Jul
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Today’s Teach Me Something Tuesday is brought to you by Ξ_Heather and TwoPi from 360 - The Math Blog.
A HISTORY OF CRUISES
This year we celebrate the 190th anniversary of passenger ships. The company that began the era was the Black Ball Line, offering service from Craig’s own New York all the way to England and back. Soon there were steamships going back and forth carrying people, mail, and even – on the Royal Mail Steam Packet — a cow for fresh milk. By 1844 pleasure cruises had evolved for their own sake instead of just transportation, and within 20 years there were all sorts of amenities such as electric lighting and entertainment. And except for little disruptions like world wars, the industry has continued to grow.
Of course, cruises are not without their risks. There’s the whole Titanic thing.
But there’s also the German Cruise ship Maipu, which sunk after being hit with US troopship General M. L. Hershey on a foggy morning in 1951.
(Don’t worry Craig, no one was killed.)
There’s the Greek Cruise Ship Neptunia which was almost certainly named after the half-human half-Atlantian Aquaria Nautica Neptunia and which was sadly grounded on a rock in Ireland in 1957.
(Don’t worry Craig, no one was killed.)
There’s the RMS Caronia, which had a hull that was painted not two, not three, but four fine shades of light green. It also boasted amenities like a bathroom in every room, which was fancy-dancy back in 1946. After a good long life it was sold, renamed the Caribia, and had an explosion in the engine room. She was sold for scrap, but while being towed to Taiwan in 1974 ran into a storm and sank. Poor Caribia.
(Don’t worry, Craig, no one was killed.)
But if cruising still appeals to you, it’s possible to spend more than just a week on the boat. In 1999, Bea Muller was on the Queen Elizabeth II when her husband died. She decided that she didn’t want to live alone in a retirement home, so she moved onto the QE2 and has been living there ever since, using e-mail to keep in touch with her landlocked family.
And what about today? At this very moment Royal Caribbean International is building the largest cruise ship ever, the Oasis of the Seas, which will hold 5400 guests and features rock walls, ziplining, and a moving bar. With all this fanciness set to launch in 2009, it makes one wonder just what the more distant future will hold.
NOW TELL US SOMETHING WE DON’T KNOW
July 29th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Who’s Bea Muller?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Bea lives in Stateroom 4062 of the QEII, essentially permanently. A 2006 article from the St Petersburg Times provides some details…. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/31/Seniority/Cabin_fever.shtml
July 29th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I think I’d be terrified to cross the Atlantic on a ship. I was freaked out one time when I was little and my Dad took me out on Lake Michigan in his boat. At one point, I remember looking around and saw absolutely no land anywhere and was suddenly terrified. Couldn’t wait to get closer to shore…
(Don’t worry, Craig, no one died…)
July 29th, 2008 at 8:30 am
And since we were talking Project Runway yesterday: Today is Tim Gunn’s birthday. He’s 55.
Doesn’t look a day over…55.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Bet you didn’t know I was going to love that video more than breathing.
Genius.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:40 am
No boats. Ever. I have one irrational fear, deep water.
I’ve read that the Queen Elizabeth 2, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. (I have no idea if this is true or not.)
July 29th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Cruising is also a slang term when gay men go out to area’s where gay men congregate and try to find someone to…climb his mast, haul his sail, swab his deck, shiver his timbers, etc, etc, etc. Not that I know from personal experience or anything, NO! Just from what I hear tell. (And don’t worry Craiggers, no one died.)
July 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Who are you and what did you do with Polt? No HUGS…an good impostor would know that.
(Shiver his timbers made me snort.)
July 29th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Snopes has a page about the QE2 fuel efficiency question: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/trivia/qe2.asp
They concluded the QE2 gets between 40 and 50 feet per gallon.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I thought that “random fact” seemed a little outlandish, but I never thought to check Snopes. Thanks for the correction.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I can always count on Polt! I think we might have been seperated at birth.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Oops, I forgot the HUGS from the previous post, sorry. But I DID say Craiggers, so that should make it obvious it was me.
I don’t know Mark, I think Mama Polt woulda remember two of us shooting out her loins if we were seperated at birth, instead of just one. Not having given birth, I don’t know, but I kinda think it would be like passing a grapefruit through your penis…you’d kinda remember if two grapefruits when through instead of one.
Oh, and HUGS….
July 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Polt: You’re right, but you still win the “pun’s of the day” contest. ie: climb his mast, haul his sail, swab his deck, shiver his timbers.
And as far as cruises go, too many people fall off of those things. I prefer the peddle boats at the local lake.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Wow this is definitely one of my more favoriter (TOTALLY A WORD) Teach Me Something Tuesdays. Don’t tell Craig, I don’t want him to think I don’t love him.
Are they seriously going to be able to launch a cruise ship of that magnitude? As we stand in our trash heap of an economy, Tourism is a slumping industry. People can’t afford on resort vacations in exotic destinations, let alone take a ten days off of their painfully low paying jobs.
While the Luxury Cruise lines could make a killing if they offered low enough package deals out of accessible ports of call, I highly doubt that this ship is going to be a bargain. I looked and looked but there is no posting for the price of tickets anywhere. But it turns out that are planning a SECOND one - as if one Vegas on water isn’t good enough.
http://www.royalcaribbeanoasisoftheseas.com/
Thanks Heather! Good Post!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:18 am
And Heather and TwoPi, excellent guest post, but I’m still waiting for “the secret”
July 29th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Cruise liners now have sonic weapons to defend against pirates:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4418748.stm
(Don’t worry, Craig, no one was killed).
July 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
So this may not be new to anyone, but I just found out recently about this amazing underwater resort!
http://www.poseidonresorts.com/poseidon_flash.html
This post made me think about it.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I’m hoping no one died in the posting of this either.
Evolving, with the dollar crashing and our economy in the tank, methinks we’ll become some cheap destination/ resort for foreigners to explore our wonderful scenery and quaint customs and we’ll become the exotic location with the semi-literate natives. So, it’s a win/win for Luxury Cruise Lines if our economy improves or worsens. The only way it’s a bad bet is if the entire world economy collapses with us. And the ultra-rich will always be with us.
And I’m glad I got to learn something today. With Craig gone, I was afraid my collection of arcania would not grow. And no one died!
July 29th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Nicky, now I totally want to go to Fiji and spend the night in the underwater resort! Except I noticed that not only did they fail to provide prices, they explicitly mentioned what arrangements can be made for those who choose to arrive by private yacht. Methinks it might be a little out of my price range.
Mark, here’s “the secret”: Whenever you take a number (340255), switch the digits around (453520), and take the difference (453520-340255=113265), the difference is divisible by 9 (e.g. 113265=9*12585). That’s important because with any number that is divisible by 9, if you add up the digits you also get a number that is divisible by 9. Looking at the difference 113265, the sum of the digits is 1+1+3+2+6+5=18, which is a multiple of 9.
So for the trick part, the person calculates the difference (which must be a multiple of 9), circles any digit except 0 and scrambles the others, and lets you know what they were. You know that the digits of the difference added to a multiple of 9, so you just have to figure out which digit is “missing”. So when Coty gave 481001 last week, the digits add to 4+8+1+0+0+1=14, and the next highest multiple of 9 is 18, so the missing digit (the one he circled) must have been a 4. Likewise, you gave 50581, and 5+0+5+8+1=19. The next highest multiple of 9 is 27, so the missing digit (the one you circled) must have been 27-19=8.
If someone gives you a number where the digits already added to a multiple of 9, the missing digit must be 0 or 9. But they’re not allowed to circle 0, so the circled number must be 9.
It’s one of my absolute favorite math/magic tricks.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
[…] guest posting over at Puntabulous! Head over to Puntabulous for Teach Me Something Tuesday #14: A History of Cruises (since Craig is gone for the week on a Cruise Ship). One of the facts that arose in the comments […]
July 29th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Holy shit. I finally got home and watched that Star Trek Love Boat. Beyond hilarious. I was laughing so hard I was crying. That is an absolute classic.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Dave S: Charo is the best.
Ryan R. and Polt and Dave S: I think we might have a new catchphrase….
Nicky: Oh man that looks tempting. What fun!
July 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Loved the Star Trek Love Boat clip. Thanks for the cruise info. I think I’d like to go on a cruise but having grown up close to the geographical centre of North America, I have a bit of a deep water phobia. Would I feak out or does it feel so much like you’re not moving thta you don’t notice? Hmmmm.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Heather: That is so cool. I wish I had a math teacher like you when I was in school. But, I’m totally gonna use this to make my friends think I’m a genius!
October 25th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
[…] for The Love Boat stuck in your head, here’s a little something TwoPi and I found when we did a guest post for Our Best Friend Craig on Puntabulous when he was on a […]