Monday Odds & Ends

1. MLB TV has had problems this season. Due to technical problems caused by a third party, watching on Roku has become a guessing game. Will the home or away feed be the one not working right, both, or should one just listen to the game instead? MLB is promising to fix the problem.

2. A Titanic exhibition in Estonia that recently ended broke attendance records for the museum. The Baltic Course reports that 220,000 people visited the “Titanic: story, findings, legends” exhibition that ran from November 2013 to March 2014. “Such a high visitors’ number at our museum landscape is undoubtedly extraordinary and exceeding or even repeating that would be rather complicated. The number of guests of the Titanic exhibition is proof and acknowledgement that we have offered to the public a world class museum experience,” said Maritime Museum director Urmas Dresen.
Source:Titanic Exhibition Breaks Estonian Museum Visitation Record(2 April 2014,The Baltic Course)

3. A letter written by the mother of Titanic survivor Eva Hart will be auctioned off next month reports the BBC. The letter is written on Titanic stationery was addressed to her mother in Chadwell Heath, England. The letter was found inside her husband’s jacket after they were rescued. Henry Aldridge & Son are the auctioneers for the letter and is perhaps the only one of its type to have survived.
Source: Titanic Last Letter To Be Auctioned(1 April 2014,BBC)

Titanic Belfast (side view) Image:Prioryman (Wikipedia)
Titanic Belfast (side view)
Image:Prioryman (Wikipedia)

4. Since opening two years ago, the Titanic Belfast Visitors Center has been visited by 1.45 million people reports Irish Times. It has drawn people from all over the world and broke all projections for attendance. 650,000 people passed through last year showing interest in Titanic has not slowed down. Needless to say, Titanic Belfast is “delighted” with the news.
Source:Titanic Centre Visited By 1.45M People Since Opening In 2012(2 April 2014, Irish News)

5. Hungarians @ The Titanic Film Festival(3 April 2014,Xpatloop.com)
This year’s Titanic Festival – running between 4-12th April – will also present the works of Hungarian film makers too. Erik Novák’s brand-new action-thriller and black comedy mixture Black Soup will have its premiere screening at the festival. Simon Szabó’s short film Wall that won the main award at the Tampere Short Film Festival, and Réka Bucsi’s animation short Symphony no. 42 that competed in the Berlinale can also be watched at Titanic. The original score for the Turkish movie The Long Way Home was written by Mihály Víg, and a special film selection and a round table-discussion will commemorate the recently deceased Miklós Jancsó.

6. Irish Titanic Survivors Featured At Irish-American Cultural Society Monthly Meeting(4 April 2014,The Current)
A journalist will provide a multi-media presentation about Irish-American Titanic survivors and the lives they lived out in the United States during the next monthly meeting of the Irish-American Cultural Society. Jim Curley, a journalist with personal ties to the story, will present a multi media talk on a County May village that sent a group of young women off for better opportunities across the Atlantic Ocean. Curley will give his presentation during the next meeting of the Irish-American Cultural Society at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 15 at the American Legion Hall, New Jersey Avenue and Mill Road, Absecon, NJ.

7. Rostron Cup Part Of Online Auction
Boston based RR Auction will be putting the Roston Cup and other Titanic artifacts up for auction online from April 17-24. Letters photos and other memorabilia will be up for auction and the Roston Cup will likely be the big ticket item for this auction. For details and information about the auction, go to rrauction.com.
Source: Online Auction For 240 Titanic Artifacts(4 April 2014,Business Standard)

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Titanic II Update: Clive Palmer Says It Will Be Built

White Star Flag Image:Yar(Wikimedia)
White Star Flag
Image:Yar(Wikimedia)
Clive Palmer is disputing claims Titanic II is stalled according to Sunshine Coast Daily. It has been recently reported that construction was stalled, no contract had been signed, and the Chinese were not as enthusiastic as Palmer had hoped. The attacks, Palmer now says, are politically motivated. He points out they just finished tank testing and that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese group. Palmer points out that it took seven years to design Titanic and that they are ordering stuff for the ship. He also said the keel will be laid in the third quarter this year.

However Palmer is no longer committed to an exact date for the first voyage, which initially was to be in 2016.

If online polls are to be believed, most do not believe it will be built. Vegas odds makers are not taking bets at this time on Titanic II construction.

Source: Clive’s Titanic Not Sunk Yet(31 Mar 2014,Sunshine Coast Daily)


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Whatever Happened To….RMS Carpathia?

RMS Carpathia (date unknown) Image: public domain
RMS Carpathia (date unknown)
Image: public domain

I got a note asking what happened to RMS Carpathia, the Titanic rescue ship, after 1912.

RMS Carpathia was a Cunard line transoceanic passenger liner and primarily made runs between New York, Gibraltar, Genoa, Naples, Trieste, and Fiume. During World War I she retained doing commercial runs but did carry both Canadian and American troops to Europe.

On 17 Jul 1918, she was sunk by a German U-Boat in the Celtic Sea. Three torpedoes were fired and one hit the port side and the other the engine room killing two firemen and three trimmers. A third torpedo hit as they were lowering lifeboats. All 57 passengers and 218 surviving crew members got off in lifeboats. The German submarine did surface and threatened the lifeboats. Fortunately the HMS Snowdrop arrived on scene and drove it away and rescued the survivors.

The wreck was thought located in 1999 by team headed up by Graham Jessop on an expedition sponsored by National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). However that proved to be the liner Isis that sank in 1936. Noted author Clive Cussler announced in 2000 that his organization (NUMA-the fictional agency in many of his books that Dirk Pitt works for) had found the wreck at a depth of 500 feet and upright on the seabed. The wreck is now owned by Premier Exhibitions, the same group that also owns RMS Titanic, Inc which obtained salvage rights to Titanic. The company has recovered artifacts from the wreck for display in the Rescue Gallery in its Titanic:The Artifact Exhibition.

Source(s):
1. RMS Carpathia (Wikipedia)
2. Press Release:Artifacts From Titanic’s Rescue Ship, Carpathia, to Make World Debut at the Science Museum of Minnesota(9 April 2009, 4-traders.com)
3. Cunard Line: Carpathia (Encyclopedia Titanica)

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Titanic News For April Fool’s Day 2014

film reel1. Those who use the Netflix streaming service will be happy to learn that Cameron’s Titanic will be available. Also coming via streaming are A League Of Their Own, Fox Network’s House, and B0b’s Burgers(season 3), see Lindsay Lohan before she became a hot mess in Mean Girls, those wanting a Scottish adventure will have Braveheart to watch. Saturday Night Live fans may recall the Coneheads movie and Robin Williams made everyone wary of boardgames in Jumanji. If you have been hankering to see the Rocky movies, fear no more as Rocky 1-5 are now streaming. For those who like horror gag movies, Scary Movie 3 is on. And just in time for Easter, The Bible: The Epic Miniseries is available.
Source: From House to Titanic: A Viewer’s Guide to the New Additions to Netflix(31 Mar 2014,E! Online)

2. Have you wondered about dogs on Titanic and what happened to them? The Smithsonian has compiled a guide about those 12 dogs. In The Definitive Guide to the Dogs on the Titanic , small dogs survived while the bigger ones perished. They were kept in kennels on F Deck and looked after by the ship’s carpenter. They got exercise, food, and a bathroom break. And there was a dog show planned but that never occurred. The dogs were let out at some point and were seen running about as the ship sank. There was no truth to oft-told tale that First Officer Murdoch’s dog was on a lifeboat and alerted Carpathia to the lifeboats by barking.
Source:The Definitive Guide to the Dogs on the Titanic(31 Mar 2014, Smithsonianmag.com)

3. Although doubts have been raised about a new Titanic being built by Clive Palmer, there are hopeful signs it may yet come to pass. There was a little noticed passage in a Asia Times about discussions to construct a cruise ship based on a historic, well known ship. No name was mentioned but some speculate it might be Titanic. Considering the source was within the Chinese government, speculation is that perhaps they will want to help fund this new ship to demonstrate how world class China has become in the 21st century.
Source: Chinese Government Considering Cruise Ship Business(1 April 2014, Asia Times)

Warning! Titanic Cliche Ahead
Warning! Titanic Cliche Ahead

4. Titanic Cliche Alert:Reshuffling Cabinet=Rearranging Deck Chairs on Titanic
In the wake of losing power in local elections, French President Francois Hollande has named a new prime minister and now says (after supporting higher taxes) he wants to lower taxes and worker contributions. Rainbow Murray,associate professor at Queen Mary University of London, says “I think it’s really rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Until they sort the economy out, nothing else is going to fix the major reason why the French are so unhappy with the government.” And if you have to fall back on this old tired cliché to make a point about French politics, you need to re-read Shakespeare for tips on how to better use wit to make your point.
Source: Hollande confirms Valls as PM, stands by pro-business pact(31 Mar 2014, CNBC/Reuters)


 

 

Item#3 above is the fake story. April Fools!

Welcome To April

Daisies(1894) William Bouguereau(1825-1905) Image: public domain
Daisies(1894)
William Bouguereau(1825-1905)
Image: public domain

The Romans called the fourth month Aprilis which is how it became April under the Gregorian calendar. April (in the northern hemisphere)is the transition from winter to spring and farmers are generally busy during this month. In olden times, specific festivals to deities were often performed but fell out of use as people become more urbanized and Christianity replaced many pagan beliefs.

Passover and Easter are often celebrated in April. The diamond is the birthstone for April, while the flower is either the daisy or sweet pea.

Shop Amazon – Top Easter Gifts

Titanic II: Australian Newspaper Doubts It Will Be Built

 

White Star Flag Image:Yar(Wikimedia)
White Star Flag
Image:Yar(Wikimedia)

The Australian is reporting that nothing has been done in the construction of Titanic II. Shipbuilding was supposed to have started by now. The newspaper reports that no deal has been signed with CSC Jinling, the Chinese shipyard despite Clive Palmer claiming the deal was “imminent.” No steel has been cut in preparation for its construction. The newspaper further reports the Chinese are not interested in building the ship. Considering how big Titanic is in China, that seems odd indeed. Palmer apparently thought the Chinese would be excited about the project but apparently that has not been the case. It could be that they do want to build Titanic II but would rather do it themselves rather than with Clive Palmer.

The marketing director is quoted as saying the keel will be laid “in the third quarter of this year.” Officially the Chinese company says while it would be difficult to build, they could do it. Palmer might have to consider another shipyard that would be more enthusiastic than the Chinese one. If I were making odds on this ship being constructed, I would bet against it at this time. Palmer really whipped up a lot of excitement but without a signed contract that starts construction, it looks like the skeptics were right, that this was just a publicity stunt. And he has wasted a lot of time and effort because of it.

Source: Clive Palmer’s Titanic II Project Behind Schedule, May Have Stalled (29 Mar 2014,The Australian)


Sunday Scramble

*The official start of the baseball season is here! There are different ways to watch your favorite team, providing you can watch it locally of course.

1. Over The Air or Radio
Broadcast games have become fewer now that most teams have signed contracts with cable sports channels but are still shown. The cheapest alternative next to radio. Provided of course your local team is local. If your favorite team is, as they say, out of market, then continue on.

2. Cable + MLB Extra Innings
The easiest but costs more is the cable company bundle that has the sports channel on it. Mine costs $63 a month to watch both Giants and A’s. If you want to watch out of market games like the New York Yankees for instance, you can spring for MLB Extra Innings which costs a lot of money though some cable companies offer to break it up into smaller chunks you can pay over the season. Due to blackout policies, you cannot watch a local team either home or away on Extra Innings.

3. MLB TV
You can watch MLB games online at their website, through streaming devices to your television, and even on your smartphone. Here are the options fron lowest to highest cost.

1)AT BAT/GameDay Audio
The MLB AT BAT app is for most mobile phones and allows you to listen to any game that is going on, check scores, read news, and watch videos. You can select your favorite teams and get notifications on scores etc. You can also watch classic games. You cannot watch any games except the MLB Game of the Day. Also you can listen to any game being played at the MLB website. No mobile phone? Simply subscribe to GameDay Audio at the MLB site and listen through your computer. There are no blackout restrictions on GameDay audio. Cost is $19.99 with automatic renewal for next season. You do not have to subscribe to GameDay audio to use the AT BAT app but you will not be able to listen to any games. Note: listening to radio broadcasts will chew up a lot of data, so consider only listening when connected to Wi-Fi.

2)MLB TV (basic and premium)
You can watch most out of area games on your computer, streamed to your television through Roku and other devices, and on your mobile device. Basic MLB TV is cheaper but has fewer options. The AT BAT GameDay audio is not included and you can only watch via the website. MLB Premium comes with AT BAT GameDay audio, ability to watch on mobile and streaming devices, and choice of live or away feeds as well. Since GameDay audio is included, you also get the radio feeds when you stream to television. If a game is blacked out, you can listen to the game. You have to be a premium subscriber to access this feature.

Now the bad news: you cannot watch local games as they are blacked out both home and away. You can watch the archive (posted 90 minutes after game end) of the game but cannot watch it live. Also national games (FOX or ESPN) are blacked out though this year Fox is allowing people to watch it live for those on MLB tv except if the game is local.

If you are real baseball fiend and want to watch a lot of baseball, then MLB premium is probably your best choice at $129. 99. If you do not have a mobile phone or streaming but want to watch out of area games, then basic MLB at $109.99 will probably work for you. For those wanting to keep costs low, GameDay audio through the smartphone or at MLB site will work fine. You can also watch the MLB Free Game of the Day on your computer, through streaming device or smartphone.

The biggest issue (outside of tech issues with devices) is the blackout policies. Each team decides its territory which is not limited by geography. You can see a map here. Worst hit are people in the Midwest and some Atlantic states where multiple teams can claim rights so several ball clubs in different states, are blacked out. The Seattle Mariners claim all of Montana and almost all of Idaho. Hawaii is hit hard too. There are many SF Giants and Oakland A’s fans there. The Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Mariners and A’s all claimed Hawaii even though they cannot watch any of the games locally. That has somewhat changed now for 2014. Both the Dodgers and Padres are allowing a sports channel to show their games in Hawaii. But Giants and A’s are blacked out at MLB by those two teams. The Dodgers and Padres got smart while the San Francisco Bay Area teams are out to lunch on the matter. At least you can watch an archive of the game but it is not as good as watching it live. The only place to watch the regular season without any local blackouts is outside the U.S. I understand there is a following of baseball in England.

One other note: do not consider signing up for a dodgy service that will get you a live feed via an international satellite feed (or other means). They are committing theft under U.S. laws and once MLB finds it out, they cut it off and you do not get your money back. For your troubles if MLB finds out you subscribed, they will send a nasty letter reminding you about such illegal services. And for extra measure since they have your name and probably other information, good luck signing up for MLB audio or visual packages in the future.

*Amy’s Baking Company and there two nutty owners are back in the news again.  Crazy Amy is claiming Gordon Ramsay sexually harassed her. This couple must be desperate for attention these days and daring Gordon or Kitchen Nightmares to do something. Their attorney, if they have one, ought to be warning them such claims can lead (and often do) to slander lawsuits. I doubt many are giving it much credence though. But it may be time for Gordon to take the gloves off and put his foot down by making them stand in court to prove their claims. You can read about the claim here.

*Call me contrary but not impressed with Noah. The Ten Commandments (1956)may be fictional but at least it is closer to the original story than this latest Hollywood serving of a Biblical tale.

*Limes are very expensive these days owing to cartels and thefts, so I am told. The produce guy at a store I frequent told me that Chevy’s bought very expensive crates of limes without first checking the price. Ouch! Someone there will be walking out the door for that very pricey mistake. Lemons are cheaper and suddenly Cuba Libres will have a more lemony taste. Salsa too, where limes are often used, will likewise be changing as well.

*Tried watching the pilot episode for Caprica (the prequel to the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica). Snooze.

*The Amazing Race All Stars is pretty good though predictable in some ways. If there are lessons to be learned thus far is (1) Make sure you have a cab ready to take you away; (2) If the challenge is making drinks or doing d.j. work, do not assume you are just mixing drinks!

And that is it for now.


Titanic News: Beer Served On Original Titanic on Titanic II(Maybe)

Wrexham Lager Beer workers, circa 1910. Image: public domain
Wrexham Lager Beer workers, circa 1910.
Image: public domain

More possible evidence that Clive Palmer is not doing a Titanic publicity stunt. The Daily Mail reports that Wrexham Lager, which was served aboard Titanic, will also supply Titanic II if approved by Blue Star Line. According to brewery director Mark Roberts:

“We got to hear about the plan and the fact they were looking to use original suppliers if possible. They have signed up the original brandy and champagne houses and we thought it was only right they should have the original lager suppliers too.”

Now to be clear it is not quite official. The brewery has sent samples to Blue Star and got a positive reaction writes Daily Mail. So the next step is the legal one where documents are signed to license the beer as the official beer of Titanic II.

Wrexham Lager produced a range of lagers under different labels. The Munich style lager was apparently the one used on Titanic. According to Titanic lunch menus that survived, they were served “iced draught Munich lager beer.” Wrexham Lager went out of business in 200o but was relaunched in 2011 by Mark Roberts. Industrialist Robert Graesser bought the majority share in 1886 and secured major contracts with Great Western Railway and British Army. He apparently traveled on a White Star liner to America and took a keg of beer to market it. Apparently it became popular in this country and shipping lines like White Star decided to stock it.

Source: Let’s Hope That’s All That Goes Down: Replica Titanic Cruise Ship Plans To Serve The Same Brand Drinks As The Ill-Fated Liner(27 Mar 2014,Daily Mail)


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