"Storm Warnings..."

'... and it looks like rain...'

BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!

This is nothing more than a great opportunity to post some weather songs!!!!!

'Feels like rain...'

'Feels Like Rain'

John Hiatt

Isaac moving into the Gulf of Mexico

'Change in the Weather'

'Change In The Weather'

John Fogerty

Walking in a hurricane...

'Wasn't That A Mighty Storm'

James Taylor

I would say she's ready for the water...

Mermaid at 45 Tchoup

Dearest daughter... if a group of people have to come and save your ass, it will all be for naught, because I will certainly kick it when I see you again...

With Love...

~Daddy Shoes~

"Hurricane Isaac"

I am aware that, as I type this,  Isaac is still classified as a tropical storm. However, by the time it makes landfall either on the Mississippi or Louisiana Gulf Coast, it is expected to be at least a Category I hurricane.

According to the most recent projections, Isaac should hit the Louisiana Gulf Coast and proceed into the New Orleans area.  My daughter lives in New Orleans (NOLA), and I've already had conversations with her about whether or not she should leave for a few days.

One of the courses that I teach here at Alluvial Flood Plain State University is a Risk and Insurance class.  A one-word definition that I ask my students to use for risk is uncertainly.

As you can tell by the image/map above, at some point when the storm was probably east of the Florida Keys, meteorologists had no idea where the storm would eventually go.  This map was indicating Isaac to be a Cat II storm with anticipated landfall around Mobile, Alabama.

It seems that Isaac is going to make landfall on August 29, exactly seven years after Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The storm veered to the east of NOLA, sparing a direct hit.  At the time of land fall, Ground Zero being Bay St. Louis, MS, Katrina was a Cat III.

Hurricanes are divided into quadrants.

It is the Right Front Quadrant that is the most dangerous part of a hurricane.  This is where the most tornadoes should be generated... the heaviest winds, the heaviest rains.  Hurricanes are intense low pressure weather cells, which mean that they have a counter-clockwise movement.  When one considers that Katrina moved to the east of NOLA, that meant that the heavy rains and winds would be blowing into NOLA from the north... over Lake Pontchartrain, and forcing heavy waters into the canals that feed into NOLA.  Those are the levees that failed... that is why NOLA flooded. It wasn't from a direct hit from Katrina.  I recently read that the Army Corp. of Engineers say that a barge broke loose and rammed a levee, causing the breach. 

Do you remember Isaac from 'Love Boat?'

Hurricane Survival Check List HERE.

I remember, after Katrina hit, that one meteorologist made the comment that  Hurricane CAMILLE  killed more people in 2005 than she did in 1969. Someone corrected him and said, 'you mean Katrina killed more in 2005 than Camille did in 1969, don't you?'  

The meteorologist said, 'No, Camille gave many people a false sense of security; if we survived Camille, we can survive this one.'

Many didn't.

Interesting Before/After  Katrina Photos of Bay St. Louis

I am very familiar with Bay St. Louis, Ms.  The bottom photo is referred to as an area being 'slabbed' in the insurance industry.  Nothing was left but the slabs of the homes.

I'm sure if you are a fan of 'Walking Dead,' you've seen this image...

dramatic effect of everyone leaving town...

Real effect of everyone leaving town...

Notice that there are no empty lanes... notice that everyone is being routed in the same direction.  This is what it looks like when one is in a 'Get The Hell Outta Dodge' mode...

My daughter's subjective risk of this danger is much greater than mine. I would be packed and leaving. She seems to be excited about it.

Dad isn't...

~shoes~

"What The Fuck..."-

Friday!!!

Let's start off with a test...

Which of these ladies above is blonde?

I will disclose the answer later...

Meanwhile...

I suppose this could be an interesting use for post-it notes.

Should work for either gender, I suppose...

This is why men, more often than not, 

don't make good crime scene witnesses.

Not much more to be said here...

It is this kind of things that drive us teachers to drink... 

or to drink more...

Much More...

If you don't get it, ask, and I will explain it.

Another self explanatory cartoon...

Recent studies have indicated that alcohol abuse use tends to

have some medicinal healing qualities...

However...

it hinders spelling... 

It's aisle, not isle...

Let me help you with that selection...

Here is another interesting beer commercial for your viewing pleasure.

All I can say is that I never had anything like that happen to me at the beach...

Every time I watch her move close to him at the end, I start 'motorboating' it... if'n you know what I mean...


This next video, I reckon, shows the  effect of G-force on articles of clothing...

I never had anything like this happen while I've been driving either...

This next video is a commercial extolling  safe sex...

Hmmmmmm... latex...

Here's the answer to the quiz at the beginning of the post...

However, an astute observer would have noticed that 

she is the only one with the wrong leg lifted...

~shoes~

"I'm Gonna Write What I Want You...

To Do To Me In A Letter...

Wow... have you seen the Heineken beer commercial where three guys walk into an almost empty bar... one of the guys gives the bartender a look, the bartender flips a switch... and the bar is converted into one cool place, and the piano player  is replaced by...

Clairy Browne and the Bangin' Rackettes...

And she belts out the lyrics to the song I've referenced above...

The Video...

The Commercial...

I can't recall the last time I heard a song drip this much sex...

I think I need a cigarette...

~shoes~

"A Day Late...

... and a dollar short."

I totally missed a musically significant day yesterday.  I discovered half of the problem when I read Cocaine Princess' blog post (HERE)... and it's that yesterday, August 16, was the 35th anniversary of Elvis's death... August 16, 1977.

young Elvis...

Do you know that 35 years after his death, mourners still flock to Memphis to visit his grave site?

Elvis Mourners...

Elvis Impersonators...

Evidently, there is a lot of money to be made by impersonating the King...  a band by the name of Dread Zeppelin took it to the next level...  setting Led Zeppelin music to a reggae beat and sung by a fat Elvis impersonator...

Did you know that Elvis was IS a Zombie? And that they made a movie about it??

Zombie Elvis...

Fat Elvis...

(Not Really...)

Whatever your thoughts, Elvis could bring it...

Another music event that occurred on August 16, is that 50 years ago yesterday...

...The BeaTles fired Pete Best as their drummer

and replaced him with Richard Starkey...

Better known as...

Ringo Starr...

One a more somber note, we had our 'Back-To-School' meetings today here at Alluvial Flood Plain State University...

Blah...

~shoes~

'Weekend Blues...'

Having lived in the Mississippi Delta most of my Life, it's difficult to move around here and not run into some form or fashion of the Blues...  When the British Invasion occurred in the mid-60's, a great deal of what we were hearing here in the States was actually American music...  the blues music that was derived from the 'field chants' created by Southern Blacks working in the cotton fields...


Some of the blues music that was written involved a great deal of animal imagery... 


One of my most favorite blues song with animal symbolism is "Crawlin' King Snake"...

"Crawlin' King Snake"

Buddy Guy

'Blues Singer' CD

Recorded in Oxford, MS

I do know that many of the old Blacks from my youth were greatly superstitious... and many stories were told about King Snakes...




A maid that worked for Mom and Dad, Miss Mary, told me that she was deathly afraid of King Snakes... she told me about how they would steal your soul if you weren't careful...

You know you caught me crawlin' baby, 
when the grass was very high 

I'm gonna keep on crawlin' , girl 

until the day I die, 

because I'm a crawlin' kingsnake, baby

and I rules my den 

I've heard stories about Blacks finding King Snakes in their cemeteries... and how they believed the snake to be the Devil... if one was found wrapped around a loved one's headstone... well, the news just wasn't good.  That said a lot about what had happened to that person's soul.


The King Snake shares a characteristic with the King Cobra... in that they are both ophiophagous... this means  that they are snake eaters... the King Snake is immune to the poison of the venomous snakes in its region... King Snakes here in the  Mississippi Delta eat Cotton Mouth Moccasins, Copperheads, and Rattlesnakes...    

'Speckled King Snake Making Dinner 

Out Of A Garter Snake

Speakin' of CottonMouths...

Another favorite "snake" song is this one...



I have always been  amazed by bands from California (Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doobie Brothers, Little Feat) that SO wanted to sound like they were from  the South... especially the Southern Louisiana area... there is something about Louisiana... interesting things seem to happen there...

Speaking of interesting things in Louisiana... have any of you ever visited the grave site of this person?

Entombment site of

Marie Laveau...

'The VooDoo Queen of New Orleans'

Saint Louis Cemetery #1

New Orleans

Read about her... it's quite interesting!

~shoes~

"It Was 20 years ago today..."

Sgt Pepper taught the band to play...

I'm calling bullshit on that...

But it was 43 years ago today... 

that The BeaTles crossed

Abbey Road...

On August 8, 1969, Lain Macmillan was given about ten minutes in which to shoot this photo.  This is possibly the most recognized photo of The BeaTles...

This photo added to the rumor that Paul McCartney had died... conspiracy theorists interpreted  the photo in this manner...

John, being dressed in a white suit, represented a priest... one who would conduct a funeral service;  Ringo was alleged to be dressed as an undertaker...

Paul, being barefoot in the photo, was representative of being a corpse... and poor George, dressed in denim... he was the grave digger. He certainly wasn't getting much respect at this point of his career.  

Anyway... it is debatable what music would be like today if not for The BeaTles... they changed everything... hair length, fashion... Hell, I knew when  I saw them on Ed Sullivan for the first time that I wanted  to play guitar.

Where have the years gone???

PS:

Did you know that  

• they chose the name, 'Beatles' as an homage to Buddy Holly and the Crickets?
• That Little Feat spelled 'feet' the way they did as an homage to The BeaTles?

~shoes~