Build It And They Will
know that you have way too much time on your hands.
The Associated Press reports: New Noah’s Ark ready to sail
SCHAGEN, Netherlands (AP) — The massive central door in the side of Noah’s Ark was thrown open Saturday — you could say it was the first time in 4,000 years — drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it’s only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.
Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan’s fully functional ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That’s two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.
Well it is “literally” one-fifth the size of the “original” and it took him two years with modern tools to build it. No word on whether Mr. Huibers considered the possibility that the description of the Ark in the Bible might be a little “exaggerated.”
8 comments
Back in the day, my high school… yes, a public high school… performed Benjamin Britten’s “Noyes Fludde”. I recall Noye’s increasingly agitated chant in unison with God as the latter was informing the former about the dimensions of the ark…
Well, OK, maybe I changed it a bit, to reflect the way we all sang it offstage…
(Fortunately for the world, I did not sing. But I did play the solo alto recorder part, which contains the music for the dove’s flight. Britten, bless him, understood the recorder well.)
Aside: the guy who played God in our performance of Noye’s Fludde… as in many medieval plays, God appears as an actual character onstage… is now a web designer and technical consultant in California. His business slogan is “Sustainable Technology for Non-Profit/Small Organizations.”
I’ve always said that competent IT professionals deserve to be worshiped… 🙂
Knowing something about building wooden boats, there are so many timber splices involved in a ship 450 feet by 75 feet that it wouldn’t take a wave. You can’t have splices flexed, but a ship’s ribbing has to flex. Nomadic sheepherders don’t have much practical knowledge about building boats.
Ah, Steve, we are always gods after we explain how to get out of the mess they have gotten themselves into, but that belief has the lifespan of a mayfly.
Not completely OT, but STEVE! I did “Mrs. Noye” back in the day and thoroughly enjoyed playing the disgruntled harpy. Least favorite moment – being carried up six steep steps into the ‘ark’ by Noye’s sons, one carrying each limb, while singing my protests full voice and pretty much upside down. Favorite moment – leaning over the ‘ark’ and feigning seasickness. I can still hear us singing a triumphant Tallis’ Canon at the end.
Back OT…I can think of more important ways to make a ‘testament” of one’s faith, like maybe donating all that $$$ and those construction skills to improving the lot of God’s children, but maybe that’s just me.
Why do these people all fixate on the Old Testament? There’s a pretty important message to be found in the New Testament. This Ark has the feeling of a “golden calf.”
Amazing, andante! For people who didn’t know each other when we were kids, you and I certainly have a lot of history in common, though with a lot of miles in between.
Who could forget any of those scenes. We had a very capable Mrs. Noye, as well as a Noye who went on to a career in musical theater (including, incidentally, the local G&S Society, quite a polished professional ensemble here in those days). In Noye’s Fludde, I still remember “Eternal Father, strong to save” arising out of the storm music, and, of course, the Tallis canon at the end, “In Reason’s ear they all rejoice,” with that @#$% recorder ostinato running on seemingly endlessly above it. And even today I could come close to playing the dove’s recorder solo from memory, though I wouldn’t risk it in performance.
Thanks for the memories… and no, I’m not echoing Bob Hope.
I’m instantly reminded of the Bill Cosby routine about Noah, which included (paraphrasing here):
NOAH: How much is a cubit?
THE LORD: Hmm… I used to know.
and…
NOAH (after a long tirade): Have you looked at the bottom of that ark? Who’s gonna clean that up? And…
THE LORD: Noah!
NOAH: What!?
THE LORD: How long can you tread water?
(Pause)
NOAH: Right… You and me, Lord… we’re together on this.
Welcome back to the sunshine state, MB. That was a great routine.