I love this kid.
On Saturday, February 8, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, held its annual LEGO- shipbuilding contest. Read more about it at the Military Times Scoopdeck.
It looks like a wonderful time was had by all competitors – there were adult categories, as well as kids. The children are just cuter.
Here’s a fellow whose interests are close to Anne Bonney’s h-arrgh-t!
I was not able to participate this year, but who knows, maybe next year.
I love these space-time travelogues and this one by the American Museum of Natural History is particularly well done.
Today is King Frost Day – which harkens back to the Little Ice Age when temperatures in northern hemisphere, at least, were below normal. This led to freezing in areas such as London, which were not normally so affected by the deep cold of winter. Frost fairs were held that are reminiscent of other modern and ancient festivals held in the depth of winter. These gatherings provided activity and entertainment, yet were probably rooted in other ancient festivals that marked not so much the long nights of winter as at the Solstice, but the hope that the warmth of the sun would not be too long in returning.
Today (February 4th) is King Frost Day, when the people of London used to celebrate the harbinger of the winter freeze by holding frost fairs on the frozen River Thames. Before embankment, when the river was wider and therefore flowed much slower, it would freeze in winter. Between the 15th century and early 19th century – a period known as the Little Ice Age – temperatures were much lower than they are now, and, during the Great Frost of 1683–84 (the worst recorded in England), the Thames was completely frozen for two months, with the ice reaching a thickness of 11 inches. People could easily walk from one side of the river to the other.
These are my frost photos from this morning:
Here are some frosty tattoos:
Today is Lifeboat Day – the day the first purpose-built lifeboat was launched in England on the River Tyne. More below from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
1790: The first shore-based boat designed specifically for use as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne in northern England.
Christened the Original, she was a 30-foot-long, double-ended, 10-oar longboat built by Henry Greathead of South Shields. She carried 7 hundredweight (784 pounds or 356 kilograms) of cork for added buoyancy and was designed to be self-righting.
Although smaller craft had been pressed into service as lifeboats in the past, Original was the first boat built specifically for sea rescue. She was stationed at the mouth of the Tyne and launched from a shore station. In a career spanning 40 years, she was responsible for saving hundreds of lives.
By 1839, there were 30 lifeboat shore stations operating in the British Isles.
Original was built as the result of an incident in 1789, when a crew was lost after its ship ran aground in stormy seas off the mouth of the river. Although the eight men were in sight of the shore, no one could be persuaded to attempt a rescue that was viewed as suicidal.
Local businessmen upset by the tragedy offered a prize to anyone who could design a true rescue boat. A local parish clerk named William Wouldhave was the winner, and Greathead built Original using Wouldhave’s design.
The first lifeboat association, Britain’s National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (later renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution), was organized in 1824. By 1860, the RNLI could claim to have saved more than 12,000 lives at sea.
Shipboard lifeboats — carried on davits aboard larger ships and generally associated with this type of craft — did not appear until later in the 19th century.
(Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency, RNLI)
A British postage stamp was issued in 1974 to mark the 150th anniversary of the RNLI. This depiction of the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Lightship by the Ballycotton lifeboat Mary Stanford was chosen as the image to be represented on that postage stamp. (source-Wiki)
This is a reposting, but I think it bears the repetition.
Raise a glass to the members of the Lifeboat Service.
Captain James Cook discovered Hawaii on this day in 1778.
He looks pretty stern for a man who spent his life on ocean cruises.
On January 18, 1778, the English explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. Two days later, he landed at Waimea on the island of Kauai and named the island group the Sandwich Islands, in honor of John Montague, who was the earl of Sandwich and one his patrons.
While the encounter started out brilliantly for the Europeans, it did not end well for them. On a subsequent voyage, they were exposed as mortals and not the gods the Hawaiians first believed them to be and trouble reigned in this island paradise. However, ultimately, things did not end well for the Hawaiians.
Here is a little geology information about the Hawaiian Islands that are traveling on the Pacific Plate over a hot spot on the ocean floor.
And here are some more idyllic Hawaiian shots.
My bags are packed – I’m ready to go.
This knitted Great Wall and other wonders of the world are part of the Craft and Hobby trade show going on in Anaheim, California. This exhibit is sponsored by Lion Brand Yarn and was created by Nathan Vincent. Below are other wonders of the world in the exhibit I love the Great Wall on a landscape of crocheted granny squares (above), but also am tickled by the Easter Island fellow wearing an Irish fisherman’s sweater.
This from Twister Sifter. British students were asked to label a map of the US, and American students were asked to label a map of Europe; both with interesting results. Click here to see what they came up with.
I shudder to think what would happen if American students were asked to label a map of the US.
Here are blank maps – try it yourself:
I must have stars in my eyes because this is another astronomical post. I saw this story (click on the graphic for the animation) in the New York Times article on 2013: The Year in Interactive Storytelling. The story talks about the planets outside of our solar system that have been discovered by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. I do love a good info-graphic and find the animated planets just fascinating. There is more to the story here.
No, not really in space.
But one of the places we visited while in Virginia was the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air & Space Museum – and, if you have been there, you will know that it is spectacular! The space is immense, but with sky walks, stairs and balconies, it is easy to navigate. There were a lot of people there the day we visited. The logical way the exhibits are laid out – and quality of the light and airiness of the space – contributed to a very pleasant experience.
Here are some more photos – but go there if you can.
Want to know how big the space shuttle is? That is my almost six foot tall person standing there under it.
Since the topic is related to Air & Space, let me mention the 80th birthday of Flash Gordon:
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934. Ref. Wiki.
And this week’s Tattoo Tuesday photo:
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 