Frankenheimer Dies
Director John Frankenheimer died yesterday. He was 72. He directed several of my favorite movies:

• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)- Ground breaking political thriller. Full of new innovations such as showing the action happening on a TV screen. You'll never look at a bottle of Heinz catsup or Murder She Wrote the same way again.
  
• Seven Days in May (1964)- Another political thriller about a possible military coup in the US. Worth seeing because it treats the subject seriously. The action mostly occurs off screen.
  
• Grand Prix (1966)- Still the best racing movie ever made. The acting is not always up to the driving sequences, but at least there is a plot. Most of the driving shots were breakthroughs. Frankenheimer put the camera places it had never been. All motorsports coverage today owes a huge debt to the innovations in Grand Prix.
  
• Ronin (1998)- Contains several fantastic car chases all done with real cars, no CGI allowed. Anyone interested in film should watch the movie on DVD, then watch it again and listen to Frankenheimer's commentary track.

He didn't always succeed but he took risks and told good stories. He will be missed.

Ship Lives
OK- sorry about the last try- Blogger won't let me delete it.

The LA Times has a story about the pending retirement of the Pacific Princess- the cruise ship that starred in the Love Boat on TV.



The ship has been in service for 30 years and is being sold to an Italian firm for future charter work. She is currently operating out of New York running back and forth to Bermuda.

I found this of interest not because I'm a big Love Boat fan, but because it demonstrates how long a ship can remain in useful service. 30 years is a long time. Imagine your current car after 30 years and a couple hundred thousand miles. Some of the second generation of US battleships served for over 35 years and took part in two World Wars. Some of the current US aircraft carriers may serve over 50 years. For example the USS Enterprise was launched in 1960 and is projected to remain in service until 2013.

This makes a well designed ship an excellent investment. A good design allows for updating the technology and easy access to the ship's machinery to allow for overhauls and refits. Both the Enterprise and the Pacific Princess are smaller than more modern ships but both have proved capable of carrying out their respective missions.

Ship Lives
LA Times has a story about the pending retirement of the Pacific Princess- the cruise ship that starred in the Love Boat.

posted by Chris at 12:19 AM