Friday, June 26, 2009

Day 33 - Movie Moments

Thursdays are media days – when I record my podcast with Leo and also
make a short video to be inserted into its prepared shell and posted to
YouTube. But apart from my mulitmedia activities today was fairly
unremarkable. I tried listening to the audiobook of Revolutionary Road
but it was too depressing.

So I decided to amuse myself by compiling a list of my favorite film
scenes. Not the movies themselves, note, but most
entertaining/amusing/dramatic scenes. Kept my brain busy for several
hours. Sometimes you just have to make your own entertainment!

7. Four Weddings and a Funeral – the first scene, where they have
overslept and are late for the first wedding. Never has the f-word been
so entertaining.

6. Apollo 13 – Ed Harris, tipping a random selection of objects onto the
table at Mission Control: "Come on people, let's work the problem" With
Ed Harris on their side, failure is indeed not an option.

5. Indiana Jones (can't remember which film) where the Arab-type guy is
threatening Indie with an impressive and lengthy show of swashing and
buckling with his scimitar. Indie pulls out his gun and shoots him.
Violent and pointless, I know, but very funny.

4. The Sound of Music: Julie Andrews is making her way from the convent
to the Von Trapp house for the first time, full of trepidation. She
sings "I Have Confidence" and talks herself into an ebulliently positive
frame of mind. Then she arrives at the gate to the mansion. Her
confidence waivers. She whispers "Oh help" I know that feeling so well….

3. Blade Runner – the Rutger Hauer death scene as the rain pours down
his face: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe…" etc. I wish I
could remember all the words. It's so beautiful.

2. The Commitments – Billy the band manager goes to visit one of the
band members, who lives on a run-down housing estate in Dublin. He gets
into the lift, which is already occupied by a small boy and a horse.
"You're not going to take that horse in the lift, are ye?" "I got to,
sir. The stairs'll kill him." Love it!!

1. The Life of Brian – Brian has been rather surprised, when he flings
open his bedroom shutters, to find a crowd of several thousand people
waiting below. As he's trying to persuade them to clear off and stop
following him around, he says, "You're all individuals". "We're all
individuals," they chorus in unison. Then, with perfect comic timing, a
solitary little voice pipes up, "I'm not". The more you think about it,
the funnier it gets!

Ahhhh, I do like a good film. I'm sure there are lots of other classic
movie moments, but these are the ones that came first into my head.
Sorry if you wanted a blog more about ocean rowing, but there's a limit
to how much can be written about rowing 10,000 oarstrokes a day….

[photo: the cancan-dancing porpoises didn't show up today, so here is a
pic taken yesterday of the procession of fish that swam under my boat
for a while]

Other Stuff:

Devastated to hear about the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah
Fawcett. (Nicole emailed me to let me know.) As a little girl I was a
big fan of Charlie's Angels, although for some reason I wanted to be
Jaclyn Smith rather than Farrah. But Farrah was, of course, the icon.
And Michael Jackson - what a talent, but in so many ways what a tragic
life. Someone who, literally, found it impossible to be happy in his own
skin. Farrah battled cancer, Michael fought his own cultural identity.
Both are now at peace, their battles over.

Other bad news reaching the rowboat Brocade today - my friend Sarah
Outen, rowing the Indian Ocean, suffered a 360 capsize, injuring her
wrist, breaking an oar, and spending some time in the water before
managing to get back into her boat. She was understandably quite shaken,
according to the email I received from her weatherman Ricardo Diniz. But
she is a strong and resilient young woman and I am sure she will get
over this scary episode. If you have a moment, please go to her blog (at
sarahouten.co.uk) and post a message of encouragement and support to
cheer her up.

I am informed that I crossed the 1,000 mile mark at 11:20:50pm Hawaii
Standard Time on June 24, 2009. Approximately. To the nearest second. I
think Nicole will be announcing the winner of the sweepstake in due
course…

If you haven't already, please sign the petition and make your views
known on the Waxman Markey Bill - also known as the American Clean
Energy Security Act - which goes before Congress tomorrow. Details in
yesterday's blog.

Thanks to Julie Johnson for the beautiful excerpt from "Down the Nile".
I really enjoyed it. Sigh. Reading such evocative prose makes me feel
like I should give up writing altogether and leave it to the
professionals!

Answer to Ann Onimous's question: How would you feel if you weren't
using your rowing adventure to bring attention to environmental issues,
and you weren't setting any records? Would you still want to row oceans?
(I'm guessing you wouldn't, it wouldn't be as much fun).
A: Records are not a significant factor at all. Eco awareness is a much
bigger motivation, but actually I probably would still have rowed at
least one ocean. I learned so much about myself, and about life, and
about facing challenges, when I rowed the Atlantic – I wouldn't have
missed that experience for anything! The main reason I've carried on
rowing, as you say, is to use what influence I can to bring attention to
eco issues. Just trying to do my bit to help.

And thank you all so much for the comments posted on Blogger, Facebook
and Twitter. I love reading them, and wish I had time to respond to all.
Be assured – they are VERY much appreciated!

Weather report:

Position at 2000 HST: 12 10.269N, 168 35.254W
Wind: 20kts E
Seas: slightly less than yesterday – 7-8ft E
Weather: hazy this morning, hot and sunny this afternoon. Sun lotion and
sweat running off me in rivulets!

Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com:

As of Thursday, 25 Jun 2009. The easterly trade winds gradually abate
throughout the forecast period. Expect winds to subside to around the
15kt range (possibly less) by Saturday, 27Jun. Seas abate to 5-7ft.

Sky conditions: Partly cloudy with consistent cloud cover next five
days. Very isolated rainshowers.

ITCZ: The most active part of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
lies between 3N to 8N along 160-170W. In this area, winds in heavy
rainshowers have been 30-35kts. To the west of this area, the ITCZ is
relatively quiet.for now. If projected southwestward, Roz's current
coursetakes her west of 170W south of 10N and into the more quiet area
of the ITCZ. However, this could change depending on Roz's progress.

Forecast below is for a SWerly course.
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft)
25/1800-27/0600 ENE-E 17-22 6-9
27/0600-01/1800 ENE-E 12-17 5-7

Next Update: Monday, 29 June

All sounds good to me. Lighter winds would allow me to head on a more
southerly route, improving my chances of landfall sooner rather than
later. And I'm also quite happy to skip the heavy rainshowers and 35kt
winds. Ouch!

23 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:28 am GMT

    By the way, Harrison Ford had diarrhea on the day that scene was shot and didn't want to play out the whole scene, so he just shot him and it made it into the movie. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Roz,

    Went for a run in cold, wintry drizzle today. I would have preferred staying on the sofa and feeding wood to the fire. To get me out the door I told myself "if Roz can get up everyday and row I can...." it did the trick.

    Once outside I even tried to enjoy being cold on your behalf, a vicarious respite from that tropical heat. It worked for about the first 20 minutes and then I started thinking about hot chocolate. - Sorry.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Hi Roz!

    Here's the full Blade Runner quote: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die.

    Also, the scene in Indiana Jones was from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

    @Robert: Ford didn't get diarrhea. He tore a ligament and Spielberg accepted his proposal. (He, and quite a lot of the crew wanted to go back ASAP)

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  5. Anonymous11:35 am GMT

    Roz -- congratulations on reaching the 1000 mile mark!

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Either you define the moment or the moment defines you." -- Tin Cup

    "Every man dies but not every man really lives." -- Braveheart

    "JFDI, Just F***ing Do It." -- Roz Savage


    Some of my favorite quotes

    Regards, Gregory

    ReplyDelete
  7. I, like Leo, have the RozTracker on my iGoogle page so I'm able to check on your progress daily. Additionally, I am checking in on the Project Niu site...you're everywhere! RE: wish list you talked about - As a teacher all the data (along with your commentary, photos, video) is truly valuable, interesting, and inspiring. Continued luck.

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  8. I forgot two of my favorite quotes

    "Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary." -- The Dead Poets Society

    "To make an impact, you have to go to extremes." -- Drive Me Crazy


    Regards, Gregory

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Roz!

    I haven't seen The Commitments, but truly agree with all of your other favorite movie moments. I enjoy your coming up with your own entertainment!

    You are an inspiration to us all. It is encouraging to see such passion in this world of acquiescing apathy.

    You rock Roz!

    Dani

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  10. Roz, congratulations on passing the 1000 mile "milestone."

    Thanks for your support of the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Debate on the floor of the House is happening now through 12:30 PM EDT live on C-SPAN.
    http://www.c-span.com/Watch/C-SPAN_rm.aspx

    Regarding your crescent moon observation, this morning I received the following email from Moon Watch:

    "Thank you for passing on this observation. I will certainly add it to the rest of the observations for this month.

    Regards,
    Steve Bell

    Dr. Steve Bell
    Head, HM Nautical Almanac Office
    UK Hydrographic Office
    http://www.hmnao.com
    http://www.ukho.gov.uk"

    Another first, and a whole nother audience will hear about your mission. http://www.crescentmoonwatch.org/

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cheryl Moore3:19 pm GMT

    Hi Roz,

    You are not the only one who found Revolutionary Road depressing... I kept waiting for the movie to get better and it ended even worse!

    I want you to know you encourage me during my runs and workouts :) I am building my mileage right now getting ready for a marathon and it seems so insignificant to what you are doing. If I get a bit bogged down, I just think of what you have ahead and I realize I have nothing in comparison... which causes me to pick up my stride and pace :) Part of my cross training includes about 6500 meters of rowing on the machine at the gym. After I am done with that, I always have a thought of respect to you.

    "Have faith, expect miracles"

    Cheryl

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  12. I'm afraid if I were to depart on an adventure to row across the ocean solo it would go a little something like this.........
    Day 1...this is going to be awesome! I am going to get so fit and tan.
    Day 2....things are so beautiful out here on the open seas.
    Day 3...I have become bored with rowing, it is nine million degrees out here, I am sunburned all over and afraid to jump in the ocean for fear of getting eaten by sharks, stung by jelly fish or now since it happened to the crocodile hunter..being pierced perfectly through the heart with the stinger of a sting ray...thanks for that.
    Day 4...I am laying around bored out of my mind! I have no idea where I am drifting and hope to be rescued soon.
    Day 5...I am completely unorganized, totally ill prepared, and seem to have lost my sunblock.
    Day 10....yea right...I called in the rescue myself for fear of being swallowed by a whale, flipped by a giant wave, disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle or being overtaken by pirates and waiting for three navy seals to come sniper their 15 year old arses has overcame me! Plus there is not a single Starbucks out here...who knew...thought they were everywhere.

    You are truly an inspiration..thank you for all you do to motivate people!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ed harris was awesome and so was the real Nasa guy he played if you get a chance to see the documentary- Some books and writers are just lame(Revolutionary Road) we can't be expected to relate to or enjoy every single work of so called "literature"- that's why we are all indeed individuals - in yer case a super individual alone at sea!

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  14. The best Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. And I like the "I'm black and I'm proud" moment from Commitments. love it

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  15. Roz! My dream come true http://is.gd/1eLMQ

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  16. Thanks for answering my question! cool! Great answer too. Nice to hear that the eco issues are the biggest motivation. I think you have and are continuing to deliver the message and make a significant impact for the better in this world. Nothing wrong with that! Keep up the good work.

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  17. Russell Cullingworth9:30 pm GMT

    Hi Roz, Just to let you know that I am with you every stroke... I haven't commented before but I've been watching and listening to the podcasts. It was great meeting Tanya in Cumbria and seeing your mum. She was terrific and drove us around from town to town all day - we shared a drink and some chips at Ravonstondale Pub... I'll remember that for a long time. Rita, if you read this, I am thinking of you!

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  18. Chris Kay10:14 pm GMT

    Your cabin
    Is a refuge.
    So is a tent
    In a hurricane.

    ReplyDelete
  19. "Show me the money!!!! I love black people!!" - best scene ever :)

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  20. Late Friday, the US House of Reps passed the Climate and Energy ACES bill by a vote of 219 to 212--a sea change in America's approach to energy, climate change and ocean acidification with cap on carbon emissions and a cap & trade to lowering emissions over time. It's a start.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous5:53 am GMT

    That's a tiny margin for any House bill. Why so many Democrats vote nay? Could it be that they think it unwise? And what are the chances now of it passing in the Senate?

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  22. For next leg, you may enjoy Julie Andrews autobio, audiobk Home: A Memoir

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  23. Anonymous, aggie blue dogs gotta please their aggie constituents ... every state has a blue-red split or didn't you notice. Fortunately for us and mother earth, tonight we have eight nominees -- Mary Bono Mack (CA), Michael Castle (DE), Mark Kirk (IL), Leonard Lance (NJ), Frank LoBiondo (NJ), John McHugh (NY), David Reichert (WA), Chris Smith (NJ) -- for Keith Olbermann's "Best Persons In The World" ... got nads, got wise!

    Let's call and thank them http://www.house.gov/

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