Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Jersey Shore Reaction
Hitler reacting to the new season of Jersey Shore not being filmed in New Jersey. This is actually pretty good.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Flaming Red
Patty Griffin has been one of my favorite singers since I first came upon her amazing album Flaming Red back around 1999. The woman opens her mouth and beautiful voice just flows out. Griffin has just released a new CD, the gospel-tinged Downtown Church. Though I’ve enjoyed her CDs after Flaming Red, she has never again returned to that raw, rocking sound, live or on record.
Anyway, I was discussing this with my drummer friend Seth, and he was kind enough to send me a link to this awesome video of her performing the title track “Flaming Red” back in the good old days. It starts off slow, but things kick in with burning intensity at 1:32. That's some searing slide guitar work.
Labels:
Flaming Red,
Patty Griffin
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Ring of Fire
I was reading an article on Turkmenistan in my dad’s December 12-18 2009 issue of The Economist, and it mentioned something called the Darvaza Gas Crater, describing it as “a giant red pit belching gases and flames into the night sky, created 30-40 years ago when a drilling platform sank through the earth’s surface.” It sounded like an impressive site to behold, and I was surprised I had never heard of this before. Needless to say, I was immediately intrigued.Interestingly enough, it’s difficult to locate a definitive history of this site, but most reports date the creation of the crater as 1971 (though some sources date it as far back as 1950). Allegedly, Soviet geologists were drilling for natural gas deposits in the Karakum Desert (in the Derweze area of Turkmenistan) when they hit an underground cavern filled with gas. The ground beneath their drilling rig gave way, collapsing and creating a huge crater 60 meters across and 20 meters deep. Gas was escaping, and the geologists’ solution was to burn the gas off; however, what they thought would be a quick burn has been ablaze ever since. It’s a beautiful sight that can be seen glowing from miles away, but it doesn’t smell quite as pretty as it looks. The crater reeks of burning sulfur; locals have deemed it “The Door to Hell,” and it’s impossible to stand close to the edge for too long due to the odor.
Still interested in visiting? The site is located in central Asia, about 260 kilometers north of Ashgabat – that’s the capital of Turkmenistan for trivia enthusiasts and potential tourists. It's about a 3-hour trek into an unforgiving desert landscape. Also, there isn’t much in the way of permanent structures at the crater. Tourists usually arrange for a local guide, a jeep and supplies to get out to the site and then camp near the crater, since it’s best viewed in the dark.
So are flaming gas pits the norm in Turkmenistan? Turkmenistan holds the fourth largest reserves of natural gas in the world, so hopefully drillers will be careful. And the country is strengthening its position and lines of distribution. According to energy analyst Peter Paraschos, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan was dependent on the Russian-controlled Soviet-era pipeline network to export its natural gas, an arrangement that left the country at Moscow's mercy. However, Turkmenistan has developed new gas pipelines to China and Iran that recently commenced operation, undermining Russia's monopoly on the export of Turkmen gas.
So does this sound like a place you’d like to visit? Check out some cool additional pics here.
Photo Credit: Antonxiii / Flickr
Labels:
Darvaza Gas Crater
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