Paulette Jiles’ dystopic1 new novel, “Lighthouse Island,” projects a future that may hit a little close to home for area farmers and those dependent on their work: a Midwest racked by ceaseless drought. . . .
There’s the promise of a distant sanctuary untouched by war and drought as well: Lighthouse Island, a coastal Pacific colony lionized in anesthetic television commercials as a place of peace and plenty. – more
FOOTNOTE:
1 dystopic – A dystopia is a community or society, usually fictional, that is in some important way undesirable or frightening. It is the opposite of a utopia. – Wiki (I had top look this one up too!)
One other important note, the lighthouse depicted on the cover is the Canadian British Columbian lighthouse at Lennard Island!
New book, Supernatural Wales, reveals gateways to the underworld, bottomless lakes, UFO’s, werewolves and all manner of ghostly goings-on around Wales
South Stack lighthouse: According to legend, the lighthouse, on Anglesey, is haunted by the ghost of assistant keeper Jack Jones. He died after he was hit on the head by a rock during a storm on October 25 and 26 in 1859.
Fairies, goblins, devils and demons are said to have haunted Wales for thousands of years.
Now ghost hunters keen to visit the land’s spookiest spots on Halloween can do just that, thanks to a new guidebook called Supernatural Wales.
Author Alvin Nicholas revealed “no other mountain has attracted as much lore as Cadair Idris.”
“Cadair Idris means Chair of Idris – a shadowy figure of the Dark Ages, sometimes associated with King Arthur,” he said.
The chair is thought to refer to the armchair like shape of Cwm Gadair.
“The mountain was thought to be a gateway to the underworld, frequented by dragons, troops of fairies and the much feared ‘cwn annwn’ – hounds of the underworld.
“A glacial lake called Llyn Cau is said to be bottomless, and according to tradition, is the abode of a man eating monster.
“To the present day, visitors report a peculiar presence on the summit and in the vicinity of the nearby stone shelter.”
In 1977, a corner of Pembrokeshire became known as the Broad Haven Triangle.
“The Coombs family of Ripperston Farm near St Brides were disproportionately affected by the odd events,” Alvin said.
“Their car was pursued by a rugby ball shaped craft that emitted powerful lights, a ‘giant faceless humanoid’ peered in through the windows of their farmhouse and a disc like object frightened their children in a nearby field.”
Ghostly Wales – eerie pictures of some of Wales’ supernatural hotspots
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Ghostly Wales – eerie pictures of some of Wales’ supernatural hotspots
Fifteen Broad Haven primary school children claimed to have seen a cigar shaped UFO.
“Headmaster Ralph Llewellyn asked the children to sketch what they had seen and was impressed by the similarity of their drawings.”
Then there is the Skirrid Mountain Inn, in Monmouthshire.
“Resident ghosts include some of the many people allegedly held here over the years, from sheep stealers to rebels hanged following the Monmouth rebellion in 1685,” Alvin said.
Ghostly mists have appeared in photos at the pub.
“Beer glasses and other objects have been known to fly across the bar of their own accord and shadowy figures wander the corridors,” Alvin said.
“Some visitors have reported feelings of panic and of a noose being tightened around their neck on the stairs.”
According to legend, South Stack lighthouse, on Anglesey, is haunted by the ghost of assistant lighthouse keeper Jack Jones. He died after he was hit on the head by a rock during a storm on October 25 and 26 in 1859.
That sunk ship Royal Charter with a loss of 500 lives. Jones died three weeks later.
“Jones makes his presence known by rattling doors, in a desperate attempt to get in, some say, and by tapping on windows,” Alvin said.
Denbigh moors lie to the north of the Cambrian mountains.
“A Roman centurion, said to be an omen of death, haunts a bridge on the road from Ruthin to Cerigydruidion,” Alvin said.
“The centurion appears in full Roman military uniform – complete with helmet, breastplate and sandals. He holds a short sword above his head.”
“Fishermen have suffered ill fortune after seeing the ghost.”
A werewolf was said to roam the moors in the 1700s.
“One full moon night a creature the size of a donkey attacked and overturned a coach travelling between Denbigh and Wrexham,” Alvin said.
“The following year an ‘enormous black beast’ mutilated livestock and killed a farm dog.”
* Supernatural Wales, by Alvin Nicholas, is published by Amberley priced £14.99.
The West Coast Trail is a 75 km (47 mi) long backpacking trail following the southwestern edge of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It was built in 1907 to facilitate the rescue of survivors of shipwrecks along the coast, part of the treacherous Graveyard of the Pacific. It is now part of Pacific Rim National Park (Parks Canada and Wikipedia) and is often rated by hiking guides as one of the world’s top hiking trails.
The West Coast Trail is open from May 1 until September 30. It is accessible to hikers outside of this period but Parks Canada does not guarantee the accessibility of services (such as search and rescue) in the off season. It was originally known as the Dominion Lifesaving Trail (sometimes misidentified as the West Coast Lifesaving Trail).-Wikipedia
My daughter and her friend just finished hiking the West Coast Trail this Summer 2013 and thoroughly enjoyed it. (photos on Facebook) It is rough, it is challenging, but it is an adventure, and it is fun! The trail passes by two manned lighthouses (Pachena -photo above, and Carmanah – photo below) which date back to the time when the trail was Continue reading The West Coast Trail→
I thought that photo above would get your attention. It was shown in an article below which was published on August 7, 2013 to coincide with National Lighthouse Day, in the USA and now all over the world. The article brings attention to the Maine Lighthouse Museum. Here is the article:
A replacement for the Historic Point Loma Lighthouse, this working lighthouse is used by the U.S. Coast Guard. The lighthouse has been fully automated since 1973, which unfortunately does not mean it is run by robots. Look for the keeper’s quarters nearby—they were used as a setting in Top Gun. See also: Top Gun Beach House.
Vlaming Head lighthouse is the only lighthouse in the world that still runs on kerosene fuel. Picture: Stephen Scourfield/The West Australian
Vasan said that in spite of technological advances in aids to navigation, the guard on functioning of lighthouses have not been lowered and adding more lighthouses in order to provide more support to our fishermen.
Vasan also informed that the proposal for establishing a lighthouse at Vembar in Tuticorin district has been approved for which initial works were being carried out.
The Minister further informed that though lighthouses are located at remote locations, the scenic looks in the environs of the lighthouses are breathtaking. He reminded that last year, he had announced a scheme for promotion of tourism at the lighthouses.
Technology in our time races forward at lightning and sometimes frightening speed. But have you ever wondered what would happen if our communications technology failed on a local or global scale?
It may seem like a question for science fiction fans but in a real disaster, the solution to communication already exists and is wonderfully preserved by small groups of dedicated Ham Radio Clubs and Lighthouse Stations.
Loop Head Lighthouse in County Clare will be amongst hundreds of lighthouses and lightships worldwide to participate in a unique event aimed at promoting public awareness of lighthouses and lightships and their need for preservation and restoration.
The Limerick Radio Club, comprising members from Limerick, Clare, Kerry and Tipperary, will broadcast non-stop for 48 hours from the West Clare Lighthouse on August 18-19th as part of the 15th International Lighthouse /Lightship Weekend (ILLW). During the broadcast, visitors to the lighthouse will be able to listen into communications with some of the other participating ham radio operators broadcasting from 400 other lighthouses and lightships in 50 countries.
The annual event, which is conducted under the sponsorship of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group (AARG) in Scotland, is always held on the third full weekend in August starting at 0001 UTC on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UTC on Sunday. It also coincides on the Sunday with International Lighthouse Day, an event organised by the Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby many world lighthouses are open to the public for the day.
June 16, 2012 – Paddling to the Sabine Pass Lighthouse -Now this is an interesting structure for a lighthouse. Too bad the stairs are gone. It would be interesting to see from up top.
A terrace of clifftop Pembrokeshire cottages dubbed ‘Britain’s most isolated street’ is on the market for just under a million pounds.
The five lighthouse-keepers cottages at St Ann’s Head have been lying empty for a decade but are now being sold by Trinity House, who run all lighthouses in England and Wales. More information here (link).
Look what the people have done with this lighthouse! Fantastic!
The Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program announces Archaeo Tours, an exclusive 90-minute tour into parts of the Historic Light Station not available with general admission, including the maritime archaeology laboratory facilities.
I published a report January 04, 2012 on the building of McInnes Island lighthouse in 1953 based on the adventures of Ken Stewart who was part of the construction crew. I updated that post later with more information in the form of a PDF file.
1977
When I arrived with my family in the winter of 1977 the first thing we did was explore the island. Pictured left is a small log cabin buried back in the woods on the trail to the SW tip of the island.
Now let’s skip ahead to December 09, 2012 when I received an email from Mrs. K. Marshall with another photo of the same cabin taken about twenty-two (22) years earlier! What a delight to see what she had written on who built the cabin and also for her to see my photo taken so many years later.
In her email she said:
My grandfather James “Jimmie” Smith was a junior lighthouse keeper on McInnes for a few years in the late 1950s. He was there with my grandmother Mildred “Millie”, and their 2 daughters who were teenagers at the time, my mother Carol and her sister Sharon.
These photos are of a driftwood log cabin that my Mom and her sister built on the island. I’ve been scanning old family photos this past week and have quite a few from the lighthouses.
I’d be really curious to know if the cabin was still standing while you were stationed there.
Well, as I told her the cabin was there in the winter of 1977, but by the summer of 1978 we had burnt it down as it was very unsafe for anybody to venture inside and could not be repaired. An email from her Mom, the Carol mentioned above, says:
Pool area – labelled
[To build] the cabin I pulled and carried the logs from just below the cabin from the beach. The shakes I cut those with a hand saw to length. Split them with Mom’s best butcher knife and a hammer on the back of the knife….that didn’t go over at all well…believe me.
McInnes island – no labels
That end of the island where the cabin was. No one had trails there at all. Sharon and I started to explore that area. Dad, Bruce and Tony when they realized where we where disappearing to, they cut the logs of the trail so the adults could get into that area.
The swimming pool was past the
The swimming pool
cabin. You went up the hill and there was the natural crater in the rock. Dad and Mom used a washing soda to clean it all. Then the guys had a pump and hoses. They pumped new sea water up into the basin. Dad made up a bag of concrete to sort of plug one end of the crater. We just lived in that area all good days. Lots of nights we spent in the cabin. Continue reading McInnes Island Lighthouse – a Tale from the 1950s→
We all know what collective nouns are do we not? OK, I had completely forgotten the English language term until I saw the title above.
Collective nouns are the names given to collections or groups, be they beasts, birds, people or things. It is a naturally occurring phenomenon in many languages of the world e.g. English, German, Swedish, etc.
We have all heard of a a pack of coyotes, a flock of birds, a troop of Boy Scouts, and a fleet of cars.
The use of collective nouns started back in the 14th and 15th centuries to designate collections of wildlife in hunting terminology (Wikipedia) but where did the term a plague of lighthouse keepers come from?
According again to Wikipedia, “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” is a track from the British band Van der Graaf Generator’s fourth album Pawn Hearts (1971). It is notable for being a concept piece over 23 minutes long, which comprises the whole B-side of the album.
Now this collective noun has never been used before as far as I can find out, and will probably now become embedded into the English language as another collective noun. Although sounding deadly as in infectious, the term in this case, as explained by the composer means a gathering as in “a pride of lions, a murder of crows, so a plague of lighthouse-keepers“.
This term will not in general be used very often as a plague of lighthouse keepers is a very rare commodity, as mentioned in my article Our First Union Meeting-Nov. 13, 1994. Because of their isolation, lighthouse keepers do not get together very often in a group or gathering.
For those of you interested in hearing the musical piece, it is available on Youtube.
Also, the lyrics and other information is available in a Google Search.
OK, that is solved. Now what are we going to call a group of lighthouses? Any suggestions? Again this is a very rare occurrence except at a river mouth, harbour opening, etc. Maybe a confluence of lighthouses? or? Any suggestions?
This article may be a bit outside the scope of this website, but then maybe not.
Everybody loves a lighthouse, whether it is on the sea, in your garden or in your computer as is this PC/Mac program called Minecraft. This may not be to everybody’s interest but I am sure there are a few of my readers out there who play the game and might be interested.
I have never explored Minecraft, but a short description will more than help you understand the fascination. I might even give it a try. You all know my fascination with Lego!
The literal description: Minecraft is a first-person, free to play indie PC/Mac game created by one person, with crafting, building and exploration at its center. The graphics are straight out of 1991. There are no characters and there is no story. There are none of the “production values” that define gaming these days, but within those narrow confines lies one of the most innovative and endlessly fascinating game in existence… and it’s still in Alpha.
While there are various versions and builds available out, there are three basic play-modes to Minecraft: Single Player Creative, Multiplayer Creative, and Single Player Survival. All three plop you down into a huge, open world, filled with different natural resources you can exploit and bend to your will.
Single Player Creative mode is like an infinite LEGO set. You can create fantastic structures out of basic building blocks all day if you’d like. You can try it out for free, in-browser, right here. Multiplayer Creative is the same deal, with others. – g4tv.com
So, here is a short video on how to build a Minecraft lighthouse:
For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
Power supply resumes at Unoosaki lighthouse in Soma 2 November 2012 The Unoosaki lighthouse in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, has resumed full operations after power was restored 19 months after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
As a result, the lighthouse is now fully able to help ships safely navigate the waters off Fukushima Prefecture.
The Japan Coast Guard’s office in the prefecture, the Fukushima Coast Guard Office, unveiled the lighthouse to the media on Nov. 1, which is observed as “lighthouse day” in Japan [I did not know that!]. . . . more
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“Bubble Delight” by Cecile & Ronaldo Lobo of Bridgeport“For the Birds” by John Sudell of Greenwich
A model lighthouse made by a Bridgeport couple is helping to light the way for visitors in The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk as part of the aquarium’s 11th annual “Festival of Lighthouses.” – more
The Bruce Coast Lighthouse Tour brochure features photos and stories on more than a dozen lighthouses including the Kincardine Lighthouse (pictured), Big Tub Lighthouse, Point Clark Lighthouse and the Range Lights of Southampton. (TROY PATTERSON/QMI Agency
Looking to travel Ontario and save $1,400? If so, then grab yourself a copy of Attractions Ontario Passport and head out.
The new book by Paulette Jiles, Lighthouse Island, projects a bleak future for our piece of the planet.
