Well, the Titanic was just a tad off technically, actually, in that they had it throwing the wheel hard over to starboard to avoid an iceberg threatening the starboard bow, if I remember correctly -- whichever side it was they did something screwy with thewir turns. And Pearl harbor is riddled with similar minor technical defects, which is why I was careful to say "represent", in a composite way.

Peter, I will go to my death bed admiring your wit, style and incredible powers of prose. But I assure you there are depths and breadths to the American culturew, as there are as well to the Canadian, that Disney will never find out about and that no advertiser will ever touch. I learned last year the amazing fact that if yuou took all the life forms from the peak of Everest down to about 30 feet below the surface of the ocean -- rain forests, microbes, and all -- you would be viewing less than ten percent of the number of life forms from -30 down to the depths of the submarine trenches. I think of it somewhat like that -- a shallow minority clusters where the easy energy is, blossoms and swells, and can be mistaken all too easily for the whole.

Regards,

Amos