Epic Photo: Whoops, wrong turn

I've always wanted to be a storm chaser, but this seems a little too close for comfort.

Here's the link to this great storm photography story.

Epic Video: Train vs. Tornado

I got stuck waiting for a train this morning and it made me late for work. I officially hate trains now, and in retaliation, here'a video of a tornado taking out a train. Fast forward to about the 1:00 mark of the clip.

Tornado sirens suck

I am writing this from a basement. Being located in Lincoln, Nebraska, I figure I could have expected tornadoes. But this is insane.

The sirens are going. And incase you have never had the luck of hearing one, they sound exactly like the creatures from War of the Worlds. A high pitch screech that seems to be coming from all around.

Just about every channel is showing coverage of these storms. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I have have never seen anything like this. It is just crazy. And the basement of my apartment smells kinda funny.

The sky is super dark (no, not cause the sun set) there is tons of thunder and lightening. And it is torrential down pouring. The weather guy said that it is good as long as it keeps raining, cause the rain stops the clouds from creating an up swirl and thus a tornado.

Hopefully no hail comes, but the roads everywhere are flooding. And the tempature has just plumeted. It was about 85 degrees 30 minutes ago. Now it is about 65.

There are sirens going off everywhere. Now I can't hear the tornado sirens because of all the firetrucks, police and ambulances. It is raining so hard you can only see about 10 feet in front of you.

I will post this as soon as I can get back upstairs. Until then, I will sit in this odd smelling basement and hope the monsters that are making that noise don't show up.

Tornado warnings in the Alley

Last night there were tornado warnings and sever thunderstorm warnings across what felt like the entire mid-west.

Now keep in mind, I grew up in a small town at the base of Mount Rainier in Washington. The worst weather we got was when it actually stopped raining and I got sunburned.

Here I am, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the television is reporting tornadoes in the area, the sky is black, its starting to rain. I just know the end is coming. And then I think, "Why is nobody else worried."

So I ask the guy next to me and he says, "Eh, it hasn't touched down yet. We'll worry about that later."

I mean, these people are crazy. They actually chase down these things. No joke. The movie Twister happens about everyday around here.

All I can think is that we should be hiding in a barrack somewhere. Maybe a basement at the very least. Or in a cave. With John Legend singing folk music. But to these people it was just another Thursday. Wow.

In other news, the LOST season finale was last night. And now all I can say is that I am more confused than ever. If you've ever read The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle, he comes across a moving island. Yeah, that's the direction LOST is heading. A giant floating, movable island. I am beginning to think the writers are lost.

Speaking of people being lost, a woman in Tokyo lived in a mans closet for a year without him knowing about it.

The 58-year-old homeless lady snuck into the mans house, and was living there unnoticed. Until he finally began to see that food was disappearing. So he put up security cameras. The camera caught her in there and he called the police.

The police arrested her for trespassing. She had even got a mattress in the closet. Yeah, a whole year. And according to the police spokesman, "she was neat and clean."

A man is Wellington, New Zealand has been fined by the court for throwing a hedgehog at a teenage boy. Apparently, "William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy."

The hedgehog hit him in the leg and left a whelt.

Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said, "While using a hedgehog as a weapon in an assault is uncommon, people often get charged with assault for throwing things at other people."

Yeah, throwing bricks, stones, sticks, toasters...but hedgehogs?!?!

At least it was better than a porcupine.