Kowalski Heat Treating Blog - Kowalski Heat Treating

Stayin’ Alive

January 21, 2022/0 Comments/in Film, Friday Afternoon, Saturday Night Fever, Travolta, Trivia /by Steve Kowalski

Just WOW!!!! If you’ve never seen this movie, get it. Watch it five times…then shoot me an email with your thoughts. Soooo much fun!!! At the bottom is John Travolta in “Welcome Back Cotter”

Sometimes the songs of our youth ring true, even today. With all the pain, isolation, coughing, tests, headaches and heartache, I got thinking about the times when we could just go out, be free, dance and have some fun. Today marks the anniversary when the album Saturday Night Fever hit #1 on the billboard charts – and those silly songs still play in my head. When “Saturday Night Fever”, starring John Travolta, was released in 1977, few could have expected the cultural phenomenon it would become. The soundtrack by British band the Bee Gees (how did he hit those high notes??) was also an enormous hit: You would not believe the looks and faces that Jackie and my girls give me when I try to hit those notes! its songs, including “Stayin’ Alive”, “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Night Fever”, epitomized the disco era and the album hit #1 on billboard charts, spending 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1, selling more than 45 million units. Like I do, I dug into the internet and found some great info – so click on the links, crank up the music and “dance” – Enjoy! And thanks to Wikipedia and YouTube for the info and videos.

Video – Stayin’ Alive
Video – More Than A Woman

Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood, staring John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from Brooklyn who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and general restlessness and disillusionment with his life, and feeling directionless and trapped in his working-class neighborhood. The story is based upon “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”, an article by music writer Nik Cohn, first published in a June 1976 issue of New York magazine. The film features music by Bee Gees and many other prominent artists of the disco era.

A major critical and commercial success, Saturday Night Fever had a tremendous effect on popular culture of the late 1970s. The film helped significantly to popularize disco music around the world and made Travolta, who was already well known from his role on TV’s Welcome Back, Kotter, a household name. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, becoming the fifth-youngest nominee in the category.

Disco was already a popular genre by 1977 but the film’s success broke it into the mainstream, and it would remain dominant for the next three years. According to Rolling Stone, top three disco songs are Stayin’ Alive, Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive” and Donna Summer “I Feel Love”

The album revitalized the Bee Gees. They had experienced significant success in the 1960s with songs like “Massachusetts” and “New York Mining Disaster 1941” but Saturday Night Fever took them to another level, and their sound was virtually inescapable for months after the album’s release. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees, is one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.

Just look at this musical line up – (bet you know almost all of the songs).
“Stayin’ Alive” performed by Bee Gees – 4:45
“How Deep Is Your Love” performed by Bee Gees – 4:05
“Night Fever” performed by Bee Gees – 3:33
“More Than a Woman” performed by Bee Gees – 3:17
“If I Can’t Have You” performed by Yvonne Elliman – 3:00
“A Fifth of Beethoven” performed by Walter Murphy – 3:03
“More Than a Woman” performed by Tavares – 3:17
“Manhattan Skyline” performed by David Shire – 4:44
“Calypso Breakdown” performed by Ralph MacDonald – 7:50
“Night on Disco Mountain” performed by David Shire – 5:12
“Open Sesame” performed by Kool & the Gang – 4:01
“Jive Talkin’” performed by Bee Gees – 3:43 (*)
“You Should Be Dancing” performed by Bee Gees – 4:14
“Boogie Shoes” performed by KC and the Sunshine Band – 2:17
“Salsation” performed by David Shire – 3:50
“K-Jee” performed by MFSB – 4:13
“Disco Inferno” performed by The Trammps – 10:51

The film’s relatively low budget ($3.5 million) meant that most of the actors were relative unknowns, many of whom were recruited from New York’s theatre scene (for more than 40% of the actors it was their film debut). The only actor in the cast who was already an established name was John Travolta, thanks to his role on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. His performance as Tony Manero brought him critical acclaim and helped launch him into international stardom. (he would repeat the success the following year with another musical smash, Grease).

Travolta researched the part by visiting the real 2001 Odyssey discotheque , rehearsing his choreography with Lester Wilson and Deney Terrio for three hours every day, losing 20 pounds in the process.

Karen Lynn Gorney was nine years older than Travolta when she was cast as his love interest Stephanie. (Jessica Lange, Kathleen Quinlan, Carrie Fisher, and Amy Irving were all considered for the part before Gorney was cast – good decision!).

The film was shot entirely on-location in Brooklyn, New York at the 2001 Odyssey Disco – a real club located at 802 64th Street, which has since been demolished. The interior was modified for the film, including the addition of a $15,000 lighted floor, which was inspired by a Birmingham, Alabama establishment. Since the Bee Gees were not involved in the production until after principal photography wrapped, the “Night Fever”, “You Should Be Dancin'”, and “More Than a Woman” sequences were shot with Stevie Wonder tracks that were later overdubbed in the sound mix. During filming, the production was harassed by local gangs near of the location, and was even firebombed.

The film grossed $25.9 million in its first 24 days of release and grossed an average of $600,000 a day throughout January to March going on to gross $94.2 million in the United States and Canada and $237.1 million worldwide This would be worth $1,090,800,000 today!!

In 2010, Saturday Night Fever was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

“…. You should be dancin’, yea … dancin’ – dance the night away….”

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I. Love. My. Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good. :-))))
Have fun!!

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Chips

January 14, 2022/0 Comments/in Chips, Food, Friday Afternoon, Trivia /by Steve Kowalski

Chips are wonderful!!! But who made the first chip????

Supply chain mishaps. Stranded shipping containers. Logjams at the terminals. Millions of products waiting on the shelf. Consumer frustration on low inventory. All because of chips. That’s not good for business or customers. So, how did America respond?? – by increasing chips sales by over $400 million dollars in ’21, with a global projection to be four-fold that by 2026. According to people who track things, when Covid-19 forced people to stay home, many of us found solace in a snack: potato chips. I guess you can say, when the chips are down, American’s gobble them up. So, I did some digging, got some sound history and good explanations on the category. So, grab a bowl, pour out some chips, and enjoy. Thanks to Brandon Tensley from Smithsonian, YouTube, Cleveland.com, thoughtco.com and foodandwine.com for the info. Now, if we can only find enough dip!! My favorite dip is still French Onion from Dairymens here in Northeast Ohio. It pairs perfectly with ridged or kettle chips!

Traditional chips
Stackable chips

Potato chips are thin slices of potato that have been either deep-fried or baked until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The potato chips market is segmented by product type (fired or baked), flavor (plain, salted and flavored), distribution channel (supermarkets, convenience stores, online, etc.), and geography – think globally.
Americans consume about 1.85 billion pounds of potato chips annually, or around 6.6 pounds per person. (just one more reason for all those early morning runs!)). Add to that worldwide crunching, with explosive growth in Asian countries – and that’s a lot of chips!
Any search for the origins of this signature finger food must lead to George Crum (born George Speck), a 19th-century chef of Native and African American descent who made his name at Moon’s Lake House in the resort town of Saratoga Springs, New York. As the story goes, one day in 1853, the railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt was eating at Moon’s when he ordered his fried potatoes be returned to the kitchen because they were too thick. Furious with such a fussy eater, Crum sliced some potatoes as slenderly as he could, fried them to a crisp and sent them out to Vanderbilt as a prank. Rather than take the gesture as an insult, Vanderbilt was overjoyed. (think this is where “crumbs” came from??)
Other patrons began asking for Crum’s “Saratoga Chips,” which soon became a hit far beyond Upstate New York. In 1860, Crum opened his own restaurant near Saratoga known as Crum’s House or Crum’s Place, where a basket of potato chips sat invitingly on every table. Crum oversaw the restaurant until retiring over 30 years later; in 1889, a New York Herald writer called him “the best cook in America.”
Still, historians who have peeled the skin off this story have hastened to point out that Crum was not the sole inventor of the chip, or even the first. The earliest known recipe for chips dates to 1817, when an English doctor named William Kitchiner published The Cook’s Oracle, a cookbook that included a recipe for “potatoes fried in slices or shavings.”
And in July 1849, four years before Crum supposedly dissed Vanderbilt, a New York Herald reporter noted the work of “Eliza,” also, curiously, a cook in Saratoga Springs, whose “potato frying reputation” had become “one of the prominent matters of remark at Saratoga.” Yet scholars are united in acknowledging that Crum popularized the chip.
For a long time, chips remained a restaurant-only delicacy. But in 1895 a Cleveland, Ohio entrepreneur named William Tappenden found a way to keep them stocked on grocery shelves, using his kitchen and, later, a barn turned factory in his backyard to make the chips and deliver them in barrels to local markets via horse-drawn wagon. Countless other merchants followed suit.
In 1926, Laura Scudder, a California businesswoman, began packaging chips in wax-paper bags that included not only a “freshness” date but also a tempting boast—“the Noisiest Chips in the World,” a peculiarly American marketing breakthrough that made a virtue of being obnoxious.
The snack took another leap the following year, when Leonard Japp, a Chicago chef and former prizefighter, began to mass-produce the snack—largely, the rumor goes, to serve one client: Al Capone, who allegedly discovered a love for potato chips on a visit to Saratoga and thought they would sell well in his speak-easies. Japp opened factories to supply the snack to a growing list of patrons, and by the mid-1930s was selling to clients throughout the Midwest, as potato chips continued their climb into the pantheon of America’s treats; later, Japp also created what can be considered the modern iteration by frying his potatoes in oil instead of lard.
When Lay’s became the first national brand of potato chips in 1961, the company enlisted Bert Lahr, (famous for playing the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz), as its first celebrity spokesman, who purred the devilish challenge, “Betcha can’t eat just one.”
The U.S. potato chip market—just potato chips, never mind tortilla chips or cheese puffs or pretzels—is estimated at $10.5 billion. And while chips and other starchy indulgences have long been criticized for playing a role in health conditions such as obesity and hypertension, the snack industry has cleaned up its act to some extent, cooking up options with less fat and sodium, from sweet potato chips with sea salt to taro chips to red lentil crisps with tomato and basil.
Still, for many Americans, the point of chips has always been pure indulgence. Following a year of fast-food buzz, last October Hershey released the most sophisticated snack mashup since the yogurt-covered pretzel: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups stuffed with potato chips. Only history can judge whether this triple-flavored calorie bomb will be successful. But more than a century and a half after Crum’s peevish inspiration, the potato chip isn’t just one of our most popular foods but also our most versatile.
For those who plan ahead, National Chip Dip Day is Wednesday, March 23rd

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I. Love. My. Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good. :-))))
Have fun!!

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BRAVO ON PIA JOB!

January 7, 2022/0 Comments/in Friday Afternoon, James Webb Space Telescope, Space, Trivia /by Steve Kowalski

Exploring space is cool!!! Humans of all ages have been wondering what’s out there for a very long time. If you can’t physically be there, a super high-powered telescope in space is the next best thing. When the James Webb Space Telescope is fully deployed in June, we’re going to be in for some really interesting info. IMAGES: (second from top) The Hubble Telescope; (third from top) Rendering of the James Webb Space Telescope being deployed; (fourth from top) Size comparison of adult human to the Hubble mirror to the Webb mirror; (fifth from top) rendering of the Webb telescope fully deployed. (bottom left) The Webb logo; (bottom right) My logo. :))))

Happy New Year to all. Hope you had a fun and safe holiday break – I sure did! Over the past few weeks, I’ve been geeking out a bit, and following the amazing story and success of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Talk about a PIA Job! – a project that began over 25 years ago and will exceed $10B in costs. Think about the logistics, planning, coordination, problem solving, creativity, and final solutions – (I thought the rover on Mars was something, until I learned more about this project). Several thousand scientists, engineers, and technicians spanning 15 countries have contributed to JWST – a total of 258 companies, government agencies, and academic institutions are participating in the project; 142 from the United States, 104 from 12 European countries, and 12 from Canada (so glad I’m not in the accounting dept for this one). Solving PIA Jobs! is at the heart of everything here at KHT. Our ongoing “mission” is to recruit and train our teams to not only perform their jobs, but to also bring a fresh perspective of problem solving and creativity to the job. While our solutions are not “cosmic” they often follow the same pattern – challenge, experiment, trial and error, test, solve, engineer, produce and deliver. Hats off to the amazing engineers, project managers, builders and thinkers on the JWST project – we marvel at what’s been accomplished so far and look forward to seeing the amazing images. Here’s just a bit of information on the project – be sure to click on the links that can take you further into the story – NASA and Space.com really have this tracked and covered. And thanks to wikipedia.com, youtube.com, webbtelescope.org and iflscience.com for the info and links.

Quick Overview Video

Full JWST Story

Cool Deployment Video (Filmed from Ariane 5’s upper stage, the video was transmitted in near real-time during the launch on Christmas Day)

Neil deGrasse Tyson Explainer Video

What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
The JWST a space telescope developed by NASA with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) named after James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program. It is designed to provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over the Hubble telescope, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observations of some of the most distant events and objects in the Universe such as the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.

When was the James Webb Space Telescope launch and how long to reach orbit?
Webb launched at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT) on December 25, 2021. Webb travels for about a month to reach its orbit at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), 1.5 million kilometers (940,000 miles) from Earth.

How big is the Webb telescope?
The sunshield dimensions are 21.2 by 14.2 meters (69.5 by 46.5 feet) and the height of the entire observatory is 8 meters (28 feet).

How does Webb deploy in space?
Webb’s deployment in space involves unfolding the sunshield and mirrors, a process that must be carefully conducted over nearly a month. The sequence is best explained visually in this deployment animation.

What is the size of Webb’s mirror?
Webb’s segmented primary mirror has a diameter of 6.6 meters (21.7 feet). Each of the 18 segments is 1.32 meters (4.3 feet) across. The area of the mirror is approximately 25 square meters (270 square feet) and the mass is 705 kilograms (1,550 pounds on Earth).

Why does Webb need a sunshield?
To accurately and precisely detect faint infrared light from distant objects in the universe, Webb must be shielded from the strong infrared light emanating nearby from the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The sunshield’s five layers block the light from these nearby objects.

How is Webb powered?
The Webb telescope is powered by an on-board solar array. It also has a propulsion system to maintain the observatory’s orbit and attitude. The solar array provides 2,000 watts of electrical power for the life of the mission, and there is enough propellant onboard for at least 10 years of science operations.

What is the destination for Webb?
By the end of January 2022, the telescope is set to reach its final destination – L2, the second Lagrangian Point, around 1.5 million kilometers (932,056 miles) from Earth. This is significantly further from Earth than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, which orbited just 547 kilometers (340 miles) above Earth.

Which cameras (instruments) are on the Webb telescope and what do they do?
Webb has four scientific instruments, the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS), and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Each of these instruments uses infrared detectors to capture light from distant astronomical sources.

How much data will Webb transmit each day?
Webb can downlink at least 57.2 gigabytes of recorded science data each day, with a maximum data rate of 28 megabits per second.

How are Webb’s mirrors aligned after the rigors of launch?
The primary mirror segments and secondary mirror are moved by six actuators that are attached to the backs of the mirrors. The primary segments have an additional actuator at the center of the mirror to adjust their curvature. Those seven spots are adjustable to align the 18 segments of the primary mirror to each other, and adjust the primary and secondary mirrors to the fixed tertiary mirror and the instruments.

How much gold is used to make the Webb telescope?
A little more than 48 grams of gold are used in the Webb mirror. This is equivalent to the mass of a golf ball, which would fill a volume the size of a marble. This gold is a thin (100 nanometers) layer that is vacuum vapor deposited on each of the 18 primary mirror segments and the single secondary mirror. Gold is a highly reflective material at infrared wavelengths, helping to focus light from distant objects onto Webb’s sensitive instruments.

How much of the sky can Webb see?
Over the course of six months, as Webb orbits the Sun with Earth, it has the ability to observe almost any point in the sky. Webb’s field of regard is limited to a 50-degree swath of the celestial sphere: About 39% of the sky is potentially visible to Webb at any given time. Because Webb must face away from objects that are warm and close enough to interfere with its ability to observe faint infrared light, it cannot observe the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, or the Moon.

When will we see the first images from Webb?
After reaching its orbit, Webb undergoes science and calibration testing. Then, regular science operations and images will begin to arrive, approximately six months after launch. However, it is normal to also take a series of “first light” images that may arrive slightly earlier.

Who was James Webb?
The Webb telescope is named after James E. Webb (1906–1992), NASA’s second administrator. James Webb is best known for leading Apollo, the series of exploration programs that landed the first humans on the Moon. He also initiated a vigorous space science program that was responsible for more than 75 launches during his tenure, including America’s first interplanetary explorer spacecrafts. Read more about the life and impact of James Webb.

Which areas of science will Webb explore?
Webb will explore: Early Universe, Galaxies Over Time, The Star Lifecycle, Other Worlds

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I. Love. My. Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good. :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::