Friday, August 15, 2003

What to Do in the Dark Unlike the 1965 blackout, this time Boston isn't suffering along with New York and other cities (Boston.com graphic), but I started the day with e-mail from a friend in Florida wishing a bunch of Yankees well, and reminding them of stories about birth rates rising nine months after such events. He was simply being cute, but I hope journalists all just say no to passing on urban legends! Here are two pages on that one: http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/blackout.htm http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/blackout_baby_boom.html My personal theory is that for some people, a blackout means nesting together while the TV, computer and reading lamps are down.... but for some of us, the blackout means they simply can't find each other... and the two effects cancel each other out. While I'm on the topic, I'll use Userland Radio's news aggregator to grab a few blackout story links, below... 11:47:02 AM     Widespread blackout casts long shadows. A massive power outage pulls the plug across large parts of the Northeast and central Canada, putting a strain on wireless networks and sending disaster recovery teams into action. [CNET News.com] 11:35:39 AM     Caught Up in the Event, While Unraveling Its Cause. Frantically calling across town and around the country to find out the scope of the power failure, journalists were trapped in a news event they were trying to cover. By David D. Kirkpatrick and Jacques Steinberg. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] In Frustration, Humor and Greed, a Powerless New York Endures. On a day of colossal disruption brought by an epic blackout, New York City was filled with similar scenes of stubborn resilience. By David Barstow. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] 11:33:44 AM     The Blackouts of '65 and '77 Became Defining Moments in the City's History. There was, before Thursday, the good blackout and the bad blackout: the 15-hour power of Nov. 9, 1965 and the 25-hour one beginning on the sticky night of July 13, 1977. By Martin Gottlieb and James Glanz. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] 11:32:01 AM

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