Gulf Oil : Day 67

Source: Nola.com

Weekend Oil Update

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Day 59

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Oil disaster by the numbers

Fun Japanese Fact

Noodles flow 2,500 meters down mountain into world record book

MITAKE, Gifu

A sea of noodles flowing down bamboo half-pipes for 2,500 meters into waiting mouths has set a world record.

"Nagashi-somen" (flowing noodles) is a festive way to eat somen noodles in which a person places the noodles on a water slide made of cut bamboo trees, and another person tries to grab the moving noodles from further down the stream with chopsticks.

The event, which took place at the "Mitake no Mori" (Forest of Mitake) here on June 13, went off without a hitch, gaining approval by a Guinness World Records observer as the new world record for longest nagashi-somen. Participants will make a formal application for the record soon.

The nagashi-somen event was held as a side-event to the "Zenkoku Yutakana Umizukuri Taikai" (National Abundant Sea Resource Festival), and was managed by a committee formed of residents and town employees. The committee spent one month preparing for the event. The previous longest recorded nagashi-somen event was 2,345 meters in Fukuoka Prefecture and is currently in the application process with Guinness World Records.

About 500 bamboo trees were cut and attached to each other to form the half-pipe course, on which a serving of somen noodles traveled for 35 minutes before being caught by a town employee at the end.

"Everyone's feelings became like spice for the noodles and they tasted incredible," said the town representative while holding his fist in triumph.

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If they were anything like us in Japan (pics above)- they'd use it afterward as a beer chute (pics below)! ;)

How selfish we've been.

Never mind Louisiana; BP oil executive is suffering How selfish we've been. Oil has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a month, and all we've been able to talk about here in South Louisiana is how it's making our lives miserable. We've talked about fish, shrimp and oysters and how -- thanks to BP's undersea oil geyser -- we might have to grow used to life without them. We've talked about the damage to our coast. Our marshes are our natural protection against hurricanes, and if parts of our grassy protection are killed off by oil, our vulnerability to storms increases. We've talked about our perilous economic state. Tourism is going to suffer no matter how many assurances we give the world that people should still visit Louisiana. Additionally, President Obama's decision to temporarily suspend deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf -- and potentially cripple one of the state's largest industries -- is yet another hardship attributable to BP and its inability to stop polluting our state. He says as a Brit he's able to take the public criticism he's received.Then there's our state bird. A previously endangered species, the brown pelican was on the rise. Now we see our iconic birds covered in a thick, dark goop that anchors them to the ground, and we fume at the oil giant that's responsible.

Selfishness, all of it. In the midst of our navel-gazing we haven't even considered what the ongoing tragedy is doing to BP CEO Tony Hayward. Fortunately, though, Hayward was on a call with BP investors and analysts Friday when somebody was thoughtful enough to ask him how he's been holding up during his country's scorched-water assault on Louisiana. The Telegraph of London said Hayward's comeback "stunned his audience." "I'm a Brit," he said. "I can take it." He says that now; but for a while there it seemed like Hayward was going to falter. I, at least, was worried about him. During a recent trip to Venice he gave reporters a message for people whose livelihoods have been put on hold by BP: "We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused their lives," he said. "There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back." Of course, some people took that the wrong way, and Hayward was pressured to crawfish. "I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment ... when I said that 'I wanted my life back," he said Wednesday on Facebook. "When I read that recently, I was appalled. I apologize, especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident." He also said something about how it's his priority to restore our lives, "not mine." Don't be modest, Tony. We know our feelings are secondary to yours. Really, we can't imagine how this is making you feel.

A New York Daily News headline describes you as "the most hated -- and most clueless -- man in America." A popular satirical newspaper says the amount of bull excrement "still gushing from the headquarters of oil giant BP could prove catastrophic if nothing is done to contain it." That's about you, Tony. Can you believe that? Don't know if I could take it, me. Of course, I'm not British. I don't have the stiff upper lip needed to get me through such an ordeal. Nor do I have anything approaching the $4.6 million BP gave you last year for being the public face of the company. Remember what you said April 15 at BP's Annual General Meeting?

You said, "Safety remains our number one priority, and I'm pleased to report we can see clear progress. There has been a significant reduction in the frequency of recordable injuries and the number of major incidents related to integrity failures has also fallen." Five days later, the Deepwater Horizon rig blew up, 11 men died, and soon there was enough oil was spilling into the Gulf to make your life some kind of miserable. Louisiana hasn't yet figured out how we're going to survive. But how it warms our hearts, Tony, to know that you're going to be OK.

Shuck You, Oil

The Grateful Dead (Pelicans)

This Saturday was the June Art Walk, but, more notably, it was the first appearance of the Krewe of Dead Pelicans. Marchers were encouraged to display Louisiana state flags, city of New Orleans flags or any other regionally relevant banners; pelican images or figures; umbrellas made from blue “Katrina tarp”; and dress in blue-and-black clothes and shrimp boots. The informal Carnival-style krewe, second-lined down Julia Street to protest the BP oil spill and its response. Also . . .

Shuck You, Oil

This weekend was the first ever New Orleans Oyster Festival, all the more relevant in the wake of the Gulf Coast oil disaster. Proceeds from the event will benefit Save Our Coast on behalf of “Our Community, Our Culture and Our Coast.”

And it begins . . .