Shake shake shake, shake your booty.
I had a quiet evening last night. I did some writing, t00bed on the Internet, made dinner, read for awhile, you know the drill. "Lost" wasn't on, so not much TV. I did catch the last half hour of Alias. I laughed heartily.
My friend Jason (macgeek427) came over to bring me the DVD he burned for me of last Saturday's Doctor Who. He is so my DW hookup. I can download the eps, but he masters them with chapter selections and menus screens onto a DVD. He even puts on special features, like the trailers and TARDISodes. And for this one, he gave me the episode with and without commentary. Yeah, he's a rock star.
The other night I watched a documentary about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. There were several specials about it, given that this past Tuesday was the 100th anniversary. The one I watched was on the History Channel.
I don't know if it makes me a bad American, but I didn't really realize how horrible that disaster was, and how much of the city was just destroyed in three days. The scary part was to watch it and ponder how much such a calamity would be just as awful today. In fact, it might be worse.
Consider the things that happened to SF in 1906, and whether or not they'd still happen today:
1. First, giant earthquake. Yeah, that could happen.
2. Bunches of things fall down. That might not happen as MUCH, but it'd still happen.
3. Fires start. Yeah, that'd happen.
4. Firefighting efforts are paralyed due to broken water mains, the collapse of fire stations and the fire chief's death. Yeah, that could totally happen, too.
5. Fires spread due to convection windstorms. Oh yeah, that'd happen.
6. Martial law is never declared but happens de facto, looting is rampant, and people are being shot on sight. I can see this happening.
In fact, the evacuation might be HARDER today. In 1906, everybody got around via ferries and railroads. Now, they're totally dependent on freeways and bridges, which are more vulnerable in an earthquake.
I think that the same earthquake today would be worse than it was in 1906.
My friend Jason (macgeek427) came over to bring me the DVD he burned for me of last Saturday's Doctor Who. He is so my DW hookup. I can download the eps, but he masters them with chapter selections and menus screens onto a DVD. He even puts on special features, like the trailers and TARDISodes. And for this one, he gave me the episode with and without commentary. Yeah, he's a rock star.
The other night I watched a documentary about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. There were several specials about it, given that this past Tuesday was the 100th anniversary. The one I watched was on the History Channel.
I don't know if it makes me a bad American, but I didn't really realize how horrible that disaster was, and how much of the city was just destroyed in three days. The scary part was to watch it and ponder how much such a calamity would be just as awful today. In fact, it might be worse.
Consider the things that happened to SF in 1906, and whether or not they'd still happen today:
1. First, giant earthquake. Yeah, that could happen.
2. Bunches of things fall down. That might not happen as MUCH, but it'd still happen.
3. Fires start. Yeah, that'd happen.
4. Firefighting efforts are paralyed due to broken water mains, the collapse of fire stations and the fire chief's death. Yeah, that could totally happen, too.
5. Fires spread due to convection windstorms. Oh yeah, that'd happen.
6. Martial law is never declared but happens de facto, looting is rampant, and people are being shot on sight. I can see this happening.
In fact, the evacuation might be HARDER today. In 1906, everybody got around via ferries and railroads. Now, they're totally dependent on freeways and bridges, which are more vulnerable in an earthquake.
I think that the same earthquake today would be worse than it was in 1906.