Rudolf.Po/VolcanoEruptionFimmvorUhalsIsland#
one day in the life of a volcano: (accelerated webcam for april 17th)
FOR THE REAL SCIENTIFIC STUFF:
or at least informative, lots of excellent stuff was taken from the more excellent blog No Slumber For Volcanologists:
http://volcanologists.tumblr.com/
radar observations and more geeky stuff (yummm)
http://www2.norvol.hi.is/page/ies_Eyjafjallajokull_eruption
this s what the craters look like! REALLY!!!!! radar image:
post-apocalyptic landscapes.
those who've seen or read The Road, go "oh, yeah" with me.
what does a volcano sound like?
http://www.andrimagnason.com/2010/04/the-volcano-sounds-like-heartbeat-in-a-doppler-device/
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*
p.s. Hey. You know how, like, on TV shows, i.e. Saturday Night Live and contexts of that nature, occasionally they'll book some mega-wattage band, some living legend of a group, a total coup, and when it comes time to introduce the special guest, the host will note the occasion's wow factor by going all 'words can not express' mixed with 'you already know what you're about to see and how privileging it is', etc., by pulling out the classic less is more, understood, wink-wink, sigh of relief and joy, anti-informative style introduction? So ... Ladies and gentlemen, (pregnant pause) Wolf. Oh, and one last thing, if you remember my alert the other day about Natty Soltesz aka d.l. Bacteriaburger's Kickstarter-based fund raising effort on behalf of his upcoming book? Well, he reached his goal in a mere five days, and I want to personally thank anyone from around here who helped our talented pal hit the mark. ** Tomkendall, Hey. Money = terror. Sleeping sickness ... mono? Can't imagine those kids gave you that unless it's not just a kissing disease or you're a lot wilder than you look. ** Misanthrope, Mm, not really, I guess. I mean about seeing my work's influence in the evidence I've seen, although, hm, almost naked bloody guys might have something to do with it, I guess. I don't really have a reaction other than curiosity to see more and the coolness one feels when other artists like one's work. ** Bill, Thoroughly enjoyed the performance/video. Yeah, it certainly isn't the best way to see your visuals. A lot of murkiness, but they looked amazing anyway. So, awesome. What's next? ** Wolf, Thanks for blowing my fucking mind and for blowing away my fucking blog. ** Changeling, Understood about the diminished obliqueness making your squirm a bit. I think you nailed the barer bones thing really well. I think it only suggests your work has branches, leafy ones even. No, I don't feel weird about things like that Ricci/Forte performance. I guess I just feel excited and proud mostly, and I'm curious to see what it is. It feels kind of like getting some sort of ultimate feedback on my work. And I like the relinquishing power aspect. The only bad experience I've ever had with stuff like that was the miserable piece of shit film based on my novel 'Frisk'. Otherwise, it's always just interesting. Plus, I love collaborating, and it feels kind of like a collaboration, except it's my work hanging out in a theater with artists for hours and hours instead of me. Ha ha, totally, very nice, about Iggy vs. Bowie vis a vis shit. That's cool about that art porn making person. Being the porn aficionado I am, maybe I wasn't just their 'dream' audience. Thanks, C., and I hope writing goes well, and I can't wait to read the newest. Oh, wait, what do you think about sending some work to Tim Jones-Yelvington for the issue of Pank he's guest editing. (See: the explanation below). Does that interest you? As a fan of your work, of course I love the idea of it getting out there and being read/ appreciated by even more people. ** Alan, Hey. I love all that calculating. Thanks, man. The Day/contest was super great. I got a few more of them right than I'd thought. ** Put The Lotion In The Basket, The bunny suit was kind of the clincher, right? I thought 'Gummo'. I think its rabbit is my favorite. Oh, yeah, I feel really flattered by the theater thing. Having my stuff productively impact another artist's stuff is as good as it possibly gets. It's like my works are getting a new nephew or niece or something. It's awesome. Mm, I wasn't counting 'unconscious', no. I figure that takes the 'chill' out, and it just becomes 'axed', which is so much better, you must agree. ** David Ehrenstein, Congratulations on being the last contest entrant standing! I want to know the punchline of that joke. Come on, slip it to me. ** David, I didn't realize Ben Stiller ever directed anything. I knew he produced stuff. A quick glance at his imdb page indicates between acting, producing, and directing, he has 14 films in pre- or post-production. I don't hate him, but God help us anyway. ** Statictick, I'll wait for your tip off. I don't think I know 'Remainder' by Tom McCarthy at all. What is it? Erik Visser aka Adjoun hasn't been around here in a couple of months or so. You could probably write to him using whatever address he has on his genius site/blog. ** Tim Jones-Yelvington, Howdy, Tim! Really nice to see you. Oh, sure, let me see if I can find something to submit to you for Pank. I'm sure I can. Watch for it, and thanks for requesting. Now I'll alert the others ... Everyone, the finer than fine writer and d.l. Tim Jones-Yelvington is editing the October online issue of the great lit magazine Pank as a Queer prose & poetry issue, and he's seeking submissions. Pank is awesome, Tim is awesome, and I strongly urge those of you for whom this shout out applies to send him work. I'm going to submit. Join me. Here is where you can find all the information you need. Send him work, seriously, do. Big congrats to you and to the world re: the editing gig. That's exciting! ** Joseph, That must have been a hell of a scab your friend threw at you 'cos ... wouldn't ... no, wait, I was going to posit that the scab must have been a mighty and sizable one to be able to hurl through the air, but then I remembered, duh, the air isn't precious about the size of the things that fly through it, so never mind. I hope you get a good enough poem in the 'mail' soon. Maybe you can just steal one from somewhere else, worst comes to worst. I steal stuff for my blog all the time. People love it! They go apeshit! ** Sypha, That's a great Bret/Stiller story, and I really hope it's true. ** Steven Trull, What, and the previous 364 days weren't like Christmas?! ** Steevee, I will absolutely keep my eye out for Clio Bernard's 'The Arbor'. I hope it didn't already open/close here. Can you somehow tiptoe back into a tentative email acquaintanceship with your friend? Is he worth it, I guess I'm asking? ** Stan_cz, Hey, Stan! Yeah, long time no see indeed! I'm glad you're doing okay. I was wondering what was what? Well, I did a quick check, and here are some famous LACC alumni whom you could think about choosing: Alan Arkin, James Coburn, Eric Dolphy, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Frank Gehry, Mark Hamill, Albert Hughes of the Hughes Brothers, Charles Mingus, Odetta, Donna Reed, Gene Roddenberry, Esther Williams, John Williams (the 'composer'), La Monte Young ... Dang, that's a pretty impressive alumni group, I must say. ** Little foal, Fantastic that you finished the piece and sent it off. Yeah, man, I know what you mean about that belief. Few if any other possible sensations can touch it, if you ask me. Reaching that plateau for yourself is no small thing, no small change, and once you learn that belief in your writing, it's so much easier to find (again). Wonderful, my friend! Maybe you might want to submit something to Tim for the Pank issue I mentioned above? Think about it. Regarding the stuff with your friend, yeah, I think I understand. I have friends who seem to feel the need to emote in heavy quotation marks like that. Well, I obviously don't know the guy or your friendship with him at all, but when you said he laughed at your explanation about your writing and making friends and stuff, I immediately thought it was pure, disguised fear -- that you might be achieving things you want when he isn't or is worried that he isn't, that this 'new' you might abandon him for 'bigger and better' things, etc. You know what I mean? In my experience, that kind of reaction from people has often been just fear and self-doubt in heavy disguise. I don't know if that's right, and I don't know if, even I am right, knowing how complicated the situation was for him would solve the problem for you, but that interpretation occurred to me. One thing's for sure, you don't deserve that. That's for absolutely sure. ** Kyle Brod, Well, hey there, Kyle! You good? What's going on? Oh, that MIA video. Yeah, right? How about dem apples! ** _Black_Acrylic, Your mom is right, of course. There's probably some bureaucratical stuff that takes time. Are there other candidates, do you know? That would take time too. Yeah, do your best to chill for now, but don't chillax! Cool about your bro's good finish in the race. Yeah, I don't get the pull to do something like that either, but it seems like a very admirable something. ** Justin, That's really great about the bonding with your dad, and, more importantly, the happiness. Awesome to hear, man. Oh, shit, I forgot about the blacking out of the titles thing. Hm, maybe I can stick to using posters from countries with languages that people are incredibly unlikely to speak and then tell people not to cheat and trust everyone. That would make it more doable. ** Kier, That decision by your therapist and you sounds very reasonable and right to me. Yeah, the hospital stay could be just the thing, an adventure, fodder for art, as well as a soother. Beatrice Dalle is very cool, yeah. I have to talk to the people in the Recollets office today, and I'll make sure they're not holding a package for me, and I'll ask Yury again if he's sure he didn't stash a package for me somewhere because he's done that and forgotten on occasion. No, I didn't hear that about the Donner Party. Weird. I liked the Peruvian plane crash soccer player cannibal guys better anyway. ** JW Veldhoen, Shit eating in my oeuvre .. hm, well, I guess in 'Closer'. Maybe for a second in 'Frisk', I can't remember. But I think that's the extent. Sounds like that guy has never rimmed anybody and has 17th century notions about it. The best thing written about rimming in my work is the great Avital Ronell's great essay about/analysis of rimming in my work. I think it's called something like or to do with 'Pacific Rim'. Oh, the 'gay content' thing, yeah, whatever, zzzz. Thanks, man. ** Jesse Hudson, Hey, Jesse! Thanks a lot. Yeah, the theater piece looks intriguing and promising. I hope it gets to Paris at some stage. Gracias big time for stopping in and sharing your mightiness with us. ** Blendin, You don't sound unconfident to me. I do get the excited thing. Trust that. Is excitement ever wrong? I don't think so. Is my poetry scabrous? Hm, I think they must have meant my novel's poetics. Most of my poems are all, like, You're dead, I'm freaked out. ** Creative Massacre, Hip hip hooray! Congrats big time, pal. Celebration time? Surely. How did/will you mark this auspicious occasion? ** Will Decker, I'm glad my words were useful, man. Thank you for saying so. Using that link, I see that Dirty Projectors played at the festival. They're really good. And that crusty, eccentric rock vet Leon Russell. I'm very glad you had a wonderful, rich time. ** L@rstonovich, Jury duty. And you're happy about it? Cool. I throw my summons in the trash. Maybe I shan't. Tonight is barnstormers and ballads? Then I'll reel and coo as soon as they're archived since your tonight is my wee hours-centric quality time with a pillow. ** Bollo, Is seeing 'Kick Ass' in the theater worth the 10 or whatever euros, do you think? I've been on the fence. Photocopier: a clue to your mysterious new art project, I take it? ** Right. You belong to Wolf for the next while. Engorge and survive, won't you? See you on Wednesday.
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