2001

Wayback Wednesday: Leaning Tower Of Pisa 1173

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Wikipedia Wikimedia Pisa Image
Author: Arne Müseler
Photographer
Source
Wikimedia Commons
04-02-2022

Eight hundred, fifty years ago, today…

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (torre pendente di Pisa…in Italian) is the campanile or freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. The tower is one of three structures in the Pisa’s Cathedral Square, which includes the cathedral and Pisa Baptistry. The tower has 296 or 294 steps. [The] seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase.

The tower began to lean during construction in the 12th century, due to soft ground, which could not properly support the structure’s weight. It worsened through the completion of construction in the 14th century. By 1990, the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees. The structure was stabilized by remedial work between 1993 and 2001, which reduced the tilt to 3.97 degrees.

Construction of the tower occurred in three stages over 199 years. On January 5, 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo, a widow and resident of the house of dell’Opera di Santa Maria, bequeathed sixty soldi to the Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie. The sum was then used toward the purchase of a few stones which still form the base of the bell tower. On August 9, 1173, the foundations of the tower were laid. Work on the ground floor of the white marble campanile began on August 14 of the same year, during a period of military success and prosperity.

The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the second floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-meter foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil, a design that was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for the better part of a century, as the Republic of Pisa was almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence. This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle […], [otherwise], the tower would almost certainly have toppled.

There has been controversy surrounding the identity of the architect […]. For many years, the design was attributed to Guglielmo and Bonanno Pisano […]. A 2001 study seems to indicate Diotisalvi was the original architect, due to the time of construction and affinity with other Diotisalvi works, notably the bell tower of San Nicola and the Baptistery, both in Pisa.

Between 1589 and 1592, Galileo Galilei, who lived in Pisa at the time, is said to have dropped two cannonballs of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass, in keeping with the law of free fall.

During World War II, the Allies suspected that the Germans were using the tower as an observation post. Leon Weckstein, a U.S. Army sergeant sent to confirm the presence of German troops in the tower, was impressed by the beauty of the cathedral, and its campanile and […] refrained from ordering an artillery strike, sparing it from destruction.

The tower has survived at least four strong earthquakes since 1280. A 2018 engineering investigation concluded that the tower withstood the tremors because of dynamic soil-structure interaction. [The] height and stiffness of the tower, combined with the softness of the foundation soil, influences the tower’s vibrational characteristics in such a way that it does not resonate with earthquake ground motion. The same soft soil, that caused the leaning and brought the tower to the verge of collapse, helped it survive.

Wikipedia Summary

***The ceremony, for the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the Tower of Pisa, was started, today and runs all year to August 9, 2024.

850th Anniversary (Turismo.Pisa.it)
OPE (Opapisa.it/en/)
The Leaning Tower Of Pisa Was Once Tilting Dangerously (CNN/Sharon Braithwaite/August 9, 2023)

Wayback Wednesday: International Webloggers Day 2004

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Laptop Screen Capture Image
Personal Laptop Screen Capture

International Weblogger’s Day, also known as InWeDay, is celebrated on June 14 every year. This unofficial holiday was created to bring together bloggers from around the world and, to promote blogging as a way to express yourself and engage in dialogue with people from different countries and backgrounds.

A blog (short for “weblog“) is an online diary consisting of discrete, often informal entries called posts. Most blogs are primarily textual but, they may include other types of content such as images, videos, music and audio.

The term “weblog” was coined [by Jorn Barger] in 1997 [December 17] and its short form, “blog“, was first used [by Peter Merholz when he playfully broke the word intowe blog“] in 1999. That same year, Pyra Labs launched Blogger, one of the first blog-publishing platforms that allow users to create and run blogs for free without any programming background.

In 2004, around 500 bloggers from over 40 countries supported the idea of creating a holiday that would unite blogging enthusiasts from around the world. The inaugural International Weblogger’s Day was held on June 14, 2004. On the occasion of the holiday, bloggers write special posts for their online diaries. In some cities, special meetings are organized where bloggers can meet “offline”.

Unfortunately, the popularity of International Weblogger’s Day has decreased considerably over the recent years.

Anyday Guide

Additional:
Peter Merholz (Blog)
Blogs Turn 10 ~ Who’s The Father (CNET News/Declan McCullagh/Anne Broache/March 20, 2007/ Web Archive Version)
It’s The Links, Stupid (The Economist/Special Report/April 22, 2006)
Robot Wisdom Weblog (Jorn Barger/Wayback Machine/August 15, 2000)
Carolyn’s Diary (Early Online Diary/Carolyn Burke/April 1997)
Scripting News (Longest Running Weblog/Dave Winer/September 1997)
Blogger (Created By Three Friends/San Francisco Pyra Labs/August 1999)
Weblog Awards (Bloggies/2001)
WordPress Available Now (First Official Version/Matt Mullenweg/May 27, 2003)
Steve Garfield (Early Video Blog/January 2004)
AOL Snaps Up Weblogs (CNET/Dawn Kawamoto/October 7, 2005)
Full Time Blogger Kottke Throws In The Towel (CNET/Graeme Wearden/February 23, 2006)

TV Tuesday: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy 2001

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Billy & Mandy IMDb Amazon Image
Image Credit: IMDb & Amazon

Twenty years ago, today, the animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy or just Billy & Mandy premiered on the Cartoon Network. Created by Maxwell Atoms, the story line follows a ditzy, kind-hearted boy and, a sinister, cynical girl, that have the Grim Reaper as a personal slave after he lost a wager in a limbo match. They use the Reaper’s supernatural powers to visit the underworld and other weird locations for twisted adventures. They encounter creatures such as Dracula, the Wolfman and the Bogeyman.

Voice Credits:
Billy (Richard Steven Horvitz)
Mandy (Grey DeLisle Griffin)
Grim Reaper (Greg Eagles)
Irwin (Vanessa Marshall)
Harold (Richard Steven Horvitz)
Gladys (Jennifer Hale)
Dick (Phil LaMarr)
Grandmama (Phil LaMarr)
Mindy (Rachael MacFarlane)
Sperg (Greg Eagles)
Phil (Dee Bradley Baker)
Claire (Vanessa Marshall)
General Skarr (Armin Shimerman)
Pud’n (Jane Carr)
Hoss Delgado (Diedrich Bader)
Jeff the Spider (Maxwell Atoms)
Nergal (David Warner)
Nergal, Jr. (Debi Derryberry)
Bogeyman (Fred Willard)

Trivia Bits:
♦ The spooky droning gibberish played in the end credits in a creepy voice is Maxwell Atoms talking backwards, saying: “No, no. This is the end of the show. You’re watching it backwards!”
♦ Originally, Maxwell Atoms wanted Grim to speak in a “British” accent and had Jonathan Harris in mind to voice him. When Greg Eagles auditioned, and spoke in a Jamaican accent, he was impressed and had him retooled.
Tom Kenny was originally considered to voice Billy in the show, but he declined.

Hans 2021 Movie Draft: Round Eight-Pick One-The Final Countdown 1980

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USS Nimitz Storm IMDb & Amazon Image One
Image Credit: IMDb & Amazon

Hanspostcard has a movie draft challenge. This is my Round Eight pick.

Category: Action/Adventure/Thriller
Film: The Final Countdown

Captain Yelland: […to his Native American Weather Officer…] “Ahhh, Black Cloud, you’ve been doing unauthorized rain dances again.”

Lasky: […as a Japanese pilot is holding Laurel at gunpoint…] “Why don’t you tell him what’s going on here, Commander? You’re an expert on what’s gonna happen tomorrow…”
Captain Yelland: “Go ahead, tell him.”
Commander Richard Owens: “26 November, six carriers left the Kuril Isles north of Japan. The carriers were the Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Hiryu, Soryu. Tomorrow at dawn, these carriers will send 353 planes to attack Pearl Harbor.”
Senator Chapman: “How in the hell do you know all that?”

F-14 Pilot #1: “Mission aborted? But, we can see ’em!”
F-14 Pilot #2: “They’re gonna let the Japs do it, again.”

Directed by Don Taylor, it was produced by Peter Vincent Douglas and Lloyd Kaufman with Kirk Douglas executive producing without credit. The story, and screenplay, was written by the team of Thomas Hunter, Peter Powell, David Ambrose and Gerry Davis. The ensemble cast was Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino, Charles Durning, Ron O’Neal, Victor Mohica, Soon-Tek Oh and James Coleman, with producers Lloyd Kaufman and Peter Douglas playing small parts.

Senator Chapman & Laurel IMDb & Amazon Image Two
Photo Credit: IMDb & Amazon

It’s 1980 and Warren Lasky (Sheen) is a Systems Analyst from Tideman Industries, working with the Department of Defense as an efficiency expert. He is dispatched by his secretive employer to board the USS Nimitz before its departure from Naval Station Pearl Harbor for naval exercises in the Pacific. Tideman Industries designed and built the carrier. Not long at sea, a strange storm appears out of nowhere and the Nimitz can neither outrun nor maneuver away from it. Passing thru the storm, electronics and people, alike, are knocked out. Once the storm is gone and everything returns to normal, Captain Yelland (Douglas), his crew and his civilian passenger discover that they have been thrown backwards in time to 1941, just hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. What now?

It’s original premiere was in London on May 21, 1980, Japan on July 5 and the US on August 1. I didn’t get to see it at the theater but, caught it on HBO a year later. IMDb lists this as Action & Sci-Fi, which it is but, I think it fits in the Adventure/Thriller categories, too. As a contributor on IMDb, I’ve made a suggested update of the genre. Having been on board the USS Enterprise on December 7, 2001, I have a much greater appreciation for the making of this movie. It received mixed reviews and didn’t make a lot of money. Two months later, another time travel film was released…Somewhere In Time and The Philadelphia Experiment, four years later, is the reverse of this movie in time frames. ~Vic

Trivia Bits:
♦ Peter Douglas is Kirk Douglas’ son with his second wife. This was his first film as producer and his only credited acting role.
♦ This was made with the full cooperation of the US Navy and 48 Nimitz crew members were credited.
♦ Filming took place on board ship at sea (exterior shots) with interior shots filmed in dry dock at Naval Station Norfolk. The USS Kitty Hawk was a stand-in, pulling into Pearl Harbor. Flight and water scenes were shot at Naval Air Station Key West.
♦ The production crew was allowed to film a real emergency landing and recovery of an aircraft that appeared in the film.
♦ The first setup to film an F-14 takeoff resulted in both camera and operator being pitched down the runway.
♦ The black and white Pearl Harbor attack footage was taken from Tora! Tora! Tora!
♦ WWII ace fighter pilot Archie Donahue was one of the Zero pilots. The Zeros were converted T-6 Texans, flying full throttle and the F-14s were flying at stall speeds so that both aircraft would be in the same shot.
♦ When filming wrapped, possibly early, the USS Nimitz was recalled to home base to participate in Operation Eagle Claw, the attempt to rescue the hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Iran on April 24, 1980.

Additional Reading:
Archie Donahue: WWII Ace Pilot (HistoryNet/Jon Guttman/July 2007)
Filming of Final Countdown: You Want Us To Do What? (Pilots For Christ Forum/Administrator Don Gieseke/12-08-2016)
Commander Richard “Fox” Farrell: Lead F-14 Pilot (Dignity Memorial/03-31-2014)

Awards & Nominations

Watch the movie for free: Daily Motion

POTD: Tandy 5000

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This is clearly a newspaper clipping from back in the day. I can’t for the life of me remember where I picked this up but, I have had it for years. My, we have come a long way. ~Vic

Tandy 5000 Image
Image dated: 09-18-2001

Picture of the Day

Shutterbug Saturday: Old Halloween Stuff

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It’s finally October, home month of jack-o-lanterns, ghosties, ghoulies, witches (the cartoon type), bats, spiders, skeletons, and the like, for the upcoming Halloween. I love wandering around to get shots of local decorations, much like Christmas. This post, however, covers some of my old stuff…stuff collected over the years (remember email forwards?)…stuff I didn’t take, myself, plus…a really cute video from 2005. I have no idea who took these. ~Vic

Take a look at Halloween Local.

Barfing Pumpkin 2000 Image One
Sick Pumpkin
Image file reflects 12-05-2000
The Lone Mooner Image Two
Pumpkin Mooner
Image file reflects 09-30-2001
Drunk Pumpkin Image Three
Drunk Pumpkin
Image file reflects 10-31-2001
Halloween Flashers Image Four
Halloween Flashers
Image file reflects 10-19-2002
Dead Pumpkin Image Five
Dead Pumpkin
Image file reflects 08-26-2007
Hard Pumpkin Party Image Six
Partied Too Hard
Image file reflects 10-12-2008

Soul Reintegration: The Process Begins

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A PDF Essay From: The Chris Thomas Files

Soul Reintegration Image
Image Credit: re-integration.com

New Energies

Humanity is primed to undergo the greatest shift in consciousness that has ever been seen in the history of our Universe. Seven thousand years of human history, “The Human Plan”, is approaching its fruition and 2012 promises to be the year when all of our hard work, our aspirations and dreams, finally come together to re-merge the whole of the soul back into the physical body. But how will this happen? How will we know when the time is tight? How will we be at the end of this change? The change we are undergoing has never been attempted, anywhere, in the whole of Creation, so, we are having to feel our way into our new future but, there are some clues and signposts along the way. One such “signpost” has just begun to emerge from the mists that shroud our future.

The Present

Over the past ten years, more and more people are waking up to the fact that all is not well in the world. Political posturing and lies are being uncovered. Real conspiracies are being brought to light and, the mood of the population is for clarity and the end of being subject to the whims of an “Elite” (also known as Illuminati, Cabal, Bilderbergers, etc…). All of this uncovering is a part of our own awakening.

For almost 300 years, we have been mislead by those who see themselves as being above the rest of humanity and these “Elite” have forced themselves into positions of political power in order to create an agenda to which the rest of the world was subjected without our conscious knowledge. As we moved into the 21st century, cracks began to appear in the elitists’ plans and, more and more people have become aware that an agenda is at work and, that this agenda affects every man, woman and child on the planet. However, we have been largely powerless to do much about it. Any signs of discontent are stomped on, immediately, with increasing severity. The media is controlled to the point where the Elite can tell any lie without being questioned and any proof of the Elites’ agenda is ridiculed as a “conspiracy theory”. But, the energy is changing.

Cosmic Forces

The year 2012 has long been prophesised as the end of the world. Many have taken this statement literally and, see this year as being one of catastrophe and the end of all things to do with Earth. But this is not the case. It is the end of life as we have known it for the past seven thousand years and a change into a new way of being. This duality of endings and new beginnings is not accidental but, has been planned for 7,000 years and, planned in such a way that a number of different forces and energies all combine together at the same time to produce a new reality.

Time Line

In 1996, a new energy was connected to the Earth from deep within the Universe. This new energy is designed to provide us with all that we would need to bring about a change of consciousness. This new energy began by gradually changing the way in which we see ourselves, our place on Earth and our place within the Universe. In 2002, the Earth altered Her own energy patterns. This change on an Earth level was purely to help humans to move on. The traditional “base-note” frequency of the Earth was 7.56 Hz. In 2002, this was raised to 3.5 kHz. This massive change in frequency was to accommodate the needs of people so that the higher self could be re-integrated back into the physical body.

By 2005, we had reached the point where we humans could begin to move forwards. We had, to a certain extent, absorbed and come to terms with the “push” generated by the 1996 energy but, we were still far away from our goal. As we moved through this period, the first people to re-integrate the soul back into the body began to so do. These re-integrations were very successful and virtually no problems were encountered. People undergoing this process is still underway today but, only gradually.

By the end of October 2010, we had raised our individual and collective energies to the point where we could begin a new acceleration. Between the start of November 2010 and the 28th of October 2011, humans raised their own base-note energy frequencies into full alignment with the Earth’s new frequency. By the end of October 2011, we had reached full frequency parity with the Earth at 3.5 kHz. Whilst a major step forwards, this was not the start of full soul re-integration. A number of events need to occur before we can achieve that.

During this period, there were numerous attempts to distract us and prevent us from fully understanding our potential. The two Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, the attack on New York’s twin towers on the 11th of September 2001, the bombing of London on the 7th of July, 2005, and, the attack on Libya in 2011 were all engineered by the Elite and carried out by secret services (CIA & MI6), as well as the military-industrial complex in order to create as much fear as possible in the population.

Add to these atrocities, the deliberate manipulation of the banks and money markets and, we have a population that is subdued, fearful and, more importantly, fearful of their futures. Adding to this level of fear is the total myth of man-made global warming. Instead of moving into our consciousness shift with an open heart and understanding, the Elite attempted to stop this change in its tracks by forcing people to see the world as one where they were unlikely to survive. Fortunately, we are not on our own.

The Earth

All too often we forget that this lump of rock we live on has a consciousness of Her own and despite this lack of human regard, the Earth still sees us as Her “Children”. The Earth, too, has been heavily involved in The Human Plan. In fact, nothing could have been planned and worked out without Her. Along with the new energy source that arrived in 1996, the orbit of the solar system brought us into growing alignment with the centre of our galaxy. The energy arriving from the centre of the galaxy also added to the impetus for change. This galactic alignment has become more direct since 1996 and we are now, at the end of 2011, bathed in positive energy patterns never before seen. All of these new energy sources are acting together to help us.

When we began to help ourselves and completed our base-note frequency acceleration, the Earth could begin a new phase of development. This, She began on the 13th of December 2011. This new source of energy brought about by the Earth is feeding into the human mass-consciousness and its purpose is to bring about a new wave of change. The level of dissatisfaction brought about by the activities of the Elite means that the human mass-consciousness has reached critical mass. This new Earth energy is there to gently push the human mass-consciousness to a point where we create a tsunami for change.

To continue reading, download the PDF version HERE.

[Note: This PDF was originally posted on the One-Vibration Forum on December 17, 2011.]

Wayback Wednesday: Apple iTunes & iPhones

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Steve Jobs iTunes Photo
Photo Credit: computerweekly.com

January 9 has been a very special day to Apple, Inc. On this day in 2001, Apple announced iTunes at MacWorld San Francisco, an application for Internet radio, music playing, ripping music from CDs and maintaining a library. The software ran on MacOS and Windows and, in 2003, you could download media from the iTunes Store. In 2005, Apple extended functionality for video and podcasts…University lectures in 2007 and, books in 2010. iTunes Radio, free music streaming, came in 2013 followed by Apple Music, paid music streaming, in 2015.

iTunes Logos Image
Image Credit: themusicsite.com

Apple has come under criticism for its digital rights management (DRM) encryption FairPlay. The protection of the music greatly limited what devices could play the files and brought about a movement to remove the restrictions. Steve Jobs penned an open letter to the music industry in February 2007. By April, non-DRM music appeared for download and the entire music catalog was DRM-free in January 2009.

1st Generation iPhone Image
Image Credit: igotoffer.com

On this day in 2007, Apple announced their first smartphone…again, at the MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. Quote from Steve Jobs:

“This is a day that I have been looking forward to for two and a half years. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”

From Wikipedia:
Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless. The development cost of the collaboration was estimated to have been $150 million over a thirty-month period. Apple rejected the “design by committee” approach that had yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful collaboration with Motorola. Instead, Cingular Wireless gave Apple the liberty to develop the iPhone’s hardware and software in-house. The whole effort was called Project Purple 2 and began in 2005. Six weeks before the iPhone was to be released, the plastic screen was replaced with a glass one, after Jobs was upset that the screen of the prototype he was carrying in his pocket had been scratched by his keys.

With the iPhone X costing $1,000 dollars, Apple rules the world.

30-Day Song Challenge: Day 11

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Music Challenge Image
Photo Credit: goodreads.com

A song you never get tired of…

THIS is going to be difficult because there are so many. I will go with this one.

Save Me