Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: RT: Eyjafjallajokull

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  • Samuel Scott,

    It will be very interesting to see how people get around this cloud. If its going to last for another week or so, then maybe they could be diverting long hauls from London to somewhere like Rabat (or Casablanca, that would be snazzy) and get people to bundle on to boats at South Hampton.

    Somehow I don't see that happening, but it would be so pre WW2 world travel.

    South Wellington • Since Feb 2008 • 315 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Latest: No end in sight and Katla eruption still not out of the question.

    I noted a little while ago that a suburban volcano in Auckland would take out Auckland airport for weeks or months. Hopefully won't coincide with Rugby World Cup 2011.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Hopefully won't coincide with Rugby World Cup 2011.

    Are you kidding? We'd have the captive, stranded tourists we've always hoped for.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Karen White,

    Not only people. Our business has a 3rd party warehouse in China where we supply all of our EU customers from. Freight backlogged for weeks, if not months. Looking at flying it into Turkey, then road from there to UK. And our stuff isn't 'important' (lingerie - well for some of us it is, but you know what I mean!)'.
    I imagine loads of perishables rotting in various airports in Asia & US.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 79 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    That was actually quite scary.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    So seriously does anyone know how to pronounce that? I'm not sure I even know how to start...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    So seriously does anyone know how to pronounce that?

    Sure. (Care of Wikimedia.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    That was actually quite scary.

    I was scared watching the simulations of the activity of Egmont Volcano (as opposed to Mount Taranaki) at the New Plymouth museum last week. The region changed shape quite impressively.

    (To say nothing of when it was Taupo that remodelled the Taranaki.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    If you have trouble playing the Wiki .ogg file, I've uploaded an MP3 of the pronunciation.

    Not that it really helps.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew E,

    I imagine loads of perishables rotting in various airports in Asia & US.

    And a lot of Kenyan farm workers being laid off.

    174.77 x 41.28 • Since Sep 2008 • 200 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Concluding thought: the Icelandic language would seem to be a rich trove of un-guessable passwords …

    Eyjafjallajökull?

    It would be very funny if [people] around the world started copying and pasting this into the password fields. I can hear the screams already. "Shit, how do you do that bloody dotty thing again?"

    Edit: IT-geeks wouldn't be that stupid, right? Now, where's my password cracker...

    And here's some erudite ABC reporters making fun of a whole culture and their language. I can safely say my guess at the pronunciation was not even close. How to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull.

    @RB. Snap.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    The UK press/government has apparently started muttering about using the Royal Navy to get stranded passengers home.

    My mind is boggling at the thought of long lines of tourists snaking down the beaches in Northern France (lets say for the sake of argument in the region of, ohhhh I dunno, Dunkirk...), the roads behind them littered with the detrius of a hasty retreat: discarded Louis Vuitton luggage knock-offs, straw hats and bottles of odd foreign liqueurs, and clogged with hastily abandoned hire cars.

    Still, on the bright side, no northern European country should have any problems meeting its Kyoto commitments this year.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • uroskin,

    Dodgy bankers, dodgy volcanoes, lesbian PMs, whaling, massive public debt. Iceland has a lot to answer for!

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg,

    And an anthropomorphically unnerving picture from the air.

    The headline Surtur smiles is (obviously - duh!) a reference to Surtr the jötunn, signalling the arrival of Ragnarök.

    We're all doomed.

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • David Ritchie,

    Last time Eyjafjallajökull erupted it was for on and off for two years (1821 - 1823).

    Since Nov 2006 • 166 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    I think this is the right place to tell you all about Höpöhöpö Böks, which is an Icelandic poem composed using only one vowel, making it a univocal lipogram.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    Reports indicate a shortage of tropical fruit is imminent, green beans are in short supply and a crisis looms in Kenyan flower supplies.

    Truly, armageddon is upon us.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • dave crampton,

    Now, if only that Icelandic poet above could rap. That would be something...

    welli • Since Jan 2007 • 144 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Paul Litterick has an excellent post up at The Fundy Post: Climbing Mount Unpronounceable

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    Hopefully won't coincide with Rugby World Cup 2011.

    are you kidding? those of us who are dreading the RWC have already started out on the volcano worship .... these days it seems virgins are hard to come by which means the rugby people have little chance of stopping us ....

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Josh Addison,

    I'm assuming that pronunciation MP3 is of a native Icelander and is thoroughly accurate - it's just that it sounds like someone saying "Eyafsmumblemumble", as though they don't know how to pronounce it either and are trying to bluff their way through... Nice to know that I was at least getting the first two syllables right, though.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    And an anthropomorphically unnerving picture from the air.

    Are we really surprised that Volcano Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken turns out to be a portal to the deepest reaches of hell? If they'd just called it Mt Fluffy Bunnies we wouldn't be in this mess...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Airlines testing low-altitude flights, desperate to get in the air again? I imagine some interesting conversations with insurers.

    Dodgy bankers, dodgy volcanoes

    Best line I saw on Twitter (from @Chelfyn or our @DavidSlack, I believe):

    "It was the last wish of the Icelandic economy that its ashes be scattered over Europe"

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    So how about the people actually making those test flights then???

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

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