{"id":1279,"date":"2010-05-29T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-29T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/05\/29\/its-the-unknown-thats-killing-us\/"},"modified":"2010-05-29T00:20:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-29T05:20:00","slug":"its-the-unknown-thats-killing-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/05\/29\/its-the-unknown-thats-killing-us\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;It&#8217;s the unknown that&#8217;s killing us&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Associated Press is reporting that the &#8220;oil spill cam&#8221; has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/hostednews\/ap\/article\/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9G083L85\">become an Internet sensation<\/a>. On Thursday, apparently, &#8220;more than a million people watched it. Many found it hypnotic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Also, apparently, watching the video can &#8220;offer clues to who is winning in the battle \u2014 BP or the oil,&#8221; according to the director of the National Spill Control School (?) at Texas A&amp;M University in Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;If the stuff coming out of the pipe is jet black, it is mostly oil and BP is losing. If it is whitish, it is mostly gas and BP is also losing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If it is muddy brown, as it was Friday, that may be a sign that BP is starting to achieve success, [National Spill Control School director Tony Wood] said. That &#8216;may in fact mean that there&#8217;s mud coming up and mud coming down as well,&#8217; which is better than oil coming out, Wood said.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HxZoKuyOTG0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Or, as a developer whose &#8220;gated fishing community&#8221; is &#8220;now on hold because of the spill&#8221; put it: &#8220;It&#8217;s the unknown that&#8217;s killing us.&#8221; Indeed. What else besides &#8220;the unknown&#8221; lurks beyond the the Deepwater Horizon?<\/p>\n<p>Compared to the <a href=\"http:\/\/aivakhiv.blog.uvm.edu\/2010\/05\/event.html\">other videos<\/a> I posted, silence may speak loudest. Here, it seems to be accompanied by a mechanical alien probing around on another planet, out of a film by Werner Herzog:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CH4I1a5vg3w?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Associated Press is reporting that the &#8220;oil spill cam&#8221; has become an Internet sensation. On Thursday, apparently, &#8220;more than a million people watched it. Many found it hypnotic.&#8221; Also, apparently, watching the video can &#8220;offer clues to who is winning in the battle \u2014 BP or the oil,&#8221; according to the director of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[689701],"tags":[16896],"class_list":["post-1279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media_ecology","tag-oilpocalypse"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-kD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6546,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2013\/03\/11\/sighting-oil\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":0},"title":"Sighting Oil","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"March 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"While it's been out for several months now, the current issue of Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies, a special issue on Sighting Oil, deserves more press than it's gotten. The journal is housed at the University of Alberta, which makes it particularly well situated to critically observe the development\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Eco-culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Eco-culture","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/ecoculture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.csj.ualberta.ca\/imaginations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/3.2Cover-791x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1275,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/05\/28\/offshore-toxic-event\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":1},"title":"offshore toxic event","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The OTE keeps unfolding... http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ULLHYmz98P0&hl=en_US&fs=1& Does that thing (between 0:11 and 0:27) know what it is swimming through?? Here's a good collection of some of the most memorable images (but what's that awful music?): http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DRkPzUx0pSQ&hl=en_US&fs=1& Does Sarah McLaughlin improve things a little? http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ik43Hgax4Kw&hl=en_US&fs=1& Or a little light Bach? http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rip7kbZRv18&hl=en_US&fs=1& It's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/politics_postpolitics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/ULLHYmz98P0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1269,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/05\/25\/spillcam-reality\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":2},"title":"Spillcam reality","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been wanting to post something about the images of the Gulf oil spill (or, rather, of the unmitigated man made deep water volcanic vent of crude oil and gas) -- about what they indicate (i.e. directly inform us about), what they symbolize (i.e., mean) and iconize (look like), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Visual culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Visual culture","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/image_nation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Oil-spill-1.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2010\/05\/Oil-spill-1-thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13850,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2025\/01\/11\/burning-moment\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":3},"title":"Burning moment","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"January 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Watching Onscene.tv\u2019s continuous, commentary-free footage of the fires in and around Los Angeles is like watching a Buddhist cremation ceremony. Recently vacated homes and buildings burn, slowly collapsing, walls crashing, smoke plumes exiting from windows, and embers blowing from building to building, as a hand-held or vehicle-mounted camera moves silently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Spirit matter&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Spirit matter","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/religion-spirituality\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2025\/01\/image-1.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1281,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/05\/29\/night-of-the-living-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":4},"title":"night of the living dead","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"An oil spill is a kind of night of the living dead, in which dead organic matter that we have called from its grave rises and strangles the living.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Eco-culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Eco-culture","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/ecoculture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"4642014598_2c94f60962.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2010\/05\/4642014598_2c94f60962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1280,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/05\/29\/beautiful-pictures\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":5},"title":"b(eautiful) p(ictures)","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"...sinking into ugly reality Many more like this came out of Greenpeace UK's rebranding BP competition. See here and here for more.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Visual culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Visual culture","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/image_nation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"4645060632_c64a08b4e1.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2010\/05\/4645060632_c64a08b4e1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}