Category Archives: High Seas

KIHA Bonney grew up dreaming of a wedding at her childhood holiday spot, Great Keppel Island.

Fast forward to September 14, 2019 her dream came true - with a twist.

Kiha and her husband-to-be Dave Cowhan, were married on-board the Freedom Fast Cats boat, the Freedom Sovereign.

The couple said 'I do' in the middle of the ocean.

Kiha grew up visiting the island and her parents bought the old Rainbow Hut, renaming it Tropical Vibes, and moved to the island permanently a few years ago.

The wedding party on the Freedom Fast Cats glass bottom boat which was used to take them to get bridal photos.

Dave proposed to Kiha on holidays in Europe. He popped the question in Santorini, Greece, where Kiha's grandfather was from.

When they began planning the wedding, Kiha knew what she wanted.

"I always imagined if I was to get married it would be over on Great Keppel Island," she said.

The wedding was Kiha's childhood dream come true.

She wanted to do something different and came up with the idea of the getting married on the boat and when she contacted Freedom Fast Cats, they were really enthusiastic.

The girls got ready at Kiha's parents house and the boys next door.

The bridal party Mel Wright, Jess Roth, Bree Close, Courtney Taylor and Lucy Doxanakis with bride Kiha Cowhan.

Guests were picked up from the marina in Freedom Sovereign and those already on the island were taken on the glass bottom boat out to big boat.

The bridal party snuck on the boat and hide in the wheelhouse until it was time.

Kiha Cowhan with captain Max Allen of Freedom Fast Cats. The bridal party hide in the wheelhouse until the ceremony began when they docked at Long Beach.

The day turned out to be perfect with three to five knots and the wind blowing northerly, making their preferred location of Long Beach the best spot to anchor and the couple said their vows, amid the Keppel seas in front of 150 guests on the boat.

The married couple, Kiha and Dave Cowhan on the new boardwalk between Monkey Beach and Long Beach.

Long Beach had always been Kiha's favourite spot on the island, as it is private and you get to have it all to yourself.

The couple were also the first bride and groom to walk down the new boardwalk.

Reception party at Kiha's parent's business, Tropical Vibes on Great Keppel Island.

Dave moved to Rockhampton a few years ago to play for the CQ Capras.

Coming from country NSW, a wedding on a boat was quite different for his family but luckily it was all smooth sailing.

"I think it sounded crazy but when they saw the Sovreign it worked," Kiha said.

Dave and Kiha Cowhan were married on the seas around Kiha's dream location, Great Keppel Island.

"Being such an outdoor ceremony, weather was a concern and we didn't have a back-up plan, just faith it would work.

"Over there you are lucky you can always find a beach that is protected," she said.

"September, just from experience, is always known to be a beautiful time of year."

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SMOOTH SAILING: Couple tie the knot on the high seas - Morning Bulletin

Redhouse Arts Center will present Yasmina Rezas Tony-winning play God of Carnage November 717 in Syracuse, New York.

Directed by Tony nominee Hunter Foster, who is artistic director of the company, the production will feature Jeremy Kushnier (Footloose, Rent, Jersey Boys) as Alan, Jennifer Cody (Shrek, Pajama Game, A Christmas Story) as Annette, Josie DeVincenzo as Veronica, and Sky Seals as Michael.

In God of Carnage, an innocent squabble over a playground incident brings together parents in hopes of resolving the conflict. Diplomacy and niceties among adults soon deteriorate into a childish evening of name-calling, tears, and tantrums.

The production will also feature scenic and lighting design by Marie Yokohama, costumes by Donnie Williams, sound design by Anthony Vadala, and associate direction by Adrian Beck. Cynthia Reid will be the stage manager with Ryan Albinus as the assistant stage manager, Josh Reid as the production manager, and Scott Little as the technical director.

Visit TheRedHouse.org.

See What Your Favorite Stars Are Up to Away From Broadway With Playbill Universe

The American premiere of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage began previews at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre Feb. 28. The production stars Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden.

Cody and Foster have been special guest performers on on Playbill Travels Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travels first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Aaron Lazar, and Faith Prince (April 26May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020January 7, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.

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Jeremy Kushnier, Jennifer Cody, More Will Star in Redhouse Arts Center's God of Carnage - Playbill.com

Today, Sperry Top-Siders come in a variety of styles and colors.

It was a brush with death paired with a dogs surefootedness that inspired the now-classic piece of footwear: the boat shoe.

In the 1930s, Paul Sperry was an executive at New Havens Pond Lily Co., a dyer and finisher of fabrics and shoes. In his spare time he would often take to his beloved sailboat, a cutter named Sirocco, on the waters around Connecticuts coast. Sailing was part of Sperrys family: His great-grandfather had regaled him as a boy with tales of the South Seas, and Sperrys younger brother, Armstrong Sperry, would become a celebrated writer of sailing adventures, winning the Newbery Medal for his 1940 work Call It Courage.

But Paul Sperrys own sailing adventures didnt always go smoothly. According to the Sperry companys official history, after sailing through unusually rough seas, Sperry slipped on the wet deck and fell overboard, almost dying in the process. After this harrowing experience, he decided to try to make the sea a safer place by designing a shoe with better traction. The existing shoes for boating were merely ordinary leather shoes with rubber soles. Sperry wanted a shoe capable of gripping boat decks even when they became slick with water, as they inevitably would.

He began working on various designs, but with little success until the winter of 1935, when he watched his dog run without slipping across the ice on a cold Connecticut day. He examined his four-legged friends paw and noticed the pads contained an intricate pattern of cracks. These natural grooves helped account for the animals surefootedness. Sperry decided to imitate those patterns. He experimented with cutting patterns of grooves into gum-rubber shoe soles, The New York Times noted in 1986. Through trial and many errors, he finally discovered that slits carved into a sole in parallel herringbone patterns afforded the superior grip he was after.

In 1939, 80 years ago this month, Sperry was granted a patent for what would become the worlds first boat shoe. The most popular early design was the Sperry Top-Sider. It quickly became an in-demand item for boating enthusiasts. Many members of the Cruising Club of America wrote Sperry to request a pair of the shoes, and at the outbreak of World War II, Sperry attracted what is arguably the best client for a boating-related product: the U.S. Navy, which named the Top-Sider one of its official shoes.

U.S. Rubber bought the Top-Sider patents shortly after they were granted, but Sperry continued with the company as a consultant. And the boat shoes continued to increase in popularity. They had already conquered the high seas, but they were destined for success on land as well. Not only were the shoes comfortable, they came with an implied sense of status few other products did. After all, if you had boat shoes, the implication was that you had a boat. Landlubbers began to clamor for them. In the 1960s the Kennedy family was photographed wearing the shoes, and they became popular on college campuses and among surfers.

In 1980, The Official Preppy Handbook endorsed the shoes, cementing their link to popped-collar fashion. These days the shoes enjoy continued popularity and are worn by men and women alike during the summer months.

Earlier this year, Nick Sullivan, Esquires former fashion director, was asked by a reader of that magazine if it was OK to wear socks with boat shoes. Listen carefully and no one need get hurt, he wrote in response. Never put boat shoes and socks in the same sentence again the best-dressed sailors always go bare ankle.

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80 years ago a Connecticut inventor patented an icon of prepdom: the boat shoe. - Connecticut Magazine

In 1492, Christopher Columbus, of course, sailed the ocean blue. And on his journey home, he wrote a letter to his patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, describing his discovery of the new world, and in effect, asking for more money to make another trip. Columbus' voyage marked one of the great plot points in history. Upon his return, his letter was printed and distributed throughout Europe, making for blockbuster news. Columbus' original handwritten letter, penned on the high seas, no longer exists, but some of the printed copies do. Most are housed in prestigious libraries, and for centuries, that's where they've remained. That is, until about 10 years ago, when authorities discovered some of these treasures had been stolen and replaced with forgeries. So began a modern kind of trans-Atlantic quest, as investigators in the U.S. and Europe worked to recover Columbus' missing missives and solve this most unusual international mystery.

If there is one library in the world you'd think would be impervious to theft, this would be it. The Vatican library in rome houses a vast and unrivaled collection of historic treasures. It is the pope's library, home to manuscripts going back nearly 2000 years. The library is closed to the public, it's a place for scholars only. But Ambrogio Piazzoni, the vice prefect, invited us inside.

It was here in 2011 that Vatican officials first discovered that one of their prized items, a Columbus letter, had somehow been stolen and replaced with a fake.

Jon Wertheim: How do you think this happened?

Ambrogio Piazzoni (Translation): Look I do not know. I have no idea how and when it may have happened. Certainly it was an operation carried out as a proper theft. But I do not know when or how.

He is in good company. At the center of this mystery: this eight-page letter, written at sea by Christopher Columbus, more than 500 years ago. In it, he describes his first impressions of the new world. A wonderland, he writes, filled with rivers, gold and timid natives.

When Columbus' letter arrived at the royal court in Spain in 1493, it was promptly sent to Rome, where it was translated into Latin and printed, spreading the news of his extraordinary expedition.

Jon Wertheim: So this was big news? Columbus makes this voyage and suddenly, this is being disseminated?

Jay Dillon: This is some of the biggest news ever

Jay Dillon is a rare book dealer in New Jersey. He ranks the Columbus letter as one of the most important documents ever printed.

Jay Dillon: This was one of the first bestsellers. It is probably the first contemporary account of anything to be published across Europe.Today, only about 30 copies of this Columbus letter still exist.

Jay Dillon: Each one is now worth something in the low 7 figures

Jon Wertheim: More than a million dollars?

Jay Dillon: More than a million but probably less than $4 or $5 million

It was while researching Columbus letters on his home computer, back in 2011, that Jay Dillon first noticed something amiss. The National Library of Catalonia in Barcelona had posted photos of their Columbus letter online. What struck Dillon as odd: it looked exactly like a Columbus letter that he had seen for sale a year earlier, right down to the same smudge marks in the margins.

Jon Wertheim: And you're telling yourself what at this point?

Jay Dillon: I'm telling myself that one of them has to be a forgery.

Jon Wertheim: Why is that?

Jay Dillon: Because you cant have two books with the same random brown spots in the margins. It's just impossible.

Jon Wertheim: What confirmed your suspicions were these matching marks from these texts that were 500 years old?

Jay Dillon: That's right. Exactly

Jon Wertheim: That would not happen.

Jay Dillon: That cannot happen.

Jay suspected the library's letter had been stolen and put up for sale, which meant whatever was currently in their collection was a fake.

Jay Dillon: It was so remarkable, I couldn't believe it at first. And I made it my business from that moment on to look at every original I could.

And so it was that Jay Dillon became an unlikely detective. Following his instincts, he visited libraries in Rome and Florence and took a look at their Columbus letters.

Jay Dillon: To my utter astonishment, a Columbus letter in the Vatican library was a forgery. And then I went to the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence and damned if the same thing doesn't happen again. Their Columbus letter is a fake too.

Afraid that notifying the libraries might alert the culprit, he decided instead to take his information to the Department of Justice.

Mark Olexa: It seemed like it was almost out of a Hollywood movie script.

Homeland Security special agent Mark Olexa led the investigation, along with assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, Jamie McCall.

Jamie McCall: Similar reaction. I thought it was a John Grisham novel. That we had some people in Europe stealing these treasures of the world and replacing them with high quality forgeries.

Jon Wertheim: You say Hollywood script, you say John Grisham. Were you skeptical?

Jamie McCall: Of course we have to confirm what our tipster was providing us

They turned to Paul Needham, one of the world's foremost experts on 15th century printing. He runs the Scheide Library at Princeton University, home to one of the most valuable private collections of books on earth. And now it was Needham's turn to travel to Europe to examine the letters. In each case, he determined the originals had indeed been removed and replaced with photographic facsimiles printed on centuries-old paper.

Paul Needham: The Columbus letter being a highly collected book it's just the perfect combination. Both very small and very valuable their value per leaf of paper is higher than for any other printed book.

Jon Wertheim: You're saying this is the perfect item to forge.

Paul Needham: It's the perfect item to forge.

Jon Wertheim: And there's a market for it?

Paul Needham: There's always been a market for it

This turned into a trans-Atlantic collaboration. A legacy, you might say, of Christopher Columbus.

Mark Olexa: We engaged quickly with Carabinieri.

Enter Giovanni Prisco, captain of the Carabinieri Police's Cultural Heritage Squad, based in Rome. His unit investigates property theft from private homes, churches and libraries. In Italy, it is a crime market second only to that of illegal drug and weapon sales.

Jon Wertheim: We are in this country with so many artifacts, with so many churches you must be very busy.

Giovanni Prisco: Yes we are very, very busy, of course.

One of the most valuable art collections in Europe isn't housed in a museum visited by millions of tourists, but in this warehouse in the back of his police station. It's basically an evidence locker for stolen artifacts.

Jon Wertheim: This is all art that you've seizedGiovanni Prisco: Yes, there are some archaeological items some fake and contemporary arts, and some antiques, paintings, like--

Jon Wertheim: What is this?

Giovanni Prisco: Yes, like that one. This is a Caravaggio, it's coming from school of Caravaggio.

Jon Wertheim: Caravaggio.

Giovanni Prisco: Yes, and it is a paint stolen at the end of 1990 and was from a private house. It was discovered in the north of Italy.

Jon Wertheim:What does a Caravaggio go for these days?

Giovanni Prisco: It is millions of dollars of course.

Jon Wertheim: Millions of dollars.

Giovanni Prisco: Yes, it's a great paint, it's quite big and it's coming from Caravaggio's hands.

But wait there's more: amphoras, sculptures and dozens of masterpieces. An original Tiepolo. And this painting by Peter Paul Reubens.

Jon Wertheim: Oh wow.

Giovanni Prisco: It's a Madonna.

Jon Wertheim: This is a Rubens.

Giovanni Prisco: Yes, it's a real Rubens. It's not a fake.

Captain Prisco says one of their biggest challenges these days is protecting Italy's rare books. The country has more than 18,000 libraries.

Jon Wertheim: Why is it so difficult to protect books from theft?

Giovanni Prisco: because books, some of them are really small and it's not difficult to put under your arm or in your jacket.

While book thefts are often committed by insiders, in the case of the Columbus letters, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie McCall suspects there may have been more than one person involved.

Jamie McCall: It requires access. It requires the ability to create high quality forgeries. And then the ability to know where and how to sell these Columbus letters on the private market.

Jon Wertheim: One name that keeps coming up is Massimo De Caro. Familiar name to you guys?

Jamie McCall: Yes, Massimo De Caro was prosecuted by the Italian authorities for pilfering thousands of rare books and he was involved in the sale of at least one of the Columbus letters at issue.

Jon Wertheim: This was someone who's been involved in these kind of crimes before?

Jamie McCall: Yes, correct.

Jon Wertheim: Fair to characterize him as a person of interest?

Jamie McCall: He is a subject in the investigation.

The Columbus letters themselves may be hard to track down, but this subject in the investigation is not exactly in hiding. Massimo De Caro, a notorious Italian book thief, just finished serving a seven-year sentence for stealing thousands of ancient books and manuscripts from Italian libraries and selling them overseas. To our surprise, he agreed to meet with us at his home in Orvieto, a hill town an hour's drive north of Rome. To say that he professes his innocence would be an act of considerable understatement.

Jon Wertheim: The police say you are a subject in this investigation. Does that concern you?

Massimo De Caro: You know, first of all, the police in Italy, regarding books are the worst, ok? They even don't know how is made one book. I love Italy too much to say which level they are, ok?

Jon Wertheim: But doesn't bother you that you are a person of interest?

Massimo De Caro: No, no, I mean, I would like to help but--

Jon Wertheim: You want to help?

Massimo De Caro: Yes I would like to help. If I work on it, I'm sure I can solve.

Jon Wertheim: You think you're smarter than the police.

Massimo De Caro: Let's say that I am more expert than them.

Jon Wertheim: In this field.

Massimo De Caro: In this field, yes.

De Caro is not just a convicted thief, he's also an accomplished forger. He spent years making a fake Galileo book, which fooled the experts and sold for almost a half million dollars. He showed us another Galileo reproduction he made.

Massimo De Caro: you can see the quality of the paper. I used antique paper.

Jon Wertheim: You did this? This is your handiwork.

Massimo De Caro: Yes, it all. I am very proud about this.

Jon Wertheim: You're very proud of this.

Massimo De Caro: Yes.

Jon Wertheim: If this book were original, what would this fetch on the market? What would someone pay for this?

Massimo De Caro: $300,000 at least

De Caro admits he sold two Columbus letters, which he says he bought legitimately from an anonymous collector. But he denies he ever made a fake Columbus letter. Why? For one thing, he says, it's too easy.

Jon Wertheim: You could've reproduced one of these Columbus letters.

Massimo De Caro: Oh if I try? I can, I'm sure I can create the best Columbus letter.

Massimo De Caro: If I create a Columbus letter, then we can show this Columbus letter to all the expert that you want and I'm sure I can bet that nobody recognize it is a fake.

Jon Wertheim: You think you can fool them?

Massimo De Caro: Yes.

Eight years into the joint U.S.-Italian investigation, no arrests have been made in the case, but three stolen Columbus letters have been recovered. No easy task, as they were sold in private sales to wealthy collectors, who, investigators say, weren't aware the letters had been stolen.

Jon Wertheim: How did you start tracking down the originals?

Mark Olexa: We relied heavily on Dr. Needham. He had a great roadmap of transactions and who was possessing and selling these Columbus letters throughout the world.

They were found in the most surprising places. The letter stolen from the Riccardiana Library in Florence turned up in, get this, the U.S. Library of Congress, alongside national treasures like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Jamie McCall: They were shocked. They were stunned. As you can imagine. The letter had been donated to the Library of Congress in 2004 by one of their major donors. As for the Vatican's stolen Columbus letter, it was traced to a wealthy Atlanta collector, who had bought it in 2004 for almost $1 million. Last year, Ambrogio Piazzoni, the vice prefect of the Vatican library, was on hand when it was returned to its rightful home.

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Rare, million-dollar copies of a letter written by Christopher Columbus replaced with fakes - 60 Minutes - CBS News

OLDSMAR The city at the top of the bay is planning to spend upwards of $125,000 on a climate change plan.

The Oldsmar City Council voted unanimously this month to put a call out to consultants to come up with a rundown of the threats posed by climate change. The document, which the city is calling a climate resiliency study, will also include potential solutions to those challenges.

And there are challenges, said Nan Bennett, the citys director of public works, in an interview.

High water is our highest vulnerability, whether thats flooding or storm surge or sea level rise, Bennett said.

A map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that projects sea level rise onto coastal communities shows parts of southern Oldsmar threatened by water after just 1 foot of sea level rise. A recent series of projections by scientists with the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel showed that the region as a whole is likely to see between 1.9 and 8.5 feet of sea level rise by 2100.

Related story: A group of scientists just presented updated sea level rise projections to Tampa Bay politicians. Heres what they say.

The sea level rise will be caused by climate change, those scientists project. Greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels trap heat in the atmosphere, gradually warming the globe. That warming causes water particles themselves to expand, and polar land ice to melt. Both phenomena lead to sea level rise.

Thats why Oldsmar is taking steps to adjust to a watery future. Ashlee Painter, Oldsmars sustainability coordinator, said the citys plan would cover topics ranging from infrastructure to public health. (A changing climate doesnt just mean higher seas, it means more extreme heat.)

In the study, officials are also asking for a way to include climate data in decision making, according to the October agenda item.

Some of the citys climate change planning is already underway. Oldsmars water reclamation facility on Lafayette Boulevard is just a few hundred yards from Tampa Bay. The city isnt waiting to hear from a consultant; its begun the process of raising the facilitys control building, Bennett said. Hopefully, those efforts will make the building more resilient.

Related story: Climate change is here. Will Tampa Bay finally get ready?

In the process of formulating a climate change plan, Oldsmar has taken more of a wait-and-see approach. Painter closely watched as other cities particularly Sarasota formed their own climate change vulnerability and adaptation plans in recent years. Because it observed other governments, Painter said, Oldsmar now has a better idea what to ask from consultants in a climate assessment.

The city will hear back from potential consultants next month. Its expected to finalize the $125,000 contract in January.

Once the study is complete, the recommendations wont automatically become law. But Bennett said the city council is looking for actionable items from the study.

We live here because we love it, but there are inherent risks with living here, Bennett said.

Related story: It might be the Pinellas city most threatened by climate change. Heres what its doing to plan.

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Oldsmar wants to spend $125,000 on a climate assessment. Heres what that means. - Tampa Bay Times

Ever dreamed of ditching the routine of everyday life and sailing around the world, waited on hand and foot, for a few months at a time? (Us, too.) But as around-the-world cruises grow in popularity, they also bring a lot of questionsfrom planning and packing to the truth of whether that ship will feel too small after a week. We spoke to six people whove taken not one, but several, world cruises on top-rated cruise lines to share whats it really like to spend months at a time on the high seas.

They include 77-year-old New Orleansbased philanthropist Phyllis Taylor, a Silversea devotee; Viking loyalists Roger Foenander, 71, and his partner David Mutton, 62, who live in Sydney. We also talked to Dr. Charles Mitchell, Jr., 81, who lives in Michigan and cruises with Princess; and fellow Michigander Linda Wiseman, 72, who has traveled with Cunard. Finally, theres Keith Steiner, now retired at 64, who has traveled with Crystal more than 100 times over the last 17 years; he lives just outside Austin with his wife. Here's what they spilledand the best advice theyd give to anyone keen to follow in their footsteps.

Courtesy Viking

"The ship is very important when youre doing a world cruise. Crystal Serenity is not too big or too small, and it has a wraparound promenade deck where you can get away from it all for some quiet timewhere you can walk, or run. We usually book the next world cruise several years in advance, so we can get the same room every time in the PH category [a penthouse with a veranda]. We call it 'our' room." Keith Steiner

"We book well ahead; were already booked for 2021. If you want a certain room, you had better book it early. And you have the luxury of canceling up to four months out, so the $15,000 they make you put down to guarantee the room is totally refundable." Linda Wiseman

"We tell people always sail east to west; that way, youre setting the clock back, not forward, an hour. It's much more restful. When you have to keep putting the clock forward, people get tired." L.W.

"The difference between a short cruise and a world cruise is night and day, storm and calm, fleeting thought and thoughtfulness. With an extended cruise you absorb the lifestyle of life at sea; with the great advantage of having a crew and staff that treats you like royalty. I enter the bar in the evening, in no time my favorite song is being played, my favorite drinks sit before me. I go to dinner and my favorite table is waiting for me, and my waiter has already served the iced water with lemon just as I like it." Phyllis Taylor

"Your only responsibility is to yourself, and it is up to you to decide how to enjoy the day. It has all the convenience of living at home without the hustle and bustle of shopping, cleaning, and cooking." Dr. Charles Mitchell, Jr.

"The world cruise is like my winter home. We used to have a condo in Florida, which wed use for a week or two here and there, but we didnt have full-time help. On a ship like this, for four months, everything is done for you: you dont cook a meal, get your car filled with gas, nothing." L.W.

Courtesy Silversea

"When sailing into ports, especially the more scenic ports, people gathered in the Explorers Lounge to ensure they got that once-in-a-lifetime photo. In all other locations we did not notice any great pressure on space. The Viking cruise ships provide a wide range of discrete 'sitting room' environments to give the sense of being in a more homely setting. These are so plentiful and never crowded and usually quiet. You can really get away from it all among 900 passengers." Roger Foenander and David Mutton

"We always meet new people every year. In the dining room, and tell the matre d not to seat us with another couple who is sailing the whole thingthat way, our seat mates switch every few weeks and we can meet different people. And if for some reason you dont love the people sitting next to you, youre stuck for five days, not four months." L.W.

"I never actually gain weight on these trips. I love to eat but Im vain; I bring my own scale with me. My system is that I try to be very controlled when Im eating on the ship: the spa dishes at dinner, a dietetic lunch and, if I have tea at 4 p.m., I peel the bread off the smoked salmon sandwiches. Then on the port days, when we go out to dinner, I eat whatever I want." L.W.

"Ive known people who bring on two sets of clothes, because they love to eat so much. Before our first world cruise, my wife and I were nervous wed gain weight, but we actually ended up losing it. We came up with this strategy: we eat breakfast like at home, for lunch wed create gigantic salads, and at dinner, wed have a three-course meal with fruit for dessert. We stepped up our exercise, and we always walk the stairs instead of taking the elevators, as well as walking around the deck. I have a step counter in my watch, and we did up to 40,000 steps per day." K.S.

Eric Laignel/Courtesy Viking

"David tends to attend the onboard enrichment lectures, while Roger will walk around the decks or chat with people. We are involved in the trivia team conducted at noon, and then proceed to lunch with friends. Roger likes to play cards in the afternoon, and David might see a movie in the cabin; he managed to watch all of Downton Abbey on the world cruise. Afternoon siestas are a must. Then perhaps a visit to the onboard spa and sauna before a cocktail, and then dinner with friends in a variety of restaurants on board." R.F. and. D.M.

"I start my day by exercising first, followed by breakfast. Then I usually check out the lectures onboard for the day, and then choir rehearsal. I sang in all 10 of the World Cruise choirs." C.M.

"Planning is key. Make sure to bring some over-the-counter medications: you could get a cold, eat the wrong thing, and have stomach issues. One year I pulled a muscle in an early port call, and had to buy a heating pad; now I bring one." K.S.

"I take a huge supply of drugs: every possible kind of seasick stuff and antibiotics, a giant Ziploc bag full off it, so Im prepared. And I always bring a baby portable steamergreat if something gets wrinkledand my own electrical strip, so if I want to plug in a ton of stuff, like a phone, my electric toothbrush, I can keep them all together on one shelf." L.W.

"I love sea days. You can sleep as late as you like. If you miss the breakfast service, there are croissants and pastries [available], or room service. The afternoon is ideal for an extended visit to the spa and salonyou should see it on the day of a formal night, when almost every woman on board is vying for an appointment. Then, as evening approaches, you prepare for fun and entertainment." P.T.

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Around-the-World Cruise: What It's Really Like to Sail on a 100-Day, Multi-Destination Cruise - Cond Nast Traveler

Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, most recently on Broadway in Shuffle Along, will host the 11th annual Broadway Salutes ceremony, presented by The Broadway League and The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds.

The annual event, at which theatre professionals receive recognition for having worked 25, 35, and 50+ years on Broadway for their contributions to the business, will be held November 5 at 3:30 PM at Sardi's Restaurant.

The program is directed by Marc Bruni. Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment Anne del Castillo will also be in attendance.

At this years ceremony, The Actors Fund will be honored for its ongoing support and contributions to the theatrical community.

Broadway Salutes honors actors, agents, attorneys, box-office treasurers, casting directors, choreographers, composers, designers, directors, dressers, managers, musicians, orchestrators, producers, publicists, stagehands, stage managers, stylists, theatre owners, ticket sellers, ushers, writers, and more who have dedicated their careers to the success of Broadway.

If youre lucky enough to be adopted into the Broadway family, you may find you want to make a career and a life hereas this exceptional group has done for a quarter of a century and more, said Thomas Schumacher, chairman of The Broadway League. Its veterans like these along with vital new talent who make the thrilling array of Broadway shows year after year. Were lucky theyre part of our family.

The Broadway Salutes committee is comprised of co-chairs Laura Penn (SDC) and Mark Schweppe (Shubert) and committee members Chris Brockmeyer (Broadway League), Willa Burke (Jujamcyn), Joe Hartnett, (IATSE), Adam Krauthamer (Local 802), Deborah Murad (Dramatists Guild), Lawrence Paone (Local 751), Paige Price (SDC), Aaron Thompson (Equity), and Patricia White (TWU Local 764, IATSE).

Connie Wilkin and Jennifer OConnor, of Foresight Events, are the production team.

Host Mitchell earned Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his performance in Kiss Me, Kate. He also received Tony nominations for his performances in Man of La Mancha, August Wilsons King Hedley II, and Ragtime, and he was recently inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Other notable Broadway shows include Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jellys Last Jam, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In 2016, Mitchell received his most recent Tony Award for his work as Chairman of the Board of the Actors Fund.

Members of the theatre community who have worked more than 25 years on Broadway should contact their union, the Broadway League, or their Broadway employer in order to take part in the ceremony.

Mitchell has been special a guest performer on Playbill Travels Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travels first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Christopher Fitzgerald, Aaron Lazar, and Faith Prince (April 26May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020January 7, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.

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Tony Winner Brian Stokes Mitchell Will Host 11th Annual Broadway Salutes - Playbill.com

As a fisherman who has been working on the high seas since he was 14, Bren Smith has seen just how precarious life in and around the ocean can be.

He was 20 when the cod stocks in Newfoundland, Canada,collapsed in 1992, leaving more than 30,000 people without work and devastating the fishing village where he grew up. Smith was spared because he was working in Alaska at the time. Still, the experience shook him. He left commercial trawling behind and switched to oyster farming.

Then in 2011, Hurricane Irene came, Smith said. And Hurricane Sandy the next year. Intense storm surges, fueled by global warming, buried his bivalves and destroyed his equipment.

Discussions about climate change have often focused on its terrestrial impacts: the killer heatwaves, wildfire, desiccated forests and depleted farmland. But global warming is affecting the oceans as well, heating them up and changing their chemistry so rapidly that its diminishing seafood supplies and triggering stronger, wetter tropical storms, United Nationsscientists recently warned.

I was told climate change would be a slow lobster boil, said Smith. After the storms, I realized it was already here. Its here and now.

So Smith became one of a growing number of activists, policymakers and climate scientists working toward a plan that aims not only to protect the oceans but also to help slow the snowballing effects of global warming that threaten to wreck the planet. Along the way, they want to create more jobs in ocean conservation, offshore energy and seaside tourism. Modeled after the Green New Deal, these conservationists are calling their plan a Blue New Deal for the ocean.

The thing is, were either looking at the ocean as a problem space, Smith said, or we see it as the victim of acidification, of overfishing, of changing water temperatures, of bleached coral reefs.

His version of aBlue New Deal reimagines the ocean as a protagonist and as a place where we can build real climate solutions, Smith said. The proposal, which Smith drafted along with marine biologist Ayana Johnson and Chad Nelsen of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, emphasizes restoring and replanting coastlines.

Wetlands, seagrasses and mangroves can absorb up to five times more carbon per acrethan a rainforest, Johnson explained. And wouldnt that be a great opportunity for a jobs program? she said. We could have a conservation corps of young people that just go out and plant stuff.

The plan also champions a model of ocean farming that Smith developed after losing all his oysters. The aquatic gardenshe rebuilt off the coast of Connecticut include seaweed, which absorbs carbon, and shellfish, which absorb nitrogen. Besides absorbing greenhouse gases, he said his gardens are good for the climate because they help to restore the wider marine ecosystem. And theyre good business, he said, because they can float and bob through storms

Smith now runs the nonprofit GreenWave, which helps fishers across the country and around the world plan their own ocean gardens. He recounts his meandering journey from trawl fisherman to ocean entrepreneur in his 2019 book, Eat Like a Fish.

Ronald Gautreau Jr. for GreenWaveSmith harvests oysters from his Thimble Island Ocean Farm off Branford, Connecticut.

Ocean farms are just one little idea, Smith said. My thought is: Lets bundle together and support a thousand climate solutions because theyre out there.

The Blue New Deal that Smith helped write is one of several similar efforts to articulate what such a proposal could include. Others have suggested investing in offshore wind farms and tidal energy, setting higher air quality standards for ships, and promoting hybrid and hydrogen-fueled vessels.

The activist group Blue Frontier has gone a step further to also propose flood insurance reform and programs to help people who live in flood-prone areas relocate to higher ground.More than 40% of Americanslive along or near the coast, and coastal communities generate nearly half of the United States GDP about $8 trillion.

When the best available science is giving us the worst possible scenarios for the ocean, we just have to do something, said Blue Frontiers founder, David Helvarg.

In a bid to gain the support of all presidential candidates for its Ocean Climate Action Plan, Blue Frontier invited scientists, fish and shellfish farmers, government officials and activists to a summit last week to refine the proposal. Weve got a lot of the tools and a lot of the solutions, but so far weve lacked the political will to do anything about it, Helvarg said.

Part of the problem is that oceans are sort of out of sight, out of mind, he said. Many Americans only think about the ocean when theyre on a beach vacation.

That may be starting to change.

During CNNs climate crisis town hall for Democratic presidential candidates last month, Smith had the opportunity to question one of the front-runners, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Those of us that work on the water, we need climate solutions and we need them now, he told her. The trouble is, is the Green New Deal only mentions our oceans one time. ... So whats your plan for a Blue New Deal for those of us working on the oceans?

Warren quickly promised her support. I think hes got it exactly right. We need a Blue New Deal as well, she said.

Smith is waiting for her and every other lawmaker to get on it.

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This Fisherman Wants Us To Use The Oceans To Fight Climate Change - HuffPost

Hows your Black History Month going so far? Ive given a dozen talks including one at a large firm where I was heckled by a senior partner who was furious that I was stressing the integral role of black people in British history. Ive talked to hundreds of black people about what life is like for them in predominantly white spaces.

If I were to boil all those interactions down to one issue, it would be how we remember what really happened what place it has in the nation, what visual guides exist to help us actually see this history, what narratives we tell. And the problem with Black History Month is that its still just that. A month. Even in the best-case scenario where it gets maximum airtime, its still just a twelfth of our annual headspace. Thats a minimisation that echoes the lived experience of black people, still feeling the pressure to make themselves smaller in a world that too often regards us as marginal.

The wrecks of slave ships speak of African resistance, of remarkable rebellions and subversion on the high seas

That there is very little of this history to see is undeniably part of the problem. Delivering this message to mostly white audiences, no matter how well intentioned, during the first half of Black History Month often makes me feel exoticised. So my survival strategy is to spend the second half in Ghana, whose flag blazes a black star, because here blackness is a source of both pride and normality.

Yet the same pressures of erasure have operated on the way history is remembered in Africa, too. One of the first events I went to this month, once I arrived in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, was about a project to take the architectural plans of the almost 50 slave forts built by the British and other Europeans, and which pepper the Ghanaian coast and turn them into pieces of art. These castles are being described as a crucial, visible part of the puzzle for those still struggling to understand the interconnectedness of people of African heritage to British history.

Another set of artworks, which I have spent this year exploring, is the wrecks of slave ships that are littered across the bed of the Atlantic Ocean but are barely seen or acknowledged. These watery graveyards speak to the full scale of European exploitation of Africans, but also of African resistance and agency, of remarkable rebellions and subversion on the high seas.

As I and others have argued before, one reason that British people feel complacent about Britains role in pioneering slavery, and the racism that underpinned it, is that it happened slightly farther away. The Caribbean is Britains own Deep South, where enslavement and segregation as brutal as anything that existed on American soil took place at the hands of British people. And that distance facilitates denial.

If there is one useful thing we can all do this Black History Month, it is to bridge that distance. And that raises the question: why is there no memorial to enslaved Africans, on whose backs Britain was built, on British soil?

Theres a simple answer, and a complex one. The straightforward explanation is that despite the work of one tireless group Oku Ekpenyon and her organisation Memorial 2007 campaigning for such a memorial for nearly two decades, the government has failed to support it. Ekpenyons Remembering Enslaved Africans and Their Descendants memorial secured planning permission for a space in the rose gardens in Hyde Park, commissioned a design by the sculptor Les Johnson and raised nearly 100,000. Many black British people myself included have given our money, time or energy to supporting it. But on 7 November the planning permission will expire, and the site will be lost if 4m cannot be raised.

Thats not for want of a sophisticated campaign, or high-profile backing. Patrons of Memorial 2007 include Kate Davson, the great-great-great-granddaughter of the abolitionist William Wilberforce; the archbishop of York, John Sentamu; Paul Boateng, the first black cabinet minister in British history; and Doreen Lawrence.

But without the support of the government, 4m is an impossible target to reach. Memorial 2007 has tried repeatedly to secure that support, having reached out to every prime minister from Tony Blair to Boris Johnson. The announcement in 2015 of 50m in support for a Holocaust memorial raised the groups hopes. It suggested that there was a renewed interest in remembering painful historic events. But that interest, it seems, does not extend to black Britons.

Its true that the countrys treatment of people descended from this history could not be more shameful. From the institutionalised racism they experienced fighting for Britain in both world wars, to the attempts to deport members of the Windrush generation just last year, they have endured the worst of what Britain has had to offer.

But this campaign is not requesting a favour for a marginal section of society. The history of how we came to be this nation is a history for us all. If we cant dignify it with a simple memorial, one whose location, design, importance and even planning permission have already been established, then we really have lost the plot.

Afua Hirsch is a Guardian columnist

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Britain was built on the backs of slaves. A memorial is the least they deserve - The Guardian

Back in my day, jocks and nerds didnt get along much, but it seems such old distinctions are now gone. Making its debut at halftime during Monday Night Football, the final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker delighted athletes and asthmatics alike. We are all united when it comes to Jedi, droids and Wookiees.

The Rise of Skywalker is billed as the culmination of the sequel-trilogy, or non-ology, or whatever you call the main Star Wars storyline. There will be more from the galaxy far, far away (The Mandalorian is just around the corner on Disneys streaming service) but for material directly connected with George Lucass 1977 original, this is it. Or at least until its Daisy Ridley and John Boyega as the elder statespeople passing the lightsaber to the next generation. (Dont think that wont happen.)

As the new trailer launched, there were many questions. Is Rey an everywoman, or is she to the cosmic manor born? Will Kylo Ren revert to the light side? Will Finn and Rose live happily ever after? Can Poe Dameron be any more dreamy?

And how will Luke Skywalker fit in, now he is dead? How exactly will Emperor Palpatine, AKA Darth Sidious, fit in, since hes been dead since 1983? How smooth will the repurposed footage of General Leia look, since Carrie Fisher died before production of this movie began? And for the hardcore, is that ship in the background really the Ghost from the animated series Star Wars Rebels? (All signs point to yes.)

This is a JJ Abrams film, so zilch of substance was revealed in this latest promo. But here were the five moments where we made noises that most resembled millions of voices crying out in terror (in a good way).

The third film in each Star Wars trilogy has, thus far, involved a reversal of what true nerds call alignment. In Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader became good. Yay! In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker turned bad. Boo! Will this new one be the tiebreaker? We hope so. And we hope it involves Rey forgiving Kylo Ren his transgressions and the two of them having a big smooch somewhere with the wind blowing her robes and his wavy hair.

But until that can happen, theres going to be some fighting, and it looks like some of that will be on the high seas. Adam Driver looks diabolical emerging from the water and holding his red, cruciform lightsaber like some kind of upside-down trident.

Palpatine is back in this new one. How how how? No one saw it coming, so we should have expected it.

Weve yet to see Ian McDiarmid in any of the promotional materials is it really him, or his Force ghost? but weve heard him laugh and now weve heard him say spooky things such as Long have I waited! (Never keep McDiarmid standing in a queue; hes terrifying!) Its unclear exactly what the Darth Formerly Known As Sidious has been waiting for, but we can guess as to the where: a crazy-looking stone throne that would make even Thanos wince!

I thought we had got all the Star Death out of the way with The Last Jedi. Vice-Admiral Holdo sacrificed herself by hyperdriving the Raddus into a fleet of Star Destroyers and Luke Skywalker evaporated after his Force Projection. Then there was Carrie Fisher who actually died. Couldnt our tear ducts maybe take a movie off?

Well, no. I just didnt think it would be C-3PO, the protocol droid who along with R2-D2 has been in every Star Wars movie thus far, to be the one to go. A solemn farewell moment in this trailer makes it seem as if thats the case.

When George Lucas (remember him?) was first dreaming up these stories (and giving them tongue-twister titles such as Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from The Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars) his influences were varied. Yes, he was reading Joseph Campbell. Yes, he was watching Akira Kurosawa. But he was always inspired by cheap, dopey film serials from the 1940s and earlier. To that end, this shot of our heroes on a fleet of interplanetary horses (they arent tauntauns!) really brings it all home. Its fun to see new character Jannah (Naomi Ackie) leading the charge, and outstanding to see BB-8 zooming alongside them.

Each trilogy is about one persons journey. The prequels were about Anakin, the original trilogy was about Luke and the sequel trilogy is about Rey. The final shot of this trailer, with the digital sparkle added to her eyes (unless Abrams blinded her on set!), is a gorgeous image of a new icon. And the voice from elsewhere in the room (or maybe from beyond) echoes some memorable lines from the first film: The Force will be with you, says Luke. Always, adds Leia.

Excuse me, someone must be chopping up space onions in here!

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The Rise of Skywalker trailer five things we learned - The Guardian