I guess there are nuttier beer nuts out there than me

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:38:34 GMT

Like this guy! He has officially been registered as a rockstar in my book.

Chernobyl

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:22:00 GMT

Recently I watched a documentary called Chernobyl: Life in the Dead Zone. It was a pretty fascinating hour showing how 20+ years after the worst nuclear disaster in human history nature was reclaiming the irradiated area around the reactor. Contrary to what scientist expected, wildlife is flourishing in the area with no worries of humans hunting. There was some great archive footage of the mass exodus the residents went through right after the disaster which I had never seen. Basically tens of thousands of people were forced to move with only the clothes on their backs and leave their homes and possessions behind. Now many of the structures are slowly being habitated by wildlife of one form or another. The show followed around the descendents of a house cat that was living in such an abandoned house and raising kittens. A house cat that had never seen a human. There was also a lot of footage of two brother bears hunting and frolicking together, as well as a lone wolf living in this human-free area. At some point before the incident, someone had imported some horses to the area that are very close descendants to the original wild horses and these things are now forming herds in this area. All in all, it was a very interesting show in a surreal and almost creepy way. They camera went into old schools where desks still had books lying open on them. Showing deserted streets and homes with pictures still on the wall. Beds in houses that are still made and fully stocked pantries. All slowly being overtaken by nature.

Well I was telling a co-worker about the show today and I was trying to find some info on the Intertubes about it and instead found a website run by Ukrainian girl who journeys into the areas of the disaster. She has a ton of pictures and some of the history and explanations of what you are seeing. About 2/3s of the way through you really get hit with how tragic this was on a more human level. She has pictures from inside people's homes showing things like a calendar from 1986 with the day before the disaster circled, or mailboxes with mail still sitting in them 20 years later. Basically showing how suddenly everything changed for these people. It strikes you that here was a very large population of people that was lucky enough to survive the accident, but still lost everything that was dear to them. Anyway.. check it out here.

Generik's Tap: Things that may interest only me

I guess there are nuttier beer nuts out there than me

Chernobyl