At the Easter Sunday service, we had a surprisingly in-depth analysis of the upcoming soon to be released blockbuster, The DaVinci Code. It kinda threw me off guard, but as soon as the sermon began, it was all very interesting stuff. It basically discussed the falacies of the book that so many are questioning, myself included. When I first read the book, I have to say that I was blown away. I couldn't separate fact from fiction, yet even if I thought I could, I was still unsure simply because I do not possess the thorough knowledge to debate such issues. The pastor used the above featured book as the basis of his sermon and as I began reading through it, I could understand how hardcore historians and theologians could laugh Brown's DaVinci Code off. Cool story aside, there is a lot of evidence that points to the contrary. However, I don't quite believe that when Brown first wrote this book that it was his intention to piss off all these people; rather, I think that Brown had a really good story on his hands and the manner in which he makes the story twist and turn the way that it does is what makes it the bestseller that it is. Everyone loves a well-written story, everyone loves suspense thrillers, and when you add a tad of controversy by adding the Jesus-factor, well there you go.
As for me, I'm totally psyched about the movie coming out. May 19th people. If ya'll haven't read the book yet, then by all means, please do! If you have, then pat yourself on the back and go even further and check out the other books that Dan Brown has written. To check out the trailer for the movie, click here.
Centennial of the 1906 Earthquake
This past April 18, 2006, marked the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. At approximately 5:13am in the morning on April 18th, 1906, the people of the City were in for a rude awakening. After 50 seconds of sheer terror, the "Paris of the Pacific," as San Francisco was called back in the day, became a broken city. There've been so many fascinating specials of the disaster and I admit that I've been hooked. In any natural disasters, it's always the human interest stories that grab my attention moreso.
For example, take the story of then Mayor Eugene Smitz. This was the first time I've heard the background of the corrupt government that he led. Because the city was devastated, it was only natural for people to begin looting groceries and local mom and pop stores for food and other necessities, but this made Smitz feel out of control. To fix this problem, he took it upon himself to declare a "shoot to kill" law of any looters. This, in turn, made many people that the city was under martial law. The military and police forces were made to follow through with their orders and as a result, many died, not from earthquake or fire incidents, but from gunshot wounds.
At the same time, many Chinese were in the midst of settling into San Francisco. Because there were no other places that they could afford and because it just wasn't allowed for them to congregate in certain places, Chinatown was born. Immediately after the earthquake, racial tensions were high and some city officials believed that this would be a perfect time to rid the city of any and all of its Chinese inhabitants. Plus, there was an economic fear as well as some Chinese began their own businesses and were proving to be successful. The Man didn't want to compete and wanted Chinatown destroyed. I suppose I am being naive because I knew that racism and discrimination existed back then...I guess I wanted to believe that in the midst of one of the major natural disasters that people would all come together to help each other out.
Lastly, there is then Fire Chief Dennis Sullivan. Years before the 1906 earthquake, Sullivan had been assessing the city's disaster plans and knew that the City was incapable of surviving a big fire. As an engineer, he knew what he was talking about and in fact, he was due in court the day of the 1906 earthquake to testify on what plans needed to be made to ensure a safer city. He was injured in the quake and died three days later and would never see his plans come to fruition.
There are so many stories of heroism from that day that I cannot mention them all here. Even the stories of how the survivors of the quake would meet year after year at Lotta's Fountain have ceased because all of them have passed away. But with them, the stories do not die.
In high school, I remember the story that the Dominican Sisters recounted about how our school fared in the earthquake and fire. As the city was engulfed by flames, the solution was to dynamite surrounding buildings to stop the fire from spreading. Ideally and in theory, it was supposed to work, but because of the lack of training by the military, it not only started more fires, but many deaths resulted as well. As the city burned for three days, my alma mater was in the direct line of buildings soon-to-be dynamited to stop the path of fire else it, too, would be engulfed. At the last minute, the wind changed direction and my high school was saved.
On that same note, when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit on that October 17 day at 5:04pm, (which, btw, I had made a comment about it being earthquake weather....ESP people...), the office staff had been busy at work when it hit. In the main hallway outside the office stands a statue of the Virgin Mary. After everything was all said and done, there was little to no damage to our school, but there was something to be said about the statue of Mary. In the how many seconds of that earthquake, (was it really 15 seconds?), the statue of Mary could have easily fallen from its indent in the wall...INSTEAD, it shifted to the right in the direction of the front office...AS IF Mary was watching over the people inside.
Every year the anniversary comes up, there's always the question of whether the City is ready for the next big one. I swear, it really does get me nervous when they have those specials...all of the analyzing, all of the predictions, all of the scenarios of what could actually happen. The latest reports are downright grim. For example, a new word that I have learned is "liquefaction." In short, because of how many roads are built, there is that possibility that WHEN, (not IF) another big one comes, these same roads could liquefy....literally become liquid because of the landfill beneath it. And it turns out that many of the on and off-ramps to many bridges are built on such places...so technically speaking, if such an earthquake were to hit and such roads did liquefy, cars could be virtually stuck on a bridge without an in or out. Craziness, huh?
In any case, had I posted this on April 18th, I would've put it out there that there were free cable car rides for an entire day in honor of the centennial. I know quite a few people who haven't been on one yet and well, it just would've been cool to go one for free.
So the anniversary has come and gone, but if anything people, and especially for those who live in the Bay, make sure you are prepared with your own survival kit...because you never know when the next one will hit
No comments:
Post a Comment