Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Holidays, Miscellaneous, Titanic

Farewell, 2014

640px-Pendleton_Sinking_Ship2014 was going to a be a big year for Titanic II. Clive Palmer wanted to bring back the glamor that was Titanic with a new ship based on the original design. He hired experts to do planning and testing. He set up a company called Blue Star Line that would be the new ship’s owner. And he made contact with a shipyard in China in the hopes it would be built there. And things seemed to hum along but things started going amiss along the way. The shipyard said no formal contract had been signed and even doubted they could do the job. Palmer started looking for investors in China to help shoulder the enormous construction cost. People in the cruise industry weighed in and wondered if such a ship could make money today. China began construction on its own Titanic, one that will be part of a theme park and designed to shake and rattle in the way the ship did during that fateful night when it sank. Clive Palmer got into a row with the Chinese over some business dealings. Unpleasant words were spoken and legal action began over royalties he claimed a Chinese company owed him. Despite assurances that ship construction would start late in 2014, nothing happened. And so it appears, unless things change, that Titanic II is kaput. If it gets resurrected, it likely will not be built in China. Perhaps an oil rich state in the Middle East?

Robert Ballard has moved on from Mystic Aquarium. His long term association with them has come to an end. Ballard decided to focus his energies on other projects. Mystic Aquarium has decided to open up a space by closing its Titanic exhibit which featured Ballard.

The Titanic Historical Society lost Ed Kamuda this year. A founder of that group and one of those who kept alive memory of the disaster. He lived to see Titanic get more widely known, its wreck found, and having annual get togethers with survivors and enthused amateurs. He and his wife Karen even got parts in Cameron’s Titanic as part of the many people walking on deck. His stance against salvage made him unpopular with some but no one ever said he did not like Titanic. He will be missed. RIP.

Titanic Belfast continues to grow strong. Visitors keep coming and recently exceeded 2 million. Quite a feat. Belfast, which had kind of downplayed Titanic, now embraces it. A whole commercial area called Titanic Quarter is getting shops, people, and businesses to live, work, and shop there. Aside from one snide comment from a television personality, most in Belfast seem happy with the tourism and new business.

Not one but two Titanic hotels are now in Liverpool. One is at the old White Star offices (Albion House) and the other at Stanley Dock.

The Silver Cup given to Captain Rostron of Carpathia was auctioned off  by his descendents.

A rare British Pathe film with Titanic footage and interviews was found quite by accident. A lucky one since it now has become a valuable part of Titanic history.

Titanic still gets used as a cliché for politicians, pundits, and news analysts. But it was Arianna Huffington who gets the top prize for using Emperor Nero, the burning of Rome, and Titanic all in one mashed up sentence. When you mix idioms and cliches together, no good ever comes of it.

Non-Titanic

Over at Undercover Boss, the owner of Bikinis Bar and Grill (a place I never heard of till I saw the episode), has gotten into some hot water over what happened during the reveal part of the show (where he reveals he is the boss). Now this guy, Doug Culler, is unabashed about what his restaurant chain is all about: breasts (and not chicken). At his place, women wear bikini tops, denim shorts, and cowboy boots. One gal decided not to wear her top for the camera, a major no-no for him. More serious is that she kept serving alcohol to a guy who was intoxicated. And where was the manager? Oh he eventually showed up to cut him off and safely home (strict liability these days means businesses can be held responsible if someone who gets intoxicated on your premises and causes damage or injury). The gal also said she was looking for other jobs. So at the reveal Doug canned her–in front of millions of viewers. While firing her may have been right, it ought not to have been done that way. And it might come back to haunt him. Trust me some attorney out there is going to make hay about it and perhaps a lawsuit. To make it more tacky, he offered another gal a boob job if she did her job well for the next couple of months. Sleazy? You bet it was. And it fired up lots of angry tweets as well. Congratulations Guller! You wanted attention and you got it. Considering that business has been mixed of late, this might turn off a lot more potential customers.

MasterChef Junior season 2 has ended with Logan, the bow-tied wonder winning it all. Congrats Logan! Now we are getting ready for season 3 on January 6. Not much of a break between seasons so the producers are wanting to strike hard and fast. But maybe they know something we do not: that the clock is ticking on this show so they want to maximize as much ratings and earnings potential as they can. They are up against both NCIS on CBS and it only loses ratings when in reruns. And it will be starting back up on the same night and time as Masterchef Junior. So which do you watch live or record? Kids making fancy dishes or an action series? If the previous numbers are an indication, NCIS will get more live eyeballs.

I like the movie The Santa Clause. I watched The Santa Clause 2 and about the only good thing about it are the home scenes and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was a really stunningly dumb idea to come up with a robot Santa. The elves are not little kids (most are older than Santa) and could easily understand why Santa had to be away for a while. So you have the ridiculous idea of a real bad Santa-one that reminds you of those leaders of an impoverished nation who wear spectacular military outfits to show who the boss is. In first movie Bernard could just materialize when he needed to visit Allen’s character back home. Which means he ought to have been able to quickly to do the same in this movie. Nope. Instead Curtis has to fly down (literally) using the jet pack from The Rocketeer to tell Santa what the bad Santa was up to. It gets worse so I will stop here. Stick with the original and skip part 2 and do not get me started on part 3. Yikes, now that is a really bad mess there and no amount of talent will save it.

Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial

Holidays, Miscellaneous

This and That:Masterchef Junior Returns and Other Things

1. Here we go again:We just finished season two of Masterchef Junior but season three is scheduled to debut on 6 Jan 2015 at 8:00 p.m.  It will be the last time Joe Bastianich (aka The Stare) will be a judge on Masterchef. You can see a list of the contestants (but no photos as of this date) at Fox.com.

Red Cardinal Pointsetta Wreath Photo: Kim Newberg (publicdomainpictures.net)
Red Cardinal Pointsetta Wreath
Photo: Kim Newberg (publicdomainpictures.net)

2. The Christmas Season is still going (it officially ends on Epiphany Day/Three Kings Day) The traditional date is January 6 though many Christian churches celebrate the day on the first Sunday after the New Year. The night before is called the Twelfth Night. Eastern Orthodox celebrates Christmas Day usually on 7 January as they follow the Julian calendar. Greek Orthodox though celebrates Christmas on December 25 as they use the Gregorian not Julian for many important holy days except Easter in which they use the old Julian calendar.

3. The Shipping Season seemed to have fewer problems than last year. Last year there was a huge dump of parcels for Post Office and the private package carriers. This was due, in part, to cut off days for online retailers not in sync with the shipping services. Of course problems still occur (a package I was waiting for went missing for a day at the local UPS station). And unfortunately thieves watch delivery vehicles and steal packages left at the door or on the porch. They finally busted a gang in our area and found many missing parcels. I read or saw on person so fed up with losing packages to these thieves he wrapped up some very smelly dog poo and had it left on his door. Sure enough, it was stolen! Fitting that when the opened the box they found it full of animal waste.

4. Once again the top animated Christmas shows were the favorites: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (celebrating 50 years), Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

5. One of the worst Christmas themed made for television movies was Merry Ex-Mas(2014) on Ion starring Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson. The premise is actually simple. Dean Cain owned a security company and was married to Kristy Swanson. A photo appears in the press that appears to show him making out with a well known music star. He denies it but his wife divorces him. So usually a Christmas show of this kind is how the magic of Christmas heals the rift and get them back together. Had that been the story, it would have been great. But something bad happened somewhere between when the plot was conceived and the actual scriptwriting began. The result was a runaway train that took a simple plot and smashed it all up. His ex-wife shows up at the cabin where Cain is at. His sort of girlfriend is also there. Racing to get there is her fiancee played by Lochlyn Munro. Munro has made a career out of playing characters on the edge or worse. Munro’s character is facing deportation (his foreign visa is about to expire) and he cannot conduct an important business deal unless he stays. So he is racing up there with the couples daughter, the mother to Swanson’s character (Dean Cain’s mom) and his attorney. His attorney, played by Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (Nash Bridges), is the one bright light in this zany and utterly forgettable movie. She is absolutely hilarious in her role as Munro’s attorney. And she gets some of the best lines as well. And at the end (SPOILER ALERT) when Swanson’s character decides not to marry him but Cain again, he is left with no one to marry except her mother. And she negotiates a settlement that O’Keefe’s character is happy to put in the prenuptial agreement. It is the only reason to watch this hapless Christmas movie.

6. If you subscribe to Netflix streaming, say goodbye to Titanic. The popular Cameron movie is leaving in the New Year. You can still get it on DVD. And until they can actually make streaming like DVD, that part of the service is going to remain strong. Today watching some Christmas movies via streaming was a total bust. Something wrong with the service. On the other hand just grab a dvd, pop it in, and your good to go.

7. Mewing cats doing Jingle Bells? A bad idea. The original barking dogs (from the 1950’s!) is still tops in that regard.

8. I am all for eating and drinking less but one low-fat eggnog (Horizon organic) was really pasty in flavor. It may be lower in calories and more healthy but trust me, it was awful.

Well that is it for now. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone!


Miscellaneous

Today is the Winter Solstice

The shortest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere is the Winter Solstice. On the solstice (usually between December 20-23)the sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn resulting in the North Pole being tilted the furthest away. This result in shorter days for sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere (and the further north you are the less sun you will see like those in Alaska or the Scandinavian countries). The reverse is true in the Southern Hemisphere. As the sun is closer to them, they celebrate the Summer Solstice. Those who live close to the South Pole will see Midnight Sun meaning they get 24 hours of sun during this time of year.

Many cultures observed the Winter Solstice because it marked an important time in the agricultural cycle. By this time all the crops and livestock had been prepared for winter. Important foodstuffs were stored for the months when virtually nothing grew. Wine and beer, which had been fermenting during the year, was ready at this time. Cattle and pigs would often be killed at the start of winter so they would not have to be fed during this time. The early months of winter were tough in many places and often called the “famine months” since little food was to be found. Many cultures observed the Winter Solstice as a renewal or that the year was reborn. For out of the seeming withdrawal of the sun, it would come back just as strong and powerful as before. Thus the Winter Solstice was seen by many as the start of a new year such as the old Roman feast of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus) which happened around the 25th of December.

Today the solstice will be at 23:03 (11:03p.m.) Universal Time Clock(UTC) which is 18:03 (6:03 p.m.) in New York,  17:03 (5:03 p.m.) in Chicago, 16:03 (4:03 p.m.) in Denver, 15:03 (3:03 p.m.) in San Francisco, 14:03 (2:03 p.m.)in Anchorage, and 13:03 (1:03 p.m.) in Hawaii. Thus the first full day of winter is 22 Dec 2014.

Solstices and Equinoxes Image: NASA
Solstices and Equinoxes
Image: NASA

Miscellaneous

Science Friday: Turkey The Bird

Male wild turkey Photo: Public domain
Male wild turkey
Photo: Public domain

*The turkey is native to North America–the U.S. and Mexico–and is in the genus Meleagris. The common wild turkey and its domestic cousin is Meleagris gallopavo. Another species is ocellated turkey and it only resides in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

*Archaeological evidence indicates Mesoamericans domesticated turkeys and the Aztecs as well. Turkey feathers were used for decorative purposes.

*Europeans first thought the Americas were part of Asia so the turkey was considered part of the guineafowl family. It was called guineaturkey and then shortened to just turkey. There are guineafowl in Turkey and back then giving a bird an exotic name added to its mystique. The name stuck.

*The Spanish brought turkeys to Spain where it was domesticated and new breeds resulted. English navigator William Strickland is credited with bringing turkey to England in the 16th century and his coat of arms has a turkey in it.

*Domesticated turkeys were considered a luxury food. Most people could not afford it until the late 19th century. Most people in had goose, duck, or beef for Christmas dinner (Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol had a goose). Scrooge bought a turkey for Cratchit which was something very special in those days.

*Turkey producers worked to lower the cost (by breeding birds to be plump and cheaper by the pound to sell)but it was the advent of refrigeration that allowed turkeys to be sent whole to markets (first by rail then by truck). Home refrigeration opened up the turkey market for everyone and with turkey prices lower than good cuts of beef, a better alternative. Today turkeys are sold fresh and frozen year round.

*Breeder farms supply turkey eggs to hatcheries (they are often artificially inseminated). After they hatch, they are sent to special grow farms and later to a main area. The are mostly indoor these days to prevent infection from being outside and to maximize production cost. It does keep the costs down but also has some problems. Turkeys can be aggressive and will peck each other, sometimes to death. Some producers clip their beaks when they are young. Some turkeys can develop health issues which means some die before reaching maturity becoming a loss to the producer. In recent years efforts have been made to make these areas more conducive to turkey roosting.

*Heritage turkeys (turkeys raised the old fashioned way-outdoors)has gained popularity in recent years. These use breeds that were more common long ago before the full domestication began. They are allowed to free range, reproduce naturally, and mature longer. Cook’s Illustrated reports they have more fat as a result of this longer maturity. The average domestic has more meat but more lean because once they mature, they are sent to the butcher. Heritage turkeys are more expensive than the mass produced turkeys.

*Wild turkeys, once thought to be nearly extinct, are now quite numerous again in North America. While domesticated versions can barely fly when they are young, their wilder cousins can fly,roost in trees and avoid predators (foxes, owls, snakes). Their eggs are often targets for raccoons and opossums. Wild turkeys travel in same sex flocks (male/male or female/female)with the exception of young turkeys that follow their mothers for about five months. They eat a wide assortment from insects, spiders and small frogs to fruits, flowers, acorns and grasses. They roam about during the day seeking food and in flocks. It is rare to see a turkey by itself in the wild. Males are four feet long and females three. Their breast feathers indicate which sex they are (males have breast feathers with black tips, females are brown). They are fast runners.

*Turkey flocks do not tolerate new members easily. If a turkey from a unknown pack or another nearby should come into their group, it may be attacked and killed.

*Turkey flocks can be a threat to agriculture because they are rapacious eaters. So in areas where turkey flocks exist (generally in woodlands, forests, and meadows), growers and farmers have to take special precautions to deter them from eating up their crops or their food to livestock. Turkeys are not seasonal and will stay year round even when there is snow on the ground.

*Homeowners in areas where turkey flocks roam have to take precautions as well like making sure not to feed them or leave out food they can get to (like bird seed). Turkeys can be aggressive and try to dominate (they are not territorial though, they just want to dominate). If they are not discouraged early on, they can become a real problem in the area because the behavior is impossible to change after that point. Often this results in them being killed since relocation rarely solves the problem. They can attack small children and seniors (they have sharp beaks) so chasing them away with brooms or other significant non-lethal methods usually works. Because their numbers have gotten large, annual hunts are allowed (by permit)in some areas to keep the turkey population from getting out of hand.

*The biggest consumer per capita of turkey are Israelis. In the early days refrigeration was not common and meat was hard to come by. Turkeys though are easy to domesticate and provide good meat. Which is why turkey is very big in Israel and why you find turkey pastrami is very popular. Kosher turkey is available in the United States from producers in Pennsylvania. Unlike other birds, if you brine this bird you do not need salt as the Kosher process adds salt.


Miscellaneous

Retro Sunday: Thanks For The Memory

Bob Hope’s theme song for many years was “Thanks for the Memory.” It was from the 1938 movie The Big Broadcast of 1938 sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. The song won the Oscar for Best Song in 1938. In the movie the couple, now divorced, sing the tune and is both wistful and sad. And seems to indicate they made a mistake. Enjoy and have a nice Sunday.


Miscellaneous

Rainy Saturday

Photo: George Hodan (publicdomainpictures.net)
Photo: George Hodan (publicdomainpictures.net)



Miscellaneous

Science Friday: Why Do Metal Ships Float?

Oasis of The Seas, one of the largest cruise ships afloat today(Photo 2010) Image:Baldwin040(Wikipedia)
Oasis of The Seas, one of the largest cruise ships afloat today(Photo 2010)
Image:Baldwin040(Wikipedia)

Back in the days when ships were made of wood (or other similar materials), most knew a ship or boat would float since wood floats on water. Sounds simple enough but it gets a bit more complicated when you add weight (or mass) to it. Then you have to think about how to do it to make sure its mass does not sink it. This is where two important principles come into play: buoyancy and the Archimedes principle. The Archimedes principle is that an object in a fluid encounters an upward force equal to that of the weight of the fluid displaced around the object. A ship floats when it displaces a lot of water and that water wants to return to where it was. This creates a force that pushes the ship upwards creating what is called the buoyancy force. A ship that displaces water equal to its own weight will float, while a ship that displaces water greater than its own weight will sink.

Ships and boats then have to be shaped in a way that allows for this displacement to occur so it does not sink. And it allows for a lot of air to be inside as well. Ships are not like solid blocks of steel, which have no air inside. Stability becomes a major issue as well. You want the center of gravity to be stable so it does not tip over easy. In small boats you can see how this works out. A person moving from one side to the other causes the center of gravity to change. Equipment has to be balanced and gear brought aboard has to be kept low and near the center of the boat. That is why it is unwise in small boats to sit on the sides as it will cause tipping. The same principle is true on larger boats and ships. Weight must be distributed so that no one part of the ship is heavier than any other. If the center of gravity on a ship becomes too high due to highly stacked cargo or other things, buoyancy becomes unstable and it will capsize.

Here is a YouTube video that explains how ships float.

Sources:
1. Buoyancy and how ships float (IMDO Ireland, Marine Institute)
2. Why can boats made of steel float on water when a bar of steel sinks (HowStuffWorks.com)
3. Why can heavy steel ships float? (Science Niblets)
4. Why Do Ships Float Infographic(Bolsover Cruise Club)
5. Buoyancy(hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/)

Revision History:
5 June 2015-Added 2 new sources (Bolsover and Hyperphysics)

 


Miscellaneous

Science Friday: Can a Cell Phone Cause A Gas Station Fire?

You have likely seen or heard warnings about using cell phones while filling up at the gas station. The warning is not mandatory but many gas stations have them because many are convinced it can happen. Except it cannot. What does cause fires at gas stations is either static electricity that is not discharged prior to handling the gas pump or an ignition source like match being struck to light a cigarette (or possibly a discarded burning cigarette). What makes these fires worse is when a fire does break out right at where you are fueling the car. Many pull the fuel pump out and end up making it worse by dripping the burning fuel right on the ground. That always spreads the fire and then a major fire breaks out. At any rate those clever fellows over at Mythbusters looked into this and here is the result of their examination of this myth.


Miscellaneous

Today is All Souls’ Day

Day of The Dead by William Bouguereau (1825-1905) Public Domain
Day of The Dead by William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Public Domain

All Souls’ Day is to commemorate the faithful dead and is celebrated by special mass by Catholics and other Christian denominations. Some Christian churches celebrate it on a different day. It is not to be confused with Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) which does remember friends and family who have died but is not a Catholic or Christian religious event(though it takes place from 31 Oct through 2 Nov which coincides with Halloween, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day).


Miscellaneous

Today is All Saints’ Day

The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs (about 1423-24) Public Domain
The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs (about 1423-24)
Public Domain

 

All Saints’ Day(Solemnity of All Saints,All Hallows, Hallowmas or All Saints)is celebrated on 1 November by most Western Christians and is to honor all saints known and unknown. In some Catholic countries, it is a holiday. It is a holy day of obligation for most Catholics except when it falls on a Saturday or Monday. In that case it is celebrated on Sunday. Eastern Orthodox is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost and is called All Saints’ Sunday.