Yesterday I complained foolishly about the snow & Mother Nature’s yearly beating we get each winter. When I turned on the news this morning, I felt like a real jerk…we could have it so much worse. For the second time in little over a month, the western hemisphere has been struck by a catastrophic earthquake- this time 8.8 on the Richter scale. Now before someone raises a stink about us not having blogged about the tragedy in Haiti- if you’ll notice, we really didn’t do much blogging last month due to transitions/movements. What happened in Haiti was terrible, and it is really great how much of the world has banded together to raise money, food, supplies, and volunteer work to help the people in need. Now sadly, the same is needed in Chile, where the 8.8 quake hit. It is still too early on to tell what kind of damage has been done and the number of lives affected. As soon as I heard, I contacted a friend in New York who has friends & family in Chile- he hasn’t been able to reach them. Plus, the earthquake is not the only tragedy today; because of the magnitude of the earthquake, waves traveling at the speed of an air jetliner are headed toward Hawaii- a tsunami is coming. Safety warnings have gone out in Hawaii, California, and all the way up the coast to Alaska. The tsunami is expected to hit Hawaii at 11:19am local time, 4:19pm EST. We can only hope and pray that people find safe shelter from the storm.
Yesterday we got in t-shirts for a benefit at Musica, “Akron Rocks for Haiti”. A great mix of local musicians are getting together to raise funds & awareness for the American Red Cross/Haiti Relief fund, including Umojah Nation, House Popes, Ryan Humbert, Roxxymoron, Freez-R-Burn, and Peep. I was planning to blog about them today, little did I realize there would be much more to talk about. It’s likely that relief & aid for Chile & the Pacific will be addressed at the show as well. If you haven’t contributed to the relief efforts in Haiti, now is the time. The Red Cross will be in need of more supplies/funds/help due to today’s events. Call your local American Red Cross (there’s one on West Market St), Google, find out how you can help.
Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait till next year to see an awesome music festival. In the spirit of Woodstock, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and many more, Firestone High School is hosting StoneStock 2009, A Rock-n-Roll Festival this Friday, November 6th. Starting at 7pm in the Linda B. Kersker Auditorium, Akron music lovers have a chance to see a variety of local bands, including FHS student bands Granite Union, Katie Jetter, Polymerization, and Assassin Broadcast; The Kristoffer Carter Show, Will Cleary, Tiger Fighter, our friends Maid Myriad; and some “old-school” Akron bands like The Bizarros, and a few members of Tine Huey & a Houseguest.
