Close-up: The planet is very close to its star – completing a ‘one-year’ circumnavigation in just 38-days

KOMPAS.com – A steamy ‘waterworld’ six times bigger than Earth has been discovered orbiting a faint star 40 light years away.

The planet is believed to be too hot to sustain Earth-type life, but could consist of 75 per cent water. Evidence suggests it has an atmosphere, and astronomers believe it to be more Earth-like than any ‘exoplanet’ previously found outside the Solar System.

The planet is classified as a ’super-Earth’, half-way in size between small rocky planets such the Earth and ice giants similar to Uranus and Neptune. Although its parent star is a dim ‘red dwarf’ 3,000 times less bright than our sun, it hugs the star so closely that its surface temperature is 200C.

At a distance of just 1.3million miles, the planet makes one year-long orbit of the star every 38 hours. The planet was discovered circling the star GJ1214 with an array of small ground-based telescopes no larger than those used by many amateurs.

The MEarth Project employs eight identical 16-inch diameter telescopes monitoring a 2,000 red dwarf stars. Red dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Milky Way galaxy.

The telescopes are looking for changes in brightness that might betray the presence of a planet crossing in front of a star. Red dwarfs lend themselves to this approach to planet finding because they are so faint.

By measuring the dip in brightness caused by the crossing, scientists can calculate a planet’s density and make an educated guess about its composition. The new planet, GJ1214b, is thought to be three-quarters water and ice and about one-quarter rock.

‘Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld,’ Harvard-Smithsonian Center graduate student astronomer Zachory Berta, who discovered the planet, said.

‘It is much smaller, cooler and more Earth-like than any other known exoplanet.’

The scientists believe something besides the planet’s surface must be blocking light from the parent star – probably a surrounding atmosphere that may contain hydrogen and helium. Turning the Hubble Space Telescope towards the planet may allow astronomers to discover its composition.

MEarth Project head Dr David Charbonneau said: ‘Since this planet is so close to Earth, Hubble should be able to detect the atmosphere and determine what it’s made of.

‘That will make it the first super-Earth with a confirmed atmosphere – even though that atmosphere probably won’t be hospitable to life as we know it.’

The discovery was reported today in the journal Nature. In an accompanying article, renowned planet-hunter Professor Geoffrey Marcy, from the University of California, speculated about what the waterworld might be like.

He wrote: ‘It probably has an extraordinarily deep ocean, which would be liquid given its equilibrium surface temperature of some 190C due to heating from the host star. A sauna-like steam atmosphere is possible.’
Source : The Daily Mail

Interesantísimo trabajo el de este arquitecto y escritor de origen griego. Aristide Antonas, que así se llama, tiene una estupenda web, un blog y una cuenta en flickr, que en conjunto dan sentido a lo que enuncia su blog, “una acumulación de entradas describiendo una persona”. Una peculiar estética; limpia, cercana y poco vista, acompaña proyectos reales y utópicos que recuerdan las manifestaciones de grupos como archigram o superstudio. Me quedo con la frase que acompañaba la memoria de este proyecto, cuya lectura me ha traído a la memoria películas como waterworld o mad max:

Las cosas existentes están destinadas a ser el material creativo del mañana

via dpr-barcelona

Dryland's a myth! Or is it...? (It's not. Spoiler alert.)

A trip down junior high memory lane has led me to do another Twice Baked Potatoes quickie review. This time I’m watching “Waterworld” starring Mr. Kevin Costner as the lead role, also known as The Mariner. The Mariner is along the lines of Mel Gibson’s Mad Max, although Costner plays him as a Dazed, Creepily Quiet Max. There are other actors in the film, but none of them matter whatsoever. Not even the little girl. Sorry. She’s little more than a plot device. The only other performance worth noting is Dennis Hopper as the villain. Hopper was enjoying his mid-90’s Renaissance, where he was more or less doing variations on his performances in “Speed” and “True Romance”. Walleyed heroism versus wily psychosis. Great. Casting. All. Around. Extra special shoutout to awesome that-guy actor Kim Coates as the coolest pseudo-Irish, would-be rapist pirate this side of The Atoll.

To the film’s credit, every cent of the $180 Million price tag shows up on screen. Yet for all that money, would it have killed the production designer to splash on some more colors other than various shades of fecal brown and rust red? Every single room looks like a serial killer’s cleanup shack after it’s been wiped down for evidence. Costner’s sleepwalker acting choices actually fit the film in that respect: Expensive, intentional, and completely boring.

The action, thankfully, is the best part. The setpieces are large and dynamic, chock full of explosions, goop, and blood. More goop than blood. I also appreciate that there are a lot of sets and practical effects. Today, adjusted for quality, this film would have been a CGI cheapfest and most likely have been a SyFy channel clunker starring Lorenzo Lamas. The film also doesn’t waste time with logic. It challenges you to accept the world it’s presenting, and there are so many questions that could be asked, but why bother? It’s an B-action flick masquerading as a summer sci-fi epic. I can forgive the illogics, but where did they get all of the bullets? What about the airplane? Airplane fuel? These things take real science, not just welding torches. I’m just saying.

If this flick is on during late night, it’s not a bad way to spend the hours between 2am and 4am. I just hope that the sequel is called “Desertworld”. You think I’m crazy? They’ll make a sequel to anything. Anything. Just give it 10 more years. 15 tops.

I was thinking about film today, as I do pretty often, wondering what I’d pick if I tried to come up with a combo list of slightly strange sci-fi movies including some post apocalyptic stuff.  Films I liked.  Films that had an impact on me… couldn’t forget scenes from them, made me think a bit… that sort of thing.  This is what I came up with…. in no particular order.

2001: A Space Odyssey (68)

2010 (84)

A Boy and his Dog (75)

A Scanner Darkly (06)

Bicentennial Man (99)

Blade Runner (82)

Brave New World (80)

Capricorn One (77)

Cherry 2000 (87)

Damnation Alley (77)

Dark City (98)

Demolition Man (93)

Dreamscape (84)

Escape from New York (81)

Gattaca (97)

Handmaid’s Tale (90)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78)

Jacob’s Ladder (90)

Liquid Sky (82)

Logan’s Run (76)

Mad Max Movies (79-85)

Matrix Trilogy (99-03)

Metropolis (27)

Minority Report (02)

Mission to Mars (00)

Omega Man (71)

On The Beach (59)

Planet of the Apes Films (68-73)

Quatermass and the Pit (68)

Scanners (81)

Red Planet (00)

Silent Running (72)

Soylent Green (73)

Stargate (94)

Tank Girl (95)

The Running Man (87)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (51)

The Island (05)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (77)

The Andromeda Strain (71)

The Time Machine (60)

They Live (88)

The Thing (82)

V for Vendetta (05)

Total Recall (90)

Videodrome (83)

The Warriors (79)

Waterworld (95)

Westworld (73)

Zardoz (74)

Some movies are born great. Some movies achieve greatness over time. And some movies are such trainwrecks of unintentional comedy, flimsy set design, and terrible CGI that you become mesmerized by your television – lost in a cavalcade of overacting, porn stars trying to go mainstream, the word ‘fuck’ being used in all its grammatical applications, and non sequitors starring Steven Seagal – and awaken two hours later feeling oddly entertained enough that you mistakenly watch the film AGAIN whenever it’s on.

The following list is a tribute to those films that are so bad they’re good. Each of these cinematic tragedies are reminders that Hollywood truly is the epicenter of all drug induced ideas. To make the list, the film must’ve been mainstream, because let’s face it, there’s a lot of trash out there that doesn’t see worldwide releases. These are the best of the best…films that somehow made it past their studios Quality Control division and onto the silver screen in your neighborhood, only to be critically flame-broiled and yet somehow beloved…classics?

This list is brought you by ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ and Sand – It’s everywhere, get used to it:

10. Batman and Robin (1997)

Joel Schumacher should be congratulated. He managed to make Batman more homoerotic than dear Dr. Fredric Wertham: The nippled Batsuit received an upgrade featuring  pre-wedgied, assless-chaps-looking armor. Combine this with Uma Thurman’s idea of acting (remember, she’d just made ‘The Avengers’ that same year, another honorary member of this list) and a ‘Batman on Ice’ segment and you’ve got a lethal cocktail of suckage. Never fear, folks! The Governator is here to turn this movie into campy one-liner glory! Just when you’re reaching for that remote to save your eyes from over-exposure to inexplicable amounts of fuchsia lights, Arnold swoops in – sporting enough chrome to make Jay-Z’s Cadillac jealous – to drop another gleefully awful ice-themed punchline.

Also, why does the freeze gun have a lock and load noise?

9. Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Hollywood Steps to Guaranteed Film Success: 1) Hire Samuel L. Jackson. 2) Give Samuel L. Jackson a gun. 3) Let Samuel L. Jackson add to his collection of priceless film quotes by yelling about things more incoherently than the Ultimate Warrior:

8. Lake Placid (1999)

A completely forgettable film having something to do with a rather large Croco-Gator hiding in some idealistic lake, ‘Lake Placid’ is saved from movie hell by Betty White. Yes, the ‘kooky’ Golden Girl is your savior by doing what she does best: play the innocent old lady who’s actually Nucking Futs (“patent pending) crazy. In this instance, Ms. White can be seen feeding cows to our Gator hero while whimsically discussing the weather with the sheriff.

7. Flash Gordon (1980)

IMDb’s Plot Summary: “A football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyrant, Ming the Merciless, to save Earth.” What could POSSIBLY make this film any better? Well, George Lucas wanted to direct this film, but sadly missed the opportunity and had to instead make some silly films featuring singing teddy bears, walking carpets, and trashcans on wheels. Dennis Hopper, YOUR OVERACTING VILLIAN OF THE CENTURY, sadly turned down the chance to play Dr. Zarkov…but all is well, because 80’s rock sensation QUEEN did the soundtrack!

6. Waterworld (1995)

SPEAKING of Dennis Hopper, I present to you Kevin Costner’s global warming disaster flick (as opposed to his equally bad nuclear holocaust film). At it’s time, this was the most expensive film ever made. I can definitely see where all the money went to, such as welding all that expensive trash can metal onto black matte painted jet skis. This movie is THREE HOURS LONG, and yet you can’t turn away from it. Why? Because Kevin Costner drinks his own piss three minutes in, and it’s all downhill from there:

5. Judge Dredd (1995)

No words need to describe this film aside from I AM THE LAW:

4. Street Fighter (1994)

A movie about a game…BAD…?!?!?! Is this even possible?! What about all those great Uwe Bowe films like ‘House of the Dead’, ‘Bloodrayne’, and ‘In the Name of the King’? And who can forget the Super Mario Brothers…It’s true: Video game based films are notoriously well known for being absolutely eye-gouging, jaw-droppingly bad, and ‘Street Fighter’ is no different. The tragedy that is the film is only further enhanced by the realization that it is Raul Julia’s – the lovable Mr. Addams – final film before he passed away. Though Julia does his best to save this movie, the true hero of our film is Jean Claude Van Damm and his string of flexing monologues scattered throughout.

3. Mannequin (1987)

It’s a movie starring Kim Cattrall as a mannequin that comes to life for the lonely artist that lovingly built her who falls in love with her and saves a department store owned by Estelle Getty by designing hip window displays with his flamboyantly gay best friend. Not crazy enough for you yet? Did I mention that Cattrall is actually an Egyptian princess? Let’s kick it up a notch!

2.Howard the Duck (1986)

God Bless George Lucas for this one. He had HUNDREDS of comic book characters to select from – any of which Marvel, DC, et al would’ve gladly allowed the god of all things Science Fiction to direct – and he chose to slam a bunch of midgets into a oversized rubber duck costume and attempt to save the world. If there was EVER a film that needed a rerelease with enhanced special effects, it’s this one. Please, George, stop destroying the land of the Jedi and bring back this Duck in full CG glory!

1. Starship Troopers (1997)

This is, hands down, the greatest bad movie of all time. Casper Van Dien’s chin deserved an Oscar for carrying Casper Van Dien’s dead weight through this 90 minute romp. Michael Ironside plays Michael Ironside with a gun. Gary Busey’s son is only mildly aggrevating, and hey, any film with NPH automatically is a classic. I have one question for you citizen: Are you doing your part?

Have you ever perused the feature films available for viewing on Hulu? I understand the economics that precludes quality product from showing up as freebies. But the available films look like someone was given the specific assignment of finding the worst films possible.

In fact, it is such a perfectly putrid list of films that only an expert with exquisite taste could compile it. You would have to be so knowledgeable that you could authoritatively and instantly reject any film with even a few seconds of redeeming quality.

I only mention this because I saw a rumor in the trades that ad-supported Hulu was contemplating a pay-wall.  I can hear all of you pulling out your credit cards.

But I say let a thousand flowers bloom.  If you succeed, guys, I’m buying the rights to Ishtar and Waterworld  for national theatrical release.

European satellite to map cycle of water on Earth… From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: oceans. For a different topic see compare two cities. The blog is also related to: ocean temps.

So half-term is practically upon me and my blissful home (I have gotten quite used to having it back from the Summer holidays) will be full with my four lovely children.

This weekend Michael and I will try to get ahead on doing some bits and bobs on the house while I set the kids some various arty fun activities to keep them happy! They will be entering the competition on this month’s StoryBox by drawing their favourite halloween costumes, so vampires, ghosts, witches and wizards galore! Then I thought they could have a go at the fun and games section on the October AdventureBox book too. Thank goodness for the Bayard books.

Then next week I have decided we will definitely go back to water world for some more fun, as we had such a good time last time. I’ve been looking into what is playing at the cinema too next week and we will definitely be heading down on Wednesday (when Michael and I can both use our 2-4-1 vouchers!) to see the film “Up” in 3D! It looks brilliant anyway, but I don’t think Disney get it wrong too often.

Some brilliant news! My darling daughter’s netball team won their first ever match last night, so we had home-made pizza for dinner and ice-cream for pudding as our celebration! I was so proud of her.

Well, with half-term looming next week it looks like I’m going to be spending the rest of this week getting ahead with all my various jobs around the house in preparation for having the brood in! In addition to thinking up various activities to keep them occupied and prevent any kind of cabin fever setting in. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the weather is going to be up to much so indoor activities are a must. Sadly Centre Parcs just isnt going to happen right now; we really need to put out extra money into the house. I’m off to research some other fun things to do now! We had a great time at water world recently, so perhaps a revisit may be in order! I must see what is showing at the cinema too, it’s been ages since we had a visit.

Let me be your Retail Therapist

               When I was a kid, I used to anticipate the Sunday paper like nothing else (except the Source mag). Every Sunday, I would snatch the sport’s page and all the sales papers out of the Sunday paper, and leave the rest for everyone else. I’d check all the dope shit dropping for the next week, look at the prices, all of that. Even though at the time I was in a household where the money was present,and my grades were right, I didn’t get any of the shit I would dream of. Years later, I work hard, and try and make sure I get everything I want. So I figured, why not do a feature every week where I cover what’s dropping for the week? Say no more…

Video Games

               So the 21st, Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 and Fifa 2010 drops on all consoles, while Borderlands drops on Xbox 360, and PS3, and Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars drops on PSP. Pretty damn good week for games. My peoples, sold me Borderlands early, and I gotta say, it’s a damn good game. Imagine Fallout, less serious, and a whoooole lot better shooting….oh yea, and don’t forget 4 player Co-op.  For someone just a fan of games in general, that’s probably the go to joint for the week as far as games go. Based on word on the street, SVR 2010 delivers heavy for wrestling fans, and fans of the game in general. Expect to catch me on the 360 version. Fifa 10…shit…it’s Fifa. I don’t get too involved in the Fifa vs Pro Evo arguments. I roll with Fifa every year. Expect me to be on the 360 version of that.  GTA Chinatown Wars is a rerelease of the DS game. I don’t know how they did that, the DS game was built around the DS’ touch screen. Oh well, I’ll be acquiring that.

Music

               Three releases on my radar dropping tomorrow. Fashawn’s “Boy Meets World”, Royce Da 5′9’s “Street Hop” and Cormega’s “Born and Raised”. I feel you can’t lose with any of them. Cormega’s album is ‘Mega at his finest, going in over classic NY production. Large Pro, Premo, L.E.S., Pete Rock, Havoc, Lil Fame, some of NY’s best production. Royce on the other hand, has none other than Premo himself executive producing his album. Fashawn’s album is helmed by Exile, the same Exile who produced Blu’s “Below the Heavens”.I’d suggest copping them all…but if you absolutely ask me, I’d go with Fashawn’s album. The album is amazing, for a debut album…no, fuck that, for an album period, this shit is amazing.

Movies

               It’s a pretty suck ass week as far as movies in the stores. If you like half naked no booty having chicks, cooning robots, corny punchlines, and lots of explosives…”Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is definitley for you. Along with TROTF, comes Waterworld on Blu–Ray. I guess they’re still trying to make back that money. Also dropping on Blu-ray is a “Wrong Turn” 3 pack, and UFC 100. A bad horror fest, and Brock Lesnar beating the shit out of Frank Mir. My pick for the week…UFC 100. The movies suck, so either watch someone get their ass beat, or wish you’d gotten your ass beat.

Next week, I’ll look to scope kicks dropping during the week also, and maybe some other shit too. Spend wisely!

I apologize for the last 2 weeks.  I announced the releases on The Film List Podcast, but I promise I will not miss a week from here on out on the blog.  I will make it my dencity….I mean my destiny.

Over the next couple of weeks, releases will be of that horror theme as we approach Halloween.  Also from here on out, we will continue to get the summer blockbusters (Or lack there of) released, ie. Wolverine, Transformers, etc.

As you can see, late October isn’t kind to the amazing new content for home viewing.   But as we reach November, the holiday push is evident with many great upcoming blu-ray releases : Star Trek, Lost season 5, Heat, Snatch, and Fight Club.

Here is Blu-Ray new releases for this Tuesday, OCTOBER 20, 2009 :

Blood: The Last Vampire »

Easy Rider [40th Anniversary Edition (with Booklet)] »

Eminem – Live from New York City 2005

Monsoon Wedding [The Criterion Collection] »

Night of the Creeps [Director's Cut] »

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen [Two-Disc Special Edition] »

Revenge of the Fallen.....I'd pick her up....

Waterworld [Theatrical Version] »

Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead [Unrated] »

DVD ONLY

CHiPs: The Complete First & Second Seasons

".....ESTRADA!..."

Crew

George Harrison: Beautiful Stranger – Unauthorized

Hawaii Five-O: The Seventh Season [6 Discs]

Homicide: Life on the Street – The Complete Series (Already been available, but one of my favorite TV shows being re-released at : www.dvdplanet.com)

It’s Garry Shandling’s Show: The Complete Series

L Word: Complete Series Pack [24 Discs]

Local

On the Line

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Route 66: Season 3, Vol. 2

Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of Season 2 [3 Discs]

Top Chef: New York [4 Discs]

Vega$: The First Season, Vol. 1 [3 Discs]

WWE: Batista Unleashed [3 Discs]

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

SOURCES : DVDTOWN, DVDPLANET, MTV

Five Dollar Footlong
Remake of the 1989 film Loverboy. In the updated version, a Subway employee woos female customers in a vacant apartment above the fast food franchise.

The Spinner
A windmill technician moves to a small town, where he tries to convince the local community to “go green.” Extremely preachy.
Writer: Mark Finley

Mapboy
When all the maps in the world go missing, a young boy who has memorized the globe becomes the key to everyone’s survival.
Based on a pitch by some writer who saw Waterworld.

“I have gotten a bee in my bonnet about going hiking.  See, I love autumn, everything about it.  I love the colors, the smells, and the feeling I get when I go outside and feel energized rather than wanting to instantly collapse from the heat.  So it makes sense that I would want to hike in this weather, it’s my power weather.” Read more as Steph illustrates a Saturday with friends HERE.

This Saturday was the first day Jordan and I have had to spend together in a long time.  I was away from the apartment last weekend and the weekend before, who knows.  Basically, we both felt as if we hadn’t been in each others’ presence, or at least paying attention to each other for a long time.  So we had decided to make this weekend great.

I have gotten a bee in my bonnet about going hiking.  See, I love autumn, everything about it.  I love the colors, the smells, and the feeling I get when I go outside and feel energized rather than wanting to instantly collapse from the heat.  So it makes sense that I would want to hike in this weather, it’s my power weather.  (Note: My parents may not understand what I’m saying here as historically I have hated hiking.  This is because my father would take us on obscenely long hikes when the weather would not always be perfect.  In fact sometimes it would rain.  Hard.  Like a storm.  Furthermore, he would rarely plan the route ahead of time- something I do without fail and it is a trait I picked up from my mother who’s the same way- so we would be following him, cursing life and our achy knees, praying that he wouldn’t want to take another “detour” to check out a ledge that was always “only another ten minutes” off our charted route.  It never was.  But my hikes aren’t like dad’s hikes.  My hikes are planned, and I make a nice little picnic.  My hikes are me leading in tube socks and shorts with Jordan trailing behind in his Nikes.)

Anyway, so I was all excited to hike and after a Friday evening of watching half of Waterworld and half of Obsessed.  Now, both of these movies are ridiculous.  Waterworld because it makes no logical sense.  I tried to keep my indignant exclamations to a minimum but I just couldn’t help it.  Where in God’s name were the villains getting the gas to fuel their metal ski-doos if the whole world is covered in water?  I’m sure, knowing the current world, that all reserves of gas would be used up in say oh… a year tops?  Also, dirt is a precious commodity in the movie because land is a thing of the past.  However, what can you do with dirt?!  I can understand water being a precious commodity, a domestic cat even, but certainly not dirt.  What are you going to do with it?  Plant some seeds that you don’t have?  But anyway, Kevin Costner’s hair is in a half ponytail for the entire movie, which is quite a treat to see.  I guess we know that in a future where all the polar ice caps have melted- half-ponytails are back in style.  Now Obsessed was quite a different movie- instead of a Western/ Indiana Jones type flick on water, Obsessed was a crazy white girl movie.  And let me tell you, as a white woman myself, I find crazy white women movies terrifying.  The characters are always so crazy.  Fatal Attraction, The Swimmer- all terrifying.  The difference between those flicks and this one is that the man who is being terrorized is black and so is his family.  This leads to some interesting analysis of the scenes where the crazy white woman (Ali Larter) is claiming certain things, which the black man (Idris Elba) vehemently denies- a white woman’s word against a black man’s.  Who usually comes out on top in these situations?  Historically (and usually right now), it’s the white woman.  But anyway, though the movie provides an interesting race and gender analysis, it has a terrible soundtrack and an even more awful script.  But, hey, you can’t always have it all.

So after our awesome cinematic night, I was all ready to hike the day away.  Until we awoke to torrential downpour.  After pouting a bit, I decided to go pick up a pass from our local library to get discounted admission to the Museum of Fine Arts.  We drove there, commenting upon how obscene parking prices are in the city and how the MBTA is a poor excuse for public transportation.  No wonder American’s sit at home.  Really.  It’s so damn hard to get anywhere.  And then once you do, you have to pay $10-20 per person to gain access to where you just travelled.  The situation just astounds me.

We spent about two hours in the museum, philosophizing about life and commenting on how we were surrounded with pillaged and stolen goods.  Oh colonialism- how you’ve filled our museums.  Upon leaving the museum, we headed to Chinatown where we had a fight involving Jordan’s I phone on the streets of Chinatown (he was hungry and began to lose touch with reality, I was channeling my father and wanted to find the best restaurant possible and Jordan just wanted to eat, and so we clashed and the battle ended with me yelling “Well YOU have the I phone so YOU lead the way!) and then we met two good Bates pals for dinner.  One lives and works in the Boston area and the other in Portland, ME.  We caught up on some Bates news and discussed alumni networking for some time.  We agreed that it was super important for alumni/ae to help graduates out and that too often people forget that they owe their institution beyond sending them a check each year.  The Bates people that I’ve spoken to have been extremely warm and helpful, and that I appreciate.  In fact, I appreciate it so much that I will return the favor and make sure to put myself out there as a resource for the younger Bates generation.  Because I might not be cruising around Boston in a Bates sweatsuit but I always put that I am a graduate of Bates College on any job application I send out because who knows?  Someone might see that I’m a Batesie and may be a Batesie themselves.  Or in Jordan’s case, someone might be married to a Batesie and they might perk up at the mention of our glorious institution.

Hey, maybe someone might have read the articles that mention Bates blogging in the New York Times, will check out Stealthy Secrets, and then will offer me the job of my dreams.  It’s all about wearing the proverbial Bates sweatsuit.  You paid for it, wear it out.

Shhhh,

Steph

O filme homônimo tem em sua curta sinopse os seguintes dizeres: “Jovem zelador é demitido e resolve seqüestrar a bela filha do patrão. Os dois, porém, acabam se apaixonando e são ajudados por dois anjos” (Fonte: WIKIPEDIA). Outros comentários sobre o filme pode, no entanto, serem encontrados no Google, ou em sites sobre cinema, filmes e coisas do gênero.

Porém, o meu intuito de resgatar este título, aliás, de um bom filme (apenas bom, em minha humilde opinião), é para comentar alguns dos belíssimos acontecimentos do fantástico mundo em que vivemos. Sim, vivemos em um mundo fantástico, o que aliás, me remete aos significados desta palavra: 1 Que só existe na fantasia; imaginário. 2 Que apenas existe na imaginação. 3 Incrível. 4 Caprichoso. sm O que só existe na imaginação. (Fonte: MICHAELIS). Ouso provocar chamando o mundo de fantástico, jamais por suas belezas ou pela sua magnitude. Acredite-se em criador ou em explosões, o fato é que é algo grandioso. E ponto. Mas o chamo de fantástico pela espetacular ignorância que presencio no dia-a-dia.

Na imaginação dos mais perversos seres que já passaram por este planeta (ou, que infelizmente, ainda estejam por aqui), não creio que haveria tamanha ignorância e selvageria como existe agora. Não sem um propósito, ou sem o mínimo propósito. Antigamente, soldados se matavam. Hoje, são nossas crianças. Pedia-se, em tempos idos, esmolas por condições miseráveis. Hoje, profissionaliza-se tal fato. Enquanto tomávamos café com o vizinho e conversávamos do cotidiano, agora tememos que ele chega e nem ao menos sabemos direito o seu nome. E a lista de exemplos é interminável.

Por algumas vezes quis estar longe deste fantástico mundo. Sei que escrever, tocar, me matar de trabalhar, viajar muito por lugar nenhum, e outras coisas mais, foram caminhos que encontrei para tentar procurar possibilidades de fuga. De uma maneira brilhante, orgulho-me de ter utilizado como fuga na maior parte das vezes tudo aquilo que poderia me ajudar a crescer. Porém, tenho medo que a fuga dos outros atrapalhe tudo o que consegui construir até hoje.

Invariavelmente, saio e chego de casa com um medo que nunca tive. É sim, “a insegurança causada pela violência”, pela criminalidade, pelos distúrbios sociais, grande parte da preocupação. Mais o maior dos meus medos ainda está nos sociopatas. Quando falamos deles, aqui mesmo no blog, discutimos sobre suas características, falamols de suas atitudes, e até recebemos depoimentos. Isto me marcou. Tanto que passei a me preocupar ainda mais. Explico: o temor é para que não aconteça a entrega pela aceitação. Ou seja, temo por não ser possível achar uma maneira de acordar as pessoas para um problema real, e que acabe aceitando sua existência, e passe a ser refém do próprio medo.

Nossos políticos assim o fizeram conosco (sim, a história conta isso muito bem para quem quiser ler). Desarticularam a sociedade de tal sorte que hoje nem mesmo uma passeata que reivindique a mudança do pirulito de esférico para retangular (estilo Zorro, para os saudosistas) faria eco algum. Só provocaria revoltas (como as que me provocam infinitamente na Av. Cândido de Abreu, em Curitiba). As associações perderam o sentido, o povo perdeu a identidade de coletivo e passou a ser um bando de indivíduos, individualmente em dívida eterna com o seu próprio medo. O egoísmo e a ambição tornaram-se valores máximos no mercado de trabalho, o consumismo, uma regra absurda dentro de nossos lares. Nossos filhos correr grande risco de não saberem subir em árvores, o que, aliás, vários não sabem. Conhecer de perto uma galinha, então…

Uma pena, mesmo, que caminhemos para um mundo que o cinema, aquele que me inspirou a começar, já refletiu, onde um cenário de Mad Max ou Waterworld sejam, no mínimo, cruéis retratos de uma fantasia real muito próxima.

Faça sua parte: abrace um amigo. Experimente dar bom dia ao porteiro, ao guarda de trânsito, ao varredor de rua. Convide o seu vizinho para ir na sua casa conversar e tomar um café. Brinque com seu filho, muito. E aproveite a vida.

Desculpem o desabafo, mas o que eu vi nos últimos dias, de acidente, loucuras no trânsito e falta de respeito, me fizeram lembrar o quanto é bom chegar próximo a um fim de semana e desejar a todo mundo que a gente gosta que ele seja maravilhoso. Aproveite MUITO o fim de semana. E faça como na escola. Venha na segunda-feira contar: COMO FOI SEU FIM DE SEMANA?

Daniel Pinheiro – por uma vida menos ordinária.

The hotel to stay @ : World’s Largest Cylindrical Aquarium, AquaDom, Radisson Hotel Aquarium, Berlin; 25 meters high aquarium, with a capacity of 260,000 gallons of water and over 2,500 fish (56 species); visitors can travel through the aquarium using an encased elevator and get to the top where there is a restaurant and an open view of the city.

Where to eat : Largest Aquarium in Africa – UShaka Marine World,  in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

… and where to blow BUBBLEsss :

Halos taun-taon, nabibisita ang bansa natin ng tiga-anim or pito na bagyo.  Kadalasan, dumadalaw sila sa may Hunyo hanggang Setyembre; pwero na nga dahil sa El Nino, minsan pinaagahan sa may Mayo pa or pinatagalan hanggang Disyembre.

Ayon sa Wikipedia, ang pinakamasindak sa mga bagyo na dumating rito sa huling siglo ay ang Uring (na kilala bilang Thelma sa labas ng bansa) noong 1991; sinunod nito ang Rosing (Angela) noong 1995 at Ruping (Mike) noong 1990.  Halos makaabot ang death toll rito sa tatlong nito sa sampung libo habang ang halaga ng winasak nila’y lagpas na sa dalawampung bilyong piso.

Ngayon na mismo, binisita tayo ni Ondoy (Ketsana); nang dahil roon, halos buong araw kahapon nabawian ng kuryente; hanggang ngayon wala pa ring TV service (dahil SKYCable ang aming provider rito).   Habang naririnig ko ang mga bali-balita at (nang bumalik ang kuryente pagkahapon) sinunod ko mga tweets sa Twitter at pinanood ko pa mga video na pina-upload sa YouTube,   naaalala ko nga ang kabataan ko sa may Sampaloc na maituturing isang flood-prone area kahit noon pa.  Sa totoo lang, ilang beses na kami pinasukan ng tubig sa aming bahay.  Mabuti naman di naman kaming napilitang umakyat sa bubong para iwasan ang tubig-baha.  Nang lumipat kami sa may kalapitan ng Commonwealth Ave. sa QC, medyo namahinga kami sa pangamba dahil me kataasan ang lugar, pero ang paglalakbay papuntang trabaho’y minsan naging sinagabalan ng baha habang umuulan, lalo na nga sa intersection ng daanan nito at Elliptical Road.

Sa lugar kong tinitirhan ngayon, bihira rin ang naka-engkuwentro ng seryosong baha, pero na nga kahapon, akala ko’y pati subdivision natin, mapeperwisyo; mabuti rin naman medyo madaling lumaho ang ga-katiting na tubig-baha sa harap ng bahay ko.

Nandito ang ilan sa mga eksena na maituturing mo’y parang may balak na kunin ni Kevin Costner na Maynila bilang location para sa sequel ng pelikulang niyang “Waterworld”

Sa may Eastwood

Pasensya sa hirit ng conyong taga-kuha ng bidyong nito…

West Avenue naman…

Sa may Taft at Vito Cruz, kalapitan ng DLSU

Nang lumaho na ang tubig-baha

…akala mo’y isang higanteng espada’y binaon at dinukot!!!

Original theatrical trailer for Waterworld

Marami na nga natamaan nang dahil sa biglang pagpataas ng tubig, lalo na nga sa may kalapitan ng Pasig at Marikina rivers.  Walang nakaligtas rito, bata’t matanda, mayaman man o mahirap.

Cristine Reyes up on a roof

Pinasmandan rin ang kalagayan niya kahit sa Yahoo! News

Sa totoo lang, pagkatapos ng pagpopogi ng mga balak tumakbo para sa 2010  eleksyon, dapat na nga masdan natin kung ano tayo ang ginawa natin para iparating itong situwasyon sa ating lugar.  Huwag na natin sisihin ang Diyos, o si Mother Nature na nga…maaaring ginawa ng lahat na paraan mga opisyales natin sa gubyerno, mala-makapogi na o hindi, pero ang dapat bagsakin ang sisi ay ang bawat isa sa atin.

Masdan mo pag di mo tinatapon ang basura sa tamang lugar.  Kung kayo mong bulsahin ang mga katiting ng basura lang imbes na itapon na kahit saan-saan, di ka na sanang dinalawan ng sarili mong ebak na pinasok sa loob ng bahay mo sa tubig-baha.  Minsan kinaiinisan ko nga talaga pag medyong nahihirapan akong maghanap ng basurahan lalo na nga sa mga upscale na tambayan.

Isa rin kong dapat iparinggan ko sa may balak tumakbo sa 2010; puwede ba ninyo ipadagdag sa plataporma ninyo ang pagbubuo ng isang Disaster Task Force na may kasamang amphibian vehicles, choppers, jetskis, bulldozers atbp.

OP Tomica Hero Rescue Force

Di nga kailangan gaanong ka-hitech, pero na nga dapat maasahan talaga at madaling silang mag-respond lalo na nga paglabas ng babala mula sa PAGASA (wala bang pag-asa ang PAGASA – o hindi ba sila talaga maasahan?).

Sa totoo lang, dapat gawing krimen rin di lang ang squatting mismo pero ang pagpro-protect sa mga squatters.   Huwag mo ipadaan sa akin na mga mahihirap na nga sila, wala silang alam atbp…kaya na nga madaling silang mauutuhin ng mga “trapong” pulitiko.  Ang parusa nito di lang sa mga squatters pati rin naman ang mga “squatter-coddlers” ay dapat KAMATAYAN.   Para sa mga mahilig magtapon ng basura sa pinakamalapit na estero o daluyan ng tubig, dapat sila itali’t i-dunk sa tubig na pinarumihan nila ng sariling ihi, ebak, burnik atbp.

Storm Ondoy is continuing to pour in buckets across Metro Manila as I write this, with the rains going non-stop for at least 7 hours.

The floods are roof-high in some low lying areas like Marikina and parts of Mandaluyong, San Juan and scores of other places.

The Philippines’ national capital region has all but turned into a waterworld with disaster relief agencies field rescue helicopters to pkuck people trapped on their roofs and calls going out from the Red Cross and other civic-minded citizens to gather food and other emergency supplies for the distressed.

Alternately Filipinos are praying for the rains to let up, and cursing local governments for being ill-prepared and unable to move quick to help the flooded areas.

Weathermen predict the rains from Ondoy to continue unto Sunday

This is surely the worst flooding in Metro Manila in at least 5 decades.

Journalist Mike Cohen is being quoted in a Dacebook comment thread that”rainfall volume from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday was measured at 341 millimeters, breaking the 334 mm recorded in June 1967.

It’s now 7 p.m. as I post this so even that latest measurement has been breached.

Officials confirmed as the rains finally stopped around11:30 that Ondoy dumped one month’s worth of rains in just one day

The whole of Metro Manila has been declared under a state of calamity, giving officials authority to mobilize emergency funds to try to ease public misery.

On Facebook, journalist Mari Kaimo share a link to this video taken from the upper-floor window of a home over-looking Katipunan Road in uezon City.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is reporting:

Thirty-five other people were killed in Rizal province, Tony Mateo, a member of the Rizal provincial disaster coordinating council, told the Inquirer Saturday night. He said they included 16 people killed in Tanay, 10 in Angono, five in Baras, three in Rodriguez and on in Teresa.

No one was reported hurt here but the vehicles were no match to Ondoy:

Another YouTube clip shows the floods somewhere in Makati City on the southern side of Metro Manila:

Here in Mandaluyong, it’s the first time ever that our own living room has been flooded with the waters having breached the gate and front door which measure one foot above out Juan Luna Street level.

One stark element I’ve realized is while the weather bureau – PAGASA – does tell us how fast the storms move and tells us what storm warning signal is up, people are not given information on the amount of precipitation expected, so we are really caught unawares.

One saving grace with Ondoy it its winds were not very strong or it passed high above the metropolis.

Alas!!!