Tag: history

The science and history of rogue waves, part one

In what could prove to be a huge step forward in predicting how rogue waves are formed, and thus a tool for saving lives at sea, researchers at MIT have found a way to give 2 to 3 minutes warning of an incoming rogue wave.

I know it probably sounds stupid, but it’s hard for me to explain how excited I am about this research.  So much so that I am tempted to go speak with the researchers sometime (living in Cambridge does have its advantages).  But to understand why I am geeking out about this, it might help for me to go into some detail about what we know about rogue waves, and how they have affected ships at sea, as well as oil rigs, lighthouses, and coastlines.  This is one of those times that my love of history (especially maritime history) and my love of science come together.

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Donald Trump is more of a symptom than the cause of our political mess

I don’t like to talk about politics too much on our blog, because frankly I need more positivity in my life, and these days it is really difficult to find anything whatsoever in politics that gives me cause for optimism.  Still, I am a historian, and I can’t help but think that we are currently experiencing one of those watershed Presidential elections, like the election of 1860 or the election of 1932 or the election of 1968, in which those of us who experience it will talk about in terms of what things were like before, and what they were like after.

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Another historic shipwreck found

A shipwreck found near the coast of Oman is believed to be the oldest yet discovered from Europe’s Golden Age of Exploration.  The wreck is believed to be the Esmerelda, a Portuguese vessel from Vasco de Gama‘s fleet that was lost near the island of al-Hallaniyah in a storm in May 1503.

Fortunately, the wreck’s relatively remote location seems to have prevented the site from being looted.

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History, material culture and life at Downton

Kelly and I have been watching this final season of Downton Abbey.  I have to say, I have warmed to the show a bit, especially since they have developed some of the characters a little more fully.  I am particularly pleased that they have made Thomas Barrow out to be more sympathetic and less of a villain.

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Fire at our favorite hotel

Kelly and I don’t stay in hotels very often, but there is one hotel that we try to stay at once a year.  It’s the closest we get to a regular vacation.  Every May during the big antique show in Brimfield, we try to go for a long weekend and we stay at the Publick House in Sturbridge.  We truly love the place.  We bring our dogs with us, and they have a good time too.

So obviously we were quite alarmed when our friend Carron told us that she saw on the TV news that there was a fire at the Publick House.

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The whaling fleet lost in 1871 has been found

It seems that at least two of the whaling ships lost in the great Arctic whaling fleet disaster of 1871 have been found off the coast of Alaska.   It is believed that their discovery may lead  marine archaeologists to the sites of the other 30 odd ships lost that terrible autumn.  The loss of these vessels, 22 of which were from New Bedford, Massachusetts, helped further the end of the whaling industry in the United States.

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Antiques & Art – living side by side

I promised the other day that our next post would be about the awesome things that we saw at the antique show we went to.  I might have overstated that a bit.  There was a lot of great stuff.  Then there was this.

It's a door. It was for sale.
It’s a door.  Yeah.

Thankfully I didn’t see it, Geoff did.  What Geoff and I spent a lot of time looking at though was this amazing marriage of art and antiques that was in a booth at the back.  The work that this guy does is truly one of a kind.  Check it out.

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Cultural Appropriation & Antiques

Today Geoff and Amanda and I went to the Boston Antiques & Design Show in Wilmington, MA.  We’d never been to this show before and we actually heard about it in a book we found at a used book sale at MIT.  The book was awesome, it’s here if you want to check it out, but it may have mentioned that the show is held in a Shriners Auditorium.  Shriners, like the guys wearing little fuzzy red fezzes.

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Baby it’s cold outside

Yes, Geoff is correct in the post that he just put up.  It isn’t cold outside.  At all.  But I’m not talking about actual weather, I’m talking about that blasted song.  I’m talking about that “Christmas Song” that’s commonly referred to now as “The Rapey Song.”

You know the one.    Once you actually listen to the words you get uncomfortable each time you hear it.  It’s a duet.  It’s ostensibly about flirting, a date, and a storm.

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