WEAKSAUCE Podcast: Episode #4

This Episode of Weaksauce we present a 2006 track entitled "Smart Bombs". It fucking rocks.

Produced and Arranged by Jon Apgar.

WEAKSAUCE Podcast: Episode #4









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Macbeth: Rage #001

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This is a true doorway to hell

This is called Derweze. In the language of those in Turkmenistan, it means "The Gate" and I think it is pretty clear why. Located deep in the Karakum desert east of the Caspian Sea, the area surrounding Derweze is rich with natural gas.

In 1971, when the country was still part of the USSR, a team of Soviet geologists came to the area to drill for natural gas deposits. Little did they know that this particular location (40°15′10″N 58°26′22″E.) was the home of a large underground cavern, which subsequently collapsed and destroyed the drilling rig. This resulted in a streaming natural gas leak coming from the bottom of a newly formed crater.

In efforts to quell a dangerously large scale gas leak, the Soviets decided to set fire to the stream of gas, assuming it would burn itself out in a matter of days or weeks. As you can see above, the fire still burns strong in 2011, a ridiculous 40 years later!!!

Apparently plans have finally been made in 2010 to develop this clearly rich deposit of gas. Damned if I know why it took so long to decide to capture this gas, but there is something badass about an Eternal Flame this massive.






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Why are dogs jumping off this bridge?

This is Overtoun Bridge in Dumbarton, Scotland. As far as one can see, it looks pretty standard doesn't it? Far from it.

The strange thing about this bridge is the large number of dogs that have committed suicide here. I am not joking. This is where local dogs come to end it all by leaping inexplicably from the bridge to their deaths.

Studies estimate that since the 1960's over five-hundred dogs have died here.

The majority of the dogs leaping from this bridge have been long-nosed breeds. Stranger still, there are reports of dogs that manage to survive the jump only to return to the bridge and jump again. Insane!

The current explanation for this is apparently a nest of minks (weasel-type creature) residing underneath the stone bridge; studies on the odours given off by the animals have shown strong reaction in the typical breeds doing the jumping.

Still, totally mest.






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Lake Nyos does not screw around

I can see somebody being afraid of water for obvious reasons. You can't breathe in it, it's usually freezing cold, and not everyone knows how to swim in it. But this is a new one: In 1986 in Cameroon, Lake Nyos unexpectedly pumped out a massive discharge of CO2, suffocating 1,700 people.

I find it terrifying to think that a lake can kill you without you even jumping in it. It seems sort of vengeful doesn't it?

A pocket of magma lies beneath the lake which periodically releases CO2 and other deadly gases into the water. It is thought that a landslide initially cause the gas to be released; in the amount of 1.6 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. 

What you essentially have here is an invisible volcano. The cloud (heavier than air) rushed down valleys and mountainsides into small farms and villages, suffocating people while they slept. 

Several weeks after eruption

This story does have a happy ending, in recent years, French geologists have installed degassing pipes into the lake to actually control the outflow of CO2 from the lake to prevent another catastrophic eruption of this kind. 

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Volcanoes can sneak up on you

So just imagine you are a Mexican farmer in 1943. You are plowing your crops one fine day in February when the ground starts to shake and cracks open, hurling hot ash and rocks into the sky. When 1944 rolls around, you have volcano in your goddamn backyard.

Pulido spent much of his off-time
being a badass

This is what happened to a pimp named Dionisio Pulido back in the day. Of all the problems a farmer could have to deal with, this would be by far the coolest. I wonder how it works since this all took place on his land, did he end up owning his own volcano? Awesome!

Before the volcano was born, Pulido reported being awoken by small earthquakes and tremors. Whilst plowing his crops as he normally did, he noticed a crack in the ground; presumably from the earthquakes he had been feeling. There is the strong rotten egg smell of sulphur in the air.

But it wasn't until a few weeks later when he found himself stricken with terror amazement.

The crack had grown considerably, and hot gas was now shooting out of it. I would be shitting my pants, but as you can see, Dioniso Pulido is old-school and he kept it real.

Day by day, this crack grew ever larger; spewing out hot ash, smoke and volcanic bombs, becoming a smoldering mound of ash and rock larger than Pulido`s house. Weeks later, the mound had become a large hill, now spitting lava into the sky.

God enjoys punishing sinners

The locals take this as a sign from God. Fearing the end, they pray for a miracle. They pray for the mountain to stop growing.

God does not listen.

Instead, the mountain continued to grow, reaching an eventual height of 424 metres (over 1,300 feet). Insane! The ever increasing monster buried the small village of Paricutin in deep lava flows; leading to the relocation of the entire town.

The awesome thing here is that scientists got to watch the entire volcanic process from beginning to end. That and the fact that Pulido gets the honour of 'owning' the youngest volcano in North America.



The volcano was officially named Paricutin after the original townsite.








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Being a Shipbreaker in Alang, India is totally insane

Totally insane. Alang, India is one of several beaches around the world that specialize in 'Shipbreaking'. Massive tanker ships are beached in front of run-down shanty towns full of salvagers who make a living cutting apart floating skyscrapers with simple blowtorches.

Due to an annoying thing called 'Health and Environmental Regulations' that we have in developed countries, none of this crazy shit can be legally done in Europe or the Americas. Asbestos and PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls) are strictly regulated in the United States and removal and disposal of these substances using American workers is an insurance nightmare as well as a breach of about every current health and labour law written.

Helmets? Shit, these dudes are wearing slip-on shoes!

So companies involved in salvaging and selling scrap metal prefer to send their ships to places like this to cut down on expenses and liability; the almighty dollar strikes again.

What you end up having are young men without any training whatsoever and minimal safety equipment climbing to the top of rusting steel behemoths, archaically slicing chunks off the hull, sending them crashing into the surf.



It is estimated that half of all ships salvaged worldwide end up here.







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Watch "Riker, AK" Tuesdays this fall on CBS!

I personally think my idea is awesome. A spinoff TV show of Star Trek: The Next Generation featuring the trials and tribulations of William T. Riker as a young man living in Alaska in the year 2345 before joining Starfleet Academy.

To me, there is something REALLY great about the Future and the North.


I know I would watch it, but would you?


For the 'official' Star Trek wiki, check out Memory Alpha.








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WEAKSAUCE Podcast: Episode #3

This podcast we present "Milwaukee Deep" by Trinoculars. Recorded during the 2007 Skylab Sessions. Stereo Mix from 2010.

Written and Produced by Tim Apgar and Scott Willson. Guitar by Ryan Snyder.

WEAKSAUCE Podcast: Episode #3





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Worst Captain ever

So here is a wild one for ya, how about the story of the Ever Prosperity and the crazy Captain who crashed the same ship twice in the same goddamn place! How is this possible you ask? Excellent question!

The Ever Prosperity were/are twin sister vessels of the same name, registered to the home port of Monrovia, Liberia.

Commissioned by a Korean shipping company in 1965, the 'first' Ever Prosperity was heading along the Great Barrier Reef south of New Caledonia when the captain ran the tanker aground on the shallow reef. It stands there still to this day.

Commissioned by the same Korean shipping company in 1970, the 'second' Ever Prosperity was heading along the Great Barrier Reef south of New Caledonia when the same captain ran the tanker aground AGAIN on the shallow reef. It stands there still to this day.

Check it out:

Latitude & Longitude for 1965 Ever Prosperity  21°54'38.45"S 165°45'19.01"E

Latitude & Longitude for 1970 Ever Prosperity  22°27'20.70"S 166°22'00.69"E

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This is the scariest comic ever written

I mean it.

"The Enigma of the Amigara Fault" is is a short 20-page manga written by Junji Ito. It is about a young man and woman who venture to a mountain recently hit by a powerful earthquake only to find human-shaped depressions dotting the entire landscape.

It gets truly terrifying when people start sliding into these claustrophobic body-tunnels.

Note: Read manga from RIGHT to LEFT.

You can read the entire comic here: "The Enigma of the Amigara Fault"









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Interview with John Titor (Part 4)

The following webcomic is based on John Titor's actual web forum postings on timetravelinstitute.com from November, 2000 to March, 2001.

 

 

So what is the largest technical
problem with travelling in time?

The hard part of traveling through time is not the bending of gravity but the plotting of your course and holding to the basic "position" in your environment. This is done through a system called VGL (Variable Gravity Lock).

The unit takes a local gravity reading and samples it during the "trip" in pulses. If the gravity is too far off, the unit stops or reverses itself to the last sample period where the readings were correct. If there's some sort of failure, the unit shuts down and drops out to where ever you may be.

     

Are there any physical effects from the machine?

The only real physical trace is a large chunk of ground missing from the point of origin and a large pile of dirt at the destination.


The gravity field surrounds a small portion of the earth under you and takes it along for the ride. There is really no way around this.

So I'm curious: what are the implications of your actions?

Are you not rewriting history as you speak?

You do not rewrite history. I can only affect what happens here just as easily as you can. Why do people in this time period worry so much about time travelers destroying their worldline when they have no problem doing it themselves every day?

Now what do you say to people who tell you

that they don't believe you're actually from the future?

 

My goal is not to be believed. Most people do not take news of the war very well but I find that everyone believes it's inevitable. Even in your own history, are not great inventions and discoveries made during a time of war in your effort to kill and maim in new and more efficient ways?

We now open the floor up to any questions from the audience. Anyone?

Are the polar ice caps and glaciers still there in your time?

They are still there and they are not melting any faster than they are now. There is also far less smog and industrial waste in 2036. I never said the environment wasn't a problem though.

Doesn't water expand when it freezes? If the polar ice cap melted, wouldn't sea level go down? I don't know if there's enough ice for this to make a difference and I'm not an expert on global warming.

 Umm...yeahhh.

So anyone with another question?

 Do you work for GE or something? What are you making in stock tips for this?

No, I do not work for GE or any other company. Are "stock tips" really the first thing you want to know about in the future? As a representative of your time period, do you realize what that says about you? You should probably know that this time is not remembered for its selflessness, charity or ability to work together.

- - - -
 

Stay Tuned for Part 5 coming soon! 

For the full transcript of John Titor's postings, head over to johntitor.com.

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