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Red Bay

A selfie taken at the border between Quebec (to the left) and Labrador (to the right). Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

As a naturalized Norwegian, one acquires a number of skills that people of other nationalities can only dream about. In today’s weblog post, the focus is a detailed insight into ferry operations. Perhaps I should start by bragging about living 300 meters from a ferry terminal, although that ferry was replaced by a bridge on 1991-12-19.

This is mentioned because our visit to Red Bay in Labrador, required the use of a ferry across the Strait of Belle Isle. The route is between terminals at St. Barbe on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula and Blanc-Sablon in Quebec. Theoretically, the crossing takes 1 hour 45 minutes, and covers 36 km. The first problem is that one has to meet up one hour ahead of the scheduled departure time, if one has a reservation. The second is that the ferry was not ready to leave at its scheduled departure time.

MV Qajaq W (the middle part is pronounced kayak) has been used on the route since 2019. It can carry 120 standard vehicles, including up to 8 tractor trailers, along with 300 passengers.

The MV Qajaq W

Qajaq was built in 2010, it has a length of 97.84 m, and has 5 233 gross tonnage. Working backwards from 5.6 MW of power, it is likely that it is equipped with 4 Wärtsilä BL20 engines, each providing 1 400 kW. It has an ice classification 1A, which is immediately below the best joint Finnish-Swedish ice-classification for merchant ships, 1A Super. Both bows are ice-strengthened. It was built in Norway at Fiskerstrand, outside of Ålesund, As MV Muhumaa, it sailed in the Baltic between Saaremaa island in Estonia and Ventspils in Latvia from 2011 to 2017.

This vessel replaced the 108.7 m long MV Apollo completed in 1970, that was unsuitable for the route, despite it being a Baltic ferry. The Apollo was equipped with accommodation for 1 500 people, that was never used. The Apollo had 2 x 3 400 kW MAN 9L32/36 diesel engines (altogether 6.8 MW), and 6 609 gross tonnage. At times, ice prevented it from landing at St. Barbe, and it would be redirected to Corner Brook, taking 12 hours for the crossing from Labrador. It was taken out of service in 2019, and scrapped in Turkey, in 2021.

Most Norwegian ferries simply drive into the dock (at low speed), and use their engines/ motors to keep their position as vehicles and passenger leave and enter. An even more advanced Auto-docking eliminating human input, has been a reality on some routes since 2018. Electric ferries have been used since 2015, and complete electrification is expected in 2025.

The interior of the MV Qajaq W, showing the middle lane of the lower car deck. Hélène’s Mazda 5 is immediately in front of ours. Photo: Alasdair McLellan

The ferry left about half-an hour late, mainly due to a design feature where, after service in the Baltic, the number of lanes of vehicles onboard the lower car deck was reduced from six to five, because north Americans prefer larger vehicles. With the middle lane being underused, because the crew spent precious loading minutes parking vehicles between support columns. We were shunted into this middle lane. Immediately ahead of us was a Mazda 5, identical to Alasdair’s. On my way to the passenger deck, I complemented the woman owner, Hélène, on her very attractive vehicle.

As for the ferry, my advice would be to just use four lanes, in an attempt to speed up loading, and in doing so, be able to make an extra trip each way, each day. I also note that some days there are an odd number of trips made, meaning that the ferry overnights on a different side of the strait.

After landing in Quebec, it did not take us many minutes to drive the 6 km to the Labrador border. We continued onwards to the tourist office, to make important enquiries, such as finding places to buy a Labrador flag.

The Labrador Flag as specified, and originally made in 1973-4.

The Labrador flag was the most popular flag in Newfoundland. Yes, much more popular than the Canadian or Newfoundland flags. It was created in 1973 by a small group of Labradorians led by Michael S. Martin (1938 – ), then representative for Labrador South in the provincial legislature, to celebrate the then upcoming 25th anniversary of Newfoundland and Labrador’s entry into Canadian confederation, Many regard the creation of the Labrador flag as an act of political mischief/ vexation aimed at Premier Joey Smallwood (1909 – 1990) and his Liberal government’s perceived indifference to Labrador.

Patricia (Bryne) Martin sewed 64 flags, while her husband used a marker pen to add a spruce twig to each: 59 of the flags were given to Labrador communities, 3 to Labrador representatives in the provincial House of Representatives, One was for her husband, and another for herself.

The flag can be regarded as being 10:5 = 2:1 in proportions, with three fesses = wide horizontal bands, in flagspeak. From the top they are white, green (Pantone Green 356) and blue (Pantone Blue 306), in a proportion of 2:1:2. On the left of the white field is a stylized representation of a black spruce sprig, which is the most common tree, not just in Labrador but also in Newfoundland. Its is intended to remind viewers that Labrador is part of that province.

The flag’s colours are mirrored in the flag of Nunatsiavut = the Labrador Inuit Association. The black spruce twig was adopted for use on the Franco-Terreneuvien = French Newfoundlander flag.

Any six-year old, following a flag description, should be able to draw and colour any flag. If s/ he can’t, then the flag is too complex. We ended up buying both a Quebec and Labrador flag. Most Labrador flags (including ours) are fake/ bootleg. Michael Martin commented, “The problem stems from efforts by unscrupulous dealers and manufacturers to get around the copyright requirements by creating flags that have the wrong dimensions, wrong colours and wrong shape and size of the black spruce twig.” This is a common problem when attempting to buy flags! Justin Brake wrote about this situation ten year ago! The Labrador flag is now over 50 years old.

Red Bay

About 80 km north of Blanc-Sablon is the former whaling station at Red Bay. Starting in 1530 and lasting for almost 100 years, it was a major Basque whaling area. Several whaling ships, both large galleons and small chalupas, sank there. Their discovery led to the designation of Red Bay in 2013 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Data from the 2021 census shows that Red Bay had a population of 142 living in 65 of its 69 total private dwellings. That is down 16% from its 2016 population of 169. It’s land area is 2.31 km2.

A bus load of tourists, travelling on our ferry, arrived at about the same time as us. They managed to inundate the local museum, so Alasdair and I thought the best counter move was to visit the Whaler’s Restaurant. When I asked for a meal of whale meat, I was politely told that they were sold out. Both Alasdair and I ate their fish and chips.

Coffee with Fish and Chips, but not many vegetables

Return to Newfoundland

The Bella Desgagnés cargo-passenger ship arrived minutes before the Qajaq W at Blanc Sablon. Its voyage from Rimouski to Blanc Sablon and back to Rimouski takes a week. The first stop is at Sept-Îles on the north shore, then it stops at Anticosti Island, before stopping at other coastal villages. The return trip on Qajaq was considerably delayed according to its schedule. This gave us an opportunity to view the unloading of the Bella Desgagnés. Many unloaded vehicles were making their way to Newfoundland on the Qajaq.

Future Trips

I will probably not visit Labrador again, but Alasdair expressed an interest. The Trans-Labrador Highway (TLH) is the primary public road in Labrador, with a length of 1 149 km. The original western/central portion of the TLH is designated as Route 500 and measures 543 km from the Quebec – Labrador boundary through Labrador City/Wabush, Churchill Falls, and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. From there, heading southeast is Route 510 = Labrador Coastal Drive, 606 km. Centres en route include Cartwright Junction, Port Hope Simpson, Mary’s Harbour, Lodge Bay and Red Bay.

The TLH runs through dense wilderness for most of its length. Route 500 connects with Quebec Route 389, which runs 567 km through wilderness north from the Quebec – Labrador boundary to Baie-Comeau, where it connects with Quebec Route 138. At one time Quebec promised that the route would follow the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River eastwards to Blanc-Sablon. This has not happened. However, The western terminus is in Elgin, at the border with New York State south-west of Montreal. At the Trout River Border Crossing, it connects with New York State Route 30. Route 30 leads to Schenectady County, where some of my biological relatives settled about 1660.

Back to Happy Valley

If one wants to explore the coastal communities north of Happy Valley – Goose Bay, there is a ferry service that operates each summer in the ice-free season, from roughly June to November. The Kamutik W is often described as a sister ship to the Qajaq, although it is outfitted very differently. It began life as the Hiiumaa in 2011, and sailed in Estonia.

In its new life it has a weekly schedule. It departs Happy Valley-Goose Bay and visits each community on its voyage north. At Nain (most northerly community), it turns around and revisits each community on the return trip to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Unloading vehicles from the Belle Desgagnés
at Blanc-Sablon. Photo: Alasdair McLellan
Unloading vehicles from the Qajaq W at Blanc-Sablon. Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

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Demographics: Newfoundland and Labrador

Wikipedia tells us that demography is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition and how they change through the interplay of fertility, mortality and migration. In trying to learn more about the population of Newfoundland and Labrador I consulted Statistics Canada data, but allowed Wikipedia editors to summarize some findings to gain further insights. Since entering confederation in 1949, Newfoundland and Labrador have always been the 9th most populated Canadian province.

In terms of provinces, only Prince Edward Island is less populated, at about 177 000. On 2024-04-06, Statistics Canada’s population clock indicated that New Brunswick’s population had grown to 850 000. Nova Scotia has seen record population growth in recent years, with young people moving in from Ontario and other provinces. Nova Scotia is attempting to reach 2 000 000 by 2060, but faces challenges in health care, education and housing.

Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) reached their maximum population in about 1991, at somewhere around 568 500 people. Since then, it has declined, reaching about 510 500 people in 2021, the last census year. More than half live on the Avalon peninsula.

Labrador has an area of 294 330 km2 and a population in the last census (2021) of 26 655.

In terms of NL, one has to ask why its population has stagnated, if not declined? NL has been overly dependent on one resource, fish, and cod in particular. There are some exceptions. In Corner Brook and Grand Falls – Windsor, there is an emphasis on forestry and pulp and paper production.

In the following section, a comparison will be attempted between Trinity and Twillingate. Both are small villages, yet they are very different.

Trinity

This is not just a photograph of Trinity, Newfoundland. It is also a screenshot of a jigsaw puzzle I created on 2024-07-21, using 1 hour 44 minutes and 53 seconds to complete the puzzle.

If I have one piece of advice to travellers to Newfoundland, it is to avoid visiting the village of Trinity. The problem with Trinity, is that they have done everything right to make it into a model village. It is more Disneyland, than a thriving village.

The Rising Tide Theatre is one of many attractions in Trinity.

There are many attractions in the village, including the Rising Tide Theatre. However, there is little coordination, and almost no parking. We were able to park at the museum because it was closed for an hour long lunch in the middle of the day.

Twillingate

About 300 km north-west of Trinity, and about 112 km = 1.5 hours driving, north of Gander, is the town of Twillingate, with a population just over 2 000. It calls itself the Iceburg capital of the world. To arrive there, one travels across several islands connected by causeways, including New World Island, which commemorates the 1523–24 expedition of Giovanni da Verrazzano (1485–1528) to Newfoundland that established the coast to be part of the New World rather than Asia. Yes, that was over 500 years ago! Fogo is the one island in the area still requiring a ferry connection.

Our stay there was the most refreshing of the trip, we rented a cottage outside of the town. Across the street from our cottage, retired fisherman Jim Gillard has expanded his horizons, setting up a $16 000 telescope in the hand-built Twillingate Astronomical observatory, in his front yard.

Across the street from our cottage, Skipper Jim had opened the Twillingate Astronomical Observatory. It was a way to transform a hobby into a livelihood, and less competitive than turning a fishing boat into a whale watching vessel.

This is not the only attraction. A few hundred meters away, is the Top of Twillingate walk, which provided a refreshing view of the area. This is the one part of Newfoundland that I would want to visit again. We also visited the town, which is divided between two islands, South and North Twillingate. We also visited the Long Point lighthouse, located in the town (?) of Crow Head, also located on North Twillingate. The town’s current population is 156, and declining.

Low Mist Pond with the Top of Twillingate pathway around it.
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New France

Travelling to New France from St. John’s, Newfoundland involved a day of travel: one drives on the Trans Canada Highway across the Avalon peninsula to the Burin peninsula, then turns left at Goobies onto Highway 210. One keeps driving on it, until one reaches Marystown. A right turn onto Highway 220, leads to the port of Fortune, which is where the SPM ferries dock in Canada. From there those with vehicles reverse onto the ferry, so they can drive forward when they arrive in Saint-Pierre. Altogether, this involves 363 km and almost 4 hours of driving. The ferry from Fortune to Saint-Pierre is about 45 km, and takes another 1.5 hours.

If one is fortunate in Marystown, one meets the Little Green Devil, a 1965 Rambler American 2-door sedan. This model, and many others in the Rambler lineup, was designed by Dick Teague (1923 – 1991). From my perspective, it is Teague’s most successful design. These vehicles are known for their smooth ride, despite their compact size. WhiIe I would not criticize anyone’s vehicle preferences (with the possible exception of motorcycles), i prefer utility vehicles ( vans and station wagons). Vehicle solidity is my focus. Thus, I prefer vehicle construction incorporating a frame around every door, in contrast to flimsier hardtop models. Despite having a driving license since Tuesday, 1965-01-05, I have owned only four vehicles, including one jointly with my wife, Trish.

At Fortune, we were able to eat a chicken dinner at Mary Brown’s. This was our first experience of this fast food chain. Originally it was named Golden Skillet, the first location was at St. John’s Avalon Mall. However, the owners were forced to rename the establishment for legal reasons. Currently, there are over 300 locations across Canada.

After that meal we picked up our ferry tickets, then went next door to arrange to park our rental car for two days on the outskirts of town. We were driven back to the ferry terminal. The 1.5 hour ferry ride was uneventful. There was little to see apart from waves on the ocean, despite having window seats.

St. Pierre

The Overseas Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon = Collectivité d’outre-mer de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon (referred to hereafter as SPM) has a population of about 6 000, and occupies an area of 242 km2 on eight islands. It is located about 19 km west of Point May on the Burin peninsula.

Two almost identical ferries provide for much of the transportation needs of the archipelago. These are the blue hulled Nordet and the red hulled Suroît. The vessels are 56.7 m long, with a 768 UMS tonnage. Both entered service in 2019. They are named after a northerly, and southerly wind, respectively.

Compared to the casual, and often inappropriate dress of deck crew on Norwegian ferries, the deck crew of these French ferries were dressed for any emergency. They were equipped with helmets, hi-vis vests, life preservers, gloves and safety shoes.

After landing in St. Pierre, we passed through French immigration and were able to enter France. We walked through the town, until we found our bed and breakfast, where we had rented two rooms. This was followed by yet more walking around the town. The gradient was intermediate to my two reference points. It was steeper than most places in Inderøy, Norway, but not as steep as the worst hills in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.

St. Pierre, the island and village is named for St. Peter, the patron saint of fishers, net makers and ship builders. He was born Simon, possibly Simeon. Both he and his brother Andrew were themselves fishers, later, they became two of the twelve apostles. Details of Peter’s life are vague, although he was the Bishop of Rome = Pope, from 30 AD to his death 64 – 68 AD, crucified by Nero (37 – 68).

Miquelon

The name Miquelon is probably of Basque origins, referring to Big Michael, given to the island by Basque Martin de Hoyarçabal in his navigational pilot for Newfoundland, Les voyages aventureux du Capitaine Martin de Hoyarsabal, habitant du çubiburu (1579). It is 110 km2. Langlade is said to be an adaptation of l’île à l’Anglais = Englishman’s Island. It is 91 km2.

While Saint-Pierre is far too urban for my tastes, with a population over 5 000, and an area of 26 km2, Grande Miquelon is appropriately populated (ca. 700 people) and sized (110 km2). If I lived there, I am sure that I would want to spend much of my time in the wilderness of Langlade.

Air Travel

One of the main reasons for wanting to visit SPM was to experience flights with Air Saint-Pierre. We were going to fly both ways on inter-island flights between Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

On Monday, 2025-07-23, we left our bed and breakfast at 07:30 and walked to Aéroport de Saint-Pierre = Saint-Pierre Airport (FSP), a regional airport located south of Saint-Pierre. It opened in 1999 and consists of four buildings excluding the control tower. It replaces an older airport that opened in 1965. The new 08/26 runway is 1 800 m long, while the old 11/29 runway was 1 250 m, not long enough for most commercial aircraft.

The passenger terminal at 2 200 m2, is large given the traffic.

We boarded our aircraft at about 08:30, without any form of security check. It took about 10 minutes to get the aircraft in condition to fly. After about 15 minutes in the air, we were landing at Aéroport de Miquelon = Miquelon Airport (MQC), the regional airport on Miquelon Island. The 12/30 runway is only 1 000 m long, suitable for the Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II machine, but nothing much larger.

Our return flight was delayed, because the number of passengers exceeded the number of seats available. Thus, we had to wait until the plane flew to Saint-Pierre, then returned to pick us up. Alasdair was happy that he was issued seat 1A for both flights. I was assigned 1B for both flights.

Flying close to the village of Miquelon, on a landing approach. Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

Here I am emerging as the last passenger out of our aircraft, a Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II of unknown vintage. Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

The Suroît off Miquelon.

I have experience with ferries, of various types, especially from six years with weekly commutes in Norway between Molde and Inderøy, usually involving four ferries each week. I appreciate their efficiency, especially in docking, unloading and loading vehicles. However, I note the lack of crew safety equipment.

Here, the deck crew of Suroît are dressed for any emergency. They are equipped with helmets, hi-vis vests, life preservers, gloves and safety shoes. Later, I talked with Fréderique Ragot, about her work.

Visiting remote airports and train stations is one of the perks of being the parent of someone who studied transportation economics, then took a B.Com. with a marketing specialization, before turning to history, ending with a M.A. and a thesis about the development of a now-defunct Norwegian airline.

Regional Influences

While the official flag of SPM is the French flag, an unofficial SMP flag is also used. Because of my interest in flags, often collecting them from places I visit, I wanted to buy a SPM flag. This proved impossible. Much of the flag contains elements found on the SPM coat of arms. Along the hoist, from bottom to top, are the flags of Normandy, Brittany and, in the uppermost position, the Basque Ikurriña, officially described as a white cross over a green saltire on a red field. Basque nationalists Luis Arano (1862 – 1951) and his brother Sabino (1865 – 1903) developed the Basque flag. Its neologistic name comes from ikur ‘mark, sign’ (itself a neologism extracted from irakurri ‘to read’). These are the places that contributed most of the population of SMP.

The yellow ship on the flag represents the Grande Hermine, the carrack which brought Jacques Cartier (1491 – 1557) to Saint Pierre on 1535-06-15.

World War II

Yet, another reason for this trip to this part of the world, was to understand the situation my parents encountered when they were stationed with the Royal Canadian Air Force, in Newfoundland, for a large part of World War II. Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada, but British territory. SPM was (and still is) part of France. Decisions often involved four countries, with a theoretically neutral USA wanting to make decisions.

The Third French Republic had begun World War II in 1939-09-03 on the side of the Allies. On 1940-05-10 it was invaded by Nazi Germany. Paul Reynaud (1878 – 1966) resigned as prime minister and was replaced by Philippe Pétain (1856 – 1951). On 1940-06-22, Pétain signed an Armistice that created Vichy France that, on paper, existed from 1940-07-10 to 1944-08-09. Vichy was the seat of government, about 400 km south of Paris.

The Vichy government was authoritarian, antisemitic and, somewhat later, anti-Soviet. Yet, it never joined the Axis powers and was formally at war with Germany. In practice, it was collaborationist. SPM authorities had sworn their allegiance to the Vichy French government.

There were concerns in Newfoundland (NL), Britain and Canada, that the Axis powers might use SPM as a base of operations, offering German submariners an excellent position to re-supply and coordinate attacks upon Allied convoys. Wireless communication and transatlantic cables allowed the islands’ authorities the opportunity to transmit vital information to Vichy France and onwards to German submarine crews about weather conditions, the movements of Allied warships and convoys. There was also concern that local fishery products could be sent to Germany through mainland France.

NL wanted a pre-emptive invasion of SPM. Canada was against this for fear of offending USA. As the Battle of the Atlantic reached Canadian waters in 1941, The Canada–United States Permanent Joint Board on Defence had unanimously agreed that the existence of an uncontrolled and high-powered wireless transmitting station on SPM constituted a threat to the interests of Canada and USA. Yet, USA opposed the use of force to take control of SPM.

Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970), Chairman of the (Free) French National Committee 1940-06-18 to 1944-06-03 asked Admiral Émile Muselier (1882 – 1965) to investigate the possibility of invading the islands, then ordered their capture.

On 1941-12-23, a French flotilla, the submarine Surcouf and three corvettes, Mimosa, Aconit and Alysse, sailed from Halifax under the pretense of a training mission. It arrived off Saint-Pierre and disembarked 230 armed sailors. They met no resistance and captured the island in only 20 minutes. Some sources state that Miquelon was captured the same day, others the following day. The Free French authorities organized a plebiscite on 1941-12-25, but only males over 18 years were given a choice of “rallying to Free France or collaborating with Axis powers”. Almost 98 per cent voted in favour of Free French administration.

I find it noteworthy that the French named their largest submarine after a slave trader and privateer, Robert Surcouf (1773 – 1827).

The US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull (1891 – 1955), called the capture of SPM a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. He wanted to prohibit French citizens exercising their democratic rights. He wanted SPM to restore its Vichy government. The Monroe Doctrine, first articulated 1823-12-02, is a United States foreign policy position that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. Any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potential hostile act against the USA.

Despite Hull’s protests, this incident was soon forgotten. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941-12-07, and the declaration of war on the USA, by both Japan and Germany, meant that Vichy France had become an enemy.

In the 1930s, many Americans were isolationists, not wanting to involve themselves in wars. Others were sympathetic to the Nazi cause. The situation has not dramatically changed in recent years, with Donald Trump wanting the USA to imitate its past, and for it somehow to become great, again. It is instructive to look at the demographics of the Capitol insurrectionists in Washington D.C. on 2020-01-06. They were predominantly white, male, aged 30+, trained and working as professionals. They were not the downtrodden.

Greatness is not measured by the number of billionaires. I am a limitarian, a believer in putting strict limits on personal wealth, with a maximum vastly below a billion $/ €/ £. One percent of that amount should be sufficient for everyone.

Mountains

Many mountains in the Canadian Rocky mountains were named for French generals prominent in World War I in 1919. Mount Pétain was one of these, located on the border of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia on the Continental Divide. Geoffrey Taylor (1952 – 2020), a former University of Calgary professor of infectious diseases, campaigned from 2016 to his death, to remove the name of the Nazi collaborator from the mountain. In 2019, Alberta rescinded Pétain’s name from the Alberta side of the border. In 2022, British Columbia also rescinded the name, leaving the mountain and other features previously associated with Pétain, nameless.

Time

Clocks are an important technology for the world. I appreciate Sandford Fleming’s (1827 – 1915) promotion of 24 worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, and use of the 24-hour clock. He saw these as necessary elements for communicating time accurately. I am also glad that there is an International Telecommunications Union (ITU), that has created a world time standard, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). A weblog post on the ITU is scheduled for its 160th anniversary, 2025-05-17. Here many other aspects of time will be discussed.

In this post, I would like to restrict myself to expressing a minor, but unnecessary, irritation with Newfoundland. At the same time, I would like to thank SPM for not following in its wayward footsteps. This irritation can be expressed as Newfoundland and Labrador, having a time that offsets those of a time zone, by 30 minutes.

This post is being published on Ukrainian independence day = День Неза лежності України, 2024-08-24, in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence in 1991.

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Avalon

In mythology, Avalon is an island, dominated by Arthur’s sister, the sorceress Morgan. It is also the location where Arthur’s sword Excalibur was made, and where Arthur recovers from injuries suffered at the Battle of Camlann. This weblog post has nothing to do with mythology, but the Newfoundland peninsula of the same name, visited by Alasdair and myself starting 2024-07-19. In particular, this looks at three features: the Newfoundland Coastal & Railway Museum, Signal Hill and Cape Spear. Heart’s Content, where the first transatlantic cable between Europe and north America landed, is also situated on this same peninsula, but it will be discussed in a subsequent post, Newfoundland, currently scheduled for 2024-10-05.

Prologue

After walking from the Travelodge to the north terminal at Gatwick, England, in half the time it took to walk there, we were soon boarding our Westjet 737 flight to Newfoundland. This was the fastest flight I have ever taken to North America from Europe, at about 4h 30m. That is, if north America excludes the western/ north American section of Iceland containing KEF = Keflavík airport, and consider all of Iceland as being in Europe.

I have a fascination with some islands and archipelagos. In Canada, I have lived and worked on Vancouver Island, which is where my father was born. I have visited Cape Breton Island, where my McLellan ancestors arrived in the Margaree Valley, over 200 years ago, from South Uist, an island in the Hebrides. Queensborough, part of New Westminster, but not the part where I grew up, is located on Lulu Island. It is, however, the location of the machine works run by my wife Trish’s maternal grandfather.

It took me until this year, at the age of 75, to visit Newfoundland, which has been waiting as a Canadian island to cross off from a bucket list. I have a relationship to it, as both of my parents – Jennie and Mac – served there in the Royal Canadian Air Force, during the second world war. They were married in St. John’s in 1942. Earlier, Trish’s father worked on freighters taking paper from Corner Brook to other places in the world.

On the Westjet 737, I was seated in a middle seat, towards the rear of the aircraft, between Alasdair and Buckers. I had not met Buckers before, but learned she was English, and would be continuing her journey on to Jasper, on another Westjet aircraft, in a matter of hours after her arrival at St. John’s.

Later, we would learn that Jasper had been devastated by wildfires. We also experienced our share of live disinformation, when we were incorrectly told by other tourists that 84 people had died in the fires, and that the arsonist responsible for starting the fires had been arrested. I find it distressing that people can’t be bothered to check facts. My current understanding is that there were two fires, one to the north, another to the south, that met near Jasper. The fires resulted in one death, firefighter Morgan Kitchen (2000-07-23 – 2024-08-03) who died as the result of a falling tree. This occurred after we returned to Norway. At the time of writing, 390 square kilometers were said to have burned, along with 358 structures. No official cause of the fires had been released, and it was under investigation.

When we landed at YYT, St. John’s International Airport, our first task was to acquire our rental vehicle which turned out to be a Ford Explorer, with a 4-cylinder 2.3 litre engine. We were not especially impressed with the vehicle, in part because it consumed large quantities of fuel, and did not respond well with its adaptive speed control. On a more positive note, Newfoundland’s infrastructure for electric vehicles was not built out, so I should be thankful that we opted for an ICE vehicle.

Alasdair, drinking his first mug of rootbeer on this trip, 2024-07-19.

We then needed to eat a meal, which occurred at a local A & W, immortalized in the photo above. Rootbeer is the only beverage I miss from Canada, after 44 years of living in Norway. I drink it to excess when in north America, knowing that it could be several years before I experience it again.

After dinner, we found our accommodation: two rooms with kitchenettes, at Crossroads. This housing complex seemed to have been designed for weekly commuters, coming from the outports, but working in the St. John’s metropolis.

Railway & Coastal Museum

The Railway & Coastal Museum in St. John’s, Newfoundland, visited on 2024-07-20.

On 2024-07-20, we drove into downtown St. John’s. Our first stop of the day was at the Newfoundland Railway &Coastal Museum, the former railway station. There haven’t run trains on Newfoundland since 1988. The railway was augmented with ships, which is why the term coastal is applied to the museum.

The Newfoundland Railway was a narrow-gauge railway that operated in Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. It had a total track length of 1 458 km. It used 3′ 6″ gauge =  1 067 mm.

Prior to leaving Norway, Alasdair had purchased, and I had read Les Harding’s (? – )book: The Newfoundland Railway, 1898-1969: A History (2014). It provided a good overview of the topic. The museum exhibits kept reinforcing the content in the book. I was less impressed with the rolling stock on display.

Prior to leaving the museum, Alasdair had purchased three additional books about rail transport in Newfoundland, all written by Kenneth G. Pieroway (? -): Rails Around the Rock (2014), Streetcars of St. John’s (2019) and Trains of Newfoundland (2022). We do not have his first book: Rails Across the Rock (2013).

The challenge with rail transport in Newfoundland is that most of the economic development is at points along the coast. This favours ships rather than rail cars. There is also a need for a highway network allowing for the shipment/ distribution of goods, as well as the transport of people. Much of this need for transport is provided by the Trans Canada Highway (T.C.H.), and other highways. In comparison to Norway, travel time is 50% faster in Newfoundland (typically 90 km/h vs 60 km/h). The highways are also wider and straighter.

The low population of Newfoundland means that there is no advantage gained by having two forms of land transport, road and rail. Thus, visiting the railway related exhibits at the Newfoundland Railway and Coastal Museum is a look backwards in time. There is no future on the island for rail!

The inglorious Eastern terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway. Photo: Alasdair McLellan

Signal Hill

St. John’s, as seen from Signal Hill. Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

On 1901-12-12, at Signal Hill, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937), listening through his telephone headset, heard a series of three dots, Morse code for S. He had received the first transatlantic communication, from a radio transmitter in Poldhu, Cornwall, England, about 3 500 km away.

This incident illustrates a major challenge. It is easy to propagate and send radio signals. It is more difficult to receive them, and that challenge increases with distance. Marconi was especially drawn to the work of Heinrich Hertz (1857 – 1894), on the transmission of electromagnetic waves through the air.

Marconi started experimentation with wireless telegraphy in 1894. He realized that although messages could be transmitted over long distances through wires, there was great potential in sending messages wirelessly, especially to ships. He discovered that signal range could be increased by grounding the transmitter and increasing the height of the antenna. While born in Italy, he had an Irish mother. Both of his parents had British citizenship. Thus, it was natural for him to move to England in the late 1890s, in part because the Italian government failed to support his work, probably because he lacked a university education.

In 1896 he patented his first wireless telegraphy machine. In 1897 he founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company to manufacture these devices, which were radio sets capable of transmitting and receiving messages in Morse Code. The Royal Navy quickly saw the potential of this technology, and in 1899 equipped three of their warships with these radio sets. Commercial shipping companies quickly followed the Navy’s lead.

A common misconception about radio anno 1900, was that radio waves would travel in a straight line, limiting their distance from the point of origin to the horizon. Marconi believed that radio waves would follow the curvature of the earth. This meant that messages could travel much greater distances. The main focus at the time was on being able to communicate with ships at sea. Even though Marconi believed this to be possible he still had to prove it. His idea was to send a message across the Atlantic, where there could be no doubt that the waves were bending with the curvature of the earth.

The Royal Navy’s decision to try Marconi’s wireless radio systems was based on the success of his 1899 experiment where he transmitted a message across the English Channel to France. It was still unknown how far a wireless signal could be sent.

For a transatlantic transmission, a receiver was set up at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. However, a storm damaged the antenna at Poldhu forcing Marconi to replace it with a shorter one. Because of his doubts about the capability of this shorter antenna, Marconi changed the receiver location to Signal Hill, Newfoundland. A signal was to be sent each day at an appointed time from the transmitter in Poldhu. Simultaneously, Marconi would try to receive the message. The antenna had to be lifted into the air by balloons and kites. High winds resulted in several failed attempts, until they didn’t, and a message was successfully received.

Marconi correctly believed that radio waves followed the earth’s curvature, but misunderstood the mechanism. Waves travel along the ground and through the air. It was not the waves that traveled along the ground that allowed the message to be received but the waves that traveled through the air bouncing off the ionosphere.

With this success Marconi’s company flourished. Newfoundland wanted Marconi to set up a wireless station on the island, at Cape Spear. This did not happen due to a preexisting monopoly agreement between the government and the Anglo-American Telegraph Company where Anglo-American received a fifty-year monopoly on telegraphic communications on the Island in exchange for running a cable from St. John’s to Newfoundland’s west coast and across the Cabot Strait connecting Newfoundland to the rest of North America. This agreement did not expire until 1904, and the company threatened to sue Marconi if he tried to establish a wireless station on the island before that time. To avoid this Marconi decided to construct his station at Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Marconi build a telegraph station at Cape Race, Newfoundland in 1904, after the Anglo-American Telegraph Company’s monopoly expired. On 1912-04-14, this station received the distress signal from RMS Titanic.

Marconi made a couple of more trips to Newfoundland to conduct experiments to improve wireless telegraphy and telephony (the transmitting of the human voice) until his death in 1937. Additional insights can be obtained by looking at the Newfoundland Heritage webside, including works by Jeff Webb (2001), and Jenny Higgins (2008). Books on the subject include: Arthur C. Clarke ( 1958) Voice Across the Sea (first edition 1958, second edition 1974); K. W. Hoffman, History of Telecommunications in Newfoundland (1978); Michael McCarthy, Frank Galgay and Jack O’Keefe The Voice of Generations: A History of Communications in Newfoundland (1994).

St John’s Harbour Symphony

While at Signal Hill, we had an opportunity to hear the St. John’s Harbour Symphony, part of the bi-annual Sound Symposium festival with a distinctive sound, now celebrating its 40th anniversary. This is performed daily, for five minutes, one week a year, at 12:30 each day. Volunteers board ships in port and make music using ship’s horns.

Pieces performed are composed using a unique system. Monotone horn blasts are marked as dots in a grid, with each box representing one second. The claim is that this allows music to be accessible for non-musicians. Activities are divided between volunteers. Some will count seconds while an assigned partner operates a horn. Happenstance is part of the Harbour Symphony experience: Sometimes a ship doesn’t show up as planned; sometimes, a horn doesn’t work. Uncontrollable variables result in improvisation.

While I initially found it irritating, I missed it when it was over, five minutes later. Regardless, there is no escaping the Harbour Symphony in downtown St. John’s, or at Signal Hill. Ships are an integral part of St. John’s environment. They have been sailing there for 500 years. Until the cod crisis, they were integral to Newfoundland life, with a mix of the controlled and the chaotic .

Cape Spear

Documentation of our visit to the most easterly point in Canada. Taken by an unknown fellow tourist.

Yes, we had to visit Cape Spear with its eatery, lighthouse, signs, WWII fortress and significance as the most easterly point in Canada, at least since 1949-03-31: 52°37′11″West. At my birth, Labrador and Newfoundland were not part of Canada. At that time, the most easterly point in Canada was at the Quebec-Labrador border, near Blanc-Sablon, longitude: 57°06’30” West. We visited both places on this trip. Americans can also gain bragging rights at Cape Spear, as it is in contention as the most easterly place in north America. In the contiguous United States, the farthest east anyone can travel is Sail Rock, Lubec, Maine: 66°56′49.3″W. Even further east is Point Udall, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands at 64°33′54″W. Both these places ignore Alaska, and Amatignak Island at 179°8′55″W.

Cape Race

We never visited Cape Race, and the Myrick Wireless Interpretation Centre. It claims to enlighten visitors about the earliest days of wireless communication and telegraphy in Newfoundland. It is named for the Myrick family who lived and worked at Cape Race from 1874 to 2007. Cape Race involves a 155 km/ 2h20m trip from St. John’s, in each direction.

The problem we encountered with Cape Race, was its failure to provide essential information, such as opening times, and a description of the interpretation centre experience. One does not travel long distances anno 2024, in the hope that a venue will be open when one arrives. Similarly, without a description of activities, it is impossible to know if a museum will succeed or fail to tell an interesting story. The last thing anyone wants is a well laid out collection of facts. Listening to some reconstructed version of a mayday signal from RMS Titanic, is not my idea of a well-spent afternoon.

The Myrick Wireless Interpretation Centre

Note : Stop researching for a while and begin to think! Advice from /. = slashdot.org as I started working on this series of posts: I have tried to follow that advice.

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Hovercraft

The Solent Flyer, a Griffon Hoverwork 12000TD hovercraft, produced in 2016. Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

Some people may regard a hovercraft as a boat/ ship/ vessel. Those associated with providing hovercraft services do not. For them, it is an aircraft, belonging to its own special category. There are numerous varieties of aircraft: gliders = planes without engines. relying on natural air currents for lift; airplanes = engine-driven, fixed-wing, heavier-than-air craft; rotorcraft (including helicopters and gyroplanes); lighter than air craft (including baloons, zeppelins, dirigibles and blimps); and hovercraft. There are other categories involving parachutes, and weight-shift controls, not to mention rockets.

Hovercraft are distinct, differing from ground effect vehicles and hydrofoils that require forward motion to create lift. Hovercraft can lift themselves without directional movement.

There have been many people involved in the design of hovercraft, and it is incorrect to assign the design to any one person.

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772) first mentioned surface-effect vehicles, and used the term hovering in 1716.

John Isaac Thornycroft (1843 – 1928) explored the concept of an air-cushion vehicle in the 1870s, as a way of reducing the drag experienced by vessels.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857 – 1935), an aerospace pioneer, visionary and author of works on interplanetary space travel, space station construction and airship design, lay the theoretical groundwork for powered movement over a cushion of air.

Dagobert Müller von Thomamühl (1880–1956) built the world’s first air cushion boat (Luftkissengleitboot) in 1915.

The chronological order of people will be disrupted to insert Toivo J. Kaario (1912 – 1970). In 1932, he had decided to build a ground-effect vehicle. This materialized as Pintaliitäjäprototyypin = Surface Soarer Prototype built in 1934, and tested in 1935-01. Patosiipi No. 2 was tested in 1935-1936. The ground-effect wing of Kaario’s early designs had an almost non-existent ability to block the loss of air being blown down by the propeller. The Patosiipi No. 2 was able to lift, but the ground-effect lift was weak. Another full-sized prototype was built with a skirt underneath, which added to the lift by trapping the high pressure air that had been forced. This device was first tested on land and then on the water and was found to be slower but with more lift over an uneven surface.

An illustration with two conflicting claims: 1) A sketch made by Toivo J. Kaario, showing an advanced hovercraft design for the Finnish military ; 2) A L-5 hovercraft, for the Red Navy, by the V. I. Levkov Design Bureau.

Aerodynamicist Vladimir Levkov (1895 – 1954) experimented with sidewall hovercraft. He built models in 1927 and 1932. He built a prototype (L-1) in 1934. This could reach a speed of over 60 km/h, but proved to be unreliable. Another prototype (L-5) weighed 8.6 tonnes, was powered by two 664 kW engines. He was aware of the research of Kaario, and used this in his own work. On its cushion of air, it could achieve speeds of 140km/hr = 73 knots.

Levkov was dissatisfied with his results, especially the aviation engines designed to operate at colder temperatures . The Red Navy wanted to press hovercraft into service as soon as possible, and in 1938 some upgraded L-5s saw operational service. A L-5 hovercraft was used to transport the four-man crew of North Pole 1, a Soviet arctic drift station, to an icebreaker after their research was completed.

Cockerell’s hovercraft model from 1955 in the Science Museum, London. Photo: The Wub, 2024-04-22.

Christopher Cockerell (1910 – 1999) bought Ripplecraft Ltd., a small Norfolk boat and caravan hire company. This was not a very profitable venture, but left him time to work on ideas for a hovercraft. He tested his theories using a vacuum cleaner and two tin cans, and found them to have merit. By 1955, he had built a working model from balsa wood and had filed his first hovercraft patent: GB 854211. In the autumn of 1958, the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) placed an order with Saunders-Roe for the first full-scale hovercraft, designated SR.N1 (Saunders-Roe – Nautical One), based on the prior work of Cockerell. This craft was completed, and first crossed the English Channel From Dover to Calais on 1959-07-25. 

Originally, a skirt was not part of a hovercraft design. It was an independent invention made by a Royal Navy officer, C.H. Latimer-Needham (1900 – 1975), who sold his idea to Westland (by then the parent of Saunders-Roe’s helicopter and hovercraft interests), and who worked with Cockerell to develop the idea further.

It should be noted that obtaining patents for ideas related to hovercraft was not always easy. Much of the work was regarded as military secrets.

Approximately, 20 years after the first crossing of the English Channel = la Manche, on 1979-08-03 Trish and I took a trip by Hovercraft from Ramsgate to Calais on a Hoverlloyd craft. Its name remains unknown, and we have no photograph of it. Our letter home, at the time read:

“We left the Roe’s [presumably the people renting us a room] early on Friday morning, stopping near the Ealing Broadway Tube Station for breakfast at the local Wimpy bar (2 eggs and chips, milk). We then took a bus to Acton Town, transferred to a second bus and enjoyed a leisurely ride through the suburbs of London. At Marble Arch we alighted from the bus, walked through Hyde Park ending up at Victoria Station.

“We purchased a ticket for the Hoverlloyd that flies from Ramgate to Calais (at about 2’ above the surface), then took the tube from Victoria to Euston Stations and the Britannia Air Coach Station. After a lunch at a local Italian café, we boarded a coach and enjoyed a tour of the English countryside.

“The Hovercraft crossing took about 40 minutes. The stewardesses aboard were quick to offer duty-free drinks, etc. aboard. Then offer cigarettes, bottles of liquor, a second time.
Immigration and customs are easier than at the US/Canadian border. The officer looks to see if you have a passport (he doesn’t even open it) , you are then cleared.

“We then boarded a second coach which toured the French countryside and enjoyed what we could of the trip. At the French/Belgian border, there was no passport control and customs was only interested in the registration of the bus.

“We arrived in Brussels at about 10:00 pm, just late enough for the youth hostel to be closed. Se we spent the first part of the night in a garage. After the wind picked up and made sleeping impossible we moved our shelter to the train station.”

End of quotation from letter.

Our 1979 journey was onboard a SR.N4 Mark II. The fuselage had a length of 39.68 m, a width of 23.77 m, a height of 11.48 m and a mass of 200 tonnes. This provided the craft with a capacity of 278 passengers and 36 cars. The four Rolls-Royce Marine Proteus gas turbine engines produced 2 500 kW of power.

A SR.N4 hovercraft inbound in Peggwell Bay, where Hoverlloyd had its British Ramsgate hoverport. Photo: Nick Smith, 1980-08-?.

There is a Hovercraft museum, at Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire with the SR.N4 GH-2006 Princess Margaret on display. Another opportunity to see ancient hovercraft in action is in the following films: The Princess Margaret appeared in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) SR.N4 GH-2005 Sure appeared in La Gifle (1974) and in The Black Windmill (1974). An unspecified SR.N4 appeared in Hopscotch (1980).

My next trip on a hovercraft was with Alasdair on 2024-07-18, almost 65 years to the day, after SR.N1’s first trip, and 45 years after my first trip. It was forward and back on the route from Southsea to Ryde, Isle of Wight. This service is provided by Hover Travel, which uses a pair of Griffon Hoverwork 12000TD craft, purchased in 2016. Griffon states that passengers will find this a high quality experience, with cabin noise below 75dB, fast entry and exit, at a top speed exceeding 45 Knots = 83 km/h. The 12000 in the name refers to the payload in kilograms.

Interior of the Solent Flyer. It will seat 80 passengers. Photo: Alasdair McLellan.

Hoverwork’s goals with the Griffon 12000 TD hovercraft, were to create a robust yet light-weight craft, while updating technology and ensuring production quality improvements. They claim these hovercraft offer low running and maintenance costs. Vital measurements: Length = 23.7 m; beam = 12.8m; passengers = 80. Payload 12 000 kg.

From 2024, Oita Hovercraft is operating a 33-kilometre hovercraft route between the city centre of Oita city and Oita airport. Hovercraft were used from 1970 to 2009, but became financially unviable. A hovercraft takes 25 minutes, each way, in contrast to a bus that uses over an hour. Thus, a political decision was made by the Governor of Oita in 2020 to use hovercraft once again. Oita Hovercraft has acquired 3 x 12000TD hovercraft from Griffon Hoverwork, the same type that is used in the Solent.

While this weblog post is mainly about the civilian use of hovercraft, there are also civil defense (including ambulance and fire services) uses. Some uses, by location.

The Canadian Coast Guard uses hovercraft to break light ice. Numerous fire departments around the US/ Canadian Great Lakes operate hovercraft for water and ice rescues. The US Postal Service began using a Hoverwork AP1-88 in 1998 to haul mail, freight, and passengers from Bethel, Alaska, to and from eight small villages along the Kuskokwim River. Hovercraft service is suspended for several weeks each year while the river is beginning to freeze to minimize damage to the river ice surface. Similarly, since 2006, a cargo/ passenger version of the Hoverwork BHT130, has been used as a high-speed ferry for up to 47 passengers and 21 500 kg of freight serving the remote Alaskan villages of King Cove and Cold Bay.

In England, Avon Fire and Rescue Service became the first Local Authority fire service in the UK to operate a hovercraft. It is used to rescue people from thick mud in the Weston-super-Mare area and during times of inland flooding. In addition, hovercraft of the Burnham-on-Sea Area Rescue Boat (BARB) are used to rescue people from thick mud in Bridgwater Bay. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service received two flood-rescue hovercraft donated by Severn Trent Water following the 2007 UK floods.

In Scotland, a Griffon rescue hovercraft has been in use with the Airport Fire Service at Dundee Airport. It is used in the event of an aircraft ditching in the Tay estuary. Since 2008, the Red Cross has offered a flood-rescue service hovercraft based in Inverness, Scotland.

In Finland, small hovercraft are widely used for maritime rescue and during the rasputitsa = mud season.

On Madagascar, HoverAid, an international NGO, has used a hovercraft to reach the most remote places on the island since 2006.

Military Uses

In 1996, Lieutenant commander K. L. Schmitz, United States Navy, concluded a report: “The LCAC [Landing Craft Air Cushion] lift capacity, speed, and maneuverability provides greater flexibility to the Marine-Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) punch. It will keep the MAGTF at the center of the military’s power projection mission well into the next century. Both the LCAC and LCU [Landing Craft Utility] have served the naval forces well and each has plenty to contribute to future operations. The investment in LCAC has been made; they have proven their value to the naval expeditionary forces. Despite heavy maintenance and operating costs, now is not the time to consider LCAC retirement.”

In the report itself it was noted that LCACs can access 80% of beaches, while LCUs can only access 20%. From this and other reports one can conclude that military LCACs are expensive and temperamental, while LCUs are cheap.

Prologue

Yes, convention states that a prolog(ue) should be placed at the beginning of a work. As people may have noticed previously, I sometimes defy convention. This is one of those situations.

My son, Alasdair, had spent the beginning of July on a road trip through southern Norway, visiting places he had not seen before. He finished his journey at our house, spending a couple of days resting to begin the next part of his holiday, and taking me along as his accomplice.

My wife, Trish, accompanied us to TRD, Trondheim Airport, to drive Buzz home. We entered the terminal building, passed through security, then immigration to exit Schengen territory. We ate a poor, but overpriced breakfast, before we boarded the Norwegian plane, bound for Gatwick. Alasdair was asleep even before the plane alighted from the runway.

On arrival at Gatwick, we used an app to pass through immigration, then walked through customs on our way to the train station. We used a Welsh app to buy train tickets, but not everything worked as quickly as intended. Why a Welsh app? Because one can buy train tickets from numerous providers. For external providers of a journey, a surcharge is added. Except the Welsh are unique. They do not add that surcharge. We arrived at the correct train platform with two minutes to spare. We were on our way to Portsmouth Harbour.

Exiting the train, we bought some provisions at the local Co-op store, then walked south to Hover Travel, and from there soon onto the Solent Flyer.

Interlude on the Isle of Wight

After we arrived at Ryde, we decided to eat dinner. The main problem was that there was a discrepancy between map and terrain. The eateries that Alasdair had found online, did not exist in reality. We decided to eat some Sri Lanken food. It proved to be a foolhardy choice, possibly the worst meal of our trip.

The other task on Wight, was to take the local railway from Ryde to Lake. Lake is one stop past Sandown. One of Trish’s aunts, by marriage, was born at Sandown, but lived some streets away (W 32nd Avenue) in Vancouver, when Trish was growing up. This aunt’s brother, who was also born at Sandown, lived at the end of the block where Trish lived (W 37th Avenue).

The trip back to Ryde was more problematic, because the train was cancelled. It then was necessary to delay our departure time on the hovercraft by one hour.

Epilogue

Once the Solent Flyer arrived back at Southsea, it was time to take a train back to Gatwick, then the shuttle from the south terminal to the north terminal. We had booked accomodation at the local Travelodge. Despite knowing where both ends of the route lay, between the north terminal and the hotel, it was difficult to find the most appropriate pathway. We used about half an hour to cover the distance, walking (and to some degree backtracking).

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Violence

Violence in A Clockwork Orange (1971)

To understand violence, I frequently turned to novels and film, at least in the previous millennium. In particular, I was drawn to A Clockwork Orange. That applies in equal measure to Anthony Burgess’ (1917 – 1993) novel (1962) and Stanley Kubrick’s (1928 – 1999) film (1971). Admittedly, but irrelevantly in terms of this weblog post, I was also drawn to the film by its use of synthesizer music, composed in part, arranged and performed by Wendy Carlos (1939 – ).

Burgess once stated: In 1945, back from the army, I heard an 80-year-old Cockney in a London pub say that somebody was ‘as queer [= mad/ insane] as a clockwork orange’… For nearly twenty years I wanted to use it as the title of something… It was a traditional trope, and it asked to entitle a work which combined a concern with tradition and a bizarre technique.

Beyond gratuitous gang violence there is psychological horror, presented in The Shining. Once again there is a novel (1977) by Stephen King (1947 – ), and a film (1980) by Stanley Kubrick, with synthesizer music by Wendy Carlos. Both involve an exploration of the human psyche, the role of social isolation, and portray one person’s descent into insanity.

I attended a symposium on violence in film in the early 2000s. Part of the reason for it, was in response to the Columbine killings. On 1999-04-20 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered their Columbine, Colorado high school planning to detonate homemade bombs. When that failed they walked through the halls using four guns to injure 24 people and kill 13 more, before killing themselves. The symposium was designed to give teachers a better understanding of violence, how violence could be perceived by students, how violence could be prevented by teachers.

The oldest film screened at the symposium was Dirty Harry (1971), produced and directed by Donald Siegel (1912 – 1991). It is often described as neo-noir, and being based on the Zodiac killer, an unknown, anonymous male, who claimed to have murdered 38 people in the 1960s in northern California. Discussion focused on antihero Harry Callahan (1930 – ?), portrayed by Clint Eastwood (1930 – ), who has his own vision of justice where possession and use of a gun take precedence over human rights, and a rule by law. Teachers cannot be allowed to imitate Dirty Harry in the classroom. Pupils have to be treated justly, perhaps aided with a modest proportion of compassion.

While working on this text I had a discussion about law with my son, Alasdair. We, along with Trish, had taken law courses when we studied business management, not to become lawyers, but to understand legal thinking. One common misunderstanding is that courts will do what is fair, rather than what is just. In Norway, courts are obliged to base their judgements on laws. Juries are not obliged to justify their verdicts. A person is either found guilty or not guilty. Because of this, Norway has eliminated juries. Instead, court cases often use a mixture of lay and professional = those with a legal education, judges.

In particular, we both remembered one particular case, where a person had chopped down a neighbour’s tree and was sued by that neighbour. Through three instances the neighbour won, but the chopper took it to the next level, hoping to win a fair judgement, from his perspective. He lost, and had to pay not only for the loss of that tree, but also the legal costs for himself and his neighbour. In the end, he had to sell his house, in order to pay these expenses.

Back to violence: I remember, in particular, the emphasis placed on Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), directed by James Cameron (1954 – ). The essence of the film is the relationship between a boy and the father he never had. This sequel works because there is a strong bond between the reprogrammed title character and the teenager he’s sent back in time to protect. The T-1000 android assassin, made of mercury that could shape-shift into any other organism, cannot overcome/ defeat this relationship. So there one has it. To prevent violence, one has to develop relationships. What I have found particularly interesting about the film was how difficult it was for Cameron to be allowed to work on a sequel to The Terminator (1984), despite the original’s unexpected success.

Quentin Tarantino’s (1963 – ) Pulp Fiction (1992), proved to be the most difficult film to analyze. There are four stories, that are intertwined; the plot is not presented in chronological order; monologues dominate dialogues. It is not what one expects from a film, but it works. What this film shows is that the mind does not operate chronologically. It creates its own world, its own reality. Each person is building their own unique monologue.

The most interesting film at the symposium was The Eel = うなぎ = Unagi (1997), directed by Shōhei Imamura (1926 – 2006). It is a violent film, but with more compassion. Imamura has commented that he enjoys making messy films. I would add the adverb, emotionally, to make that statement understandable.

Westerns have always been important for showing violence. One of the most notorious is The Wild Bunch (1969) directed by Sam Peckinpah. It is set in 1913, and is about an aging outlaw gang on the Mexico–United States border trying to adapt to the modern world. The men were crude, the violence graphic, but everyone portrayed is just trying to survive, using the skills at their disposal.

There are two western films I am obliged to comment on, because of geography. Little Big Man (1970) was directed by Arthur Penn. It never felt right, possibly because it included too much humour, and was focused on being a parody. For people from Vancouver, Geswanouth Slahoot aka Dan George (1899 – 1981) portraying Old Lodge Skins, was its saving grace. It can be safely avoided because, as a film, it is irrelevant.

McCabe and Mrs Miller (1971), the next film directed by Robert Altman after M*A*S*H, was described as an anti-western by Altman himself. It is set in the Pacific Northwest in 1905, but filmed in greater Vancouver. For me, it helped explain the mindset behind the culture I grew up in. Starting in 1910, my maternal grandfather was an armed cattle buyer in this same environment. I have often wanted to read the book upon which the film is based, McCabe (1959) by Edmund Naughton (1926 – 2013), but have been unable to find it, at an affordable price. I have a print of the film that I watch periodically.

Almost all of the Westerns I appreciate have been labelled revisionist. Others include Shane (1953) directed by George Stevens (1904 – 1975); Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) directed by Sergio Leone (1929 – 1989); and, Dances with Wolves (1990) with several important roles provided by Kevin Costner (1955 – ).

Not all Western films provide insights. The one film that I have the greatest difficulty with is How the West was Won (1962). It is often described as an epic. I find it sentimental, focusing on three generations of one family and their situation, and ignoring how they negatively impacted others. It was divided into five segments: 1) The Rivers (1839); 2) The Plains (1851); 3) The Civil War (1861-1865); 4) The Railroad (1868); and, The Outlaws (1889). John Ford (1893 – 1973) directed the civil war segment. George Marshall (1891 – 1975) directed the railroad segment. Henry Hathaway (1898 – 1985) directed the other three. The key to understanding the film is that the West was only won after the rule of law became enforced. Many groups of people, including First peoples/ native Americans, are still waiting for that to happen.

Some may have noticed that the newest film here is Unagi (1997), which is more than 25 years old. That is because, since the symposium, over twenty years ago, I have avoided violence in film. I have accepted that I will not and do not understand it. In 1998, the American Psychiatric Association said that the average 18-year-old American has seen 200 000 acts of simulated violence in entertainment, including 16 000 killings. Later, research from the University of Pennsylvania confirmed that moviegoers are increasingly desensitized to, and accepting of, violence. I want neither.

And so to the point of this weblog post…

Arthur Penn’s (1922 – 2010) Bonnie and Clyde (1967) would have felt appropriate at the symposium, but was not screened. The setting of Bonnie and Clyde was the Great Depression of the 1930s. Banks were villains, for what they had done to ordinary people. In the course of the film, Bonnie and Clyde are transformed from petty criminals to iconic heroes. In particular, the violence at the end of the film resulting in the deaths of Bonnie Parker (1910 – 1934) and Clyde Barrow (1909 – 1934) comes unexpectedly. Once the credits have played, viewers are more critical of the police, and more sympathetic to the criminals.

Across the world, politicians lose popular support for their legislation. For them, that is unimportant. They have billionaires who support them financially, as long as they allow other excesses to continue. Democracy is reduced to voting for A or B. They are, effectively, the same!

In the United Kingdom (UK), an international panel of human rights experts convened by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) conducted an authoritative study of state impunity, where the UK has been shown to have operated a widespread and systemic practice of protecting security forces from sanction during the conflict in Northern Ireland. The panel investigated claims that the UK had not only engaged in collusion, but blocked proper police investigations into conflict-related killings to protect security force members and agents implicated in crime. The NCHR warned that UK’s reputation would be severely damaged by the proposed Northern Ireland Legacy act.

Well in advance, the NCHR recommended that the UK abandon the legislation that came into force 2024-05-01 to grant conditional amnesties for crimes during Na Trioblóidí (Irish) = The Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998. The legislation gave soldiers and paramilitaries immunity from prosecution for crimes if they cooperate with a new body aimed at truth recovery. This bans victims’ families from future legal challenges.

Meanwhile, in the United States (US), Biden has lost considerable support among young voters. He has been too supportive of Israel, and not recognized the deaths of 34 000 Palestinians as genocide. Not everyone appreciates young, peaceful student protestors exercising their first amendment rights in support of Palestinians. I see a generational change, reminiscent of the Vietnam war protests of the late 1960s. Gen Z is fed up. They are Bonnie or Clyde. The Post-Pandemic world of the 2020s, mirrors the Great Depression of the 1930s. Universities with their excessive tuition payments, have replaced banks as villains.

If I were to utter one word of advice to politicians, it would be to ensure that house ownership becomes affordable. For most young people it is not.

In 1968, Columbia university called in the police to clear anti Vietnam war protesters. This was followed by many other institutions, including Harvard in 1969. This resulted not just in photos of bruised and bloodied students in the national press, but in the national guard opening fire on students protesting the war, killing four at Kent State University, in Ohio. At Yale, president Kingman Brewster refused the police access to the campus, and opened it up to protesters. This non-confrontational approach defused the situation. Some current university presidents are not closely enough tied to their students, but probably have too intimate ties with their financial beneficiaries.

Those now-ancient protests were called anti-American, the new protests anti-Semitic. These new protests have also met with police violence and mass arrests. I am particularly disgusted by the police at Emory University in Decatur, Georgia. Undoubtedly, most of those peaceful demonstrators will forever see the police as an adversary. I keep hoping that some new generation will see the fraud that allows billionaires free reign, yet condemns the majority to ever lower standards of living. I hope today’s youth are determined to end of the individualistic excesses of the ever ongoing Reagan and Thatcher era. A recommended book is Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth (2024) by Ingrid Robeyns.

In the US, both Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) and James Luther Bevel (1936 – 2008) advocated nonviolent methods to improve/ win civil rights for African Americans. Cesar(io Estrada) Chavez (1927 -1993) and Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta (1930 -), co-founders of the United Farmworkers Association, which later become the United Farm Workers, also adopted the non-violent approach, advocated by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 – 1948). More recently Gene Sharp (1928 – 2018) has advocated this approach, used in several of the political protests in eastern Europe. He has been the subject of an earlier weblog post.

Dolores Huerta, will be allowed the last word on this subject, her lifelong crusade to correct economic injustice began when she left her job as an elementary school teacher: I couldn’t tolerate seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes. I thought I could do more by organizing farm workers than by trying to teach their hungry children.

Note: Parts of this weblog post have been sitting around collecting digital dust for years. There has never been any urgency to publish it, because it involved events, now 20 years in the past. Except, when I started reading about the tribulations of Gen Z-ers in 2024-04, I realized that the content could be used, and published with some urgency.

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Health and Safety Stewardship

This weblog post is about domestic health and safety stewardship. Definitions: Steward = a person who acts on behalf of others, often by managing property or financial affairs. Unions often have stewards, who ensure that the rights of their members are respected. Stewardship = the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for.

Cliff Cottage has two self-appointed heath and safety stewards. Trish, the other resident, has her area of expertise, that includes foodstuffs. My area of competence is related to technical issues.

People spend a lot of time in (and around) their residences. Thus, it is important that some form of health and safety stewardship be incorporated into domestic living arrangements. One of the first areas where this was implemented involved smoke/ fire alarms/ detectors.

Being a steward involves three areas of responsibility: education, hazard identification and compliance = action!

Education

In terms of education, the main job is to keep people informed. The most important characteristic a person can have is situation awareness: an understanding of the environment in which they are working (or living), the elements that make it up, and how it changes with respect to time and other factors. Other factors could include food acquisition and preparation, fire and/ or war. Situation awareness is important for effective decision making.

Situation awareness

In Mica Endsley’s (ca. 1961 – )cognitive model of situation awareness, there are three levels. Level 1 = Perception of the status, attributes and dynamics of relevant elements in the environment. This is the most basic level that involves monitoring, cue detection and simple recognition, which lead to an awareness of multiple situational elements (objects, events, people, systems, environmental factors) and their current states (locations, conditions, modes, actions).

Level 2 = Comprehension involves constructing a synthesis of level 1 elements through the processes of pattern recognition, interpretation and evaluation. This requires integrating information to understand how it will impact individual objectives. At this level people are expected to have a comprehensive picture of the world, or at least of that portion of the world of concern to them.

Level 3 = Projection involves the ability to project future actions of the elements in the environment. This is achieved through knowledge of the status and dynamics of the elements and comprehension of the situation, and then extrapolating this information forward in time to determine how it will affect future states of the operational environment.

Most of the time it means searching sources for specific information. For example, about fire detection. Source materials are often written information/ documentation or videos. Another person in the family is an expert at using podcasts, so I might consult with him about resources. A good place to begin is Wikipedia. I regularly receive useful information from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, part of its Ministry of Defence. It is much better than the information provided by the Norwegian equivalent. My son, Alasdair, recommends the equivalent Finnish agency.

Once a person is aware of their situation, the next step is to obtain and organize information, so that it can be accessed when needed. While some information can be pushed onto people, encouraging people to pull information, empowers them. Communication works better on a want to know basis. The worst crime one can commit is overburdening people with low priority (read: useless) information. I am sure (minimum 95% certainty) that Trish, will never undertake welding, so I do not communicate anything on that topic to her. Information on that topic is available, should she (or anyone else) for any reason want to examine it.

People vary in their receptivity to written or spoken communication. Thus, while I have written documents available, I can also present the information in the form of informal conversations if that is preferred.

Below are check lists. All points listed below apply to workplaces. Those marked with * are for households/ families.

Health and safety check-list.

  • *Keep a list of the terms and expressions used to express safety and health issues, with definitions. Ensure people know where this list is kept.
  • *Post health and safety information on household/ workplace bulletin boards and/or publish it so that everyone is informed about situations that could affect them.
  • *Research health and safety information. This will usually involve the internet. Bookmark sites that are of interest. I have made an edited bookmark title, Safety. Share the bookmarked list.
  • Educate co-workers/ family members about:
    • *Resources for resolving safety and health problems. In companies, this is usually the name and contact information for stewards and safety & health committee members.
    • *The location of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and other health and safety information.
    • Rights and responsibilities related to occupational safety and health, including legislation and employment contracts.
    •  The importance of reporting all injuries and illnesses.
    • The importance of reporting early signs and symptoms of illnesses such as sore hands, wrists and shoulders.
    • The negative effects of safety programs that blame workers when they get hurt and discourage reporting of injuries and illnesses.
  • Educate others about:
    • *Safety and health hazards in the workplace/ house.
    • *Ways to improve conditions and re-design jobs.

Identify hazards

  • *Conduct walk-arounds to identify hazards.
  • *Survey co-workers/ family members.
  • *Report hazards to management/ parent.
  • Monitor management’s response to correcting hazards.
  • Request and analyze safety and health-related records.
  • Conduct union investigations of safety and health incidents.

Currently we conduct walk-arounds irregularly. One of the latest involved the downstair’s bathroom, with its top opening window. The window now allows the opening mechanism to be disengaged so that the window can open fully. It is then possible to climb from the toilet seat to the washing machine and out the window. This means that the window does not have to be broken and the glass removed. However, it also requires that detailed instructions are posted so that everyone understands the new procedures. This will be done once I have returned from Newfoundland.

Act!

  • Hold health and safety educational meetings.
  • Develop ideas for future health and safety issues.
  • *Use safety equipment!

Food

A Patton Kamado ceramic grill, can be used for emergency cooking of food.

Norway’s border with Russia is almost 200 km long. It is minuscule to the 1 300 km border between Finland and Russia. In 2024, for the first time in 20 years, Norway has decided to store grains in the case of an emergency. A three month supply will be kept at all times. This is half the minimum requirement experts have said should be stored. This means that individuals and families will have to take some responsibility for food storage.

The emergency many people think of is war, possibly even a nuclear attack. The problem for Russia is that the prevailing winds blow from west to east meaning that the radiation from any attack could soon end up in Russia. Prevailing winds do not always help. When the Chernobyl disaster occurred 1986-04-26, one of the places most damaged by radiation was in Snåsa, Trøndelag, Norway, about 100 km north of Cliff Cottage. Snåsa is about 2 500 km north west of Chernobyl.

When the kitchen was remodelled in the 2020s, 1.6 m3 = 1 600 litres of additional space was added for food and general storage. This is in addition to the 0.9 m3 = 900 litres of long-term food storage, that was added with the construction of a pantry ca. 2000.

In a crisis situation, the supply of water could be a problem. We rely on municipal water that has been chemically treated. Electricity is needed for the purification process. Gravity is used to distribute the water. At Cliff Cottage, we have a stream about 200 m from our house that does offer a supply of water. In both cases it could be necessary to boil the water.

We are also dependent on electricity for storage and cooking of food. Much of our food is frozen or refrigerated. We use a microwave oven, electric oven and an induction cooktop to cook meals. I am considering a 320 mm diameter Kamado grill as a backup system for cooking food. One of our neighbours has a wood burning oven suitable for baking bread.

Another problem with food storage is rotation. Food should be used before its best by date. Admittedly, it is better to eat stale food, than no food.

Fire safety

A 1.2 m x 1.2 m fire blanket, attached to the pantry wall.

If we should experience a fire, it is quite likely that Cliff Cottage will burn to the ground, before any fire services could reach it. The closest fire trucks are in Straumen, 13 km away. They are crewed by volunteers, who live within five minutes of the fire hall. That equates to a 20 minute delay. A lot can happen with a raging fire in that time.

The first point of situation awareness is to be aware of the general situation being faced, then to know the human resources available, and if there are two or more people available, to divide the work between them.

Perhaps the first thing that has to be done when facing a fire is to contact the fire service. I know that this will be my responsibility, because Trish has a hearing disability the precludes using a telephone, except in exceptional cases. In Norway, we have many different emergency numbers, including: 110 (fire), 112 (police), 113 (ambulance/medical emergencies) and 1412 (text phone = emergencies for people with hearing disabilities). These are the equivalent of 911 in North America. This is important because the 20-minute delay only starts once the fire authorities have been contacted. Wikipedia provides a list of emergency numbers for everywhere on planet earth.

A second decision involves evacuation vs putting effort to put into fire fighting. If we decide to fight a fire, it means having knowledge about our options: fire blankets, fire extinguishers and hoses. Thus, we have to know where all of these are kept, and how to use them.

We have two fire extinguishers, one on the main floor and one on the lower level. The workshop also has two fire extinguishers, one near the entrance, and one at the innermost point. These have an acquisition date label on them. They are turned annually, so that the powder doesn’t clump. They are also recycled at ten year intervals. We have two fire blankets, one on the main level of the house, and one in the workshop.

It is also important to know when to give up. It may not be possible to extinguish a fire, and the best option is to leave the burning building. My gut feeling is that if a fire cannot be contained within five minutes, the building will have to be evacuated.

In terms of basic information, Wikipedia is a good source. However, there is no time to look up basic information once a fire has started. This information has to be digested in advance. For example, here is the Wikipedia article about smoke detectors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_detector

In Norway, fire safety day is 12-01 = December 01. It is the official date to change smoke detector batteries. Previously, a supply of 9 V batteries would be acquired and the batteries changed. Currently, we use smoke detectors that include a ten-year battery. We have ten of them: five on the lower entry level, and five on the upper level where we spend most of our time. We have the date of purchase and installation recorded, so that we know when the ten years ends. At that time, the smoke detector will be removed from service, and a new one installed. On fire safety day, all of the smoke detectors are inspected. So far, after 35 years, we have not had any issues, apart from short false positive alarms, often caused by steam.

It has been pointed out in American statistics, that the use of smoke detectors can reduce loss of life due to fire by 50%.

We have an evacuation plan for every room of the house. At one time, the most problematic room to escape from was the kitchen. It was located on the upper floor with a minimum 3m drop to the lawn below. That was because the narrow balcony on the west side of the house, did not extend to the kitchen, but stopped at the boundary between living room and kitchen. This was changed in 2017. Now, people can exit the kitchen through either of two opening windows onto a balcony that is at the same level as the kitchen floor. Outside stairs can take a person down to ground-floor level.

Another problematic room to escape from is the downstairs bathroom. It would require an escape through a top-opening window. A hammer and a glove are kept there to break and remove glass.

During the winter half of the year, outdoor taps are closed, so that using a garden hose to suppress a fire would require those taps to be turned on. This is done from the same room that houses the hot water heater, about as far from a outside door as possible.

Notes: Russian land border lengths. Total 22 407 km of land borders with 14 countries: Azerbaijan 338 km; Belarus 1 312 km; China (southeast) 4 133 km and China (south) 46 km; Estonia 324 km; Finland 1 309 km; Georgia 894 km; Kazakhstan 7 644 km (It is the longest continuous international border in the world and the second longest by total length, after the Canada–United States border that includes boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It is 8 891 km long. The land border has two sections: Canada‘s border with the contiguous United States to its south, and with the U.S. state of Alaska to its west; North Korea 18 km; Latvia 332 km; Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 261 km; Mongolia 3 452 km; Norway 191 km; Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 209 km; Ukraine 1 944 km. There are also sea borders with Japan and USA.

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Paxster

Paxster’s website begins with a boast: The best-selling Norwegian vehicle of all time! Production figures show this to be about 3 000 vehicles produced.

Paxster is a last mile delivery vehicle, from a transportation hub to a final household destination. In Norway, last mile implies that the vehicle can withstand rough road and weather conditions. Think ice and snow, respectively.

Paxster began as a side-project within Loyds, a supplier of vehicle equipment (but not vehicles) for Norway Post = Posten Norge = the Norwegian post office. It had its facilities in Sarpsborg, a municipality in south-east Norway that has grown into Fredrikstad. When the post office announced some ambitious environmental goals, Loyds started to map how post office vehicles worked. Together they found several challenges about the solutions offered. Some were inefficient, some unprofitable, some both and some neither. They ultimately (in 2013) got approval to work on defining the best ergonomic solutions, together with post-office drivers.

After a few months, the first prototype was ready to test, and adapt, to become a future delivery vehicle for mail, parcels and newspapers.

Bård Eker (1961 – ) through his wholly owned company, Eker Design, designed the vehicle and led to it winning awards for good design. In the autumn of 2013 Paxster was put into production for the Norwegian market.

On July 1st 2015 Paxster was transferred to a separate Aktieselskap (AS) = limited liability company. Since then, Paxsters have been sold in several countries around the world. Paxster claims to be constantly working to develop vehicles to be the best in class when it comes to efficiency, ergonomics and safety.

New Zealand

In 2016, Paxster expanded to New Zealand. New Zealand Post begun rolling out 54 Paxster electric-delivery vehicles in the North Shore district of Auckland as well as the southern town of Oamaru. New Zealand Post has been given permission to use the vehicles on the sidewalks/ footpaths (preferred term in New Zealand) in residential neighborhoods. It was noted that New Zealand Post drivers received safety training, and they are required to give way to all other footpath users.

The initial fleet of New Zealand Paxsters, in 2016.

The fleet grew to 423 in 2018. Initially there were complaints to NZ Post about Paxsters, peaking at 31 in 2018-07. Paxsters were: damaging the grass berm = a narrow ledge or shelf of grass along the top or bottom of a slope, reversing into other vehicles, driving at alleged excessive speed on the footpath.

There were 249 crashes in total with the majority involving a Paxster hitting or being hit by a vehicle or object in 2018, up from 82 in 2017. The number of injuries to posties more than doubled from 36 in 2017 to 80 in 2018. Two of these injuries in 2018 were serious and required professional medical treatment, but the severity of the injuries was less than those in bicycles. A spokesperson stated there were declining costs associated with injuries since the introduction of Paxsters. Compared to bicycles, there were less severe injuries, attributed to the stability of a four wheel vehicle, more efficient braking, greater visibility and more robust protection.

The New Zealand postal union also commented that when the post office introduced the new vehicles they immediately introduced a new roster. Posties on bikes used to work about six hours a day. New rotating shifts for the Paxsters demanded nine-hour days. This increased driver fatigue. New modes of driving on the footpath, and a need to make very quick decisions, contributed to an increase in injuries. Many posties enjoy driving Paxsters but dozens quit when the e-vehicles were introduced. Most of these were long-serving, who preferred to ride a bicycle and felt safer on one. While posties were concerned about the number of injuries, but were more worried about the damage they could do if children sprung out of driveways unexpectedly.

Meanwhile in other parts of Europe…

Later, test vehicles were supplied to the Royal Mail in the United Kingdom, as well as Swedish and German last mile delivery companies. Use of test vehicles have shown that injuries are less severe than when using a bicycle.

… and now the difficult part, translating the description into English. From left to right starting at the top. 1) A large storage box that will take 12 post cassettes (Optional). The rear hatch has gas dampers. 2) Software package/ part of option card II with display, battery indicator, switches and signal lamps. 3) Low windscreen in plexiglass. 4) Large mirror. Seat that is rounded at the front, allows better on and off movements. Integrated space for a front carrier. 1 front light in the middle. Lockable side storage compartment. The space at the bask is for an extra battery (get home package) at an additional price. Large wheels 135(70 R 13 = 52 cm diameter, on steel or aluminum wheels. Sotware package/ Option card 1 with anti-spin and an electronic differential lock. Anvanced and improved cable system from the regulator to the display/ option card 2.
No, not all Paxster vehicles are red. Many companies choose white. Here is a vehicle for DHL in yellow, admittedly with a red logo. A mural of a freight cycle is painted on the wall behind.

History of Automobile Production in Norway

In terms of ICE vehicles: Norsk produced 10 vehicles between 1908 and 1911: a lighter car with a single-cylinder 8 hp engine and a heavier touring car with 4-cylinder engine. Bjering in Gjøvik produced six ICE vehicles between 1920 and 1925. Geijer was even more productive brand and produced about 25 vehicles between 1923 and 1930. Troll made five 2+2 sports cars with a fibreglass body from 1956 to 1958.

In terms of Electric vehicles: About 2 500 Th¡nk cars were produced from 1991 to 2011. There were about 1 500 Kewet (later renamed Buddy) vehicles produced in Økern, Norway, Hadsund, Denmark and Nordhausen, Germany between 2005 and 2013. It is difficult to find out how many were produced where. Of those, 1 087 were registered in Norway.

Some one-off prototypes have also been produced. The one with the most publicity was made by Aetek, a Norwegian company, with the backing of Statoil, now Equinor, the Norwegian government oil company. The FYK, was a Norwegian sports car prototype launched in 2006. It runs on a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. It was designed as a technology demonstrator, without any plans to put it into series production.

Note: Work began on this post 2021/08/21 at 12:00.

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Gary Kildall: A tidbit

This is an Amstrad NC200 notebook computer from 1993, with a Z80 processor, 128kB of RAM and a 16MB CF card being used as a flash drive. It is running an open source CP/M distribution. Photo from Hjalfi, 2020.

Originally, this post was started to commemorate the release of the first operating system for microprocessors, CP/M. My best guess for its release date is 1974-04-25. Many sources state april, but are hesitant to specify the exact date. The person responsible for its development was Gary Kildall (1942 – 1994). This weblog post is published on the thirtieth anniversary of Kildall’s death, rather than the 50th anniversary of the first CP/M release.

Kildall has his origins in Seattle, Washington. His grandfather was a Norwegian immigrant, who ran a navigation school. Kildal is the name of a farm at Hægeland, Vest-Agder, in the south of Norway. His maternal ancestors had their roots in Långbäck, Skellefteå, Sweden before his maternal grandmother Sophia Lundmark emigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His mother then immigrated to Seattle.

Kildall was awarded a doctorate in computer science from the University of Washington in 1972. He then worked as a computer science instructor at the at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. This was to fulfill his military conscription obligations, since the US was still engaged in the Vietnam war.

Later that year, to learn more about processors, Kildall bought an Intel 4004 processor and began writing experimental programs for it. Intel lent him 8008 and 8080 processor systems. In 1973, Kildall developed the first high-level programming language for microprocessors, called PL/M = Programming language for microcomputers. It incorporated ideas from: PL/I = Programming language one, developed at IBM starting in 1964; ALGOL = Algorithmic language, originally from 1958; and XPL = expert’s programming language, from 1967.

One of the first software projects Kildall worked on, with Ben Cooper, was the Astrology Machine. It is generally regarded as unsuccessful, but gave Kildall an opportunity to field test programs he had written: a debugger, an assembler, part of an editor, and a Basic interpreter that he used to program.

In 1974, Kildall developed CP/M = Control Program/Monitor (originally)/ Control Program for Microcomputers (later). Intergalactic Digital Research (originally) /Digital Research, Inc. (DRI, later) was established by Kildall and his wife Dorothy McEwen (1943 – 2005) to market CP/M.

In 1975, Kildall developed a set of BIOS = Basic input/ output system routines, firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the boot process = power-on startup. BIOS initially allowed 8080 and compatible microprocessor-based computers to run the same operating system on any new hardware with trivial modifications. Later different BIOS applications were made for other computer families.

A source-to-source translator = source-to-source compiler (S2S compiler) = transcompiler = transpiler, is a type of translator that takes the source code of a program written in a programming language as its input and produces an equivalent source code in the same or a different programming language. In 1981, DRI introduced one of these, calling it a binary recompiler. XLT86 was written by Kildall. It translated .ASM source code for the Intel 8080 processor (in a format compatible with ASM, MAC or RMAC assemblers) into .A86 source code for the 8086 (compatible with ASM86).

Kildal initiated the creation of the first diskette track buffering schemes, read-ahead algorithms, file directory caches, and RAM drive emulators.

At this point it becomes difficult to separate Kildall’s role as innovator/ inventor and that as initiator/ project manager/ executive, where other engineers at DRI and elsewhere made significant technical contributions.

For example, Tom Rolander made most of the developmental inputs to CP/M starting in 1979, that later resulting in these operating systems added preemptive multitasking and windowing capabilities as well as menu-driven user interfaces. These are found on: Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program (MP/M), Concurrent CP/M, Concurrent DOS and DOS Plus.

In 1984, DRI started development Graphics Environment Manager (GEM), known primarily as the native graphical user interface of the Atari ST series of computers, providing a desktop with windows, icons, menus and pointers (WIMP). This was an outgrowth of a more general-purpose graphics library known as Graphics System Extension (GSX), written by a team led by Don Heiskell since about 1982. Another major contributor was Lee Jay Lorenzen at Graphic Software Systems.

Kildall and Rolander founded Activenture in 1984. They created the first computer interface for video disks to allow automatic nonlinear playback, presaging today’s interactive multimedia. This company became KnowledgeSet in 1985, which developed the file system and data structures for the first consumer CD-ROM, an encyclopedia for Grolier.

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Ello

In 2015 Rosalina Gomes posted this photo of New Westminster on Ello. This shows Poplar Island in the middle of the Fraser River. It is a favourite location, although I have only visited it once, by boat.

Suddently, without warning, my favourite social media site, Ello, disappeared 2023-06-22. It seemed to sputter back to life at one point, then died sometime in 2023-07, while I was in Iceland, one year ago. Here was the last, unhelpful, message:

Ello was an online social networking service = social media site, created by bicycle entrepreneur Paul Budnitz (1967 – ) and Todd Berger (? – ) of graphic designers Berger & Föhr. In 2014-01, FreshTracks Capital provided $435 000 of seed funding. Ello launched on 2014-03-19. Originally it was a private social network of and for seven artists and programmers. By 2014-04-03, the site started to allow the public to participate, initially by invitation only.

The launch included a manifesto that promised never to sell user data, proclaiming: You Are Not a Product. It never showing advertisements, and avoided a real-name policy. All of these contrasted with Facebook. For example, in 2014-09, numerous members of the LGBTQ community left Facebook following the controversial enforcement of its real-name policy. Many came to Ello. At its peak, Ello processing 30 000 signup requests/ hour, 20% remaining active one week after registration.

In 2014-10, Ello reorganized itself as a benefit corporation and raised a further $5.5 million in venture capital. The user base of Ello were primarily artists and other creative people. The great mystery of Ello, was how it survived economically, once the capital was used up. Yes, there were Ello T-shirts available through Threadless. In 2018, the original owners bailed out, when Talenthouse acquired Ello for an undisclosed amount.

After registering in 2015, I found it useful to find photographs from greater Vancouver. For example: Rosalina Gomes, provided photographs of New Westminster, including one posted at the beginning of this post; David Miller, recreated logos for iconic companies, such as White Spot, as well as highways, such as the Yellowhead; Andrew Sommerfeld = Rhinoceros, was one who published numerous nature photographs, especially along the trails of North Vancouver. Other interesting contributors included: Dark Beauty magazine, who presented Gothic fashion photographs; Adam Krowitz = Droneman, who provided interesting drone photographs of Australia, including the Baha’i House of Worship, near Sidney; Joshua LaCunha, who used tintype techniques to portray members of the San Francisco Fire Department; Michael Ostrogorsky, posted numerous photos of his parrots, and photos of Seattle; Skyler Schoos, posted photos of herself in Seattle; Susie Stiles = Geeksusie, used French captions to describe photographs of numerous paintings, some she made herself, but also many by numerous others.

Many people open and closed accounts at great speed, deleting their artwork as they left. I learned that if I wanted to access content, I had to make my own copies, or they could disappear. There was less censorship on Ello, than on many similar sites, especially in 2018, with an influx of many new users, who described themselves as Tumblr refugees. Tumblr apparently allowed explicit content until 2018, when it decided this content was immoral. It then used flawed software to determine what to delete. Unfortunately, that software was unable to distinguish raw chicken from nude humans. Similarweb an Israeli company specializing in web analytics estimated Tumblr had lost 30% of its user traffic with its stricter content policy.

I appreciated Ello for its content diversity. One appropriate comment was that: Ello seems fated to become the betamax of social media: superior to its competitor but failing to win popular traction. But it doesn’t matter … A social network doesn’t need approval from everyone to work.

I will close my comments about Ello with a photo taken by Chris N, titled Rakotzbrücke = Devil’s Bridge, in the Rhododendron Park Kromlau, in the Spree Forest region, close to the polish border, next to Gablenz in Saxony, in the former East Germany. There are many photographs of the bridge, but I felt this one gave it life.

On 2024-06-07, I read a post in /. = slashdot.org about an article in Fast Company, on artists using the anti-AI portfolio app Cara after Meta began using Instagram content to train its AI models. On 2024-05-31 there were 100 k users, which by 2024-06-02 had grown to 300 k profiles. By the time I had joined within minutes of reading about Cara, my first notification stated there were over 700 k members/ users/ hangers on.

I am opposed to the actions of Meta. While I have not deleted my Facebook or Instagram accounts I don’t use them. If I am desperate to see Facebook content, I approach another user and ask her to access it. So one can rightly conclude that I am an unprincipled hypocrite, when it comes to Meta.

Cara claims to prohibit AI models from scraping its content. Yet, its approach to protect users is primitive and probably ineffective. They automatically add NoAI metadata tags on posts. Glaze is a more effective appoach to protect artists’ work against scrapers, but users can only use it a limited number of times. Glaze was developed by the Security, Algorithms, Networking and Data laboratory (SAND lab) at the University of Chicago, that works on topics in security, machine learning, networked systems, human-computer interaction (HCI), data mining and modeling. This makes it much more difficult for AI models to accurately understand and mimic an artist’s personal style. The tool claims to understand how AI bots perceive artwork. It then makes a set of minimal but invisible changes that confuse AI models. This means that the AI bot will have difficulty generating warped recreations. Warp, here, refers to an algorithmic process that reshapes/ recreates artistic works. Cara plans to use Nightshade, another SAND lab software product that helps protect artwork against AI scrapers. Nightshade corrupts AI training data by adding invisible pixels to artwork that can cause AI software to completely misunderstand the image. Cara also attempts to detect and forbid posted AI artwork from its site, unless it’s been appropriately labeled by the poster.

If one wants to try using AI to create artwork, the latest software I have used has been provided by Craiyon.

Note: iGoogle was a dashboard launched in 2005. I used a personalized version of it as my homepage, for several years, until it disappeared towards the end of 2013. I missed it, and wrote a weblog post about it in 2018. Once I had concluded that Ello was not returning, I started to write this post about it already in 2023-08.