Hurricane Harbor

A writer and a tropical muse. A funky Lubavitcher who enjoys watching the weather, hurricanes, listening to music while enjoying life with a sense of humor and trying to make sense of it all!

Monday, April 30, 2007

Why I love HurricaneCity :)


The website.. not the guesstimate at which city will get slam dunked in this year's upcomming Hurricane Season 2007...

It has the greatest collection of people, you couldn't write a sitcom this funny if you tried and I know a few who keep trying.

Great link, posted on the site which is talking on global warming, ocean currents, co2, weather stuff for the tropically inclined ..

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/4/24/93629/1840

really funny.. I'm with Samantha Bee on this one..that guy in the green shirt, wo.. wow, very cute. I think he's Clark Kent in hiding lol, great job you got there.

Anyway... there is something for everyone whether you like to study rocks or outter space or the making of wine or butterfly theory or just plain old tropical weather. Whether you want to read up on great storms or cities most likely to be hit this year or Jim's predictions. From Jim to Target to Tim to Chris and the random girls in between.. HurricaneCity rocks my world :)

http://www.hurricanecity.com/update.htm <-- watch for video and audio, great images from Jim Leonard's videos. I can watch that colored donut spin for hours.

Okay.. that's it.

Oh...and for those of you who want to help promote the cause of the environment and stop global warming...

The new Victoria Secrets Catalogues are less environmentally harmfuly and you can order some cute little green tee shirts, green teddies or even an itsy bitsy green bikini.. you heard it here first!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/victorias_secre.php

So, come on girls.. get yourself a nice little green teddie or tee and surf around the city on your laptop.. do your part for global warming. Remember..the less you eat, the smaller your greenprint will be ;) ecoprint? well whatever.. Having sushi for lunch with bottled water from somewhere, that's probably a no no for the ecologically minded but hey.. saving the Biscayne Aquifier one little sip of Fiji Water at a time ;)

Ocean Currents VS CO2??

Okay, here's the link to the weather article of the morning:

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2007/04/29/news/nation/nation4.txt

Dr. Gray is also quoted in saying that things should turn around in the next five years and reverse themselves.

I don't know. I'm trying to be as green as I can be without looking like a lepracahn ;) lol but hmmmmnnnn, I just don't know.

Truth is though.. do any of us know?

Can anyone predict if a massive volcano is going to open up somewhere and change the current air patterns? Did anyone predict that massive El Nino in 1997 or even the one that came on last year and swallowed the 2007 hurricane season whole like a hungry snake let out of his hole?

So... either you are a tropical weather person or you ain't... either way, something to think on and you know I just love to think... stare, think..

Otherwise.. Stephanie Miller and gang on MSNBC this morning is cute, very sassy, witty, interesting to listen to but then again I'm not a dyed in the wool liberal nor am I a knee jerk conservative.. just watching.

I also like Bill Miller, the native american musical artist... listening to some of his songs online yesterday. He is awesome. Had a few CDs at the old library I worked at of his under "ethnic music" (don't you love it..) but someone ripped them off which is.. usually a sign he is hard to find and good.

Note: FIU players Barnes and Williams were both picked up in the draft. Quite proud of their budding football program that will soon get more attention for football than the big famous brawl on field. Good going FIU.. Everyone here was really excited about Barnes in particular getting picked.

Lastly, speaking of a Williams... last night Hurricane City broadcast by Jim Williams was really good. He interviewed the famous storm chaser Jim Leonard. They were both great to listen to... it will be archived I believe soon on www.hurricanecity.com. Very worth listening to if you love tropical weather as much as Jim Williams, Jim Leonard, William Gray, Neil Frank... etc etc and little ole me :)

Have a good day, wow..someone just mentioned florida and hurricanes on Stephanie Miller lol. One of those days...

Friday, April 27, 2007

Top 3 Reasons Russia Loves Global Warming!

Top 3 Reasons Russia Loves Global Warming

Longer Growing Season in the Ukraine
Warm Water Port May Soon Become A Reality
Increased Tourism

Okay, so it occurs to me that if the Russians can learn to adapt a little and work on how to actually grow different crops besides beets, sunflower seeds and barley out there on the frozen prairie they could do quite well during the forecasted future with Global Warming. A growing season for corn that Lysenko could only dream about..... Krushchev's dream.

Military wise.. it may be a bit of a problem as their secret weapon of Winter which beat back Sweden, France and the Germans (and anyone else who didn't know how to hunker down and drink vodka until May) won't be the big factor to turn the tide and allow Russia to survive invaders. Then again... in today's new world where atomic warfare can blow your ass into the sky from half a world away... they may no longer need to use winter as a military survival tactic.

In today's brave new world... those warmer resorts along the Black Sea may soon rival those beautiful beaches in the South Pacific that may soon be under water. There will be no more Bimini vacations to dream about as the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas will soon be under water... just Black Sea resorts, beautiful Russian babes basking in the warm, tropical sunshine...

Their need for a warm water port will be finally achieved when the North Sea really warms up and Saint Petersburg becomes all that Peter the Great dreamed it could be... Increased tourism... more money, more fun in the sun!

Great links to play with...and learn more about Russia's quest for a warm water port, a corn crop that could last more than a few months and how winter defeated Napolean. For the conspiracy types... a bit at the end that is bizarre but hey it's the internet not World Book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Winter

http://www.cyberessays.com/History/43.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Winter

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi494.htm <--- bizarre but true.. Krushev hits the road to Iowa

http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/russo_japanese/ <--- great article, good writing

http://www.mrdowling.com/706-conflict.html <--- fun

http://www.infoservices.com/moscow/213.htm <--- boring but factual

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html <--- best all round winner for info
NO CANE DAYS...note


For Conspiracy Lovers and Paranoids Everywhere:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=russia++hurricanes\


And.. LASTLY... a special bonus... no Category 5 or 6 landfalling hurricanes to chase or worry about... yes Virginia there is a place you can go to hide from hurricanes if you need to....

Final Proof: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22hurricanes+that+hit+the+Russian+coastline%22&btnG=Search

Russia will definitely have the meteorological edge here without worrying on landfalling hurricanes even during global warming... I think they are safe.

Global Warming... Russia may be loving this if they can indeed turn it around and use it to their advantage :)

dosvedanya ;) and Good Shabbos..
having shepherds pie with whipped sweet potatoes and pecans on top..
along with the usual suspects of babaganush, guacamole and wine or maybe vodka :)

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Off Topic Rant For YKW & then Wxr

Weather people just skip on down to below where the real weather post is...
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....
...
..
.
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For You Know Who:
This is sort of like an emergency broadcast signal for harrassers of the 3rd Kind...

Ed doesn't live here anymore. Infact, he never did. So.. don't call my cellphone looking for him please.

He is the Travelin' Man from what I understand and I don't understand much but he ain't here and never has been.

So.. don't call me lookin for Edwin
or Ed
or Eduouardo
or Eddie
or Edward
or Eddy
or Ted
or Ned
or Fred
or anything else that rhymes with Ed.

This is My Town ...
Not your town.

So, you'll go home now.. go back to wherever you came from.

Not interested in info for E.D. disease.. wrong sex, wrong person.

I am trying to concentrate on weather these days, or most days and an occaisional attempt at work, writing, housecleaning, researching for my novel, communicating with people I know and see every day.

Hope you're well. Sorry you have such issues in life. But, I'm not Ed's wife, I am not in Ed's life and I do NOT welcome not so gentle reminders of my life long, long, long time ago.

So... find a ballgame, find a hobby, find a life, find a smile, find some joy... stop annoying me.

:)

Cause this is my world.. and I'm not getting off the planet or going underground and hiding no more.

Love Bobbi

not Mary, not Shari, not even Carrie :P

go on... move along, go back to whatever rock you came from ..

Live well.. be happy... sunshine and gumdrops and happiness always.

Now.............
...............
..............

Back to the Weather

Notice there were severe twisters in Texas going whoosh and whirl and spinning around in circles doing great, tragic devastation and bringing a way too high death toll.

Watch the Water Vapor Loop if you need distractions and your lava lamp is broken... notice that showers are landing on the eastern coast of South America and it makes me wonder watching the loop if we are going to have a REAL Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season this year?

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_wv_east_loop-12.html

sorry about the unisys thing but well.. what do i know, i just like the loop...

here's another for weather lovers who like to feel they are on top of the world and wondered it would be like to be Lex Luthor trying to control the weather.. which by the way China is trying to do to get a sunny day for the upcomming Olympics.. you see, Lex knew what he was doing..

http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/
notice the color off of Africa.. not an illusion, water temps are high... and even though it's not July there is a IntertropicalConvergenceZone out there ;)

Something to think of that is something to be worried on..

Bobbi <---------------

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

June Too Soon For Hurricanes But Too Late For Weddings

This is an official hurricane post seeing as the hurricane season is already being shoved down our throats by the local media... can tax free sale time be far away?

One of the better articles written so far was one that tried to explain how South Floridians worried about setting events during the Hurricane Season are now moving up weddings to April.. seems even May is too soon for some. April is that month in Miami when the humidity is still down, it rarely rains and you are least likely to have to reschedule because there is now Hurricane April on the NOAA list and therefore have the least chance of meteorological wedding crashers at your pretty party.

The article gives an interesting look at how the 2005 Hurricane Season in Florida has truly changed how we look at the calendar down here in Hurricane Country!

Link to article below from the Sun-Sentinel, which is a paper out of Ft. Lauderdale that attempts and succeeds at times in competing with the Miami Herald.

I know on a personl level my high school Miami Coral Park Sr. High has decided to plan it's class reunion for October 12th, 2007. I haven't asked why that weekend... but would almost bet that it's after the main part of the hurricane season and a lot of people are off work that weekend. Just a guess, I should ask someone. I will, but first I have to go to work. Of course... South Florida gets hit most in October but it would only make sense to be holed up at the Don Shula Resort with a tropical storm passing by...kill the golf game but the beer will flow still. Of course, I had a high school reunion like two weeks before Andrew in 92... unfortunately Andrew eclipsed a lot of what I remember but it is always good to see old friends.

It is always nice to get married to someone you love...

If in Miami.. do it sometime between the end of November and the end of April... or risk the chance of a hurricane blowing away your best laid plains.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pwedding15apr15,0,5788241.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

Besos Bobbi

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Redsox Rock With 4 Home Runs in a Row...

3rd inning, 4 consecutive home runs... first time in 43 years any team has done that.
What a wild inning, made my night. I mean... I still want them to win but was the most surrealistic thing I have ever seen ...
bam, bam, bam, bam.. out of the park. No words, even for me... :)
Oh yeah I'm watching, smiling from "ear to ear" :)
Against the Yankees too! lol

Earth Day, Hurricanes and The Red Sox




Enjoy this blog today dedicated to Earth Day, Hurricanes and the Redsoxoxoxoxo ;)
No Virginia... www.google.com today is not dedicated to the Titanic...
Rolling eyes... for those of you climatologically impaired.. it's Earth Day!

You might play this song in the background while reading my blog.. because bottom line is.. it is true. Love Can Build Anything from my friend EarthMan Lanny Smith. Great site, great music, great goal.. educate the world's children (and their parents and friends) about our environment. Can't think of a better site to use today on Earth Day. Can't think of a better person than Lanny who is one of my heroes on Planet Earth.

http://www.earthman.tv/2004/index.html <---great song to listen tohttp://www.climatecrisisjam.org/ <--- his new project
http://www.earthman.tv/2004/forums/index.php?showtopic=151 <--special for teachers and preachers and people too!


So.... looks like April is the time for weather guys and gals to get out and about and talk about the 2007 Hurricane Season soon to be available on a coastline near you! Yup... they talk, they discuss, they have a few drinks and relax in the sun. Hey, I'm not complaining.. I got my fun in the sun and a delicious, liquid hurricane too a few weeks back and I'm still smiling remembering the intense hurricane discussion we had and the research that went on at my own private hurricane retreat down in the Keys. I may smile through December even if I am a little preoccupied come May or June of 2007. Analog Years 1964 and 1995...wow did that get my attention while reading Dr. Gray's report...which you can read below or watch slide by..

Anyways, nice that they all got to get away a little while for some rest and relaxation, promotion and PR for hurricane awareness as the season begins to bear down on us as we pass the mid-point of April and try to remember how many early May systems developed in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico. No..this is not a test but it's getting to be that time of year and the hurricane guys and gals are out there in front of the media and about talking Canes.

Cayman Islands
http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1021565 Hurricane Hunters get to enjoy the fun and the sun before their 2007 tour of duty begins!

Or...
Bahamas
http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=12350 Something to talk about besides the paternity hearings on the paper previously known as Howard K. Stern's baby that we KNEW was Larry Birkhead's baby (duh) who will one day be allowed to leave the Bahamas when they get done squeezing all the PR mileage out of her mother's death that they can. No.. not being mean, just practical... Anna Nicole's gravesite is going to be one big money maker/tourist attraction for the Bahamas. The weather conference gets them in the headlines too every year. Atlantis, how nice... the resort of course not the island that went kerplunk....

Heard there was much discussion about global warming and the insurance industry over there in the Bahamas. Going to hear more details sooner or later but that's the name of the game. As someone who hates the way people pollute Planet Earth I think any publicity is better than no publicity and the more we talk about it.. the more we are likely to be focused on solutions and discovering what really will or won't happen as global warming heats up the environment. What we need is research, what we need is clear headed thinking and not sound bites or people trying to sell their book or their movie but real money spent on researching what we can do today to make a difference tomorrow in the world we are leaving our children, grandchildren and cocker spaniels! Seriously, money needs to be spent, papers written in peer reviewed journals, small steps by the average person to make our way too big carbon footprints a little bit smaller... to appreciate the beauty of nature and not to destroy it or obliterate it with buildings built over every drop of beachfront land or chipping away at the Greenline and paving over the Everglades as we bridge the gap of green space between Naples and Ft. Lauderdale subdivision by subdivision. What used to take an hour or more gets faster and faster til you forget what it used to be like... now the part of the trip cross the state where you don't see anything but the River of Grass is about 30 minutes.

Anyways.... here are some links

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/6/212631.shtml
For those of you still holding on to your poly foam cups and tossing beer cans into the creek this Bud's for You...Just in case you think Earth Day is a new CD by Green Day or a music festival.. you'll enjoy this article. Dr. Gray is cute, by the way, quite a character, fun to listen to, tall too.. almost stepped on his toes while trying to give Dr. Burpee room to breathe at a hurricane conference last May in Miami. He laughs funny too, especially when he looks down amused at a short little weather girl in high heels that misses his toesy. But... though I have often said that I don't like Kerry Emmanuel's constant screaming "chicken little" to sell his books this is one thing I really do agree with Kerry Emmanuel on... there is a whole lot more hot air on planet earth since the Global Warming Debate began than there was before Al Gore made that movie :) Not saying I disagree with GW I'm just asking which theory is the right one? Will canes become stronger or will we have less canes due to higher chances of stronger wind shear from the same global warming that is supposed to make Category Six Hypercanes? I mean which is it? Inquiring minds want to know, at least mine does. It's a brand new world out there developing everyday before our eyes and not sure anyone has a handle or an angle on what will or won't happen as a result of Global Warming. Maybe if we worried a lot less about Global Warming and worked a lot harder on not personally polluting our planet we could let the big scientists get some real work done on trying to figure it out. Then again.. research takes money and we don't have a lot of money for the good guys down at Virginia Key at the Hurricane Research Division because we are spending most of it in Iraq these days redecorating planet earth over there.....I guess we all have our priorities and GW's priority is not GW ... (It's my blog I can say whatever I want, get your own blog and tell it like you think it is.)

Either way if you have time and are curious you can watch Dr. Gray and the one day soon to be Dr. Phil of the metrological world tell it like it is themselves in a power point presentation. http://typhoon.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/


"Kerry Emanuel, an MIT professor who had feuded with Gray over global warming, said Gray has wrongly "dug (his) heels in" even though there is ample evidence that the world is getting hotter." <-- love that line in the article from newsmax.

THAT SLIDE SHOW THINGIE IS SOOOO COOL... if I am not online this week writing here or on my novel or to my kids it will be because I am replaying it at work over and over until I get to know it intimately and understand it 100% http://typhoon.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/ <---- CLICK THIS ONE(awww... something wonderful about Colorado State weather guys... the tall one by the way is Dr. Gray usually.. you know in the middle probably... I'm sure KE is very nice too, never met him, promise not to step on his toes if I can help it... sure have read a whole bunch of his books though in the kid's room at the library.. in fact... I ordered a whole bunch of his books for the library, he sure writes a lot on weather! KE haha. that's funny, sorry.. personal joke only Sammy or Ron would get... anyways...............)



So here you go... the usual suspects on Earth Day
Gray and Klotzbach http://hurricane.atmos.colostate.edu/


All this being said... remember three things today if you will please
1) Don't Pollute, pick up the trash from the ground you just threw there and walk it over to the garbage can. My friends do.. I do, you can too! We are in this sandbox together.

2) These are the real heroes of the hurricane community: http://www.hurricanehunters.com/
http://www.hurricanehunters.com/pheye.jpg

3) I love David Ortiz. He is so cute. I love the way he stares into the camera when he is about to blow one out of the park.. he is so cool, such a good guy. Good heart, good man, great slugger. blow one out of the park baseball players! www.redsox.com Manny Ramirez is adorable and I'm beginning to really love Coco Crips but at this moment my heart belongs to the Big Papi!!

http://www.hurricanehunters.com/pheye2.jpg

PS.... LYRICS to Love Can Build Anything:


Love can build anything. Sometimes in life a strong wind blows that can turn your world upside down. So many tears, so many fears. When will we be on safer ground? There's only one power. Hammer in hand. There's only one answer the heart understands Love can build anything.

It's the hope after the fall Love can build anything. Only love will build it all. Love is stronger than a hurricane. It can calm the stormy seas. Love is strong enough to heal the pain and finally, finally bring us peace.

There's only one power. Hammer in hand. There's only one answer the heart understands Love can build anything. It's the hope after the fall Love can build anything.

Only love will build it all.

Build your dreams. Build your home. Build your faith. You're not alone. Plant a seed. Hand in hand we can build the Promised Land.

Love can build anything.

It's the hope after the fall Love can build anything. Only love will build it all.

found on: http://ww.thejakartapost.com/onlineletters.asp?page=10

Pps.. Happy Birthday and God Bless Lanny/EarthMan

Friday, April 20, 2007

I Love Being A Miami Girl!

I love being a Miami Girl!

I really, really love being a Miami Girl :)

Not that I couldn't move to Key West or Nantucket but wherever I would go I would take the Miami Girl with me.

We dance to a different beat down here in Miami. A little bit salsa, a little bit rock n roll, a little bit Reggae and a whole lot of KISS FM Country.

We are a little bit Floridian.. a little bit Latino, a bit of a southern belle and add in Island Black for good measure. There is great multiplicity of humanity here in Miami and the more you mix and shake the better the cocktail tastes.

We come alive after a good cafecito which is better than the way Starbucks smells and that is saying a whole lot seeing as I just love the way Starbucks smells, feels. Why sometimes.. I just go into a Starbucks to breathe deeply and inhale! Jewish Miami Girls put babaganush and guacamole on their Friday night Challah. It's a delight for the senses... the way it tastes on your tongue.

That's who we are.. a little bit of this.. a little bit of that, taking the best and leaving the rest with an "I can be who I want to be damnit so mind your own business and don't try to understand me attitude!"

We are a mishkabbable mix of cultures and interests. We worry on saving the Manatee more so than the whale mind you.

We wear stiletto slides or Candy Platforms in delicious tropical colors or we run barefoot around the house in December ..even when the Cuban Tile floor is freezing we just love walking barefoot. Khaki or Jeans, Suits to work or sushi at lunch, mangoes and papaya cut up in our Berry Salad Delight from Wild Oats.

Miami is Palm Trees and Parrots flying around from tree to tree squawking noisy and wearing way too much green. Alligators in our backyard canals and on the football field. We are Canes fans and Gators fans all at once.. everyone has a parent or ex-boyfriend who used to be on one of the teams once upon the time in their family history!

Miami is music! Miami is color! Miami is warm sunshine and freezing cold air conditioned offices. Our tourists get sick just from the constant change of weather from going to the beach into the ice cold Walgreens. We keep sweaters just to wear to work and take them off and go for a walk on Lincoln Road to remember we live in the tropics.

Blue skies, incredibly soulful Spanish men, cute Israelis who think this is the next best thing to Tel Aviv and your most adorable redneck guys driving pick up trucks.

Somewhere in Miami there is a plain old American I am sure... maybe down around Krome Avenue or the last Anglo to leave Hialeah holed up in his two room 1940s cottage but personally I like Miami just the way it is... a mix of music, Epicurean delights, moon lit magical nights and all the Latin, Southern, Island ethnicity's mixing around to give us our special unique qualities.

Do you know what music from Haiti sounds like? I do... sounds like an old bluesy french cafe sound mixed with an island sound mixed with a... well... you'll just have to trust me unless you plan to take a cruise down to the Islands... there's even a drop of accordion or polka in there.. hard to explain, hard to define..

A lot like Miami Girls!

Have a good shabbos to my special friend, yeah I'm writing these days... a little, here and there, waking up and coming out of my cocoon. I colored a mandala last night, very relaxing. Making Chicken and Yellow Rice for dinner.. the family special!

Oh... and Manny Ramirez hit a homerun yesterday... Go Red Sox! (I'm a Miami girl.. we can root for whatever baseball team we want.. as long as we love the Fins Forver in Football!)

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

That being said...

1) A mad man trying to stab people would not have killed 33 people. A hunting rifle is one thing and easy access to a killing machine is another. Yes, it's an old horse to argue gun control but so is "wear your seatbelt" .. sometimes old horses need to be paid attention to... but the state trooper going 90 mph with the governor didn't insist on the Governor wearing the seatbelt either I guess..

2) The College just "assumed" it was some lovers quarrel. A domestic dispute on campus?? Did they have facts? Or they assumed? After the opening day adventure that should have been a warning to wonder on how to handle such an incident again.. sometimes lightning does strike twice.. or three times. Way too much assuming.

3) The College President the morning AFTER the massacre at his college was STILL referring to it as "an incident" and "the event"
Sorry Charlie... a streaker on campus is an incident, an event is a college protest or pep ralley... 33 people being killed on your campus, on your watch is NOT an "incident"

rolling eyes... really annoying...
Gun Control, Youth Violence on Campus, Buckle Up/Don't Speed and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee... you had a mass murder on your campus and it could have been possibly prevented or at least minimized had you not assumed... Just my thoughts, that being said. Can't blame everything on it being April!

Killing Season - Mid April

Something About April if you ask me... it's a beautiful month, the little daffodils push up through the snow or the cold, hard ground and tulips appear ... birds come out, make little nests, little birdies chirp like there is no tomorrow waking us up too early reminding us that it is Spring.

Late season cold front's march across the map, melodramatically mixing up warm weather with severe weather as cold artic air keeps trying to work it's way down south and hold off summer. Hot days, cold days, humid days, thunderstorm days, cold front. Winds come in off the Atlantic and Miami has beautiful onshore breezes, then the winds shift to the south...warmer... southwest from the Glades... hotter, humid, claustrophobically hot and then out of the west as one more "last cold front of the season" rushes in with cool Northwest winds...and then we do it all again and start over as the winds spin round the Compass Rose. Northers they used to call them in Key West in Old Time Weather.

Should be a nice time of year.. all that young love, younger than springtime, baseball and bluebirds.. but somehow every April brings us some new historic event of killings... murder, terrorism, school killings... the list is long .. to name just a few

Columbine April 20
Oklahoma City Bombing April 19
Waco-Branch Davidians April 19

Now Virginia Tech.. a school that should be known for academic excellence and an awesome football team will now be synonomus with murder by a crazy young writer whose artistic outlet did not provide the proper release for his pent up fantasies and desire to kill. He couldn't just write a great trilogy or screenplay. Nope he had to blow away innocent lives in some Springtime Slaughter that will brand a generation of kid's memories and spark parental fears about having to trust a college to provide proper safety for our children's lives.

Listen.. truth is as the old saying goes... Shit Happens to put it bluntly. Gainesville had it's hour of tragic fame years back when it took quite a while to stop a serial killer. Dallas had to live down a generation of American's thinking of JFK everytime they heard the name of the city Dallas. 911 will always remind us of the Twin Towers going down in a cloud of dust that obliterated the Manhattan Skyline live on CNN before our eyes.

And, as the saying goes... Life Goes On...

Blame it on too many birds chirping, a frustrated-demeted person lashing out at the world, blame it on the old Aries Moon... but somehow Mid April always seems to be the Killing Season...when America sits around mourning the loss of young lives on the morning news, nighttime news, 24 hour a day news...

I don't know about you but I prefer the Hurricane Season.. somehow it's easier to blame powers beyond our control like the weather for a tragedy than the fact that we can't protect ourselves and our loved ones from someone going postal and taking out anyone unlucky enough to be near him when it happens.

Yes.. life does go on. Well, not always. My father died three years ago today after a quite nice life at a some what ripe old age though a daughter always thinks it could have been riper and a little longer... but he was the first to teach me the old saying "that's the way the cookie crumbles" or as they say .. thats just the way it goes... A good man, a libra who didn't fair too well with the good old Aries full moon though I think it was other things that actually got him... but they all say timing is everything. Well he did... he was a sports fan.

Personally... I always preferred May to April.

Nice month, don't get me wrong.. lot's of wonderful people born in April and a lot of very pretty girls named April I am sure.. there was April Dancer of course :) but just seems to me that somehow it's Killing Season somewhere so often.. at least it was this year.

Very sad, so close to summer ... so many lives lost, so many dreams broken.

I had to share so now I have done that.. this little writer is going to take herself into the shower, rinse herself off, find her heels, get some clothes on, grab her purse and notebook and run out the door to carpool with Sharon down to Miami Beach. Life may go on but there is no reason not to enjoy every moment of it and give thanks for the beautiful sunrise, the bright sunshine and those incessant birds chirping away outside.

See ya later.. Bobbi
Bring on May

Sunday, April 15, 2007

And Yet ANOTHER.. Last Cold Front of the Season

Beautiful, gray, blustery day here in Miami as yet another "last cold front of the season" slices down the state. Fresh air, beautiful fresh air and less humidity.

Went to the RV show today with my son and brother and his son, sort of attempt at a family event I suppose. I could live in one. Easily, as long as I had my little space to rest, write and look outside and view the weather.

Either way... in a mood, blue mood, gray mood... spacey mood...

My father died 3 years ago. Still hasn't sunk in... not really, hasn't settled anywhere or I am just in denial or numb or too pragmatic to flip out on this.. more than think on it, reflect. I'm probably in denial but not so much about his death as my life.

Little test here.. either it works or it doesn't. Was looking for a Janis version but this is way easier to swallow and actually enjoy. Waylon singing the song.

Waylon Jennings - Me And Bobby Mcgee



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God Bless Country. It never fails me.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Friday the 13th, Remembering Hurricane Charley..


So... in honor of today being Friday the 13th I am dedicating today's blog to infamous Friday the 13th Hurricanes. Over time there have been many, but the most recent terrifying hurricane was Charley that came ashore in Florida in 2004. A scarier track was rarely seen and well predicted far out... if I had lived in SW Florida I would have been terrified!!

http://www.hurricanecity.com/charleytrack.htm
Great graphic that Jim put up to remind us on Hurricane City how far out the NHC called that landfall.

Surprisingly, there really haven't been all that many horrible hurricanes on Friday the 13th in recent years though I am sure over time a few trashed Jamaica or Haiti in those more distant hurricane years. I am sure some tracker with time on his hands will find a few more than I could while on a coffee break this morning at work. The internet is such a wonderful playground for us hurricane history types..

The good news for hurricane lovers is that with the coming of Global Warming and the possibly higher number of hurricanes to hit landfall in various months of the year you can look towards 2009 which has three.. count em 3 Friday the 13ths when a hurricane could scare the tropical daylights out of you.. why not, could happen...

This year we get our next big shot in July when there will be a chance for some scary storm like Beryl to form and wipe away Bermuda or the Bahamas... remember, you heard it here first.

2008 gives us a shot at June 13th..

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/rrc/charley.htm

nice track :) shot
http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/docs/charley/hurrcharley_sitrept_081304_1700.pdf

Of course in 1997 Hurricane Bill was slowly dying his last gasp somewhere out around Nova Scotia on Friday, July 13th while dear little Tropical Claudette spun up not so terribly far away in the Atlantic from the same frontal boundary that spewed forth Bill. 1997 was like that.. a lot of wierd little Atlantic systems off the coast of the Carolinas.

read more: http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/storm97.html
(was a great board...)

And lastly... on Friday the 13th in the year 2006 the Carolina Hurricanes thrashed the Atlanta Thrashers. But, alas.. that's hockey not hurricanes but it did happen on a Friday the 13th and both are great to look at.. hockey players and hurricanes ;)

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2006101328


So... to all my friends out there who I haven't forgotten... I wish you a good shabbos and a big BOO! from Bobbi Boo

;)

Thursday, April 12, 2007

I Can't Believe Kurt Vonnegut Died

Truth is I suppose I can't believe he was alive still.. and yet, now suddenly on hearing of his death I can't believe he died.

He had a profound effect on me.. what exactly it was I am not quite sure but he was truly a one and only, original mind. Well... a true example of many of the original minds of his generation but still... original.

I remember the first time I picked up a Vonnegut novel. I was very young and in a Drug store that had a real breakfast counter with paperback novels on a wire wrack that spun around and around while you waited for your eggs easy over to be finished being cooked beyond the point of "over easy" ... Bird Road, SW Miami... Red Road and Bird Road probably or somewhere close by...

I wandered off away from my mother and father and two baby brothers and in an attempt to feel mature and intellectual I picked up a paperpack copy of Cat's Cradle. Boy, did I feel mature, wise... artsy, creative, cool... opened it up, started reading... hadn't the faintest clue what was going on but his playful words and funky characters called out to me and being the stubborn Capricorn I was I bought the book and figured to myself if I took it home and read it long enough it would make some sense. It never really did to my very young mind but it was cool as hell.. and he took me out beyond the safe boundaries of what we were reading in our English book ... he was no Nathaniel Hawthorne.. let me tell you.

Okay... so it wasn't about the James Taylor Song but it was about a sort of coming of age of a young girl reaching out to read things different, beyond the boundaries of life on Bird Road in Southwest Miami. It wasn't Shakespear, it wasn't The Godfather and it wasn't some Victoria Holt novel about some girl named Cassandra who was working her way through India as a governess who duh fell in love with the handsome lord of the manor... it was wild and crazy and funny and at times you felt like you were reading snippets of a poem he wanted to write so pretended to write a story so he could play with words or our minds.

Mind you I was slow back then, naive... I read that scene in the Godfather where they make love at the wedding against the wall about five times trying to figure it out and make heads or tails of it... and even that made more sense to me than Cat's Cradle but life is about trying to make sense of things that don't make sense.. and we string all those events of our life that make no sense in any rational way into a little Cat's Cradle ..

I knew I wanted to be a writer and write cool stuff that teased the mind and tantalized the senses, playing with words the way Tennessee Williams played with our psychological problems and childhood angst ... F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about his Winter Dreams and Kurt gave us his own vision of the world seen through the prism of his very strange mind... a mind that is now gone but not forgotten as we can read his works over and over ... and still try to make some sense of them beyond what they teach you they mean in English 101.

I can't believe he's gone.. it's been that kind of week. People coming and going leaving Planet Earth and yet Fidel hangs on like some dime store villain that you can't believe is real and if you wrote it in a book it would be tossed out for being unbelieveable that he is still around after all this time and yet Kurt Vonnegut is gone along with Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio..

Going to go read http://www.bordersmedia.com/features/pages/vonnegut_brinkley.asp and think on trying to find a new copy of Cat's Cradle and try to figure it out.

:(

Passover Over! Sushi for Lunch :)

Well seriously... you know it's over when you are popping sushi into your mouth.

In the office people were trying to eat all those Passover Potato Chips and leftover cookies made from potato starch like kid's eating up unused Hurricane Supplies after a hurricane passed ya by...

Life in the tropics. Great downpour this morning, storm is already sitting over Havana that rained on me this morning...

See you later.. Bobbi

Monday, April 02, 2007

What do Hurricanes and Passover have in common?

Hi... I've sort of been on hurricane sabbatical but I just wanted to comment that I really love Passover :) I mean I really love it.. so much fun, such a party, succh a feelgood holiday.

I mean, all those dishes and pots you only see once a year taken down and all the crazy shopping for those few last minute things you thought you had but realized you don't have because you kept out the Passover Garlic Press and the someone broke the food processor last year packing it up and.... well... just those things that you wait all year to buy because you'll use them for Passover :)

It's like this shopping frenzy that can only be possibly compared or surpassed to shopping for a Category Three Hurricane coming directly towards Miami with a strong high built in and only hot water and the warm gulf stream between you and Hurricane Pesach!! You know it's gonna hit, all the relatives start showing up to be fed and to sleep over and there is snack food you never have in the house and there's this sort of "oh what the heck, buy 3 packs of paper plates, we might need them... " attitude abounding. The kitchen gets redone... Sonoma Contact Paper, new tiles and duck tape... the house looks like Oz when Dorothy lands and the colors come to life!

So... here I am... new food processor with a purple food container (the only color they had, really) and on sale, and... Starbucks coffee (verona, french roast, gulf stream.. I like it strong) and this year's big hit was the bittersweet chocolate covered hazelnuts and coffeebeans from Sara's Tent! Hello Kitty Tupperware from the Dollar Store... just before Passover or a Category Three Hurricane... lots of strange things make sense and you figure you're worry about the expense after landfall or four cups of wine whichever comes first!

Roast in the oven, enough paper products to make it through a Category Three Hurricane crusing nearby just offshore ... wine, so much wine... Italian Wine, French Wine... and the old standby Rashi Light...

There is this countdown going and the clock is ticking..

Make the Charaine.. Make the Chroses, Do we need more paper cups?
Drinks.. soda, wine, water (Panna hidden in the bedroom for me...)

What a life... so much fun and an extra added bonus is that instead of having to watch Don Noe talk non-stop on the TV about how to secure the boat I don't have... I can watch the Redsox play Kansas City while chopping the Charaine (horseradish root) in my new purple food processor... trust me... our forefathers and foremothers never had it this good!!

Happy Passover to anyone out there reading this, happy start of the baseball season and remember... once baseball has started... can the Hurricane Season be far away?

Love and Chopped Liver.. Bobbi
Ps...still smiling from a field trip earlier this week down to the old Hurricane Stomping Grounds on Whindley Key ... L'chaim!