Phew, according to the Chronicle, the fire was contained by fire crews early this morning. The firefighters, quite rightly, decided to just let the building burn, rather than muck about with it. There’s some neat video here which hints at the scope of the blaze, and another article here with some more amazing pictures.

One thing that did concern me, reading these articles, was the statement that water pressure wasn’t high enough on the Island to put out the fire. By extrapolation, I assume that if part of the housing catches fire, there also would not be adequate water pressure. That could be rather disastrous, even with the fire boat, so I think the City might want to think about doing something to fix the situation.

So…CBS canceled Jericho?

What?!

I have to say, I thought that the season finale was a little weak, but it also left me wondering about what would happen next. We have all these unresolved issues that I would have loved to see play out. How would the power structure in Jericho change after the invasion? How would the United States rebuild after the attacks? What would the new “normal” be? How would things work out with Dylan and the little rich girl? Would her parents show up, ever? What’s going to happen to Eric, tormented soul that he is? Will Jericho and New Bern get their shit together and buddy up? I was drawn in!

I mean, here’s this awesome idea, and CBS just cans it? The idea isn’t just awesome because I am came up with it first. It really is a neat concept, the thought of complete destruction of society as we know it and dealing with the results. The network has picked up five new shows, three of which sound like total garbage. I am really just…awestruck that CBS didn’t pick Jericho up for another season. I have the sense that it’s the kind of show which will do really well on DVD, meaning that the episodes online are going to get yanked soon.

Or maybe they won’t release it to DVD at all. Perhaps they will just erase the memory of Jericho, along with the reason for the cancellation. God, I hope not. Take the Family Guy, for example, which was canceled until it performed so well on DVD that they brought it back. That could happen with Jericho, too. I think it might be time to reevaluate the way in which we look at television popularity.

Now, I’m not any sort of television maven. I don’t like television, and I started watching Jericho because CBS was loading episodes online. (Which I’m still all about, I think that Innertube is awesome, and I will probably keep using it to fulfill my CSI addiction.) So I don’t really understand what makes a network decide to keep or drop a show. But Jericho seems to be stimulating discussion and attracting fans. So I’m not quite sure why CBS would cancel it.

Possibly, the show was canceled because of seemingly low viewer rates on release nights. But I wonder how many people watch the show on Innertube, like I do, or record it to watch later. How are networks dealing with the integration of technology? It’s getting to the point where the ratings for a single night of viewers might not really provide all that much information.

Fans are trying to get another network to pick the show up, which might be feasible. I hope so. I think the next year of Jericho could have been really strong, and interesting, and I would have liked to see it happen. Meanwhile, I am very disappointed in you, CBS. A reality show about children displaces an awesome drama? Are you for reals?

Equality for gays? Not a reality in Oregon yet, the Willamette Weekly argues.

Want to feed your pet a home made diet? Don’t be too hasty.

The University of Washington denied extra protection to a student with a clearly documented need, when the murder of a young woman on campus by her ex-boyfriend was within recent memory. So…what’s going on with college security?

Wiccans under wraps. Is this really the best way to gain widespread acceptance for your religion? Also, comparing Wiccans to Jews is a little much for my tastes, since Wiccans were never put into concentration camps and mass murdered. (Pagans, on the other hand, were mass murdered by the Inquisition as part of an attempt to drive out witchcraft in the Middle Ages.)

More questions being raised about the student loan industry. Speaking as someone who will be paying back loans for the foreseeable future, and possibly the rest of my life…I support any investigation into lending practices.

Yikes. A new test can determine the sex of a baby six weeks into a pregnancy. Potential ethical issues, anyone?

I was peacefully working on a top secret project when I first became aware of the helicopters overhead. There were at least three, thockthockthock, and I assumed that someone had jumped off the bridge or become lost. I continued peacefully entering data, and then the phone rang. Who, I thought, would call me at this hour?

It was Puff, who had gone for a walk.

“What’s up,” I said, “need me to come drag you out of a ditch?”

“What?”

“Whats…going…on?”

“Dude, something is on fire! Avenue H!”

“What? Wait, where are you?”

“I’m on Ninth, something on Avenue H, it’s huge!”

“Should I bother coming out?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Pants!”

*click*

When I walked out of the house, the air felt a little duskier than usual, and when I looked to the south, I saw a plume of smoke. I started walking down the street, and tried to get a shot of the smoke, with a spurt of flame underneath.

You can’t see anything in the picture, but I think it’s the best picture to come out of my cell phone, so I’m posting it anyway. As I walked down Avenue H, I could see that the fire was getting progressively larger, and yet further away. A huge plume of smoke gusted down the street into my face, and soon I could make out Puff, leaning against a utility pole looking all casual.

This photo does not do it justice. One of the abandoned buildings was reduced to a skeleton of charred timbers. Only moments before, the entire roof caved in, sending out a cascade of sparks and smoke. It was pretty damn impressive. The cops, however, were less than pleased with our presence, and suggested that we depart the area. We started sauntering away, and I turned to get a parting shot while I schemed about getting around the other side to get more pictures.

As you can see, the cops blocked the street immediately in front of the fire, presumably to keep ruffians like us out. We waved at the nice policemen and started moving off down the street, ducking down a dark alley once we were out of view. As I suspected, it gave way to an ideal view of the fire.

The fire may look more contained here, but it was huge and majestic to behold. There was a chainlink fence in the way, but honestly I don’t think it would have been very safe to go much closer. It was…amazing. I could see firemen clustered around, outlined in the blaze, and I wondered if any of them were from the firefighting school down the block.

They had a huge hook and ladder spraying water down, and I was pleased to see that it kind of showed up in this shot. The news helicopter hovering overhead was sketching me out, though, so we headed back home for the night, helicopters lighting the way with spotlights.

Almost home, we ran into two gentlemen who asked us what was going on.

“A fire,” I said. “It’s pretty awesome, you should go check it out.”

And you know what? It was awesome. It wasn’t anyone’s house, and nothing major was in danger. It was just pure, beautiful destruction. Did the fire training school set it? Was it arson? A mistake? I don’t know, but it was an awesome way to round out my evening. The streets began to fill with curious onlookers, and I ducked inside to write this post and check news sites for a live feed, given all the helicopters. None such luck.

I smell a bit smoky and my throat’s all raspy. I guess that’s what I get for skulking around a fire. The things I do for you, dear readers.

Not for the first time, I long for a real camera. I could have gotten some amazing pictures out there tonight.

[Treasure Island fire]