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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
Bruce,
I thought I had sent this but it appears that the news server I subscribe to had crashed. I have just come back home (in Sydney) from home (Penang - the centre of the universe). I didn't want you t think I was rude. Hi Bruce, Yes, it is I. I did leave Trinidad but suffered a terrible longing for Larry's and Wilbur's postings to this newsgroup. I missed Larry because he educates me, stimulates my mind at times with new information and mostly because he makes me smile. I missed Wilbur because he makes me, who is an insane as everyone else, feel normal and well balanced. I did leave Trinidad in mid May a couple of days after my friend Jack (who was heading for Nova Scotia direct with one stop at the US Vigins) and headed to Grenada and the ABC Islands. By the way, Bonaire would have to be one of the world's best easily accessible dive spots. No anchoring (excepting with a brick or stone anchor) is permitted and spearguns have to be handed over to Customs upon entry. To stay, one must moor for US$10 per diem (that's how we pedantic educated people refer to a day) on public moorings along the foreshore. At a lot of the good dive sites there are dinghy moorings whefre you can dive from. Most of the places do not require scuba to see a lot though we did dive at the steep dropoff behind the boat. It is quite eery with one's bow in about 5 metres and one's stern in 200 metres. You can wade out a few metres from the sandy beach in the middle of town and snorkle about small reefs with an incredible variety of fish, spongs and coral. You are asked not to feed the fish but they are still very unafraid of humans. After we landed at Curacao, the next of the three still belonging to the Dutch, we realsied that, though I could still make it, I would have to go hard to get through to either Australia or Malaysia before the next cyclone season with little lee way for bad weather (I, unlike your good friend Wilbur, am not a real sailor and thus prefer to try to avoid beating for long periods into the weather) and Sod's Law. I would also miss out on spending any decent amount of time in places along the way. The "We" I refer to is my Owner and our son who at 15 is a living embodiment of the maxim know to those who have had dealings with pubescent youths - "Hire a teenager whilst they still know everything". They intended to meet me at Costa Rica, but as I was behind schedule in my maintenance, continued on to Trinidad after two weeks of waiting. Women are strange. Half a bloody world away and they still want to control. The Owner had taken 12 weeks off work and had to get back, and the son to school. Thus, it was decided upon that Herodotus would lay up until later in the year at a secure marina in Spanish Waters in Curacao. The cost is only US$(bloody economic imperialism again)252.00 per month. By the way, with reference to the earlier discussion on yacht formalities, I had an interesting experience whilst clearing out. I went to Immigration with my passport, not realising that I had only a three month visa. The rather aggressive female Immigration officer demanded loudly as to whyI had overstayed my visa by 2 weeks. I apologised and tried to explain that it was an oversight and that I never looked at dates on entry stamps. This made her even more furious and more aggressive. I remarked that I obviously needed some legal advice and left the office to go to the nearby Customs office where i knew one of the officers who I had dealt with on importing yacht gear. As I started to explain my problem, the Immigration woman stormed in and from the door demanded (shouted). "This man has overstayed his visa - seize his passport!!" and stormed out. It is my understanding that nobody can take your passport - it is the property of the issuing government. I then said to the Customs officer "See, she is irrational - what should I do?" He began to stamp my papers and quietly said "Go with God brother" (he is a fellow Moslem and that is what people say upon departing company). I, being rather thick as is my normal custom, replied "Yes, but what do I do now?" He looked at me as he handed back the papers with the port clearance and said "Brother, GO with God". I got the hint, fueled up the boat picked up the refilled scuba tanks, said good-bye to friends (no lovers unfortunately) and left - minus an exit stamp in our passports which I was supposed to have prior to getting port clearance. First time something like this has happened. It's an interesting world isn't it? By the way, I am thinking of asking your friend Wilbur to accompany me across the Pacific after Christmas with a two fold benefit. I could learn about sailing and have amusing compay (I prefer not to sail alone) and also give the newsgroup a break for a while from his pathetic "life is tough, it's tougher if you're stupid" (John Wayne) anti-anything-I-cannot afford-or-don't-have-the-guts-to-do attitude. As he displays the obvious symptons of short man's disease, at 5' 10" I am bigger than he and thus could thump him occasionally to keep him in line. I am unsure if he would be comfortable on my 41 footer after the luxury of his Swan 68 though. What do you think? cheers Peter Peter! I thought you were back in the water and far out on the briny by this time, although you never did mention where you were actually going -- whichever way the wind blows? Along those lines a mate departed Phuket non-stop for Perth. some time went by and I didn;t hear from him (O.K., he is offshore sailing). finally I get an e-mail. From Kuching. I write back, "Frank, I hate to tell you but Kuching is in the wrong direction..." He comes back, "Listen, we had winds on the nose from the time we left Phuket. When I finally got to the Sunda Straits I was so sick of it I turned downwind... anyway, Kuching is quite a nice place to visit". Let us know how things are going. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeatgmaildotcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:32:34 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: Bruce, I thought I had sent this but it appears that the news server I subscribe to had crashed. I have just come back home (in Sydney) from home (Penang - the centre of the universe). Snipped a bunch. I then said to the Customs officer "See, she is irrational - what should I do?" He began to stamp my papers and quietly said "Go with God brother" (he is a fellow Moslem and that is what people say upon departing company). I, being rather thick as is my normal custom, replied "Yes, but what do I do now?" He looked at me as he handed back the papers with the port clearance and said "Brother, GO with God". No I believe that your passport can be seized with the purpose of making sure that you stay around until the trial, although perhaps "seized" is the improper term; perhaps something like "retained" would be the proper term. There was a 'german guy arrested at the Satuan Immigrations - apparently on a German warrant. In any event they took his passport away right on the spot. But perhaps they then turned it over to the German embassy. I got the hint, fueled up the boat picked up the refilled scuba tanks, said good-bye to friends (no lovers unfortunately) and left - minus an exit stamp in our passports which I was supposed to have prior to getting port clearance. First time something like this has happened. It's an interesting world isn't it? By the way, I am thinking of asking your friend Wilbur to accompany me across the Pacific after Christmas with a two fold benefit. I could learn about sailing and have amusing compay (I prefer not to sail alone) and also give the newsgroup a break for a while from his pathetic "life is tough, it's tougher if you're stupid" (John Wayne) anti-anything-I-cannot afford-or-don't-have-the-guts-to-do attitude. As he displays the obvious symptons of short man's disease, at 5' 10" I am bigger than he and thus could thump him occasionally to keep him in line. I am unsure if he would be comfortable on my 41 footer after the luxury of his Swan 68 though. What do you think? cheers Peter That is quite a haul are you stopping along the way or essentially doing a delivery? If the latter it is a damned long trip. Are you heading for N.Z. or Australia? Forty-one feet might seem like a lot when you are trying to maneuver in a crowded marina with the tide running 3 - 4 knots and the wind blowing but it would get awful small with our friend aboard. To be frank there are a very limited number of people I would sail with longer then an overnight run to Langkawi or a Sunday sail and as I said, it is a long trip.......... There was a guy, Frank the American, here for a year or so. He has a 45 ft. boat and does these deals where you get four or five people and pay him to help sail his boat from, say, Honolulu to Auckland. No autopilot, hanked on sails, real old fashioned sailing. I guess he makes a dollar because he is still at it. Anyway, on the stern "roll bar" where the solar panels, wind generator and all that junk is mounted there is a comfortable looking seat mounted about as high as you can get on this structure. One day I asked him what it was for as it is obviously too far aft to con the boat from and he said it was for people who were feeling grumpy. If you were a bit out of sorts they sent you up on that seat for your watch -- about like spending half the day half way up the mast. He said it really helped to keep people friendly... Sounds like you are one of those Paid Captains, talking abut "Owners" and all. I assume the wide legged white shorts and knee socks and epaulets. How did you get this position? You are going to get a bad reputation leaving the boat just because the typhoon season is approaching. Absolutely no question about lubberness. You are supposed to forge ahead, hell, a month or two of upwind sailing will make a sailor out of you. Write when you get time. Or e-mail if you can decipher my address. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:52:09 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:35:29 +0700, wrote: Sounds like you are one of those Paid Captains, talking abut "Owners" and all. I assume the wide legged white shorts and knee socks and epaulets. How did you get this position? Bruce. You surprise me. I assume that you have been married for a few years and should know better. Here in Sydney when I say "I'll just ask my owner", most long married men and women smile and readily understand what I am referring to. Even though I have been in IT and telecommunications for 30 odd years, my major at university was in Zoology, specifically fisheries and I can't but help see people in terms of animal behavior. It's just an acknowledgement that in most societies I have been in, the wife is usually the "head" of the home in practical terms - even if it is only the power behind the throne. Ah! Different society. When I was brought up a fellow might say, "I'll ask my wife", but the more manly answer was "let me think about it and get back to you", which of course meant that he'd ask his wife if they could go to the clam bake? I usually just say we.... No, I am not a paid captain. It is my boat that I built myself from bare timber (sheathed in GRP) - hence wooden mast, poured sockets for the rigging and other bronze fittings cast from my own patterns, etc., and launched in '93 in New Zealand. The 'owner' referred to is "the" wife. Yes it is a long way and there are few people I would sail such a distance with. Unfortunately these all have job commitments, get sea sick or are in poor health. A lot of the solo sailors I have met have tried taking on crew in the past and finally decided it was easier to sail alone. One way to get your wife to come along is co call from where ever the boat is and say something like, "Honey, I've been looking for a crew all over and the only one I can find is this 30 year old Dutch girl......" A mate of mine did that and I swear his Missus must have ridden her broom to have gotten to Phuket as fast as she did. As to final landfall, not sure but have been invited to stop and stay at Haiphong, Vietnam as a guest of Customs. I may however end in Sydney and later sail through Indonesia again to Malaysia. Still deciding. cheers Peter You are in the Caribbean and headed for Vietnam? That is kind of the long way round isn't it? Or are you going east? Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:38:10 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:16:21 +0700, wrote: One way to get your wife to come along is co call from where ever the boat is and say something like, "Honey, I've been looking for a crew all over and the only one I can find is this 30 year old Dutch girl......" A mate of mine did that and I swear his Missus must have ridden her broom to have gotten to Phuket as fast as she did. It's not a case of her not wanting to come. She does as I have been fortunate enough to have a wife who loves the sea. It's just that our son needs to attend High School and therefore she has to remain in Sydney for a while. Have you ever read D.H. Lawrence? In "The Sea and Sardinia" (I think that is the title), one of his books about his travels through Italy with his wife Frieda von Richthofen, he constantly refers to her as "she", never by name. As an aside (my mind wanders off very easily), whilst at Taormina in Sicily he wrote one of my favorite poems "The Snake". It is very beautiful. Nope, the only Lawrence I read was the guy running about in Arabia during the first World War and I don;' think that he had a wife. As to final landfall, not sure but have been invited to stop and stay at Haiphong, Vietnam as a guest of Customs. I may however end in Sydney and later sail through Indonesia again to Malaysia. Still deciding. cheers Peter You are in the Caribbean and headed for Vietnam? That is kind of the long way round isn't it? Or are you going east? Yes, a faster trip would possibly be down the South Atlantic to Cape Town and either across to Australia or up to South East Asia but I'd like to do the Pacific. I have friends who sailed through the Beagle Channel with a quick trip to Cape Horn Island. It is so very tempting to do this and then head up to say, Easter Island and French Polynesia from Chile, but it would be nicer with a companion. They said that Argentina and Chile are great places to sail through. As there are few foreign boats and no "water Winnebagos" the yacht clubs are inviting and generally charge no fees which seems a positive sign of their hospitality. But, as I said, I prefer to have a companion to share the experiences with. I can handle the being alone bit as there are lonelier situations within a crowded city or amongst a group of people. It is also nice to be able to get longer sleep periods when one does not have to worry about other vessels. Things are still fluid at the moment. cheers Peter Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) Being of British heritage - New Zealand was conquered by the British you know -- you should follow custom and put the boy in a good boarding school, a proper education you know. On a less frivolous aside I have some friends (from N.Z. also) that actually did place their son in a boarding school after having decided that the curriculum and teaching quality were vastly superior to that in public school. However, as a good Moslem you are allowed four wives. Of course, If I remember correctly, you must treat each wife equally so if you built another boat...... Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 01:04:24 -0500, cavelamb himself
wrote: Well, maybe the great unwashed masses? But I personally tend to read libraries by the stack. And use the interlibrary loan system constantly! You can find a good book on Amazon for 85 cents. But it costs $4 for shipping. Mr., Carnegie's legacy is still free - except for late fees. Thanks for this. I didn't mean to imply that Americans were illiterate or unread. Someone must be buying books from Amazon. Do you know the background to the Carnegie libraries? Do they still exist in the US? In New Zealand, unless I am mistaken, they have all been taken over by the local councils (county and town local government as opposed to central government). The building are still there and are almost all identical in construction - red brick with concrete or plastered lintels and pediments. Peter |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:02:02 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:04:01 +0700, wrote: However, as a good Moslem you are allowed four wives. Of course, If I remember correctly, you must treat each wife equally so if you built another boat...... Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) Bruce, Bruce, don't even suggest it. Another Englishman, Oscar Wilde said that "The definition of bigamy is one wife too many; monogamy is the same thing." Sorry that you have missed out on reading any D H Lawrence. Surely you must have heard of "Lady Chatterly's Lover', "Sons and Lovers" and "Women in Love"? I know that I meet few Americans who have read any of Hemmingway or Mark Twain apart from "Tom Sawyer", but I imagined that you were of an earlier generation. A great American, Carnegie, gave a lot of money to build libraries in places such as little N.Z. I used to believe as a kid that therefore (kid logic) Americans were a very well read people. This was reinforced when I was about 10 and somebody bought me the 52 volume set of Encyclopedia Britannica - 'Great Books of the Western World" - produced, not in the UK, but by the University of Chicago. everything from Homer to Freud including Plato, Euripides, Descartes, Shakespeare, Euclid and so on including my own Uncle Herodotus after whom I named my boat. At 10 I believed that Americans must be reading these. Pretty dumb huh! cheers Peter Ah Peter, the last work iin morning after remarks, "I'd like to marry you but I'd have to build a boat first...." Probably in self defense, my mother introduced me to the public library as soon as I could read. My Goodness, there was a lot of information in that building and right on the way home from school -- if I took a bit of a detour. At one time I was the youngest person in my home town to possess a "library card". I guess I have read D.H. Lawrence, at least the more lurid parts of Lady Chatterly. Really hard core stuff in my youth. Hemingway, is good and bad. Most of the bull fighting books were great on detail but dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled on the tension and fear building up before the matador enters the ring. I found them tedious. On the other hand the old man and the sea, was, I believe, one of the best books about small time commercial fishing that has been written. Mark Twain (which, by the way, is 12 feet) is a writer that I enjoy as I do Kipling. Neither of them would be published in the present day of "political correctness" which seems a puzzle as it is neither political nor correct, but that is another story. I keep a copy of Kim and re-read it at least once a year. Most of my reading lately is trash. I work on the boat; I eat supper; it's too early to go to bed; I read a book, the last thing I want to do is read a good book because I've got to get up tomorrow and do it all again, so I read trash. Science Fiction; Fantasy; Detective stories, etc. Well, given that you have a boy in high school it might have been correct, when you were ten, that Americans read, but it certainly isn't true now. I have no contact with the U.S. except for the internet so can't say from experience but when I read some idiot's remarks about something he saw on TV that is physically impossible it really makes me wonder. But then have political leaders who are old enough to remember the last time we got ourselves into a situation where we didn' know how to get out of it and did it again. Truly, Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Enough for this evening. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
Herodotus wrote:
:Do you know the background to the Carnegie libraries? :Do they still exist in the US? In New Zealand, unless I am mistaken, :they have all been taken over by the local councils (county and town :local government as opposed to central government). :The building are still there and are almost all identical in :construction - red brick with concrete or plastered lintels and :pediments. The buildings are still around, though lots of them are no longer libraries. They're pretty small buildings, and aren't well suited for modern library use, which has more than books. (Some people might say less than books.) The grants that were intended to fund them have mostly been used up as operating money. The libraries are run by local library authorities, usually town or county sized. |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:56:08 +0700, wrote:
Ah Peter, the last work iin morning after remarks, "I'd like to marry you but I'd have to build a boat first...." Probably in self defense, my mother introduced me to the public library as soon as I could read. My Goodness, there was a lot of information in that building and right on the way home from school -- if I took a bit of a detour. At one time I was the youngest person in my home town to possess a "library card". I guess I have read D.H. Lawrence, at least the more lurid parts of Lady Chatterly. Really hard core stuff in my youth. Hemingway, is good and bad. Most of the bull fighting books were great on detail but dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled on the tension and fear building up before the matador enters the ring. I found them tedious. On the other hand the old man and the sea, was, I believe, one of the best books about small time commercial fishing that has been written. Mark Twain (which, by the way, is 12 feet) is a writer that I enjoy as I do Kipling. Neither of them would be published in the present day of "political correctness" which seems a puzzle as it is neither political nor correct, but that is another story. I keep a copy of Kim and re-read it at least once a year. It seems that we have similar reading habits. "The Old Man and the Sea" is one of my favourites. I probably read it once a year. I would very much like to have the fortitude and calmness under difficult situations of Santiago. Kipling's "Kim" is also and fired my imagination as a child. I bought the audiobook of it from Naxos and listen to it during night watch. I have also reduced it to MP3. If you want a copy I could send a copy to you by snailmail if you should so wish. Listening to it is not the same as reading but it is still excellent. I am amassing quite a lot of audiobooks, some of which I buy and other which I download from Project Gutenberg. They are a great way to pass the time at night if you want to stay awake. My cockpit stereo can play MP3s but I normally load everything on my little 6 Gig. iRiver which has a 32 hour battery life and doesn't have the battery problems etc of iPods. I also download podcasts from time to time and store them for later (I use Limewire - free) to keep abreast and stimulated. http://www.gutenberg.org As for Lady Chatterly, I first read "her" at age 13 - the book was smuggled into N.Z. as it was banned there. Today, we would wonder what all the fuss was about. I recall that my friends and I were sorely disappointed when we read it. There was much better titilation (no pun intended) in the African articles of National Geographic. Just shows how societies' mores have changed (I will be 60 in November). I much prefer his other works and especially some of his poems such as "Don'ts" which for a long time was my Ten Commandments and 'Snake". Did you know that his remains are interred in the US? He was a great friend of Aldous Huxley who wrote "Brave New World", another Britain who lived and died in the US. Huxley wanted to become an American citizen after living there for years but objected to the part of the oath that he would take up arms in its defense - like Lawrence and many others of the time, he was a pacifist, a belief strengthened by the insane slaughter in WWI.. I think I have searched out and read nearly all of Mark Twain's writings. Apart from his descriptions of life and the world about him, I like his humility, humour and his ability to see things in a cynical manner. I don't mean in a negative way but in the true meaning of the word - to see things as they are. Most of my reading lately is trash. I work on the boat; I eat supper; it's too early to go to bed; I read a book, the last thing I want to do is read a good book because I've got to get up tomorrow and do it all again, so I read trash. Science Fiction; Fantasy; Detective stories, etc. Well, given that you have a boy in high school it might have been correct, when you were ten, that Americans read, but it certainly isn't true now. I have no contact with the U.S. except for the internet so can't say from experience but when I read some idiot's remarks about something he saw on TV that is physically impossible it really makes me wonder. But then have political leaders who are old enough to remember the last time we got ourselves into a situation where we didn' know how to get out of it and did it again. Truly, Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. At the risk of being flamed again, I really feel for the families of those getting killed in this generation's Vietnam. I have met a lot of servicemen, mainly navy, around the world and many of them are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who joined the military to get an education or a trade. Perhaps if those who decided to send the troops to conflicts that are not directly in defense of the homeland had their sons in the ranks and in the front line, Vietnam and Iraq would not have happened. Vietnam now seems so pointless and such a terrible waste of life. A Japanese Haiku best sums it up for me. Of twenty thousand warriors life and sword and shield Naught hath remained but the summer grass Growing over the old battlefield By the way, when we stopped off at Hawaii on the way back to Sydney, we took our son to Pearl Harbour to see the Arizona Memorial and the WWII submarine that the owner and I had visited in 1982. To our delight we discovered that the Battleship Missouri was now a permanent exhibit. It is one "big mother" of a ship. One link of the stud-link anchor chain would serve well as a storm anchor for Herodotus. I didn't know that it was refurbished and was used in the First Gulf War. The spot on the aft port side deck where the Japanese surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay is marked and fenced off with ropes. I always regretted that the Japanese Yamato, the largest battleship with the biggest guns ever built was sunk by US planes. It would have been good to see it today. I wonder how the two, Missouri and Yamato, without intervening air power, would have fared in a standoff. I have an excellent recent Australian SBS documentary "Battleships" if you would like a copy (Do they have electricity in Bangkok to use your DVD player?). Enough for this evening. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) cheers, Peter |
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On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:08:01 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:56:08 +0700, wrote: (Reading preferences snipped) I've long been partial to Joseph Conrad for sea-related literature. But like many others, I've drifted away from the appreciative and thoughtful sensibilities good literature demands. Well, perhaps not from the sensibilities, but at least from the time and effort needed to tune them properly. There are many reading works I promise myself to return to, and yet it doesn't happen. First on my list is Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," which is easily read, and totally engrossing. For now though, I'm settling for the adventures of Bruce, Peter......and Wilbur. --Vic |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:38:10 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: Have you ever read D.H. Lawrence? In "The Sea and Sardinia" (I think that is the title), one of his books about his travels through Italy with his wife Frieda von Richthofen, he constantly refers to her as "she", never by name. As an aside (my mind wanders off very easily), whilst at Taormina in Sicily he wrote one of my favorite poems "The Snake". It is very beautiful. He later joined the RAF as an a/c two. Died in a motorbike crash. Horribly mundane way to go for El Lawrence. of Arabia. Brian Whatcott Altus OK |
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Brian Whatcott wrote:
:On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:38:10 +1000, Herodotus :wrote: :Have you ever read D.H. Lawrence? In "The Sea and Sardinia" (I think :that is the title), one of his books about his travels through Italy :with his wife Frieda von Richthofen, he constantly refers to her as :"she", never by name. As an aside (my mind wanders off very easily), :whilst at Taormina in Sicily he wrote one of my favorite poems "The :Snake". It is very beautiful. :He later joined the RAF as an a/c two. Died in a motorbike crash. :Horribly mundane way to go for El Lawrence. of Arabia. That's T.E. Lawrence, not D.H. Lawrence. Different people. |
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On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:53:24 -0500, Brian Whatcott
wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:38:10 +1000, Herodotus wrote: Have you ever read D.H. Lawrence? In "The Sea and Sardinia" (I think that is the title), one of his books about his travels through Italy with his wife Frieda von Richthofen, he constantly refers to her as "she", never by name. As an aside (my mind wanders off very easily), whilst at Taormina in Sicily he wrote one of my favorite poems "The Snake". It is very beautiful. He later joined the RAF as an a/c two. Died in a motorbike crash. Horribly mundane way to go for El Lawrence. of Arabia. Brian Whatcott Altus OK Sorry Brian, wrong Lawrence. That was T.E. I was talking about David Herbert Lawrence. He died of tuberculosis. cheers Peter |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:19:28 -0400, Ruby Vee
wrote: On 2007-08-16 07:56:08 -0400, said: Probably in self defense, my mother introduced me to the public library as soon as I could read. My Goodness, there was a lot of information in that building and right on the way home from school -- if I took a bit of a detour. At one time I was the youngest person in my home town to possess a "library card". My father introduced me to the public library -- after I read everything in the children's library and was too young to get a library car in the adult library, he gave me his library card to use. Then he walked me to the library, introduced me to the head librarian and told her "Let Ruby read anything she wants to read. If she has questions, or if you're really concerned about whether it's appropriate for her, call me." It was a small town. I think the only call my father ever received wasn't from the librarian, but from my high school English teacher who had a problem with me doing a book report on "The Godfather." He threatened me with detention (and I had a job to get to!) and demanded to know what my parents would think of me reading such trash. (It was in the early 70s.) My father had given me the book! The English teacher called my father, and it was the last time he ever questioned my reading choices! I guess I have read D.H. Lawrence, at least the more lurid parts of Lady Chatterly. Really hard core stuff in my youth Hemingway, is good and bad. Most of the bull fighting books were great on detail but dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled on the tension and fear building up before the matador enters the ring. I found them tedious. On the other hand the old man and the sea, was, I believe, one of the best books about small time commercial fishing that has been written. I feel the same way about much of Hemingway's work. But the old man and the sea was good. And Lady Chatterly was quite interesting -- at least the lurid bits. I was too young when I read it to really understand the story, though. I ought to give it another try. Mark Twain (which, by the way, is 12 feet) is a writer that I enjoy as I do Kipling. Neither of them would be published in the present day of "political correctness" which seems a puzzle as it is neither political nor correct, but that is another story. I keep a copy of Kim and re-read it at least once a year. I enjoyed Mark Twain. And Kipling, but I loved Jack London. And Steinbeck. Most of my reading lately is trash. I work on the boat; I eat supper; it's too early to go to bed; I read a book, the last thing I want to do is read a good book because I've got to get up tomorrow and do it all again, so I read trash. Science Fiction; Fantasy; Detective stories, etc. It's hard not to enjoy trash like sci fi, fantasy and detective stories. That makes up the majority of my reading these days, and for the same reasons. (Not working on a boat, per se, but working.) I read to relax, and I don't want to have to work at it. Well, given that you have a boy in high school it might have been correct, when you were ten, that Americans read, but it certainly isn't true now. I have no contact with the U.S. except for the internet so can't say from experience but when I read some idiot's remarks about something he saw on TV that is physically impossible it really makes me wonder. Americans do read -- although I think that it's the women reading while the men control the TV remote and watch one idiotic thing after the next. But then have political leaders who are old enough to remember the last time we got ourselves into a situation where we didn' know how to get out of it and did it again. Truly, Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Ruby Vee, in the US working to build up a cruising kitty. An old Australian told me, "you don't need it, just go." He was actually talking about equipment but equipment costs money. You really don't need as much as West Marine implies that you do. You do need an accurate voltage gauge to monitor your batteries but if you do some research (Trojan is a good site to start with) you'll find that you can get along perfectly well with a auto battery charger. If your solar panels and/or wind generator don't get your batteries over 13.5 volts then you don't need a regulator for them since 13.5 is about what an expensive three stage battery charger will hold your batteries at anyway. I could go on and on but the secret is to research the system until you really do understand it and then buy what you need. I'll see you when you pass through. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:08:01 +1000, Herodotus
wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:56:08 +0700, wrote: Ah Peter, the last work iin morning after remarks, "I'd like to marry you but I'd have to build a boat first...." Probably in self defense, my mother introduced me to the public library as soon as I could read. My Goodness, there was a lot of information in that building and right on the way home from school -- if I took a bit of a detour. At one time I was the youngest person in my home town to possess a "library card". I guess I have read D.H. Lawrence, at least the more lurid parts of Lady Chatterly. Really hard core stuff in my youth. Hemingway, is good and bad. Most of the bull fighting books were great on detail but dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled, and dwelled on the tension and fear building up before the matador enters the ring. I found them tedious. On the other hand the old man and the sea, was, I believe, one of the best books about small time commercial fishing that has been written. Mark Twain (which, by the way, is 12 feet) is a writer that I enjoy as I do Kipling. Neither of them would be published in the present day of "political correctness" which seems a puzzle as it is neither political nor correct, but that is another story. I keep a copy of Kim and re-read it at least once a year. It seems that we have similar reading habits. "The Old Man and the Sea" is one of my favourites. I probably read it once a year. I would very much like to have the fortitude and calmness under difficult situations of Santiago. Kipling's "Kim" is also and fired my imagination as a child. I bought the audiobook of it from Naxos and listen to it during night watch. I have also reduced it to MP3. If you want a copy I could send a copy to you by snailmail if you should so wish. Listening to it is not the same as reading but it is still excellent. I am amassing quite a lot of audiobooks, some of which I buy and other which I download from Project Gutenberg. They are a great way to pass the time at night if you want to stay awake. My cockpit stereo can play MP3s but I normally load everything on my little 6 Gig. iRiver which has a 32 hour battery life and doesn't have the battery problems etc of iPods. I also download podcasts from time to time and store them for later (I use Limewire - free) to keep abreast and stimulated. Thqanks ands all but a "book" is something you open up and read. Not on a computer screen and talking books always have the wrong sounding voices. http://www.gutenberg.org As for Lady Chatterly, I first read "her" at age 13 - the book was smuggled into N.Z. as it was banned there. Today, we would wonder what all the fuss was about. I recall that my friends and I were sorely disappointed when we read it. There was much better titilation (no pun intended) in the African articles of National Geographic. Just shows how societies' mores have changed (I will be 60 in November). I much prefer his other works and especially some of his poems such as "Don'ts" which for a long time was my Ten Commandments and 'Snake". Did you know that his remains are interred in the US? He was a great friend of Aldous Huxley who wrote "Brave New World", another Britain who lived and died in the US. Huxley wanted to become an American citizen after living there for years but objected to the part of the oath that he would take up arms in its defense - like Lawrence and many others of the time, he was a pacifist, a belief strengthened by the insane slaughter in WWI.. I think I have searched out and read nearly all of Mark Twain's writings. Apart from his descriptions of life and the world about him, I like his humility, humour and his ability to see things in a cynical manner. I don't mean in a negative way but in the true meaning of the word - to see things as they are. Most of my reading lately is trash. I work on the boat; I eat supper; it's too early to go to bed; I read a book, the last thing I want to do is read a good book because I've got to get up tomorrow and do it all again, so I read trash. Science Fiction; Fantasy; Detective stories, etc. Well, given that you have a boy in high school it might have been correct, when you were ten, that Americans read, but it certainly isn't true now. I have no contact with the U.S. except for the internet so can't say from experience but when I read some idiot's remarks about something he saw on TV that is physically impossible it really makes me wonder. But then have political leaders who are old enough to remember the last time we got ourselves into a situation where we didn' know how to get out of it and did it again. Truly, Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. At the risk of being flamed again, I really feel for the families of those getting killed in this generation's Vietnam. I have met a lot of servicemen, mainly navy, around the world and many of them are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who joined the military to get an education or a trade. Perhaps if those who decided to send the troops to conflicts that are not directly in defense of the homeland had their sons in the ranks and in the front line, Vietnam and Iraq would not have happened. Vietnam now seems so pointless and such a terrible waste of life. There is a bit more to it then that. Baring the drafted troops in Vietnam we were all professional military, guys who, while maybe not planning on making it their carrier had volunteered to be in the service. Some time after I retired the U.S. Government, in all their brilliance, decided that we didn't need such a large standing military force and much of the regular forces were disbanded and replaced by the National Guard so a large proportion of the guys going to the middle east and maybe for their second or third trip are not professional soldiers but are a sort of temporary soldiers. All these guys volunteered for was a couple of weeks of summer camp each year. A Japanese Haiku best sums it up for me. Of twenty thousand warriors life and sword and shield Naught hath remained but the summer grass Growing over the old battlefield By the way, when we stopped off at Hawaii on the way back to Sydney, we took our son to Pearl Harbour to see the Arizona Memorial and the WWII submarine that the owner and I had visited in 1982. To our delight we discovered that the Battleship Missouri was now a permanent exhibit. It is one "big mother" of a ship. One link of the stud-link anchor chain would serve well as a storm anchor for Herodotus. I didn't know that it was refurbished and was used in the First Gulf War. The spot on the aft port side deck where the Japanese surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay is marked and fenced off with ropes. I always regretted that the Japanese Yamato, the largest battleship with the biggest guns ever built was sunk by US planes. It would have been good to see it today. I wonder how the two, Missouri and Yamato, without intervening air power, would have fared in a standoff. I have an excellent recent Australian SBS documentary "Battleships" if you would like a copy (Do they have electricity in Bangkok to use your DVD player?). I read quite a bit about the Yamato. Apparently the design had been in the works for some years and two keels were laid down. One was the Yamato and I believe the other was to have been an aircraft carrier (but don't hold me to that). In any event the second hull was launched and then sunk by torpedo while being hauled to whatever yard was going to fit it out. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:57:06 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote: On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:08:01 +1000, Herodotus wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:56:08 +0700, wrote: (Reading preferences snipped) I've long been partial to Joseph Conrad for sea-related literature. But like many others, I've drifted away from the appreciative and thoughtful sensibilities good literature demands. Well, perhaps not from the sensibilities, but at least from the time and effort needed to tune them properly. There are many reading works I promise myself to return to, and yet it doesn't happen. First on my list is Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," which is easily read, and totally engrossing. For now though, I'm settling for the adventures of Bruce, Peter......and Wilbur. --Vic Two years before the mast was responsible for the US Government passing laws to protect the merchant marine sailors from much of the brutality they had been exposed to in the past. He also wrote a book "White Jacket" or "The White Jacket" about a guy who signs on a voyage from San francisco to New York and when he came aboard they didn;t have any clothes to fit him out and one thing they gave him was an 0old white jacket which wasn't much protection so every scrap of cloth he found he sewed into the jacket so that by the time they got into the Atlantic he had a rather warm, smart jacket, albeit of many colored patches. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
I read quite a bit about the Yamato. Apparently the design had been in the works for some years and two keels were laid down. One was the Yamato and I believe the other was to have been an aircraft carrier (but don't hold me to that). In any event the second hull was launched and then sunk by torpedo while being hauled to whatever yard was going to fit it out. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) As I was told, the two keels were laid for two Yamato class battleships. It was later that one of the keels was built into an aircraft carrier. you are right. It was sunk by torperdos. Admiral Yamamoto was a hero of mine. Having spent some time travelling across the US, he was opposed to going to war with America as he knew that once awoken, they could mobilise a vast industrial resource that would be no match for Japan's. When he was ordered to prepare plans for war, he wanted a lightning attack on Pearl Harbour to destroy the Pacific fleet in the hope of an armistice. It was the disobeying of his orders for a second attack by his admiral in charge of the carrier fleet that cost him his planned devastation. The same man also disobeyed his orders at the Battle of Midway. He could not be removed as he was appointed, not by Yamamoto, but by the Imperial Navy Board. The same man disobeyed him many times later. Peter |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:53:24 -0500, Brian Whatcott
wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:38:10 +1000, Herodotus wrote: Have you ever read D.H. Lawrence? In "The Sea and Sardinia" (I think that is the title), one of his books about his travels through Italy with his wife Frieda von Richthofen, he constantly refers to her as "she", never by name. As an aside (my mind wanders off very easily), whilst at Taormina in Sicily he wrote one of my favorite poems "The Snake". It is very beautiful. He later joined the RAF as an a/c two. Died in a motorbike crash. Horribly mundane way to go for El Lawrence. of Arabia. Yes, failed to make a corner riding a Rudge motorcycle. I used to be reminded of this by a chap who owned what was apparently the only Rudge in New England . Brian Whatcott Altus OK Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:31:09 +0700, brucedpaige wrote:
Yes, failed to make a corner riding a Rudge motorcycle. I used to be reminded of this by a chap who owned what was apparently the only Rudge in New England . http://www.broughsuperiorclub.com/pa...tel_brough.htm |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
In article ,
Vic Smith wrote: On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:08:01 +1000, Herodotus wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:56:08 +0700, wrote: (Reading preferences snipped) I've long been partial to Joseph Conrad for sea-related literature. But like many others, I've drifted away from the appreciative and thoughtful sensibilities good literature demands. Well, perhaps not from the sensibilities, but at least from the time and effort needed to tune them properly. There are many reading works I promise myself to return to, and yet it doesn't happen. First on my list is Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," which is easily read, and totally engrossing. For now though, I'm settling for the adventures of Bruce, Peter......and Wilbur. --Vic Patrick O'Brian revitalised my desire to sail away... -- Molesworth |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
Molesworth wrote:
In article , Vic Smith wrote: On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:08:01 +1000, Herodotus wrote: On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:56:08 +0700, wrote: (Reading preferences snipped) I've long been partial to Joseph Conrad for sea-related literature. But like many others, I've drifted away from the appreciative and thoughtful sensibilities good literature demands. Well, perhaps not from the sensibilities, but at least from the time and effort needed to tune them properly. There are many reading works I promise myself to return to, and yet it doesn't happen. First on my list is Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," which is easily read, and totally engrossing. For now though, I'm settling for the adventures of Bruce, Peter......and Wilbur. --Vic Patrick O'Brian revitalised my desire to sail away... Add Dewy Lambden to that... |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:29:02 -0000, thunder
wrote: On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:31:09 +0700, brucedpaige wrote: Yes, failed to make a corner riding a Rudge motorcycle. I used to be reminded of this by a chap who owned what was apparently the only Rudge in New England . http://www.broughsuperiorclub.com/pa...tel_brough.htm Good Lord, that scoundrel lied to me for years. I'd have a word with him about that except he died. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Ping Bruce in Bangkok
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Ping Bruce in Bangkok
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:05:12 +0000 (UTC), David Scheidt
wrote: Brian Whatcott wrote: :On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:38:10 +1000, Herodotus :wrote: :Have you ever read D.H. Lawrence? In "The Sea and Sardinia" (I think :that is the title), one of his books about his travels through Italy :with his wife Frieda von Richthofen, he constantly refers to her as :"she", never by name. As an aside (my mind wanders off very easily), :whilst at Taormina in Sicily he wrote one of my favorite poems "The :Snake". It is very beautiful. :He later joined the RAF as an a/c two. Died in a motorbike crash. :Horribly mundane way to go for El Lawrence. of Arabia. That's T.E. Lawrence, not D.H. Lawrence. Different people. Not only right but RIGHT. Pillars of .... Aw shucks: time to shut up! :-) Brian W |
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