Bogdan Tuszyński
Bogdan Romuald Tuszyński (4 July 1932 – 1 January 2017) was a Polish sports journalist, reporter and historian. He was best known for his sports report "Studio S-13" of the Polskie Radio, beginning in 1970. He started his job as an editor of "Przegląd Sportowy" (1951–1952). He later moved to Polskie Radio in 1953, leaving them in 1981. He also reported on the Peace Race every year. He published about thirty books between 1975 and 2009.
Tuszyński was born in Łódź. His daughter, Agata Tuszyńska (born 1957), also became a journalist.
Tuszyński died after a long illness on 1 January 2017 in Warsaw. He was 84.
Lateen
A lateen (from French "latine", meaning "Latin") or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast. It runs in a fore-and-aft direction.
A square sail is a very simple device. It catches a following wind and pushes the vessel forward. The lateen sail is more complex. It is set at an angle to the wind. It works by creating a difference in air pressure between the two sides (concave and convex) of the sail. This is the same way a fore-and-aft sail works. This is why the lateen sail is considered the ancestor of the fore-and-aft sail. The advantages of the lateen sail is that it is effective in lighter winds. It causes less drag and so is more efficient. It allows the vessel to sail much "closer to the wind" (meaning it can sail at up to about 45 degrees into the wind). This made the lateen sail a very important invention.
The lateen sail did not directly come from the square sail. There was an intermediate sail type called the lug sail. It was one of the earliest fore-and-aft rigs. It was developed for use on the Indian Ocean. Sailors knew that the wind does not always come from behind the vessel. They learned that the square sail could be made more efficient by turning it on the mast so it remained at a right angle to the wind. When used with a keel and some form of steering, it provided more options. Instead of simply sailing downwind, the vessel could move in different directions relative to the direction of the wind. If the wind came from the beam (side of the ship), rotating the sail became less effective. But, if the luff (edge of the sail) was pointed into the wind and kept taut, the sail would provide forward movement. This could be made more effective if the yard (or spar) holding the sail is sloped downward into the wind. From this discovery came the lug, then the lateen.
In ancient history the square sail was used in the Mediterranean. It was used on seagoing ships of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. In Northern Europe at this time, they only used the square sail. This was even after the ships in the Mediterranean were using the triangular lateen sails.
The 15th and 16th century caravel was a favorite type of ship used in the Portuguese and Spanish voyages of discovery. In addition to their distinctive single sterncastle, they carried lateen sails. During this time the caravel developed into a very fast and highly maneuverable ship. Two of Christopher Columbus's ships, the "Niña" and the "Pinta" were caravels. He repeatedly praised the "Niña" as his fastest and favorite ship.
John Berger
John Peter Berger (5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet.
Berger was born in Hackney, London, England. He was the son of Miriam (nee Branson) and Stanley Berger. Berger served in the British Army from 1944 to 1946. He studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Central School of Art in London.
Berger's novel "G." won the 1972 Booker Prize. He wrote an essay on art criticism, "Ways of Seeing". The essay was written as an accompaniment to a BBC series. It is often used as a university text.
Berger died on 2 January 2017 in Paris at the age of 90.
Tacking (sailing)
Tacking or coming about is a term in sailing that means the boat is changing directions by turning the bow of the vessel in relationship to the wind. It also means the course you are on relative to the direction of the oncoming wind. A tack with the wind blowing over the port (left) side of the boat is called a "port tack". A tack with the wind coming over the starboard side of the boat is called a "starboard tack". The sailboat's helmsman is responsible for communicating with the rest of the crew when making a tacking maneuver. When making a tack the helmsman calls out "ready about!" When the crew is ready they call out "ready", and the maneuver is started. The opposite of a tack (into the wind) is a jibe (changing direction while moving with the wind).
In order to tack a boat moving into the wind, some speed is necessary. If too much time is taken in completing the tack, the forward momentum will be lost and the boat may move backwards. If a sailboat is caught going directly into the wind, it is called "in irons." This stops all forward motion of the boat. A tacking maneuver is a basic skill that is learned with practice. The maneuver also is different in a single person small sailboat than in a 40 or 50 foot racing sailboat.
Beating is the procedure by which a ship moves on a zig-zag course to make progress directly into the wind (upwind). No sailing vessel can move directly into the wind (though that may be the desired direction). Beating allows the vessel to advance indirectly upwind.
A ship that is beating will sail as "close to the wind" as possible. This position is known as close hauled. In general, the closest angle to the wind that a ship can sail is around 35 to 45 degrees. Some modern yachts can sail very near to the wind, while older ships, especially square-rigged ships, cannot sail very close to the wind.
The Lego Ninjago Movie
The Lego Ninjago Movie is an American-Danish 3D computer-animated action comedy adventure martial arts movie. It is directed by Charlie Bean and written by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Kevin Chesley and Bryan Shukoff. The movie was released in the United States on September 22, 2017 through Warner Bros. and starts the voices of Jackie Chan, Dave Franco, Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux, Zach Woods, Kumail Ninjiani, Abbi Jacobson, Fred Armisen and Michael Pena. It is the second spin-off of the 2014 movie The Lego Movie.
Six young ninjas are tasked to defend their home island Ninjago. By night, they are warriors and use their skills and vehicles to fight against villains and monsters. By they are ordinary teenagers struggling against their greatest enemy: high school.
Derek Parfit
Derek Parfit (11 December 1942 – 1 January 2017) was a British philosopher. He specialized in problems of personal identity, rationality, ethics, and the relations among them.
Parfit was born in Chengdu, China. His parents, Jessie and Norman Parfit, were British medical doctors who moved to Western China. After a year in China, Parfit moved to Oxford, England where he was raised. He studied at the University of Oxford.
Parfit's 1984 book "Reasons and Persons" has been very well known to other philosophers. His last book, "On What Matters" (2011), was widely published and discussed for many years before its publication.
Parfit worked at Oxford University for all of his academic career. He was an Emeritus Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He was also a visiting professor of philosophy at New York University, Harvard University, and Rutgers University. He was awarded the 2014 Rolf Schock Prize "for his groundbreaking contributions concerning personal identity, regard for future generations, and analysis of the structure of moral theories."
Parfit was an experienced photographer and a poet. He was married to the philosopher Janet Radcliffe Richards.
Parfit died in London, England on 1 January 2017, aged 74.
Battle of Austerlitz