New Ideas, New Possibilities
Today (May 27) is the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary - What Do We Know About the History of Kansas Bridges?
The Golden Gate Bridge is 75 years old today - what do people know about the history of Kansas bridges?
This is the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. Perhaps no other single architectural event, with the exception of perhaps the Empire State Building, is so well known around the world when people think of America.
I've gone over the Golden Gate Bridge countless times since I've been here. It never ceases to amaze me.
Here are photographs and two videos of today's events:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/26/BAFJ1ONPNU.DTL&tsp=1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2012/05/26/BAFJ1ONPNU.DTL&o=0
But I also wonder about Kansas bridges.
Here is a view from Mulvane, of the bridge which Larry and Barbara built.
http://goldengatebridgeks.com/
I am sure that the Journal-World carried an article about this bridge in Kansas, but if they did, I can't find it today.
The San Francisco Chronicle did, however, carry a special article today about Kansas' Golden Gate Bridge. It is a fascinating story. "At about 2:30 in the morning, I woke up [in the airplane] and saw a tower. I said, Wow, that's the Golden Gate Bridge. If I'd known we were crossing, I'd have stayed awake." From there, he went on to Vietnam.
When he came back to Kansas, he decided to build a small version - Kansas' Golden Gate Bridge - on his land in Mulvane.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/26/BA671OKD9F.DTL&type=politics
Here are some photos of that bridge:
Perhaps, for the 75th year celebration, he might find some special way to decorate his Kansas version of the Golden Gate Bridge. It could be pictures taken by students from schools throughout Kansas, of bridges near where they live, or oral histories of each bridge - but I'll leave it up to him and his wife to see what they can discover.
Surely people remember when these bridges were built throughout the state, and maybe there is a special story about each bridge. For example, my father, when he was young, stepped on quicksand (this was Western Kansas) and he almost didn't recover. There was no bridge over the river at that time.
I'm looking forward to finding out what some of those stories might be.
This would be a good project for schools and for oral history groups next year.
But meanwhile, I'll leave you with an article and some great photos of today's event.
First, incredible pictures of the bridge under construction:
And then-today's events:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/19/BAPT1OBTTQ.DTL
Be sure to look at the photographs and videos. The words are by one of San Francisco's great writers, now passed away, but never forgotten.
In Other Words - or - Worlds
Look at Google's puzzles - then, there is a picture to identify of a town in Kansas, and a second picture of another town in a different part of the world
I'm playing a bit with Dave Klement's blog, In Simple Words - and by the way, I really like what he is doing - but today Google came out with the third part of a series, which is very much like his local pictures.
Take a look and see if you can identify ANY of the following pictures from around the world (taken via Google Earth). I could only identify three:
The first puzzle:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/where-in-the-world-a-google-earth-puzzle/100120/
The second puzzle:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/where-in-the-world-a-google-earth-puzzle/100197/
And, now, the third puzzle:
I didn't do very well with the three series above. So I thought I'd try a well-known town in Kansas.
This town has TWO colleges, and its newspaper has an excellent blog for writers (and it's not, in this case, Lawrence).
Now here is another picture, this time from another part of the world
This town has five newspapers, all of them online, and some very good writing. Can you guess where it is?
I haven't mastered Google maps yet insofar as putting a google map for the above pictures on the site. Google maps are available for most of Africa, and you can see the arch from above, as are Google maps for Kansas.
First player to win doesn't get any prizes - but I've always thought I would like to know the geography of the world. With Google's current maps, we're almost there.
In case you can't identify the second photograph, it's in a capital city in West Africa.
Bay to Breakers run takes place today
The Bay to Breakers
This amazing race has been going since 1912. It is 7.46 miles long, going from the bay to the ocean. In recent years, it has gathered much attention because of the highly unusual costumes which are worn--including some naked runners who even have their own Bay to Breakers website.
To get through San Francisco today, there are only three possibilities. It is almost impossible to do. There are thousands of people lining the streets. I will be there.
Here is the update from today's run with lots of photographs:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/20/BAGJ1OKT67.DTL
And here are some of the Chronicle's best photographs from previous years:
http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2012/05/18/best-of-bay-to-breakers/#5189-56
View pictures from last year's race:
...and the Lucas toilet
In many ways, it reminds me of the wonderful story of the Lucas, Kansas toilet posted on yesterday's Lawrence Journal-World web page.
The Bay to Breakers and the Lucas toilet are both open minded, free spirited types of things - they are a true art form. I hope Lucas, Kansas has lots of visitors!
Sammy Kitwara, from Kenya (34.40.5), won the race, along with Ethiopian Mamitu Daska (39:02.04)
My Commencement Speech to KU Graduates
Do what you want to do – but have a backup plan
Everyone making a commencement speech will tell you – it’s very simple to say, but very hard to actually do -
Do what you want to do, do what makes you happy!
But in the next breath, those who are being honest will tell you a second thing: most of the time in life, you cannot do what you want to do for a living. In fact, for most of us, there will come many times in life when you don’t have any idea of what you want to do next.
Sometimes it’s helped by a calling (Joseph Campbell: The Hero’s Journey).
Other times it’s helped by a lot of preparation.
And yet other times, after what seems often like waiting forever - it might result in a black swan event (an unexpected event out of the blue) (Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Black Swan).
Most of you will have to do many other things in life in order to make a living. Often these are things that you can build on later in life, but you don’t know it at the time.
They will sometimes be remarks that are made in passing, which can trigger an idea for you that, if you follow up, will make a complete difference. Or they can be jobs you don’t like doing, but which you apparently have to do. Later in life they will appear to be very significant, but when they come up now they are often an irritation, to say the very least.
If you don’t prepare yourself for multiple possibilities for the future, you might very well be left in the dark when the time comes to make that next step towards the future.
And also as you get older, when jobs can be tight and very hard to get, if you haven’t made that preparation earlier, it can be extremely difficult to do it later in life.
And that’s where your last four or five years at the university could – but probably haven’t – made a difference.
Kansas University studies and the debts you'll have to pay later
University work, as presently designed, is a very poor experience for many people. It doesn’t leave you with enough flexibility, while at the same time it encourages debt accumulation.
This article just came out, and the previous one a few days earlier:
It confirms exactly what I have indicated in this article! Things have to be done differently in the future.
At present, a college education leaves you with very little practical experience after four years. That was certainly true for me years ago when I attended a commencement ceremony. In the back of my head was the thought, over and over again, “What will I do next?”
Part of the time I thought that I had the world ahead of me with hardly a worry. But how wrong I was.
There need to be many changes at the university level, often with different and varied teachers. We need to use more teachers from the community, who may not have advanced degrees but who have a lot of practical knowledge.
You need to go back and forth between campuses
For example, you need to be able to go back and forth between campuses. There are things you can learn at K-State which you will never be able to get at Kansas University. Farming and horticulture is one of many examples. From Emporia you might find a special teacher there you will want to use, and you would also get a smaller town experience. And you might want to go to Fort Hayes, for online training and to develop future on-line courses.
There is also the possibility of including private schools, from Baldwin City and Ottawa to Southwestern College in Winfield, for an even broader view of college education.
At the present time, you can not do these things at KU, or any other Kansas school, to the best of my knowledge – which is to go back and forth at will, to really choose the courses that you want to take or try.
And because you can’t do it, your hard-earned money is partly wasted.
Useful and Practical Skills
You also need to develop practical and useful skills. This is part of the backup I mentioned earlier. I found that I had extremely useful typing and editorial skills, and I also had very good skills at putting things together, which was useful in the army. When I got out, and eventually came to San Francisco, these skills played a very useful role in keeping me alive for the first several years.
Moreover, I kept learning new things – my first job in San Francisco was with an engineering firm. Before that I had expressed scorn at engineering – but I soon changed my mind when I saw the kinds of projects these people were working on.
You need to acquire a number of different skills, which you can use as necessary, building upon all of them. But this is not what the present Kansas university education is all about.
There needs to be a complete revamping of the curriculum. Many classes you only need a taste of, not a full semester. I had to take math classes, but I never have used most of the advanced classes to this day.
On the other hand, some business classes I was disdainful of taking, yet I wished later that I had a basic knowledge of business when I really needed it.
I also needed basic medical training, among other things. The medical training I might need when traveling in less developed countries as well as for myself and the friends and family around me throughout my life. Of course, these courses weren't available at KU.
A lot of these classes could be condensed into 6 weeks or less. This is particularly true today, when online learning is becoming more popular.
And:
And the following just came out, as well:
more on free courses on line, this time with Stanford:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9720231.stm
As I have written before, digital libraries could revolutionize small towns:
And by the way, online learning should eventually decrease your debts, as it extends more deeply into all aspects of learning, and allows for more to be done on your own with the (online) help of other students who are going through the same thing.
It is also important to have older people at school. In your 40s to the end of life, if your mind is open, you have the need for new ideas. You may have the idea for a start-up company at the age of 50 or 60. Why is it, so many years after graduation, that I still see so few middle-aged and older people on campus?
The lifeblood of a campus is people of all ages. But, after all these years, I still don’t see many people of all ages at the University of Kansas. And many of the people I do see are university staff and professors.
Consider getting rid of tenure
Consider getting rid of tenure. Many of the professors, after receiving tenure, have their little sinecures and have no intention of branching further out.
There are exceptions to this rule, of course. There are some professors who work very hard, and extend new things into their work constantly. Many grad students work very hard for really very little money.
KU should be more involved in other countries and in poorer parts of Kansas. Students and professors could create solar and all kinds of alternate energy, carry out teaching, learn new arts and music, and hear the stories of different traditions. Students and professors could work together between the different campuses. And these are just some examples of the things that need to be done. Classes and studies need to better reflect the needs of real societies today.
Professors presently go to different countries for conferences, but there often was never any real involvement by students in most parts of the world – and there still isn’t. We really aren’t helping the rest of the world to move toward the future in their own way.
Meanwhile, because we haven’t learned foreign languages well, and because we have very little knowledge of different cultures and traditions, we are falling way behind.
A few tidbits of wisdom
African culture, for example, is respectful of older people. You can learn a lot if you will take an interest in all kinds of different age groups.
If you are of a religious bent, learn from the various religions. All of them have special practices which can be important later in life.
Be respectful of immigrants and of people who have lived in this society for only a short time. They can teach you a lot, especially when it comes to learning from patience and observation.
This story, which just came out, is typical of what older people and immigrants can bring to a university:
Don’t think that, just because you have a degree, you are better than others. That’s far from true.
Be embracing of change throughout your life. If you become hard and rigid, you will find that new things will not open up for you.
Take an active role in reforming the university
Take an active role in reforming the university. A writer suggested recently that - regarding the regents – they were able to have the very best seats for watching football.
But we need different kinds of regents in office, rather than those who like to watch football. Form groups and take an active role in forming a different structure for picking the regents. And choose regents who care deeply about the arts, culture and traditions, engineering, science, and who especially have part of their roots and experience in other parts of the world. They will then care about a lot more things than having a good seat at a football game.
In fact, I suspect in the future we may have lots of smaller campuses in more towns, not bigger campuses in a few major towns.
The regents should be people who care about where the university system is going, how universities can be combined to present new things, instead of just carrying on in their current ways. They should have open meetings with people throughout the year in various cities throughout the state, and these should be videotaped for future viewing by anyone who was interested.
The end result is...
The end result is that you don’t receive that much of the education you really need for life's future work. And a great deal of the money you put into the university is for things you will never use. Meanwhile, the debt that many of you will have to pay off is tremendous.
Until you receive a much broader education, which covers all kinds of topics, and you can move between campuses to get what you really want – or want to try – KU is short changing you. And you should know it. At the administrative level KU is not just about campus politics, or getting the girl or guy in the next room to notice you – it’s about what you are going to be in the future. And it’s about what you care about in the future, which may impact many people’s lives throughout the world.
And it means more than you can imagine to keep the lower and middle classes going to the universities in the future.
Keep yourself as healthy as you can.
Do things for others throughout your life. This will constantly give you new friends and new interests. Your life won’t stagnate.
And finally: As Buddhists say, keep a beginner’s mind. Always be open to new things and new ideas.
I would like to hear from others throughout Kansas and the world, on the ways in which they would change the universities of this state so that they can adapt to the modern circumstances of the present world.
Go out from this campus with a clear mind, and see what you can do – not just for yourself – but for the world!
In keeping with my hope that the universities of Kansas will become more world-oriented, the illustrations are of different campaniles (bell towers) from around the world.
There could be a digital library for every town in Kansas
There could be at least one doctor for every small county, and a digital library for every Kansas town
With the onset of the new medical school in Salina, eventually there could come great change to Kansas rural areas. I will go into the medical school in greater detail in another blog. Most of the United States doesn't know it yet, but this medical school will produce new doctors for central and western Kansas. It's a new and exciting concept.
In addition to doctors, what these smaller towns really need is to be more liveable, especially for teenagers and adults. A lot of people don't know how to use the computer, and many others can't afford one.
But teenagers and adults want the internet and more.
And - they should have them!
There should also be places to meet, and to have coffee or tea.
The digital library solves many of these problems.
The Los Angeles Times yesterday had a major article on universal digital libraries.
Many small towns have buildings that are no longer occupied. These could be refurbished at minimal cost and turned into digital libraries. Digital libraries would also include printed materials, of course,
Additional jobs would be created. The person running the digital library needs to have a good knowledge of computers and content, and to be welcoming to all parts of the population, from teenagers to seniors. A recent Times article also pointed out that Craigslist might prove invaluable for the creation of jobs in a smaller town, if computers were widely available, which they would be if digital libraries were created.
In a smaller town, there might also be a coffeehouse attached to the library, perhaps even a place for healthy food and drink.
Visitors driving from town to town could also stop by the digital library to look for things to see. (Believe it or not, Kansas has many beautiful farmland areas and small towns which are quite beautiful to visit.) If more visitors came through and stayed in small towns, more small inns and beds and breakfasts would open as well.
Kansas would be the first state in the United States to have digital libraries state-wide
It would not take a lot of money to fix up the old buildings. Many persons might want to help volunteer their work in their spare time to help the digital library in their town to become a reality.
In some towns, there might be a special old farmhouse or even a barn which could be made into a digital library.
The main thing is that, once the building is finished, the computers installed, plus print materials, this place is ready for business: jobs, entertainment, news, social-networking.
There is yet another aspect that digital libraries would start to solve: education in small towns.
New horizons in education for smaller towns and counties
The New York Times had this article yesterday:
More and more courses are going on line, many free - everything from the History of Great Britain to how to begin to paint and repair cars.
No longer must a small town have an atmosphere which does not include the wider world.
People who live in larger towns would want to go to small towns for relaxation and quiet. If trails were built between towns, that would be even better. I am not the first to advocate trails from the eastern to the western part of the state.
It could create a whole new atmosphere. To people who say that there is no beauty to farmlands, this is absolutely not true. I repeat from above - there is a lot of beauty all over Kansas.
Oral history would become much more available. I could see people spending weekends in a small town enjoying the quiet and working on their oral history. It is certainly true in other parts of the world.
The City of Parsons, Kansas, for example, has a major oral history project happening:
http://parsons.mykansaslibrary.org/?page_id=262
This could happen in every Kansas town!
A place for gathering, reading, and getting together
A digital library would be a place for many different kinds of things. Even the larger cities in Kansas should take note. For example, Lawrence has shown no interest (at least not on line or in comments to my blog) for branch libraries. I think this is a tragic shame. Instead of putting all the money into one central library, I believe there should be more branch libraries throughout Lawrence. People would not have to go long distances to a branch/digital library. There could be a place for bicycles and scooters to park. Even when the weather is bad, students, parents and seniors could go to the nearest local digital branch - a nicely organized room or rooms - where they could even pay utility bills!
I would be interested in artist's conceptions of small-town digital libraries
If any artists in Lawrence or throughout Kansas are interested in creating their conceptions of what a small branch library could be like, I would like to have them share it here.
This is an idea whose time has come!
These are pictures for a lifetime
Watch pictures of a friend of yours, yourself, seasons, or just a few moments in time
How many times have you looked at a tree or flower, every season? This used to occur with me when my grandmother was alive in Ottawa. She had these beautiful roses, I don't remember which kind. But I used to enjoy them very much every year in the spring. I would leave KU for the weekend and come to my grandmother's place. It was a wonderful experience for me.
Personally, I always wanted to take pictures of trees, in spring, over a period of time. But somehow I never got around to taking the same tree at the same time, year after year.
Then I discovered this posting, first put up April 18 of this year: The father, Frans Hofmeester, photographed his chlld every year and then made it into a short, fascinating video.
http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2012/04/23/video-watch-a-girl-grow-up-in-two-minutes/?tsp=1
Thomas Robinson
A little later, I was struck by the experience of seeing Mike Yoder's recent pictures of Thomas Robinson. These, too, were taken one after the other in 24 seconds time, but they showed the tremendous loss he felt at losing the final game. You would have a hard time doing that with one picture.
I will not forget these pictures.
Have you taken still pictures over the years of trees, land, people? Kansas is a wonderful landscape for photographs.
A friend of mine in Lawrence has taken pictures of - I think it was a sunflower - put together as a video. Perhaps he will be able to find this and put it up here.
I would be interested in seeing any examples that you might have. Pictures of Kansas... your family... flowers that you have always been interested in...
Or perhaps you will have new ideas - one person on a float going all the way down Massachussetts Street..., a horse in a pasture... a flower opening...
In the clouds, but not for long - Google Drive
Are you kidding?
No serious business would ever put its files on Google Drive. For those of you who don't know what it is, Google Drive is a place to put your or your firm's files, instead of on a hard drive.
But who would ever do that, especially with Google's new policy, which pertains to all of Google's products.
The San Francisco Chronicle (Business Insider) put it very well:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/24/businessinsidera-lot-of-people-are-.DTL
Your files are much more than a filing cabinet. These might consist of daily and yearly working schedules, salaries, health information, tax information, and much, much more. Do you think you would want these files in the "clouds" - which is what Google Drive is called?
Google's new policy - which applies to all of their products
As Google says, "When you upload or otherwise submit content to our services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content."
What CEO or person even of a small business would want their life's material to be open in this way? And once it is in the "clouds", sooner or later someone else will get hold of it. What about other countries? What if all your material is lost? All of this could happen!
This needs to be thought over very carefully, just like the blog I posted in well commons this week: "New chips can enable smartphones to see under clothing, behind walls":
If we aren't very careful at this point, we could have technology way ahead of our own privacy concerns.
Google Earth - A boy finds his mother after 25 years, and basketball from West Africa
A Journey to The Gambia, and then India and Tasmania
Like many people, I have been following and using Google Earth for several years with some amazing results.
For example, I have been able to pinpoint the spot in The Gambia, Africa, where the person I am working with on projects in West Africa lives (Ebrahima Mbowe). Several years ago, I would never have even thought of any way to do that.
It's been fun to follow the entire coast of the Gambian River as it goes inland.
Soccer is the big game in Africa, but there are basketball teams as well in various parts of the continent.
We will soon be doing our first post on African basketball teams of The Gambia, and some of the players. I can't think of a better source than to have it on the Lawrence-Journal World. Lawrence is a basketball town, one of the finest in the country. It will be fun to have some of the good African players of basketball on this blog, hopefully with pictures and the events of their lives, which are quite different from the lives of American players.
And Google Earth will make it possible to see where they live and have grown up in Africa.
And a journey to India and Tasmania
But there is another fascinating article which came out this morning;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17693816
Google Earth has helped a boy find his mother from his new home in Tasmania after 25 years.
One you read this article I think you will be astonished. Just as I've been able to use Google Earth for The Gambia--getting to the intersection of the road from Serrekunda to Banjul--this young person made great use of Google Earth to find his home town Khandwa, close to Calcutta. It is a heartbreaking story but it has a very good ending.
From the Sydney, Australia, Morning Herald:
http://www.smh.com.au/world/little-boy-lost-a-25year-odyssey-20120323-1vp65.html
I wonder if other readers have made similar journeys on Google Earth, and what they have experienced. Please include your comments.
A New Vision for Lawrence - Scooters, Pedestrians, Bikes, Cars - and Short-Term Insurance
Why Scoot?
Cities have been undergoing new developments in the past several years. In particular, there are now car companies which allow for a person to rent cars for only an hour or two. The same thing is true with bicycles.
in Paris. for example, bicycles can be picked up or driven to more than 1,200 bicycle stations throughout the city at very low cost. London also has a bicycle system, with drop off or pick up at 400 "docked stations" spread over the city, as does Montreal.
The newest thing is scooters. If San Francisco has it way, Scooters will also be available for short periods of time.
All this, if the DMV and Insurance Companies go along with it, is a very good thing.
Insurance companies must be making changes, because there are lots of cars available for 1 hour or 6 hours, at not a large cost.
http://sfappeal.com/news/2012/03/sfs-new-scooter-sharing-service-might-run-into-wall-at-dmv.php
The possibilities for a city like Lawrence to have scooters, bicycles and cars available only as needed will make the city much more liveable than ever before. For at least half of the year, many students and residents could forgo cars altogether, and use the scooters and bicycles instead. It's a liberation which, at first thought, is hard to believe.
A wonderful Kansas video has been made about riding a bicycle. It's in another post on Well Commons:
And may I suggest another post, from a larger city, which also has an extremely active bicycle program:
http://sf.streetsblog.org/2012/03/19/how-bikes-make-portland-cool/
And here's the new yike bike:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/drive_to_discover&id=8595116
But drivers have to be constantly alert for scooters, bikes and pedestrians
Drivers, however, have to be much more careful to watch out for bicycles and especially for scooters and pedestrians. There need to be changes made in the roadways themselves, as well as driving habits, if these possibilities - and a better Lawrence as a result - are to be successful.
Pathways have to be created for bicyclists on major streets, or the next street over to a major street, so that bicyclists feel safe.
Major signs should be put up for bicycle and scooter routes:
and:
There are also problems which need to be solved, including theft of bicycles. Many cities are working on this.
And - all motorists, bicyclsts and scooters need to know the rules of the road, quite possibly in more detail than before:
http://sameroadssamerules.org/myths-vs-reality/motorist-myths/
Pedestrians (and bicyclists) need more paths to walk and ride on
There needs to be more pedestrian walkways, especially along the river and between towns - Baldwin City, Lawrence and Ottawa being a good example. The result would be an influx of tourists from out of town - making northeast Kansas a place to come for bicycling, scooters, and walking.
A Different Approach to Car Insurance
At the same time, there needs also to be a different approach to car insurance. Car insurance companies won't like this, but it's happening in other cities, and sooner - not later - it needs to happen in Kansas, too, especially for cars and scooters. This may require legislation to enact.
Maybe the worst problem is road rage
I drive a car myself, as well as walking and riding bicycles. So there is a tremendous problem of road rage. Many of the streets in older cities, especially, just aren't wide enough. Motorists - and officials - need to work on making road rage accessible and to be talked about, especially when scooters and bicyclists become even more popular.
Everyone has to give some things, including time. Bosses can't always be sure their employees will arrive right on time. In general, motorists have to much more careful and attentive, at all times. Opening the car door once at the wrong time could cause a terrible bike crash.
This could be a different town to live in
But - if we put these new rules into effect, this could be an entirely different city to live in, in the future. The climate is perfect for long distance riding and scootering - eventually going clear across the state. People will have much more to do on weekends. Many new businesses eventually be created. People won't have to have cars for at least one half the year - they can rent scooters or cars, or take bicycles to work. There are also fold-up bicycles which can be put in cars and used for shorter distances to and from the car.
This will also help innovation, and bring new firms to the city. Much high tech work is careful attention to detail. When people are off work, people need to ride their scooters or bicycles to relieve tension and enjoy themselves, to achieve balance in their lives.
Lawrence has a good start in this area. We have some great parks and the downtown is first rate, especially when there are more places for bicycles and scooters.
All of Kansas - not just Lawrence - has possibilities, once you have a different mindset about things. But Lawrence would be a good place to start things on a serious note, to make streets and the whole town liveable for all kinds of people
One of world’s largest container ships, MSC Fabiola, came to San Francisco this afternoon
San Francisco to Lawrence, Kansas
I don't normally do blogs about San Francisco for the Lawrence paper. But this is an exception for a number of reasons.
When I was a kid, I was fascinated by ships - especially because I never saw one on either coast until I was much older. I grew up in Hutchinson, and then moved to Lawrence. I never saw a real ship until I left for Europe in the armed forces.
But today was a special event. I didn't even know about it until I went out to my car to go to Whole Foods for a sandwich. A friend came out of her house and said that there was a huge container ship coming from China. It would pass underneath the Golden Gate Bridge at about 4:07, and then make its way to Oakland. We left immediately. The sandwich was forgotten.
World's largest container ship ever to come to North America
It turned out that this was the largest container ship ever sent to the North American coast. I don't know if its true, but she said it was larger than the Empire State building is tall. The ship has the length of four football fields. It weights 146,093 metric tons. It is 1,201 feet long. It has a top speed of 25.3 knots.
We took off for the Presidio, the Federal Park by the ocean in San Francisco. As we neared the park, I saw that the fog was coming in quickly, right above the water. We parked and walked out to a pier close to the Golden Gate Bridge. The wind also came up quite strongly.
We met a lot of people, some from around the world, who were also waiting for the container ship to appear. But the fog increased, and we could now hardly see in front of ourselves. Finally we had to go to a coffeehouse nearby (Chrissy Field, if you know San Francisco).
At 5:00 the coffee shop closed, and we went outside. The fog began to clear suddenly, and soon the container ship was directly ahead of us, heading past Alcatraz towards Oakland.
Even at a great distance, it was of considerable size. We waited until the ship was completely out of sight, then came back home.
Why is it named the USS Fabiola from Monrovia?
I don't know why it was called the MSC Fabiola from Monrovia, when it had been sailing from China. Does anyone know? I do know that Fabiola is a common first name for girls in Liberia, and it flies under the flag of Liberia.
About two hours after I arrived home, I checked the Internet, and the San Jose Mercury News had just put up a tremendous web site of photographs. You can see the fog slowly lifting in the distance.
Show it to your kids. Tell them all you can about ships and maps. Tell them about knots and speed. This is their chance to become familiar with one of the newest and finest container ships in the world. They can also learn about Liberia, in Africa.
And in Oakland they have to unload it completely tonight, so that it can begin its journey back to China tomorrow.
I wish I could have made contact via email to the captain and crew of the ship. But to the present time, there has been no luck in finding such information.
Take a look. It happened this afternoon. Have your kids share the web sight at school. They might even like to have some models of similar ships to build.
And here's the article in the Chronicle, which just came out. It's good for more information, but the photographs above are just tremendous.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/21/MNV81NOHJP.DTL
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