Titanic’s dead mourned 100 yrs later in poignant ceremony at sinking site | Reuters

Reuters – At the shrill sound of a ship‘s whistle in the North Atlantic, relatives of some of the more than 1,500 people who died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg remembered their ancestors in a poignant ceremony a century later.

On a still, starry night and with little glare from the moon, the memorial cruise ship MS Balmoral floated above the wreckage of the famous ‘unsinkable’ luxury liner precisely 100 years to the day it foundered.

At 2:20 am all was quiet, as it would have been 100 years ago when it went deathly quiet, when the screaming stopped,” British Titanic historian Philip Littlejohn told Reuters on Sunday. Littlejohn’s grandfather, Alexander Littlejohn, was a 1st class steward in charge of lifeboat 13 when the ship began to go down.

About 700 people were rescued that night, including his grandfather, but there were too few lifeboats to save the rest.

David Haisman, 74, a retired seaman from the English port town of Southampton, mourned the loss of his grandfather who had been on his way to Seattle to start a new life in the United States with his wife and daughter.

“I’ve been brought up with the story but now I could feel it,” he said.

“My mother used to tell me how she got into lifeboat 14 and her feet became soaked with the 3 to 4 inches of water that remained in the bottom despite bailing.”

The last time she saw her father was when he cupped his hands and shouted “I’ll see you in New York“.The story of the world’s most famous maritime disaster has gripped the world’s imagination, inspiring Hollywood films.

While some of those on board the memorial cruise were relatives of the victims, others had paid thousands of pounds in order to retrace the vessel’s fateful journey from Southampton to New York.

The ship, the biggest in the world at the time, foundered in frigid Atlantic waters off Newfoundland on April 15, 1912.On Saturday, Balmoral’s ship’s whistle pierced the air at 11.40 pm, the exact time the Titanic hit the iceberg, followed by a two-minute silence.

via Titanic’s dead mourned 100 yrs later in poignant ceremony at sinking site | Reuters.

Strange Random Titanic Quote:

It’s a funny thing, but today the Titanic is probably much more – that is people are much more aware of it than they were in 1954, when I was doing my research. – Walter Lord

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Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing banned on Canadian radio | Music | guardian.co.uk

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Canada‘s radio watchdog is defending a controversial decision to ban the uncut version of Dire Strait‘s 1985 hit Money for Nothing. Despite many complaints – including criticism from a member of the band – officials are not backing down, insisting the song’s offensive lyrics make it unsuitable for broadcast.Although it has become a rock’n'roll anthem, Money for Nothing contains three instances of the anti-gay slur “faggot”. Last week, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council CBSC reviewed the song after receiving a complaint from a listener in Newfoundland. Its lyrics were found to be “unacceptable”, contravening the human rights clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters‘ code of ethics. It has been banned from radio stations nationwide. Dire Straits’ keyboardist, Guy Fletcher, was quick to criticise the ruling. “I reckon Canada could ban about 75% of ALL records ever made,” he wrote on his website. “WHAT a waste of paper.” Although “a part of me understands the decision”, he wrote, “you can and should be allowed to write a song or poem and use language that is or has been in use by real people in everyday life … MFN does not ‘celebrate’ a slur. In it, Mark [Knopfler] uses real everyday US street language to describe how a numbskull worker in a hardware department … feels about a video being shown. The fact that the [CBSC] can make a ruling such as this, completely missing the context in which it’s used says rather a lot about the society in which we live.”

via Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing banned on Canadian radio | Music | guardian.co.uk.

Strange Random Money For Nothing Quote (if you’re in Canada, please don’t read this. Thank You):

Now look at them yo-yo’s, that’s the way you do it

You play the guitar on the MTV

That ain’t workin’,  that’s the way you do it

Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free

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• Dire Straits song ruled unfit for Canada (thestar.com)
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• Canadian Radio Stations Proudly Ignore ‘Money For Nothing’ Ban By Putting ‘Little Faggot’ Lyrics On Repeat (queerty.com)
• Dire Straits responds to Canadian song ban (arts.nationalpost.com)
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