Eyjafjallajokull

Yup! That's the name of the volcano (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) in Iceland that is causing all sorts of problems right now. I saw the word on Yahoo!'s "Now Trending" list and I just couldn't figure out if it was a glitch or, like on Twitter, just some BS thing that trends because us human beings are just easily entertained morons.

[Lightning from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano]

The ash cloud from the volcano eruption was so great and spread over other countries that it grounded all flights to/from European countries for days, leaving thousands of people stranded and airline companies in huge debt.


It also moved Iron Man 2's premiere from London to Los Angeles and (possibly) canceled Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow's appearance on the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show. But the UK (and rest of Europe), which was supposed to feature Downey and Paltrow, with director Jon Favreau and co-stars Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson. [Probably not as significant as the aforementioned problems, but I am Iron Man/RDJ-obsessed right now.]

The latest news, though, is that a small number of flights have been resumed, but the chaos is not over. Also, photographers have captured images of lightning (picture above), seemingly erupting directly from the volcano. The bolts may look like Hollywood special effects, but they're very much the real deal.