I am fascinated by science. I love science. I am fascinated by religion, too, but that is the same way I am fascinated by excellent science fiction. I am a Celtic Wiccan but there is too much of the scientist in me to be a very good anything [religious]. Science gives clear, concise, logical answers where religion shrugs, tells me that God (or the gods) works in mysterious ways, and just expects that I will be a believer. Not a chance. The scientist part of me makes an acceptable Wiccan but a horrendous Catholic - by and far the largest of the "let's keep the population stupid as the stupid make better believers" offenders wandering the planet. Where would you like me to start? The earth is only 6,000 years old or Adam and Eve or Noah's Ark? Which theory would you like me, with the wonderous assistance of science, to debunk first?
Well, why discriminate? I can debunk them all. I don't need to support any evidence that the earth is hell and gone older than 6,000 years old, as the worst of the hard-core, "let's teach the Catholic doctrine next to science", "we don't believe in science" (??) believers of dogma buy into and espouse. Carbon-dating is a beautiful thing. Hand over the rocks and the fossils that are clearly much older than a mere 6,000 years old. Adam and Eve? Cute, but one absolutely must have a base population of 50,000 or more to be a viable, groth-oriented society or the gene pool won't be big enough. And Noah's Ark? A perfect segway into what this post was originally supposed to be about, my pet interests in science - volcanoes. Well, volcanoes, earthquakes, weather, tsunamis, astronomy. Those are my pet interests that others find boring and I don't. Anyway, no ark could fit two of each animal (which also brings us back to the viable 50,000 or more populace...) and Noah may have exsisted and been out with his family for a sailing jaunt around the Mediterranean when he ran afoul of a tsunami from the explosive eruption of Santorini. Helllllloooooooo, science!
I love volcanoes. They are amazing. Someone at Microsoft did as well... if you go into Properties by left-clicking on the Windows screen and type in the word "volcano", the 3-D word screen saver will not display the word "volcano", it will display all the names of the Cascade Ranges volcanoes, one at a time. Yes, it really does. Only Windows 98, though. It is the one and only thing I miss about Windows 98 (Windows XP is MUCH better - but it doesn't have that volcano thing - naturally I tried it!). Anyway, back to volcanoes.
I get e-mails from the Volcano List Server about volcano stuff:
AUGUSTINE VOLCANO (CAVW#1103-01-) 59.3633 176;N 153.4333 176;W, Summit Elevation 4134 ft (1260 m) Current Level of Concern Color Code:
RED. Four explosive eruptions have occurred in the last 12 hours. The first began at20:24 AKST 27 January (0524 UTC 28 January) and had a total duration of 9minutes. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), an ash cloud reached a maximum height of around 30,000 feet above sea level (asl) and driftedsoutheast. The second occurred at 23:37 AKST [Alaska or Aleutian Standard time] 27 January (0837 UTC 28 January) and had a duration of 1 minute. No ash was detected above 10,000 feet after this event. The third occurred at 02:04 AKST (1104 UTC) 28 January and had a duration of 2 minutes. Ash drifted SE at a height of up to 26,000 feet (NWS). The fourth occurred at 07:42 AKST (1642 UTC) 28 January and had a duration of 3 minutes. The ash cloud drifted NE at a maximum height of 25,000 feet (NWS). Ashfall advisories are issued by NWS and the most up to date information can be found at
http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/augustine.php.
Don't laugh - this is juicy stuff! This is the stuff of real life! Yes, I know, Angelina Jolie is pregnant with Brad Pitt's baby. No offence, but really - who cares? People have babies all the time - but volcanoes are not constantly spouting in the Cascades or in Alaska. Well, they really are - at least, worldwide - but still much more exciting than Angelina Jolie's impending doom - I mean, parenthood. All I want to know about Angelina and Brad's kid is that they don't name it after a fruit or a crime or any thing wacky that this poor kid will have to live with!
Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches, Apple, Coco, Phineas and Hazel, Stella, Emerson (for a girl, no less), Alchamy, Nico Blue, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (could I make that up?!), Prince Michael (not that anyone expects normalcy from Michael Jackson, but the ego...), Steveanna Genevieve, Beauregard, Tallulah Pine, Moon Unit, Atticus, Banjo, Betty Kitten, Blue Angel (for shame, Edge!), Elijah Bob Patricus Guggi Q (worse shame, Bono! And I looked up to you!), Pilot Inspektor, Liberty, Scout, Speck Wildhorse, and my all-time favourite (and most mentally disturbing for the kid), Moxie CrimeFighter. That is from Penn Jillette, another person I thought highly of and have had to revise downward to some degree.
Ouch. Now you see why I prefer volcanoes to celebrities and their baby names choices. (Although Gwyneth Paltrow is pregnant again and I wonder... will it be Grapefruit? Grape? Orange? Maybe too typical for them... Kumquat? Pomegranite? Acorn Squash? Oops - that is a veggie. Wrong food group...
And so I will stick with science. Much safer!
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