Sunday, September 25, 2011

Vive como quieras

Ahora que se nos fue definitivamente el verano, comienza el mal tiempo, las malas noticias nos asaltan a todas horas en todos los medios y estamos ya todos instalados en lo que se ha dado en llamar cotidianidad, hacedme caso y reservad un par de horas en la agenda para hacerle una visita al se�or Capra. M�s exactamente, hac�dsela al abuelo Vanderhof, que seguramente no tardar� en haceros confesar alg�n talento oculto y en invitaros a su casa para desarrollarlo sin miedo y a tiempo completo.

Porque as� es el abuelo: desde que dej� el mundo de los negocios, porque vio que aquello no le llenaba, se dedica a hacer lo que le viene en gana junto a su familia, que sigue sus pasos, y todo aquel que desee unirse a ellos. Las puertas de su hogar est�n siempre abiertas para todo aquel que lo necesite.

El choque entre este mundo ideal al que da vida el abuelo y el mundo real representado por la familia del magnate Kirby no hace m�s que producir situaciones hilarantes que no dejan muy bien parada la realidad de 1938... Ni la de 2011. �Alguien tiene una mecedora a mano? El miedo nos ata a la cadena de montaje, el miedo a un futuro incierto y a la soledad que supone separarse de la manada. A pesar de que seguir en ella nos lleve de cabeza a todo aquello que tememos.

Y ah� est� el secreto de Martin Vanderhof: tras la apariencia de una existencia fr�vola y superficial se oculta una verdadera preocupaci�n por todos aquellos que forman parte de su vida, la de no dejar nunca a nadie fuera, la de no imponerles ni dejar que hagan nunca nada que vaya contra la b�squeda de su propia felicidad.

Hoy toca sesi�n de cine, �me acompa��is? ;)

Vive como quieras

Ahora que se nos fue definitivamente el verano, comienza el mal tiempo, las malas noticias nos asaltan a todas horas en todos los medios y estamos ya todos instalados en lo que se ha dado en llamar cotidianidad, hacedme caso y reservad un par de horas en la agenda para hacerle una visita al se�or Capra. M�s exactamente, hac�dsela al abuelo Vanderhof, que seguramente no tardar� en haceros confesar alg�n talento oculto y en invitaros a su casa para desarrollarlo sin miedo y a tiempo completo.

Porque as� es el abuelo: desde que dej� el mundo de los negocios, porque vio que aquello no le llenaba, se dedica a hacer lo que le viene en gana junto a su familia, que sigue sus pasos, y todo aquel que desee unirse a ellos. Las puertas de su hogar est�n siempre abiertas para todo aquel que lo necesite.

El choque entre este mundo ideal al que da vida el abuelo y el mundo real representado por la familia del magnate Kirby no hace m�s que producir situaciones hilarantes que no dejan muy bien parada la realidad de 1938... Ni la de 2011. �Alguien tiene una mecedora a mano? El miedo nos ata a la cadena de montaje, el miedo a un futuro incierto y a la soledad que supone separarse de la manada. A pesar de que seguir en ella nos lleve de cabeza a todo aquello que tememos.

Y ah� est� el secreto de Martin Vanderhof: tras la apariencia de una existencia fr�vola y superficial se oculta una verdadera preocupaci�n por todos aquellos que forman parte de su vida, la de no dejar nunca a nadie fuera, la de no imponerles ni dejar que hagan nunca nada que vaya contra la b�squeda de su propia felicidad.

Hoy toca sesi�n de cine, �me acompa��is? ;)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Underwater Clean Up in Santa Pola

Well that was interesting! And EXHAUSTING!!! A couple of hours in the sun, on the boat or in the water, are always tiring. Add the trash collecting and no wonder I'm so dead!

I got up at very early o'clock this morning, and zipped along the coast to the other end of the Alicante Bay to Santa Pola, to join in the 1st annual clean up organised by ANTHIAS, the dive club I've been going out with this summer, for "Clean Up Your World Day". 10 conscientious divers answered the call. We got our equipment ready as quickly as possible, piled it in the boat, and got the general instructions for the day's work.


 Our target:


the breakwater protecting Santa Pola's harbour, favourite haunt of local amateur fishermen.


The A-Team gets geared up to start on the first section:


They're off!


Those of us on the boat (B-Team) watch them bobbing up and down between the seabed and the surface, while the fishermen look on wondering what these crazy people are up to.


While filling up several trash bags with cans, juice boxes, plastic bags (by far the big winner), fishing lines, our friends occasionally bring us back some of the most random objects, way to big to fit in a bag!

abandoned fishing gear never really stops fishing! :s
du-dun, du-dun... (cue Jaws theme)
it was a plastic barnacle-covered table top!
would anyone like half a chair?

Halfway down the line we switch places. A comes up for some sun, B jumps in the water!


Main problem with this clean up? Crappy visibility!!!


Can't see much, can you? The bottom is all silt, so it finds itself easily in suspension in the water column (one good kick with the flippers and you're blind!). You have to get really close to things to be able to see them at all...


Quite disturbing!!!


Even looking up it's hard to make out the boat!


While we were doing our watery part, a few others worked along the rocks, braving the wrath of the fishermen who didn't like being interrupted, but who couldn't be bothered to clean up after themselves! grrrr....


I don't know what the final tally is, but we brought up a lot of shit! Hopefully next year more people will join in.



And now I'm turning in early... have to get up at bloody early o'clock again to go hiking! I must be crazy... :p

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Time to Clean Up The World

Did you know that the 3rd weekend in September is "Clean Up The World" weekend? In other words... last weekend and we just missed it! Or did we? Did any of you know about it?


Anthias, the dive club I've been going out with this summer sure did! They're combining that with Project Aware's Dive Against Debris programme, and they've organised a Mediterranean clean-up day for tomorrow! 


Project Aware's objectives:
"Dive Against Debris combines underwater cleanups with critical data collection that helps address marine debris problems at their source. The data we collect will present a compelling 360-degree view of debris issues and will help initiate policy change to prevent debris in the future."
"If we�re going to help change waste management policies, we need underwater data that paints a true picture of debris issues beneath the surface. We hope you - the dive leaders, volunteers and citizen scientists - will join a growing movement of scuba divers in 180 countries collecting and reporting the underwater trash you find to help protect the ocean against the onslaught of marine debris."
Marine debris is basically our everyday trash that ends up floating around or sinking in the oceans. Don't think it's just the responsibility of coastal dwellers! Trash travels over land (think of how far the wind can blow stuff!), down rivers and storm drains... you've heard of the water cycle, right? It all ends up back in the ocean! And once there it can drift anywhere around the world because it's really all just one big ocean thanks to the massive oceanic currents. This ends up being a problem for many animals (particularly sea birds, turtles...) who confuse the rubbish for food, for certain delicate environments (like coral reefs) and even humans who find their favourite once pristine beaches just covered in the trash the tide washed in! 


Who better than divers to appreciate this problem? We spend as many hours as we can lost in the beauty and wonders of the underwater world, and although we may on occasion make a joke out of it ('cause we usually have a great sense of humor!),

Don't Drink and Dive kids!

it saddens us to see things like this in the sea:

plastic bag floating beneath the sea's surface

This isn't  a problem that's going to be solved (or even cleaned up) with just one day's actions. It's going to take regular work and a daily effort from all of us to keep our oceans and planet clean! I'm going to be pitching in tomorrow, why don't you see if you can do something about it this weekend too? It's never too late to start, right? ;o)

And for the divers out there, here's a great Self-Study guide for collecting (and reporting) trash on your own while you're out diving. ;o)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

A Good Night's Sleep Worst Enemy




grrrrrr... I have 5 bites on my left arm alone (plus a couple on other arm and legs)! Bloody thing has been buzzing in my ear all night. Tried to kill it several times but missed. Result? Finally got out of bed at 5:30 a.m. (after 5h of fractured sleep) looking for something to do. Drowsiness is starting to kick in again, so maybe I'll give it another go. Good thing I don't have to teach until the afternoon! But if I do manage to fall back asleep too bad for the various tasks that needed doing this morning...

Now where is that bloodsucker hiding?

zzzzzzzzz.....

Friday, September 16, 2011

Unpacking memory lane

Moving is usually very annoying and downright exhausting, especially when it seems to be a neverending process because you haven't been able to get your act together all summer to tackle those final boxes (6 in the bedroom and at least a dozen or so on the balcony). But sometimes opening up those boxes can take you on a trip down memory lane!

I unpacked a couple of boxes today marked "fragile" and "childhood deco", one of which had been packed away since at least Christmas 2004 (and the other one maybe ditto). The result brought smiles:


keep reading!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Current status of Project 365: R.I.P.

Damn. Well, so much for that idea! Between the fact that I kept forgetting to take pictures each day, and the fact that I could always muster the will to upload them onto my computer, edit them and then upload them to the blog daily... *sigh* I just stopped at some point in June when I realised how far behind I was and how many other things I had on my plate (like work, and moving, and World Oceans Day).

I might try again next year. Maybe not. We'll see. Was anyone else out there doing something like this? Have you managed to keep it up? (Juliette???)

Here are a few of the photos I have in my 365 file waiting to be uploaded, figured I might as well give some of them a chance to come out and play:

May 14: a young flamenco dancer in San Vicente's "Feria Andaluza"
keep reading!