Storm News & Commentary

2008 New Rock Releases And Reissues (Updated)

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:17:46 +0000

I started compiling the following list of New releases for 2008. This may not be a complete list, but some much great new music has arrived in 2008, so far, I though it would be a good idea to keep a running tab of what has come out, and what is on the way. The releases through August have been confirmed. Releases with a question mark have not been confirmed yet. This list will be updated as more news arrives.

Updated May 12th, 2008

Drive By Truckers - Brigher Than Creation’s Dark
Airbourne - Running Wild (U.S. Release)
Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
Gamma Ray - Land of the Free, Part 2
Ayreon - 01011001
American Speedway - Ship of Fools
Lillian Axe - Love and War (Reissue)
Lillian Axe - S/T (Reissue)
Sleeze Beez - Screwed Blued & Tattooed (Reissue)
Sleeze Beez - Powertool (Reissue)
Stonerider - Three Legs of Trouble
Thieves & Liars - When Dreams Become Reality
Tiles - Fly Paper
Saint Daemon - In Shadows Lost From the Brave
Pagan’s Mind - God’s Equation

DVD - Iron Maiden - Live After Death
DVD - Scorpions - Live at Wacken Open Air 2006
DVD - Overkill - Live at Wacken Open Air 2007
DVD - Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
Three - End is Begun
Pillar - For the Love of the Game
Avantasia - The Scarecrow
UFO - Phenomenon (Reissue)
UFO - No Heavy Pettin (Reissue)
UFO - Force It (Reissue)
Type O Negative - Dead Again (Red Version)
Hurricane - Over the Edge (Reissue)
Hurricane - Take What You Want (Reissue)
Hurricane - Slave To the Thrill (Reissue)
Hericane Alice - Tear the House Down (Reissue)
Baton Rouge - Shake Your Soul (Reissue)
Baton Rouge - Lights Out on The Playground (Reissue)
Wrathchild America - Climbing the Walls (Reissue)
Tangier - Four Winds (Reissue)
Tangier - Stranded (Reissue)
Danko Jones - Never Too Loud
King’s Call - No Alibi

Benedictum - Seasons of Tragedy
Inflikted - Cavalera Conspiracy
Saving Abel - S/T
Steve Stevens - Memory Crash
Firewind - The Premonition
DVD - Zebra
King Kobra - Ready to Strike (Reissue)
King Kobra - Thrill of a Lifetime (Reissue)
Icon - Right Between the Eyes (Reissue)
Black Tide - Light From Above
House of Lords - Come To My Kingdom
Warrior - Fighting For The Earth (Reissue)
Shannon - Angel in Disguise
Whitecross - 1987
Black Crowes - Warpaint
Diamond Head - Borrowed Time (Reissue)
Diamond Head - Canterbury (Reissue)

Fatal Smile - World Domination
Saints of the Underground - Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner
Theory of a Deadman - Scars & Souvenirs
Whitesnake - Good To Be Bad
Dominici - 03 A Trilogy Part 3
Asia - Phoenix
Testament - The Formation of Damnation
The Sword - Gods of The Earth
Dream Theater - Greatest Hit (And 21 other pretty cool songs)
P.O.D. - When Angels and Serpents Dance
Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow
In Flames - Sense of Purpose
Kamelot - Ghost Opera: The Second Coming
Ministry - Cover Up
DVD - Axel Rudi Pell - Live Over Europe
Keel - Lay Down the Law (Reissue)
White Lion - Return of the Pride
Circle II Circle - Delusions of Grandeur
Crimson Glory - S/T (Reissue)
Crimson Glory - Transcendence (Reissue)
Tantric - The End Begins
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I - IV

Iron Maiden - Somewhere Back In Time: The Best Of 1980-1989
MSG - In the Midst of Beauty
3 Doors Down - S/T
Bombay Black - Psycho Magnet
Def Leppard - Songs From The Sparkle Lounge
Kip Winger - From the Moon To the Sun
Eden - Oblivion
King’s X - XV
M.ILL.ION - Thrill Of The Chase
Dokken - Lightning Strikes Again
10 Years - Division
Jon Oliva’s Pain - Global Warning
Flotsam and Jetsam - Cuatro (Reissue)
Gun Barrel - Outlaw invasion
Brother Firetribe - Heart Full of Fire
Circle II Circle - Delusions of Grandeur
Southern Gentleman - Valley of Fire
10 Years - Division
Glenn Hughes - First Underground Nuclear Kitchen
Souls of We - Let The Truth Be Known (Featuring George Lynch and London LeGrand)
Gypsy Rose - S/T (Featuring David Reece)

Disturbed - Indestructible
Motley Crue - Saints of Los Angeles
Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2 CD Set)
JORN - Lonely Are the Brave
Flotsam & Jetsam - When The Storm Comes Down (Reissue)
Bret Michaels - Rock My World
The Dogs Divine - Way of Life
Clusterhead - Times of No Trust
Hydrogyn - Deadly Passions
Shinedown - The Sound of Madness
Tesla - Comin Atcha Live - DVD
Night Ranger - Hole in the Sun

Harem Scarem - Hope
Asphalt Valentine?

August
Buckcherry?

Trapt - Only Through The Pain (Aug 5th)

Black Stone Cherry?
Tesla?

October
Aerosmith?
Metallica ?

Anthrax?
Papa Roach - Days of War, Nights of Love
Alice Cooper?

Heaven and Hell?
AC/DC?

GREENSBURG PHOTO EXHIBIT SPONSORED BY KPA

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:21:46 +0000

A collection of photographs illustrating the destructive power of 2007’s Greensburg, KS tornado will go on display soon in Kansas City, Mo. â€” almost a year to the day after the storm.

Greensburg After Nature’s EF-5, which opens May 2 at Studio 2131 in Kansas City, includes the work of photojournalists from Kansas and Missouri. The photographs and exhibit were assembled by Cort Anderson, KPA’s technology consultant.

The exhibit is designed to show through the eyes of news photographers how the people of Kansas dealt with the aftermath of the May 4, 2007 storm.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Kansas Press Association and will be open through June in Kansas City and then start a tour around the state.

Studio 2131 is located at 2131 Washington Street in Kansas City, Mo.

Tornado Dan Badai Tewaskan 22 Orang

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:50:51 +0000

Liputan6.com, Oklahoma: Angin tornado berkekuatan 266 kilometer per jam telah memporakporandakan lima negara bagian Amerika Serikat. Angin tak hanya menyebabkan 22 jiwa melayang, ratusan rumah juga rusak dan ribuan rumah terputus aliran listriknya.

Jejak tornado terlihat di Kota Picher, Negara Bagian Oklahoma, Senin (12/5). Di wilayah ini rumah-rumah hancur tanpa tersisa. Pemandangan serupa juga ditemukan di bagian tenggara AS yang menewaskan belasan orang. Jumlah korban tewas terbesar dilaporkan ditemukan di Missouri, yaitu 14 orang. Bencana tornado kali ini adalah yang terburuk sejak sembilan tahun lalu.(IAN)

Thank You For Not Sending My Brother To OZ

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:49:47 +0000

One of my brothers lives in Oklahoma. I spoke to him on the phone yesterday to make sure he was not one of the folks who have been tragically effected by the tornados ripping through that area.

He is fine and I am thankful.

It is being said that this is the worst tornado season in ten years.

Also, with the Earthquake in China, the Cyclone in Burma, and a treacherous week of catastrophe for so many, my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, been injured, and are scrambling to find food and shelter in the wake of devastation.

I am thankful for the safety of my brother as I feel sympathy for so many sisters (and others) who cannot feel that way this morning.

Today In History - May 12

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:37:52 +0000

On this Day:

0254 St Stephan I replaces Lucius I as Catholic Pope
1215 English barons serve ultimatum on king John without Country
1701 Drenthe adopts Gregorian calendar (yesterday is 1st ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-New York Gazette)
1780 Charleston SC falls to the British (Revolutionary War)
1792 Toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals is patented
1875 1st recorded shutout in pro baseball, Chicago 1, St Louis 0
1898 Louisiana adopts new constitution with “grandfather clause” designed to eliminate black voters
1908 Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in ‘Mickey’s Revue’ by Walt Disney
1934 “Cocktails For Two” by Duke Ellington hits #1
1942 Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River
1962 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
1963 Bob Dylan walks off Ed Sullivan Show
1963 Race riot in Birmingham AL
1970 Race riots in Augusta GA; 6 blacks killed (5 by cops)
1977 1st quadraphonic concert (Pink Floyd in London)
1989 “Entertainment Tonight” performs their 2,000th TV Last broadcast of “Cheers” on NBC-TV
1993 Last broadcast of “Knots Landing” on CBS
1997 Russia & Chechnya sign peace deal after 400 years of conflict
1997 Susie Maroney, 22, of Australia, is 1st to swim from Cuba to Florida
1997 Tornado narrowly misses downtown Miami

Born on may 12th:

1670 August II the Strong One, King of Poland (355 children)
1812 Louis Ludwig Blenker Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1863
1880 Lincoln Ellsworth led 1st transarctic, transantarctic flights
1889 Otto Frank father of Anne Frank
1923 Ewart G Abner record company executive
1937 George Carlin Bronx NY, comedian (7 words you can’t say on television, AM & FM, Carwash)
1939 Ronald Ziegler press secretary (Nixon)
1948 Steve Winwood Birmingham England, (Higher Love, Roll With It)
1958 Christian Brando son of Marlon/killed sister’s Stephen Baldwin actor (Beast, Lawrenceville Stories, Usual Suspects)
1969 Kim Fields Freeman Los Angeles CA, actress (Tootie-Facts of Life, Regine-Living Single)
1972 Paul Stout Saugus CA, actor (Phillip-Scarecrow & Mrs King)

Slow Motion Disasters: Just As Devastating

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:21:47 +0000

Paul Jargowsky, professor at the University of Texas at Dallas and author of the immensely important book, Poverty and Place: Ghettos, Barrios, and the American City, made this statement at our last Urban Engagement Book Club:

“Poverty in Dallas is like a slow motion Katrina.”

He is so right. Why is it that we find it so easy to respond to the dramatic, the spectacular, the disastrous, the obvious, but can’t see what occurs on an everyday basis in our own backyards? Not long after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and blew away the Lower Ninth Ward, the Dallas-based Foundation for Community Empowerment and the J. McDonald Williams Institute produced a research report that compared that New Orleans community with our own Frazier Neighborhood here in South Dallas. By every single measure the Dallas community was worse off than its counter part in New Orleans prior to the storm.I suppose it takes a disaster to get us concerned. Of course, in the case of New Orleans we have been far from concerned enough, but that is another matter for another time.Week before last an immigrant from East Africa was killed while trying to cross one of our freeways here in Dallas. Tragic story and loss. Front page story in our local newspaper.I've received a number of calls about this man's family from people wanting to help. Great of them to call and to help.But in the ghetto neighborhoods, slow motion car wrecks claim innocent lives, one bit at a time, every single day. Some how, we act as if we don't believe the reality is anywhere near us. Like unless we come and see it every day or read some shocking report about human pain, we feel as if it is not there, as if it is not going on at all.Dr. Jargowsky is right. A "slow motion Katrina" at work in a neighborhood very near you, much closer than you think.What will you do about it?

Not Your Typical Mother’s Day Story.

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:02:11 +0000

My plans were to sleep late then get up and fix breakfast for my family but that didn’t happen. I awoke around 5 am to the sound of thunder. I lay there trying to go back to sleep as the thunder continued to crash about every minute or so. As I lay there, I heard the thunder booms getting faster and faster until they were going off continuously. If you are a big weather buff like me, you know what that means. Usually it is a sign of a tornado developing.

I got up and went to the living room and turned on the TV. It was as I suspected. The Weather Channel was reporting tornado activity in our area. The system was moving rapidly though and it was soon gone. There were reports that a tornado had touched down near my Mother in Law’s house so being that it was Mother’s day, I decided to go check it out. I got my oldest son up and we headed into town. We only found a few trees down in that area but it was obvious that there had been hail from the small branches and leaves littering the roads.

We got back home and braced for the next round of storms bearing down on us. This was the storm that hit Oklahoma but it had died down some by the time it reached us. We got some needed rain and some wind but nothing serious. In the early afternoon, I fixed a nice dinner for my family and we were able to relax a little. We had garlic shrimp, grilled chicken, fresh squash from our garden, beans and rolls. The weather then turned nice so we decided to do a little plant work in our greenhouse.

Around 5 pm, we began to hear thunder again and the wind picked up. The weather service said there was another storm heading our way so we hunkered down and waited to see what would happen. Around 6 pm, things were winding down and it looked like we were again spared. All of a sudden, the wind began whipping and the trees were bending and swirling around. It was a very odd wind, changing directions rapidly and the air was filled with dirt, dust and leaves. It only lasted a minute though and then it was gone. As soon as the wind began dying at our house, the power began blinking on and off. A few minutes later, it went off for good. We turned on the portable radio to see what was happening.

The weather service said there was a tornado on the ground on our island. From the path they described, it had passed right over out house. It actually touched ground about a mile from us and then plowed it way through the island, knocking down trees and power lines. From what I heard, it only destroyed a few houses but that is because that area is mostly woods. After the storm was gone, we took a ride to see what was going on but all the roads on and off the island were blocked. Our power was off until 2 am this morning and I am dead tired from getting no sleep. The main road on our island is still blocked but I was able to use a smaller road and get to work.

Last night as I lay there sweating without air conditioning, I thought about how fortunate we were and what It must be like in Oklahoma where the storm did its most damage. These storms keep getting worse and worse and have to just pray and thank God for sparing my friends and family. Say a prayer today for the families that lost their houses and the people that lost loved ones in the storm.

Photo’s from Charleston’s news paper, “The post and Courier”. It was too dark for me to take pictures this morning. This is a few miles from our house.

Have a Blessed day,

Greg

Storm Sunday: Barry Windsor-Smith

admin — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:11:40 +0000

“It shall take a long-term, keenly processed, whole-world paradigm shift in our consciousness to perceive, acknowledge, and accept that all that we see, hear, smell, touch and taste are but five tiny shells on one small dune on the cosmic beach-head of Everywhere Else.” - Barry Windsor-Smith

Here’s Barry Windsor-Smith’s Storm in a great dynamic pose. You can almost feel the winds blowing around you thanks to the diagonal lines contrasting the cloud curves. Go read Lifedeath now.

Climate Justice = A Human Right

admin — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:33:24 +0000

Cyclone Nargis, considered a once-in-500-year storm, struck the Irrawaddy Delta this past Saturday, pushing a wall of water through a largely deforested mangrove swamp and inundating some of the most densely populated parts of the low-lying country.

Initially, experts estimated the death toll to be in the tens of thousands, but revised the number as it became clear that despite international aid efforts, families were starving and that many had perished in the surging waters. In addition, recent reports show the ruling military Junta, which a few months ago brutally cracked down on peaceful opposition demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, seized recent UN and international aid shipments intended for those affected by the storm and subsequent floods. In response, the UN has temporarily suspended direct aid to Burma, citing corruption and theft of donated food and supplies.
More >>>

Cyclone Nargis Vs Tornado Katrina

admin — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:06:56 +0000

The storm’ s damage vovers about 11,600 square miles of land. What’s remarkable ls that even though that’s only 5% of the country, nearly 57 million people live there.

But in an attempt to further understnd the destruction that took place, let’s sompare Nargis to a historic Atlantic hurricane. Hurricane Katrina is one of the most devastating natural disasters in U-S history. It was the third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U-S. You may be surprised to learn the similarities between Cyclone Nargis and Hurricane Katrina.

* They both hit lwo lying areas, prone to flooding.

* Both were Category 3 storms on the Saffir Simpson scale, packing 120 mph winds.

* Imagine a wall of water 24-28 feet high…that’s the highest storm surge of Katrina.
Nargis had a 12 foot storm surge.

* Both dropped tremendous amounts of rain.
Slidell, Louisiana picked up the most, 15″ with Katrina.
Parts of Southern Myanmar picked up 23.6″ of rain!

* Over 1800 people died directly or indirectly because of Katrina.
And 1.2 million were told to evacuate.
The death toll is still going up in Myanmar, but some think it will rise to 100,000.
Thzt would make Cyclone Nargis the deadliest cyclone to hit Asia in 1 7 yea rs, when 143,000 people died from a syclone that struck Bangladesh.

* Katrina’s price tag reached $81 billion, making the costliest natural disaster ever!
There is no price tag for the devastation in Myanmar.

Unfortunately, the cyclone season in the North Indian Ocean just started. It runs from April through December. But despite the long season, the region on average has just over 5 named storms per year with 2 becoming full tropical cyclones.

All information >>> cyclone vs hurricane