Posted on 09/14/2010 11:02:33 AM PDT by GATOR NAVY
ANNAPOLIS, Md.
Four Naval Academy midshipmen and a professor, along with Navy scientists, head to the North Sea on Wednesday to search for the remains of Capt. John Paul Jones' ship, Bonhomme Richard.
This search for one of the most famous ships of the American Revolution will combine oceanography, historical analysis and naval engineering and employ cutting-edge technology. A multibeam sonar, for example, will give researchers three-dimensional pictures of objects on the ocean floor, and a gradiometer, a mine-sweeping tool, can detect objects buried under sediment.
If the researchers on this two-week expedition find the remains of Jones' ship, which sank while taking the fight to Great Britain's shores 231 years ago, they will have solved one of history's great mysteries.
Jones, commonly called the father of the U.S. Navy, was a master at sailing in directions no one expected, which saved him time and again from the British Navy. But his nautical skills have made it difficult for historians to determine where he went after the battle and where his wooden ship sank.
(Excerpt) Read more at hamptonroads.com ...
Clive Cussler is now an enviro-weenie. At least that’s the conclusion I came to during the reading of one of his latest books.
Most of his books from the last 10 years have been co-authored with someone else, so it may be their influences. Or maybe not.
Did he write it himself, or was it with someone else? He’s got two other guys helping with the two different series, Oregon (?) Files with Captain Juan-Somebody and the new NUMA one with Kurt-Somebody. I didn’t care for either series, and I’m not sure what the “with” means - my guess is that he gives them the plot, they write it, and he polishes it. I think he still writes the Pitt ones himself.
"The Sea Hunters" was a good read...at least the 'nonfiction' parts.
It was the mostly forgettable book that had to do with the Northwest passage opening up. Written with someone else. And I’m sure you’re right. A commercial writer writes the books, and he polishes them up. Virtually no work for him, and the pop writer gets to cash in on Cussler’s famous name.
Does he still do his own writing? The last couple that I've read (mediocre at best) he "consulted" on. Meaning "If I slap my name on this, there are plenty of suckers who will shell out money for it".
Fun movie. Not an epic, by any stretch, but fun. Dirk Pitt was well-cast (Matthew McConaghey). The title sequence included a montage of Cussler's shipwreck-hunting buddies, and the soundtrack was comprised of 70s album rock tunes.
Like I said, I think that he'd be a fun guy to have a beer with.
So, did he start this mission by stating, “I have not yet begun to look”?
ping
This was a really fun read:
He does indeed sound like the kind of guy you’d want to have a beer with, while looking under the hood of one of his cars.
http://www.numa.net/car_collection.html
Sorry about the duplicate: I went to break up a fight, and a cat walked over the keyboard. They always do that when they can see the bottom of the food bowl.
“Sahara” struck just the right chord for Cussler material. I initially didn’t think Steve Zahn was well-cast as Al Giordino, until I saw him press-check that AK-47 in the oasis shootout. Peanut-head (McConaghey) was perfect. Fun movie.
Unfortunately, Cussler hated it, and killed any possibility of a franchise. Guy was too full of his own worth. You can’t play his books too seriously in movies, or you end up with the dreary “Raise the Titanic”.
Too bad that Cussler didn't like it, I'd not heard that. I knew that he had an enormous ego (what other writer writes himself into his books??) but I didn't know that he took his work that seriously. Figure that his books are the male equivalent of romance bodice-rippers.
Neat cars, though. And lots of shooting, explosions, and nekkid women slinking around. And, occasionally, a decent idea (I *liked* the concept of "Treasure"!) sneaks into the works. :-)
I was able to see it in 2005 while visiting a friend who was stationed there. Very impressive.
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