Dinosaurs, Cakes, Volcanoes

Due to having been on a godforsaken Scottish island I haven't recently done any Volcano Club work for which I apologise. The reasons for being in Scotland were entirely unvolcano related however it was actually pretty great and I did see lots of lovely fungi and birds.

I would also like to make an appeal that if anyone wants to make me a cake soon (which is a no doubt a lot of people) then could they please use these candles.

 Because as well as making a volcano cake, which have previously been proved to be great, it could have dinosaurs on it. And then it could be an amazing story cake showing a possible dinosaur extinction theory. This states that the extinction, which occurred around 65 million years ago was due to a supervolcano in modern day India. This theory is supported by evidence showing massive eruptions with huge large flows from this era. Whether its true or not, it would make a truly amazing cake.

Mount Merapi

Recently Indonesia has been shaken by natural disasters including an earthquake and tsunami, now the second large eruption of Mount Merapi in less than two weeks. It is unusual for large eruptions to occur in quick succession, as an eruption releases the pressure inside the magma chamber. It is thought that pressure was building behind a newly formed lava dome which could be seen rising between the two eruptions on 25th October and 5th November. Yesterdays eruption is Mount Merapi's largest since 1870 and there is currently a 20km safety zone around the volcano. Mount Merapi (mountain of fire in Javanese) is a 3,000m high stratovolcano, as Indonesia's most active volcano it can frequently been seen smoking. As a decade volcano Mount Merapi is well monitored and due to the numerous earthquakes in the area the Alert Level was raised to 4, the highest on the scale on the 25th October.

Sadly this has done little to prevent the damage done in Indonesia, the death toll is currently at 122 and there are thousands more injured and in emergency shelters. The eruption on the 25th October killed Mardijan, Mount Merapi's gate-keeper, his role was to calm the volcanoes angry spirits and it was in doing this that he died, on the slopes of Mount Merapi, which he considered his home. So soon after the event, it is impossible to tell the magnitude of devastation these eruptions will cause, however it is likely that amount of dead and injured will rise and unlikely that the those living around Mount Merapi live's will ever be the same again.

Volquiznoes

This is an even lazier post than the previous one, although I did do a page of the new zine today so pressure is building in the metaphorical magma chamber. Earlier today when on a popular quiz website I thought I would search for volcano to see if there were any quizzes, there are a good few, which I'm sure everyone would love to try out!
http://www.sporcle.com/games/tags/volcano
I found out that I really can't spell; apart from of course Eyjafjalljokull which is a word I have no trouble with. I also don't know as many US states as I used to, my knowledge of wars and explorers is also shocking. The only other piece of news from today is that by putting any word inbetween vol and no i.e. volquizno you get a great pun, the next zine issue should prove this. 

Songs of the Volcano

This is quite a lazy post for which I apologise, but basically I have been listening to some volcano related music recently. And when I say related I really just mean songs or bands with the word volcano in. If it was actually music made by volcanoes then that would be far more impressive and worth blogging about. Firstly we have Volcano Choir, who are very Bon Ivery (probably due to the fact that they have one of Bon Iver's members in) so great if you like that sort of thing.

The second piece of volcano music is from Islands, they are Canadian; if that fact doesn't make you want to listen to them, then nothing will. (thanks to Chris for pointing them out)


Hopefully I will do a less lazy post soon. Fashion issue is coming along nicely, so soon you should all be dressing like lovely volcanoes.

Things learnt at Compton Verney

Finally went to the Volcano: from Turner to Warhol exhibition at Compton Verney on Saturday. It was supposed to be my brothers birthday outing, but he didn't actually make it, due to some drunken escapade involving a lost bag and a gay club (which is definitely enough information for me). I will probably do more in-depth posts on lots of the stuff there but here is a brief summary of things I learnt and saw about volcanoes.

1. Volcanoes are a lot more popular than even I thought; the exhibition catalogue had completely sold out, which is a shame as I was kinda hoping to do all my up and coming blog posts based entirely on that
2. The angle of a volcano should never be more than 30 degrees, I need to correct this in my volcano drawings

Good Volcano- John Ruskin                                                                  

Bad Volcano- Augusta Ward

3. Andy Warhol knew about the stages of a volcanic eruption
4. In this painting the people and plants wouldn't actually be able to be that close to a volcano as they'd be incinerated. Probably the best thing in the exhibition was the geologists view on the artwork saying if they were scientifically accurate, as well as being informative they were very very funny.

Vesuvius Erupting at Night

Pierre-Jacques Volaire

5. Pictures without volcanoes aren't as good as those with them in (I was already pretty sure about this)
6. The best pictures are of erupting volcanoes
7. I really really want to go to Iceland (the country not the supermarket)
8. Vesuvius is easily the most documented volcano, maybe because of its proximity to civilisation (or Western civilisation)
 9. Me and my mummy are really good at guessing restaurant menus (not so much to do with volcanoes)

I will hopefully do more posts on the exhibition as it was pretty great it would really help if I could get an exhibition guide; otherwise I'm gonna have to like remember stuff or just make it up.
Issue Three (fashion one) is coming along nicely,but contributions would be good as I'm pretty lazy.

Quilting volcanoes

If there's one thing I love almost as much as volcanoes then it would have to be quilts. In proof of this statement; I have been making a patchwork quilt since I was 7 years old (although this may actually prove my laziness and inability to finish anything). So it was a pretty exciting moment when during research for Piton de le Fournaise, I found a website displaying a collection of quilts devoted to the earth and sky. Also some are actually quite good other subject matters other than volcanoes include Stonehenge, tea cultivation and The Yankee Stadium.
 http://www.camomilleandco.freesurf.fr/photos_ouvrages.html

Piton de la Fournaise- Henriette Bonte

Geyser parc Yellowstone- Anne Coidan Lenoir

Piton de la Fournaise

I saw a very exciting facebook status update from my friend Julia yesterday

the active volcano on my little island is erupting!

So I had to investigate the matter further, the volcano in question is Piton de la Fournaise (peak of the furnace) on the island Reunion in the Indian Ocean. It a shield volcano and one of the most active in the world. The current eruption technically started last November and has a VEI 1, so it's on a pretty minor scale. The volcano does seem to be more a tourist attraction than a danger to humans, which is good and everyone seems to be safe which again is good.

Also its very very pretty.