April 27, 2011 — Super Tornado Outbreak
A few days ago we witnessed what is now being described as the second deadliest tornado outbreak in the history of the U.S.
As of right now the official death toll is over 350, though this is expected to rise as search crews are still combing through debris, hoping to find any sign of life in the mountains of rubble. Northern Alabama took the brunt of the damage with many towns and cities from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham to Cullman suffering from significant damage reports and loss of life.
The damage and loss of life doesn’t stop in Alabama.
Smithville, Mississippi was hit hard by an EF-5 tornado that left at least 15 people dead, Ringgold, Georgia suffered from an extreme amount of damage, and even Rabun County and Lake Burton in northwest Georgia were hit hard by a tornado.
Storm Reports - Super Tornado Outbreak - April 27, 2011
Keep in mind that this doesn’t include the tornado reports from Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The NOAA estimated that a record 211 tornadoes occurred on this day.
Here’s a collection of videos that help document the April 27, 2011 super tornado outbreak and take a look at some of the damage.
A small collection of tornado videos from Mississippi and Alabama.
Read more…
Sweet Dream Blackberries – A Marketing Review
Just the other day a rather peculiar TV commercial caught my attention.
Sure enough, if I were to order some special blackberry plants from an unknown company, I could have a harvest of the fruit. It can yield up to four pints of blackberries every day, all season long! Ahhhhhh!
Oh wow! Just imagine the possibilities of having that many blackberries! I mean, I just wouldn’t know what to do! I could open my own roadside store and sell the extra blackberries by the pint, right? Who out there wouldn’t want so many blackberries?
Sweet Dream Blackberries — www.SweetDreamBlackberries.com
Wait, a second! Haven’t I heard all of this before? That commercial on the SweetDreamBlackberries.com website sounds awfully familiar.
Hmmm.
Perhaps the extreme similarity between the two commercials is just a coincidence. 😉 At least the blackberry commercial tries to sell the product more professionally.
Categories: as-seen-on-TV, marketing Tags: as-seen-on-TV, marketing, marketing review, TV commercial
Another Day In The Neighborhood
As I sit here nursing a bad headache and sinus-induced cold, I can’t help but gaze outside my window and take a look at the outside world, looking for any sort of relief.
The sun is shining, the driveways and streets are colored yellow from our days of excessive pollen, and one of the kids that lives next door to me is openly taking a leak in somebody’s front yard. The young, elementary school kid ran over to the best yard in the area (these people pay big bucks for their weekly yard work; their lush green grass and well manicured lawn is the envy of the neighborhood), stopped a few feet off the street, and then let loose a long stream of urine right into the lower branches of a magnolia tree. Fortunately, he had his back to me.
Now keep in mind it’s not like the kid ran into a back yard or tried to hide behind the trunk of a tree (any tree – there are many around here) to take a pee. There were plenty of choices if he wanted to try to act civilized during this assumed-to-be emergency nature call. But no, he practically stood out in the open and showed the neighborhood his appalling behavior skills and complete lack of respect for other people’s private property.
Take note that his own house (and front yard full of trees) was only about eighty feet away. That’s nothing for a boy in third or fourth grade to run.
But wait! There’s more! Read more…
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: neighbors, society
Latest Adventure in Teenage Driving
It’s been a while since I’ve seen my teenage neighbor make a boneheaded move while driving.
The kid has been getting slightly better, but it looks like he’s entering a dangerous phase of being young and overconfident. I remember being that way after about a year of driving experience; thinking that you know everything about the roads and tend to overlook certain aspects of safely driving a car. Sadly, those overconfident 17 and 18 year olds will frequently be in the news as they get into serious and fatal accidents.
Today the young driving champion was backing the car up the driveway at a good speed when he suddenly stopped after pulling into the neighborhood street. While leaving the engine running and blocking the road, the driving scholar climbed out from behind the steering wheel, calmly walked behind the car, and removed a large brown cushion that was sitting on the car’s trunk —- all while holding a cell phone and carrying on a conversation. Yes, the kid FAILED to notice the large item on the trunk of the car before driving away from the garage.
The kid carried the item back down the driveway and then returned to the car still idling in the road. The cell phone never left his ear as he climbed back into the car and sped up the street to destinations unknown.
This is the same teenager who ran over his dad’s leg last summer and smashed into a small tree on the edge of the driveway this past fall. I can’t help but wonder if the parents really care about his poor driving skills. Then again, neither parent is exactly a great driver around the neighborhood either.
What’s hilarious is that the kid’s younger twin brothers will start driving in a few years, and they frequently show poor decision making skills when out of school. It’s going to be a riot as the boys take to the streets and terrorize the local area.
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: neighbors, society
Springtime Weather – 2011 edition
Today in Atlanta, GA we hit a high of 83 degrees along with an extreme pollen count of 3,301. The pollen is a separate issue, but hitting 83 on a day where our high is usually around 70, and you know that we’re experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures. Through in the fact that tomorrow’s weather forecast is to be only 58 degrees, and, well, big change is coming.
And by big change I mean potentially severe weather.
The evening hours are approaching, and as I type this latest article, severe storms are marching across the lower Ohio Valley and across the deep south.
Read more…