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  1. #1
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    Things I Learned From the Great Blackout

    hehehe.... i got this email today =)

    Some useful survival techniques I learned as a result of watching movies and experiencing the Great Blackout of 2003:

    1. You cannot drive like Benicio Del Toro did in The Hunted . Crazy Taxi techniques only work in the video game. Unless you own a Hummer you cannot bump another car off the side of the road, or squeeze through a space intended for 0.5 cars. Never cross intersections. Turn right then, do a u-turn, and turn right again. This is known as the Holmes right hand rule for driving and surviving, when all the traffic lights are out. Rule #2 is to carry one of those spinning emergency beacons, and pretend to be a cop, like Ray Liotta.

    2. On your way home make sure your gas tank is full. How many of you procrastinators had the gas gauge on Empty? Find alternate routes, and sources of fuel, like Barry Newman in Vanishing Point (1971) . Also make sure your vehicle is properly maintained, otherwise you may find yourself stuck in a small town, as Sean Penn was in U Turn (1997) . Listen to the radio. You never know what's out there (Roadgames (1981) ).

    3. Never underestimate the importance of having many flashlights. Keep on the lights, don't let the bedbug bite. These lessons should have been drilled into your head after watching Darkness Falls (2003) and They (2002) . My two favorite flashlights: Snake Light by Black & Decker, and Maglite. Cops use maglites. They make an excellent weapon, too. Buy and maintain plenty of rechargeable batteries. Also get an inverter for your car.

    4. The importance of a generator. I guess this is illustrated in Thing, The (1982) .

    5. Carry around a lot of cash, id's, and credit cards. Cash for the 7 and 11's, id's and cc for Home Depot. Home Depot is very accomodating and will sell you survival stuff even though their computers are down (and can't process UPC's). They write up a pink ticket and charge you later. Anyway, if you have seen Out-of-Towners, The (1999) , you are aware of the importance of the 3 items I mentioned.

    6. Food, you can never have enough of this. Werner Herzog's film, Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) , is an excellent film offering this piece of advice. How do you cook food? Use your car. Someone wrote an entire book on manifold grilling.

    7. Never visit New York in August. Even if your best friend offers you his penthouse apartment. Accidental Tourist, The (1988) , chapter 10. Or, if the location is California, [Body Double (1984). Tall buildings are big trouble.

    8. Stuck in a subway? It's your own fault. Never ever use a subway. Movies prove that bad things happen in subways. Give me some examples (I haven't slept in 16 hours).

    9. Elevators. Yuck. Not only is it horrible to be stuck in one for six hours, but they can kill you too. Examples: The Lift (1983) and Shaft (2002).

    10. Feets do your thing. Cybil Shepard popularized Reebok sneakers as footwear. But who was the first female to wear sneakers in a movie? Kate Hepburn in Pat and Mike (1952) ? Who knows? Anyway, if you work in Manhattan and still insist on only one pair of shoes in your office, such as high heels (women) or wingtips (men), you be a fool. Twice in recent memory, people have had to cross the Brooklyn bridge by foot. The movies featured the first mass bridge crossing much earlier, in Siege, The (1998) .
    Last edited by trailergod; 08-15-2003 at 05:57 PM.
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  2. #2
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    Funny stuff but actually true also.

    I was walking outside during the blackout....some more rules (can apply to ANY emergancy really

    Know what you're talking about or don't say a thing: You would not believe how many people thought our local Petro Canada processing plant was "on fire". For anyone who thinks "the tower of the gas plant is on fire" let me tell you something:

    That fire is always there. But without electricty, crude oil cannot be processed and most of the time must be burned off. The reason you usually don't see the flame or black smoke is because the flame is burning clean.

    #2. Aquire the following ASAP:
    A flashlight - perferably a Maglight - mentioned above. SO bright and if push comes to shove you can break both glass and skulls with this sucker. I have one in the house
    Cash - not credit or debt cards, cold hard cash. Usually you should always carry...maybe $20 on you and some quarters just in case.
    A Whistle: - perferably a Fox40 (they can't really break or stop working - no ball bearing. I BELIEVE they can work under water as well but DON'T quote me on that...) They're loud and get everyone's attention REAL quick. (Having trouble crossing the street? Direct traffic to your need as you cross )
    Keys, Gas, Generator, Radio, Batteries, Matches or Light: Little things you might forget.
    Shotgun: Ok this is really only for emergancies involving roaming undead zombies. You can usually scratch this one.

    #3. If you plan on driving, please ensure you know HOW to drive Around here, when the traffic lights are out, you treat it like a 4 way stop - NOT "drive as fast as you can through the intersection with your horn blasting so that people know you're coming"

    #4. Don't be a mennace. Well that's rule #1 restated, but there's a lot of people who don't know how to deal with situations like this (I know a few people who are autistic, have cronic angsity problems etc etc....let me tell you they're having a BLAST.) Be helpful at the very least.

    ...that's about it really. As long as you're prepared it's kinda exciting actually.

  3. #3
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    Originally posted by Marcus

    Know what you're talking about or don't say a thing: You would not believe how many people thought our local Petro Canada processing plant was "on fire". For anyone who thinks "the tower of the gas plant is on fire" let me tell you something:

    That fire is always there. But without electricty, crude oil cannot be processed and most of the time must be burned off. The reason you usually don't see the flame or black smoke is because the flame is burning clean.
    My kitchen windows face west and I can see as far as Hamilton and St. Catherines across the lake. We had just heard something about the Appleby transfer station was having a fire on the radio and we looked out our kitchen window to see the smoke. That's what I thought we were seeing only to learn that it was the burnoff from the PC plant.
    You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter - because we'll be together.

  4. #4
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    I had no food, no cash, no whistle, but I was still directing traffic downtown... it was nuts.
    Are you a Mexi-CAN or a Mexi-CAN'T?

  5. #5
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    Survival bs, it's like NYC has this formula for what to put in your go bag (in case of a terrorist attack) - it's so stupid - in case of a catastrophic emergency not only am i not likely to be home and second I'm not gonna be hauling 20 lbs. of crap I don't need. As far as I'm concerned all u need is a tootbrush (don't undestimate the importance of this as it is by FAR the most important)

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