1. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition will end its run at Atlantic Station (Atlanta, GA) on 18 August. For tickets, hours of operation, and other information go to TitanicAtlanta.com.
2. TripAdvisor reviews of Titanic Museum in Branson, MO are mostly positive. 1,137 reviews this far and 732 have an excellent review, 294 say it was very good, and the rest falls between average to terrible(20 rated it as poor,11 as terrible). Some complaints concerned price, being overcrowded, not being geared to children. I took a look at the admission prices listed at the website and they do seem pricey. Then again this is a speciality exhibition so generally prices are often high. I did notice there is a discount running through July for online ticket ordering. Is it worth going? Only you can decide that.
3. Finding links to Titanic are something many want to find. Consider a house in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Built in 1888 by noted architect Frank Freeman, it was owned by industrialist Herman Behr and his family. One of the sons, Karl, was aboard Titanic and survived. The story here is that Karl bought a Titanic ticket to be close to Helen Newsom, a gal he had a romantic interest in. Her family though did not like him much and tried to dissuade the courtship. According to his words later, Behr proposed to Newsom while they were in a lifeboat (they were married a year later). So that is the connection to Titanic as the house was sold years later and later became the Palm Hotel, a place of ill repute. The area itself became known for its rowdy taverns and bars that were filled often with sailors and others who worked in the area. Then it was purchased by the Franciscan order in 1961 for religious housing but later converted into rental housing.
The 4th annual Crazy Cardboard Regatta at Voice of America MetroPark (West Chester, Ohio) took place yesterday. Photos for from the event are at WLWT.com.
1. Titanic II Update
Blue Star Line, the company behind Titanic II construction, announced Lloyd’s Register will review Titanic II design and safety features. Lloyd’s Register, founded 1760, is a maritime organization that provides risk assessment and certification for ships, related accessories, and installations. There is a Wikipedia entry and Lloyd’s Register has a website here.
2. Orlando Titanic Exhibit Makes Snow
Yes, for real according to a recent news report and from their own website. On 25 Jul 2013, they will host “Titanic Melt” in the parking lot of Titanic: The Experience from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.. Here is what they say it is all about:
Titanic The Experience is hosting a way for people to cool off this summer with the “Titanic Melt”. Titanic The Experience is one of the coolest places in town with its own iceberg in the exhibit. To showcase its frostiness, Titanic The Experience will host a snow day complete with ice carving and real snow.
Well as gimmicks go not too bad. At least they are not using a Titanic slide.
3. Cardboard Regatta Features Titanic Award
The annual Crazy Cardboard Regatta will be held this Saturday at the Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester, Ohio. Last minute registrations will be taken between 8 a.m.-11:00 a.m. For information about the event and the location, go to butlercountymetroparks.org/voa.asp. And yes the regatta has a Titanic award for the best sinking. Good luck to all!
4. Revisiting Lunar Theory On Titanic Sinking
Readers will recall that back in 2013 astronomers at Texas State University that a rare lunar event contributed to Titanic’s demise. The moon and sun lined up in such a way as create a spring tide. Now assuming this to be true and enhanced tides were created, moving icebergs still would pose a problem. According to an article in Hydro International:
As Greenland icebergs travel southward, many become stuck in the shallow waters off the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland. Normally, icebergs remain in place and cannot resume moving southward until they’ve melted enough to refloat or a high enough tide frees them. A single iceberg can become stuck multiple times on its journey southward, a process that can take several years. But the unusually high tide in January 1912 would have been enough to dislodge many of those icebergs and move them back into the southbound ocean currents, where they would have just enough time to reach the shipping lanes for that fateful encounter with the Titanic.
So if there was an unusual spring tide in 1912, it would have been enough to move a lot icebergs into the ocean currents that many steamships used back then. Does not change what happened later but provides an answer as to why so many icebergs were around at the time.
No two-parter this week, just one episode where our valiant cheftestants try to prove themselves worthy of that trophy and a lot of cash.
Hidden under those mystery boxes is a meat grinder, which means either making ground meat for hamburgers or sausages. Just as the long mystery box at the front is unloaded, I flashed back to a line in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off by the maitre’d to Ferris: “You’re the sausage king of Chicago?” Underneath it is all kinds of meat and even some vegetarian items thrown in as well. It is sausage heaven and they must create an entrée out of it. Sounds easy but we are talking gourmet here. Making breakfast sausage is not going to cut it. Well in the case of Natasha it does since she makes an upscale sausage with breakfast. Krissi, clearly in her comfort zone, nails it as well. But it is Eddie that outshines them all and gets the win. And back to the pantry he goes.
We saw something like this last season. They offer up three foods but you choose who gets the fresh or canned version. And Eddie chooses mushrooms knowing it would throw some people off. Canned varieties are not very good and require finesse to use them right. Fresh seems easy but Eddie knows that some out there will overcomplicate and end up on the bottom. I can tell Eddie would have been a great NFL player. He observes his opponents to determine their strengths and weaknesses. And then plans accordingly. So he gives Bri, Bethy, James and Jordan fresh mushrooms believing some of them will over think resulting in a bad dish. Everyone else gets the canned mushrooms. Yuck.
The interesting twist is that the canned mushroom group did better as a whole against the fresh fungi group. Luca, Jessi, Krissi and Natasha all passed muster with best being Jessi, Krissi and Natasha. Not one of them faced elimination and Natasha was one of two who won. On the fresh fungi side, only Bri made a dish that excelled and also was winner. That left Bethy, James, and Jordan on the bottom facing elimination. Eddie’s strategy worked. Each one of them failed to make mushrooms the star. Bethy used too much sesame oil so it dominated her dish. James had too much sauce and Jordan’s attempt at pasta was a bridge too far.
In the end, Bethy was sent home. Not a surprise since she had started to fade before this. And she forgot to get sugar forcing her to beg it from other cheftestants. And now we have eight left. One of those eight will be the next MasterChef. Who will it be? Next week, they go camping. You can view a clip of next week’s episode on YouTube.
Rankings
We are at the point now where rankings are more relevant. Who is up, down, or just heading out the door?
Top Tier
Jessi
Jessi has shown remarkable skill in the competition. And surprised many in the process. She is a serious contender to be one of the top four.
Eddie
When he first auditioned, I was not sure about him. But over time he has shown a lot of creativity in his dishes and wowed the judges. He will have to really screw up to not make it into the top four.
Natasha
She started out great, then seemed to muddle, and now has come back with a lot of really well thought out dishes. She aced the Walmart basket with limited time last week. Her dismissive comments about her fellow contestants at times are grating (or refusing to clap when Bri is announced as being in the top ten). She does not accept criticism from those beneath her station. Despite those negatives, her strengths as cook put her in the top tier.
Middle
Jordan
A creative chef but took a serious hit this week and tumbles from the top tier. He has obvious strengths but is prone to overdo things.
James
James has finesse but like Jordan was humbled by the fungi. So he drops out of the top tier as well. Too bad because he is quite talented.
Krissi
Krissi cooks well when the food is in her comfort zone. Outside of that, she has difficulty. However as this show goes on and the demand for high refined cooking really kicks in, she will likely be outside her comfort zone. Her attitude stinks, she is nasty to most everyone there, and is a bully. I do not see her in the top four but could happen if something dramatic happens to those ahead of her.
Wildcard
Bri
Bri being the only vegetarian in the group is at a disadvantage. Yet she has shown capability of handling meat but is not always consistent owing to lack of experience. She is a wildcard because of the ability to confound expectations and win challenges.
Bottom
Luca
Luca is a nice guy but his food just gets by. He has shown great finesse at times. And I loved it when he took Jordan’s stand mixer in the cupcake challenge. That being said, his time is up. He does not have the chops to go head to head with some of the top tier people. So Luca, I like you but time for you to go.
1. Premier Exhibitions, which bills itself as “a leading presenter of museum-quality touring exhibitions around the world” has announced its first quarter earnings for 2014. Bad news for shareholders. Total revenue was down by 22% compared to last year at this time. Gross profits decreased as well. Average attendance at exhibitions were down and ticket prices decreased by 9.6%. Hurricane Sandy shut down the South Street Seaport in New York City which impacted income. Some new exhibitions being planned: exhibition featuring characters from movie Ice Age and an artifact based one called City of Pompeii, Italy. As for the Titanic artifact sale, this is what was announced:
The previously announced group of individuals (the “Consortium”) that entered into a non-binding letter of intent with the Company on October 15, 2012 to affect a purchase of the stock of RMS Titanic, Inc. remains active. While the Consortium, which is based in the Hampton Roads region of southeast Virginia, has made progress in aligning the necessary resources, the effort is not complete. Given the amount of time that has passed since the LOI was signed, the Company has decided to pursue other strategic alternatives to maximize the value of the Titanic assets in parallel with continued discussions with the Consortium.
In other words, thanks for the interest but we are moving on. Give us a call if you get the money.
2. Marshall Weiss, editor of The Dayton Jewish Observer, was recently awarded The Jacob Rader Marcus Award for Journalistic Excellence in American Jewish History for an article series called “Kosher Titanic – and other Jewish Connections to the Ill-fated Liner.”
The series included stories about a Jewish survivor who returned to Manchester, England, to open a kosher butcher shop; the burial of Jewish survivors at Halifax, and a Jewish baby boy separated from his mother on the night of the sinking, and then reunited with her on the Carpathia. The series was picked up by most major Jewish newspapers across the U.S., and on the Times of Israel website in 2012.
3. Titanic shows up at county fairs and summer events in different ways. Cardboard regattas (or other similar floatable ideas) take place with awards for the most creative and dramatic sinking. Sometimes it shows up as a 12-foot replica at the Sullivan County Fair in Indiana. Rob Overton is an EMT by trade by got fascinated by Titanic when it was found in 1985. He first built a 40 inch model but he did not like it. So using original drawings he made a 12-foot replica which now can be seen at the county fair. While he has other items in his Titanic exhibit, the replica is the centerpiece.
4. Titanic musicals are popular too from news reports I have been reading. Titanic: The Musical performing at the Harrisburg Christian Performing Arts Center in Middletown, PA has got some very good reviews.
5. Back in the 1980’s The Bangles were a hot group with four talented female singers. Some of their more popular songs were Manic Monday, Walk Like An Egyptian, Going Down To Liverpool, Hero Takes A Fall, and Eternal Flame. They broke up in the early 1990’s but reunited again around the start of the new century. A recent album Sweetheart of the Sun brings them back to their roots. Their talent has not dimmed over the years and are strong as ever. Susanna Hoffs (incorrectly called the lead singer even though everyone sang in their albums) has some excellent solo work as well. Her album Someday is well worth listening too. Some people wondered if she was any good outside of The Bangles and this album ought to settle any doubts. She is undeniably talented and the range of songs prove it. One song, Picture Me, is a video on Vevo (and can be seen on YouTube).
Walmart-Walmart-Walmart
Walmart is really getting their moneys worth with the constant reminders that Walmart provides food to the show. You know it is getting ridiculous when it looks so obvious they are reading from a script.
Eva Longoria is in the house
When the aspiring winners came in, they remark about the large mystery box on the dais. You would think they might guess it is a surprise celebrity guest. Hopefully neither Paula Deen or Eva Longoria are claustrophobic. It must be weird standing inside that large box listening to people entering and commenting on what they are seeing.
I had no idea Longoria has a restaurant in Las Vegas. Joe Bastianich says she is the real deal when it comes to food. And from the ingredients she selected, it shows. An interesting mix of Mexican ingredients for the cheftestants. The three chosen to be judged are Bri, Eddie, and Savannah. Natasha does not like Bri much and upset her dish gets adored. Even more upset when Bri wins. Bri heads to the pantry and has to decide between two (Walmart!) baskets. One has fewer ingredients but has a whole hour to cook while the one with the most ingredients (including a steak) is only thirty minutes. She selects Natasha for the short time basket and everyone else for the 1 hour. Natasha does not like Bri and thinks a vegetarian does not belong in the top ten. Too bad, says Gordon, since he announces Bri is in the top ten. Natasha cools her heels while everyone else cooks away.
Epic Fail
Natasha does just fine with her challenge and wins rave reviews. Luca thinks his dish is bad, but obviously his prayers paid off as Joe likes it. The three on the bottom are Lynn, James and Krissi. Now over four years the judges have seen and tasted some awful dishes. The one presented by Lynn goes into that rare Epic Fail category. The judges were astounded he presented them with such an awful dish. It is visually unappealing, like cow puddings with fruit thrown on top. Really there are few adjectives that describe how awful it looks. While James and Krissi have poor dishes, Lynn is truly in a league all by himself. Needless to say, he is the one sent home. Which is a shame considering how good he is. Everyone is shocked by the elimination and it makes clear no one is safe. Except perhaps Walmart.
Surfs Up!
Gordon and Joe arrive by jet skis. I wonder how many times they had to do it to get it right? Graham is snorkeling and comes ashore. Trust me that is a sight not worth seeing. Our cheftestants are at Surf City USA aka Huntington Beach. Cue the Beach Boys! Sadly their music is not played and Krissi makes a dismissive remark about surfers (she will not be welcomed back to Surf City!). Their task is to feed them fish tacos. Jessi having won the elimination competition gets to pick her team and those left over form the other team. Oh and she gets to choose that team leader. She chooses Savannah thinking she is weak but she has strong leadership skills. Team Jessi is slower to get going and James’ sauce is initially rocket fuel requiring him to retool it. Team Savannah sidelines Krissi after tasting her fried cod going with a grilled fish instead. She is relegated to preparing the tacos and she instructed to make them nearly burnt (something later she denies hearing). Krissi is not happy with this.
Some miscues in serving lead to some wait times but in the end, all the surfers are fed. Now instead of pushing a button, they have the surfers jump on the surf board representing the team they liked best. It looks bad for Team Jessi at first but then the scores tighten up and they beat Team Savannah decisively. Back at MasterChef kitchen Graham has a Chicago Cubs shirt on. Now remember this was filmed many weeks ago but designed to be shown the week before the All Star Game, which by the way is being shown on Fox this coming Tuesday. The winners all get team shirts from their city and tickets to attend the game in New York City! Now that is a nice deal. Of course the bad news is that Team Savannah now faces a dreaded pressure test. One person is to be saved and the others face a difficult task.
Krissi and The Three Chickens
Team Savannah goes to the wine room to decide who gets saved. Krissi lets loose and it quickly goes downhill. It gets so loud everyone in the balcony and the judges can hear Krissi’s profanities. Joe Bastianich, in his column over at People writes:
Speaking of never making it to L.A., had we heard the mouth on Krissi earlier, she might never have left Philly. I don’t mind a little attitude and spunk, but her behavior in the wine room was embarrassing – not to mention unproductive – and that bothers me. Keep quiet and cook, Krissi.
What was surprising was Bri. She is no pushover and gets in Krissi’s face, who threatens to beat her up (and says in the confessional she used to beat up girls like Bri in high school). Ultimately Jordan gets the pass and Savannah, Krissi, Luca, and Bri face the dreaded pressure test. And it is a doozy. Remember last year when they made Frank and Josh cook three different souffles? Well this is almost the same but even worse. Gordon wants a perfect pan seared chicken breast, Graham wants a perfect southern fried chicken, and Joe wants an Italian stuffed chicken breast (with cheese and meat). Oh and have them all done in 40 minutes please.
Only Krissi gets all three right (her pan roasted was just slightly underdone though) She gets the pass. Luca does too though his fried chicken and Italian chicken were not well cooked. This leaves Bri and Savannah. Savannah really botched all three preparations while Bri saved herself on the Italian chicken breast. Savannah turns in her apron and leaves but is reminded she did pretty well to get that far. And now there are just nine left. Next week: sausages!
Final Thoughts:
An interesting two parter. Eva Longoria adds a touch of glamor but, appearances aside, it was not an easy challenge to come up with a dish that would pass muster. The fact that Bri won is a surprise (especially to Natasha who dislikes her) and shows she has some serious cooking chops. However she has a serious limitation in being a vegetarian. This is not Vegetarian MasterChef, so she is going to be faced with more tough cooking challenges out of her realm. And Natasha does have a point, though crudely made. It will be very hard for her to win considering that she will have to masterly cook some upscale dishes that will include meat and poultry.
Seeing Lynn go was hard. This is a guy with a lot of talent but he put up a plate that was completely wrong. Perhaps it was pressure or something else that led to his making serious culinary mistakes. Krissi was not far behind with her awful cupcakes but Lynn was in a league all to himself with that dish.
The surfer competition was pretty neat. It got them out of their comfort zone again forcing them to cook under pressure for a large group of people. Savannah was the better organizer, I think, but once Jessi got her team into gear it went very well. Something must have happened to the quality of Team Savannah as time went on. They got a lot of positive reviews but Team Jessi got the win in the end. As for Krissi, I have already said she is an odious contemptible person (and a bully). Nothing shown here changes that appraisal. She is right about one thing, she will likely bring herself down. We have already seen when angry how she tends to fail (the infamous catfish and mashed potatoes). She goofed up adding an ingredient to her cupcakes that turned them into doorstops. It would be delicious if Natasha, who I think is better than Krissi, is the one to out-cook her. The pressure ramps up now with fewer people left in the competition. Surfs up!
Titanic:The Experience will be opening in Buena Park, CA on 1 Aug 2013. The exhibition will be at the former Movieland Wax Museum. Bodies: The Exhibition will also be opening at the same time at this location.
UPDATE(23 Jul 2013)
1. Service to Parkside Intermediate is not dropped and will continue on the 140. Service to Terra Nova in Pacifica is being moved to new route 49.
2. Route 141 will be altered on 26 Jan 2014. According to SamTrans summary of 26 Jan 2014 changes: “Realign route via San Bruno Avenue to improve direct service to San Bruno BART; only serve San Mateo Avenue on select trips.”Both the 140/141 will serve the new Caltrain station at San Bruno Ave.
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SamTrans has announced important changes beginning 11 Aug 2013. Here is a quick summary:
1. Routes 390/391 weekday service service eliminated and replaced by route ECR. Weekday ECR will run every 15 minutes between Palo Alto and Daly City BART stations. Service to San Bruno and South San Francisco BART stations discontinued.
2. Another change to Route 140 (Pacifica to San Bruno BART). The twice daily school bus trips are being discontinued and new Route 49 will do this service.
Changes scheduled 26 Jan 2014
1. Route 140 will be extended to SF Airport Airtran.
2. Express route KX will operate between Redwood City and San Bruno BART including an SFO airport. Peak hour service to San Francisco Transbay Terminal.
My take:
As noted in a previous post, the new ECR drops San Bruno BART dropping direct service to Tanforan and BART. People taking SamTrans have two choices taking the bus to Tanforan. Option 1: Take ECR to bus stop at Sneath & El Camino Ave(north and south) and walk to Tanforan. Option 2: Get off at San Bruno Ave & El Camino(north and south) and catch an eastbound 140 to San Bruno BART. BART is the easiest option. Simply take BART to San Bruno and you are right behind Tanforan. Downside: costs more than SamTrans.
There is also in 2014 another option of taking the KX. This mixed route is being shortened from its present start in Stanford to Redwood City. This shortened route will run between Redwood City and San Bruno BART during offpeak hours and into San Francisco during peak hours weekdays. A stop at San Francisco International is part of this route. Weekend service will operate hourly. Note: This route does not duplicate ECR and only stops at selected stops.
The 140 change is a surprise and threads a tough needle. SamTrans states it is forbidden by federal law from providing dedicated bus service to schools. That is why bus routes such as 140 divert over at certain times during the school year to serve schools like Parkside Intermediate. Now they are discontinuing such service and shifting the service over to a new route (49) in August. Presumably this limited run meets federal regulations by making all regular and school stops when it runs. One possible reason for this change is that commuters who boarded the school trip buses found it added extra time getting to BART or catching an ECR.
The three city tour of Jewels of Titanic will end its journey at the Titanic Exhibition at Luxor Hotel in Los Vegas on 21 Jul. According to the press release, after this exhibit ends the jewels will be redistributed to other Titanic exhibitions. Admission to the Luxor Titanic exhibition includes Jewels of Titanic. Admission prices, hours of operation, and other information can be found here.
2. Orlando Titanic Exhibit Makes Snow
