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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2021)
A7 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, JANuARy 21, 2021 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (971) 704-1718 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON EDGY DOLPHINS M any feel saddened seeing marine mammals like dol- phins trapped into performing and being on display in aquariums instead of being free to roam the oceans. Well, now there’s an answer: Animatronics, thanks to Roger Holzberg, creative director at Edge Innova- tions (edgefx.com), DigitalTrends.com reports (bit.ly/ DTdolphins). Edge is responsible for the animatronic orca in “Free Willy” and the psycho sharks in “Deep Blue Sea,” just to name a few. When computer graphics took over for most special effects in movies, Edge turned its focus to theme parks. They built an animatronic dolphin that could swim in water in the late 1990s for an aquarium show that was a little too real — an audience member called the cops and animal rescue organizations. But, because of that dolphin, Holzberg was approached almost two years ago to create a new dolphin for a Chi- nese company developing three new oceanariums. Holz- berg agreed, and Edge went to work. The result is a bat- tery-powered robotic dolphin that weighs 550 pounds, is 8.5 feet long, looks realistic and “shows impressively dol- phin-like behavior.” A dolphin prototype is shown, cour- tesy of Edge Innovations. When Holzberg asked his wife what she thought about building these dolphins, her answer became part of the mission: “Well,” she said, “you’ll have kept perhaps 100 large animals from being taken out of the wild and put in an aquarium. That means you’ve changed the history of (this) species.” MYSTERY BUOY F un rerun: “Sunday, April 12, my friend Karen Hoyt and I found this bad boy just south of Silver Point in Cannon Beach,” Pam Chater wrote about a buoy, which is shown. “As directed, we called the police, and they responded immediately.” They put tape around it but they didn’t remove it. A call to the U.S. Coast Guard revealed it is not one of theirs. But, judging from photos, it’s a Canadian submarine indicator distress buoy (bit.ly/CBbuoy). Each of the four Victoria Class submarines is outfit- ted with one fore and one aft. Emails to Fisheries and Oceans Canada have produced no answers. Pam noted that a Coast Guard helicopter was flying low and slow over the beach near the buoy on Satur- day. There was also a king tide Saturday. But all we know is, at the end of the day, the buoy was gone — dis- appearing as mysteriously as it appeared. (In One Ear, 4/24/15) LOCAL BREVITIES T idbits from the Jan. 21, 1881 edition of The Daily Astorian: • Muddy water from the Columbia River extends to sea for a distance of over 20 miles. Note: Although the South Jetty construction started in 1885, it didn’t affect the bar’s water flow until 1889. Construction on the North Jetty didn’t even begin until 1914. (bit.ly/CRjetties1, bit.ly/CRjetties2) On the same topic, in the same edition: President (Rutherford B.) Hayes, in his annual message to Con- gress at the beginning of the present session, especially recommended the improvement of the Columbia River Bar. • (The) Tillamook Rock … fog siren arrived in Portland from New York last week, and is now being put together at Smith Brothers for the purpose of thoroughly testing it. This done, the siren will be taken by the Schubrick to the rock, and permanently erected. Note: Installation of the fog horn completed the more than 500-day lighthouse construction ordeal. The lamp was officially lit Jan. 21, 1881, too late to help the Lupatia, which ran aground nearby in early January; the only survivor was the ship’s dog. (bit.ly/ BuildTTilly) • Capt. Hooper of the revenue cutter Thomas Cor- win, who made an unsuccessful effort last year to dis- cover the whereabouts of the Jeannette, expects shortly to be dispatched in the same direction on the second expedition. Note: The USS Jeannette (pictured inset) and its com- mander, George W. De Long, disappeared while on an arctic expedition that began in 1879. The ship was even- tually crushed by ice; all aboard survived. Eight died sailing to the Siberian coast in small cutters; 12 died in Siberia of cold and starvation, including De Long; and the two sent to find help survived after they found a village. The wreck- age of the Jeannette was not found until 1884. (bit.ly/ USSJeannette) • Mr. McCormick’s (Oregon and Washington) Almanac for 1881 is at the city bookstore, Charles Ste- vens & Son. Note: S. J. McCormick’s almanacs were incredibly detailed, and covered a wide range of everyday and eso- teric topics. The 1856 version can be found here: bit.ly/ McCAlmanac • Mayor Thompson, of Portland, advocates large and continued appropriations for the benefit of Portland by digging a ship canal to that place from Astoria. Note: Clearly, this rather intriguing idea didn’t fly. CALENDAR MAN THE WHISKEY DID IT A cautionary tale from the Jan. 21, 1881 edition of The Daily Astorian: Mr. Samuel Walker of Grays River (Washington Ter- ritory) settlement informs us by letter of the death of A. B. Soule from exposure on the beach of Gray’s Bay, on or about the 9th or 10th. Soule was better known as the “Old Trapper.” He had been missing a few days before any apprehensions were felt for his safety. He lived … at Mr. J.R. McClarken’s place. He left his house for the purpose of selling some furs on Sunday, Jan. 9. After disposing of them to a peddling boat, he laid in a supply of bad whiskey which, together with the cold weather, sealed his fate. After a few days, McClarken became uneasy about him, and went to search for him. On Sunday, Jan. 16, McClarken … found him laying in his skiff on the beach; he had been dead five or six days. A coroner’s jury was summoned to hold an inquest, and they returned a verdict of death from exposure to cold. … Mr. Walker hopes the fate of this old man will be a warning to dealers of pizen (poison) whiskey, but it won’t; any more than to those who use it. AFTERMATH O n Jan. 13, a mudslide pushed the Alameda Avenue home of Cati Foss and her family (pictured, right) about 10 feet northeast, destroying it. In the process, the landslide also badly damaged the house next door (pic- tured, left), which belongs to Heidi and Lloyd Hougham. There are fundraisers for both families. “No one expects to lose everything, so it will be a lengthy process to start over,” Missy Black wrote on the Foss GoFundMe page. “… They are so deserving of sup- port during an impossibly hard time.” You can help at bit.ly/FossFund “They are now officially homeless,” Amy Gouge wrote on the Hougham family’s GoFundMe page, “and are faced with unexpected costs of finding a rental and the fees that go along with that. If you are able to help, even a little, I know they would be so grateful.” To donate to the Hougham family, go to bit.ly/ HoughamFund To make matters worse, both families have been vic- timized by looters. “Please continue to share both families’ GoFundMe,” Amy added. “If you are unable to donate, I know they appreciate your thoughts and prayers.” GOOGLE NOTICED THE BEST WAVE T his tsunami won’t scare you: Jumpei Mitsui, Japan’s only certified professional Lego block builder, created an astounding 3-D Lego version of Hokusai’s classic work, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” MyModernMet.com announced. Mitsui’s wave contains 50,000 Lego blocks and is about 4 by 5 feet. It took 400 hours to build; his photo is shown. To emulate wave dynamics, the Lego artist read about giant wave formations and studied videos of waves on YouTube, then created several sketches he used to con- struct the sculpture, which is on display at the Hankyu Brick Museum in Osaka, Japan. “This is the BEST WAVE I’ve ever built with LEGO bricks !!!” the artist posted on Twitter. No doubt. I n case you didn’t know it, Warrenton has its very own calendar man, Portland TV station KGW reported (bit.ly/JTjanitor). He’s Josh Thompson, a Warrenton Grade School jan- itor with a large family: He and his wife have four bio- logical children, three adopted children and one foster child. When his son asked what fostering a child meant, and it was explained, the son thought they should do it. So they did. Every month of Josh’s calendar depicts him having fun on the job, whether he’s wearing a bunny suit or is in mid-flight with rolls of unraveling toilet paper. “Josh is a guy who gives 100% to everything he does,” KGW newsman Drew Carney said. And it shows. The idea actually started three years ago, when Josh sent a photo of him hugging a vacuum cleaner (shown) to the school staff as a way to brighten people’s spirits. The next year he sent a Christmas orna- ment of him sitting on the john, hoisting a plunger (shown inset). This year he went all out with the calendar, which was once again created as a gift for the school staff, but then someone suggested he sell them to raise money for nonprofits that deal with foster care, such as Court Appointed Special Advocates and With Love. And so he is. Want to buy a calendar for a good giggle and to sup- port these worthy nonprofits? Email josh at janitor- josh123@gmail.com “He is hilarious,” teacher Lacy Brown noted, “but he also has a big heart. That would be the first word I would use to describe him.” Y es folks, let it be known that after three years a Goo- gle algorithm is actually paying attention. Sort of. The Ear recently received this email from Google: “Your reviews have been seen over 1,000 times! Reviews like these are a great addition to Google Maps and help others discover the things worth doing and places worth seeing.” A link led to the single critique in question, which has 1,009 views. Actually, it’s a snarky remark, posted Oct. 31, 2017, about a Google Maps gaffe: “Ocean View Ceme- tery is not in Astoria. It is in Warrenton.” So there. Many years ago, the Ear submitted another suggestion to Google Maps, noting that despite what the map showed — 12th Street in Astoria as a continuous line — you really cannot, or at least should not, drive down the 12th Street stairs from upper Grand Avenue to lower Grand Avenue. Google never responded, and it took several years, but the map has been corrected.
