Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Jina’s Top 5 Titanic Events for 2012 without leaving home

© Corey A. Ford | Dreamstime.com
The year 2012 is the Year of Titanic.

No doubt the world will focus attention on all things Titanic. According to The Independent in the UK, you can take a commemorative cruise where you can follow the route of the Titanic. You can also shell out $59,000 to explore the wreckage of the ship up and personal.

Titanic Belfast , the biggest Titanic visitor attraction in the world, will open March 31st (experts predict 400,000 people will descend upon the center during its first year with more than 35,000 tickets already sold). The city of Cobh (known as Queenstown in 1912) will observe the centenary with the Titanic 100 Event series.

Halifax, Nova Scotia has a special connection to Titanic with the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and Titanic sites. Among them are three cemeteries where the Titanic dead are buried, their gravestones all cut from the same granite, all with the same date: April 15, 1912.

In Washington D.C. every year, you can attend the ringing of the bell at the Titanic Memorial to honor the brave gentlemen who died that night so women and children could be saved.

We can’t forget the Titanic exhibitions here is the U.S.: Mystic Titanic Aquarium Exhibit in Mystic, Connecticut will feature interaction touch screens to enhance the visitor’s Titanic experience.
What if you’re unable to travel to Ireland or Nova Scotia or here in the U.S. for these events?

No reason to miss out on all things Titanic. You’d be surprised how you can participate as well as honor Titanic victims this year without leaving home or your computer.

Here are my top 5 Titanic Events for 2012 without leaving home:

1. Not one but two TV mini-series are scheduled for 2012:

Titanic” from Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes will debut on April 12, 2012 and will air in the U.S. on ABC and around the world (57 countries) for four nights. The mini-series creator promises a “fresh approach” as seen through the eyes of different characters (the cast includes 89 characters) including the oft neglected second class passengers.

Titanic: “Blood & Steel” is a 12-part BBC mini-series which focuses on the origin of the Titanic and the ship’s construction in Belfast, Ireland circa 1907. This emotional story is seen through the eyes of the wealthy men who backed and designed the ship as well as the laborers who fit together the nuts and bolts (14,000 workers). As of this writing, the U.S. network is TBA (keep you posted!).

2. James Cameron’s 1997 $2 billion-grossing Titanic film hits the IMAX theaters in 3-D on April 6, 2012 at the cost $18 million.

Mr. Cameron will also host a National Geographic special, Titanic: Final Word with James Cameron, which will share the spotlight Dr. Robert Ballard’s Save the Titanic. An amazing duo of documentaries I can’t wait to see along with Titanic in 3-D.

3. The Titanic First Class Dinner menu included a thirteen course meal from scallops to cream of barley soup to filet mignon to mint sorbet. You could travel to a hotel in Southampton or outside Philadelphia to enjoy a sumptuous Titanic dinner emulating the first class fare hotel.

There’s also a good chance a local restaurant in your city is planning such an event. Or plan your own Titanic dinner. This wonderful article by Rachel Cooke in the Guardian in the UK offers excellent information on Titanic fare. Or check out Last Dinner on the Titanic by Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley for the delicious details.

4. From the heroism of the Titanic musicians led by Wallace Hartley to the hymn Nearer, My God, To Thee that Titanic survivors reported hearing from the lifeboats, music has played a major part in the Titanic story. In 2012 a four-night concert will be beamed globally that will tell the story of Titanic.

Also scheduled is an album from Robin Gibbs (Bee Gees) entitled “The Titanic Requiem” with a special track about a young girl on one of the lifeboats singing about her father who died on the liner.

I’m really looking forward to the concert from The Spirit of Titanic who will perform music from the movie and the period with the Titanic Choristers and National Symphony Orchestra. According to my tweets with Spirit of Titanic, they’re planning to release a DVD of the concert. Can’t wait.

5. Without the wireless sending distress signals from the Titanic, most likely there would have been no survivors. These chilling messages will be rebroadcast in real time on April 14th and 15th by the Nova Scotia Museum on Twitter: “…the same wireless messages operators received in 1912.”

This is a must-do event for all Titanic enthusiasts. I participated in the event last year and I can still feel the strong pull of those messages sent out across the Atlantic on that bitterly cold, starry night.
Seeing the words It’s CQD, old man” (distress call) pop up on your computer screen is akin to a time machine putting you back there at that precise moment.


Cover Art by Dar Albert

I’m proud to be a part of Titanic with my novel, TITANIC RHAPSODY. My story is a romance about an Irish emigrant named Katie O’Reilly who believed so hard in the American Dream she risked it all to sail on the Titanic.

The ship of dreams.
Katie’s grand adventure begins when she boards the Titanic with the law at her heels and runs straight into the arms of the handsomest man she’s ever seen—
“Now if you’ll be pointing me in the right direction to the third class deck,” Katie said, showing him her ticket, “I’ll be on me way.”
          “And right into the hands of the law."

          She took in a deep breath. So he did know.
      
          He continued, “You have no choice but to allow me to offer you my protection.”

         “And who are you, sir?”

          He bowed slightly. “Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn, at your service.”
What are you waiting for, girl? Look at the man, will you?
He was tall, muscular and possessed an arrogance that intrigued her. Not to mention a building heat inside her that warmed her down to her toes. He seemed more alive to her than any man she’d ever seen. A man who knew his charm and savored it.
“And why would you be helping the likes of me?” Katie wanted to know with a proud air.
He smiled at that, continuing to stare at her, his eyes dark and searching. “Come with me and find out.”
2012 is going to be a momentous year for all things Titanic. I hope you’ll join me for future posts as we count down to that fateful night.

6 comments:

Wynter said...

What a great cover! Sounds like the book is right on time with all the events scheduled.

Jina Bacarr said...

Thanks, Wynter, re: cover. If you click on the Titanic Rhapsody cover, you can see a bigger version--look closely and you'll see the lifeboats, too! Dar Albert of Wicked Smart Designs did a fabulous job for Ellora's Cave.

Callie Croix said...

I just love all the work you've put into this. But tracing the route of the Titanic on a cruise? Nuh-uh. No way, man. I'm far too superstitious to do such a thing! It's the Irish in me, I guess.

Jina Bacarr said...

Thanks, Callie--you're right, it was a lot of work, but I wanted to give an overview of the biggest Titanic events happening as well as others we can all participate in.

It will be interesting to follow the news stories on the Titanic cruises...times have changed. We now have sea patrols that watch out for icebergs.

Michelle Polaris said...

Love the cover and you have me excited for the 100th year anniversary. You are magic when it comes to integrating fascinating history into both your stories themselves and how you share them with the world.

Jina Bacarr said...

Michelle, thank you! You made my day. I enjoy sharing my passion and what I've learned with you guys. I want to make it come alive for you as it has for me. Thanks again. I really appreciate your nice comment.