Archive through January 5 2001

[Geoff Whitfield]

Randy, Personally I'd put him in the scuppers - but that's another story!! Also Mr Hind, don't think you are dining with the Captain at the Convention, I have something very special for you. You will need to bring a large pinny and your Marigolds!
Geoff

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

You will be enchanted to learn that most of the mansions in Newport- including Astor's and Vanderbilt's have 4 taps for hot/ cold running water AND sea water- ah... civilization. The date for the Gilded Age Tour is taking shape- details to be announced soon- Easter is the 15th(April) so it looks like the 3rd or 4th weekend. Stay tuned.

 

[Philip Hind]

Hi Shelley,

We went to The Breakers last year, or was it the year before. They talked a bit about Vanderbilt and the valet Wheeler- strangely I think it was in the bathroom that they did this!? I forgot to ask about hot and cold running seawater showers though!

My abiding memory of Newport was that it was where Lorna and I discovered that Americans, in spite of their advanced civilization - hot and cold seawater and the like - don't believe in street lighting or pavements. We parked one side of town and had to walk in pitch darkness along the road for about an hour. Fortunately it was Halloween so we were able to follow pumpkins most of the way.

Is this relevant?

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Newport likes to be historical and atmospheric. When Steven Spielberg shot AMISTAD there a couple of years ago, he had to do very little except dump gravel on the asphalt roadways to create the historic effect- Besides, all those cobblestoned, corner lampost streets were soooo romantic if one can keep from breaking an ankle in the dark.
Re. the Vanderbilt bathrooms- those big marble tubs look like sarcophogi- with all the wealth it would seem like WHITE was the only color for the bath. White tiles, tub, walls, towels- must have been the perception of all things hygenic. Our dreamship will of course have chartreuse, puce, aubergine, magenta, and other luscious shades for the ensuite baths! Ah... now bring on the bathsalts, chilled champagne in Lalique flutes, and rose petals-I feel a bubblebath coming on...

 

[Blair D. Wood]

There must still be the original full plans & blue prints for the Titanic somewhere - any ideas?

 

[Blair D. Wood]

A ship engineer/designer at Holland America tells me that there is a U.S. company in the process of rebuilding a full replica of the Titanic but could not recall who it might have been - any knowledge?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Blair, the Titanic Replica thing is a fantasy which keeps cropping up from time to time. Proposals abound, but no designs exist which would pass the safety requirements, no contracts have been awarded, no steel has been cut, and nothing has been laid down or is going up on any slipway or graving dock.

Some superficial fascimilies might be constructed (Doubtful in the greatest extreme, but who knows?) but a genuine functioning replica just isn't going to happen.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Been awhile since we built castles in the air- but I saw a TV program last night showing what had to be one of the UGLIEST ship diningrooms ever designed- the name of the ship was not given- but it looked like the Food Court at the mall. Two stories, an upper mezzanine thing with steps going into a bottom floor- lighting like Walmart's and ughsome decor. What are they thinking? Maybe Titanic is not reproduceable but I would opt for a ship offering private dining rooms for special parties, a real grand entrance staircase, chandeliers or tablelighting in flattering design, a few lousy aspidistras in pots somewhere and a PORTHOLE that maybe even opened. My dreamship would take the best of every decade- a deco lounge, a 30's style cabaret, an elegant Louis Quinze diningroom.....this new stuff is plain depressing- all sharp points of lucite and polysomethingorother

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Shelley, you'll get no arguement from me. Trouble is that all the tacky glitz exists because that's what the market calls for. Rather a bad commentary on contemporary tastes.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[David G. Brown]

Safety regulations are a real problem in designing ship interiors. They limit the amount of flammable materials to a certain percentage of all the materials used. Suffice to say that varnished wood is an impossibility to meet these rules. Plush carpet, not if it's flammable. And silk wallpaper, no.

The stuff that gets approved for use on ships is pretty ugly. We have another problem her in the United States--casino ships. The big demand is for glitzy gambling halls. So, the people who manufacture materials for boat interiors go for the sure buck: glitz.

Of course, on your dream ship you could leave off the interior decorations...paint everything gray...and make everyone on board wear bell bottoms.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Sounds like Anchors Aweigh mate- had enough of that.. did I ever tell you about the time I spent the night on a destroyer in Greece?......
Glitz is not too bad- but there is even acceptable plastic faux stuff that looks good at a distance. This behemoth I saw on TV was just BAD- artistically. No kidding- is it the dumbing down of American taste? I live 8 miles from Foxwood and even that looks better in its interiors. I have to believe that there is a grayhaired league of bonvivants and gracious people out there who still remember beauty-who do not want roulette wheels, shot glasses and yodeling cabaret singers. I am SOOO distressed about the current trends in ship interior design but who ya gonna gripe to? There is an untapped market for culture, refinement, tranquility-I just know it. String quartets, bridge, high tea, shuffleboard, DRESSING for dinner, etc. Ah well, born too late...