Tag Archives: Mystic Aquarium

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.

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Mystic Aquarium To End Titanic Exhibit

Image: Public Domain (NOAA)
Image: Public Domain (NOAA)

Back in October it was announced that Robert Ballard was ending his long term relationship with Mystic Aquarium. Ballard said the reason was to focus on other projects. Mystic Aquarium announced its discontinuance of the Titanic Exhibit on 5 Jan 2015. The exhibit opened in 2012 informs visitors about Titanic’s discovery and of Robert Ballard’s part in it. A new explorers exhibit, yet unnamed, will replace it in 2015.

Source:
Titanic Exhibit At Mystic Aquarium To Close(15 Dec 2014,CBS.local.com)




Titanic Week In Review

1. Rare Titanic Menu Auctioned Off
MSN News reports the rare Titanic menu auctioned off by Henry Aldridge & Son fetched $96,000 (£60,000).  A small locker key from Titanic topped $99,000 (£62,000). MSN reports the bidding was fierce and bidders were from around the world. Andrew Aldridge is quoted to say “Some of the items we had on sale today were extremely rare, which prompted a lot of interest from people here in the UK as well as from Monaco, South America and the USA.” Perhaps Premier Exhibitions can learn a thing or two from Aldridge about selling Titanic artifacts.

Image: Public Domain (NOAA)
Image: Public Domain (NOAA)

2. Ballard Says Adios To Mystic Aquarium
Robert Ballard has ended his long term relationship with Mystic Aquarium to focus on other projects reports Hartford Courant. Ballard cites his work with his Ocean Exploration Trust and the Center for Ocean Exploration at the University of Rhode Island as the reason for ending the relationship. “I couldn’t keep this many irons in the fire. I had to make some decisions” said Ballard. Ballard helped raise money for Mystic and his leaving is bittersweet says aquarium president Stephen Coan. “But I’m really happy for him,” he said. “So many things have come together for him over the past few years in terms of having the tools he needs for his research and the affiliations to support that work” said Coan.

3. New Photographs Of Titanic Launch
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum now has on display 166 never before seen photographs of Titanic’s launch at Harland & Wolff in 1911. Photos of Titanic sister ship Olympic are included.

4 Titanic Artifacts Value Goes Up But No Buyers As Of Yet
It was announced this week that a new appraisal of the Titanic collection sets its value at $218 million. It was previously valued $189 million so it has gone up in value. Unless there are some very wealthy investors willing to stake the money, it may be very difficult to sell as a whole lot. I wonder if they are planning to challenge the salvage ruling as too constrictive in selling the collection.


Monday Titanic News

Photo courtesy George Behe
Photo courtesy George Behe

1. Titanic II Update: The Australian drops a small zinger saying its development appearsto have slowed. No explanation is given for this statement or what they base it upon. They also note they were recently denied access to tour the CSC Jinling shipyard in Nanjing.

Source: Titanic II May Follow Original(15 June 2013, The Australian)

2. The Mystic Aquarium recently expanded its Titanic exhibit to include a gallery about the International Ice Patrol reports The Day. The unit, based in New London, is a small unit within the U.S. Coast Guard. Commander Lisa Mack believes it provides great visibility for the Coast Guard. “Our hope is that people find it interesting and learn something about our service.” Many people have no idea the Coast Guard tracks icebergs until they learn of it through such exhibits or research the Titanic story.

Source: Ice Patrol Increases Visibility With Inclusion At Aquarium’s Titanic Exhibit(14 June 2013, The Day)

3. From Ireland:Creating large scale models often pose a problem when you need to move them. 17-year-old Lorin Robinson had built a 7 foot long model of the ship but college is 15 miles away. So he called up a friend and using a trolley made from an old go-cart to move it from his room to Weston College in time for summer arts show. The set off after midnight hoping the roads would be quiet. Not so quiet as trucks roared past them and many street lights are no longer operating at that hour. Fortunately they got there and were spotted outside their classroom at 7:30 a.m. The model is now on display from 18-28 June. Hopefully they will have an easier time getting it back home.

Source: Student Drags His Titanic 15 Miles(13 June 2013,Irish Independent)
(Link Not Provided To Republic of Ireland Newspapers Due To Paid Links Demand)

4. A new cruise facility will be built in the Titanic Quarter owing to the increased stopping of cruise ships that have generated £3.9m in visitor spending. £7m is going to be invested to allow passengers to disembark within walking distance of Titanic Belfast, the Pump House, and Nomadic.
Source: £7m Invested In Titanic Cruise Facility(13 June 2013, 4ni.co.uk)

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Monday Titanic News

Terry Ismay With Students
Louth Leader

1. A local school in the UK has developed a unique connection to Titanic  due to a local man descended from J. Bruce Ismay.  Terry Ismay, a great-grandnephew (with several greats in that) of J. Bruce Ismay, has been given a spot on Titanic II by Clive Palmer. His two children attend Cordeaux Academy in Louth so he decided to give them access to the new ship through the Internet. They will have access to the ship’s development with regular updates and where the construction is going on. There is also the possibility they will have their own flag on the ship.
Source: Louth School Forges A Unique Link With ‘The New Titanic”(16 May 2013,Louth Leader)

2. James Cameron is to be be honored by Scripp’s Institution of Oceanography in California with the 2013 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest. The award is given to those who further understanding of the sea. Cameron’‘s sole dive in the one man submarine Challenger Depth on 26 Mar 2012 went 6.8. miles down, the first solo diver to that depth. Additionally he donated the lander used on that mission to Scripps. He also plans to donate the $25,000 Nierenberg prize money to Scripps for the new Lander Lab.
Source: Filmmaker, Explorer James Cameron To Be Honored With Science Prize(16 May 2013, UPI)

3. Writing in Huffington Post, Stephen Coan–president and chief executive of Sea Research Foundation–is not happy with Titanic’s salvage and that artifacts raised by RMS Titanic, Inc, are to be auctioned off. He cites a Marist poll indicating the wreck ought to be a memorial. 65% of those polled agree with the proposition it ought to be a memorial site. I am puzzled by the timing of this piece. There are not going to be further salvaging by RMS Titanic, Inc (now part of Premiere Exhibitions) which holds the legal right awarded by a federal court in Virginia. And it has been declared a maritime preserve by the United Nations with the consent of the Canada, Britain, France, and the United States. There will be no further dives down to look at it either (which cost about $30,000) for tourists to look at the wreck. As for the auction, that is still up in the air. No one is saying what is going on in that regard. It seems the only point of the piece is to tell the world that Mystic Aquarium has a Titanic exhibition without using Titanic artifacts.
Source: Let Titanic And Its Victims Rest In Peace(17 May 2013, Huffington Post-blog)

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