overpasses and soiled underpants

[Butterfly Man]

I didn't say my life wasn't exciting ...

I didn't even suffer so much as a bruise in the incident ... interestingly enough however, UPI scooped the story to the rest of the US as "Circus Tent Collapses -250 killed" ... no one was killed ... I did save a little boys life (though no one saw me do it) ... that was kinda cool ... the ungrateful little twirp, of course, never even thanked me ... no wonder I hate kids to this day.

P.S. I don't particular like Dr. Eric either ... he started out OK but pulled a "Chris Karney" on me ... I heard the difference between the two was that Karney had talent.

[Peter Voice]

A side note

The minibus encounter was not my first with an enraged elephant. I once went to Wilpattu alone on a trail-bike but missed the dusk deadline at the gates. It was 54k to the nearest accomodation via the real? roads or 30k via the ranger's access track around the park. I took the track and, about 5k along, came within inches of colliding with a bull.

I learned two important things about elephants.

#1 An elephant can pirouette on one foot with atounding speed and grace. They can't jump but they sure can dance.

#2 It is accepted that an elephant can move as fast as 45kph but what most people don't know is that a pissed off elephant can achieve this speed in about four steps (after pirouetting).

This was far scarier than the bus, especially since I was alone on a rarely used track, and nowhere near as funny.

The underpants survived but vomitting in my full face helmet had a similarly humbling effect.

[Peter Voice]

A commercial break

This story has now become trite. The guest house, restaurant and the entire town that I lived in is gone. Even if my friends survived they have lost everything.

I will continue this story sooner or later but in the meantime I beg every-one to find every cent you can afford and give it to a reputable body to help any-one affected by this disaster.
Pls. Pls. Pls.

[jester]

I don't think you need to beg.

I don't think anybody needs to be reminded of the horror or of the suffering.

I'm delighted that the government of UK increases it's contribuition to keep up with the voluntary donations from the public. But that delight is only a momentary flicker. So I gave money. What else can I do? And I feel very lucky that all of my family are here with me.

Yet I feel vulnerable. I look at my children and my brother and sisters and know that something awful could happen to any one of us at any time...

My mortgage seems very surmountable now.

[worldwidese]

Lame Excuse!

U.S. researchers who detected a massive earthquake off Asia's coast on Saturday tried frantically to warn that the deadly wall of water was coming, the head of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Sunday. But there was no official alert system in the region because such catastrophes only happen there about once every 700 years, said Charles McCreery, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's center in Honolulu. But it is something that those areas need to think about seriously - getting a proper alert system," he said.

In Los Angeles, the head of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, Charles McCreery, said US officials who detected the undersea quake tried frantically to get a warning out about the tsunami but were hampered by the lack of an official alert system.

"We tried to do what we could. We don't have any contacts in our address book for anybody in that particular part of the world," he said.

If you're sending money, send it to these jackasses so they can buy a new address book! I hold them responsible for the terrible consequences of the tsunami.

They could have- Contacted the U.S. State Department with the warning, and urged them to give the alert to the concerned Governments.
They could have- found the relevant websites for these countries and located the persons who could initiate public warnings.
They could have- sent out a few emails (addresses found on websites) to various tourist spot hotels who would have disseminated the heads up to people on the beaches.

Apparently they had 3 hours lead time to warn people, but did nothing because their address books didn't cover the affected areas. Heads should roll!

[Butterfly Man]

Arthur C. Clarke is OK

FYI Arthur C. Clarke, the author of "2001: A Space Odyssey" lives on the leeward side of Sri Lanka and has been wheelchair-bound for some time ... his place is on high ground and thankfully his life was spared.
Arthur C. Clarke
25 Barnes Pl.
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
_
_P.S. any word from Finkellini?
___

[jester]

I've broken my leg.

On Saturday 15 Jan, the PA blew a fuse at a Tsunami Releif Concert in Salisbury.

I went to my van, dug out my props and put on an impromptu show using only my mouth for amplification.

It went well. I really enjoyed it.

However I fell of my unicycle and I have broken my leg just above the ankle.

I will not be able to work properly for many weeks and this is hard for my family.

However, if it was going to happen I'm glad it happened now. I'm glad there were people there to see it and I'm glad that it was supporting a good cause. I'm also glad it happened during the quietest time of year off season.

Alas! I am not invincible. It hurts in a male whining ouchy kind of annoying way.

I got a massive cheer as they carried me away from the stage and the PA started up again just as the crowd parted to let us through. Timing! That's what I got. Timing.

[Magrat2005]

Originally posted by Doctor Eric
Yer a regular Rasputin, Jester, minus the sex-appeal and hero worship.

i wouldn't say that, i've been on his site, he's not that bad looking, i've seen worse (please don't be offended, Jester) as for hero worship, not sure on that, but i bet someone out there worships him, and are you always in the walls Jester?

[Famos Bramwells]

I once worshipped a robot boxing game called KO, but I was only ten and hadn't discovered red wine.