May 18th.....

[Blu (Ontario)]

Those of you posting from the northwest USA will no doubt know the significance of May 18,1980. Mount St. Helens erupted with a vengance this date 24 years ago causing widespread devastation and almost instantly transforming hundreds of square miles into a moonscape. Not much to celebrate but something to remember. Vulcan can't wear kilts for obvious reasons.

blu

[Doc Hudson]

As represented by the famous statue of Vulcan in Birmingham, not only did Vulcan not wear a kilt, he wore no pants either.

The statue portrays Vulcan standing at his anvil with a hammer in one hand, and a torch upraised in the other. His sole article of dress is an apron.

Local wags refer to his bare buttocks as "the Moon over Homewood."

[Chris@southerncelt.com]

Ah yes. A local radio station used to do spots with Vulcan. Very funny. HE always referred to his Giant Metal ***.

[philbo]

Mount St. Helens, I remember that. I was only 10 or so, and I remember thinking that it had snowed outside (which it often does here) but it was really a layer of ash that had settled after the eruption.

[Graham]

Well tomorrow (today here) the 19th is also special.
On this day May 19, 1536 wife #2 of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn daughter of Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire and Elizabeth Howard was executed in the Tower of London.

Think I'll wear a Kilt in memory of the poor woman.

Also, on this day in 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt set a date for the cross-Channel landing that would become D-Day-May 1, 1944.

And.... Lawrence of Arabia died.

Finally: Today is Circus Day (Ringling Brothers opened 1884), Frog Jumping Jubilee Day

Ref: http://www.thevirtualvine.com/days.html

[GMan]

Graham,

Hope that you Circus Day is going well. It's early here so I plan on celebrating to the kiltest.

Glen

[The Kilted Chef]

Well tomorrow (today here) the 19th is also special.
And.... Lawrence of Arabia died.

Graham, does that mean we are to take no prisoners?

[CanisLatrans469]

I did not hear the BOOM, and I was in the back yard getting the living snot knocked out of me by my older brother when it started to smell like sulfur and the clear blue sky was obliterated by a grey solid cloud. It became black as night and it was only 3:00 in the afternoon.
I remember it well......

Chris

[philbo]

What an ominous feeling that must have been.

[Blu (Ontario)]

What an ominous feeling that must have been.

A crusty old mountain resort owner named Harry Truman refused to evac off of the mountain. He, his cats, and some 60 other individuals perished in the blast... many without a trace. Idylic and trout rich Spirit Lake was transformed into a mud hole. Millions of fir trees were stripped naked and snapped over like toothpicks pointing in the direction of the pyroclastic flows. Millions of tons of earth filled the rivers with mud moving buildings bridges and buildings many miles. Almost a cubic kilometer of ash and dust was blown into the sky. The energy released was about the same as Hiroshima bomb, approx 20 kilotons. A mere pipsqueak by historical volanic standards. The Krakatau (Indonesia) eruption of 1883 released about 150 megatons and displaced roughly 21 cubic kilometers! Krakatau was a mere sprite compared to the great Yellowstone blast 640,000 years ago which displaced about 200 cubic kilometers!. Vulcan has no need of kilts to get our attention.
For those interested here's Mount St. Helens today...

http://www.fs.fed.us./gpnf/mshnvm/volcanocam/


blu