A "Slight" Change in Plans

Letter from Fr. Hattie received via email on December 29, 2015.

Late yesterday evening I received an email from Father Hattie with his latest letter attached. The two page letter was attached in two parts (one for each page) which I stitched together into one image (see above). I was not able to successfully adjust the tint to match the green stationary that I guess he used, so I just left it plain.

Since Father uses a manual typewriter to compose his letters, they are filled with "character" and feeling. As usual, my transcription is below. If you want try your hand at reading the original, clicking on the above image will result in a larger image popping up.

For a list of other letters from Fr. Hattie that I have posted, see my Fr. Hattie page. You will also find there information on how to communicate with Father and/or donate to help his orphans in Nsumba, Uganda (in Africa). I urge anyone reading this blog to take a moment and either send an email greeting to Father or send him a card or letter.  In any case, he would appreciate your prayers.

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December 28, 2015

My dear Rick:     Peace of Christ:

     Would you mind terribly if I wrote on the Feast of the Holy Innocents* to thank you from the very bottom of my heart for your beautiful Christmas Card and the gracious, kind and generous Gift of $. That amount is about to be sneezed at, and it will help me to trace my adopted son whom I haven't heard a word from in over three month[s]. I just hope and pray that he hasn't been kidnapped & killed or committed suicide out of fear, for some men having harassing him for two years just because he won't accuse an unknown man of stealing money from the Bank. Prayers, please.

     I wish that I could write more often, but I can now type with only 2 fingers and with one eye closed and that is hard for me. Just know that I am not neglecting you or uninterested in what you write. With difficulty can I type 2 letters a day, otherwise I make more mistakes than ever.

     I was supposed to fly to KENYA on Jan[uary] 4, but God stepped in. A week before I was to have spinal surgery but, when the Dr. discovered that I had cellulitis in my legs, he cancelled it, saying that he couldn't do the spinal surgery until the cellulitis had disappeared. And, it hasn't yet. And, since I am not allowed to travel alone, I'll have to wait until mid-May to go back with the first African Jesuit priest travelling there. Now, the waiting period seems to be at least 10 years!!! Prayers, please.

     Be sure that you will have special mention in my Mass on New Year's Day & those during the rest of the year. Do have a glorious & successful New Year, filled to the brim and flowing over with Their precious gifts, Graces, & blessings.

Tons of love & gratitude,                                                 

Fr. Gene, S.J.                                    

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* Feast of the Holy Innocents

Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07419a.htm
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Written Wednesday 30 December 2015.

Snow....finally

The parking lot this morning-first snowfall of the season!

Overnight I could hear the pelting of rain, sleet, and snow. So this morning I looked out the window and saw confirmation that despite many recent days of spring-like temperatures, it really is winter. Fortunately, I did not have to drive to work this morning (as I am using up my paid time off for this year).

I think we got about an inch or two of snow slush. It was after 8 a.m. when management got around to plowing the lot. That really helped those that had to go to work this morning.

Late this afternoon (or early this evening), I finally got around to cleaning off my car and shoveling the snow from between the cars. Since the temperature is forecast to again drop below freezing tonight, I didn't want to face ice skating to my car tomorrow or windshield wipers frozen in place.

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Written Wednesday 30 December 2015.

Second Try

I returned to St. Mary's Church for regular Sunday Mass even though I was just there two days ago for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve/Morning. Another 70-mile drive each way. I attended the 9:30 a.m. mass because it was a High mass and boasted a coffee/social time following mass. A social period after mass can be a huge test for a church on how newcomers are welcomed or ignored.

This mass was a similar but different from the Midnight Mass. Although there was no orchestra this time, the choir (Scola Cantorum) sang beautifully. See the list below. You may notice that the Mass was for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist rather than the Feast of the Holy Family (which was celebrated at the 11 a.m. Mass). Apparently this is due to the liturgical calendar used.  The same priest was the celebrant as for Midnight Mass.

Music for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist

(Missale Romanum of 1962, 9:30 a.m.)
Prelude: Versets on Von himmel hoch (BWV 769) (J. S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Hymn at the Procession: What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
Missa Praeter rerum seriem (Cipriano de Rore, 1515-1565)
Gregorian Mass of St. John the Evangelist: In medio Ecclesiae
Motet at the Offertory: Praeter rerum seriem (Josquin des Prez, c.1450-1521)
Motet at the Communion: Virtus Sancti Spiritus (Praeter rerum seriem, secunda pars) (Josquin)
Postlude: Versets on Von himmel hoch (BWV 769) (Bach)

This time I had a more difficult time following the order of mass even though I had a program (which didn't seem to correlate with the music book). You can't really get too lost, though, because it is the Mass. I sat in a different place than Midnight Mass. I like to take in several views initially in order to find the "sweet spot."

This is not my photo but I like it because it gives a perspective of being there.

The coffee/social "hour" was held in the adjacent school building. In addition to the coffee and table of cookies and cakes, there was also the blessing of wine which is associated with the Feast of St. John (I didn't have any since I had a long drive ahead).

Blessing the food (Photo by Stuart Chessman)

At first, I was alone during the coffee hour but while waiting in line, Joe welcomed me and started to talk. Later, Tom came by and also talked. Before leaving I had a nice chat with Jill Chessman (wife of Stuart Chessman whom I met Christmas Eve). So far, what I have experienced is interesting enough to warrant a return. The main down side is that it is so far away from where I live. The irony is that Norwalk was where I worked when I returned to Connecticut 20 years ago.
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Links:
http://www.stmarynorwalk.net
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2015/12/midnight-mass-in-latin.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13547b.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Evangelist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Roman_Calendar_of_1960
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=46
http://www.fisheaters.com/customschristmas4.html
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Written Tuesday 29 December 2015.

Revenge of the Whale - The Book

This is the cover of the juvenile/teen edition of
Phibrick's In the Heart of the Sea.

I just finished this book: "Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex." It is the juvenile/teen version of Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, which was the basis for the recent movie of the same name. As I mentioned in my post about the movie, I was inspired to look for the book but all copies in my local library were already signed out. So I settled for the "teen" version (the Scholastic Books web page indicates that the reading level is grade 8.5).

This was perfect for me: a little bite that I breezed through in a week. You could probably sit down and get through this in a couple hours if you wanted. This version had two sections of photographs (8 pages each), five illustrations, and two maps. The book had 164 pages (including a 3-page index and a 1 page list for "further reading") plus 12 preface pages.

The last sentence of the book calls the story of the Essex" a tragedy that happens to be one of the greatest true stories ever told." Here is the summary from the front flap of the dust jacket:

"On November 20, 1820, the unthinkable happened: The whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry whale. In minutes, the twenty-man crew (several of whom were only teenagers) found themselves stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in three leaky boats with minimal supplies and little hope."

"Three months later, two of the boats were rescued off the coast of South America. The  castaways had sailed over 4,500 miles from the site of the disaster, an incredible distance. Bot of the twenty men, only eight survived."

Reading the book revealed many discrepancies with the movie. For example, the movie used a framing device of Herman Melville interviewing one of the survivors in preparation for writing Moby-Dick. As far as I can determine, this never happened. The movie also shows one black man survive but the book indicates that none of the blacks made it back.

One of the haunting aspects of the book for me was the deadly ramifications of some the decisions that were made. These decisions were made based on the crew's best information but if the officers were better trained then they might have made different choices that could have resulted in more of the crew surviving. That has got me wondering about what well intentioned decisions I have made throughout my life that have steered me to failures I did not want or intend. Sometime I feel like I am drifting in the ocean hoping to be rescued but knowing that it is unlikely. Just have to keep sailing and trust that God will guide you through.

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Links:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/revenge-whale#cart/cleanup

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2015/12/revenge-of-whale.html

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Written Sunday 27 December 2015

Merry F...Fake Christmas

My 2015 Christmas Tree.

In memory of my late, former mother-in-law, Judy: "Merry Fffff..ng Christmas!! That is F for "Fake." It occurred to me recently, that Christmas has turned into a fake holiday designed to sell product and generate revenue. It's a big show for everyone.

I'm not sure when Christmas lost its soul but it is no longer the same. Christmas now starts in September and snowballs into December. The same dozen or so songs are constantly playing in all the stores all the time. I read about a DJ who got so fed up that he played the same song over and over, over 20-some times before they broke the door down and switched the record. It drove everyone crazy to hear the song continuously. Therefore, one has to wonder what the motives are for the folks who play the same songs over and over for months.

Everyone has fake (I mean artificial) Christmas trees. My protest is make my own tree and tape it to my apartment door where someone can actually see it (as they pass through the hallway). It may not be a real tree but I made it fresh this year.

Christmas is actually fading away. It is morphing into just "holidays." Happy Holidays everyone says. We have Holiday parties at work. People send (email, text, tweet, twit) holiday greetings. No more Christmas cards-Seasons Greetings instead. In many places it is considered improper to say "Merry Christmas" or to post red and green decorations. Really.

Christmas cards are out. If you don't want a holiday photo (generally of the kids only), there are online services (e.g., Shutterfly) that will not only print your card but will mail them to your list so that you don't even have to touch them (if you want to add a personal touch, Shutterfly will send them back to you ready to go except for the stamp). 

This year I received several text greetings from siblings on Christmas. Several included pictures. Most were sent to multiple people rather than just to me. Efficient but impersonal. WWJD? I despise these kinds of texts. None of these siblings bothered to call me. They were apparently too busy (sending mass texts I suppose).

FedEx is working Christmas Day in order to squeeze out more $$$ (and indulge your materialism).

When I was growing up, it was a big deal to go to midnight Mass. Now, it is almost impossible to find a Mass at midnight. Most churches have a service/mass in the evening (10 p.m. at the latest) on Christmas Eve. This way you don't have to bother leaving the house on Christmas Day to attend religious services. What does religion have to do with Christmas anyway?

The weather today was (appropriately) unseasonably warm. The grass is dark green and no sign of snow so far this year. This must mean that Pope Francis is right about global warming (errrr, I mean Climate Change). Bless me Father for I have sinned....

Like last year (and Thanksgiving), I went for a walk to justify indulging in the gluttony of a Christmas holiday dinner. Since I walked for about an hour and a half, I probably covered three or four miles. While walking, I had a nice chat with my mom and a couple of my sisters courtesy of the miracle of a cell phone. However, I was shocked and disappointed to hear from my mom that she had not gone to Mass. It apparently wasn't very high on their list of things to do for Christmas. I guess that is what contemporary RCism does to a person.

Sunset on Christmas Day at the end of my (first) walk.

Later, after eating, I went for another walk to work off the calories (hahahaha). Again, thanks to my mobile phone, I had a nice chat with a nephew, niece, and one of my sisters.

And so Christmas Day drew to a close. What is Christmas? How did we get to this place now? Happy Solstice, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings. 

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Shone Knife - Space Christmas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noq_JBcMM08

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Written Saturday 26 December 2015

My Christmas Dinner

This is the story of my Christmas dinner. First I obtained the ingredients. I went to my local Stop & Shop for a few items and then went across the street to Boston Market for the main course and side items. I shopped on Christmas Eve in order to avoid trying to find food on Christmas Day. Even if anything is open on Christmas, I do not want to buy anything and encourage stores that there is enough demand to be open on a holiday.

My local Stop & Shop (Photo by David B. Newman)

My Boston Market (courtesy of Yelp).

From Boston Market, I got a large Turkey Breast dinner (for 1). The two sides I chose were sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes and gravy. I also got an extra side of creamed spinach. I also got some shoe peg corn from Stop & Shop.

Before dinner, I went for a long walk (probably 3-4 miles) to work up an appetite and hopefully burn off some calories.

In the beginning....

I cooked the corn first and then filled my dinner plate with the Boston Market items. I microwaved the dinner plate. Since the corn was already cooked, I added it to the cooked dinner plate and then sent it through another few seconds.

Thoroughly cook until well heated....

For Thanksgiving, I had a glass of wine with my meal. But this time, I decided to skip the alcohol this time and go with sparkling cider (Apple-Grape) - Sort of like champagne.

My beverage this time.

Boston Market also includes a small piece of corn bread. And so my meal is complete (see picture below). I have enough left over for a second plate (meal).

Dinner is served.

For dessert, I got a 1/2 of a pumpkin pie from Stop & Shop. At Thanksgiving, they didn't have Vanilla Frozen Yogurt but this time I was in luck. I could've gone with whipped cream but I thought the ice cream would be more versatile.

Dessert: pumpkin pie and ice cream.

After dinner, I went for another walk to try burn off some calories. Again, I walked for over an hour (probably not enough to offset the calorie intake from the meal).

A gift from my sister, Amy.

When I got back from my walk, it was essentially time for bed. But craving something sweet, I had one of the Berger Cookies my sister had sent from Baltimore. These cookies are delicious but I don't dare look at the nutritional information.

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Links:

https://www.bergercookies.com
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Written Saturday 26 December 2015

Midnight Mass (in Latin)

Cover of program

This Christmas I wanted to do something different. Something got me thinking "Midnight Mass." I mean, really midnight not 5 p.m. or 10 or 11 p.m. Then to make it more novel, how about a Latin Mass at Midnight. Since finding an actual midnight mass at midnight is now quite a trick, my choices for a Latin Mass at Midnight were essentially whittled to one unless I wanted to travel out of state.

It was a 70-mile drive to get to St. Mary Church. I made excellent time and arrived early for the rosary (see schedule below). This was my first visit to this church and I was knocked out by its beauty. The mass was in Latin but it was not that difficult to follow along because there was a well designed program to use.

Altar at St. Mary RC Church (photo by Jill Chessman)

Christmas Eve:

11 pm Rosary by the creche

11:20 pm Orchestral Prelude: Christmas Concerto (Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8) (Arcangelo Corelli, 1683-1713)

11:30 pm Christmas Carols

Carol: What Child Is This (Greensleves)

Carol: O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël)

Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem (St. Louis)

Carol: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Carol: Tu scendi dalle stelle (St. Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori, 1696-1787)

Carol: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (Es is ein’ Ros’ entsprungen)

Carol: De Virgine Maria (Carl Rütti, b.1949)

Carol: Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Prelude: Desseins éternels (from La Nativité du Seigneur) (Olivier Messiaen, 1908-1992)

The Solemn Proclamation of Christmas

Hymn at the Procession: Adeste Fideles (John Francis Wade, arr. David Willcocks, 1919-2015)

Hymn at the Procession: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn, arr. Willcocks)

Sample page of program; Latin is on left; English is on right.

12:00 Solemn Midnight Mass

Mass in C Major (K. 258, “Piccolomini”) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791)

Gregorian Mass of Christmas Midnight: Dominus dixit

Motet at the Offertory: Laudate Dominum (from Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339) (Mozart)

Motet at the Communion: Verbum caro factum est (John Sheppard, c.1515-1558)

Postlude: In dulci jubilo (BWV 729) (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750)

Postlude: Fugue in A Major (BWV 536/2) (Bach)

More pictures can be seen here. They are worth checking out.

My cell phone camera shot of the altar at the end of Mass.

The painting behind the altar is of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary. The artist, Leonard Porter, has a detailed article and several pictures at his website.

Mass ended a little after 2 a.m. By the time I returned home, it was nearly 4 a.m. Although this evening was cloudy, the clouds had broken during the ride home; so I could see the Full Moon.

Couple of interesting/ironic items:

• On the drive to church, I was listening to Christmas music on the radio. For some reason, they played Sunny Afternoon by the Kinks. It has nothing to do with Christmas (nor Winter). Perhaps it was the DJ's poke at the record setting warm temperature today. Nonetheless, it was a delightful surprise for me since I love the Kinks and this is one of their best.
• The husband & wife who do the Latin Mass blog where I found the info about the mass, sat in the pew in front of me.
• I later found out that the priest who said mass, is one of the rare married RC priests. He was originally an Episcopal priest (married) who converted to Catholicism and was accepted in the RC Church as a married priest. So a married priest saying a traditional Latin mass. Definitely a full moon tonight.

(Photo by Chessman)

All-in-all it worth the drive. It was an interesting mass and everything was good. I had to work hard to keep from crying because this mass was so much better than what is presented as RCism today. I wrote to one of my friends afterwards, that if the mass  were still like this, I'd probably still be RC.

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Links:

http://www.stmarynorwalk.net
http://sthughofcluny.org/2015/12/midnight-mass-at-st-marys-norwalk-3.html
http://www.leonardporter.com/bvm.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKsHh3BFPI
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Written Sunday 27 December 2015.

5 Years Old

"It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out...."

I started this blog five (4) years ago. My first post was on Christmas Eve 2010. I'm still kicking.

To say I am disappointed in the results of the blog would be an understatement. If you read the initial post, you will see that I had hoped to increase communication with family and friends about what was going in my life. I learned that no one cares (i.e., they can't be bothered to take the time to read it). Perhaps if it was FBook, it would be different (although I have no idea why anyone would want to sell their soul to FBook but they do).

Soon after I started my blog, my nephew and niece started to tire of blogging and gave up. I rarely hear from them now. It is so sad that an attempt to communicate with family has only resulted in revealing that "family" does not really exist anymore.

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http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2010/12/birthing.html
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Written Saturday 26 December 2015.
Added additional comments Wednesday 30 December 2015.

Creche Exhibit: Joy to the World

Banner of the 2015 Creche Exhibit at
The Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven CT.

Sunday I visited the Knights of Columbus Museum to see their annual  creche  exhibit. If you can't make it to the museum, the exhibit announcement includes a nice slide show as well as a worthwhile video (approximately 5 minutes). I love this museum because it is FREE, has FREE PARKING, and has interesting exhibits. I spent a couple hours here this time.

View of the main entrance to the museum.
Note the moon in the upper left of the picture.

Close-up of the exhibit banner on the outside of the museum.

When I arrived, I was glad to see a couple familiar faces: Jess Mallory (one of the Visitor Guides) and Olga (the manager of the gift shop {practically an exhibit in itself}). Don Adams, another long-time Visitor Guide, retired since my last visit and is now in Florida. Jess told me that with the recent announcement of Mother Teresa's impending canonization, he has been praying for her intercession for a number of petitions for various people. He kindly added my name to his dish of names next to a relic of Mother Teresa.

The creche exhibit is housed, as usual, in the two main exhibit rooms on the main floor, next to the Gift Shop. There was also another room at the top of the stairs where several creches belonging to the Knights were displayed. I wanted to see this before Christmas in order to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

This is one of my favorites.

Wide-eyed group.

Copter Creche

I really like the concept behind this "Copter Creche." The base of the creche tower contains 6 candle holders. The heat from the candles will rise and cause the propeller on top to spin. This moves a spindle in the middle which turns a plate on each level. I would love to see this in action!

This creche is made from corn husks.

Polish 

I call this a race track creche. It is also reminiscent of
Jacob's Ladder (Gen 28, 12; John 1, 51).

Creche in a nut shell (literally).

Last year I timed my visit to coincide with the annual Christmas Tree Festival. The front page of the museum web site has links to pictures of the trees, list of awards, and a short video clip. These are RC elementary school kids who come in and decorate trees. All are interesting and the creativity of some are impressive.

2015 Christmas Tree Festival (courtesy KofC Museum FB)

Another featured exhibit on the main floor involves original artwork done for the Knight's "Columbia" magazine. The illustrations reminded me of the Norman Rockwell museum we visited a few years ago.

The Sword of Truth over Error and Ignorance.

This "Sword of Truth" illustration (see above) was my favorite of the exhibit. You probably would not see anything like this today due to all sin being minimized and downplayed during this "Year of Mercy".

Overall, it was another blessing to be able to enjoy the Knights of Columbus Museum and annual Creche and Christmas Tree exhibits. Perhaps I will visit the Creche exhibit again in January before it closes.

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Links:
http://www.kofcmuseum.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/its-official-mother-teresa-is-going-to-be-canonized-26320
http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/christmas/
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2014/12/buon-natale-at-k-of-c.html
http://www.kofc.org/un/en/columbia/index.html
http://www.kofcmuseum.org/km/en/exhibits/2015/columbia/index.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2012/07/due-to-bad-weather-we-had-change-in.html
http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en/giubileo/annuncio.html
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Written Tuesday 22 December 2015

Revenge of the Whale - in 3D

Advertising poster for the Ron Howard movie, "In the Heart of the Sea."
This is a top down (plan) view of the whaling SHIP above the white whale.
The proportions are ridiculously out of scale. 

When was the last time I went to a movie? I don't exactly remember; it's probably documented somewhere in this blog. In any case, going to movies is not something I do on a regular basis anymore. So it was something a bit out of norm for me to find myself inside a movie theater on Saturday (12/19/15) to see a new movie: In the Heart of the Sea.

What prompted this endeavor was a rave review I came across a few days earlier while browsing the web. The reference to Moby-Dick is what got my eye. You may recall that I listened to an audio book edition of the novel. The massive volume intrigued me to investigate things further when I finished listening. Earlier this summer, I picked up a second-hand edition of Monarch Notes for the book in anticipation of someday actually reading the book.

So when I read the review, I was unaware that a movie had been made about the story behind the events that inspired the novel. A few days later, I came across another intriguing post about the movie. This racially oriented piece suggested that the movie and Nat Philbrick's book were likely covering up some serious racial injustice since none of the black crew members survived. Black Lives Matter ya know.

With the hype of the new Star Wars movie, a sense of urgency suggested that time was probably limited to be able to see this movie on the big screen. To my relief, I found that the movie was still showing. And I found a theater that was showing it in 3D at a convenient time for me (afternoon). And so I went.

My ticket stub.

There were only about 20 people who came for the showing. I love 3D versions of movies and Heart of the Sea is excellent in 3D.  The glasses don't bother me at all. After a few minutes, I forget that I'm wearing them.

I went to this movie blind in the sense that I did not do my usual preparation (i.e., researching reviews and background). I just went and was rewarded greatly. If you've never read Moby-Dick, this movie provides the basic plot (although Heart of the Sea is a different story and book). The movie can be divided into two parts: the whale hunt and after the Essex sinks.

The story has many levels of meaning to mull over. One aspect that is prominent in the movie is the big business aspect. The industry wants to hush up the disaster for fear it will hurt business. I'm happy to report that truth wins (in both the movie and historically).

During the quest for rescue, at death's door, the two main characters ponder their state and wonder what they might have done to warrant such wrath.

The movie ends with an allusion towards the demise of whale oil as a fuel (to be replaced by oil from the ground). Unspoken is the warning that perhaps the earth will rebel against man just like the whale.

Cover of the juvenile version of
In The Heart Of The Sea.

Post Movie: Being the curious sort, I wondered about the book that the movie is based on:  In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. My library has the book but all copies are out (surprise!). But I found a children/juvenile version was available; it was in the Teen section. I think it essentially an abridged version (about 1/3 the length of the "adult" version). So I am devouring this. It has a different title (which I think would have made a better movie title):

One question about Moby-Dick is why is there a hyphen?

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Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea_(film)
http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/the-real-story-that-inspired-americas-greatest-novel
http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2014/03/moby-dick.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-end-of-moby-dick.html
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/12/_in_the_heart_of_the_sea_new_ron_howard_film_ignores_horrifying_racial_mystery.html
http://nathanielphilbrick.com/books/in-the-heart-of-the-sea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/moby-dick-has-mysterious-hyphen-180957512
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Written Tuesday 22 December 2015.