MasterChef Junior, Season 3, Episode 5: Bananas For All and Matilda’s Favorite Dish

MasterChef-Junior-LogoWith a nod to a Steven Speilberg movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a banana is majestically lowered to reveal it is the mystery ingredient. The gimmicks just keep on coming for MCJ and this was probably the episode they wisely decided not to show a primate in it. It looked cool with the steam billowing, the lights, and the judges looking up like this might be the first contact with a sentient species from outer space. Nope, just a banana being lowered by a wire but it looked impressive.

I love Bananas Foster but incorporating bananas into a dish can be tricky. Again the kids amaze us with their creativity and the top selected are Jenna for her well received Coconut Shrimp with banana puree, Nathan with his Banana Caramel Macarons that wowed the judges, and Ryan Kate’s well executed Caribbean Spiced Pork with spicy banana sauce. Wow! The judges were presented with three great dishes to decide who would win the challenge. And Nathan wins for his brilliantly executed macarons. For Ryan Kate though, it is her swan song because the next challenge will not go well for her.

Daughter in the House
Gordon’s daughter Matilda stops by to heckle her father. She says her father is a softie but does walk around the house naked (just joking she says-we hope!). She reveals her  favorite dish their dad cooks is Salmon en croute. After she reveals the dish, the look on the kids faces shows they are facing quite a challenge. Jenna’s smile turns to a real concerned look. Ryan Kate has never heard of the dish. Fish in pastry is not a new concept, actually quite old and something many countries have. Salmon en croute though is an upscale and sophisticated dish that has garnered a certain amount of fame. Gordon Ramsay’s recipe can be read at RedOnline.

With this as the elimination challenge, our young cooks will be put to the test. Matilda has made sure all the necessary ingredients are at their stations. As she lists them, she pronounces one herb in the American way:bey-zuhl. Gordon always pronounces basil as baz-uhl getting him often mocked by Joe and Graham. That aside, this challenge requires a replication of the Ramsay dish. This will really tell us who really has got the chops to make it to the end. Gordon as always cannot help teasing someone, in particular Andrew. He asks if he would like to take his daughter to dinner. Matilida (called Tillie by Gordon) is not amused and tries to get him to stop. She then tells her father that she will not marry a chef because her father is a “nutter.” Amusing looks all around.

Riley looks like he is in trouble. And Ryan Kate is nervous as well. You have to watch that pastry to make sure it cooks right. You do not want it too thick or it might be underdone. Jenna runs into a major hurdle when her Hollandaise sauce breaks. Andrew, who has extra time, decides to help her out by telling her what to do. And it saves her Hollandaise. Andrew does a good thing here, something not often seen on the adult version of the show. With all the cooking done, the judging begins. Jenna’s dish turns out near perfect and Gordon reminds her she has the ability to go far. Andrew’s dish gets compliments as well and his helping Jenna gets high marks too. Sadly Kayla’s dish looks not so good. Way too much pastry with too little salmon but worse-underdone pastry. Oh dear, you can hear those sounds of doom here. Ayala, who does not get much screen time, has a delicious dish but the sauce is very spicy. Ryan Kate has a good looking dish except that she folded the pastry wrong over her salmon resulting it being overcooked. Death gong as well for her and for Riley. His dish has many technical flaws. The pastry is raw, potatoes needed color, and the Hollandaise more like scrambled eggs. Jimmy’s dish is near perfect (he has cooked the dish before). Gordon loves the dish and Jimmy is secure in the top six. Sadly though two must go.

The winners were Jimmy and Andrew(who gets the top honor). Ryan Kate, Riley, and Kayla are on the bottom tonight. It is sad to see Riley on the bottom. Such a talented kid but this challenge got the best of him. As it did for Ryan Kate. Riley thinks Andrew will take it while Ryan Kate calls it for Nathan. Now we are down to the top six.  And next week they get literally thrown in the frying pan when they take over service at a restaurant, And Gordon is expediting. Yikes! And there is a fire thrown in for good measure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=300NLqa2Hn4

By The Numbers
According to TV By The Numbers  NCIS got a 2.6 rating with 18 million viewers, SharkTank got 1.9 for 7 million viewers. And MasterChef Junior came in third at 1.6 rating and just under 5 million viewers. I will have to go back and check the numbers, but it looks like MCJ lost viewers. Fox’s numbers for the night are not that great. MCJ gets the highest ratings while The Mindy Project got at 1.o rating with just over 2 million viewers.

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Tuesday Titanic News

Titanic Helps Out A Theatre Group
1. The Maysville Players in Maysville, Kentucky will be auctioning off a replica of a White Star Line deck chair. Local furniture maker Joe Brannen crafted the chair from looking at a design in Popular Mechanics. It has taken just about month to get it done and now in its final stages. It will be used in a Titanic-themed mystery called Scotland Road. And then in March raffled off to benefit the Maysville Players.
Source: Players Raffling Replica Of Titanic Chair(28 Jan 2015,Ledger Independent)

2. Titanic Exhibition At Discovery Park
Titanic:The Artifact Exhibition is at the Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tennessee from 31 Jan 2015-2 May 2015. For details and admission prices. go to discoveryparksofamerica.com.

RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.

3. Boy Remembered In Local Library With Titanic Bookshelf
Ben Marks loved Titanic says his brother Eric. And he loved the Titanic movie and its famous line “I’m king of the world!” But sadly he was killed in a car accident in July 2012. He was 8-years-old. Robin Sargent, his second grade teacher, spearheaded the project.

Sargent, with a vivid pink face, occasionally chokes back tears as she speaks, with both hands gripped together clinging to the upper part of her chest as if to hold up her head if it were to drop, recalled Ben as a bright young man devouring every scrap of knowledge in his path.

The Titanic themed bookcase memorial was set up in January in the library of Shepherd Elementary School in Shepherd, Michigan. It has a replica life preserver hanging in the front with a replica suitcase at the bottom. There is a plate that reads “Ben’s Bookcase” at the top. The project was aided by donations from teachers, school staff and others. A fitting tribute indeed to a small boy who loved Titanic.
Source: Shepherd Boy Remembered With Titanic-Themed Memorial(26 Jan 2015,Morning Sun)

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Titanic X-Files

The Titanic X-Files concerns the supernatural, otherworldly, or just plain mysteries about Titanic and has been updated with some newer information since I last updated it a few years back (on the Titanic News Channel website). I see a lot of queries about the mummy, no pope and other related issues. One item deleted and moved to Titanic Sinking Theories are conspiracies. I think those entries are better placed there rather than here.

TITANIC X-FILES

Poster for the 1932 film The Mummy Image:Public Domain
Poster for the 1932 film The Mummy
Image:Public Domain

1. Was There A Cursed Mummy Aboard Titanic?
Here is one version of this story that is circulating out there on the Internet:
The Princess of Amen-Ra lived some 1,500 years before Christ. When she died, she was laid in an ornate wooden coffin and buried deep in a vault at Luxor, on the banks of the Nile. In the late 1890s, 4 rich young Englishmen visiting the excavations at Luxor were invited to buy an exquisitely fashioned mummy case containing the remains of Princess of Amen-Ra. They drew lots. The man who won paid several thousand pounds and had the coffin taken to his hotel. A few hours later, he was seen walking out towards the desert. He never returned.
The next day, one of the remaining men was shot by an Egyptian servant accidentally. His arm was so severely wounded it had to be amputated. The 3rd man in the foursome found on his return home that the bank holding his entire savings had failed. The 4th guy suffered a severe illness, lost his job and was reduced to selling matches in the street. Nevertheless, the coffin reached England (causing other misfortunes along the way), where it was bought by a London businessman. After 3 of his family members had been injured in a road accident and his house damaged by fire, the businessman donated it to the British Museum. As the coffin was being lifted up the stairs by 2 workmen, 1 fell and broke his leg. The other, apparently in perfect health, died unaccountably two days later.
Once the Princess was installed in the Egyptian Room, trouble really started. Museum’s night watchmen frequently heard frantic hammering and sobbing from the coffin. Other exhibits in the room were also often hurled about at night. One watchman died on duty causing the other watchmen wanting to quit. Cleaners refused to go near the Princess too. When a visitor derisively flicked a dust cloth at the face painted on the coffin, his child died of measles soon afterwards.
Finally, the authorities had the mummy carried down to the basement figuring it could not do any harm down there. Within a week, one of the helpers was seriously ill, and the supervisor of the move was found dead on his desk. By now, the papers had heard of it. A journalist photographer took a picture of the mummy case and when he developed it the painting on the coffin was of a horrifying, human face. The photographer was said to have gone home then, locked his bedroom door and shot himself. Soon afterwards, the museum sold the mummy to a private collector. After continual misfortune (and deaths), the owner banished it to the attic. A well know authority on the occult, Madame Helena Blavatsky, visited the premises. Upon entry, she was seized with a shivering fit and searched the house for the source of “an evil influence of incredible intensity.” She finally came to the attic and found the mummy case. “Can you exorcise this evil spirit?” asked the owner. “There is no such thing as exorcism. Evil remains evil forever. Nothing can be done about it. I implore you to get rid of this evil as soon as possible.” But no British museum would take the mummy; the fact that almost 20 people had met with misfortune, disaster or death from handling the casket, in barely 10 yrs, was now well known.
Eventually, a hardheaded American archaeologist (who dismissed the happenings as quirks of circumstance), paid a handsome price for the mummy and arranged for its removal to New York. In April, 1912, the new owner escorted his treasure aboard a sparkling, new White Star liner about to make its maiden voyage to New York. On the night of April 14, amid scenes of unprecedented horror, the Princess of Amen-Ra accompanied 1,500passengers to their deaths at the bottom of the Atlantic. The ship was the “Titanic.”

The legend of a cursed mummy began not long after the Titanic disaster. Supposedly the mummy of an ancient Egyptian princess, whose curse warned not to disturb her tomb, was placed aboard the Titanic. Then we are supposed to believe that the ancient gods of Egypt condemned everyone on Titanic to death for this desecration. The ancient princess referred to was Queen Hatshepsut who did rule Egypt about 1640 b.c.e. Her tombs (there are apparently three that were built) do exist but her mummy has never been positively identified although there are some that could be hers. Additionally no curse exists or has been found in any of her tombs. Nor is there any proof she was loaded aboard the Titanic. In short, no proof has been found to substantiate almost all of the facts claimed in most versions of this story. Nor that the mummy was in the British museum, which by the way fields calls and letters to this day asking about the cursed mummy. As to the curse, it should be noted that the most famous curse of all- King Tut- was a fabrication as well. In this case it was created by Howard Carter to keep people away from the tomb. While much has been made of some prominent deaths after the discovery, the vast majority of people who were involved in the excavation lived long lives, including Howard Carter who discovered the tomb.

Update 2/2015
Barbara Mickleson over at Snopes.com  did an examination of the legend and found new information (at least to me) about how this legend came about. It comes down to an inner coffin lid and a desire to get publicity for a new book. It turns out that writers William Stead and Douglas Murray, who were writing a horror book about an Egyptian mummy, decided to use this coffin lid with the image of an unidentified woman (possibly a priestess of Isis) to generate interest. They concocted stories of items being moved around in the area of the British museum, strange noises, frightened workers and even a death and crafted the legend it being cursed. Needless to say, it was all a fabrication. The inner coffin lid is at the British Museum and there is no mummy that came with it (apparently still in Egypt).

WreckoftheTitan_bookcover2. Did The Book “Wreck of the Titan” Foresee The Tragedy?
In 1898 the book Futility (later retitled Wreck of the Titan when republished after Titanic tragedy) by Morgan Robertson was published. The book told the story of a large ship called Titan which struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage in which close to 3,000 people died.
Many who have read the book believe it was prophetic in light of Titanic. Robertson himself was a known believer in the occult so many hold his book was a psychic vision. The fictional Titan was indeed similar in many way to the actual Titanic. Here are some interesting similarities:
Titan                                                                      Titanic
Length (feet)    800                                            882.5
No. of watertight compartments    19             16
Passengers (maximum)        3,000                 3,000
Passengers Onboard    3,000                           2,200
Lifeboats    24                                                      20
Month of Maiden Voyage    April                   April
Time Hit Iceberg    Near Midnight               11:40 P.M
Collision location    North Atlantic                North Atlantic
Deaths    2,987                                                    1,523

As one can gleam from the table, there are similarities between the two ships. While similarities abound, there is no real proof that can be put forward this was a psychic forewarning of the tragedy. For instance, it is more than likely that Robertson learned of White Star’s plans to build a fleet of giant passenger ships that would travel the North Atlantic route (New York-Southampton).In 1892 the White Star Line announced it had commissioned Harland & Wolff to build large Atlantic steamers. Many newspapers carried information about it (like the New York Times on September 17, 1892). The New York Times article mentions a ship called Gigantic would be built and many of the specifications given are close to what Robertson used in his book. It is not hard a stretch to believe that Robertson used this information when writing his book.

For many though, it is the collision with the iceberg that seems the strongest part of the psychic warning theory. Both the fictional Titan and Titanic collided with an iceberg within the same time frame. Titan struck the berg near midnight, Titanic at 11:40 P.M. Also the warnings are almost the same. On Titanic, the warning to the bridge by lookout Fleet was “Iceberg, Right Ahead!” Titan’s lookout shouts: ” Ice, Ice ahead. Iceberg. Right under the bows.” The similarities are certainly striking. But there are crucial differences as well. On the night the real Titanic sunk, the sea was remarkably calm almost like a pond. It was moonless as well making it very dark. And the temperature was below freezing. Now compare it to what Robertson writes of the night:

When the watch turned out at midnight, they found a vicious half-gale blowing from the northeast….a fairly uncomfortable whole gale of chilly wind.
The hard sea, choppy as compared with her great length, dealt the Titan successive blows….
A fog-bank, into which the ship had plunged in the afternoon, still enveloped her….

In both cases the lookout was unable to see the iceberg until it was fairly close. Another crucial difference is the impact of the berg. On the real Titanic, not many people felt the impact except in the forward areas. And it struck on the starboard side. But in Robertson’s book the impact was far different:

But in five seconds the bow of Titan began to lift, and ahead, and on either hand, could be seen, a field of ice which arose in an incline to a hundred feet high in her track. But a low beach, possibly formed by the recent overturning of the berg, received the Titan, and with her keel cutting the ice like steel runner of an iceboat, and great weight resting on the starboard bilge, she rose out of the sea, higher and higher-until the propellers in the stern were half exposed-then meeting an easy spiral rise in the ice under her port bow, she heeled, overbalanced, and crashed down on her side to starboard.

Crucial differences such as these support the proposition that Robertson’s book was not a psychic forewarning. Rather the book was made one after the demise of Titanic. Certainly many books can be considered prophetic after the fact. Oliver Stone produced a movie called Wall Street which was about an evil mogul and a naive stockbroker. Yet news was soon filled with real-life stock manipulators like Michael Milkin. A coincidence to be sure. Just like in 1912 when Titanic sank the publishers of Futility decided to reprint the book under a new title,Wreck of the Titan.

Bibliography
Behe, George & Goss, Michael, LOST AT SEA, Prometheus Books, 1994. Chapter six of this book deals specifically with occult warnings of Titanic’s demise.
Gardiner, Martin ed. THE WRECK OF THE TITANIC FORETOLD? Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY 1998
Robertson, Morgan THE WRECK OF THE TITAN OR FUTILITY, Bucaneer Books, Cutchogue, New York 1994 [Originally published 1898]

3. No Pope
Various supernatural warnings have been identified as signs Titanic was doomed. Some have argued that a reading of the stars (practiced by astrologers not astronomers) indicates the planets were aligned in a way that foretold this disaster. Still others claim strange birds seen flying over the shipyard or landing on Titanic (well not strange birds just birds not normally seen) were a warning as well. Another intriguing warning comes in the form of numbers. In John Eaton and Charles Haas book Titanic: Destination Disaster, they write on page 18:

“There were those that said Titanic had been doomed from the start, from the moment the hull number 390904 had been assigned by her builders, a number some Harland & Wolff workers read in mirror images as NO POPE.”

When one gathers up all the various supposed supernatural warnings, Titanic was doomed! Throw in the mummy curse and this ship was lucky to have even left Southampton. Some have claimed to have precognitive dreams as well of the disaster. One explanation that people turn to superstitution to explain tragedies is that we do not see improbable events as probable. Yet the chance of something bad or something good, however improbable, is possible. When you buy a lottery ticket the statistical chance of winning is low but not improbable. Same with disasters.

Many have sought supernatural explanations for the loss of ships. The whole concept of the “Bermuda Triangle” is to try to explain ships disappearing. Various explanations by sensationalist authors have put forth theories like vile vortices, cursed ships, alien spacecraft, and Atlantis to name a few. Yet in most cases one can draw rational answers from studying shipping reports and weather forecasts for the day concerned. A ship that disappeared during a storm is likely to have suffered a fate known to all sailors.
In the end, most of the supernatural warnings are probably nothing more than coincidence at best.

And finally number 390904 does not read as NO POPE when read backward, forward, or viewed as a mirror image.

4. Was Someone Buried Inside The Hull?
Another popular legend is that a worker got buried in the hull. According to the legend, workers and even passengers heard someone banging from inside the hull. While accidents did occur at the ship yard, there is certainly no proof anyone was entombed in the hull. Wags say that perhaps it was the mummy that was trapped inside the hull.

5. Fake Descendants & Memorabilia
From time to time various people have come forward to claim they are related to people who survived Titanic or perished that night. So many claims have come up that one could write a whole book on the subject. Why do people make such false claims? The general reason is to gain attention. After all, claiming to be related to a person on Titanic offers a certain cache.

While imposters can and do fool people, fortunately there are ways to often to verify the accuracy of a claim. A fairly complete list of passengers is available and many scholars, both professional and amateur, have studied the many people aboard Titanic. Additionally various public records are searched and checked to make sure a claim is legitimate. From time to time some on the Internet have claimed to be descendents but often, unless proven, such claims should be taken warily.

Another area of concern is fake memorabilia. Ever since the great ship went down, and especially after the recent movie, the desire to acquire things Titanic has grown. However with the exception of coal sold by RMS Titanic, the company in charge of the salvage operation, nothing brought up from Titanic has been sold publicly.On occasion items do appear at auction houses from families of survivors. Thanks to the resurgent interest, the price of Titanic collectibles has swung up. So families do put items up for auction and usually they are authenticated before auction. The premium on these rare collectibles, usually letters or other items, is pretty high. Be on the look out for anyone who claims to have “genuine” artifacts from the Titanic. More often than not, they are fakes. Be especially careful of so-called signatures of survivors.

Update 2/2015
Loraine Allison/Helen Loriane Kramer
Perhaps the most notable story in recent years. In 1940 Helen Kramer of Berkley, Michigan claimed she was Loraine Allison, the daughter of Hudson and Bessie Allison who perished with them in 1912. Their infant son, Trevor, did survive because Alice Cleaver (the nursemaid)took the child and headed out presumably to meet up with the rest of the family. Unfortunately it appears they did not know Cleaver had done this and spent most the time looking for their missing child and died when Titanic went down. Helen Kramer claimed she had been saved by a man named Hyde who had taken her to England and raised her as his own child. However she also claimed Hyde was none other than Titanic designer Thomas Andrews. However the death of her lawyer and a subsequent fire destroyed the paperwork and ended the story.

That is until many years later when apparently her granddaughter found all the papers her grandmother had on the issue and started the whole issue up again. The big difference between 1940 and now is that we have better ways of determining whether someone can be genetically proven to be related or not. The case of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the only surviving member of the Russian royal family executed by the Communists, was finally put to rest with a DNA test that proved she was not related in any way with them. And a mitrochrondial DNA test has now shown that Helen Kramer could not have been Loraine Allison or any other member of that family.

7. Ghostly Encounters
From time to time there are news reports about people claiming to see, hear, or feel ghosts specific to Titanic are around. Sometimes it is around objects once owned by those that perished or perhaps in places where they once lived. There is no way to really investigate each claim without going to each alleged occurrence, conduct interviews, and do an on site inspection. Sometimes there is a perfectly rational explanation to strange sounds such as buildings that settle or voices from the outside coming through pipes or vents. It is easy for our eyes to be fooled. The late Arthur C. Clarke related the story of someone spotting a monster in the water between Sri Lanka and India. From a distance it looked like something out of a Jules Verne story as all you could see was the top and something that looked like a trunk. Not to worry though, it was an elephant merely crossing over but the optical illusion that was created by the water, sun, and the half submerged body of the elephant made it look like a monster.

More recently some have claimed that ghosts are following the Titanic exhibitions. We have to keep in mind that sometimes promoters of events recall the old carnivals in trying to get people to come in and see the strange creature inside. So putting out stories of ghostly sightings and sounds may draw people in out of curiosity. Certainly when a television show that follows around “ghost hunters” to a alleged haunting at a Titanic exhibition suddenly pops up, the alarm bells ought to be going off as to what is going on here. It is likely there are more logical explanations rather supernatural ones. For now this case file remains open.

MasterChef Junior Season 3, Episode 4:Knowledge and Confidence

MasterChef-Junior-LogoWatching MasterChef Junior at times makes me think that Gordon, Graham, and Joe missed their calling to be kids birthday planner. They seem to work well with kids and come up with ways to entertain and challenge them. If this were a show on PBS, it would be a an extension of Sesame Street. But alas no, this is a competition in which young children (and we must remember that)are competing to win a coveted prize with real cash money attached to it. And sometimes I wonder if the challenges are really geared to kids or for the judges.

After the usual banter after entering the kitchen (and Graham showing us some dance moves), the three winners from last week (Cory, Jenna and Nathan) are given baskets and a list of ingredients. They have to fill them to win the coveted top honor for the next challenge. They have a huge pantry at MasterChef that is fully stocked with just about everything grown, raised, or farmed. The pantry appears large, almost like one of those supersize hardware stores. But remember that sets can be designed to look bigger than they actually appear. At any rate, our youngsters have to fill the carts with items on the cards given to them. Sounds easy until it is pointed out nothing is labeled. And they have only two minutes. Some things are easy to spot while others are more difficult if you have never seen them before.To add more pressure the other kids follow them into the kitchen if for nothing else to kind of cheer them on (which adds more pressure).

When all is counted up in the end, Jenna gets the win with the most correct number of items from the list. Jenna’s reward is not to head up to the balcony but to choose teams for as yet unspecified challenge. This is a time for strategy but she shied away from that except for Cory and Jack. Jack is concerned about working with Cory. Cory, as we used to say when I was a kid, is a spatz. Now that is not a bad word, it just means the kid has lots of energy. And when the task is revealed, it is a doozy: a sushi boat. Sushi is not just slicing and dicing up fish. It is a very technical and precise way of presenting raw fish and its accompaniments. It takes a lot of training to become an expert. I understand why they throw this at adults but why at kids? It makes me wonder if there is a dichotomy on this show. I noticed it last season. On one hand they want to treat these kids as kids yet they put demands on them same as the adults. In fact I believe they seem them as just little chefs waiting to grow up into the big outfits. They may outwardly treat them as children but many of the tasks say otherwise.

This challenge was a team challenge but tag-team. Which means one person cooks while the other stands watching the other cook. To pull this off you need confidence in each other. And you have to be careful not to talk down your partner so as to loose confidence. Replicating a sushi boat is difficult as it is without causing unnecessary friction. Teams that worked well together produced good to excellent dishes. Those that had problems either in working with each other or just not having the confidence to pull it off, ended up on the bottom. Jenna and Kayla bicker so their confidence was lost and their dish reflected it. Likewise Cory and Jack have problems as well so their dish is not great either. Andrew and Riley really worked well together and their dish reflected it. Ayla and Jimmy did it better. They simply and mostly quietly did their work and produced a dish that won the night. That left Jenna/Kayla and Cory/Jack on the bottom.

And the decision was Cory and Jack left the kitchen. Some out on the Internet are not happy with this decision. Jenna and Kayla’s dish looked worse but the judges decided Cory and Jack were worse. It may have been a close decision or two versus one. The judges tasted both dishes so obviously one was worse than the other. At any rate the group gets smaller and smaller, not unlike taking a trip through the Willy Wonka factory.

There was an interesting bit of side news for the show. At one point, a chimpanzee was used for an episode on the show. What exactly it was doing is unclear and MasterChef says it was all done under the guidance of the American Humane Association to make sure nothing was done wrong. PETA, the radical animals rights group that wants to ban all meat from our diets (along with dairy as well), got mad when the saw a Facebook post. So they let Masterchef know of their displeasure. Now the official word is that they decided to drop using the filmed scenes for “creative reasons.” Perhaps but it shows the almost charade this show is becoming relying on such gimmicks.

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From The Titanic Mystery Files:The Case of the Misidentified Corpse

MysteryWhat happens when you open a casket and find out it is not who it is supposed to be? It happens, regretfully, once in a while. Sometimes it was a goof up at the coroner’s office or the mortuary screwed up. In the case of Leonard Hickman, the Winnipeg Free Press reports, his remains were not in the coffin when arrived for burial but someone else.

Leonard Hickman had emigrated from England in 1908 to Eden, a small town in Western Canada north of Neepawa. He worked on a farm and was apparently well liked. He was engaged to Margaret, the daughter of the farm owners, in 1911. So he traveled back to England in late 1911 to tell his family and convince them to all move to Canada. And they all agreed. Alas the coal strike of 1912 meant they could not all travel together so Leonard, his brothers Lewis and Stanley, and four friends ended up on Titanic.

Leonard’s body was the only one found so it was decided to ship it to Neepawa for internment there. There is some dispute over whether White Star arranged shipment of the body or the Eden branch of Independent Order of Foresters which Hickman was a member of. The funeral was set for May 10, 1912 but the train was late in arriving,  Harold Honeyman, who owned the farm and was Hickman’s boss, and James Smith who knew the Hickman family, opened the casket to find it was not Leonard Hickman. Instead it was a much older man with a moustache. Since the mourners had already assembled, a decision was made not to inform them. Whether or not the minister who presided over the ceremony knew is unclear and was announced that due to his being in the water for a while, it would be a closed-casket service.

Now the town had gone all out for the funeral with flags at half-staff with many businesses and offices closed, and a citizens band to lead the procession. So one can understand why they choose the deception. Sometime afterwards they discovered the body was Lewis Hickman, Leonard’s brother. Personal effects confirmed later by his widow that it was indeed Lewis. Apparently what happened was a card found in Lewis’s pocket from the Independent Order of Foresters with Leonard’s name on it was used to identify the body.

Photo: South Africa War Graves Project (2013)
Photo: South Africa War Graves Project (2013)

So what happened next, as word eventually spread about what happened, was to alter the gravestone to mark the names of all three Hickman brothers who perished on Titanic. The grave is located in the Riverside Cemetery in Neepawa, Canada.

Sources:
1. Mix-Up Of Titanic Proportions(26 Jan 2015,Winnipeg Free Press)
2. Leonard Mark Hickman Encyclopedia Titanica
3. Lewis Hickman Findagrave.com

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“Indignant” Letter Sells For Just Under $12,000

Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon(circa 1916 or earlier by Arnold Genthe) Photo:Public Domain (Arnold Genthe Collection,US Library of Congress digital id agc.7a15137)
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon(circa 1916 or earlier by Arnold Genthe)
Photo:Public Domain (Arnold Genthe Collection,US Library of Congress digital id agc.7a15137)

A handwritten letter by Titanic survivor Lady Duff-Gordon was auctioned off by RR Auction in Boston for $11,875. In the letter Duff-Gordon wrote:

According to the way we’ve been treated by England on our return we didn’t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all!!!! Isn’t it disgraceful?

The name of the buyer was not revealed in the news report. A cup and saucer from Titanic fetched more at $13,750.

Source: Titanic Survivor’s Indignant Letter Sells For Nearly $12,000 (23 Jan 2015,wtkr.com)

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Masterchef Junior Episode 3: Aged Judges and Alligator Meat

American Alligator in captivity at the Columbus Zoo, Powell, Ohio Photo:Postdlf(Wikipedia)
American Alligator in captivity at the Columbus Zoo, Powell, Ohio
Photo:Postdlf(Wikipedia)

Originally I was going to write your standard boiler plate up or down review of this episode. Here is what it all boils down to: gimmicks and alligator. Every reality show has a gimmick to get viewers to watch. Masterchef Junior (MCJ) has landed on the side of comedy. In this episode, the judges were made up to be 80 year old guys to match the theme of well aged foods. Fortunately most well aged foods are not kept for 80 years (unless it is a very rare wine or the legendary fruitcake of Hogwarts). One kid thought Graham’s eyebrows were scary and asked him to move away. Of course before the judging began, once again they did the Superman trick by walking  out one door as old dudes and then magically reappearing seconds later back as their current selves.

Andrew won the aged foods challenge with his grilled New York Strip with fennel salad and smashed potatoes. It looked delicious. Back in the pantry he is shown three very dangerous animals that are eaten: snapping turtle, rattlesnake, and the American alligator. My mind raced back to images of certain well traveled chefs who ate such exotic things. Andrew has to decide which one to give his fellow contestants to cook. I would have picked rattlesnake. I would bet that not one of those kids had every cooked with one before. He choose alligator and while he enjoys a nice pizza pie on the balcony, the kids get to cooking. But before that they had to go into the pantry to see which creature he had chosen. Mind you that these animals are enclosed. They are not walking about but still you get the obligatory scream. The alligator looks bored and, according to what I have read, the American alligator generally likes to stay away from humans.

Andrew choose poorly because many of them did know enough about alligator to make passable dishes. The trick is to keep it moist! Three ended up in the bottom in the end:Kyler, Jimmy and Mia. Jimmy was there because although his dish was okay, it was nothing that screamed MasterChef. More like Wednesday night dinner at Old Pop’s down the road. Okay but nothing that screamed exceptional. Both Kyler and Mia way overcooked the alligator making it tough and jerky like. No real hard decision here: Jimmy is saved sending Kyler and Mia home.

Next week:the infamous tag-team challenge returns with sushi determining whose team reigns supreme.

Odds & Ends
*Joe trying yoga and failing-priceless!
*Gordon at age 80 still looks good but the bushy eyebrows they gave Graham made him look a creature from a 1930’s movie with Lon Chaney.
*Joe putting a sock he wore on a unused food device was also kind of scary. Now I do not want to eat at his restaurant!

By The Numbers
Due to the State of the Union address, most broadcast networks used repeats to fill the evening. For the 8:00 p.m. hour that meant powerhouse NCIS was on repeat mode. According to TV By The Numbers , MasterChef Junior got a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 age group giving it a win over a repeat of NCIS. But remember those share numbers are funny things. MCJ won with less viewers (5.53 million) compared to NCIS with a share of 1.4/11.96 million eyeballs. Meaning even on a repeat night more people were actually watching a NCIS repeat than MCJ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBB6qP7cYPM

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When Visiting A Nature Preserve Obey The Posted Rules

I grew up in a time when we learned not to get too close to animals in the wild. I guess back then we learned that wild animals, even those in zoos, ought to be given the proper distance. That meant never approach them like they were your pets because they might just think you are a threat. Simple. But alas many today forget many of the simple rules and just roll right up to a bear sitting there apparently in a peaceful state. Perhaps they saw too many Disney and Yogi Bear animations. Now at Kruger National Park in South Africa, they post all kinds of warnings when you drive through. Keep your windows up, do not lean out, don’t follow the animals in your car. Some idiot tried doing that with an elephant resulting in it attacking the car. So what do you do when you see a female and male lion just having a nice bit of sun on the road? Well I know what I would do. And it is not what these idiots decided to do. Notice the kids hanging out of a car.

http://youtu.be/9-oIpyOUA88


MasterChef Junior Season 3 Episode 2: Teamwork Pays Off

MasterChef-Junior-LogoIn the last season of MasterChef Junior a team cupcake competition, where team members were literally connected to each  other, produced no unified cupcake. Instead each member produced six cupcakes of their own resulting in two separate entries though being judged as a team challenge. This time around for the sausage competition, there was no wiggle room. Each team had to produce a stunning sausage and its accompaniments. And the only way to do this right was to work together. Most of the teams got it right but some did not resulting in another take your apron and leave the kitchen result.

Before we got to the sausage team competition, once again the producers decide we must have a comedy skit that involves the judges getting dunked, drenched, or covered in something unpleasant. Last season it was maple syrup and this season is the lemon meringue pie. Fortunately the three kids–Jimmy, Ryan Kate and Andrew–did not have to make the pies. There were twelve there and they had to make the meringue for the  pie. I know many out there like to see the MasterChef judges get splattered but personally I think it is just filler for the show. And it is predictable that all of the judges will get splatted. So I would suggest they dump this skit and come up with something else for filler. After three seasons of seeing this, either call in professionals to do it or simply dump it.

Jimmy won the meringue challenge and gets to pick the teams. No exemption for him! He has to cook as well. Probably the one he was most clever about was pairing up Andrew with Cory. Andrew has one way of doing things and Cory another. And they cannot agree on much. Which means producing a unified sausage dish is going to be a challenge. Jenna hates sausage and it makes you wonder if pairing with Mia will work. But despite her dislike of sausage, their pork & chorizo with sauerkraut is delicious. Joe thinks it reminds him of a rustic German dish and even yodels when the girls ask. Gordon is pleased as well.

Jimmy and Kyler though have a split decision, which is rare to see on MasterChef. Joe likes their pork butt & kangaroo dish but Gordon has a totally different reaction. Not only did he disagree with Joe but said they ought to have left kangaroo to the Australians. Which means Graham would be tasting it to break the tie. But no, for some reason it is not shown. Huh? Here you have two judges with two completely different takes on a contestant’s food. Is it not worth it to put in what Graham thought as well?

On the other hand Ayla & Reilly got raves for their version of bangers and mash. Gordon’s only complaint was that the sausage was too small. But at least they got it right unlike Andrew & Cory and Alexis & Micah. Andrew & Cory was a sad dish to look at. The sausage was dry and bland which is not a good thing when it is supposed to be the star. Alexis & Micah had a promising dish with white bean and Swiss chard stew but both the sausage and stew were under seasoned. Meaning the sausage sat in a watery dish that gave it no help. Not good at all.

The winning team was Jenna and Micah, remarkable when you recall Jenna hated sausage. It was no surprise that Andrew & Cory and Alexis & Micah ended up on the bottom. After the usual drama, Alexis & Micah were sent home.

I liked the sausage challenge which took them out of their comfort zone. Most people do not make their own sausage. It is a lot of work to do but gives you control over the meat and spices being used.

Odds & Ends
*Andrew really has to learn that yelling at inanimate objects like stand mixers will do no good. Unless you are on The Muppet Show and only with the Swedish Chef.
*Always watch your flame on a gas burner. Once it goes out precious cooking time is lost.
*As always those who over salt their food will get zinged but those who under season their food will always end up on the bottom.

By The Numbers
TV By The Numbers final results for Tuesday night are in. For the 8:00 p.m. hour, NCIS (CBS) won 1st place with 19.87 million, SharkTank(ABC) came in second at 7.48 million, and in third place MasterChef Junior with 4.93 million viewers. MasterChef was 5.26 million last week so it lost viewers, which is not unexpected, after the premiere. Fox has renewed it already for a fourth season and replacing Joe is Christina Tosi, the owner of New York’s dessert-based restaurant Momofuku Milk Bar.

Next week: We see aged versions of the judges and there are some scary reptiles and snakes in the house. (Note: The U.S. State of the Union address will be shown at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT on that day. So it is likely the east and central timezones will have their showing pre-empted for its coverage).

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