Titanic Voyage - 98 years ago

It took her three tries. That's what my grandmother had told me. Finally in 1913, she immigrated from Austria-Hungary to America.

First try, Grandma got scared and turned back at the Rock of Gibraltar. Next time in 1912, she tried to board the Carpathia. She could not afford first class. No way would she go in steerage. Second class was all sold out.

If Grandma had made that trip on her second attempt, what a story she could have told. That particular voyage on that ship was the one that rescued the survivors of the Titanic.

Many movies have been made about this ill-fated voyage of this "unsinkable" ship, such as:

Titanic (1953)  provides a powerful last scene.

A Night to Remember (1958) - a film about the final night of the RMS Titanic

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) - a musical about one of the Titanic's most colorful survivors

Titanic (1997) - a box office record breaker




Survivors allege that the musicians on the Titanic played "Nearer my God to Thee" to calm the passengers while the ship was sinking. This hymn sung by the passengers and crew in the 1997 film version conveys how quickly our focus can change when we realize we are about to step into eternity. For those perishing, social standing and wealth, or lack of it, suddenly seem unimportant.

The Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage, April 10, 1912. It hit an iceberg close to midnight on April 14. It sank over two hours later in the early morning of April 15. Of her 2,228 passengers and crew members who set sail, only 705 survived.

This happened 98 years ago.

For more information: check out Titanic Facts

photo from everystockphoto.com: TITANIC DISASTER

"I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too! "

"I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too! "

That quote from the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz came to mind as I gazed at the actual witch's hat worn by Margaret Hamilton. The hat itself, though pointy, was velvety, still quite elegant - even after it had debuted 80 years ago on the big screen .

This summer, we visited friends in Idaho, where (they joke) the biggest cities are Salt Lake City and Spokane. Since they live in the pan handle, we trekked for an afternoon at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (MAC) in Spokane, WA. The MAC hosted the traveling exhibit "Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television" from science fiction films and television programs. These were part of the private collection of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.

No pictures were allowed, but I jotted some notes of other memorable costumes.

From the Original Star Trek series:

• The tunic of the evil Captain Kirk worn in "Mirror, Mirror," the first alternate reality episode where a transporter mishap swaps Captain Kirk and some of his crew with their evil counterparts in a parallel universe.
• The Gorn lizard suit, where in the "Arena" Captain Kirk was pitted against this reptilian captain. Captain Kirk triumphs, showing mercy, though he manages to get his shirt ripped - so common in many episodes.

Star Trek: Next Generation:

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard's uniform from the 1st season. The uniform looked more purple in person than it does on the screen.

Star Trek: Voyager:

• The uniform worn by Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, the adapted Borg, severed from the collective. From the costume, this actress was petite with curves in all the right places.

Star Wars:

• The costume of one of the most well known super villains of the cinema - Darth Vader. Those buttons and controls on the front of the dark lord's suit up close looked so faky. Oh, the power of the big screen!
• The black robe of Obi-Wan Kenobi. With the pointed back of his hood, this costume looked like a black KKK robe if the hood was over his face.
• The Imperial Stormtrooper outer armor. Again, up close, the white armor looked more like Styrofoam covered with white plastic.

Leather jackets:

• Indiana Jones's leather jacket. Still looked very cool.
• The leather jacket worn by the Terminator complete with metallic bullet holes. Not as cool as Indy's jacket - all those metallic holes kind of wreck it.

Super heroes:

• Batman & Robin costumes. Batman was very dark. But Robin? These duds were full of color with those bright yellows, greens, and reds. If you ask me, Robin was the most brave to wear this with a straight face.

Like the ancient Greeks' gods, goddesses, and demons, these are a sampling of our super villains and heroes in the 20th and 21st century. Yet all these characters are just extensions of our faulty images of ourselves.
Psalm 97:9&10 (King James Version) gives me a perseptive that we have much greater Deliverer than anything else that is reflected in our popular arts and literature:
For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Related links:

Witch's hat: http://clipart.peirceinternet.com/halloween.html
Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture: http://www.northwestmuseum.org/