YO-HO-HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM.
There is something refreshing about people who have a dream and spend the time, effort and money to full-fill that dream. For too long we’ve been barraged with complaints that men and women today are complacent and lazy. Maybe some are but the list of ‘dreamers’ who take action grows faster than a pro football player on steroids.
Most of the people who are effective and strong enough to make their dreams a reality are unknown. They are not interested in notoriety and publicity. They are content with the knowledge that they were successful in their journey. A few examples of these selfless individuals are: Dorothy Hume, who believed that if you search for things long enough they will be found. To prove her contention she once shined a flashlight into a pair of shoes she received on her birthday and called out, “Anybody in there? Eh? Come on out.” Harry Albert who preached that cleanliness was next to Godliness and spent his entire life keeping a neat wallet; young Wally Sanft who convinced himself that sticktoidness was the key to any problem…to never give up. He decided to write the definitive book on the subject although he never had a formal education. Wally poo-poo’d those who warned him about the possibility of writer block. During the last three years his literary output was a series of commas.
The latest ‘dreamer’ to join this illustrious group is Robert McDonald. McDonald always considered the film, “TheVikings” his all-time favorite. The thought of Kirk Douglas wearing a pointed helmet and horns is enough to send Robert into spasms. He became obsessed with Vikings and their history of pillaging and plundering. This former Hollywood stuntman devoted two years of his life to prove that Icelander Leif Ericsson and the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on the American continent in the year 1,000 AD. He wanted to put an end to the canard that Christopher Columbus discovered American in 1492 as he sailed the Pinta, Maria and Super-Chief. McDonald decided to build a replica of a Viking longboat and sail it across the Atlantic.
The 15-meter ship, which took Robert two-years to build, is to be launched in Amsterdam harbor with a crew of around 25. If the simple feat of building his longboat wasn’t enough, McDonald decided to build it out of ice cream sticks. Can you imagine sailing across the Atlantic on a ship made of popsickle sticks? He's either a daredevil or a nutcase. I'd be nervous sailing on The Queen Mary. Probably sleep in a lifeboat. Hell, when I ride in a golf cart I wear a seatbelt and helmet. I have training wheels on my shoes.
The Viking longboat, equipped with oars and a mast, is built with ice cream sticks of birch-wood glued together painstakingly by McDonald and two volunteers in a Dutch workshop. “It’s a dream come true. It’s truly worth all the hard work,” McDonald said. His two helpers had nothing to say since their tongues are glued to their teeth.
“I never want to look at glue again. I don’t think I will be in a hurry to look at ice cream sticks again,” joked the 45-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida. Robert credits his sense of humor to Woody Allen as McDonald was Woody’s stand-in in all his fight scenes.
The ice cream sticks used to make the ship were provided by Unilever’s ice cream maker OLA and by children who collected discarded sticks around the world. “The ultimate goal is to sail across the Atlantic in the Viking style,” McDonald said. When asked if he was worried that the 15 million ice cream sticks might break apart and the glue melt, this brave sailor shrugged and retorted, “Hey, dude, that’s the way the ship crumbles.”
I say Hail and Farewell to Robert McDonald and may his life always be filled with sprinkles and hot fudge.
Most of the people who are effective and strong enough to make their dreams a reality are unknown. They are not interested in notoriety and publicity. They are content with the knowledge that they were successful in their journey. A few examples of these selfless individuals are: Dorothy Hume, who believed that if you search for things long enough they will be found. To prove her contention she once shined a flashlight into a pair of shoes she received on her birthday and called out, “Anybody in there? Eh? Come on out.” Harry Albert who preached that cleanliness was next to Godliness and spent his entire life keeping a neat wallet; young Wally Sanft who convinced himself that sticktoidness was the key to any problem…to never give up. He decided to write the definitive book on the subject although he never had a formal education. Wally poo-poo’d those who warned him about the possibility of writer block. During the last three years his literary output was a series of commas.
The latest ‘dreamer’ to join this illustrious group is Robert McDonald. McDonald always considered the film, “TheVikings” his all-time favorite. The thought of Kirk Douglas wearing a pointed helmet and horns is enough to send Robert into spasms. He became obsessed with Vikings and their history of pillaging and plundering. This former Hollywood stuntman devoted two years of his life to prove that Icelander Leif Ericsson and the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on the American continent in the year 1,000 AD. He wanted to put an end to the canard that Christopher Columbus discovered American in 1492 as he sailed the Pinta, Maria and Super-Chief. McDonald decided to build a replica of a Viking longboat and sail it across the Atlantic.
The 15-meter ship, which took Robert two-years to build, is to be launched in Amsterdam harbor with a crew of around 25. If the simple feat of building his longboat wasn’t enough, McDonald decided to build it out of ice cream sticks. Can you imagine sailing across the Atlantic on a ship made of popsickle sticks? He's either a daredevil or a nutcase. I'd be nervous sailing on The Queen Mary. Probably sleep in a lifeboat. Hell, when I ride in a golf cart I wear a seatbelt and helmet. I have training wheels on my shoes.
The Viking longboat, equipped with oars and a mast, is built with ice cream sticks of birch-wood glued together painstakingly by McDonald and two volunteers in a Dutch workshop. “It’s a dream come true. It’s truly worth all the hard work,” McDonald said. His two helpers had nothing to say since their tongues are glued to their teeth.
“I never want to look at glue again. I don’t think I will be in a hurry to look at ice cream sticks again,” joked the 45-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida. Robert credits his sense of humor to Woody Allen as McDonald was Woody’s stand-in in all his fight scenes.
The ice cream sticks used to make the ship were provided by Unilever’s ice cream maker OLA and by children who collected discarded sticks around the world. “The ultimate goal is to sail across the Atlantic in the Viking style,” McDonald said. When asked if he was worried that the 15 million ice cream sticks might break apart and the glue melt, this brave sailor shrugged and retorted, “Hey, dude, that’s the way the ship crumbles.”
I say Hail and Farewell to Robert McDonald and may his life always be filled with sprinkles and hot fudge.
posted by THE RANTING OLD GEEZER at 3:48 PM
<< Home