Titanic's Last American Survivor, 99, Dies- Page 2

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:53pm

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:54pm

I was extremely interested in the Titanic, and specifically Ballard's explorations, in elementary school. I have always been so, so fascinated by historians and scientists who unearth the past, and the idea of discovering the specifics of an event of such huge proportions as the sinking of the Titanic amazes me. The one, "I want to be this when I grow up" feeling that I was never able to shake was that I'd love to be an archaeologist (even now), but I guess practicality won out in the end.

My roommate gets so annoyed with me, but on the rare occasions that I do watch TV here, she's usually subjected to The History Channel or The Discovery Channel. Heh. Updated On: 5/7/06 at 03:54 PM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:56pm

Milvina was 2 months old when the ship sank.......and of course remembers nothing. I'm surprised that she would have attended events in the first place......

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:57pm

I am so thrilled to find out that I wasn't the only freakishly Titanic-obsessed elementary school student.

I had a huge "I wanna be an archaeologist!" phase. I love dinosaurs, which is where that came from. I wanted to study paleontology and archaeology.

Updated On: 5/7/06 at 03:57 PM

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:58pm

Heh. I think almost everyone goes through that phase, along with the "I want to be a marine biologist" phase (at least girls).

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:58pm

Right, I kind of empathize with Ballard. It's so odd to see members of the Titanic Historical Society holding these parties where they sing "Nearer My God to Thee" and invite a passenger to join them in the hymn!

sweetestsiren, you can still be an archaelogist.

You know, back when the Cameron film was out, I swore that one day I would make enough money to go down in a submersible and see the ship. But with my luck these days, the windows would probably break about 0.1 mile away.

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:59pm

I, like many of you, have also gone through a Titanic phase. Have any of you played this CD-ROM game called "Titanic: Adventure Out of Time"? It's actually a lot of fun. Kind of an old game, but it's fun.
I think I'm one of the few people left who still loves the 1997 movie. It's just so exquisite.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:00pm

oooooh, I totally wanted to be a marine biologist, but only if it meant I could play with dolphins rather than study amoebas.

I love the movie. A lot.

Haven't they made it illegal to visit the ship anymore? I used to want to go, too -- I was convinced one day I'd have the money to pay someone to bring me.

Irony: I have an irrational fear of boats.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:01pm

Heh, I remember that scene in Ghostbusters. All the ghosts in NYC were coming back and some guy calls to say that the Titanic just docked.

Actually, the psycho-baby killer was another Alice Cleaver, this was a different woman with the same name.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:02pm

I never had the marine biologist phase. I think I missed out on that and being obsessed with horses in childhood. I did really, REALLY want to be an astronomer in elementary school, though.

I could, Evelyn! I've actually considered applying to some summer research internships involving archaeology, but I don't think that I'd be a competitive applicant because of my unrelated major/relative lack of history classes (although I've taken nearly enough to have a minor). I do have other interests, too, fortunately.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:03pm

That turned into wanting to go to vet school.

Sometimes, I wish that was still where I was headed.

/tangent.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:03pm

I love that game. The recreations of the interiors are gorgeous, and the fictitious passengers and crew are so funny. I also like that it uses the WWII bombings in London as a framework.

Cameron's Titanic CD-Rom is also amazing.

And yeah, I still love his film. In fact, just last night, I watched from the scene where Jack first sees Rose through their conversation on deck the day after her attempted suicide just last night. I was trying to figure out the name of the song that plays on Rose's music box as Cal gives her the Heart of the Ocean, but it was hard to cut the film off after that scene ended.
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 04:03 PM

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:08pm

I never had the marine biologist phase. I think I missed out on that and being obsessed with horses in childhood. I did really, REALLY want to be an astronomer in elementary school, though.

I'm not sure I went truly through the marine biologist phase either, but all my friends did, so I paid lip service to the idea. As a child, I loved the stars as well. I think it was a result of my father's obsession with them, but I had a bunch of "find the constellation"-type books. I'd get angry when I could never seem to find the dimmer stars.

Anyway, I still love the 1997 film, not so much for the love story anymore, but I love the elegance and the grandiosity of it all.

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:09pm

Evelyn, do you remember the old couple (can't remember their names) that kept popping up, even when you were trying to get off the ship? They were hilarious!

And I went through the paleontology phase. Thank you, Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton!

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:19pm

I do remember that old first-class couple! And the smart-alec steward! LOL. Genius video game. I still have it, but I haven't played it in years. (It's hard to believe that I'm now older than both DiCaprio and Winslet were when they made the film.)

And yup, Jurassic Park definitely awakened the paleontologist in me - though that had a lot more to do with wanting the thrill of running from a T-Rex on some island and watching baby raptor eggs hatch than actually studying DNA and fossils.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:22pm

This is making me want to break out the movie (only on VHS, alas) as soon as I finish exams and get home.

I think that my astronomer phase was more in terms of exploring the solar system than on the galaxy level. I had a period of intense obsession with the Voyager program and other planetary explorations. I wanted to work for NASA and help with those things.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:53pm

Has anyone seen GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS? It's another James Cameron film (I think) but this time it's a documentary about the Titanic. I played in IMAX theaters a few years back, and I considered going to see it but never did. But then, I have never had a fascination with the Titanic. My early teen obsession was Bonnie and Clyde and later Eva Peron. I'm still fascinated by Evita and will read anything and everything about her.

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:57pm

I too had a huge Titanic obsession that was indeed linked t othe Leo movie...sad but true. I still learned a lot of history though, so who cares. I wonder, in comarison to modern cruise ships, would the Titanic still be considered large? Stupid I know, but I used to be able to quote the exact dimentions of the ship but don't remember now.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:01pm

I hated Ghosts of the Abyss. It tried to bank on imagined connectgions between 9/11 and Titanic. The 3D was obnoxious. The narration was boring. Subject matter was unoriginal.... I could go on and on about how disappointing that was! Cameron just needs to get off Titanic for a while and make a film about the Galveston Flood or something.

StageManager, you have to be a Faye Dunaway fan (or really hate her) if you're interested in both Bonnie and Eva.

Titanic is small (but obviously not very small) in comparison to modern cruise ships.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:08pm

I love the old, B&W Titanic movie that actually is more historical than a love story.

The only thing I liked about the new one is the way they showed the ship sinking. I mean, I could have done without Rose and her fiance fighting, but the other stuff was great.

To me, the saddest part of the story (and the movie), is the Macy story.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:09pm

Has anyone seen GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS? It's a James Cameron (I think) documentary about the Titanic. It played in IMAX theaters a few years back and I considered watching it but never did. But then, I have never had a fascination with the Titanic. In my early teens it was all about Bonnie and Clyde and then Eva Peron. I'm still fascinated by Evita and will read anything and everything about her.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:12pm

Yes, even A Night to Remember's final plunge - with all the prayers in different languages - is very moving. Great, landmark film in its own right; the guy who played Lookout Fleet later played Col. Gracie in the Cameron film.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:20pm

I had a huge Titanic phase in middle school, brought on by the movie. My grandfather had the Illustrated History, which I devoured every time I was at his house, and I have it now. I love that book.
I'm still fascinated by the Titanic, and it sparked a love of Edwardian architechture and fashion in me. And I was pretty happy when they finally released the 4-disc special edition of the 1997 film.
PS: Evelyn, the song is the "Blue Danube."

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:51pm

Blue Danube is the one that plays when Jack first sees the Grand Staircase. I think the music box song is Tales from the Vienna Woods or something.... I still don't know. I think it also plays in Cuaron's A Little Princess, and Randy Newman used it in his "Coalhouse and Sarah" song for the film Ragtime.

[Mamie]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 6:03pm

Shortly after the film was released, the Smithsonian sponsored a special 'Titanic - the movie' day. It was organized by the American History Entertainment staff. It was a full day of guest speakers who were all involved in making the movie. The technical people talked about how they made those transitions from the actual Titanic wreck films to the retro scenes on the mock ship. They talked about building that ship, where it was 'berthed', the computer enhanced passengers, in fact - just about all the details behind making that film.

There was a 'historical record' photographer who made a video record of the filming. Remember at the beginning of the film when you saw them bring the safe up on deck of the ship and the crew surrounding it while it was being opened? One fellow has a video camera in his hand and he's recording the opening of the safe. That man was the actual photographer who filmed this historical record. The whole day was filled with fantastic video to supplement the speakers.

The highlights for me were the appearances of Ken Marshall and Don Lynch. As any Titanic-phobe (phile?) knows, Ken is the brilliant artist who has done more to document in detail the Titanic both before and after sinking. His paintings reflect years of close study of the ship and are known for their accuracy as well as their artistry. Don Lynch is the historian who has spent over 30 years in researching and documenting the Titanic. James Cameron hired both of these men to be his technical advisors when building his ship and a great deal of actual history was presented in that film. Don is actually seen on one of those historically accurate scenes. Remember the scene where you see a man and his son on the deck and the son is playing? That's Don playing the father and the scene is right from a Titanic photo that had been left in Cherbourg before the ship departed for the US.

I love the film because of these technical accuracies. (Unfortunately Don's historically accurate bit was made part of a very inaccurate scene - the one where Jack climbs from 3rd class to 1st class. Per Don - it just couldn't happen!) The real star of that film was the ship herself. Once she hits the iceberg, I stop watching it. I can't stand to see her break apart and sink.