Tag Archives: Sunday

Miscellaneous

Happy Sunday

Image:Petr Kratochvil(publicdomainpictures.net)

September has arrived and Labor Day tomorrow in the U.S. Summer is not officially over but is for all intents and purposes. Schools have already started around where I live, bus schedules now reflect school stops. Already some trees are starting to drop leaves. Halloween decorations, costumes, and candy are showing up in stores. I guess it is never too early to buy candy for Halloween. For retailers the last of the summer retail sales are underway. They need to clear space for autumn, Halloween, and Christmas.

The days are starting to get shorter now. Each day has the sun coming up just a bit later and setting earlier. In some places the weather starts changing as well. Still warm and pleasant days in many cases but nights start getting cooler. Suddenly those sweaters and jackets neatly stowed away are now being brought out of storage and made ready. Alas the summer wear not goes into storage.

Out here we tend to get more warmer weather due to winds shifting from the hotter inland regions in Arizona and the California Central Valley. September and October are considered good months to visit San Francisco since there is less fog. But you can be caught short when the fog makes a surprise visit in the afternoon. Many a tourist is caught shivering in their shorts.

For baseball fans, it is a time when the playoffs firm up. American football is now gearing up so fans are getting ready for an exciting season there. Of course if you are waiting for your favorite show to come back from summer hiatus, the wait is not long. Happy Sunday everyone and welcome (almost) to autumn.

Miscellaneous

Happy Sunday

Now that autumn has arrived, we are seeing the fall colors appear. Leaves start changing color and chilly nights are becoming the norm in many places (except those who have a summer-in-fall climate like in the San Francisco Bay Area). And of course Halloween is not that far away now.  Already retailers are unpacking their Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations and will appear just before All Hallows Eve.

Have a nice Sunday everyone.

Autumn Landscape
Charles Rondeau (publicdomainpictures.net)

Miscellaneous, Titanic

Sunday Musings

Titanic mural at Newtownards Road and Dee Street in Belfast, NI.
(Andy Welsh,http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallrevolution/68715920/)

With summer now in the rear view mirror, autumn is coming up soon. Many stores have already put out Halloween candy and a few costumes. One grocery store nearby has started making pumpkin pies and put out whole pumpkins for sale. But who puts out pumpkins in September? No one that I know of. A few commercials with Halloween themes are starting to appear as well. And of course we are starting to see just the usual beginnings of “true” ghost stories starting to appear.

Autumn is usually the transition from Summer towards Winter. The days get shorter and the nights longer. Temperatures start to drop in most areas but not always. The San Francisco Bay Area usually has its long awaited summer. Most of the year the temperatures along the coast are in the 60’s to low 70’s Fahrenheit and often cooler due to the marine layer. But in September and October, heat arrives from the interior. The wind shifts to off shore and temperatures usually soar sometimes with record breaking days. Usually it lasts just a few days at a stretch but it can be quite miserable with all the concrete radiating heat in downtown Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. Most homes do not have air conditioning. We wait anxiously for the fog to return and rejoice when it brings the cooling we so desperately want. But it creates spectacularly bright days which is great for sightseeing. Beaches that normally are only visited by people walking their dogs or surfers become popular spots. Just remember that sand can be hot as well!

Of course the big news for Titanic buffs is the bankruptcy of Premier Exhibitions and the impending sale of the artifacts. The best news would be for the collection to stay in the U.S. or Britain conserved by a museum (or group of them). Hard to see how it will play out but the big money is on the Chinese to purchase it. Of course they will swear up and down they will keep it all together and in the court’s jurisdiction. I suspect though that little by little it will go over to that new theme park in China where a Titanic replica is being built. What Clive Palmer could not pull off they are doing quite handily. From all accounts, it will be quite a sight to behold.

Going over to You Tube you will find all kinds of videos about Titanic. Some are trailers or clips from the various Titanic movies. Others purport to present shocking new evidence of how it really sank. Some of the more reliable ones are from reputable sources like the History Channel, BBC and others. Then sometimes you come across one that makes you stop and enjoy. My Heart Will Go On has become an international standard from that movie and for Celine Dion her most famous song. Here is a lovely rendition of that song on a violin.


Miscellaneous

Happy Sunday

Image:Petr Kratochvil(publicdomainpictures.net)

Summer is winding down now.  Schools are starting to reopen (to the delight of parents).  And the days are slowly getting darker earlier. Still a while to the Autumn equinox but it is not that far away either. I have also seen cartons of Halloween items being stored and soon to be deployed on store shelves. But for today we can enjoy a nice Sunday and a tune from John Denver. Have a nice Sunday everyone.

Miscellaneous

Happy Sunday (And Daylight Savings Time)

Colorful Sunrise
Photo: Bobby Mikul(publicdomainpictures.net)

Happy Sunday! Today is once again a day we loose one hour of sleep thanks to daylight savings time. Some really like it while others loathe it. If you live in areas that have lots of farms, farmers do not like it much. In fact, they dislike it intensely because they have to feed and maintain their animals 365 days a year and it causes problems with their schedules.

Daylight savings time is really a misnomer. We are not saving time in any real sense of the word. The sun still rises and falls as before, it is just our measurement of the length of daylight has been altered. We get extra sunlight because our clocks move ahead one hour. Those with resorts in sunny tropical areas generally like it but Hawaii stays on standard time year round. They see no practical reason to change it. Some claim the extra hour of daylight reduces crime though studies are mixed. Likewise energy conservation is debatable as well. More recent evidence is that more energy is expended during daylight savings time rather than on standard.

Easter is not that far off now. Good Friday begins on March 30 (Passover also coincides this year as well) and Easter Sunday on April 1.


Miscellaneous

Happy Sunday

Here is some excellent choral music for your Sunday.

https://youtu.be/ypaxldnZhb8


Titanic, Titanic Miscellaneous

Titanic Musings

Photo: George Hodan (publicdomainpictures.net)

It is a rainy day here in Northern California. We are being hit with a major storm dumping lots of water and the strong winds are making things treacherous. Trees have come down, power has gone off for many, and some areas have lots of flooding. It amazes me that people will try to drive through large standing pools of water. Most cars end up stranded since waterproofing is not a standard option on most vehicles. And car engines do not like lots of water sloshing about under the hood. Of course the weather forecasters and reporters breathlessly report on every part of storm and the havoc it creates.

Funny thing how repetitive the media can be. For instance the recent claim that the coal bunker fire caused more damage than White Star wanted to admit and contributed to Titanic sinking by weakening the steel, is now going around the world in that all too familiar pattern. It is reported like a new story with headlines that report Titanic’s demise has a new theory. It is not that old since debate on the coal bunker fire has been around for a while. The new claim is that White Star was criminally negligent and ought never to have allowed Titanic to sail. Walter Lord was fond of saying that with Titanic there are many “What If’s.” For instance had they paid more attention to the ice warnings, put more lifeboats on the ship, the lookouts had binoculars and so on much of what happened could have been averted. And this is another one of those type of What If’s.

Over at Bustle they have a listing of the 6 Titanic conspiracy theories. Most are known to Titanic enthusiasts and researchers but here is the list for those who have never seen or heard of them. I am only putting four of the most well known ones on my list.
1) Titanic Switch Theory
No it is not Titanic down there but Olympic. Depending on who is pushing the theory, either the it was done for insurance reasons or to hide something much worse.
2) The Sinking Was Deliberate
This one says Titanic was sunk to kill specific persons (Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isador Strauss)because they opposed the creation the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. However things got out of control and more people died as a result. And the Illuminati were involved as well.
3) U-Boat
A German U-Boat sank Titanic and depending on who is advancing the theory either it was an accident or deliberate.
4) That Old Standby: Mummy Curse
A cursed mummy was aboard Titanic and that curse means Titanic and all aboard were doomed. Except there was no Egyptian mummy aboard and its story can be traced back to those trying to stir up a story for their own use.

My own “conspiracy theory” is that Marvin The Martian was testing out a new weapon.

Have a nice Sunday everyone.