Tag Archives: Jason Project

Titanic, Titanic Exhibitions, Titanic Miscellaneous

Sunday Titanic News

Happy Sunday
Happy Sunday

1.Update on recovered Titanic plaque
A long lost memorial plaque to Titanic musicians that was found in a scrapyard in Naples, Florida has been rededicated at Titanic The Experience this past Thursday and is on display. Doug Turner, who bought the plaque for $138, discovered it had been commissioned in 1912 by Musical Mutual Protective Union and had been in the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. It then disappeared and all attempts to locate it were unsuccessful. Apparently it ended in at the scrapyard through a construction worker who sold it to them while heading down to Miami.

The plaque has a sculpting of a muse, lyre, a small iceberg, and the first four musical bars of Nearer My God To Thee. All eight musicians who perished are listed. It will be on display at Titanic Experience for six months.

Source: Titanic Experience Rededicates Musicians Plaque Honoring Those On Doomed Ship(15 Aug 2013,Orlando Sentinel)

2. Lucky 16-Year Old Joins Ballard On Week Long Expedition
C.B.Wren, a 16-year old sophomore at Augusta Preparatory Day School, was chosen by National Eagle Scout Association to represent the Boy Scouts aboard Ballard’s exploration vessel Nautilus. Wren joins other students and educators for the week long exploration of Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.

Source: Augusta Prep Student On Expedition With Titanic Discoverer(15 Aug 2013,Augusta Chronicle)

3. Okay you have heard the joke “the fish was this big….” but this one is likely for real according to the Huffington Post. Marco Liebenow was fishing off the coast of Norway where he caught a 515 pound halibut in July. 515 pounds is a lot of fish and you just cannot reel it in like a normal fish. It had to be dragged back to harbor alongside the schooner. The current world record is 459 pounds for a Pacific halibut caught in 1996 in Alaska. The International Game Fishing Association will have to officially determine it’s a record holder. So what do you do with a 515 halibut? That is a lot of fish and chips!
Source:515-Pound Halibut Caught By Marco Leibenow Near Norway May Be World Record(17 Aug 2013, Huffington Post)

Titanic II, Titanic Miscellaneous

Tuesday Musings

*The Brisbane Times is reporting that Blue Star Line, the Clive Palmer company behind the plan to build Titanic II, has submitted paperwork to trademark Titanic, Titanic II, Titanic III, Blue Star Line, and Gigantic. Gigantic was included because Palmer believes it was name considered but never used by White Star. Since trademark does not convey ownership, he sees no problem with his application. Others may differ on that point. 20th Century Fox did trademark Titanic for use when Cameron’s Titanic came out but only for entertainment services, movies and motion pictures. Generally a trademark violation occurs when one party uses it in a way that reminds you of the trademark product. For instance Coca-Cola (and the word Coke) are trademarks of the Coca-Cola company. If you use either of those two to market a soft drink (or in some way to convey a connection to Coke), they can sue for trademark infringement. Cola is a generic term for flavored soda and not trademarked (except when part of a name like Pepsi Cola)

Is Palmer worried about copy-cats? That would be the only reason to trademark these particular words. Assuming this is true, he would want to prevent others from naming their ships Titanic II or III. It is possible other cruise lines out there (like Cunard, for one) see a profit potential in a Titanic replica and could have plans in that regard. There is also just a whiff that all of this might be some grand scheme of something else. What that might be I cannot say but time will tell.

Source:Brisbane Times, Clive Palmer To Trademark ‘Titanic’, ‘Gigantic’,19 Feb 2013

*The Jason Project, founded by Robert Ballard, is a non-profit partnered with National Geographic Society and Sea Reasearch Foundation, seeks to interest students in science. Many schools see this as a way to boost their science and math programs. Find more info at jason.org.

*The recent meteor that landed in Russia causing much damage reminded me of an old Arthur C. Clarke book called Rendezvous With Rama. The opening chapters of the book talked about how the need for monitoring asteroids and meteors came about when a large meteor came crashing down on Earth. Many lost their hearing due to the sonic boom, massive damage resulted from the shock wave to buildings and other things. His book is prescient on how even a small chunk of space rock can inflict a lot of damage. Imagine if it had crashed into a major city. It would look like either a small nuclear device had gone off or the city had been bombed like Dresden in World War II.

*I realize pizza chains seek to draw in customers with new formulations. Papa John’s sent out an advert offering a deal on its—gasp—steak and cheese pizza. According to their website, this pizza has steak, mozzarella cheese, and a creamy garlic parmesan and pizza sauce with an Italian herb seasoning. Those famous Philly steak places are probably laughing while the old traditional pizzerias in New York are just shaking their heads at this. One wonders what is next. Perhaps kung pao chicken pizza?

*You know things are not doing well in the economy when local shops offer “Titanic bargains” just before they go out of business.