Lisa Marcus's Blog Posts

14 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Cruise Ship Workers

Cruise ship docked in the Bahamas | Image: Captain-Tucker

If you've ever taken a cruise with one of the larger cruise lines, you know the feeling of being on a massive, near-city on water. Many of the ships are so large and confusing that most passengers get lost at least once; often by the time they have the layout memorized, it's time to disembark. 

So what goes on in the inner workings of such a large enterprise? Let this mental_floss listing of facts from current and former cruise workers inform you: 

1. AMERICANS ARE THE WORST CRUISE WORKERS

On most large cruise liners, the majority of staff and crew are not American. “On any given contract, you’re working with about 64 nationalities,” says Kat, who spent three years working for a major cruise line. There are a number of possible drivers behind this statistic, but one is that cruise ship employees work really long hours and almost never get a day off, which isn’t particularly appealing to Americans used to a 40-hour workweek and relaxing on weekends. “On my worst contract, I was working close to 300 hours a month,” Kat says. “Yeah, you might be in beautiful places, but you’re so tired sometimes you don’t even want to go out and explore. A lot of times they won’t even hire Americans because the rate of people quitting is so high.”

Americans are also more expensive to employ, even if they do the same work as their counterparts from developing countries. Sam, who worked on Princess Cruises for two years, says her monthly salary of $1100 was higher than that of her Filipino boss. According to Sam, the official reason the ship gave was that the dollar is worth more to people from developing countries than it is to Americans, justifying the lower salary.

5. AND THEY’RE PROBABLY DRUNK

When they’re not working, employees are probably drinking and partying. “We partied our asses off,” Gavin says. “We joked about how it makes a frat house look like a monastery.” The staff get their own designated watering holes on board, referred to as the crew bars, where the drinks are dirt cheap. “At the passenger bars they were charging like $15 for a drink and we’d go down into the crew bar and you could get a beer or mixed drinks for $1.25,” Sam says.

And what happens when you give copious amounts of cheap alcohol to people who are cooped up together for months at a time? “It seems like a cliche, but everyone was hooking up with each other,” Sam says. “In a lot of the crew areas there were these huge posters about STD prevention.”

The crew is regularly threatened with the possibility of random breathalyzer tests (and drug testing), but even this isn’t always enforced. “There was a strict limit on our ship of no more than .04 blood alcohol content at any time,” Gavin says, “but as long as you didn’t make a fool of yourself, you wouldn’t get randomly breathalyzed, so people would break that rule all the time.”

Read more cruise ship "fun facts" about everything from the morgue to the "mafia" here.


The Shining Twins are Out and About

The daughters of caretaker Delbert Grady from film The Shining | Image: Warner Bros.

Speaking of The Shining, those hellish, handholding twin ghosts from the film are "back in circulation" as adults, appearing on social media and at horror film fests and similar events. Sisters Louise and Lisa Burns made an appearance at a 50th anniversary screening of Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove in London last year and were met with appropriate fanfare. Since then the twins, who stopped acting at age 12 after they appeared in the film helmed by legendary director Kubrick, have been enjoying a second round of fan appreciation. 

To see what they look like now as well as keep up with their activities and appearances, check out Louise and Lisa on their regularly updated Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.  


The Shining Hotel May Be Turned into a $24 Million Museum of Horror

The Stanley Hotel | Image: Rominator

The hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining may become a $24 million, 43,000-square-foot horror film center and museum, if funds can be raised by the principals. The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado recently announced that plan, upon which the Denver Business Journal reported.

According to the projects' organizers, the proposed building, to be named the "Stanley Film Center," would house "multiple indoor and outdoor entertainment venues, including a 500-seat auditorium; a 30,000-square-foot interactive museum and discovery center that would feature rotating exhibits; a 3,000 square-foot soundstage; classrooms and workshop spaces; and post-production and editing suites."

While the Stanley planted the seed for writing The Shining in the mind of Stephen King, the majority of shots from the film were made at a soundstage in Hertfordshire, England. Exterior shots of the "Overlook Hotel" were done at the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, Oregon.

See illustrated plans for the proposed center and learn more on the story via the Denver Business Journal. Via i09


African Lion Litter Delights Indianapolis Zoo


Indianapolis Zoo
 staff was thrilled to welcome this litter of African lion cubs, two males and a female, on September 21. The first births of this species at the zoo since 2003, the cubs are the offspring of mother Zuri and father Nyack. Despite being a first-time mother, the zookeepers report that Zuri is perfectly loving and nurturing with her adorable cubs.

See precious additional pictures and learn more about the birth and the African lion species at Zooborns.

Images: Jackie Curts / Indianapolis Zoo




A Baby Polar Bear's Mighty Struggle to Roll Over


YouTube Link

Watching this painfully cute polar bear cub try to turn over brought out, as those on the internet are wont to say, "all the feels." The longer I watched his frustrating struggle, the more I began to lay blame. Where's the mother? Why is he indoors in this little box? Where is his ice and fish and chilly polar bear beverage in a frosty mug? Finally when he turned over, looking exhausted enough to pass out from the exercise, I felt the polar relief. You? Or is it just me because polar bears are one of my favorite animals? Via Daily Dot


Seven Things You May Not Know About the Original Ghostbusters


YouTube Link

CineFix presents seven facts you may not know about the original Ghostbusters films. Learn about topics from the casting of Sigourney Weaver to Aykroyd's inspiration for the Slimer to the construction of the script for the sequel and more. Via Uproxx


Vintage Advertisements That Would be Banned Today



Even as recently as the 1970s and '80s, advertisements that wouldn't be conceived of today were released to little or no backlash. In today's age of political correctness, as outrage and righteous indignation seem to be the norm, much less is tolerated by the public in all forms of media. 

Have a laugh at how things have changed with this Vintage Everyday collection of ads that would likely never be published — much less given the nod at any ad agency  today. 





Anglophenia Episode 41: The Origin of Halloween


YouTube Link

In this, the latest episode of Anglophenia, host Kate Arnell tries to pull a fast one on us by claiming that the idea of Halloween originated in the U.K. Or is she pulling a fast one after all? Listen to her reasoning and decide for yourself. Via Laughing Squid


Thirteen Films That Went Disastrously Over Budget

Waterworld | Image: Universal Pictures

It's often a bad sign for a movie if during production it runs excessively over budget. It's not as much of a problem if the movie ends up being hugely successful, as at least one of the movies on this linked list was. Yet if the film is a flop, being over budget during production compounds the disaster. 

A good example of that compounded catastrophe is the Kevin Costner tanker Waterworld. This universally panned dud was a production nightmare from start to finish. The set was an expensive enclosure built on the Pacific Ocean, a move which necessitated the cast and crew commute to work via jetski. 

Perhaps sensing impending watery doom, Costner was picky and tempermental. For example, he insisted that the original score written for the film by Mark Isham be thrown out due to being too "ethnic and bleak." Joss Whedon was rushed to the set in hopes of saving the script via rewrites; it only strained the budget further. At the end, the production was $75 million over budget.

Read about twelve more films that went far over their production budgets here. 


Father of Five's Tardiness Excuse Notes to School Set the Bar High

#latenotes #mcdreamy #zayn

A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on May 1, 2015 at 8:54am PDT

Salt Lake City, Utah father of five Seth King was tired of writing generic notes to school in order to explain his kids being tardy. Fed up with their laissez faire attitudes about being on time for school, King decided to teach them a lesson. He told Today,

"I was getting bored with writing the same old excuse note, and it got to a point where I also wanted my kids to understand the shame they should be feeling for being tardy and putting on-time attendance at their school as a second-tier priority."

Soon, several of the King children, ​Isabella, 15; Carson, 13; Sophia, 10; Nolan, 6; and Liam, 3 began bringing notes to school that were as ridiculous as King could imagine. He even started an Instagram account so that the notes would have a bigger audience. 

Since then, King's not the only adult in the family who has taken to writing creative notes to school. His wife takes over his duties when he travels on business. King said, 

"She's even funnier than I am. I probably should outsource my notes more to her. I think I will."

See more of the Kings' funny notes at their Instagram account.

Via Woman's Day | Images: Instagram

 

#latenotes

A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on Sep 9, 2015 at 9:58am PDT

#latenotes

A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on Apr 18, 2015 at 10:37pm PDT

#latenotes

A photo posted by Mr. King (@latenotes) on Apr 18, 2015 at 10:36pm PDT


Cat Can Levitate Other Animals Just by Sneezing


YouTube Link

When this kitty sneezes, the awesome power of the sneeze becomes known. If a sneeze from this feline god can levitate other animals, who knows what wild kingdom tsunamis coughing up a hairball might produce? Via Arbroath


Three-Ingredient Dip Recipes Perfect for Parties


Five-minute crab dip | Image: Bakerette

Whether you're going to a holiday bash, having a few people over or planning a party for one with treats as your special guests, nothing beats these three-ingredient dip recipes for ease and speedy sustenance. These concoctions look like crowd-pleasers, too. Dips are always popular at parties. And hey, if you're concerned, you can hang out by your creation to make sure there aren't any of those despised double dippers on hand. Get these recipes and more here.  



Bacon-Queso Dip | Image: A Mom's Take

 

Apple Toffee Dip | Image: Cooking Classy


Hot Caprese Dip | Image: How Sweet Eats


Be Someone's Best Friend for Halloween With These Realistic Dog Masks



These dog masks are just the thing if you're in the mood to leave a little surprise in someone's house slipper. Be a man's best friend (or worst nightmare) this Halloween with one of these puppies. Looks extra spooky when uneasily mixed with casual human clothes. Word on the street is that Buck the German Shepherd (shown below) has blown so many people's minds that it's backordered almost until Halloween. See more masks here. Via Dangerous Minds



Floor Plan Drawings of Popular TV and Film Homes


Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde is an artist based in Spain who creates (under the name nikneuk) these wonderful drawings of the floor plans of a variety of homes from television and film. These colorful plans are drawn to scale and include a number of endearing details corresponding to the storylines of the characters to whom the homes belong. 

See all of the series, including Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Sex and the City, Dexter, I Love Lucy and more, at the artist's DeviantART site. Via My Modern Met



Twelve Types of Cats


The Lingvistov brand of illustration (previously at Neatorama) evolved from the founding of an unusual, Skype-based English language school by two Russian linguistics teachers named Asia and Landysh. They not only sell their illustrations in various forms via their online store, but they use the "doodles" (as they refer to them) as resources as well. 

Here they have illustrated twelve types of cats. See all twelve feline varieties at this user-submitted post at Bored Panda (a couple are named with mildly NSFW language). 



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Profile for Lisa Marcus

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