Following the movie the audience was ushered into a room with 48 recovery
items on display in glass cases. The walls held histories and photographs
of the disaster itself, recovery models, and at one end there was a glass
case with a 3D model of the Titanic resting site as it appears at
the present time.
Ticket stub from Titanic: The Expedition
Boxes of Titanic coal for sale.
It is very strange holding a piece of Titanic coal. It has a moonrock-like quality, when one holds it and realizes it spilled out of the ship as she went down and laid in the dark so many years. A number of questions present themselves:
The following item appeared in the Los Angeles Times January
29, 1998. If anyone has visited this museum please share memories here.
At first glance it looks like what is left over at the movie location.
If this is so, how permanent is this 'museum'?
Clipping from the Los Angeles Times Calendar Section,
|
Further information from Premiere Magazine, March
1998, p. 38:
Titanic Totems: South of the border, down Mexico way, the ship sails on in the minds of museum-goers What can $200 million get you? In the case of Titanic, some sweet numbers at the box office, plenty of award nominations, mentions on the ten-best lists, and, more important, a museum on some desolate stretch of oceanfront in sunny Baja California. Nestled between the lizards and the cacti near Rosarito Beach is a Titanic museum, housed in one of the Fox Studios Baja soundstages where the most expensive movie ever made was filmed. Admittedly, it's a bit of a shlep, but for a mere $5 per person - or if you have the knack to barter, $5 per car - you can walk around Studio 5 and look at props from the film, among them an anchor, part of the bridge, a ship's corridor (first class, naturally), James cameron's director's chair, portions of the staterooms and the smoking room, and the boiler room set. Total elapsed time: fifteen minues (not including the making-of video, portions of which ran on HBO). What of the 90 percent-scale replica of the great ship? Nada, amigos. It was broken down and sold off as scrap metal. That's too bad, of course, but is all of this, well, legit? Absolutamente, according to Charlie Arneson, general manager at Fox Studios Baja, it's just that word has not exactly gotten around (even Fox PR in L.A. had to do some checking when asked about the museum). "We opened in May to be timed more or less with the original release," Arneson says. And when that didn't happen, they didn't publicize it in order to keep things secret. "There now seems to be enough public goodwill and interest, though," Arneson says, "to keep it afloat." |
The following ad appeared for weeks in the newspaper, an intriguing
idea for a benefit. I would have loved to hear the conversations more than
taste the food. I was disturbed, however, when I read the description which
followed later right before the dinner. They are assigning diners names
of passengers? Ones who died? If so, how tacky:
 |
Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, Friday,
February 13, 1998:
"A Titanic Meal: If you want to experience an ill-fated meal in full detail, you'll have your chance on Sunday. the Restaurant Guild International is throwing its 12th annual chef of the year presentation at Stoney Point Bar & Grill in Pasadena. The theme is the last dinner served on the Titanic, complete with replicated dinnerware borrowed from Paramount Pictures. Paramount is also providing 50 extras in costume to add to the atmosphere. The dinner is a six-course lesson in why the English are not world cuisine trendsetters (poached salmon, cream of barley soup, asparagus salad, sorbet, filet mignon, chocolate eclairs), but each course is accompanied by a wine and all the proceeds benefit the United Way. The fare: $250 per person. Diners will be assigned an authentic passenger name, luggage tag, berth key and launch ticket to take hoome with them. The chef being honored is George Brown Jr. of 1717 in the Dallas Museum of Art. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m. Call the Restaurant Guild for reservations at (626) 288-5546." |
Here is an ad for the IMAX re-release of Titanica. We didn't find out about it until too late to go. Seeing everything on a 6-1/2 storey screen sounds ideal. We've seen several IMAX presentations and they were okay, but a screen that size with IMAX's vertical seating would be ideal for underwater shots and for something the size of Titanic, absolutely breathtaking. If anybody saw this please let me know. Eva Hart's family is pictured in the ad and their story is presented as part of the film. I've since seen beautiful programs and press folders from the original 1991 release, containing wonderful photographic stills. I feel really bad missing this presentation. The format sounds ideal. But what's the "95-min. or 40-min. presentation" option all about?
The back of the ad describes the presentation as follows:
Presented in 95-minute or 40-minute presentations.
This narrative appeared in National Magazine, October 1912. Of all the things I've read about the Titanic so far, this has touched me the most. I am in the process of calligraphing her words into a bound, accordian-folded book. I've selected the marbled cover and end papers, and the sea green ribbon to tie it together. This will take some time to complete, but in the end it will be the centerpiece of my personal Titanic Scrapbook. As with all works of art, you must be in love with the process. In the meantime you can follow the link above to view the on-line version I've created for this wonderful teacher who wandered all over the ship from first class to the cargo holds and kitchens.
For dreamers and soul wanderers who wonder what life was like for Rose
and Jack before the Titanic and for Rose after the Titanic,
their stories live on in the fan fiction site "Before and After - Stories
inspired by James Cameron's Titanic."
A replica of Rose's comb
And replicas of some of the jewelry recovered from the debris field
When I look at the jewelry I wonder, who last wore it? Who gave it to
them? Did they say their good-byes on that fateful night? What secret memories
do they hold that we can only dream about?
Many stamps are being issued now commemorating the Titanic, but believe it or not, there are also stamps commemorating the MOVIE! Go to Greg and Paulette's CoolStamps and check this out if you think I've lost one and am making this up. You can even join their new stamp service so you won't miss anything. Some of the historic stamps (especially the souvenir sheets) are absolutely beautiful. Can a Titanic Stamp Album be far behind?
"There are 1000 questions in 4 levels: Novice, Cruiser, Buff, and Historian.
Players will be asked critical facts about the building of the ship, the
ship's decor, the journey, the crew, the tragedy and the aftermath. Players
from the casual movie viewer to the hard core historian will thoroughly
enjoy this game."
comments to... mindharpweb@yahoo.com
