Welcome to Our Flix Pix

Month: October 2023

  • Ship, Group of 14 at Anchor

    Ship, Group of 14 at Anchor

    TYPE: 6 lakers and 8 salties

    DATE: October 28, 2023

    LOCATION: Lake Ontario (anchorage off St. Catharines)

    STORY: There was a Seaway strike so ships started collecting at the north and south anchorages off the Welland Canal. Here I document the Group of Fourteen on the Northern Anchorage, St. Catharines.

    Group of 14 ships at Welland Canal
    Group of 14

    SHIP PHOTOS ONE BY ONE (Top Left to Bottom Right):

    SHIPTYPEGROSS TONNAGE
    John D. LeitchLaker (Bulk Carrier)22,080 Tons
    Whitefish BayLaker (Bulk Carrier)24,430 Tons
    Ocean CastleSaltie (Bulk Carrier)18,825 Tons
    Baie ComeauLaker (Bulk Carrier)24,430 Tons
    BBC Edge
    Manitoulin
    Algoma Guardian
    Sunda
    GreenwingSaltie (Bulk Carrier)1,8311 Tons
    Harbour Fountain
    Northern Spirit
    Hinch SpiritSaltie (Chemical/Oil Tanker)8,660 Tons
    Federal Kumano
    Lyulin

    Sweeping left to right, showing all 14 ships

    All ship photos on this site are strictly Ⓒ Copyright Paul Singer. All rights reserved.

  • Ship, BAIE COMEAU

    Ship, BAIE COMEAU

    One of the “Group of Fourteen.”

    IMO: 9639892

    TYPE: bulk carrier (self discharging); laker (as opposed to a “saltie”)

    TONS: 24430

    LENGTH: 225 m

    DATE: October 28, 2023

    LOCATION: Lake Ontario (anchorage off St. Catharines)

    DESTINATION: Superior, USA (but held up by the Seaway strike, and thus waiting at anchor to be able to use the Welland Canal.

    RECENT PORTS: She had been in Sillery, Sept-Iles, St. Catherine, and Toronto.

    WHERE WAS SHE ON? x Today: per VesselFinder.

    All ship photos on this site are strictly Ⓒ Copyright Paul Singer. All rights reserved.

  • Ship, WHITEFISH BAY

    Ship, WHITEFISH BAY

    One of the “Group of Fourteen.”

    Featured image photo: Panasonic, 372 mm, 1/640 s, F/5.6, ISO 100

    IMO: 9639880

    TYPE: bulk carrier (self discharging); laker (as opposed to a “saltie”)

    TONS: 24430

    LENGTH: 225 m

    DATE: October 28, 2023

    LOCATION: Lake Ontario (anchorage off St. Catharines)

    DESTINATION: Back and forth in the Great Lakes.

    RECENT PORTS:

    Whitefish Bay

    WHERE WAS SHE ON? x Today: per VesselFinder.

    All ship photos on this site are strictly Ⓒ Copyright Paul Singer. All rights reserved.

  • Ship, JOHN D. LEITCH

    Ship, JOHN D. LEITCH

    One of the “Group of Fourteen.”

    Featured image photo: Panasonic, 786 mm, 1/1000 s, F/5.6, ISO 100

    IMO: 6714586

    TYPE: bulk carrier (self discharging); laker (as opposed to a “saltie”)

    TONS: 22080

    LENGTH: 223 m

    DATE: October 28, 2023

    LOCATION: Lake Ontario (anchorage off St. Catharines)

    DESTINATION: Back and forth in the Great Lakes.

    RECENT PORTS:

    John D Leitch (Canon 250 mm, 1/320 sec, F/7.1, ISO 100)

    WHERE WAS SHE ON? x Today: per VesselFinder.

    All ship photos on this site are strictly Ⓒ Copyright Paul Singer. All rights reserved.

  • Ship, OCEAN CASTLE 2 (Revisited)

    Ship, OCEAN CASTLE 2 (Revisited)

    One of the “Group of Fourteen.”

    MAIN POST FOR OCEAN CASTLE IS HERE!

    Featured image photo: Panasonic, 681 mm, 1/600 s, F/6.3, ISO 100

    IMO: 9315537

    TYPE: bulk carrier; saltie (as opposed to a “laker”)

    TONS: 18825

    LENGTH: 185 m

    DATE: October 28, 2023

    LOCATION: Lake Ontario (anchorage off St. Catharines)

    DESTINATION: Thunder Bay, then back through the Seaway to Gibraltar, followed by Alger (Algeria)

    RECENT PORTS:

    Ocean Castle
    Ocean Castle (with Toronto in background). Ship was shot at a distance of several miles.

    WHERE WAS SHE ON? x Today: per VesselFinder.

    All ship photos on this site are strictly Ⓒ Copyright Paul Singer. All rights reserved.

  • Swing Time

    Swing Time

    Movie review is forthcoming…

  • The Flash

    The Flash

    Review is forthcoming.

  • The Out-of-Towners

    The Out-of-Towners

    1970, 1h 38m


    Genre: Comedy
    TMDB Rating: 68%

    Our Comments: 10-15-2023 with HS and SF (who owns it on DVD), in the Chicago suburbs. This is a well-written and well executed “screwball comedy” by Neil Simon. If you watch it, you have to be in the mood for irritating and constant setbacks at every turn. One mishap after another assails the poor couple on a business trip to New York! With this proviso out of the way, we were in a good mood that night and found it to be very funny and witty. The movie (same exact title) was remade in 1999, starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. Enjoyment rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Comments: There are no real issues here from a clean standpoint. Other than a few mild expletives, this movie has no morally objectionable content. There are a few unsavory characters (they get robbed twice), but they’re simply a part of the adventure of mishaps.

    TMDB: George & Gwen Kellerman make a trip to New York, where George is going to start a new job, it turns out to be a trip [where nothing goes according to plan].

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Rating: 4.5

    … About Clean Ratings: see this page.

  • Two Weeks Notice

    Two Weeks Notice

    2002, 1h 41m


    Genre: Comedy, Romance
    TMDB Rating: 64%

    Our Comments: 10-10-2023 with HS, in Niagara. Rented it on Amazon. Very funny and enjoyable, with a believable story about a self-centered, womanizing, shallow multi-millionaire developer and an activist lawyer who winds up working for him through an interesting twist. There are memorably funny/witty lines in this movie. It’s a good date night movie to watch at home by mature viewers. Enjoyment rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Comments: Given that the leading man is a shallow womanizer, you can surmise that there will be sexual references throughout the movie. There is a strip-chess scene that has a couple winding up in their underwear, and references to casual sex. But these things are not central to the movie. It stands on its own outside of these themes. This movie is not for kids or impressionable teens. But it is still basically an “average” movie from a morality standpoint. Two Weeks Notice would be a discretionary choice for mature viewers. Clean Rating: 3 (3 = Average for a Mainstream Film (several moral* issues; watch at your discretion).

    TMDB: “Dedicated environmental lawyer Lucy Kelson goes to work for billionaire George Wade as part of a deal to preserve a community center. Indecisive and weak-willed George grows dependent on Lucy’s guidance on everything from legal matters to clothing. Exasperated, Lucy gives notice and picks Harvard graduate June Carter as her replacement. As Lucy’s time at the firm nears an end, she grows jealous of June and has second thoughts about leaving George.”

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Rating: 3

    … About Clean Ratings: see this page.

  • Meet Me in St. Louis

    Meet Me in St. Louis

    1944, 1h 53m


    Genre: Classics, Drama
    TMDB Rating: 70%

    Our Comments: √ 10-05-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). The checkmark means we own it. This is a fine classic film that presents a look into 1903/1904 St. Louis family life leading up to the World’s Fair. It’s a pretty nice classic but could have been better crafted. In its slight awkwardness, it lacks some of the well rounded, easy-to-watch feel of the very best classics of the 30’s to early 60’s. And why put in that scene about the town kids at Halloween running amuck? At any rate, it’s still quite a nice film and may be worth it if you’re in the mood for a 40’s classic. Enjoyment rating: 3.5 star.

    TMDB: “The life of a St. Louis family in the year before the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.”

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Rating: 4