If you folks are wanting pretty consistent notes on blasted hurricane ike, you can go to weather.com's bloggerish notes where they jot down tiny sentences on reports coming in from the Texas coastline and other surrounding coasts currently feeling surges coming in. Like the blurb on the stranded freighter that's out on the Gulf - apparently, it'll have to "ride out the storm". Yikes. For something that's still 10 hours away from smackin the coastline, its already starting to surge and flood Galveston and other coastal cities there. I'm in Austin. I have no reason to be concerned at this point with anything other than a lot of wind, rain, and some flooding. Hopefully, it stays that way. Tony, Triece, Mary, Steve, Pat, Ethan, Christian, Brandy, and all of the others I know in that area, I'm hoping you all stay safe and secure. I dunno, duct tape some shit when in doubt. Haha.

They also post little photos and videos taken by people that have been streamed to them.

I'm totally filling up my bathtub with ice and stickin all my beer in it. If you're coming from the Texas coastline from places like Galveston and South Padre Island (if you're still there, you're retarded), come on over. The Red Cross may have run out of money for us but, dammit, I've got beer.

And bread.


(snip and edit)

While, understandably, the majority of eyes are all on central/eastern Texas at the moment and will continue that way for several days, I think some might need a reminder: A variety of parishes in Louisiana are still without power since Gustav touched down and slapped their shit. If you can lend a hand, you can do so right here.

Those who have donated in some way thus far, I'm hoping our monies aren't going to nasty little FEMA trailers that have been "chemically" altered. I don't blame many people for refusing trailers after that little debacle. I'd hate to emerge out of my fema trailer sprouting what appears to be a tiny hand bursting "Alien"-style through my skull.