One of the Just So stories (The Crab that Played with the Sea) has a poem at the end comprised of shipping line names. In fact, here it is:

CHINA-GOING P & O’s
Pass Pau Amma’s playground close,
And his Pusat Tasek lies
Near the track of most B.I.’s.
U.Y.K. and N.D.L.
Know Pau Amma’s home as well
As the fisher of the Sea knows
‘Bens,’ M.M.’s, and Rubattinos.
But (and this is rather queer)
A.T.L.’s can not come here;
O. and O. and D.O.A.
Must go round another way.
Orient, Anchor, Bibby, Hall,
Never go that way at all.
U.C.S. would have a fit
If it found itself on it.
And if ‘Beavers’ took their cargoes
To Penang instead of Lagos,
Or a fat Shaw-Savill bore
Passengers to Singapore,
Or a White Star were to try a
Little trip to Sourabaya,
Or a B.S.A. went on
Past Natal to Cheribon,
Then great Mr. Lloyds would come
With a wire and drag them home!
You’ll know what my riddle means
When you’ve eaten mangosteens.

When I was small the only thing I got out of that was a passionate desire to eat mangosteens. Now it reminds me to talk while I can to old people because they know things; things that will vanish without trace when they die. I was thinking about this walking through Jericho the other day – the weird geo-vibe of the place you grew up won’t affect anybody else and will totally vanish when you do.

Anyway, I have now eaten mangosteens. Ian brought some in about a year ago to the office*. They were amazing. They are the size of a small apple, balls crafted in shiny dark red paper, and inside they are segmented like tangerines, but with no fibre. Textured like a good pear, flavoured like a lychee. Ambrosia. Ian says we can get them in Singapore, but because of the dye in the skin they’re banned from most hotels.

*this was also the occasion when we sent him off to the upstairs kitchen to eat his horrible smelly durian in isolation and someone from another office called the gas board. Durian is amazing. You can also get that in Singapore, but I don’t think I will. Cheesy mango with a sock-scented flavour of corruption all its own. The only person I’ve ever met who liked it as much as Ian was Pippa the dalmatian, who licked the empty container for about 10 solid minutes, till we took it away from her. This feeds my conviction that Ian, like all the best people, is secretly a dog.

Cunard is in the process of building a new ocean liner, the much anticipated Queen Elizabeth.  She is to be the sister ship to the Queen Victoria and is set to make her maiden voyage to the Iberian harbours and the Canary Islands in October 2010.  Cunard picked this itinerary because the original Queen Elizabeth also took this same voyage.  She will sail out of Southampton, and make calls to Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de la Palma, and Funchal for this two-week voyage.  Her decor will be an art deco style, and the music and dance will also mirror this era.  As the website says,

“Relive in modern glamour high society events of the 1930s and 1940s as you grace ornate rooms whose rich décor recalls the halcyon days when our first Queen Elizabeth ruled the waves.”

For former Cunard President Carol Marlow’s press conference announcement introducing Queen Elizabeth, click here.

To see a video of the keel laying ceremony of the Queen Elizabeth, click here.

There have been visits to the Fincantieri Shipyard, in Italy by Cunard’s videoblogger, and here are the videos, enjoy.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 (Adding the Queen Elizabeth name to the bow)
Part 4 (Interiors)

(Photo from Cunard.com)

 –Saundra

Sunrise aboard OM ship Logos Hope in the GMT-2 time zone.

TAKEN BY: Thomas Brouwer
© 2009 OM Ships International

Sail with Logos Hope.

While in Halifax, Nova Scotia during our voyage on the Queen Mary 2, we took an excursion to the Titanic Cemetary.  This was a bus tour, and it was quite comfortable on a misty day.  Our tour guide was quite informative and shared some information about some of the synagogues, churches and buildings along the way, which were of significance to this tour.  If you get a chance take this tour, it’s quite interesting.

Once we arrived, we were given the option to stay on board or to go to the cemetary (note that this excursion is immediately after the “Titanic Museum”, see my article here).  After a short walk to the burial site, you see a large sign and an area of numbered tombstones.  Some bodies which weren’t identified were simply numbered–this certainly left a somber feeling to me.  Those who knew the names of those buried applied their names at various times.  If they had the money to put the names to tombstones they did, otherwise a simple number was left on the stone.  The tomb of the unknown child is here and is remembered by many with gifts.  The unknown child has been recently examined–scientists have been trying to determine the exact child’s family, of which at the time of my trip is yet to still be found.  Additionally, the character in the 1997 movie Titanic, “Jack Dawson”, was a fictional person of a J. Dawson buried in this cemetary (but his first name is not “Jack”, it was Joseph and again, the movie character is entirely fictional).  I’ve read that it’s a coincidence that there was a J. Dawson on board the vessel. 

I would highly recommend taking this tour as you will find that there is a lot more to this tour than just who is buried here.  There is a lot of background and history revealed about the people and the city.  I’ve left out a lot and I do this tour no justice.  I’m sure you will enjoy this tour if you go, it will be an eye opener.

Titanic Cemetary Signage

J. Dawson Tombstone.  Notice how simple the design.

The Titanic Cemetary in Halifax, Canada

Tomb of the Unknown Child.  A more elaborate site.

(All photos: By me)

–Saundra

I’ve thought of a new phrase that fits Eve nicely:

“You don’t deserve a ship until you lose it a few times, and you don’t deserve to fly somewhere until you’ve lost a ship there a few times.”. Let me elaborate.

Months and months ago, my alliance owned a small area of nullsec. Being the rookie pilot who had just finished mining ice in a borrowed mawkinaw to pay for his first hulk, I had rapidly become bored of highsec mining. So, being the rookie that I was, I loaded up my Itty V with some lasers, my hulk, and some secure cans and went through 6 red nullsecs without a scout.

What? I was an idiot.

Anyrate, I made it to our nullsec pos, somehow, and fitted up my hulk with a nice tank and got to mining. Eventually, some rats showed up. I activated my shield boosters and hardeners, and watched happily as they failed to put a measurable dent in my shields. Still feeling gleeful, I launched my five hammerheads and slowly tore those cruisers to bits. After 45 minutes of mining lowsec ores, I realized the grill had gone out and stepped out to light it, leaving my tank running in all it’s cap stable glory. After a minute or two of cursing at pieces of newspaper, the grill was lit and I returned to mining to find my pod sitting in an elite mining barge wreck with two battleships and three serpantis cruisers flying around.

One Myrmadon, two Iteron mark Vs, and a Vexor later, I felt that I had learned which boxes to watch for threats and what to do when they came out, in nullsec space.

Three hulks later, in a variety of locations and situations, my ship “Achnavah V” is flying strong and has survived 3 WH ganks and 4 nullsec runs.

Humans don’t appreciate what they have until they lose it. In the case of Eve, you don’t really appreciate that 100 million ISK ship until you lose it a couple times due to your own stupidity. I fly a domi with a tech I tank for sleeper C5s, and I’ve lost one so far. Give it two or three more, and my fit should be perfected, whereas now it consists of 2 remote reppers, a prototype cloak, a tractor, a salvager, five cap rechargers, and one of every hardener with a damage control and a local rep. Well, it was, until it got destroyed. Still looking for non-buffer fits, and hull upgrades V is 4 days away.

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet been scarred sufficiently by WH space. Last night, I was scanning an exit because we had run out of heavy water, and found myself cloaked 10km off a WH to nullsec with 2 helioses there uncloaked with me. They were russian, and one bout with the online translator told me that he wanted to sleep with the mother of my ship or something. After finishing scanning down the system, I approached the WH to see if it was a good fuel-bringing exit (no luck, nullsec) when, 5km off the WH, something knocked me out of cloaked and I found myself webbed by the helios, who then launched his one drone which began to sloooowly peck at my health. The second helios showed up with a gun and target disruptor and I, being the idiot that I was, tried to employ my afterburner and ECM at the same time, and ran out of cap. Turning off the ecm, I managed to AB to 22km away from the first helios that was scramming and tried to warp to a planet that was ahead of me and to the left. Unfortunatley, he caught me again before I could warp and I wasn’t able to get away from him before I was killed and lost 6 sister probes and a launcher which, thankfully, was destroyed in the explosion. After exchanging various emicons and youtube videos of people mocking the other, I ran back in my capsule to our neighboring WH and got into my backup Buzzard, reverting back to regular scan probes at a 10% reduction in scan strength (and my ship is now called “Lucky Bastard II”, bet that’ll screw with some heads.)

if I had been smart in any sense of the word, I would have immediately entered the WH I was 5km away from, then jumped back through, covops cloaked and flew my merry way off. If that hadn’t worked, I should have run away from them while aligned to a damn celestial. If that hadn’t worked, I should have at least launched my sister probes so the dude couldn’t have gotten them. And if that hadn’t worked, I should have a native russian speaker prepare some insults for if this happens again, but really, I deserved this.

I didn’t notice what knocked me out of cloak, I was watching season one of SG-1 while scanning, I didn’t have even a small shield booster fitted, or a webber, and I froze up in combat.

Yes, I still freeze up in combat. After being caught by several gatecamps and surviving the few by running away, my run away strategy is much better than my fighting skills (9k in gunnery >.<). If I had been calm enough to analyze my environment instead of clicking in a random section of space and mashing the afterburner and melting my poorly managed cap, I’d be 60 mil richer.

So, according to that scenario, I don’t have an accurate grasp of combat itself, WH combat, and expensively fitted scan ships. Once I secure my plex for this month, I’ll grab some more scanning equipment and be a little more careful with WH systems with known hostiles. If history creates trends, then by “Lucky Bastard V”, I should be able to manually fly my Buzzard through decloaking objects 2.5km apart, but it’s gonna take a few more ships to learn the nuances of WH combat. On the other hand, I think I’ve mastered “oh-shit-sisters-fuck-run” WH encounters, after losing… 2 hulks, a retriever, an Itty V and a better-fit Vexor.

PHILOSOPHY SHOULD LEAD SCIENCE

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

 Any high school student will tell you that leaves of plants use carbon dioxide of the atmosphere and water absorbed by the roots to make starch in the presence of sunlight for use by the cells of plants. As a layman, certain doubts arose in my mind which I discussed with senior students and a professor in university. I should confess, instead of clearing my mind, it only helped to confirm my thesis that every cell in the plant (except dead cells !) re-uses the CO₂ and H₂0 , released during respiration, for synthesizing starch. This is purely a philosophical conclusion,as I lost touch with the world of science in March 1957 after B.Sc. examination.I shall enumerate some of my points :

1)      The extremely tender, minute root tips are always growing and require continuous supply of starch.In very tall trees,the distance from top leaves to the root tips may be as much as 300 metres.There is no proper mechanism for transport of starch over such distance,unless we can locate different channels for upward movement of water and downward movement of starch in dissolved form, right from root tip to leaf tip and back. Xylem and phloem tissues are mentioned as responsible for this movement,but in trees like teak, jackwood etc all tissues inside the bark except perhaps a thin  layer of cortex, are absolutely dead and impervious to water, being filled with wood oil and compressed by the weight of the trunk. That is why we are able to make furniture,boats,ships etc with wood. Actually, the clever tree is making use of the dead cells as a skeleton-like support for its branches and leaves ,the latter being mercilessly dropped after making use of them!

2)      In Silent Valley in Kerala, I was shown a very tall tree, hollow inside, with two convenient natural holes, one at the bottom and the other at the top. We can see the sky, looking up from the bottom hole! The tree is alive. How is water and starch transported when xylem and phloem are absent?  

3)      In Australia, ring cutting was extensively resorted to, for felling trees. The bark and a small part of cortex was removed by making an eight inch deep cutting round the trunk at the bottom. After about six months, the tree falls down dead. This clearly proves that the outermost live cells are responsible for water transport.

4)      We plant rose cuttings. The cells on one end develop into a shoot and cells on the other side produce roots .Plant cells are remarkably versatile.Every cell can split and produce all chemicals required for making a duplicate cell . It is impossible to believe that a root cell will wait for starch to come from leaves, when raw materials are available as a result of its own respiration, and it has the necessary technical know-how for making even complicated proteins. Do we not re-use waste in a space station? Are we cleverer than plants?

5)      There is no way for a plant cell , except in the leaves, to get rid of CO₂ produced during respiration. When I, earlier, circulated my doubts in this regard, via email,I got only one response .The botanist had only one word-‘diffusion’ to desciribe the process. In the humans, is it enough if we just say ‘respiration’? We study all detailed mechanism in human physiology. In the same way, should we not describe the method used by plants to obtain oxygen and get rid of CO₂? The professor also said the same thing.As adjoining cells are also producing CO₂, how is diffusion possible?The area surrounding the roots will become saturated with CO₂.The root will die. The conclusion is inescapable: cells are recycling water and CO₂ produced during respiration.

6)      When mango fruits are produced in bulk during the season,the number of leaves are actually curtailed! Will farmers curtail production of food grains when it is required in bulk? Laburnum tree becomes almost yellow with flowers in the season, leaves hardly visible. How is starch produced when leaves are reduced?

7)      Bamboo, papaya tree etc are hollow,in the case of the former, there are segments,each one a waterproof compartment . Coconut tree mysteriously carries gallons of water to make toddy. If you cut the tree, not a trace of water is found. Are trees using nano technology?

8)      In my view,the main function of leaves is to pump water up for which lot of energy is required.Naturally,they make large quantities of starch which attracted the attention of botanists who hastily came to the conclusion that only leaves are concerned in this process.

9)      Maximum number of fish thrive in the deep oceans eating planktons which make starch in strata which receive practically no sunlight.

In view of the above, I feel more research is needed before we come to a firm concusion about the mechanism for production of starch and its transportation.

Today, institutions like NASA have all the technical capabilities to study this issue which should not be left to the comparatively ill equipped botanists.

The funnel . . . forward on William Francis Gibbs‘ ship, you know,

SS United States.  Check this youtube for clips of her departing NYC and passing beneath the  unfinished Verrazano Narrows Bridge.   Now if Bart  sees the foto above, he may think the funnels are attached to the blue structure with square windows and hasten to add the shot to uglyships. Here’s a youtube suggesting why it’s in Philly and another showing her dock in NYC in 1955.

The paint is flaking pretty bad.  Anyone know if tours (even of the dock right alongside) are EVER arranged?  One more clip, with great NYC docking scenes.  And when might her fate be announced?  Read here.

The clue on the device below, a little closer-cropped than yesterday, can be found at the 8 o’clock position.  ”Emerge”

does it mean top speed, to emerge?  It’s one of many displays built into SS-319, Becuna.  Check here for wiki entry.  Honestly, although Henschel Corp still exists not far from Amesbury, my old stomping and rowing ground, I don’t know the name of the device shown.  (Actually, “motor order telegraph repeater.”  See Les’ comment at left. ) If you check no link here but one, check this one for a dory shop still building ‘em after plus-200 years.

BB-62, built in Philly and retired to Camden with a full life in between.

Seen from above, the hull reminds me of a kayak.  Severn passes with load.

Provenance, more recently, for these clunkers was the bottom of the harbor.  They were brought up around Thanksgiving by a dredging team.  It makes me wonder . . . how did they get there?  what might be preserved inside?  Thanks for this foto to Allen Baker –who has provided a recent “ship-trip-tease” foto.

From yesterday’s post:  #5 mermaids come from a mural aboard Moshulu (ex-Kurt), a former steel cargo barque.  By the way, “moshulu” means “dreadnought” in Seneca.    Moshulu was once owned by Heinz Schliewen, who also owned some of the P-liners, so ably illustrated by “you-know-who-of-the-cliff.”  Moshulu is one of five surviving Clyde-built barques, four if Falls of Clyde goes.

#6 turns out to be T-AFS Saturn (ex-RFA Stromness), a decommissioned combat stores vessel berthed for now at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  A future participant in target practice?  By the way, next time I get to Philly, I’m doing a Navy Yard tour.

And some old business below:  my brother’s garbage-can turkey.  Thanks to Les for catching an omission:  do NOT use a galvanized can.  Aluminum is better.  My brother had told me that too.  Thanks, Les.

All fotos but Allen’s by Will Van Dorp, who is back on the bank of the sixth boro.  Quick question:  The Delaware River flows between Camden and Philly.  Where are the headwaters of the Delaware?  Answer tomorrow.

Just a few volunteers showed up to work on board Falls of Clyde today, so we didn’t get a whole lot done. We checked the ballast water levels and did some other minor tasks.

The past week was a stressful one for me, workwise, so I was happy to sit quietly in the sun on the fo’c’sle head and enjoy the gentle motion of the ship as she moved with the swells.

The poop deck is a good place to watch ships entering and leaving Honolulu Harbor. The brigantine Robert C. Seamans was heading out to sea, but had to wait for the Kokua, towing the Matson barge Mauna Loa, to pass.

Two Hawaiian Tug & Barge tugs went by right before the Kokua (true to her name) helped turn the Mauna Loa around in the basin.

All the while, the poor Star of Honolulu had to wait her turn to back away from Pier 8.

This is the first post in the fourth year of the blog, and I’m not telling much about the fotos.  Tomorrow I’ll identify what I can. The onliest clue I’ll give is this:  all fotos have been taken since November 26 sunrise, and all fotos but one were by tugster.  Tomorrow I’ll identify the other photographer.

1. Which ship?

2.  Which ship?

3.  Which ship lies beyond Vane Brothers Severn?

4.  What provenance?

5. Aboard which ship?

6.  I actually do not know the name of this vessel or the significance of its colors.  Maybe someone does?

Daniel Z have built a brilliant trading cog.

See more details Flickr.

Those of you who know me, know of my long-standing interest in the history of the Royal Navy in the Age of Sail. I have been feeling rather guilty as of late, because that interest has taken a bit of a back seat due to my involvement in the effort to preserve the Falls of Clyde. Therefore, I was pleased to learn of a connection between the two.

The late John “Jack” French Whitehead (1913–2002) was a master woodcarver who, among other things, specialized in carving figureheads for ships. Two of his projects: Falls of Clyde and HMS Warrior.

From Mr. Whitehead’s obituary in the 8 March 2002 issue of The Independent (UK):

“Originally built in Scotland in 1878, the Falls of Clyde was under a full restoration project in Honolulu for the Bishop Museum when in 1974 Whitehead was given the job of replacing the original carving. A massive 8ft high, it weighed over a ton and a half. Ever the perfectionist, Whitehead flew out to supervise the fitting of the ‘White Lady’, possibly the first time a carving of this size had been fitted on a vessel in over 100 years.”

“One of the last Whitehead and [Norman] Gaches projects was perhaps one of the most important carving commissions undertaken on a British vessel. HMS Warrior was built in 1860 at the Thames Iron Shipbuilding Company in Blackwall, London, the original figurehead having being carved by James Hellyer and Sons of London. By the late 1980s she was under restoration in West Hartlepool, on behalf of the British Maritime Trust and in need of a new figurehead, the original having been destroyed as late as the 1960s.”

Here is the Falls of Clyde’s figurehead as it looked in 2007:

In early 2009, after it had been removed when the ship was being prepared for scuttling in the Summer of 2008:

Although I have had the fortune to visit HMS Warrior, I regret that I do not have a photo of her figurehead. However, here is a link to an article about the ship which includes a picture of Norman Gaches working on it:

Way of the Warrior

(It is interesting to note that both vessels served as fuel hulks before they were restored.)

The upcoming new Disney ship, the Disney Dream, began construction in Papenberg, Germany’s Mayer Werft shipyard on March 2009.  The ship is due for delivery to Disney in early 2011.  There has been much anticipation and excitement for this ship in the past months with press releases, videos, and more.  The Disney Dream will have many of the same inspired themes, ideas, and touches like the other ships.  For example we do know that in the lobby atrium there will be a bronze statue of Admiral Donald (Duck).  The Disney Dream will encompass 14 decks, be an 1,115 feet long, 128,000-ton vessel with 1,250 staterooms which can accomodate up to 4,000 guests.  Additionally, this ship will have the first water coaster at sea called the AquaDuck.  Look for more updates in the year to come.

Keel Laying

Additionally, Disney’s private island “Castaway Cay” will be expanding.  See the video below for more information. 

Castaway Cay Expansion

Lastly, but most certainly not the least, Disney will be sailing to ALASKA!   Disney will be sailing to Alaska starting in April of 2011 through September 2011, and will make stops to Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm, and Ketchikan.  Additionally, it will be sailing along the west coast to San Francisco, California and to Victoria and Vancouver, Canada.

Disney to Alaska!

The news doesn’t stop there.  Disney is going to be adding another ship, the Disney Fantasy, as well.  I look forward to hearing more about it as time unfolds.  Disney has exciting days ahead.

–Saundra

News came this week that the OM ship Doulos would be retiring sooner than planned.  She sits here in Singapore drydock.

TAKEN BY: Maurits Luth
© 2009 OM Ships

Learn more about Doulos.

english bay, vancouver. yesterday.

i stood by the edge of the sea yesterday. i felt like i was in an old nautical painting.

like i was an ancient sailor pining for the blue depths and grizzly pirates. waiting to once again sit below deck chasing rum and cackling about one-eyed pete’s fishing tales. the exaggerated ones he tells right before he falls off his stool. 

the rain dripped off the front of my black hood as the barges in english bay bobbed in the water as if in a bathtub. their little lights barely peaking through the fog, whispering for company. it was really cold. and the whole world felt alone.

i’ve never really considered myself a daydreamer. but maybe i am.
or maybe the sea just makes me pine,

desperately pine.

Credit for this foto connundrum goes to Joel Milton, whose site Towmasters has long been on my blogroll.  Same for the next two.  I notice the same fotos appear on gCaptain.  Thanks to Joel, the sun and UASC Shwaikh for lining up and

channeling something!  I’m stunned.

As large as the Staten Island ferry is, it looks tiny beside Shwaikh, which itself would  seem small beside the likes of Emma Maersk.  These fotos illustrate collaboration, one of the joys of this blog;  Joel passed these shots in the sixth boro onto to me, and I share them.

A gull swooped in  while I lined up this shot of Marie J. Turecamo (ex-Traveller, 1968).  I like what serendipity added as  Marie J. headed eastbound for

following Laura K. on its next assignment, passing MSC Turchia, an interesting name . . . the Italian spelling for Turkey, which

seems just right somehow, three days before Black Friday.  That’s Margaret Moran (1979) assisting.

To paraphrase a saying formerly overused, this is the last post in this run;  in a few days I’ll write the first post in the rest of the life of this blog.

Last three fotos by Will Van Dorp.  Happy Thanksgiving all.  And thanks for reading the blog.

After thought completely related:  As I drove  away from the KVK yesterday, I hit a traffic jam right in front of the municipal buildings & courthouses on Richmond Terrace:  crowds were carrying frozen turkeys away from an open trailer parked there.  And this made me want to mention my all-time favorite turkey experience:  garbage can turkey.  Check it out here.

Svelte wrote a great review about the new LEGO Imperial Flagship on Eurobricks.

You may read it here.

September 1, 2009

Copyright © 2009 Jim Sizemore.

No matter what the posts are this week, the backdrop is that around this time  three years ago I started this blog.  Now nine hundred fiftysomething (!)  posts later, the greatest gratification for me is the  sense of community I’ve gotten from my work.  I feel it!  Thanks to all who’ve read, commented, contributed info and/or fotos, and lurked.  If you’ve only read and lurked, great although I’d love to hear from you too.

Recent traffic has been heavy on Grouper, a 1914 tug that languishes upstate along the part of the Erie Canal where I grew up.  Click here for the details.  Anyone need a project for a mere $26,000?  I took the pic of Grouper in early November 2009, less than three weeks ago.

Fire Fighter, to date FDNY’s unit with the greatest gpm output,  cuts an impressive profile as she cruises Gravesend Bay.

LORO Baltic Mercur has an intriguing silhouette.

An unidentified tanker disappears out the Ambrose, way beyond the bow of barge Charleston.

Uh . .  Brendan (3900 hp), who are you trying to kid?  You’re no stand-in for Pati R, (5100 hp), at least from a “see-over” perspective even with your telescoping house.

And what you do NOT see in the offing of the sixth boro, large fishing vessels like this one, a midwater trawler like Challenger.  This foto was taken off the east end of Cape Ann.

A front page story in today’s NYTimes links Challenger and Brendan Turecamo, in a manner of speaking:  a guy catching a 157-pound bluefin from a kayak that weighs less than 30 pounds,  human-powered although it had to be registered as a motor vessel for him to get a tuna license,  Check it out; tuna have impressive bollard pull.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Here’s a herring song to hold you over til my fishing post:   version a and version b.  I prefer b.

Note:  Although I like assembling/looking at a random set of fotos, I’m aware that each one tells at least one good story . . .  only problem is that I don’t know the story, the very one that in fact I should.  These common unknowns overlay the pictures with a sense of mystery.  Maybe seeking the mysterious and exotic is why I keep doing this blog.  Of course I also do it because it completes me.