code: public static Calendar createCalendar(final String dateStr) {
          if (dateStr == null) {
              return blastTime(Calendar.getInstance());
          }
          return getCal(dateStr);
      }
docs: get a new Calendar based on the string date.
  @param dateStr
  the date string
  @return a new Calendar
  @throws IllegalArgumentException
  if the string cannot be parsed.