Getting Caught Up I've spent the weekend working on a big project, so I haven't had much time to dedicate to this blog. So I will do a lame attempt at talking about local arty/stormy/railfanny things plus whatever pops into my mind.
The Third American Civil War!?? Last week, the health care bill past. As a result, many in the teabagger movement have shown themselves to be douchebaggers. With the talk of revolution and violence, many have started to talk openly about civil war. With so much loose talk about violence and revolution stemming from the election of our current president and the passage of the health care bill, plus with the actual events of last week, one begins to wonder. *article from Washington Post.... *Marine will kill American civilians if he has to.... *Township turns to militia....
Stormchasing prognostication... This past week and weekend, we've seen more cool weather with little chance of severe weather in our area. There were tornadoes in Alabama last week and North Carolina yesterday. As far as our area, there is a chance of something on Good Friday, 2 April. Right now the weather is sunny and warm. The plants are growing and we, of course, are behind on our gardening. We have started grilling in the back. I love spring.
Tuesday 30 March 2010 The severe weather for Good Friday may be a southern event -- meaning Texas. We'll see if anything happens around here. If it does it will be very limited, maybe late Thursday night and early Friday Morning. The main action will be in Texas Friday and Saturday. However, early indications are that mid-April might get interesting in central Kansas. Late Monday and early Tuesday may be interesting as well from Texas right up to Kansas City.
Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
My wife, Suyen, was sworn in to United States citizenship Thursday morning in a very touching, moving ceremony....
Stormchasing
Thursday 18 March 2010 Today was a gorgeous spring day. The beauty of this day was tempered with the thoughts that the weather people are prediting a big winter storm this weekend. The weather service is only predicting a very slight chance for anything severe way south, as in Texas and Oklahoma for Friday, and a slight chance for something severe in the deep south on Saturday. Here is a take on the potential winter weather from Tornado Videos dot net.... Here is a take from Fox 4 KC... and here it is from NBC 41.... It looks like the worst of the storm may happen in and around Kansas City. We'll see...
I'm thinking if this is a serious enough storm, my first chase of the year may be a winter storm. Stay tuned, I might try and stream in my off time.
Friday 19 March 2010 Today was a marvelous spring day. This evening is another story. After a gust front moved through about 17:50, the temperature rapidly dropped from the mid 60's at that time, to freezing just about an hour and a half later. Saturday 20 March and Sunday 21 March The snow came in Friday night and lasted until Sunday morning. I think a lot of people were in their spring time mode of thinking on Saturday as there were a lot of accidents due to people driving too fast for the conditions. Not a major snow by any stretch of the imagination. I've looked at some of the forecasts, and their doesn't seem to be anything on the horizon as far as intersting weather goes for at least the next 4 days:(
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 22 - 24 March 2010 Monday and Tuesday were gorgeous days. Wednesday, not so much. Here it is rainy and is expected to get cool by night. Contrast that with Monday sunny and temps in the 60's and Tuesday where the temps actually reached 70. However, today, there is an interesting snowstorm at west and a slight -- very slight chance of severe weather down south in Texas.
So, what's the score for Wednesday according to the National Weather Service? BEING ARTY Today Suyen and I drove to Warrensburg. We visited Julie Kendall at Cafe Blackadder. She seemed to be in very good spirits and says that business has been good. She invited us to a one year anniversary get together to say thanks to all the people who have helped out with her business. Suyen and I went to the Lyric Opera Saturday night during the height of the snow storm. The Dodge saw us through fine. My mother got us tickets to the performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi. It was fine. I cannot say I've ever been to an opera before, and it was interesting to dress up for a show. An announcement was made before the performance that next years season will be the last one in the old Lyric building, as the operation will move into the new Kauffman performing arts center.
Sunday night, we took one of our friends to church to see the jazz jam at YJ's. Great show as always and a packed house....
Speaking Out Through Spoken Word
An interesting event is taking place at the end of April. It is called
SPEAKING OUT-empowerment through spoken word and will be held at the YWCA on 1016 North 6th street in Kansas City, Kansas. Violence is an always ongoing chronic problem in our country and it is good to see an effort to bring awareness through performance and spoken word. Mark your calenders. It will be Tuesday 27 April at 7:30 PM and is free. For more information contact
-- and in addition to that link, check out this one....http://www.nettelhorst.org/ Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
Wednesday night gave us a slight chance of severe weather. I am ready and calm for the spring weather season and look forward to some good chases. Suyen (my lovely wife) and I are contemplating a new storm chase vehicle as our van is pretty nice and we would like to get a lot more miles out of it. Chasing and traveling would probably finish it this year. So we are contemplating a big assed diesel truck. So the fun begins of haggling and dealing with loans and dealers -- so much fun. My experience on May 29, 2008 in Aurora Nebraska taught me that you need a vehicle with some weight to it. The trailblazer that I was in fortunately had some wieght, which may have saved us from overturning in the 90 mile per hour rear flank downdraft winds. This was a monster that the weather service later determined was an EF-2 with 90 mile per hour accompanying rear flank downdraft winds. Many semi tractor trailers were overturned on I-80 and the highway was closed for many hours afterwards due to the overturned trucks and powerlines down on the highway. Here is the quad cam footage of the same event and our reactions to the tornado in Aurora Nebraska. My poor wife is embarrassed by her reactions, but, needless to say we were both scared. I like to show it at parties and gatherings when there is an internet connection. When we went to the Philippines in January 2009, Suyen's young nephew greeted us first and exclaimed Tornado! Oh Lord, oh Ghod!" So, a quadcab diesel 4X4 truck ought to do it, and give us plenty of room and comfort for the long trips/equipment in the cab, plus the wieght and fairly decent highway mileage. We hope to stream many of the trips as many storm chasers do and also for the precious "ground truth" which is the excuse for chasing in the first place. While we are chasing, in the downtimes, I hope to visit many of the smaller towns and possibly check out the local culture/interesting -- quirky things we may come upon. As I said, I think we are ready. Also we are aided by the National Weather Service who have come up with a very helpful excellent mesoscale page which even a dummy like myself can make a little sense out of. During the recent threat of severe weather I checked the weather service page and noted that the real threat was going to be Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and it turned out I was right. That doesn't make me a meteorologist by any stretch of the imagination, but it does give me a tool for my "hobby."
Sunday 14 March 2010 After last Wednesdays slight chance of severe weather, it has been cool and rainy -- fairly typical weather for March in the midwest, maybe a bit cooler than usual, but considering the winter we have had (which may yet still not be over) the weather now is a heat wave. Suyen and I have about a week off together. We are planning our 7th anniversary tomorrow. Our friend, Ken, suggested we rent a diesel truck to try it out and see if that is what we really want. We are considering it. Keeping our eyes open for the next week to see if there is an opportunity to chase. If so, watch for the live stream.
Monday 15 March 2010 There are talks of record flooding this year. I don't really know if this will be like the record floods of 1993. We'll see. Here is the Pleasant Hill weather office's outlook. It seems the big issue now in the upper midwest and northeastern United States is snow melt coupled with saturated soil and a wet early spring.
Also, from the same source, here is the spotter training schedule
March, 2010 - Upcoming
Day
City, State
Time
Location
15
Kansas City, KS
(Wyandotte County)
7:00pm CDT
Kansas City Kansas Community College 7250 State Ave KC KS
16
Warrensburg, MO
(Johnson County)
7:00pm CDT
WC Morris Building on UCM campus Warrensburg Mo.
17
Oregon, MO
(Holt County)
7:00pm CDT
Holt County Courthouse Courtroom 102 West Nodaway, Oregon, MO 64473
18
Boonville, MO
(Cooper County)
7:00pm CDT
200 Main St Boonville, MO
22
Plattsburg, MO
(Clinton County)
7:00pm CDT
Plattsburg High School Performaing Arts Center 800 West Frost Street Plattsburg MO
23
Allendale, MO
(Worth County)
7:00pm CDT
TBD
24
Kansas City, MO
(Jackson County)
7:00pm CDT
Kauffman Foundation Conference Center 4801 Rockhill Road Kansas City, MO
25
Riverside, MO
(Platte County)
7:00pm CDT
Park Hill South High School 4500 River Park Drive Riverside, MO 64150
29
Macon, MO
(Macon County)
7:00pm CDT
Macon County Expo Center 1303 South Missouri Street Macon, MO
29
TBD, MO
(Macon County)
7:00pm CDT
TBD
30
Kirksville, MO
(Adair County)
6:30pm CDT
Conservation Building 3500 S. Baltimore Kirksville, MO
31
TBD, MO
(Linn County)
7:00pm CDT
TBD
April, 2010 - Upcoming
Day
City, State
Time
Location
01
Unionville, MO
(Putnam County)
6:30pm CDT
Unionville Middle School Auditorium Unionville, MO
05
Belton, MO
(Cass County)
7:00pm CDT
TBD
07
Carrollton, MO
(Carroll County)
7:00pm CDT
T.P. Rupe Community Center 710 Harvest Hills Dr. Carrollton, MO
08
Moberly, MO
(Randolph County)
7:00pm CDT
St. Pius School Gym 210 S. Williams Moberly, MO
12
Lees Summit, MO
(Jackson County)
7:00pm CDT
Lee’s Summit West High School PAC, 2600 Southwest Ward Road Lees Summit, MO 64082-2107
13
TBD, KS
(Miami County)
6:00pm CDT
TBD
15
Pleasant Hill, MO
(Cass County)
7:00pm CDT
Pleasant Hill High School Auditorium 1 Rooster Way Pleasant Hill, MO
Tuesday 16 March 2010 Today was cool and in the 40's. Not much chance of severe weather anywhere. We have entered a dry spell. However, I've heard some mention of a slight chance of something this weekend, but around here it looks like snow. Ahhh, spring...
Now, let me introduce to you the new storm chase vehicle that we now have....
Hopefullythis will suit our purposes and will reliably keep us safe. Our mission statement for this season is to track severe weather, give early warning to dangerous conditions whenever possible, give ground truth to anyone who needs it, to stay safely away from the storm and to keep others out of danger, and to gather great pictures and stories of the events as they happen.
I just got a facebook post from a friend. I am featured in the news (Fox 4, that is).....
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Another early spring day dawned upon us. It started out wet and cool and stayed cool most of the afternoon. The St. Patrick's day celebrations were typical -- cool but relatively dry. Then in mid to late afternoon, the clouds broke and we had a beautiful early spring afternoon with temps in the mid to lower 50's. Suyen and I drove the truck to Lawrence in a vain attempt to avoid the St. Paddies day mess in KC, only to run into a worse mess in Larryvile.
BEING ARTY *Kansas City art in St. Louis... *Art by the river in SEMO.... *Patrick Alexander featured in Present Magazine... *Topeka Roller Derby livestream featured by Chrometuna.... *This article really talks up Shen Yun... *Kansas City artist Jeremy Luther part of an O.K. show.... *Somebody in Australia cares about what happens at 18th and Vine... *Coming and going in Kansas City.... *Congressman Moore at the door announces art competition... *Glass art at the Nelson....
I am trying to raise money so I can eliminate the Wirecast bug on my live streaming events. If you are interested in being a patron of the arts here on SvobodaKC.com, let me know what we can work out. Any amount would help out tremendously.
Flange It's like what Louis Armstrong once supposedly said, if you have to ask what it is all about, you will probably never know.
The Kansas City has a rich railroad history, and many dedicated fans. I count myself among them. My love affair with trains comes directly from my mother, who is from the United Kingdom. In 1987, I went on a train trip to the crescent city on the famous named train -- the City of New Orleans. Then, they still had the 1950's era 'heritage' coaches, which were getting threadbare. The last car, the lounge car, turned into a wide open bar at night and it was quite the party. We noticed many passengers were getting up for walks on the train, only to disappear. It was not until my walk that I realized where they were going. So over the past 20 years or so, I've ridden the rails, gone to train shows, taken pictures and videos. In England, trainspotting is considered a respected hobby. In the US, railfanning is considered an odd eccentricity. My time trackside is often a refuge from the postmodern fakeness and hipster narcissism that often plagues and clouds my mind. It is truely railzen.
Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
