Camille at 50

It's worth marking today the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Camille's landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Most of the notable landmarks left by that storm were mostly obliterated 36 years later in Katrina.  Not much else to say beyond here's the Wikipedia link if you want more.

The Bleak Truth About Google

Over at SMBC.   In some ways, I suspect this isn't that far off the mark.

More, maybe with actual content, later.

Always Be Ready to Go

That way, when you get an hour or two, you won't have any excuses.  Peter Parker (the ham radio author, not the teenage superhero) makes this point on a blog post this week: I don't have time to operate portable.

Hm, seems like I mentioned a similar thought back in January in this New Year's Resolve, which was all about having a ready-set-go! box to haul along, you know, just in case the opportunity presents itself.

Anyway, good article by Parker, and it may even be worth revisiting my post from January.

DIY Hiking/Backpacking/MTB First Aid Kit

Short article & ingredients list over at Section Hiker.  Been carrying something very similar for some years now, but it's time to re-inventory, re-stock, and re-evaluate the whole thing.  In the meantime... take a look.

The biggest differences between Section Hiker's kit and mine are things like ear plugs are omitted (who wants to sleep in the wild if you can't hear what's slipping up on you?  could be a loup-garou nosing around camp) and a few items like triple antibiotic ointment are added.  Here's my list:

• Leukotape strips, 6 pre-cut on release paper (from self-stick stamp book)
• hydro-skin blister tapes, 3
• fabric band-aids, 5
• non-stick gauze pads, 4
• gauze roll, small
• medical tape roll, very small one
• Steri-Strip wound closers
• triple antibiotic ointment (very small tube)
• Benadryls, 12
• Loperamide anti-diarreheals, 6 (probably should add more)
• Ibuprofens, 12
• important: 3x5 card ID'ing the preceding three items, and giving dosages
• nitrile gloves, 2
• tweezers
• misc. prescriptions

Maybe the biggest difference is that mine uses a quart freezer zip-lock (waterproof, cheap, visible contents) instead of a stuff sack.  Other multi-use items:

• pocket knife
• alcohol stove fuel (an antiseptic and first-rate anesthetic)

Well, your mileage may vary.  It's nothing fancy, and I'm generally not out of cell phone or 2m ham radio range so I've left out the satcom, as well as some of the more extreme medical items.  Again, your mileage may vary.  Good luck on the trail.

Outside the Levee, but Still Above Water

A few weeks ago I posted a quick ps note about an interesting-but-nasty little point in New Orleans called World's End where the Industrial Canal meets the Mississippi River.  This led to to a later discussion of a neighborhood a few miles upriver called "the Batture."  Like World's End, it's wedged into a sliver of land between the levee and the river, and it exists in a legal gray area that most everyone seems to be generally OK with.

Moving on to the content of the post, here are some somewhat recent articles on the Batture (is it even capitalized?), including the origin of the name:

• NPR, circa 2011, the last time The River got this high
• House Crazy, with a little more history
• Law Library of Louisiana, discussing (surprise) some of the land ownership aspects
• The Story of Front Street, a closely related topic, at NOLA by the author of Cityscapes of New Orleans.  Pretty recent, and gives much more detail than the other sources, though it extends on the topic some too.

Anyway, makes for an interesting rainy afternoon read, and maybe for a brief biking adventure once this weather cools and drys out a little.

Clouds over The Bay

Just another picture of BSL from Henderson Point.  See those clouds?  Pretty, uh-huh, and I got home with eight minutes to spare.  Then the skies opened.

Quick Movie Review: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I'll be brief: this is Tarantino's best movie since Pulp Fiction.  Where that movie was all about making people's jaws drop, this movie is comfortable, like that favorite pair of blue jeans after you've lost that 15 pounds you've been meaning to drop for a while now.  Both result in a swagger and a feel that is hard to describe but when you get there, you know that it is just right.

The late 60's feel is just right too.  There is enough violence to let you know this is a Tarantino movie – the Bruce Lee scene is terrific – but there's a time or two when something is left to the imagination. Imagine that in a Tarantino film!  Maybe that's the biggest surprise here.  Back to the 60's, the styles, the cars, the whole dirty-commune-hippy thing are perfect to a tee.

OK, I won't recount the whole thing, others have written better and more complete reviews.  Take James Berardinelli's for example.  Then watch the trailer, and make up your own mind.

3 1/2 stars out of 4.