As you may have heard, Sam and his Porpoise crew went to New Orleans not long ago to help with the rebuilding after the terrible hurricane that destroyed much of that region. Now Sam is back in New Orleans but not to build or even bring supplies. Sam is there to pick up supplies to take to Haiti! Yes the wonderful Christian congregations in and around New Orleans have gotten together to send their own aid to the people of Haiti! And they have asked Sailor Sam to help ship that aid to the Haitian people. The folks in New Orleans know all too well the pains of such a disaster as Haiti's earthquake and want to help as best they can.
Sam will be part of a group of three ships carrying food, clothing, medical supplies, and Bibles to Haiti. Sam's and Hazel's knowledge of French will be a big help in Haiti. The kids and Olie are working hard to learn some basic French before getting to the island.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sailor Sam: Oceanographer
Sam Stone, a.k.a. Sailor Sam, is described as a scientist, explorer, and expert sailor. That would make Sam a part-time oceanographer at the least in my book.
An oceanographer is a person who studies the ocean - things like the movement of the ocean floor (plate tectonics); attributes of the water (physical oceanography), its currents, temperatures, and chemistry; marine biology; and interactions between the ocean and the air. The term oceanographer originated with naturalists C.W. Thomspn and John Murray in their expedition on the ship Challenger (1872-76). John Murray became famous for his studies of ocean sediment. Oceanographers are important to shipping, the fishing industry, the laying of ocean cables, climate studies, and much more.
Sam has outfitted the Porpoise with its own lab and has the latest in sea exploration and observation equipment. Sam eagerly follows the work of Jacques Cousteau and his family's organizations. He also enjoys studying the work at the US Navy's Sealab, Tektite run by NASA and the Dept. of the Interior, and Aquarius run by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Admin. Sam also knows of over 250 other wonderful institutions that study the ocean.
An oceanographer is a person who studies the ocean - things like the movement of the ocean floor (plate tectonics); attributes of the water (physical oceanography), its currents, temperatures, and chemistry; marine biology; and interactions between the ocean and the air. The term oceanographer originated with naturalists C.W. Thomspn and John Murray in their expedition on the ship Challenger (1872-76). John Murray became famous for his studies of ocean sediment. Oceanographers are important to shipping, the fishing industry, the laying of ocean cables, climate studies, and much more.
Sam has outfitted the Porpoise with its own lab and has the latest in sea exploration and observation equipment. Sam eagerly follows the work of Jacques Cousteau and his family's organizations. He also enjoys studying the work at the US Navy's Sealab, Tektite run by NASA and the Dept. of the Interior, and Aquarius run by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Admin. Sam also knows of over 250 other wonderful institutions that study the ocean.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
SS-10 Wings for the Missionary
Sailor Sam and his crew meet Jeff Cornell, a WWII flying ace. Then, there is a strange dog aboard the Porpoise on this adventure. To complicate things, First Mate Ollie tries to earn his Wings only to be told he is too old. How is Ollie going to take this injury to his lifelong dream and to his pride? How can Sailor Sam and the crew help Ollie? And how does Jeff Cornell fit in? Whose dog is on board the Porpoise? Find the answers to these questions by listening to Sailor Sam, at 5PM. Monday through Friday on the Harbour Light of the Windwards!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
SS-15 Salt Water Crocodile
Ranchers in Texas along the Gulf of Mexico are in an uproar. They are losing valuable livestock, mostly calves and colts, in the gulf. No, the animals are not falling into the water and drowning. These young and small animals are being killed by creature in the water. The ranchers suspect an alligator is to blame, but alligators live in fresh water not salty. The ranchers go to the local game warden, but this fellow is either too tired or too lazy to get to the bottom of the problem. And this fellow won't let the ranchers hunt down this livestock killer. The ranchers are ready to revolt. They plan to find and kill the killer with or without the game warden's permission.
How does Sam figure into the ranchers' problem? He and the Porpoise crew are out on the ocean, and the crew doesn't even know where they are headed or if they are headed anywhere in particular.
How does Sam figure into the ranchers' problem? He and the Porpoise crew are out on the ocean, and the crew doesn't even know where they are headed or if they are headed anywhere in particular.
The Rosetta Stone and the "Temple of Isis"
Sailor Sam is not the only person who has been involved in adventures over the mysteries of Egypt. None other than Napoleon Bonaparte himself wanted to capture Egypt and uncover all of its mysteries.
Napoleon assembled a huge fleet and army in 1798 to take everything Egypt contained for himself. Napoleon attacked Egypt and brought a huge group of scientists and engineers from France, the Savants. The Savants mapped Egypt and collected as many of its treasures as they could find, including its ancient wealth. It the process the Rosetta Stone was discovered in the wall of a fort just west of the Nile delta in the town of Rosetta. Napoleon may have accomplished his goal of taking Egypt's wealth if England hadn't interfered. England defeated Napoleon and took the Savants' finds, which included the Rosetta Stone.
The Rosetta Stone was the key to decoding Egyptian hieroglyphics. The stone was basically a sign announcing that, for certain favors that King Ptolemy V gave the Egyptian priests, the Egyptian priesthood made Ptolemy V a god and allowed him his own cult. The announcement was printed in Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphics. The stone ended up in the British Museum in about 1800. Linguists were able to translate the Greek in about a year and the Coptic, which is much like a shorthand of hieroglyphics, a couple years later. But it took more than 25 years to decode the glyphs.
There were two reasons it took so long. First, hieroglyphics were a lost language. The glyphs had not been used since about 100 BC or so when Coptic took over. Then in those first centuries after Christ, Christianity grew throughout the Mediterranean. Christians saw hieroglyphics as part of the Egyptian cults and got rid of most of the books and scrolls using hieroglyphics. The language was totally lost before long.
Then about 500 A.D. a man studying the glyphs decided that they were much like Chinese and were all symbols of words and ideas. But hieroglyphics are much more complex than that. They contain some signs for letters and syllables as well as for words and ideas. It took a young Frenchman by the name of Champollion to decode the hieroglyphics. His work was aided by other stones and scrolls written in hieroglyphics found after the Rosetta Stone as well as research done by several other men from other countries.
Napoleon assembled a huge fleet and army in 1798 to take everything Egypt contained for himself. Napoleon attacked Egypt and brought a huge group of scientists and engineers from France, the Savants. The Savants mapped Egypt and collected as many of its treasures as they could find, including its ancient wealth. It the process the Rosetta Stone was discovered in the wall of a fort just west of the Nile delta in the town of Rosetta. Napoleon may have accomplished his goal of taking Egypt's wealth if England hadn't interfered. England defeated Napoleon and took the Savants' finds, which included the Rosetta Stone.
The Rosetta Stone was the key to decoding Egyptian hieroglyphics. The stone was basically a sign announcing that, for certain favors that King Ptolemy V gave the Egyptian priests, the Egyptian priesthood made Ptolemy V a god and allowed him his own cult. The announcement was printed in Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphics. The stone ended up in the British Museum in about 1800. Linguists were able to translate the Greek in about a year and the Coptic, which is much like a shorthand of hieroglyphics, a couple years later. But it took more than 25 years to decode the glyphs.
There were two reasons it took so long. First, hieroglyphics were a lost language. The glyphs had not been used since about 100 BC or so when Coptic took over. Then in those first centuries after Christ, Christianity grew throughout the Mediterranean. Christians saw hieroglyphics as part of the Egyptian cults and got rid of most of the books and scrolls using hieroglyphics. The language was totally lost before long.
Then about 500 A.D. a man studying the glyphs decided that they were much like Chinese and were all symbols of words and ideas. But hieroglyphics are much more complex than that. They contain some signs for letters and syllables as well as for words and ideas. It took a young Frenchman by the name of Champollion to decode the hieroglyphics. His work was aided by other stones and scrolls written in hieroglyphics found after the Rosetta Stone as well as research done by several other men from other countries.
Monday, November 30, 2009
SS-20 Down on the Farm
Yes, Sam and the crew have had enough of the sea for a while and are in Wisconsin helping Sam's uncle with his farm. Unc is having health troubles and Pansy can't run the farm all by herself, so Unc asked Sam to come until they can work something else out. This adventure is called Down on the Farm.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
SS-28 Columbus
"Columbus" (13 episodes) Sam and the crew are asked to participate in and head up an historical reenactment of the voyage of Columbus when he discovered the Americas. An old sea dog predicts the voyage will be haunted by the ghost of Columbus and end in disaster. A Stowaway, breakdowns, strange illness and a mad man all work together to provide some brain tingling excitement and cause Sam and the crew learn to trust the Lord in some very dangerous situations.
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