From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V14 #42 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, February 13 2009 Volume 14 : Number 042 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria [Philip David Mor] RE: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria ["Bill Mazur"] Re: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria [Marypt51@aol] Re: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] [Amanda Williams Subject: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria G'day, Ectomates: This should have reached you much sooner, but my primary e-mail account was out for a week's worth and has only now been restored today. And with that out of the way... I did want to pass on some heartening news I received Tuesday morning from Louisa John-Krol. Those of you aware of Louisa are probably also aware that she lives in the Melbourne, Australia area. Unfortunately, Melbourne is located in the southern Aussie state of Victoria, which has been scorched by bush fires (and possible arson according to some reports). According to the BBC, at least 181 people had lost their lives in the flames. (Nine Network news presenter Brian Naylor and his wife were two of the best-known.) When the bad news hit international outlets including the BBC World Service, I tried to contact Louisa and her husband Mark to find out what was happening with them. I am happy to report today that they and all their friends and loved ones are fine at the moment. From Louisa's note on Tuesday (edited to remove personal content meant for me): "As you might have heard, our state is in the midst of the worst natural disaster in Australia's history. I don't know how many of the images or facts you have encountered, but I'm sure you will uncover them with your usual aplomb. Just wanted to let you know that whilst the fires were dangerously close to several friends and family members around Melbourne and in my birth-town Bendigo (with some less lucky towns being completely erased from the map), all are ok. The danger is not yet over however and the death-toll is climbing. Thank you for your earlier email about our heatwave; in some parts of south-eastern Australia, temperatures were as high as 50 degrees Celsius; the worst we had in Melbourne was 46; these temps, combined with drought and gale winds, forged the horrific inferno. Some homes literally exploded as they became flaming bombs. This is not just a metaphor.... "Please convey this news to your networks  though I know bushfires are not new to your country either! - and if they want to see it as confirmation that global warming is here, they're right. It is." Those wanting to see how bad it is should visit the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's recently-erected ABC Bushfire Community page ASAP: http://www.abc.net.au/emergency/bushfire/ It has also been front and centre on the website for The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/ I am certain that those Ectophiles in or nearest to Victoria (or Australia as a whole) can certainly pitch in and do whatever they can to help heal the scars created by this tragedy. For Louisa's fans on the list -- and for her far-flung storytelling colleagues (Louisa is also an oral storyteller) -- rest assured that she is still very much with us. I can only hope the same can be said for Victoria. Philip David 2009.02.12 - --- Philip David Morgan La studio Konstelacio, k.t.p./Konstelacio Entertainment 287 Cambon Avenue Saint James, New York/Novjorkio 11780-2518 United States/Usono Voice: 1-631-584-7622 http://konstelacio.ipernity.com/ http://konstelacio.googlepages.com/ http://whackaflick.blogspot.com/ "You Gotta Say Yes to the End of Excess" "Parolu 'jes' al la fino d'eksces' " ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:23:04 -0800 From: "Bill Mazur" Subject: RE: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria Philip, thank you very much for the update. Billi and I are relieved to hear that Louisa, Mark, their families and their cats are safe. What has happened in Victoria and NSW is a heartbreaking tragedy. - -----Original Message----- From: owner-ecto@smoe.org [mailto:owner-ecto@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Philip David Morgan Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 6:40 AM To: ECTO Subject: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria G'day, Ectomates: This should have reached you much sooner, but my primary e-mail account was out for a week's worth and has only now been restored today. And with that out of the way... I did want to pass on some heartening news I received Tuesday morning from Louisa John-Krol. Those of you aware of Louisa are probably also aware that she lives in the Melbourne, Australia area. Unfortunately, Melbourne is located in the southern Aussie state of Victoria, which has been scorched by bush fires (and possible arson according to some reports). According to the BBC, at least 181 people had lost their lives in the flames. (Nine Network news presenter Brian Naylor and his wife were two of the best-known.) When the bad news hit international outlets including the BBC World Service, I tried to contact Louisa and her husband Mark to find out what was happening with them. I am happy to report today that they and all their friends and loved ones are fine at the moment. From Louisa's note on Tuesday (edited to remove personal content meant for me): "As you might have heard, our state is in the midst of the worst natural disaster in Australia's history. I don't know how many of the images or facts you have encountered, but I'm sure you will uncover them with your usual aplomb. Just wanted to let you know that whilst the fires were dangerously close to several friends and family members around Melbourne and in my birth-town Bendigo (with some less lucky towns being completely erased from the map), all are ok. The danger is not yet over however and the death-toll is climbing. Thank you for your earlier email about our heatwave; in some parts of south-eastern Australia, temperatures were as high as 50 degrees Celsius; the worst we had in Melbourne was 46; these temps, combined with drought and gale winds, forged the horrific inferno. Some homes literally exploded as they became flaming bombs. This is not just a metaphor.... "Please convey this news to your networks  though I know bushfires are not new to your country either! - and if they want to see it as confirmation that global warming is here, they're right. It is." Those wanting to see how bad it is should visit the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's recently-erected ABC Bushfire Community page ASAP: http://www.abc.net.au/emergency/bushfire/ It has also been front and centre on the website for The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/ I am certain that those Ectophiles in or nearest to Victoria (or Australia as a whole) can certainly pitch in and do whatever they can to help heal the scars created by this tragedy. For Louisa's fans on the list -- and for her far-flung storytelling colleagues (Louisa is also an oral storyteller) -- rest assured that she is still very much with us. I can only hope the same can be said for Victoria. Philip David 2009.02.12 - --- Philip David Morgan La studio Konstelacio, k.t.p./Konstelacio Entertainment 287 Cambon Avenue Saint James, New York/Novjorkio 11780-2518 United States/Usono Voice: 1-631-584-7622 http://konstelacio.ipernity.com/ http://konstelacio.googlepages.com/ http://whackaflick.blogspot.com/ "You Gotta Say Yes to the End of Excess" "Parolu 'jes' al la fino d'eksces' " ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:03:53 EST From: Marypt51@aol.com Subject: Re: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria In a message dated 2/12/09 10:35:44 AM, pmorgan@suffolk.lib.ny.us writes: > > http://www.abc.net.au/emergency/bushfire/ > Horrific stories are included in that site you post. And the temps she mentioned in your message are shocking. I wonder if they've had temperatures that high in the summer before or if this is the first time, or how long it's been they have been as high as reported in the email. I thought temperatures that high were normally in places closer to the equator. ************** The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. AOL Music takes you there. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000004) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:33:48 +1100 From: Amanda Williams Subject: Re: News from Louisa John-Krol - alive and well in Victoria [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] Hi everyone Amanda here, from Melbourne. We really appreciate everyone's sympathy and support. We're kind of a bit shellshocked here. While I wasn't personally affected by the bushfires, I was affected by a byproduct that unfortunately seems to go on when things run amok - people tried to get into our house while we were out on Saturday night and busted a window (luckily the way it broke was so jagged and awful that there was no way they could get in and they must have been spooked and ran away), and when we spoke to the police about it, robberies were rife around Melbourne as people tried to keep themselves cool by going to cinemas, shopping centres, the beach (which was where I was) etc. I personally know 2 people who were directly affected by the fires - luckily both are ok, but one friend's mum has lost her house and business in the Marysville fire (there is now no such place as Marysville), and a dear friend of ours is safe and her house is safe in Kinglake West, but her son lost his house. Luckily she had suspected something like this might happen so she went out and bought a generator, fuel and extra food the week before. She runs a bed&breakfast, so her son and his family are moving in with her for now which is fantastic, as there's a whole wing of guest rooms that they can have the run of. The fire has affected some of the most beautiful, pristine bushland in Victoria and i'm absolutely devestated. To get away from the humdrum of city life, I would go out to Kinglake and St. Andrews regularly on weekends. It's just all gone. There's nothing there! The temperatures in Melbourne are never meant to be that bad, indeed that 46 deg. day that we just had was the hottest on record in Melbourne. Ever. And, we've been told, that due to global warming, that we can expect at least 10 days a year every summer from now on over 40 degrees. We had a whole week of it 2 weeks ago, but it didn't get above 43. The threat's not over yet - we've only had a few drops of rain in the past 6 weeks and the fire keeps raging. The fire is, as I email, threatening the beautiful suburb of Healesville. There is a wildlife sanctuary in Healesville, with one of the only havens of the platypus. It is estimated that up to a million animals have been killed in the fire, and thousands of rare native parrots are expected to die over the next few weeks because their habitat has been destroyed and there's nothing for them to eat. Even though we're a 40 min drive away from the badly hit areas, I'm going to see about putting some bird seed out for them as we get native birds and maybe they can tell their friends to come a bit more toward the city for food... It's just been amazing how the communities have rallied together. At my workplace, we've held morning teas in every office in every state in Australia, with money raised going to the Red Cross. We made $10,000 out of the two main offices, yesterday. My husband and I have given money and bought new clothes and toiletries for the bushfire victims. Even banks are (albeit reluctantly) stepping up to the mark and suspending repayments and interests on people's mortgages for homes that have been destroyed. Tonight my husband and I are going out to a special event- it's RockKwiz salutes the [Myer Music] Bowl.RockKwiz is a great hard-core music quiz show that's put together by many of the brains of the wonderful community radio station 3RRR, and aired around Australia. The RockKwiz site is a lot of fun - http://www.sbs.com.au/rockwiz/. The donation cans are going to be passed around at that event as well, and we'll give some more. Amanda *** This email message has been processed by MIMEsweeper *** In a message dated 2/12/09 10:35:44 AM, pmorgan@suffolk.lib.ny.us writes: > > http://www.abc.net.au/emergency/bushfire/ > Horrific stories are included in that site you post. And the temps she mentioned in your message are shocking. I wonder if they've had temperatures that high in the summer before or if this is the first time, or how long it's been they have been as high as reported in the email. I thought temperatures that high were normally in places closer to the equator. Please consider the environment before printing this document NOTICE This e-mail and any attachments are intended for the addressee(s) only and may be confidential. They may contain legally privileged or copyright material. You should not read, copy, use or disclose them without authorisation. If you are not the intended recipient please contact the sender as soon as possible by return e-mail and then please delete both messages. This notice should not be removed. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V14 #42 **************************