Hurricane Irene from Space

This is a picture of Hurricane Irene taken by NASA from two days ago. After the earthquake yesterday this seems oddly peaceful. We are aware of it heading our way and we know what it is capable of doing. We can also prepare. A surprise ground shaking makes you appreciate being able to prepare.

This morning Irene became a Category 3 storm still headed in our direction. I wrote a post for Raleigh’s Creative District (aka southwestraleigh.com) on Tips to Prepare For Hurricane Season and linked a couple of resources for people to review and hopefully use to plan for a potential issue.  The storm track keeps looking more and more in our favor and unfortunately more and more like a direct hit on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This like a lot of things is subject to change over the next two days but picking up a couple of cans of food and making sure you have some bottled water on hand won’t hurt you either way.

Should the storm hit I’ll be here posting and taking pictures till the power goes out and the batteries finally fail.

EARTHQUAKE!

A little before 2PM EDT I got to experience my first earthquake. In the immediate aftermath we were debating what might have happened. Our building has had a reasonable number of loud noises and odd movements in the past couple of weeks and despite this being louder and more violent than others we’ve experienced it wasn’t too far away from what one might expect. Especially sitting in the conference room with its frequently loud HVAC system. We did evacuate as a safety precaution but that was as much to release nervous energy among the staff as it was anything else.

Bottom line – all is well – at least here at the office.  There is concern  that we may have experienced a Lego disaster at home but that will have to wait till 5.

So we’re back – for now.

Next stop – Hurricane Irene. From there expect swarms of locusts and if you want to know more you better grab a Bible because this thing is likely to get bad. Maybe those people from May were just off by a few months?

UPDATE: Map after the jump showing areas reporting feeling the earthquake on the East coast.

Ok Go – The Muppet Show Theme Song

Ok Go is a band with a sense of humor – at least that’s how I see it.  Their music is good – the videos are awesome. (We’ve posted videos from them before – here and here.) The Muppets – what you can say about them? Nothing but great. Together? Well – you tell me. I think it is a pretty good combo.

I am guessing this isn’t random and has something to do with the soon to be released Muppet movie – The Muppets. I know it took them some time but they got really original on the title there.  Wonder if it is a direct remake of the 1979 The Muppet Movie or if it is a sequel to The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets from Space (1999), It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) or even The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (2005)?

To hazard a little speculation to all of the above I have to say a definite – maybe. Enjoy the Ok Go videos and if you happen to know more about the new muppet movie and would like to share feel free. I was too lazy to do any real research and honestly didn’t see the point. The Muppets release date is November 23, 2011 and I think I might have plans that day.

Tasty Beverage Company Opening Soon

Tonight is the “soft opening” of a new specialty retail beer store near downtown Raleigh. If you weren’t one of the first 50 people in the door you had to wait patiently for a look at and taste of the new Tasty Beverage Company. Fortunately we were in the first group through and got to experience the next big beer thing in town.

Located in the Warehouse District at the Raleigh Depot (close to The Pit) the Tasty Beverage Company is convenient for us to stop in and grab a couple of beers occasionally. The store isn’t fancy but is extremely well stocked. No doubt they have many beers and even beer makers I was unaware of.  Given the first look I’d say this group definitely knows their beer.

More pictures after the jump from friend and special guest photographer Courtney. (You’ll notice a a rare NOSVC photo of me & C in the mix.) Courtney actually knows what she is doing with a camera (even my point and shoot Canon SD790) so don’t get used to the photo quality when I take back over on future posts. If you need a top-shelf photographer / videographer you might find her in a beer store but you may also want to look here.

Hood Ornaments and Open Engines

Yesterday we went to the Carolina Classics at the Capital and while the cars are impressive it is the finer details of some of the vehicles that really catches my eye.  I would like to have a car with a swan taking flight or a gazelle running down the front of my hood.  I even like the old Ford and Chevrolet emblems proudly displayed on the front of the car. Maybe they represent another era or maybe I just never drove a car cool enough to have a hood ornament.

Either way – I had some fun taking pictures of them and might have to find something that would be a good fit for the Solara – what about this one? No – that looks a little too much like this from the State Fair of Texas (the last car show I went to). More hood ornaments and a few open engines after the jump if you see one you like for the Solara just let me know.