Google Doodle Celebrates Moby-Dick’s 161st Berthday Plus Listen to the Big Read!

 

 

We love Moby-Dick at Sea-Fever so it was fun to stumble upon Google’s Doodle celebrating the 161st birthday of it’s publication in England. We can celebrate again next month because it was published in the US on November 14, 1851!

As a present to Sea-Fever readers, here’s the 1st chapter of the Moby-Dick Big Read. Here’s what’s that’s all about:

…an online version of Melville’s magisterial tome: each of its 135 chapters read out aloud, by a mixture of the celebrated and the unknown, to be broadcast online in a sequence of 135 downloads, publicly and freely accessible.

They started posting a chapter a day on Sept. 16, 2012. Tilda Swinton spins an awesome yarn in Chapter 1 – Loomings. There are many other interesting readers and the artwork on the website is definitely worth a visit.

Of course, if you need any help deciphering Melville’s lexicon, there’s no better place to go than Meg Guroff’s awesome PowerMobyDick website.

 

The launch of ShipyardPark.com

I started a new photoblog called Shipyard Park.

ShipyardPark.com

Back in the whaling days, there were six shipyards that built the whaling ships that sailed out of New Bedford and Nantucket. It was a busy, rough and tumble type of place back then. But no longer. I’ll be telling more of the story of Shipyard Park in the future, but for now suffice it to say that it’s a beautiful spot in every season and I’m trying to capture and share just a little bit of that.

I’ve been taking a photo every morning for the past month. It’s kind of like a local weather report. It’ll be interesting to see how things change over the seasons Let’s see how long I can keep this up. I’ll do some other things there too because Shipyard Park is a very cool place and you should be able to experience it too! I’d love to hear what you think about the park and project/website.

FotoFriday: Little People – A tiny street art project

Small Victory - A tiny street art project

I love these Little People – Tiny Street Art Project photos! This one’s called Small Victory.

Click through here to see the real story behind this picture.

Also check out Slinkachu, the artist’s website.

Via Sea-Fever Pacific correspondent @MiaChambers

Dock-u-mentaries: Films about the Working Waterfront

Dock-u-mentaries

New Bedford’s Working Waterfront Festival recently announced an interesting new program: Dock-U-Mentaries, a monthly film series presented in conjunction with New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. (download PDF flyer)

Films will be presented free of charge at 7pm on the third Friday of each month at the Corson Maritime Learning Center (33 William Street) in downtown New Bedford.

The first program takes place on Friday, January 21st featuring:

  • Pearl of the Atlantic – a 1960s era film produced by the New Bedford Seafood Council to promote scallops AND
  • A narrated slide show of the contemporary Port of New Bedford and its workers, presented by photographer Phil Mello.

Working Waterfront Festival and National Park team up for Dock-U-Mentaries – New Bedford Standard Times – Jan. 10, 2011

Moby-Monday: A Whale of a Weekend! (#mdm15)

Moby-Monday is back and inspired by an extraordinary event organized by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. From all accounts the 15th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon was a great success!

I took my seven-year old son Luke to the Seamen’s Bethel on Saturday for Chapters 7 (The Chapel), 8 (The Pulpit) and 9 (The Sermon). Since I am on the Board of Managers of the New Bedford Port Society I am obviously biased, but there is no better place to experience a Moby-Dick reading than the place where Melville actually worshiped.  Here are a few pictures and a video from that experience.

Seamen's Bethel prior to 15th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon

The Sermon in the Seamen's Bethel, Moby-Dick MarathonVodpod videos no longer available.

After taking this in, the tide of Moby-Dick enthusiasts carried us across the street to the Jacob’s Family Gallery in the Whaling Museum, the home port of the Moby-Dick Marathon, where there was a full house and lots of great energy.

Jacobs Family Gallery, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Moby-Dick Marathon

On Sunday mornings, we typically listen to classical music but this week we tuned into the livestream of the event. While listening Luke was hard at work in the corner with his carpenter’s kit and by mid-morning he had built a whaleship for my office! The extraordinary convergence and power of great art and new technology in action inspiring a young boy to dream and create!

Thanks and congratulations to the New Bedford Whaling Museum for putting on a great show! Using the livestream and an active Twitter feed, people were able to enjoy the experience without actually having to be present. Of course, there is no substitute for being there in body, soul and spirit. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is an extraordinary small museum that keep getting better. I’m already looking forward to the 16th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon!

Moby-Monday: 2010 Moby-Dick (the movie)

From the same people who brought us Titanic II (huh?), on November 30, coming straight to your DVD player, Herman Melville‘s classic  has been updated: 2010 Moby Dick. I guess the original (and all previous versions) were not good enough; nothing a few helicopters and machine guns can’t fix thankfully.

FotoFriday: Lost (and Found) at Sea

Rescue at Sea

Imagine after a lovely scuba dive you return to the surface to find that the anchor line of your boat has parted and your ride home is no more.  :(

What do you do? Take some pictures, of course.  :)

You are miraculously rescued by a passing boat :D

which then capsizes on the way back to port :(

and your camera is lost. :(

Then four years later somebody walking the beach finds your camera! :D

Here are the pictures and interview.

Listen here: 

Flag dip to ABC North Coast NSW – Lost at sea: survival snaps surface after four years Oct. 27, 2010

Great Explorers Need Great Ships: Captain Bob Bartlett and the Schooner Ernestina

Okay, this video quality is really terrible but it’s still worth watching.

Captain Bob Bartlett was an arctic explorer extraordinaire and the Schooner Ernestina (Effie M. Morrissey) was one of the great ships that made it all happen. You’ll catch some glimpses of her in this video.

Sail Her Home (The Schooner Ernestina Song) by the Rum Soaked Crooks

Here’s a beautiful song that was written sung by the Rum-Soaked Crooks about the Schooner Ernestina. It was performed at the recent Concert for the Seamen’s Bethel Restoration Fund. (Please Help me Help the Seamen’s Bethel – Oct. 6, 2010) It was a fun evening with great songs for a worthy cause.

On Saturday, October 30th the New Bedford Whaling Museum will be hosting an event to help chart a future course for another worthy cause, the Schooner Ernestina. For more information, visit the Sail Ernestina website or Facebook page.