h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The nearest to forest fires I've seen is the smouldering moorland fires of which there were several last year. It wasn't just the vegetation that was burning but also the peat soil of the moorland it grows on. Not a nice situation to be in. I hope they can manage to control the fires near you Lil.

A good place for the vegetarian curry (or rather southern indian food) is near Euston station in London. A few good eateries there and associated shops selling all sorts of vegetables and spices to the local community.

A bigger bed, that would be a nice thing. Not wider I don't think but longer is what would be nice for me

Shrek the official movie of the Atelier? Ooo... if so, then can I be Fiona? I've already got her as my avatar on a game message board!

Some years ago a huge area in a national park not far from where I live burned down (arseny). Turned out it wasn't all bad - in no time at all plants that hadn't been observed in the area for years started growing in the ashes.

It's still not back to 'normal' though, and there are guided tours for those who want to see what's happened after the fire - it's not recommended to go in there on your own because of severe danger of half-burnt trees falling down on you.

I saw a frightening report on tv a few weeks ago, in which it was theorized that the amount of rain that we had in the western US during most of the 20th century was an anomaly, and that for the previous thousand years or so it had been much drier. They suspect that the recent draught is really a return to the "normal" conditions and is not likely to end. So the fires will get worse, and the land may not be able to support the recent population boom.

I've put myself on a low-salicylate diet because of a recent spate of reactions. That means no curry for me for the near future. And no tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, apples, oranges, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, etc.

Blimey! What *can* you eat, d'E?

B

Offers sympathy for the fires, they sound dreadful - I don't really have anything to add, all this talk of curry is making me want to get back to cooking some.


(No 3 on the list of things I miss about Birmingham - shops where I can buy spices)

[GDZ]

Bananas. I can eat bananas. Also meat and dairy, so apart from the bananas my diet is turning into a high-fat, very bland and unspiced nightmare. Fortunately it's short term - I can tolerate salicylates as long as I don't overdo it (like eating tomato sauce for 4 days straight along with lots of wine, with apple snacks which I did a couple of weeks ago or more accurately ). It's essentially an aspirin overdose - I just need to avoid overdosing.

I heard they were sending blackhawk helicopters to fight the fire. Bush will probably have them do strafing runs first, and if that doesn't work, call in some stealth bombers to drop some 5000 lb bombs.

I hate to say this (as I always seem to be the one that does so) but I found Shrek to be a horribly dull, conventional movie. I can't say that I have Shrek 2, but after buying Shrek and suffering the dull shock (seen previously by movies such as Gladiator *watches Marv cringe*) of it, I can say that I don't much feel like ever seeing it.

The plume is visible this morning, laced with orange, but farther away. The good news is that we've awoken to no winds and a cloudy sky.

Downloading photos now.Results after errands.

I shall see Shrek 2, but whether it will be at the flicks or dvd, I don't yet know. Some films are better for seeing after a take away curry and with a bottle of .

I do want to see Day After Tomorrow and Troy a the cinema as I htink will be better for seeing on a big screen.

I had forgotten that LOTR ROTK is out on dvd today, otherwise I would have got a copy whilst at Sainsbury's this morning.

Sporky, we actually agree on the Shrek thing. One of the rare instances our tastes coincide?

I have been following the fire story, as where I will be moving is actually in a certain amount of danger of fires. The Wasatch Mountais often catch fire either due to lightning or careless use of flame in the back country.

Or the Nasty, I mean National, Guard

I'm in the same camp as Marv and Sporky. I didn't find Shrek to be all that and a bag of chips. Speaking of which...I don't know what the potato and pea curry is called "officially", Ben. I got the recipe off an Indian cooking show on television years ago and have been making it ever since. It's pretty mild, which is perfect for me as I am a big fat wimp when it comes to spicy food.

I think that report you saw, d'E, was dead on. All of the American West, with the notable exception of the Pacific Northwest, is an incredibly arid place. I don't think what we're going through is a drought so much as part of the natural cycle. Most people settled here first during the unusually rainy years of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, and that climate was the unnatural one--not what we're seeing today. If anyone is familiar with the prehistory of the Southwest, Lil's country, remember that most of the early Pueblo cliff dwellings, like Chaco Canyon or Mesa Verde, were abandoned due to drought. The natural ebb and flow of water has been going on for tens of thousands of years and it is only modern hubris that leads to people and politicians thinking of drought and major fires as a disaster. This land was not meant to be dammed, farmed and condo-ized. And we, as taxpayers, certainly shouldn't pay to save those homes built in the path of fires. Many people have chosen to build their trophy cabins in the middle of the dry Western woods and they alone should bear the consequences. Our fire season in Montana hasn't even started yet, and already our Governor has declared an emergency. That irks me. It isn't an emergency, it's just The Way Things Are. And until a lot of people get their heads out of their butts, American taxpayers are going to keep throwing money down a neverending rabbit hole fighting something that is part of the natural ecosystem.

not forgetting the rise in insurence next year, to pay for all those claims, before you say that wont affect me in the UK stop a think who the biggest underwriter are yep a british based firm overseas loses affect prices in homemarket.

I didn't think that it was "all that and a bag of chips" either, but I still enjoyed it. More as a tribute to pop culture than an actual movie, though. That "Welcome To Dulac" song was just the kind of Disney Animatronic Bashing that I like. I'm still unsure as to whether or not I'll see Shrek 2 as it is, I believe, a sequel.

I am not a huge fan of Dreamworks. They have made a few good films, but just like Disney, I try to aviod their films.

I will wait for Shrek2 to come out on dvd and I might rent it. That is about all Iam wiling to do to see it.

Not much of a fan of pop culture period, haven't been to the cinema in years and don't even own a tv. Most of what Hollywood dishes out on us is plotless, boring drivel a new opiate of the masses now that religion doesn't really cut it anymore. So maybe a few fires are what they deserve after all.

As far as paying for it... FG if you can maintain the "this is not an emergency" attitude whilst watching your homeall your earthly possesions and probably a sizeable chunk of your net worth turning into so much waste chemical byproduct, you are a much more laid back person than most of the world... I am an on again off again Florida resident, not a landowner as I don't typically spend long enough in any one place to be so encumbered. However, the insurance market here is insane. Homeowner's insurance rates have skyrocketed due to Andrew. Andrew was an anomaly, most hurricanes veer off due to the gulf stream.

Well, it's true that most of what Hollywood hands us isn't worth the film that it's shot on. But I've seen too many brilliant gems to discount Hollywood all together. I loved Big Fish, for instance.

Altbough, that was Tim Burton so I'm naturally biased towards it.

[Hyp]