Showing posts with label Ocean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ocean. Show all posts

April 19, 2014

Score One For Ocean Rescue





Not often that I get to see a real life ocean rescue.

Don't know why this kid almost drowned, but he almost did.

It was interesting to see the various rescue services come to help save him.

The lifeguards went out for him and got him back to shore; the paramedics administrated on scene medical help; and the police kept overall order. 

But I think what really struck me was how uninterested most of the beach goers seemed.

Maybe I am expecting too much, but people just seemed at best curious, but not really concerned.

Yet at Spring Break, I have a feeling the booze, drugs, and sex overshadowed this real life and death event for this young man. 

I know these kids work hard in college and probably need to blow off some steam, but the callousness was still striking.

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
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September 22, 2013

Black and White and Gray All Over

My trip to South Florida this week was full of juxtapositions and lessons for me as a person:

1) Attention and Inattention—There were 2 father-son pairs in this gorgeous infinity pool at the resort.  One father and son (age maybe 3) were together—jumping, splashing, swimming, holding each other—it was really beautiful.  The other father and son (maybe 4) in contrast had the kid standing alone in the pool trying clumsily to pull a pair of goggles over his face, while his inattentive father stood off to the side glued on his smartphone.  The first kid was smiling ear-to-ear under the attentive and adoring eyes of his father, the second kid was clearly rejected and dejected. 

2) Beach and Poverty—I visited the beach in Hollywood; we were told it had a great little boardwalk.  When we got there at first, it seemed awesome with the sun and palm trees, music, eateries, skaters, and bicyclists, and more.  But as we started walking and exploring, it quickly became apparent that this was the poor side of town.  There were no high-rises here, no fancy cars, no eloquent shops, and sort of a menacing feeling overall. The contrast of the beautiful beach and boardwalk with the surrounding poverty left me feeling sort of confused about wanting to be there, but also wanting to leave.

3) Ocean and Starbucks—whenever, I come down to South Florida, I invariably end up thinking about finding a place down here.  This time, I saw some options that were attractive for very different reasons.  One place was an older building, nice and enticing with a direct ocean view.  The view from the apartment was so amazing; it literally made my wife cry.  But then we saw another condominium—this one brand new, about 15 minute walk from the ocean, but right over all the shopping, Starbucks, and conveniences.  The first place had a million dollar view, but the second place was practical and we could see ourselves really living there. 

4) Driving and Jolly--We took a trolley ride and the driver was obviously hard-working, but low paid. Yet he turned up the tunes and took us around town not just driving, but literally singing and sort of dancing to them too--waving his arms and smiling the whole time. It was great to see someone so spirited and happy in whatever they were doing in life. 

As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I see more clearly that situations in life are not simple or “black and white,” but there are lots of complexities, choices, and grays.

Do you choose self or family, live where you like or where you can earn a good living, go for the view or for the convenience, bemoan what you don't have or celebrate what you do?  Lots of decisions in life—each choice has consequences, so choose carefully.  

No one has it all—even if it looks like they do. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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September 19, 2013

Feeling Groovy

So some colleagues at work told me about getting a Swedish Massage.

I listened to how it helps them with aches and pains as well as to just relax. 

One guy mentioned that he tried a couples massage with his wife and it was really awesome as an event together.

Not that I thought in a million years that I would ever get a massage myself, but going away with my honey, this seemed like just the right thing to do. 

We ended up at the spa in the Westin and had the most relaxing massage that I could ever imagine. 

Some lemonade, calm music, dim lights, and a view of the ocean made it just perfect for us. 

I realized where some new pain points for me were, how important a little work-life balance can be, and could only say, "What other times are you available this week?"

Uh oh, I think I'm hooked.

OMG--thank you, but maybe I should've never tried it (it's an expensive habit)!  ;-)
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April 16, 2013

World's Most Beautiful Elevator

The world's most beautiful elevator has got to be the AquaDom in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin.

It contains a cylindrical elevator inside a 1 million liter fish tank filled with 1,500 fish of 50 species. 

If you can't get to the ocean, then bring the ocean to you--spectacular! ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Eric Pancer via Wikipedia)
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February 13, 2013

Flying Under The Ocean


This is a cool video of a new experimental swimsuit called "oceanwings."

Similar to wingsuits for BASE jumping (skydiving), oceanwings have underarm and between the leg wings or spans of material that essentially gives a person float.

With oceanwings, instead of flying through the sky, you can fly through the water.

They are made by Aqua Lung which makes and sells professional and recreational scuba diving equipment. 

For someone that loves the water, oceanwing diving looks beautiful, calming, and a heck of a lot of fun. 

Not sure in the video, how the guy is breathing under water (since they don't seem to show any sort of air tank), but maybe he is just going on bated breath. ;-)

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January 20, 2013

Under The Beautiful Sea

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) is looking for a place to stash some new military capabilities.

In a DARPA news release (11 January 2013) it states they are looking to support the navy by placing hibernated deep-sea capsules with payloads at under water locations and at the seafloor strategically around the globe--"almost half of the world's oceans are more than four kilometers deep" providing "cheap stealth".

The capsules with carry non-lethal payloads for "operational support and situational awareness"--such as command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). 

Examples of pre-deployed payloads could be unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and probably, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The release specifically states that this is "not a weapons program," but you could imagine future evolutions of this.

The initial capabilities sought are for "situational awareness, disruption, deception, networking, rescue, or any mission that benefits from being pre-distributed and hidden." 

The deep-sea capsules will need to survive under extreme pressure and be able to communicate at vast ocean depths to be remotely awoken and recalled when needed. 

Having capabilities available when and where needed--from the bottom of the sea to forward deployment--potentially mitigating some use of costly and non-stealth land bases.

I think this is an exciting idea especially since China was able to demonstrate its anti-satellite missiles in January 2007 in shooting down its own satellite, and I would think that these new underwater pods being sought may be able to provide some alternatives for sensing and communicating in conflicts where satellites are destroyed or disabled and/or other military muscle in not readily available. 

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Rakel SdPC)

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July 29, 2012

Jelly Fish, I Got One

This guy was terrific.

We were at Chesapeake Beach on the Bay.

There was a sign warning of jelly fish.

Unfortunately, this place didn't have a net.

This man actually caught one. 

And here he is displaying it on a branch. 

Afterwards, he goes over to what appears to be his mother and shows it to her. 

She looks at it with a funny scrowl, then moved in for a little closer look.

The jelly fish ended up falling unto some sea shells and then he retrieved it--all covered in these pieces and shards. 

Then back in to the water--toss...one, two, three.  

It was fun watching this scene, as well as a woman playing catch with her dog in the surf, a couple of teenagers collecting sea shells, and the beach patrol doing their thing. 

The jelly fish kept us out of the water--for the most part--but it didn't keep us from having a nice time. 

(Source photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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