I love the Internet. Without it I’m sure I never would have learned that peach melba was named for 1800′s opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.
In a way, it’s kind of sad. She was highly regarded in her day and now she’s only remembered as the name of a desert, and hardly anyone knows why it’s named that. But, on the other hand, there are worse ways that one’s name can go down in history. As the name of a deadly disease, is the first thing that comes to mind.
So I’ve decided that I want to have a dessert named after me. I’m not sure what kind of dessert yet but I’m thinking it should involve cheesecake filling somehow. Perhaps I should invent it myself to be sure it’s just right.
October 6th, 2011 - 12:10 pm
And I grew up knowing about Nellie Melba, because my mother had record of her singing. Mama was a coloratura soprano too, and had been encouraged, when she was studying, to listen to Nellie’s timing, phrasing, and of course, we had her peach pie often.
(Created for a dinner in Nellie Melba’s honour, by the equally superstar status chef, Escoffier, at the Savoy, London)
Perhaps she’s better known over here, certainly all Australians know of her, she’s even on their banknotes.
Melbourne’s most famous woman.
October 6th, 2011 - 12:11 pm
Cheesecake’s a good epitaph. I like cheesecake.
October 6th, 2011 - 4:39 pm
I think it would be cool to have a spaceship combat maneuver named after me!
October 6th, 2011 - 5:53 pm
Jaquandor, great idea.
I propose the Mark Maneuver. Accelerate towards target at 5-6 G until relative velocity is in the thousands of KPS. Shut down drive. De-pressurize, open cabin, step out on tether and release cargo net full of slag. Climb back in, turn 180 degrees, accelerate at 3 g’s for five seconds, then turn 90 degrees in any direction and thrust for 6 g’s for 30 seconds. Fast moving debris will continue on toward target, causing damage to habitats, solar panels, satellites, and causing Hazards to Navigation. Wouldn’t even matter what it was you dropped, so long as there was enough of it. A bucket of sand could be a ship killer. At those speeds, even marshmallows would be dangerous.
October 6th, 2011 - 8:45 pm
I would like to think he gets it from me.
October 7th, 2011 - 6:30 am
The invention process sounds tasty…
October 11th, 2011 - 4:23 pm
With a little math, I feel I should come back to my post. To reach a speed of even 1,000 KPS you’d have to accelerate at six g’s for a bit less than five hours. And of course, you’d have to decelerate at the same rate for the same amount of time, before you could change direction. The Mark Maneuver could still work, if you could already be moving that fast before they see you. (That incredible speed is a shade more than .003 c) Accelerating laterally after releasing the load would be critical, because otherwise you’d follow it right into your target.
Perhaps a less ambitious speed of 5,000 M/S? You could reach that speed, at 6 G’s, in under 90 seconds from a relative velocity of zero. By comparison, a high powered rifle bullet travels around 850 M/S.