Where There's Thunder...
There usually is lightning...or at least a 155mm artillery barrage going on somewhere closer than it should be.
Here we are in mid-January, with thundershowers starting off the day...how "Spring-like".
At least it masks out the morons in those boomcars...they hate this weather (something about high humidity, speaker vibrations and possible damage to their "junk in the trunk"...whatever). It works for me.
This rain is going to wash away the salt on the roads and the snow we recently got, JUST in time to get more snow later this evening.
Naturally, you can hear a few accidents on the highways, because SOME folks can't quite get a handle on inclement weather of ANY type...and the (amended) shape of the vehicle they drive speaks to that.
There should be some sort of technology on their vehicle that disallows the vehicle to START in ANY weather BUT nice, clear, dry conditions...
That way, the rest of us can get where WE'RE going with a lot less angst.
Now THAT would be a much better use of technology then those iPod docks, DVD players, GPS and other assorted crap that takes up space and weight on our cars, vans, and SUVs...right?
But the infrequent thunder-clap in the sky isn't the ONLY thunder around...
*** How's about that GOP debate last evening?
(Hey, I can hear 'ya YAWNIN' out there...knock it off...LOL)
Now THAT was a pretty decent dog & pony show...for a change.
Aside from the obvious jabs at one another, there was some really good ideas floating around in South Carolina.
Like I stated before, EVERY candidate has at last ONE good idea going for them, and if you could somehow MELD all of them into ONE, definitive candidate, you'd have a REAL WINNER...and we're talking landslide victory in November here.
Now, while I was watching the on stage "thunder", I was ALSO watching the premiere of a new show on the FOX channel...titled ALCATRAZ.
*** This show is marvelously enigmatic in nature, and a LOT of the plot is being deliberately held back to make us wonder WTF is going on...and I like that kind of challenge to the viewer.
You can speculate until the prisoners return to their cells, and you might never come close to the WHYS about this show.
Sam Neill heads the cast, and I've been a fan of his since the PBS series Reilly - Ace of Spies. (yeah, that goes back a few years)
Hell of an actor in any role, but he heads up this "group" of people that are finding out that about 302 prisoners that were SUPPOSED to be transferred from Alcatraz when it closed back in 1963, never REALLY were. Records were changed to show they were transferred or died in jail, but somehow, these prisoners are showing back UP...on our streets...TODAY.
Funny thing is, they haven't AGED one day since their "transfer" back in '63...curious, huh?
And these criminals are picking up right where they left off as far as crime goes...
It's Sam Neill's job to hunt them down, and bring them to a secret facility (somewhere) where they can be RE-incarcerated, and have Neill discover what happened to them and HOW they got HERE at this time, as well as WHO is behind this "experiment".
But Alcatraz itself is not what it appears to be, either.
Deep UNDER the facility is something akin to (what one cohort says is) the BATCAVE...scads of electronic surveillance tech and historical databases out the wazoo to assist in finding these 302 inmates and get them put away AGAIN (for good).
It's got pieces of Warehouse 13 in it (another really decent show on Sci-Fi), and plenty of speculation about the possibilities of life-extension, or time travel and wormholes to keep the inner geek in us watching.
I give it TWO thumbs up (for intrigue alone).
*** But wait, there's more to watch, especially TONIGHT.
Yes, friends, this evening, the season premiere of (one of my "must-see" shows) JUSTIFIED comes on FX (10PM Eastern).
Now, I like my law-enforcement officers a bit less perfect (in their lives) and a lot more accurate (when it comes to shooting perps), and this show delivered from day one.
Timothy Olyphant does a great job as Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshal assigned to the Harlan County area of Kentucky.
His character is based on the works of crime novelist Elmore Leonard.
Let's just say I like Raylan's "style"...smooth when needed, and blunt when required.
Another must watch for me tonight.
*** I'm not going to belabor that cruise ship sinking off the coast of Tuscany...we've all seen a lot of it since it happened.
Allegations of misconduct and lapses of maritime procedures make the case well enough.
With 4200+ people on board, one would THINK that safety would trump everything else.
And one would ALSO think that the CAPTAIN would in fact be the LAST PERSON to leave the stricken vessel.
Such was not the case here...(coward).
That boy won't even be able to captain a sailboat in a bathtub after THIS fiasco!
The GOOD news is that the ship has sunk as far as it will, given the depth of the water and the proximity of land.
If this would have happened in DEEP water...then we'd have another Andrea Doria on our hands.
Still, you'd like to believe that after ALL these years since both the Doria and the Titanic sinkings, that hull design would have come just a wee bit farther. But I guess when you tear a 160 ft. long HOLE beneath the waterline, not much you can do but practice your breast stroke.
People heard a loud boom on the ship...yeah, smacking rocks with a huge ship will tend to sound sort of like that.
Kinda like...THUNDER.
*** And while we're still on the subject, there's this:
The neighbors in the 4000 block of Gaywood Drive on the (...all together, gang...) SOUTHEAST SIDE of Fort Wayne were awakened by thunder of a different sort early this morning...
Here's the link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/house-explodes-on-gaywood-dr-other-houses-also-catch-fire
Now, I'm no fire investigation expert, but I do know that houses just don't up and go BOOM! for no damn reason at all.
Most every time, they need a little "help".
And usually, that help consists of someone SCRAPPING the pipes and other metals from the house.
Now, since the house was VACANT, that reinforces that supposition even more, especially when people don't really pay attention as to WHO is coming and going from the neighborhood that doesn't live there or otherwise BELONG in that area.
And that's why I maintain LISTS...I know WHO lives around here, and who DOES NOT, and even the vehicles they drive.
With several vacant houses in MY block, you bet your ass I'm keeping watch to comings and goings.
I submit reports to our quadrant captain monthly, but I don't know HOW effective that is after if gets to her "in box".
I do it to keep a RECORD of what steps I take...in case anything DOES happen (like a house going BOOM for no reason).
Didn't look like that house had been boarded up, and that tells me easy access for a potential scrapper (or four).
Like I say...something ALWAYS going on down here in the crotch of Fort Wayne. And too many that can actually DO something about it don't even seem to care... (right, Mayor Henry...Glynn Hines...Rusty York?...just to name a few)
*** Lastly today, there ARE all types of thunder that we face in our lives.
Many times, we are part of that thunderous applause for a great performance, or it can be a sermon that resounds in our hearts like thunder.
It can be the idiotic cacophony of the local boomcar boyz, or as musically tumultuous as the finale to the 1812 overture.
And like nature's thunder, much of those other types of "thunder" serve a purpose.
Without purpose, it's just random noise (like those boomcars).
Such aspects of our lives that we often overlook SHOULD have purpose, and most times, they do, even without us knowing about it.
The smallest item in our life can have the greatest impact...doesn't have to be BIG to be great, right?
And I think that the next time you hear thunder in the sky, it might remind you to think on those little things in your life, and how much they affect every one of us. Sometimes, it takes nature's "volume control" to allow us to appreciate the "music" that's being played.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.