Ecce Sigum

Immanentize the Empathy

Author: John Winkelman

Same Thing Only Different, Again

John Winkelman

Grand River, 6 February 2008, 9:00am by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Wednesday morning at 9:00am

Grand River, 6 February 2008, 9:00am by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Wednesday morning at 9:00am

Grand River, 6 February 2008, 5:00pm by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Wednesday afternoon at 5:15pm

Rafts of slush going over the dam by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Wednesday afternoon at 5:15pm

During the day the river level dropped about six inches, which made the surface more turbulent. The snowfall yesterday was manifested as rafts of slush traveling down the river. I would guess that this will add to the mass of the ice jam, which will therefore start growing back up the river. We may yet have our very own glacier this winter.

Click on any of the photos to see the whole set of them.

Ice Jam, part 2

John Winkelman

Proving that not only can you never step in the same river twice, you also cannot take the same photo of a river twice, here are some updates to the ice jam and flooding at the Sixth Street Bridge dam,

Grand River, February 3 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Sunday, 3 February

Grand River, February 4 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Monday, 4 February

Grand River, February 4 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Monday, 4 February

Grand River, February 4 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Monday, 4 February

Grand River, February 5 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Tuesday, 5 February

Grand River, February 4 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Tuesday, 5 February

Grand River, February 5 2008 by John Winkelman, on Flickr
Tuesday, 5 February

Photos 1, 4, 5 and 6 are all pretty much the same shot. On Sunday the river was placid, ice above and below the dam, but some water flowing through. On Monday the water level had dropped a bit, and there was a small drop between the upper and lower levels. On Tuesday all of the up-river ice had let go and jammed up just below the dam, causing the water to rise to the point that, other than a few odd swirls, there was no sign of the dam at all. I have never seen the water this high. The ice was jammed higher than this three years ago, but that was everything on top of the water. Since we are supposed to get between six and nine inches of snow in the next 24 hours, plus some sleet and freezing rain, I expect the water will rise even higher, and then everything will begin to freeze. Unless something breaks the entire ice jam loose I expect we will see some city streets under water in the next few days.

I have lived in Michigan my whole life. I have seen colder winters than this one. I have seen snowier winters than this one. But I don’t remember ever feeling as beaten down by the weather as I have since the beginning of this year.

The River is Thickening

John Winkelman

The Grand River, 29 January 2008

The Grand River, 30 January 2008

These photos were taken roughly 26 hours apart. The first, yesterday at around 3:00pm. The second, today just after 5:00pm. In the intervening time the lower river has risen approximately six feet and a large ice jam has begun to form.

The 6th Street Dam, 30 January 2008

Normally there is a drop of six to eight feet over the dam. Last time an ice jam formed there was no difference between upper and lower river for about two weeks, and then the ice lasted in some places into April.

The packed ice is still moving slowly, but I expect the frigid temperatures, which hit Grand Rapids last night, will freeze everything solid before daybreak tomorrow.

Updates and Upgrades

John Winkelman

I just added a new entry to the Crime Map – an Armed Assault. Some dude got shot down on the SouthWest side. I also changed the status of one of the crimes. This is the first time I have needed to do such a thing, and it upset me a little. There was a kid got beat up outside of a bar back on the 10th of this month. Well, a few days ago, he died of his injuries. So now the Crime Map has its first homicide of the year. My sympathies go out to the family of Jonathan Krystiniak.

This bothered me more than it might have, because of the similarities to an incident that nearly took the life of a good friend. Long time readers of this blog may remember this particularly stressful month, back in 2004.

I have to say that WOOD TV is doing a very good job of covering the Krystiniak story. Of the few local news websites that actually cover local news, theirs is the only one where information is easily accessible, and regularly archived.

Sigh.

In other news, I have begun the process of re-designing and upgrading this website. Hopefully things will go smoothly and (for readers) invisibly, but there is the possibility that es.o could be down for a little while. I am going to upgrade the blogging software – TextPattern – to the newest build, which is 4.something. I am currently using 1.something. The new design should be ready to go in a few more weeks. I have some other things to get off my plate before I can attend to my own desires.

[EDIT: 6:15pm]
Turns out that I just had to upgrade last night’s shooting to a homicide. So now we are up to two murders in Grand Rapids in the month of January, 2008. January 2007 also had 2 murders. With four days left in the month we still have a chance to beat that record!

O God It Burns: Freezer Burn

John Winkelman

Hot Peppers from this past summer

The above photo is of the remnants of my hot pepper harvest from this past summer. It is somewhat depleted, what with the fact that I use them in practically EVERYTHING that I cook. Including:

Hot sauce - Jalapeño and Cayenne

…Hot Sauce! The dish on the left is Jalapeno, and the one on the right is Cayenne. They both use essentially the same recipe – just different peppers. I made the Jalapeno version a few days ago and have been using it on almost everything. The cayenne (well, kung pao, to be precise) version will have its first trial tomorrow.

Interference Globe

John Winkelman

Actionscript 3 and Mathematics and Art

I’m not sure precisely what I was going for with this one, but I really like how it turned out. In the longer view, I am playing around with making some generative art, things which I can print out and frame…and maybe offer up to the community at large.

But right now, I am going to turn this thing off and look outside at the first thunderstorm of the year. January 7. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Thunderstorm. It was almost 60 degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon.