Can I buy some time,
’cause I’m diggin’ this scene,
And, just reaching my prime,
So, can I buy some time?
What do you mean,
Mine is all spent?
I dunno where it went.
What can be found in McMurdo Sound?
I thought we’d go on forever,
Then, again…
Am I that different than a penguin?
Do they find it strange…
This climate change?
Wonder if they’ve read “State Of Fear”
And, understand the truth ain’t near?
Can I buy some time,
Don’t wanna resign,
To flailing n’ floundering,
What do you mean,
… none left to call mine?
Well…
don’t be so mean,
Can’t I have a little spell?
How are ya, Hawaii?
An ocean swell,
Like a belch from hell,
Causes a rippling effect,
Mother Nature begs respect,
But, what the heck,
Giant waves crashed,
Smashed,
Dashed upon the land,
Makes ya understand,
It’s what it’s about —
“that sort of cancels everything out”
If it sounds like I’m begging… I am.
Advisories warning,
Of a dangerous condition,
Start blurring,
Our grasp of the situation,
So, until I can get a handle,
Please treat me gentle…
And, let me buy some time?
How could it all be spent,
I dunno where it went,
So, please… a little time would be fine.
Oooooh… just a little bit more time?!?!
If it sounds like I’m begging… I am.
NOTES
Iceberg causing penguins to starve
12/14/2004 4:24 PM
By: Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A giant iceberg blocking McMurdo Sound in Antarctica is fascinating scientists, but it’s also threatening tens of thousands of baby penguins.
The iceberg is about 1,200 square miles and one researcher called it “the largest floating thing on the planet right now.”
Scientists said the penguin chicks could starve in coming weeks because the ice build-up in the sound has cut off their parents’ access to waters where they catch their fish.
The penguins are important to scientists who’ve been studying the birds for 25 years to look for signs of environmental change, like global warming.
The iceberg is also blocking the route for supply ships that are due to bring food and fuel to the researchers.
December 16, 2004
Surfers daring huge waves:
Giant swell sparks Hawaiian contest, expected to hit here Sentinel staff and wire reports
HALEIWA, Hawaii – Giant waves crashed along the North Shore of Oahu Wednesday, leaving sand and debris on roadways and prompting officials to close beaches as waves reached 40 feet and higher.
Huge waves are expected in Santa Cruz the next several days, the result of a powerful series of storm systems located over the Pacific Northwest.
Advisories warning of dangerous conditions on Central Coast beaches and rock areas have been issued by State Parks officials.
Amid the debris in Oahu, world-class surfers – including two from Santa Cruz – gathered for a rare big-wave surfing competition that occurs only when such enormous waves sweep the island’s coast.
Kelly Slater, a former world champion and one of the 24 elite surfers invited to surf the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, described the waves at Waimea Bay as “giant.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen it like this,” Slater said.
The competition is held only when the waves reach giant proportions – only six times in the last 19 years.
Two Santa Cruz big-wave surfers, Peter Mel and Darryl “Flea” Virostko, were invited to the contest featuring 24 contestants. The late Jay Moriarity, who died in a diving accident in 2001, was an honorary invitee.
Neither Mel nor Virostko was available by phone. Mel’s wife, Tara, said her husband had come in first in his initial heat Wednesday morning. Mel was in second place overall at the end of round one, following Bruce Irons of Kauai.
“Pete said it’s perfect, no wind,” said Mel, speaking from Santa Cruz.
The water began coming ashore before dawn, crossing roads and leaving sand and debris in its wake, prompting officials to close a portion of Kamehameha Highway in the North Shore town of Haleiwa until 11 a.m.
“Big surf is supposed to be big business,” said Rebekah Horner, manager of the Haleiwa Chevron. “I thought I’d be super busy this morning but with the road closed that sort of cancels everything out.
“Tourists, surfers, a lot of people from all over come to see the surf when it’s this big.”
The seaside Surf N Sea surf and dive shop suffered minor flooding, but opened at its normal time of 9 a.m.
“There’s a lot of sand on the road,” sales clerk Jake Gomez said as he helped clean the water off the floor. “Business is going to be kind of slow today until they open the road.”
The National Weather Service warned of high surf on north-facing shores of all islands except Lanai until Wednesday night. But the exact height of the waves coming on shore was difficult to gauge.
“When it’s this big, its hard to tell for sure exactly how big the waves are because they tend to break out offshore on outer reefs,” said Tom Birchard, a meteorologist with the federal agency.
In Santa Cruz, high surf and dangerous conditions are expected along the coast. The most significant of the high surf periods should peak Friday before gradually tapering off over the weekend, said Alex Peabody of the State Parks Department.
He urged people to avoid swimming, wading and other water activities due to the high surf.
“This will be a very large swell, with long wave periods,” said Peabody. “Park visitors may be fooled into thinking that the waterline is safer than it is due to long lulls between sets of waves.”
Back in Hawaii, a buoy 200 miles northwest of Kauai recorded an open ocean swell of 26 feet Wednesday, he said. By the time that swell gets closer to the islands, waves can top 35 to 50 feet, he said.
In the past, such high surf has damaged beachfront homes and left beachside roads and highways littered with debris.
Capt. George Ku of the Sunset Beach fire station said his crew had not been called out on a single surf-related emergency as of 8 a.m., two hours after the peak.
“I guess everyone was prepared and took the high-surf warnings seriously, thank goodness,” Ku said.
Oahu Civil Defense advised residents to avoid the beaches and stay out of the water, but crowds began gathering before dawn at Waimea Bay Beach Park for big wave surf contest.
The surf competition is named for Eddie Aikau, a big-wave surfing legend who died in 1978 when an ocean-going canoe he was on capsized. Aikau attempted to swim for help and was never seen again.
Michael Crichton Takes on Global Warming in Latest Work
Author Says Environmentalists Are ‘Fomenting False Fears’
By JOHN STOSSEL
Dec. 10, 2004
So often what you think you know may not be so. And it’s a reason I love the book just out from America’s top-selling thriller writer, Michael Crichton. He’s the man who created the popular TV medical drama “ER,” wrote “Jurassic Park,” which ranks among the top 10 grossing films of all time, and much more.
Crichton’s books and movies have grossed more than $4 billion. Now, he’s tackling global warming in his latest techno-thriller, “State of Fear.”
Crichton is an extraordinarily bright man. He paid his way through Harvard Medical School writing his thrillers. He told “20/20” he based “E.R.” on what he witnessed as a med student at Harvard. “It was just experiences that I had had in the emergency room,” Crichton said.
He says Anthony Edwards’ and Noah Wiley’s characters on “E.R.” are based on him, describing them as “a little fumbling, not sure of themselves — nice people.”
When he wrote “The Andromeda Strain,” the story of an organism from outer space that threatens to wipe out mankind, Hollywood came calling, and his medical career was over.
Ideas Ahead of Their Time
Thirty-five years later he is still meticulously melding fiction with cutting-edge science, which continues to open him up to criticism.
He was called anti-science when he wrote about the perils of manipulating DNA for cloning in “Jurassic Park.” After writing “Disclosure,” the story of a man who is sexually harassed by his female boss, he was labeled a sexist. But he was also prescient. At the time of “Jurassic Park,” few people talked about cloning. Now it’s often in the headlines. And sexual harassment of both women and men has been featured in newsmagazines.
Will he be similarly ahead of his time with his new book? “State of Fear” expresses skepticism of the claim that global warming is real and imminent.
The controversy the book is bound to stir up almost kept Crichton from writing the book. “I’m 62 years old. I’ve had a good life. I’m happy and I’m enjoying myself,” he said. “I don’t need any of the flak that would come from doing a book like this.”