I remember

My maternal Grandma had a set like this one. Great memories.

Float on air!

I remember this ad quite well.

The loss of the Photinia

Many years ago, when I was just a small child - I put it at around 1978 to 1982 - I remember a merchant vessel running aground in Lake Michigan, just off the shore here in Milwaukee. That's a little fancy for the way I *actually* remember it: "Stuck in the mud" is the way my young mind learned of it, and "Stuck in the mud" is still the way I think of it today. I vaguely recall the ship making the front page of the local paper(s), and I clear as day remember my Dad taking us to watch the ship from shore. 

The thing is, for the longest time I seemed to be the only person in Milwaukee who remembers this. Heck, I once asked my Dad and HE had no recollection of the event. I even put feelers out from time to time online, and no one had any leads. 

I was beginning to think I took a minor incident - say, a yacht or powerboat getting stuck - and inflated its importance in my young mind. And that was a shame, because it was such a powerful memory from my childhood, even though it probably consumed all of half an hour of my life and by any objective evaluation was minor and inconsequential.

So I put out a plea on FB: 

I think I've mentioned this before, but let me ask again: when I was a kid, sometime around '78-'82, there was a merchant ship that got stuck off the coast of Milwaukee ("stuck in the mud" is what I recall). It was on the front page of the Journal for a minute, and my loopy kid memory says it might have been stuck offshore for up to a month. My Dad took us kids to the lakefront to look at it at one time. Does anyone else recall this?

This time though . . . this time Lisa's Uncle Bruce saw my request for information and not only confirmed my memory, he came up with hardcore information proving it!

The picture below is of the Photinia as it lay stuck off the shore of Milwaukee. It was waiting to enter the Port of Milwaukee with a load of grain when she dragged anchor and got caught on a reef. 

The helicopter in the photo is presumably helping rescue the 33 crew members on board (all survived). The Photinia was declared a loss and scrapped. Additional information, as relayed by Uncle Bruce, can be found below, along with two pictures of the ship in happier days. 

Oh, and the date of this event? May 13, 1978. That means I was four years and two months old when this happened, and the memory of it has stuck with me all these years. Strange, the human mind, no? 

Thanks again Bruce!

PHOTINIA Other names : none Official no. : BR187933 Type at loss : propeller motor freighter, steel, bulk fright Build info : 1961, Redhead & Sons, South Shields, England Specs : 480x60x25, 7,660 gt Date of loss : 1978, May 13 Place of loss : off Milwaukee Lake : Michigan Type of loss : storm Loss of life : none Carrying : light Detail : Having just come up from Chicago, the ship was standing off Milwaukee, waiting to enter the harbor to load grain, when she dragged anchor and went on a reef off St. Francis Power Plant. Her crew of 33 was rescued by Coast Guard helicopters, and the vessel was later brought in to Sturgeon Bay. There it was decided that, due to the heavily damaged condition of her bottom, she was a constructive total loss of $2.5 million. Had participated in the repair and laying of communications cable near New Zealand in 1977. Image from AtlanticCable.com Sources : nsp,is(3-78),mpl,ac

Several readers correctly identified the April mystery ship as the motor vessel Photinia. Ray Hedley (3rd Mate Photinia 1969) of Sudbury, Suffolk supplied the following information: Photinia was built by John Readhead & Sons, South Shields for Stag Line Ltd, North Shields, and was delivered in 1961. The 7,665gt vessel measured 480ft by 60ft and had an average speed of 13 knots. She was a 10,500dwt bulk carrier, with four holds separating the aft and midship accommodation/bridge, and a further two holds forward of the bridge. She was a tramp ship, and was used to carry any type of bulk cargo. Like most of the Stag Line vessels, she often traded in the Great Lakes when they were ice-free. In 1965 she had a career change when she was converted by Readheads into a cable layer, and Harry Pollitt’s photograph was taken while she was loading cable in Manchester, at BICC’s (Glovers) submarine cable loading gantry on Trafford Wharf, Manchester Docks, prior to sailing to New Zealand, where the cable was laid in the Cook Strait. The job was completed in May 1965, and for a while she remained on charter to BICC, laying a further cable between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Following the removal of the cable-laying gear, Photinia returned to tramping. In May 1978 she was caught in a bad storm while anchored off Milwaukee in Lake Michigan and was driven aground, fortunately without loss of life. She was declared a constructive total loss, but was eventually refloated and towed to Sturgeon Bay, where her machinery was removed. Over a year later, in November 1979, she arrived in Kewaunee, Wisconsin and was broken up for scrap. In 1961 Photinia had cost £919,216 to build and 17 years later, as a total loss, she realised £953,426 from insurers.

Big Blue

15 years ago today, Big Blue collapsed at Miller Park, killing three workers.

I remember my friend Tre calling me with the news, and turning on the TV to watch coverage of the tragedy in the living room of our apartment on 23rd St. 

Happy Birthday Rubiks Cube!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the creation of Rubik's Cube. No, I never solved it. Well, I did once - by moving all the colored stickers around. Outside of that my biggest memory of it is wanting to buy it at a school fair as a Christmas gift for my sister Katie. It was $5, and I didn't have enough money.

I Remember - WCW Wrestling and the Von Erich's

I haven't watched pro wrestling since the late '80's, but the death of the Ultimate Warrior brought back memories of WCCW, the short lived Texas based wrestling organization I followed religiously. The Warrior was one of their wrestlers, as were the Von Erich's. Great memories

KAL Flight 007

30 years ago this weekend the Soviet Union shot down KAL Flight 007, an unarmed 747 passenger flight that had wandered into their airspace. All 269 people aboard were killed, and their bodies never returned to their loved ones. I remember this happening, and I remember asking my Mom permission to stay up and watch Nightline because I thought there was a good possibility we'd be going to war. To the passengers and crew murdered by what truly was an Evil Empire, RIP.

I remember

On October 14, 1992 my sister Katie and I attended a performance of an Athol Fugard play at UWM's Peck Theater, then went across the street to Bodolino's for dinner. Five imaginary dollars to the person who can identify why this date is important to many red blooded Americans (clue: what was on sporting event was on TV during dinner?)

Emergency!

I'm watching "Emergency!" on my DVR. It was my favorite show from ~ age 3 to 7, and I'd run around the house pretending to be a firefighter like "John and Roy". It holds  up well, and there's enough excitement that I'm hoping Smiley will like it too.

Mickey Mantle

17 years ago today Mickey Mantle passed away. My clearest memory of him: an appearance he made on the Home Shopping Network or QVC in his final years, talking about his career and his alcohol problems while hawking memorabilia. 

Here's to you Mick!

The Other Side of the Mountain

Late last night we fired up the ol' Netflix and streamed "The Other Side of the Mountain" , the 1975 biopic of champion skier turned quadriplegic Jill Kinmont. My Mom watched this each and every time it showed up on the CBS 6 Late Late Show when I was a kid, and it was a hefty piece of nostalgia for me. It's hard for me to grade it objectively because of that, but I'd say the value of Kinmont's story is worth a recommendation all by its lonesome.

Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell

In the kitchen of our upstairs flat was a two door, white metal storage cabinet that was used for odds and ends and assorted storage. I remember borrowing this book, Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell, from my Dad's stash in that cabinet. From the contextual clues, that puts it at or before 1985, so I was no older than 11. 

I loved the book, which was full of action and history (I will always remember the description of the powdered hair of the soldiers.). While I always remembered the book, I long forgot the name of its author. 

Decades later, Bernard Cornwell would become one of my favorite authors, a name on the cover that guaranteed I'd read the book. Imagine my suprise when I found Redcoat on his resume, and learned that I'd been a fan for far longer than I thought!

Windows Pinball

My first computer was an all-in-one Compaq given to us by my brother-in-law in 1996 or '97, and this ubiquitous pinball game is fondly cemented in my memory - although it couldn't hold a handle to the real thing. 

Also mastered: Windows Solitaire and Minesweeper, In the latter I would craft my own 100 mine puzzles and figure them out, something I was really proud of at the time lol

20 Years of Nevermind

20 years ago today Nirvana released Nevermind, and w/in a few months my friend Atta would introduce me to Nirvana, PJ, and more. I can't believe it's been 20 yrs. Thanks Kurt & Co for a great 2 decades.

This makes me sad

This is, of course, refuse, left behind our garbage containers in the hope (and near certainty) that someone will see it and take it to a new home. But boy oh boy, those are a lot of memories going away. 

There's the Hello Kitty tricycle I bought my girls from 7 Mile Fair.  Smiley's Radio Flyer retro rocket scooter. The blue Graco stroller that held all my kids. The double stroller that has taken us to Florida, the Bahamas, and everywhere you can think of in town. 

I gotta go. I'm about to tear up. 

I Remember

20 years ago today (IIR the date right, and I usually do), I was confirmed in the Catholic Church. The retreat that preceded the ceremony was one of the turning points in my life. There was a clear, defined moment when I looked at who I was and who I wanted to be and realized the two were worlds apart. The last 2 decades would not be possible w/out that insight.

The Searchers by Alan LeMay

My Dad's always said The Searchers is the best western ever made, and I've never found a film that proved him wrong. I just finished the book that inspired it (by Alan LeMay) and it was just as good - in some ways better. Many of the quotes you've seen here recently are from the text, and I think the ending (while more or less the same) is more powerful in print. Very highly recommended.

A Quote

Never trust a traitor, even one that you create

That's a line I read back when I was 12 or so, in Avon by Paul Darrow (a novel of Blakes 7). It's stuck with me since that day. 

On TV and Crowes

"Broadcast TV sucks donkey balls" - Lisa, after sitting through Leno only to be rewarded with Jimmy Fallon. OTOH, The Black Crowes were Leno's musical guest. A bit of trivia: I drove their drummer to the airport in the middle of the night after his wife called to say she'd gone into labor back home.

2nd Grade

Mrs. Dahl wasn't Mrs. Dahl when the year started. If I'm remembering correctly, she got married that school year. I don't remember her maiden name - Bishop maybe?

I'm in the second row from the bottom, third from my left. My crush Lisa is second from the left, second row from the top.