Bryan Strawser

So…. around 4:20 yesterday, the lights around my cubicle got REALLY bright, then fizzled, then went out.  Our building had “blinked” once or twice before, but when the lights didn’t come back after a minute or two, people began to mill around.  We realized that it wasn’t just our floor, it was the building. A security announcement over the P.A. confirmed that.  We went to the windows and realized that the lights in the intersection were out.  then we saw the smoke from the buildings all over brooklyn as the diesel generators kicked in.  Then we saw the same smoke in manhattan.  Then the same smoke in Jersey.  This was going to be an interesting day in New York City.

Some people panicked a bit.  Our building has a 360 degree panaramic view;  the walls were lined with people staring out the windows.  I went to the north side of the building, which faces my neighborhood and the Con Edison plant behind it.  I didn’t see any plumes of smoke or emergency lights, which was a good thing.  my nerves pretty much settled at that point.  [Objective]

Aug. 15 – The official leading the investigation into the biggest power failure in history said Friday that a section of the U.S.-Canadian power grid in Ohio had emerged as the %u201Cprime suspect%u201D for triggering the cascading shutdowns that left as many as 50 million people without power a day earlier. [MSNBC]

The Boston Globe has updated their online site boston.com with a new look, feel, and interface.

I’m sure that it’s probably better overall, but damn if I don’t already miss the old site. I knew where everything was 😉

Herb Brooks, who coached the U.S. hockey team to the “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, died Monday in a car wreck, a state official said. He was 66.

Brooks was killed when his car rolled over at a highway intersection north of the Twin Cities, according to the state official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Weather didn’t appear to be a factor. [Boston Globe]

When the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, took the podium of the new Walt Disney Concert Hall one morning in late June, anticipation hung in the air. Fewer than a dozen people were scattered about the 2,265-seat auditorium, including the architect, Frank Gehry.

OUTSIDE, THE GORGEOUS billowing curves and swoops of the nearly finished stainless-steel exterior—already an L.A. landmark—shimmered. Yet this stunning building will truly succeed only if the quality of its sound matches its physical beauty. That June day marked the first time the full orchestra had played in the new hall. Salonen led the musicians into the opening bars of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, but he soon tapped his baton, stopped and scanned the hall for Gehry. “Frank,” he said, “we’ll keep it.” Gehry started crying. [MSNBC]