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Nola.com In Panic Mode

Posted on August 27, 2008 by Varg

Edit 2: Oh, I know why Gustav is coming this weekend. It’s God punishing us again. How many times can a community get smote in one decade? Say, that reminds me, have Y’all seen this?

Edit:From the 2 p.m. forecast discussion out of NHC, “One should not read much into such shifts of the forecast track since the typical error of a 5-day prediction is over 300 miles.”

Our local paper’s Web site has ordered us to clean out your freezer today and asking Just what is a 3-day emergency food supply? Meanwhile, “the West Bank levee board and some businesses have installed a robust line of wire cages filled with sand along that southern stretch.”

It’s actually more comforting to have the track pointing right at New Orleans 100 hours out.

Here is Ivan 6 days out.

Katrina 4 days out.

Rita three days out

And then there is the spaghetti which is not in agreement.

And just to fully adorn my amateur meteorologist cap, I think the next day is going to matter a lot as to the German’s final destination.

Gustav is worrisome. But let’s save the panic for the weekend shall we? Because I’m wanting to see Vavavoom at Mimi’s on Friday and sell some art on Saturday. Might be a clearance!

5 thoughts on “Nola.com In Panic Mode”

  1. Civitch says:
    August 27, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    Thanks for posting the links to the paths of previous storms.

    It’s funny how no meteorologist has mentioned the historic error rate for x number of days out. It would be very reassuring, but I guess it would make them look like they have no idea, which is probably why it’s never brought up.

  2. rickngentilly says:
    August 27, 2008 at 8:38 pm

    “It’s funny how no meteorologist has mentioned the historic error rate for x number of days out. It “would be very reassuring, but I guess it would make them look like they have no idea, which is probably why it’s never brought up.”

    Just for the record that was Bob Breck’s main talking point today. Maybe he’s a fan of this site.

    He’s always been out of the mainstream loop telling people to chill when every body else is hyped and having a great onscreen freak out when the shit is hitting the fan.

    He is definitely my post Nash guy.

  3. celcus says:
    August 27, 2008 at 8:41 pm

    Bob Breck has been pretty good through this. Bottom line so far is that all the models are wrong, Gustav has be hanging around the pool like some bad German tourist at a Caribbean resort.

    Of course, I recall the wandering track of Rita as Houstonians collectively crapped in their pants and then crapped again. I fact I think they were still crapping themselves after the storm had passed. It was really kind of funny is black sort of way.

  4. pistolette says:
    August 27, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    @Celcus: Agreed on Breck. I love how he’s mocking the insanity over the “Cone of Doom”.

    @Varg: Thanks for those maps, that was cool. -My rule is that I prep as much as possible at the start of hurricane season (when you’re fucking supposed to), and then I wait for them to get in the Gulf before I start to scramble.

  5. swampwoman says:
    August 27, 2008 at 9:26 pm

    Those links are somewhat reassuring – but the scare definitely created a run on gasoline and water today – 3-4 cars deep at the stations – topping off is never a bad thing…

    …now where’s the stash of cash in the house, hmmm

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3 Noble Truths

Know yourself. Know the Universe. Know yourself in the Universe.

Rev. Varg’s Artist Statement

Rejoice!

I say that a lot. I sign many pieces with it. I do this because I believe our lives are a true happenstance. A brilliant occurence from nothingness. We are so rare. We are so unlikely. And simply being born isn’t enough. From there we must survive, endure. So each morning, after our Sun departs and is reborn again. Please, for the sake of your ancestors and the Universe in general, hoist that cup of joe up and say, “Rejoice.”

Ours is a soulful existence. No matter how many McMansions, polyester fabrics, auto-tunes, modified foods and social networks we surround ourselves with, we are all still native, passionate beings made of ancient matter. We are organic and we have soul.

Wood also has a warm, soulful quality. Wood has a memory. It retains smells, traumas, events. It even has a calendar. This is why I have chosen it as my medium, for its old soul. I like to think the wood in my work is in its third incarnation. First a tree, then a home and now art. If you have a room that needs a little soul, get a piece. A room can never have enough soul.

My inspiration and subject matter comes from many sources, among them: Humanism, old ballads, trickster tales, flora and fauna, science, myths and folklore, stringed instruments, brass bands, amber spirits, lady vocalists, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of my pieces are there just to make a short, simple statement about what’s important in life. Some are more diffuse and abstract in meaning. A personal drama, an enduring line from a poem or novel, a poignant song lyric, the legacy of an important person, a fleeting thought … these are the subjects of my art.

I use hearts often because they are a very abstract way of depicting the human soul without also employing the very subjective human form. The symbolic heart is an apt representation for a person’s experience and essence. A body can immediatly conjure happiness, sorrow, youth, age, anger, bliss. These emotions can get in the way. Sometimes it’s simply about the experience.

I am the son of a sailor and a social worker, the grandson of a gypsy, a dancer and a nurse. I spent my youth moving from port city to port city, watching a lot of road go by and reading World Book Encyclopedia. After my parents settled down on the Gulf Coast, I was a miscreant youth, destroying cars and taking the wrongs things too seriously and the right things not serious enough. Eventually I began replacing my imagination with experience.

I will use any salvaged wood but prefer swamp cypress and longleaf heartwood pine.

I despise waste. Particularly the waste of organic matter. Trees are magnificent. They were here before we arrived and they’ll be around after we are gone. I’m making an effort to save as much wood as possible. Creating art is fun too. But beyond communicating with folks, but beyond making money ad providing for myself, beyond rescuing flooded parts, beyond reveling in the ethereal aroma of heartpine that hasn’t seen the light of day in 400 years, beyond all that, I am trying to make a simple comment on waste.

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