The Unbearable Banishment: Someone pushed the PANIC BUTTON

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Someone pushed the PANIC BUTTON

Here are a few of the extraordinary and, in my humble opinion, unnecessary actions that have been taken in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irene:
  • The southern tip of Manhattan has been evacuated
  • The NYC transit system has been completely shut down
  • All Broadway and off-Broadway shows have been canceled [a first]
  • You can't drive on the Garden State Parkway south of Exit 98 and beach towns have been evacuated
  • The governor of New Jersey has HALTED GAMING in Atlantic City casinos [yet another first and the most offensive item on the list, as far as I'm concerned]
  • No gym. No movies. No groceries. No nothin'
You should have seen Port Authority yesterday afternoon. There was a mass exodus. It was like the set of a science fiction film where a plague is coursing through Manhattan. CB said that Manhattan is even more desolate today than it is on December 25th. At least you can go to a movie on Christmas Day. (Although, I told him he could probably still get some egg rolls delivered by a guy on a bicycle.)

I think it's all a lot of of sturm und drang. The storm seems to be weakening and will probably be a Category 1 by the time it gets here. A friend of mine has a Dominican girlfriend and she can't stop laughing. She said that back home, they don't even go indoors until it's a Category 4. If I'm lucky, the 8-10 inches of rain will drown the moles who have furrowed in my front yard.

In lieu of going anywhere, here's what'll go down in the Unbearable household:


That's right. A Little Rascals film festival. 10 DVDs, 88 episodes. You can't go wrong (except for the horribly racist parts). In one early episode, Spanky's father refers to Buckwheat and his younger sister as "the little Pickaninnies." Now, that's just wrong. It requires some sensitivity training for The Daughters. Some of it goes right over their heads, thank God. Does anybody remember "I wish Cotton was a monkey"?

I have no back-up plan for entertainment if the electricity goes out. Perhaps I'll break out my guitar. That always goes over really well.

A tip-o'-the hat and a thank-you to the nice people who have pinged me offline to check up. Glub-glub.

15 Comments:

Blogger LẌ said...

When I was In LA last month, I went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Darla and Alfalfa are both buried there.

August 27, 2011 at 5:05 PM  
Blogger Verdant Earl said...

Yeah, I'm out on LI and I can't believe the number of areas that have been evacuated. Out of control.

The Little Rascals were a huge part of my childhood and many of the quotes are still a part of my everyday life. "Come on, Algebra. This is no place for you." So yeah...I remember "I wish Cotton was a monkey." :)

August 27, 2011 at 5:38 PM  
Blogger Ms Scarlet said...

On the BBC they are saying that the evacuation is cos the hurricane coincides with the high tide on Sunday.
Anyhow, keep safe, Mr Banish.
Sx

August 27, 2011 at 6:15 PM  
Blogger The Unbearable Banishment said...

lx: I heard that Alfalfa was killed in a barroom brawl. I wonder if that's true? If you need me I'll be over at Wikipedia...

BEE: I love that episode! Dickie accidentally calls the mule "Mathematics." The butler is Barkley. Perfect.

Scarlet: The tide is high but we're holding on. Thanks.

August 27, 2011 at 7:27 PM  
Blogger savannah said...

better safe than sorry, sugarpie! we KNOW hurricanes down here and it's the storm surge that fucks you, you know, like the drive thru! ;)

(yeah, i know, i worry like i'm EVERYBODY'S mama. it's my nature!) xoxoxox

oh, yeah, cos, it might choke arti, but it won't choke petey! :D

August 27, 2011 at 7:30 PM  
Anonymous daisyfae said...

can't begin to tell you what a glorious day it was here in ohio... high pressure blue skies, charlie brown clouds, and zero humidity.

stay dry and take some pics when the storm passes, because this is the weather you're about to get!

August 27, 2011 at 9:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is it over yet?

August 28, 2011 at 4:50 AM  
Blogger Ellie said...

We had much ado about nothing with Hurricane David in Miami in the early 80s. Suppose better safe than sorry ... remembering what Andrew did to Miami years later.

August 28, 2011 at 6:29 AM  
Blogger sukipoet said...

It does seem like over preparing, however I agree with one commenter, better safe than sorry. We are lucky now to have warning of an approaching hurricane. They can be devastating and they also can change paths and intensity at the last minute offering a few surprises.

At least when the electricity goes out in the summer, we are still warm. In the winter, as most heating systems rely on electricity to power the furnace, we freeze.

great idea to watch the little rascals. A bowl of popcorn, a few laughs, the storm will be weathered.

August 28, 2011 at 8:14 AM  
Anonymous looby said...

Been in The Empty Quarter as far as news is concerned for a few days but I'm glad it seems to have dissipated a bit. Apart from anything else, I didn't want to see all those nudie daisy chains get trashed :)

A good compare and contrast exercise would be to look at the relative amounts of preparation given to a hurricane hitting NYC, and Katrina in Mississippi.

August 29, 2011 at 4:57 AM  
Blogger Sausage said...

That is what we down here in the hurricane zone call an expensive blow job
another wee storm is on the way.
Heads up.

August 29, 2011 at 8:20 AM  
Blogger The Unbearable Banishment said...

All: We were very lucky. Unlike a lot of people around here, we didn't lose power don't have any water in the basement. And, unlike the guy across the street from me, we don't have a big tree laying across our roof. I just have a lot of debris in my yard to clean up. That's not so bad.

Sausage: Just what the he'll is that supposed to mean? You're kidding. Right? Some Scottish humor, I'm hoping.

August 29, 2011 at 8:52 AM  
Blogger Pat said...

Was here this am but couldn't leave a comment but it was more or less what Savannah said.
I remember Spanky first time around. What crimes we committed in our ignorance.

August 29, 2011 at 11:05 AM  
Blogger Ponita in Real Life said...

Glad you came through it pretty much unscathed. I do agree with better safe than sorry as well. You really can't predict if these storms are going to peter out or pick up a bigger head of steam along the way. I'll go for overkill any day... as it is, I heard there are 21 people dead from this hurricane in the US. That's 21 too many in my books.

August 29, 2011 at 11:08 AM  
Blogger Adam Kenny said...

I live in Middlesex County, New Jersey not too far from the banks of the old Rar-i-tan River, which decided to flex its muscles again a bit this weekend. We lucked out at our house. We apparently live on a little stretch of dry land located squarely in the middle of out little town. The folks on either flank took a beating. Back in '99 when Floyd came thru here, our home (we lived on a flank back then) ended up with close to 4 feet of water inside of it. I feel badly for anyone/everyone who took that kind of hit this weekend - not to mention anyone who got killed or injured in this mess.

And proving that Mother Nature has (a) no memory; or (b) a wicked sense of humor, the forecast for this week is 80-85 and sunny every day.

August 29, 2011 at 1:23 PM  

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