Kirjahaku

In 1946 the U.S. Navy conducted 'Operation Crossroads' at Bikini Lagoon in the Marshall Islands. They placed dozens of old American WWII ships, plus captured German and Japanese warships (battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines, freighters, troop carriers) in Bikini Lagoon and subjected them to two atom bomb tests. Prior to the tests they loaded each ship full of fuel and ammunition, trying to replicate wartime conditions, so they could see what would happen to the ships when they were hit by a nuclear explosion. The Navy didn't put any people on the ships, but they did place many live animals in crates on the ships, so they could see what would happen when they became contaminated by radiation poisoning from the atomic blasts. During the first test which they called 'Able', a B-29 dropped a bomb from a height of 500 feet over the target area. Surprisingly, not many ships were sunk during this first atomic blast. The Navy then conducted a second test two weeks later which they called 'Baker'. During this test they hung a bomb 50 feet under a small landing craft before detonating it. When the atomic device exploded it sent a huge column of water and island debris into the air, which did sink many of the huge ships in the lagoon. Because of strong and lingering radiation almost all of the ships had to be towed to a deep part of the Pacific Ocean and sunk. Also because of the radiation contamination, all the Bikini people who had to leave their atoll before the tests, were never able to return. When I tried to get government officials to give me permission to take a team of divers and film-makers to Bikini, so I could produce a film about diving on ships at Bikini sunk by atom bomb testing, the officials never actually gave me permission. Always believing the glass is half-full, I reasoned they might not have said "yes", but they also didn't say "no". So, I put together an expedition team and flew over to Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands. We rented an island freighter called the "Mieco Queen", then went on a wonderful dive trip to Wotje Atoll, Kwajalein Atoll and Bikini Atoll. At Wotje, we dove on a Japanese freighter that had never been dived upon before. I also dove on a Japanese Kawaneshi Flying Boat that was sunk 50-feet deep in Wotje Lagoon. At Kwajalein we dove on the German Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen, which was the sister ship of the German Battleship Bismarc. Then at Bikini we had to fight deadly radiation and sharks, but were able to dive on the U.S. Battleship Arkansas, the Japanese Battleship Nagato (which was Admiral Yamamoto's Flagship when he attacked Pearl Harbor) and we dove on the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Saratoga. She was sitting right-side-up on the bottom, so we could land our two wet-subs on her flight deck, just like Hellcats did during WWII. In Saratoga's hanger deck we were able to sit in several of the Hellcats that were still tied down in place even after being subjected to two atom bomb tests. I produced a film when I returned home called "Deadly Fathoms" which featured famed film and TV star Rod Serling and "Fathoms" won a Silver Medal at the Atlanta International Film Festival. I think you'll like to read about how we did survive the radiation, sharks and multiple deep dives into Bikini Lagoon...and lived to talk about it Mike Harris Producer-Director Expedition Leader

Whether we are male or female, young or old, a young boy's search for respect is something we can all relate to. The search for significance is an innate desire that permeates our choices, even though we don't always realize it. Especially when what we bring to the table (our natural strengths) aren't so obvious and positive attention isn't so automatic. And so it was with Curio. This is a story of an adolescent's search for himself, told through the bedtime talks between a single, widowed father and his son. Not only does it portray a healthy relationship between father and son, it uncovers many of the paradoxes associated with our search for a respectful identity. Each night, Dad spurs his son on like Jesus would have, with just enough insight to prod Curio's desire for more. Until finally, Curio surprises his father with wisdom straight out of Heaven itself.

Welcome to Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city and home to 3.8 million people. But L.A. didn’t start out that way. Olvera Street: Discovering the Soul of Los Angeles is a travel guide that leads you past today’s glitzy bars and eateries, the big sports centers and high-rises, to trace the city’s roots. Travel back more than two centuries to when forty-four settlers walked from Mexico to start a new life near what would become today’s downtown Los Angeles.While decades of neglect and the developer’s bulldozer have claimed many of the original buildings, at Olvera Street, part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, you can still see and touch the city’s beginnings. Join Mike Harris as he guides you along Olvera Street with its unique museums, artwork, multi-generation Mexican family shops, and restaurants.Starting at the plaza’s kiosk, located just across the street from historic Union Station, journey with Mike on an easy walking tour detailing the struggles and triumphs of creating an international city. Learn how each new culture that came to Los Angeles, from Native American, Spanish, and Mexican to African American, Chinese, French, and Italian, impacted its destiny.

This story is true, although it reads like fiction. During WWII Charles Woods flew B-24 Liberators loaded with gasoline across the "hump" from India to China, to help supply Gen. Clair Chennault's "Flying Tigers". When he crashed on takeoff his bomber exploded into flames, Charles was the only survivor. Horribly burned, his only hope for survival was a pass that read "Priority One". This is an inspiring story of how Charles Woods willed himself to live, became a success in life, and at his death was honored in the U.S. Senate.

In 1980 Mike Harris led the first expedition to search for the Titanic in the North Atlantic. TITANIC: "THE EXPERIENCE" gives a behind-the-scenes look at the first Titanic expedition, how Mike then formed ORE, Ltd., the company that picked up Titanic artifacts with the French and began exhibiting Titanic artifacts around the world. TITANIC: "THE EXPERIENCE" also explains how Mike got his son, G. Michael Harris, involved in the Titanic project, how G. Michael built his own Titanic: "The Experience" exhibit in Orlando, Florida and how G. Michael took his son, Sebastian, down to the Titanic in the Russian submersible Mir 1 when Sebastian was 14 years old. For Sebastian's unique experience, he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2007 and made a member of The Explorers Club of New York. TITANIC: "THE EXPERIENCE" features exclusive color photographs of Mike's original 1980 Titanic expedition, multiple gallery photographs of G. Michael's Titanic: "The Experience" exhibit in Orlando, Florida, a sample of historic Titanic artifacts that have been recovered from the wreck of the Titanic and G. Michael's dive with his son, Sebastian, in the Russian submersible Mir 1. TITANIC: "THE EXPERIENCE" has a unique collection of historic Titanic photographs and illustrations.

A group of tourists are caught up in the excitement of watching a Seminole Indian wrestle a 7-foot gator with his bare hands. It's a daring display of courage and skill mixed with a touch of showmanship that's much appreciated by the cheering crowd. That night, after all the tourists have left the village, four Seminole elders gather around a small campfire. Buck, leader of the tribe, used to be quite an alligator wrestler in his day. Micco, Jumper and Two Feathers, each ten years younger than Buck, also used to be good with gators. But now, like Buck, they're all past their prime and relegated to helping around the village while the younger men carry on the Seminole tradition of wrestling gators for the tourists. Buck invites James, a young lad of fifteen, to join the elders at the campfire. He tells the young man that he alone has been chosen from all the other boys in the village to carry on the time-honored Seminole tradition of wrestling alligators. Buck tells James that tomorrow they're going to take him back into the Big Cypress and teach him how to catch and wrestle the sacred alligator. James' mother is not happy that her son has been chosen for the honor. Ten years earlier his dad was killed trying to wrestle a huge gator on the other side of the swamp. She doesn't want the same thing to happen to her son. It turns out that Buck was with James' dad when he died. He told everyone that the reason James' dad got killed was because he was "showing off" for the tourists and got careless. That wasn't true. It was Buck who got careless and was directly responsible for the death of the boy's dad. Many Seminole's believe that if a gator kills a man it steals his soul and won't release the soul to the Great Spirit. The only way to get the man's soul back is for his son to catch and subdue the same gator. Buck has chosen James, it seems, to clear a very bad case of a guilty conscience. When the group arrives in the Big Cypress, Micco, Jumper and Two Feathers are shocked to find out the gator that killed James' dad is a 16-foot monster. They know there's no way the boy can catch and subdue the gator without help. So they agree to rally around the boy and together they help him subdue the incredibly large reptile. Buck tells James that he can kill or let the gator go. James doesn't want to kill such a magnificent creature and agrees to let the gator go with the admonition, "OK, Big Fella, you owe me one " Twenty years later, James is now educated and the elected Sheriff of Hendry County, located on the edge of the Big Cypress Swamp. When big city cops in Miami have trouble with a gang running drugs through the swamp, then call on the Hendry Sheriff, now known throughout South Florida as the 'Seminole Man'. When James finds Santo, the head drug runner, driving his drug cargo in a large airboat through the swamp, James crashes his much smaller airboat into Santo's craft to stop him. When James is thrown into shallow water, Santo repeatedly tries to run over the defenseless Sheriff with his airboat. As darkness approaches, James lures Santo towards a spit of sand and his heavy craft becomes stuck. James and Santo engage in a no-holds-barred fight for survival in the dark stained waters, with neither man able to gain the upper hand. When James stumbles, Santo sees his chance and starts to stab a knife into James' chest, but the monster gator appears from out of nowhere, grabs Santo by the arm and drags him to his death. James and "Big Fella" are now even Fast life and fast girls contrast with the simple life of the Seminole, who's morality is dictated not so much by power and might, but by nature and the Great Spirit. James uses modern police techniques to catch criminals, but he also uses the ways of his Indian heritage. The result is a mixture of blending old ways with the new in a never ending battle for survival...an

To many people the Jersey Devil is real. It's not just a legend. Stories have been told for years about a demon of some kind living in the Pine lands and dirt roads of New Jersey that looks partly like a kangaroo, with the face of a horse, the head of a dog, bat-like wings and has horns and a tail. For more than three hundred years stories have been told about this creature, prowling the pine forests of Southern New Jersey and emerging from time to time to frighten and cause deaths of people living in the area. It seems the origin of the Jersey Devil started back in the 1700's, when Mrs. Lucy Leeds of Estellville, New Jersey gave birth to her thirteenth child. The child she delivered was reported to have been a baby devil that escaped into a nearby swamp and has been terrorizing people ever since. There have been lots of stories about the Jersey Devil over the years raiding chicken coops, farms, destroying crops, killing animals and even killing people. People in more than fifty different towns and villages in the area claim to have seen the creature whenever it has emerged from its lair in the Pine lands. On more than one occasion a posy has been formed to search for and catch the Devil, but so far all attempts have been unsuccessful. On one occasion a $100,000 reward was offered for anyone who could bring in the Devil, dead or alive. There have even been reports of the death of the Jersey Devil from time to time, but these have also proved to be inconclusive. Even the scientific community has not been able to prove or explain one way or the other, if the Jersey Devil truly exists or not? But a lot of people believe the Jersey Devil is real. Reliable people, including police, government officials, businessmen and others have claimed to have seen the Jersey Devil and the results of its destruction and killings. It's not unusual, even to this day, for someone to travel down the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey and report seeing something "unusual looking", off in the woods as they drive by Is the creature real? Are the stories true? Or, is it just a legend made up by people who have too much time on their hands? In any case the story you are about to read recounts another of these stories, this one taking place in 1984. Did it really happen? Only you can read the account, make up your own mind and decide for yourself. But I don't think I would want to be taking any camping trips out into the Pine Barrens of New Jersey anytime soon. Like many others, I might not be able to return to tell others of my experience.

Jumping all in to a new career. It’s a dream likely far removed from where you’re at today. We’re talking about a bold move—a move other people may think you aren’t qualified for or capable of. But it can be done. In Career 180s, Mike Harris proves it with the inspiring stories of ten brave individuals who dove headfirst into their new careers—careers they chose and pursued with vigor. Yes, they had doubts, and yes, they had to learn new things—but they charged ahead anyway. Do you have what it takes to do a Career 180? Regardless of how you answer, one thing is for sure: after reading the stories in this book, you’ll be more prepared, more inspired, and more ready to pursue your passion than ever before. Who knows . . . this book may be what it takes for you to start pursuing that new career!

Ted, please can we have a full blurb] Brandywine will cover Spring 1777 through the battle of September 11. Summaries of major movements/engagements from April-September 1777 will be covered, and then I'll do a deeper dive into the battle itself.

Turning 50 is a big deal and there are a lot of different ways to celebrate this big day. This is the story of how Mike Harris decided to celebrate his big five-o. Along with his friend, Chris More, he decided to take a short stroll of about 200-220 miles around the Cornish Coastal footpath visiting pubs along the way. The trip proved both challenging, memorable and beautiful. Mike and Chris hope to inspire others to gather up their walking boots, as they describe their two-week journey around the coast.