Ink Lake

Dear Veterans — Thanks!!

The USS Yorktown, being struck by a torpedo during the Battle of Midway. 

To The Moon

On this date in 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted-off aboard Apollo 11 to the Moon.

 

Here is some amazing high-speed film of the launch. Each of the five F-1 engines of the first stage, generated 1.5 million pounds-of-force; more thrust than the 3 Space Shuttle Main Engines combined. It is still, the most powerful liquid-fueled rocket engine ever used.

Sic Transit Gloria

Nikolas Giakoumidis - AP

When I read the amazing news that in the course of building a new subway line in Thessaloniki, Greece, workers have unearthed a 2,000 year-old Roman road, I couldn’t help but think of this scene from Federico Fellini’s Roma.

The road still bears the marks from horse-drawn carts, as well as children’s games. Thankfully, unlike in the movie (which is fictional), this bit of history will be preserved. 

Thanks

Robert Capa

Thank You!

Situated .5 miles southwest of Bony (Aisne), France, the Somme cemetery is a 14.3-acre site that contains 1,844 American graves. The chapel walls bear the names of 333 missing.

“Established by Congress in 1923, the American Battlefields Monument Commission (ABMC) commemorates the service, achievements, and sacrifice of U.S. armed forces. ABMC manages 24 overseas military cemeteries, and 25 memorials, monuments, and markers. Nearly all the cemeteries and memorials specifically honor those who served in World War I or World War II.

The sacrifice of more than 218,000 U.S. servicemen and women is memorialized at these locations. Nearly 125,000 American war dead are buried at ABMC cemeteries, with an additional 94,000 individuals commemorated on Tablets of the Missing.”

An Affair To Remember

Of course, it was 100 years ago today that the Titanic sank (though it struck the iceberg shortly before midnight). There are so many dimensions to the event that can spin you off into years of fascination.

My own surrounds the Californian — a ship that ten miles away, saw the great ship stop for the night, fire its distress rockets, and yet did not come to its aid. The Carpathia, the ship that did come, had to steam from fifty-four miles away, by which time, 1,500 people were dead.

Anyway, the Titanic intersects with another of my interests, Bayside Cemetery. One victim of the disaster, George Rosenshine is buried there. Like so many plots at the cemetery, it had become overrun. But my friend Anthony Pisciotta, who has done a ton of work at Bayside, cleaned up his grave, along with the family plot.

Interestingly, Rosenshine, who was from a wealthy family and was a first-class passenger, traveled under the assumed name of “Thorne”, as he was unmarried, but accompanying him on the trip was his girlfriend, (or “mistress” to use the terminology of the time), Gertrude Thorne. She survived, though she wasn’t provided for in his will. Coincidentally or not, she’s buried in the Bayside as well.

P.S. Earlier in the night, the Californian’s radio-telegraph operator did attempt to warn the Titanic of ice, but was told by Titanic’s operator to “Shut up”, as they were busy sending passenger traffic.

This incident was filmed for James Cameron’s Titanic, but cut, because the movie was already running more than three hours in length (which limited how many times a theatre could show a movie in a day, thus eating into profits).

Bless That Blessed Plot

Thought I’d post this in honor of the visit to the U.S. by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Ex Cathedra

Pope Benedict says gay marriage threatens the “future of humanity itself”.

The Third Reich…not so much.

And lest you think that was then, this is now, Benedict venerated  Pius XII , in December, 2009.

A Vatican spokesman, said of Pius XII’s elevation,

“With this decree the Pope says that Pius XII is a person that we have to admire, recognize as a model of Christian virtues, and it is very, very important that the church gives officially this appreciation of this important pope that we know was guiding the church in very difficult times”.

Yes, things were tough all over. So thank you for your two cents, oh source of righteous compassion, wisdom, and mercy.

The Miracle Worker

Helen Keller with Annie Sullivan, the woman who helped Keller share her humanity with the rest of us humans. I love Keller’s smile!

 

Here’s a picture of Keller (who lived in Forest Hills, btw), with Charlie Chaplin. You can see she’s holding her hand just as in the film clip above.

My Neighbors

I love my city, so very, very, much.

Tim Bradstreet, from a photo by Derek Schiavone