The good news is that there is no major damage reported from the Vancouver Island Earthquake, but not only that, smaller quakes in the vicinity of the west coast are in fact a good thing. It means the tectonic pressure is being released and in fact can prevent a large earthquake happening in the future. Alas, it could also mean that there may be more earthquakes coming.

Vancouver Island Earthquake 1946

Vancouver Island has seen its share of big earthquakes. In fact, back in 1946, an earthquake measuring 7.3 was recorded on June 23rd. Two deaths were recorded from this quake, who’s epicenter was located on the aptly named Forbidden Plateau area of central Vancouver Island, west of Courtenay and Campbell River. This quake was felt as far away as Oregon in the States.

The two deaths were from a capsizing boat and a heart attack. Vancouver Island residents were scared and many ran out into the streets in terror. Luckily, today’s earthquake was not so fatal and buildings seemed to hold together, unlike in 1946 when there was extensive damage to buildings, such as the Bank of Montreal building (below).

1946 Earthquake damage on Vancouver Island

Many people were concerned that Vancouver Island may break off and sink, but today’s quake just proves how ridiculous that idea is. In a really big earthquake, it is quite possible that the seafloor that is just offshore from the island may be lifted up and it is possible that the coastal area could sink and at the worst, the sinking would be only a few meters. Residents living at the beach may experience some flooding but the likelihood of the island crumbling into the sea is not very likely at all.  Land slides in the ocean itself is possible which may cause smaller scale tsunami type affects which may contribute to localised flooding.

All in all, a relatively small quake similar to the ones we feel here in Central America and no reports of major damage or loss of life.

They are such a happy breed and are happy to potter around amusing themselves and thus were often traded amongst sailors and were eventually introduced to their rightful place in Italian nobility nonetheless!

Stating that Max Thurman is a dog is both obvious and insult to Max. The fact of the matter is, Max is rather human-like and has a lot od dog-like tendencies.

Bichon Frise and allergies

I myself am terribly allergic to dog and cat hair but with our dog Max, I find that these symptoms aren’t really present. The breed is known to be allergy-friendly and where most people claim they are hypoallergenic they aren’t quite this way, unless groomed regularly to remove the loose hair and dander.

I think I can spot a correlation between the times when I’m feeling prone to allergy when Max needs a haircut and grooming session.

You can read more about the Bichon Frise breed and allergies here.

Finding Max Thurman!

Now, recently, whilst Google searching for “Max Thurman” I found that pictures of my dog weren’t indexed. Shame, because I have so many. So I thought that I should take steps to rectify this. Alas, project “Finding Max Thurman!” has begun here, with this blog post.

Let’s start off with a photo that’s an oldie but a good one of Max Thurman and his very funny front teeth.

We were in bed with our dog-like human dog, which isn’t a strange occurrence and we discovered we can do something like a ventriloquy act with Max Thurman by moving his lips.

Endless minutes of fun ensued and several photographs later we finally snapped up a good one that wasn’t blurry or had terrible lightning!

Anyway, this is Max Thurman. An endless source of entertainment for Alyssa and myself.

I spent the night in a Costa Rican night club, google Gaira. Check the title, so cute: “Club Latino High End”.

Time to go eat a burrito.

Anyway, you can look out for those here. They’ll most likely be on my flickr so you can check them out there.

I go to my 1 week appointment tomorrow. I’ll report more then.

Am I happy with the situation? Heck yeah, this is awesome because I can see EVERYTHING near and far and I can see what you’re doing right now. That’s right buddy! Maybe you’d like to put some clothes on?

I love this, I am sticking to my regime and dropping the multitude of drops in my eyes and I am taking care of myself.

Apart from that I am enjoying being able to see without glasses or contact lenses.

I have a little bloodshot in one eye and a red spot in the other which LasikMD say will clear in about 3 weeks time and is quote a normal occurrence. that’s it, so far so good.

You can keep up with anything I write about my Lasik experience here.

I last went for the consultation about 5 years ago and I was rejected for surgery because of damage to my retina. I had detached that sucker in a fight (not a street fight) and the retina had lots of holes in it when they checked me out. Diagnosis: perforated retina.

Anyway, today I was given the go ahead and I am struggling to type this because my pupils are fully dilated which is pretty weird like David Bowie weird and I will post some photos as well as document my experience of Lasik MD.

I received this email today and replied. It’s been a while since I baited one of these douchebags. I wonder if he’ll reply, perhaps if I showed more eagerness to get involved he will. He basically wants me to pay $95 and he will give me the $8 Million that I am not entitled to.

I will follow up with an email after a few days… Also, the email was sent to undisclosed-recipients so it must have been a BCC batch job. This is funny after watching MSNBC’s show on this type of crap!

I hope he refers to me as “Btard”.

Barry,
That is a shame that you are in Benin Republic as opposed to the Netherlands (where the email is from. I may actually flying to the Netherlands on April 2nd for a work conference.

Regards, Btard

On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 1:30 PM, barry.gab <barry.gab@orange.nl> wrote:

Dear friend,
It has been long we communicate last, am so sorry for the delay, i am talking of your cheque of ($800.000.00) that my boss asked me to mail to you as soon as you request for, but due to some minure issue you fails to respond at the aproprate time, and presently the cheque is with me here in BENIN REPUBLIC.

Though i had a new contact from a friend of mine who works with one the security company here in BENIN REPUBLIC that will assit you on delivery you your cheque at your door step with a cheeper rate, which the company said that it will cost you the sum of $95, so you have to register with them now.

Below is thier Contact information:
Name TOTAL SECURITY COMPANY
EMAIL. (totalsecourier@yahoo.fr)
DIRECTOR NAME ( Dr Sam Williams).
Telephone…….+229 939 270 66
Fax………….+229-930-09914.

Make sure you contact them as soon as possible, meanwhile i will go right away to the security company and submit your cheque with them, and i would like you contact them for more information and clearification with thier email address and phone numbers above. I will like to hear from you as soon as you recieved your cheque.

Thank you.
Barry John Danko

http://www.tmz.com/2008/01/22/heath-ledger-is-dead/

I stumbled upon this while powncing. Evel Knievel died today at aged 69.

Knievel’s death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

What a sad day. I am in mourning. RIP Evel, I’ll write about it on my btard pownce profile.

“Venti non-fat, no foam, half decaf latte”

I’m not as embarrassed to write it but to order it in Starbizzle, that’s another thing…

Ha, Montreal vs. Toronto, Leafs sucking as usual and getting their asses handed to them, Go Habs!

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, 1993 – Japan’s constantly under threat by Godzilla so UN engineers construct the robotic version of Godzilla called, wait for it, Mechagodzilla, a gigantic, mechanized version of Godzilla. Nonetheless, Godzilla proves himself a force to be reckoned with against this monstrosity and battle ensues and lo and behold we have a movie everyone!

This is classic, good versus evil but things are not always what they seem and more often than not it’s the man made machines that are the bad guys. Watch this movie and learn form the deep message that comes from it – that robot dinosaur monsters ROCK!

Researchers at UC Davis have discovered microbes that can quite literally help the process of rock forming by converting lose sediment into the hard stuff. Although only tested on a lab scale, Bacillus Pasteurii, could be the answer to soil liquefaction caused my earthquakes.

It is suggested that the majority of the destruction from a Vancouver Earthquake could come in the form of mass movement or soil/earth liquefaction, a process where soft deposits such as clay, are converted to a jellylike state by severe shaking causing a situation where structures (buildings) could sink and collapse. Eeeeek!

Check out the other articles about a potential Vancouver earthquake here:

• Vancouver earthquake update
• Vancouver Earthquake
• Vancouver Earthquake and Plate Tectonics

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

A quake registering 7.3 on the Richter scale was last experienced way back in 1946. A quake of 7.3 is classified as “major” on the Richter scale and can cause serious damage over larger areas. One thing we have to remember is that construction and infrastructure standards have come a long way so I wonder if these scales of magnitude (like Richter or Mercalli) actually take into consideration these new developments? The Richer scale was developed in 1935 and Mercalli in 1902, surely this needs updated? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I wish a scientist or geologist would comment on this blog because a lot of people have emailed me and asked me about this. Read the other article.

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

A: Because I’m English!

Sidenote: I am still ruling at foosball in the office. We are currently interviewing for two positions here and any newcomers are going to be looked upon as potential rivals. I am worried because I am only defeated reliably by Quebecer’s. Luckily we’re based in BC, however we do risk being hit by earthquakes.

I think I should buy everyone at work a copy of Zen and the Art of Foosball: A Beginner’s Guide to Table Soccer from Amazon. Oh yeah, check the lil picture to the left :) I really am a previous foosball champion (thanks to Andy for the scan). Don’t hate me because I am good at foosball.

The Juan de Fuca plate is being forced under the North American plate creating a “subduction zone”. This subduction has formed a lot of magnificent mountain areas in the Cascade Volcanic Belt (where volcanic mountains have formed that are not all within the Cascade Range). The movement of one plate beneath each other is never a smooth process and they tend to lock up until it reaches a point where there is so much pressure and stress that it violently moves. It is this mass movement that causes an earthquake.

I can see Mount Baker from my window but there are many other mountains that you may have heard about in and around Vancouver, BC such as:

• Mount Silverthrone
• Devastator Peak
• Mount Fee
• Black Tusk
• Cinder Cone
• Opal Cone
• Mount Garibaldi
• Watts Point

Baker incidentally still shows steam/fume activity from it’s crate but is considered dormant, but wait, didn’t they say that about Mount St. Helens which erupted famously in 1980?

I don’t think we’re going to die but if we were living on Vancouver Island I would be worried, as Vancouver Island is a direct formation resulting from plate tectonic activity. Stop worrying Alyssa! Good reads for this include Global Tectonics and Earth as an Evolving Planetary System. (I believe the latter was on my course reading list at school).

Keep up to date with global earthquake activity.

So I get the call at 8.46am from her (mother’s) mobile phone in a noisy public place shouting at me which was REALLY annoying because I was already thinking of how tired I was before the coffee rush kicked in.

Long story short, those btards at DHL couldn’t be bothered scrolling down on my frikking directory and calling us in our apartment. They said the delivery was “refused”‘, in reality, those mofo’s just didn’t bother scrolling on our directory and finding us. There was no buzzer code, so they stated that we refused delivery. Ass monkeys. Damn you DHL, you suck! Check the picture thumbnail for the lies they spin!!!

I was actually talking to Alyssa on messenger and sent her the url of the board. Queue the conversation:

Alyssa says: i am not getting a pic from the link for the board
Carlo says: its the board at the top of the page.
Alyssa says: apparently i have to install Adobe to see it

Long story short, I didn’t realize Adobe was on the footer of the right-click flash menu ;)

Matt, how the fucking hell did you manage that?! Props to you if you ever read this. Ok, what else is new? Dear diary I will get back to you :)

PS. New Robin Williams movie “Man of the Year“. It’s a stinker, if you’ve seen the trailer then that’s all you need to see. He is a comedian, he gets elected, the voting system is screwed, the woman who discovers the bug contacts Robin, he steps down and becomes a comedian. And of course they fall in love en route. What a farce!

Oh oh oh oh – Alyssa now lives right here in Vancouver with little old me, that awesome :) :) :) :)

And now I am going to get one of the four sleeps out of the way. I bid thee all goodnight!

“I believe in the Golden Rule – The Man with the Gold… Rules.”

“When I was growing up, my family was so poor we couldn’t afford to pay attention.”

“As a kid, I got three meals a day. Oatmeal, miss-a-meal and no meal.”

Raj – Crime Scene says: cinco de mayo drink at cactus at 1′ish
Raj – Crime Scene says: ?
Raj – Crime Scene says: Ange and I are in

Derek says: yep….I’m in

Raj – Crime Scene says: of course you are

Ehsan says: koo

Carlo v2.0 says: kick in the door wave in the four four, all you hear is poppa don’t hit me no more..

Raj – Crime Scene says: oh dear

Carlo v2.0 says: whats up with you?

Raj – Crime Scene says: nothing.

Carlo v2.0 says: worrrrrd.

Ehsan says: “so you wanna be hardcooooore, with your hat to da back talkin bout the raps and your gats…”

~Nic~ says: no can do today..Â

Carlo v2.0 says: i thought as much…Â zip it raj or else…

 ~Nic~ has left the conversation.

Joe says: derick what was the name of DJ?

Raj – Crime Scene says: what?!

Derek says: kaskade……or the one coming up……Digweed

Carlo v2.0 says: ca$h money
Carlo v2.0 says: digweed is wack. also former resident dj of a club where I used to live,.
Carlo v2.0 says: he used to be awesome.

Derek says: digweed is at Plush here on June 15th……

Carlo v2.0 says: did anyone ask nedildo or angela, an I invite them in and ask about lunch?
Carlo v2.0 says: or ange irwin?

Raj – Crime Scene says: ange irwin is in
Raj – Crime Scene says: ask angela and nedelko

Carlo v2.0 says: angela gemmell and dan?

Raj – Crime Scene says: yup

Angela has been added to the conversation.
nedelko. has been added to the conversation.

Derek says: I’ll see you there at one….I have to go to fitness world and get our lotto tickets before then

Carlo v2.0 says: angela / dan – lunching today?
Carlo v2.0 says: Raj – Crime Scene says: cinquo de mayo drink at cactus at 1′ish

nedelko. says: sorry guys I would love to but I have a bunch of stuff to get done
nedelko. says: I could maybe try to get there for a half hour

Angela says: i’m in

Carlo v2.0 says: dan youre gay. come eat you fairy.

Raj – Crime Scene says: yea dan you WILL make it for half an hour

nedelko. says: ok deal…30 minutes

Derek says: yea, stop sucking balls and join us

Carlo v2.0 says: word.
Carlo v2.0 says: ball sucker, gangbang stammler just called it.

Derek says: word

Raj – Crime Scene says: sweet, remember loads of people may make lunch a little longer than normal.

nedelko. says: this is scary on so many levels it’s terrifying
nedelko. says: I might actually blog this.

Carlo v2.0 says: you bell. dont blog it, besides, don’t you need our permission?

nedelko. says: no

Raj – Crime Scene says: yesssss

nedelko. says: public record…it’s on the public internet

Raj – Crime Scene says: anyway losers see you around 1

nedelko. has left the conversation.
Carlo v2.0. has left the conversation.

On 27-Apr-06, at 4:47 PM, Carlo Scappaticci wrote:

Anyone who’s ever used the internet will know to paste in the two portions. However – you suck balls for doing that. Such a n00b.

Carlo

—–Original Message—–

From: Dan Nedelko
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 4:38 PM
To: Carlo Scappaticci

Subject: [Vancouver] Apologies

Dear Everyone,From the bottom of my heart I sincerely apologize for sending URL’s which have line breaks in them which then make them unclickable.Please excuse me while I go flay myself for my ignorance. Love and Regards,
Dan

Sun burn included. I was playing golf in Stanley Park and I must have facing one direction because I have a gnarly sun burn conrer on my dome.

Fun though, good food after. Gotta have the King Crab next time.