Category: Illinois

Earthquakes and Aftershocks, oh my!

Well, as everyone is probably aware by now, Southern Illinois had a nifty little 5.2 earthquake. Em and I woke up at 4:30 to our bedroom window vibrating. I sat up, listened for a tornado, then for the dryer, and finally realized it was an earthquake.

The shaking stopped, then a tiny tremor a few seconds later. I waited a little bit, walked through the house, and then went back to bed. Of course I wasn’t 100% sure about the earthquake judgment until this morning when news outlets were confirming that fact.

Later on at about 10:30, there was another quake that shook our home. I did not personally feel it as I was in the car on my way back from school.

Em sent me a text and said that it shook the whole house. The United States Geological Society refers to the second as an aftershock, but it hit our house more severely than the original. Maybe it was just ‘tuned’ so that it affected us more than the first quake. Guess we’ll never know.

John Malkovich is back

As you may or may not be aware, John is from down south of the ‘Vern – Benton/Christopher. Apparently, he is visiting from his home in France. I would guess that he’s here to see family, but that’s just a guess.

I have heard reports from people that he is very polite and considerate when in public. Of course, I’ve also heard that he’s a narcissistic jerk who denies ever having been to Southern Illinois. Most likely, you and I will never know, but I prefer to go with the nice guy assumption until proven otherwise. Everyone has a bad day from time to time, and maybe he was having one when the people with a bad experience ran into him. Even more likely is that the person was rude and interrupted dinner, family time, or was plain rude and John let them know so.

It would be nice to meet him and ask for an autograph I think. The man has done amazing work (I’ve only seen a few of his films) and he has several awards and nominations. Particularly I’m partial because he was a kid from southern Illinois like most people around here, including myself.

“I’m very much a typical Midwesterner, and I don’t think the condition is curable.” – John Malkovich

If We Book Him, will they come?

I just noticed that Eddie Izzard is coming to Louisville on April 17th. I wonder if they would add a date for Mount Vernon. I also wonder if he would play such a small venue.

The major question is would anyone from around here go see his act. Granted, the man is hilarious and has a show on Fox, but that doesn’t mean the uber-conservative southern Illinois crowd will come out.

Generally, if it isn’t someone who is world-famous and popular that second, there isn’t much of an audience. Unless, of course, it is some beer-swilling, IQ-dropping person or band. If they can drop the average person’s IQ by 10 points, then everyone is excited to pay anything to be in the audience.

I suppose I’ll contact his management and see what the booking fees are and what kind of demands Eddie has in his riders. Judging from his persona, I doubt there is the conceit that most people have, but you never know.

Off I go…

And you wonder why flood warnings are constantly put out…

Apparently some people decided to try and ford some floodwater locally. They were driving through, and then decided to stop and back out.

One of the travelers lost her purse, and then all 3 were in the water according to reports. Another female companion managed to get out of the water, and called emergency workers. The other two are still being searched for at this hour.

This should serve as a cautionary tale to everyone. Don’t try to drive through floodwater. Don’t try to save your purse (it can be replaced).

Would you drive through this???

Headin’ Home With My Chickens

One of the guys at work made this video with his phone and posted it to YouTube. He’s trying to get above 100 views, so go have a look-see and tell me how retarded it is in the comments.