Saturday, March 5, 2011

I nominate Harry Glicken for Discordian sainthood

Hopefully you've at least heard of Discordianism, if you aren't already a worshiper of the Goddess. If so, you probably know about Discordian saints, like His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, a failed San Francisco business man who declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico and Officially dissolved Congress in 1859.

I've found another interesting candidate. Harry Glicken was a volcanologist. He was supposed to watch Mount St. Helens erupt, but missed it for an interview. His replacement, David A Johnston, died watching the eruption (along with 56 other people). Apparently, they failed to learn from Pliny the Younger, who documented the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD from a safe distance quite adequately without dying. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, wanted a closer look and wound up in Hades (ok, he actually had the noble intention of attempting to rescue survivors and suffered a massive asthma attack in the noxious clouds of smoke and ash).



In defiance of all sense, Glicken again decided to get a closer look at an impending volcanic eruption - Mt. Unzen, in 1991. Guess what the fuck happened. FORTY-THREE scientists died, including Glicken. This may qualify him, despite being a scientist, for a Darwin Award too.

Take care, sir.

1 comment:

  1. Warning, my hyperlinks may induce long periods of Wikipedia surfing.

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