The Rest of the Trip Part I...

Not very exciting titles to the blogs, but honestly when I'm typing, I'm too tired to be creative...

This is the first opportunity I've had to actually sit at a computer since I've been in Peru.  I'm at the moment in the office of our tour guides and new friends Percy and Brady in Cusco, Peru.  They've been more than helpful since we've been in Cusco, and we are thankful for them!!

Before the trip began, I bought a small external hard drive to take with me and dump images to as I went along.  The only problem is, yes, I have a Mac, and in the internet cafes and most offices of Peru, PC's reign supreme.  What does that mean?  My drive can't be read by them, and I can't dump my images.  So instead, I've been dumping my images to Percy's computer.

Of course, I have to have a way to get them back home so now I'm sitting in their tour office in Cusco burning DVD's...I'm constantly reminded that when traveling, be prepared for everything to go wrong that can.  For this reason, I'm thankful that they've been more than gracious to work with me in every way possible to figure out a way to save the images I've been shooting.  Eventually I'll have some to share with you all thanks to these guys.  uh, gotta go...I'll write when I get back to the States I guess.

The Clothing Journey

We spent Sunday going to a church in Miraflores with some friends, then talking clothing business with our new friend Anny Tuipe.  After a few hours of talking business, we aired out our minds with a stroll along the beautiful cliff line overlooking the ocean at the Larcomar.  Monday morning we met with some other friends interested in helping with the business, Samuel and Marta.  They took us to the clothing district in Lima, a writhing mass of handcarts, tricycle carts, cargo, signs, color.  It was a great learning experience, especially in regard to what is available in Lima for textiles, etc.

Check out the album HERE.

Stuck In Lima - Guess we'll visit La Punta...

As with everything else on our trip, getting to Cusco proved to be harder than anticipated.  To all considering traveling overland to cusco from Lima, plan on three or four days enjoying the stops along the way, or a 22 hour bus ride straight through. We had an entire route planned out going down the coast to Paracas, Nazca, inland to Huaycucho, Cusco, through Arequipa, and ending in Lima.  By the time we had figured out how much time and money it would take to get to all these places, we had narrowed the list to Lima-Cusco-Lima.  So much for the sweeping travel plans.

Rather than spending the 22 hours on the bus we bit the bullet and bought tickets for Wednesday morning.   Since we were stuck in Lima until then, we decided to pass the time by taking a side trip via taxi and combi (bus) to la Punta Callao, a port about 45 minutes outside of Lima.

Check out the album HERE.

Rainstick Beach and the Point

While there we checked out the beach.  It was cold, windy and gray.  The only other person there was an old man sitting in a plastic chair hunched against the wind.  He was guarding the outhouse, making sure all who entered in paid what I now call the pee tax.  Fortunately I didn't have to use his service and left him sitting in peace.

The beach in the area actually consisted of grapefruit size rounded stones that knocked against one another like a giant rain stick as each wave receded from the shore.  We wandered around listening to the strange sound and taking pictures of dilapidated row boats weathering away on the beach.

Listen to the Beach HERE.

After ample picture time we checked out the municipal library on the tiny square.  They happened to be having senior citizens lunch at the time, so we snuck up the Victorian stairs and plopped down on an ancient black leather couch in the stairwell to rest. We had a jolly time there contemplating the ceiling, and when we rose to leave, noticed two body prints that hadn't previously been there...uh, we're still not sure where they came from, but if you're reading this and you're from the library, our sincere apologies.

Just around the corner next to the sea, we perused the row of empty restaurants waiting for hungry people.  There was definitely a lot of traditional Peruvian food like cow heart kabobs, chicken balls and things like that.  While contemplating our culinary choices, a couple of local musicians strolled by.  I asked them to play a couple of traditional Peruvian tunes, which I happjly recorded with my iPhone.  5 soles and some good music later, we decided to wait on dinner and backtrack to a very colorful little town a couple of blocks from La Punta called Chucuito.  We snapped some shots on the street of all the different paint schemes, talked to a very nice older lady working there as an information person who told us chucuito was painted like that for tourists, and spied on some welders showering sparks in the adjacent ship yard as the evening grew.

Finally we wandered around a colonial era ammo depot with a ton of canons and slipped into a tiny restaurant just as the doors were closing.  We got the usual-grilled chicken with rice, and beef with rice.  We ate while Dad did the books and the kids teased each other. Kids are the same where ever you go.  "He's picking on me!" complains the girl to Dad with that little girl look hard for dads to resist.  "Not unh, she's picking on me!" retorts the little boy.  And around the tables they go chasing and laughing.  I sneak a few shots with my giant camera sitting on the table.

It's getting late so we pay for our meal and slip out onto the street.  It's night, I'm nervous, and as we walk to the corner to catch a bus back to Lima, a taxi pulls up next to us.  The driver leans over and starts telling us to be careful, watch out for thieves, and not to be walking around. He tells us so many times and with such intensity, he starts freaking me out! We tell him we're fine we only have to walk a block.  He gesticulates and rattles off even more intensely, telling us he'll take us the block for free, just to get in the taxi.  There is literally no one else on the street, and somethings smelling veeeery fishy.  I'm about to punch the guy in the face he's getting so annoying.  Then he tells us if we change our minds, he'll be parked at the end of the road on the plaza by the sea.  Finally he leaves us alone.

We get to the little plaza and ask the police women standing there where to pick up the bus, and who should interject from the curb but our friendly taxi man.  He tells us we shouldn't take the bus it's too dangerous, but he'll take us safely to Lima.  He actually comes over to us again while we're talking to the women to solicit us.  Man, this guy is desperate for a job, or to help himself to our stuff.

I finally tell him in a strong tone for the last time we don't want his services, and even the police woman tells him the same thing, after which he apologizes to me for bothering us.  Geez, the bus sounds like heaven at this point.  We finally catch the bus and make to the hostel in one piece.  Tomorrow we head to cusco.

Info gathering going well

The days in Lima were spent well in terms of finding out the things I needed to know in the beginning stages of the micro-business.  We've made solid contacts and new friends with people who have the right skill sets to get such a venture off the ground.  Namely business licensing requirements, import/export knowledge in this area, and a good knowledge of small coops in Peru and how they work.  Now it's time to visit the famed Machu Pichu.

Flight to cusco
View from the plane

Morning comes early.  Like 3:30 early.  We basically sleep dressed so we can just roll out of bed into the taxi.  This is what we do, and a couple of hours later we're on the plane to cusco.  It's a one hour flight, as compared to a 22 hour bus trip.  We hardly have time to get settled before we are descending again. We skirt some fantastically tall peaks tearing a hole through the clouds and then for a second all is grey.  When we break through the bottom side it's as though we've entered another world.  A vast patchwork of red, brown, and yellow terraced mountains cut by deep valleys spread out beneath us.  Their peaks disappear into the clouds we've just come through.  Soon a pattern of red tile roofs appears in a valley.  We bank sharply left as the roofs rush toward us and then we are down.  We stand under a blue sky with white clouds and cool temps.  Welcome to cusco.

Check out the album HERE.

Sacred valley tour woes

We've connected with a friend of a friend from back in the U.S.  His name is Brady and he has a tour company called machu pichu sky.  He's a fellow believer which makes our meeting that much more comfortable.  In a matter of a day he's arranged the travel for our plans in cusco.

We are whisked to our hostel and have breakfast in the pretty courtyard while we discuss the schedule. First on the list is the city tour.  We sleep until lunch and then board a bus with a bunch of other, um, tourists (there! I said it), and start to take in the ruins of the famous Inca empire.

Like every good tourist, we obediently follow our guide around while trying to decipher his broken English, absorb the impact of entire civilization, and take at least one photo with no one in it in a record time of five minutes before we are herded back onto the bus to see the next place we've been waiting to see our entire lives.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever let me get on a tour bus again.

As a consolation prize, however, we get to visit Sexy Woman, aka Saxayhuaman, the largest Inca ruin just outside cusco, and we even get to take some time here to take it all in. The immensity and precision of it really is amazing.  Even if for only one hour I'm glad for the chance to see it.

Check out the album HERE.

More to come later, as outlined below!!  

Prep for machu pichu

After our city tour

The big day and glitches

No hot water in Aguascalientes

Concert

Ruela gets kicked off the mountain

Cold onset

Machu pichu highlights.

Saturday country drive and farm day

Day 7

I'm still typing these updates on My iPhone as i haven't had the time to find coMputer access but when I think about it the technology is amazing.  I mean, I'm updating my blog on the Internet from my cell phone in Peru!

It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone-arts camp for the kids is already gone. We had our finale tonight.  A mass concert with probably 100 kids singing, dancing, and beating buckets and trash cans with drumsticks.  Even though I was shooting pictures I was moved by the force of joy with which they worshipped.

Ask me if it is worth coming down to this place to instruct kids in the arts, and the use of the arts in worship, and I will tell you yes, without a doubt.  It's not just about having enough supplies to be able to express themselves through art - it's about forever impacting these lives through the power of relationship.  Ultimately materials don't impact people.  People impact people.  This is one small way of doing just that.  All of the supplies used were brought down by our team, and for this week we've spent our days pouring our knowledge, passion, and love into these young lives.  At the concert there were several hundred people-family and friends of the students who were able to see the power of artistic expression in their childrens' lives.  In Peru many people look down on art as a legitimate job or career.  Espcially on the expression of art in spiritual contexts.  The president of the national endowment for the arts has said that the greatest challenge of this century is to reconnect the arts with the expression of faith.  This task is evident in Peru as well, and is what we have been striving to help accomplish.

The film experience

I have been struck by the number of times we were thanked by the people we have filmed for coming to visit them.  As I've seen before, so many of these people feel so honored by our presence.  They feel as though someone in the world knows they exist and cares enough to come.  It is a humbling experience and always hard to leave each person or family we  have visited.

This week we've run ragged filming.  Monday was scout day.  We drove to each of the locations to scope them out for lighting and angles and ambience. We wanted each place to tell the best story possible.  Along the way I shot over 600 images.  The next day we filmed the daily process of the feeding program three of the churches have in their communities. Altogether they serve over 250 children breakfast or lunch every day.  They are up to Start breakfast at 4:30 a.m. every day.  Then the kids come, answering the call from the man with the portable bullhorn running through the hills announcing breakfast.  They come out of their homes with dirt floors, particle board walls and plastic or tin roofs.  And for a moment in their day, they find warm hugs and happy faces.

At one house, I introduce myself to a neighbor watching our interview.  I stand on one side of a tall particle board wall and she on the other with her little 9 month old girl.  Her baby is more bold than she is, leaning over the fence while her mother hides behind her.  I find out her name is Juana and her baby is Estefanie Valeria.  I comment on how much I like the green color of her fence and she says the fence would be ugly without it.  As it is, it's one of the few green things in the area, a splash of much needed color in a dreary brown world.

Julia, the lady we are interviewing, is very pregnant, and when we ask her the due date she says today...uh maybe she shouldn't be sitting on that small stool...she asks everyone their names and seems to decide that Benji's is the one she wants to use for her own child.  Influence is strong here.

At another house, the last one for the day, we interview a mom who has been involved with the feeding program for some time.  She cooks meals for the children, her own eating there as well.  In their meager home there live four families, all related.  The grandma, who is 83, thanks us for coming.  I thank her for allowing us into her home.  I am acutely aware of their vulnerability as they open their lives to us.  They allow us to come in with our cameras and film pictures of everything.  I wonder how I would respond if a film crew came into my house and asked to film in my bedroom and everywhere else.  But they are all glad we've come to be with them.

Grandma has a daughter who has four beautiful daughters.  One of them, Lindsey, is about to turn 15.  On October 16, she will have her quinceria.  It is the celebration for all girls becoming young women.  While we are conversing and filming she watches intently everything we do.  As I shoot I let she and her younger sisters see the photos in my camera screen.  As we stand there she tells me she is turning 15 and asks if I will be her Padrino - I think I know what she is asking but I ask Ramiro to be sure and yes, I am right.  She wants me to be her godfather.  This is a great honor, and usually is reserved for a man in the family or a close family friend, but she has asked me.  I've only known her for two hours.

The fact is that we have no idea how much hope and life we bring to these people.  For us to boil down such trips to a matter of money is to have missed the heart of the matter.  We can send money and things to people all day long, but there is no substitute for being with people in the flesh.  This is what brings encouragement and hope.

As web are about to leave, Lindsey says, "so you can't be my godfather because you're not going to be here on my birthday?" I tell her that that is correct and tell her I am sorry but that I am honored she has asked me.  I am embarrassed to have been asked to fill such a role - I don't really deserve to be asked that.  It makes me realize again the impact we have on people here in these circumstances.

As we drive away I am sad again and sit quietly for awhile lost in thought.  I realize how permanent these circumstances are for so many people and feel the weight of that.  I have to remind myself that I can't change everything but I can just relate to people and be with them.  That is what I can do.          

Day 3

It's 11pm and the steady um puh umbpuh of bass under high electronic riffs pushes in through the open windows. If I had been taken here blindfolded I would swear I was somewhere in Asia based on the anime-esque sound. But I'm not.  I'm in Peru.    Under a warm alpaca blanket on the second floor of a house in Comas.

 Today we spent getting aclimated to our surroundings. We hiked up the hill to the cross overlook through the poorest parts of Comas.  Two years ago when I came everything was new, but now I feel like I'm visiting an old friend.  Others are here for the first time and I am reminded of the continual flow of life from new to old. I see it in the faces around me, young children with the aged. Nothing seems different here since I left but I know I've changed.  Loyda comments that my Spanish has improved. There's a change!

After the hill we plan for the documEntary.  When we have a rough schedule nailed down we take a short break then eat dinner.  It's already 9pm.  We celebrate gigi's birthday away from home then taxi it back to the house.  The music pumps through the window phnctuated by distant fireworks, lulling me to sleep.  So flows the river. Welcome to Peru.

Peru, Land of the Inca

Hello to everyone. Just a quick update to let you know I am headed to Peru in the next couple of days. I'll be working with a group of artists outside of Lima to mentor people in the arts (singing, dance, photography, etc.), to pick up some skills from them, and to do some documentary photography and video work.

The second week, I will be researching for a clothing project that is underway along with making some great images of Peru and it's people.

Stay tuned to keep up with the action as it unfolds!

The Bitter End Has Arrived...

Hey, guys! In case you haven't heard by now, the bitter end has arrived. The die has been cast, Tourism Queensland has spoken, and they've chosen Ben Southall from the UK to live in the Blue Pearl Villa on Hamilton Island for the next six months...playing in the sun...with the dolphins, and sea cows, and pretty coral, sipping exotic drinks with little umbrellas to keep the ice from melting in them - I'm not jealous, no not me! I've got much better things to do in Nashville. Uh, I'll let you know when I think of them.

Really, it's not bitterness, I just have a melancholy personality, you know Eyeore - a dark cloud behind every silver lining. Why do you think I was researching poisonous creatures in the Great Barrier Reef? Eyeore Complex. NOTHING can be that paradisical (new word), not even the GBR. I don't even really have the heart to tell you about the rest of those VPC's that I promised. The best I can do is give you a link to them HERE.

So, Ben, congratulations! I'm sure you'll be a much more cheerful caretaker than I would have been. My approach wasn't working - how do you attract people to a place by telling them all the ways they could die or contribute to medical research? No, you're the man Ben! Just wear your nylons and watch out for those tiny little invisible floaties waiting to send you to the Hereafter...

I Can Finally Tell the Truth...

The truth is, I knew two days ago I wasn't gonna be in the top 50. But I felt like I should wait til it was "official"...and, now it is. Check out www.islandreefjob.com for the top 50, and if you want, follow them to the bitter end!!!

And to all you who have been reading this blog, or at least visiting from time to time, thank you so much for stopping by!!! I intend to keep blogging, now that I've started, and the topics for this blog will be based around my travel and visual arts pursuits. I will, however, be finishing my blogs up about the TEN MOST POISONOUS CREATURES on the reef before leaving the the reef behind as a major topic.

It has been a fascinating and fun journey since I started this thing a month ago (it's only been a month??) In regard to my video, as soon as I turned it in and slept for a few hours, I saw things I really wish I had changed, but alas there was no time left! As it turns out, those things would have been very helpful, but most of what we do in life is a matter of learning by trial and error.

Life is like an iceberg. Most of the successes that people see above the surface are undergirded by a far greater number of "failures" beneath the surface. They aren't failures, really, just opportunities for reassessment, adjustment, and refinement of the way we live and the things we do. There will be another time.

In the meanwhile, I'll still be writing, and shooting, and traveling, and learning, and sharing! There's too much to do just to sit around and wish I'd been the one snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef for $100 grand...(isn't there??) =)

And to all the applicants who applied, and those who are still kicking, congratulations on making the effort. I can see the icebergs rising!

Finding Nemo Finds a Home

Hey, folks. Just thought I'd let ya know that the DVD Finding Nemo is making it's way to Colorado24, the winner of stage 1's drawing!! Hope Nemo likes it over there!

Tomorrow, I will officially announce the results of Stage 2 thus far...

Wishing a wonderful evening to all.

Ice Cream Cone + Gastropod = Our Next VPC

Hi, y'all. I've been checking out our latest VPC (Very Poisonous Creature) for a couple of days. Aside from getting sidetracked on YouTube watching videos of the Loch Ness monster for a couple of hours, I have learned some very interesting things about this ocean gastropod, known as the Cone Shell.photo: wickipedia.org Textile Cone

The snail is so named because the shell resembles an ice cream cone - except that's not ice cream in there. It's a big, muscular foot, and a big siphon tube mouth, and a couple of stalk eyes - oh yeah, and some nasty harpoon teeth.

Doot-De-Doo, hohum, hohum, along slides the snail, beautiful and harmless looking, with that proboscis sticking out, smelling the water. For what? For dinner. Then along comes a hapless little fish, or human hand or foot (curiosity killed the FILL IN THE BLANK), and chemicals secreted by the curious victims enter the proboscis of the snail.

It does a little searching with that long, skinny mouth/nose, and then...BAM!!! BAM, BAM!!! Dinner is served. Or in the case of the human hand, that little harpoon tooth has just delivered the goods. Which, of course, isn't really good at all, even if you've got a hold of such a pretty shell...

The story of the monkey who stuck his fist in the jar and then got beat over the head comes to mind...



Cone shells are very common. There are over 1000 species of cone shells, which have varying diets. They may eat other mollusks, sea worms, crustaceans, or small fish. Mostly, they are from 2 to 4 inches long, but the ones that eat fish grow up to 10 inches long. These fish-eating cone shells are the most dangerous to humans. Fortunately, there are only a few of these types - among them, the Textile Cone and Geography Cone. When their harpoon teeth are injected into the victim, they inject a milky venom which is a neurotoxin.

This venom will cause fish to be paralyzed in a few seconds, and to get a free slidey ride down a snail gullet. In humans, it causes blurred vision, slurred speech, numbness, and difficulty breathing (sounds like a few too many beers). If it is severe enough, it will cause respiratory failure in a few hours, and sometimes death.

There is no antivenin for the venom, so the only cure is life support and time, which allows the toxins to finally be dissipated by the body. Some say that about 20% of all cone shell stings result in death, more than the percentage for the cobra snake.

Although the bigger cones can be deadly, only fifteen deaths can be confidently attributed worldwide to the cone shell in the record books. The smaller ones (the vast majority of the cone species), produce a sting no more painful than that of a bee.

In spite of the downside to the venom of the cone shells, there is a great upside. The venom is very promising in serving as a basis for some very powerful and beneficial drugs. At the moment, there is research being conducted on its use as a cure for Alzheimer's disease, as well as a pain killer 1000 times more powerful than morphine, but without any side effects.

So on your next visit to the Great Barrier Reef, where there are 18 species of cone shells, a good rule of thumb is to keep your thumbs off of them. This will save you from a painful trip to the ER and being another guinea pig in cone shell venom research!!

Happy Snorkeling!

A Day In the Life of Me...

Well, here you go folks. Figured I'd put together a little video of what my typical day looks like. Probably very boring to those of you who don't know me, and a little boring to those who do, but it was fun to make! Besides, that's why they have that handy fast-forward button...

And The Winner Is...

As promised yesterday, I have (with the assistance of a trusted accomplice) drawn a winner for this stage.

And the winner is...(CUE TRUMPET BLAST). COLORADO 24! Yes, you know who you are. All you need do to claim your prize is email me your address, along with the film of your choice having anything to do with AUSTRALIA (either actors from or the film itself located Down Under). It will be delivered to your doorstep along with my sincere thanks for your continued support!!

For those of you who missed out this time around, there's always stage TWO (which we are now in). All that is required for you to enter is at least one comment on my blog, and a public following.

Congratulations, Colorado 24!

Finally, as a reminder, here are the crucial dates for this whole shindig.

March 2 - Announcement of 50 shortlisted candidates
April 6 - Announcement of 11 shortlisted candidates
May 3 - week of interviews with 11 in Queensland
May 6 - announcement of the winning candidate
July 1 - start date for the new "Caretaker of Hamilton Island"

If we make it past the first cut over 34,000 other candidates, that will be cause for incredible celebrating. If not, well, we can walk away knowing more than we ever thought we would about one of the greatest places on earth! See you tomorrow!

LAUNCHING STAGE TWO!

Great News!!! I just got my official acceptance today from Queensland Tourism. My application video is now online!

SO, what this means is that all of you who are following my blog will have one and possibly two opportunities to give me a big push towards the Reef.

HOW? you ask? By voting for my video as most popular. Yes, even when we're all grown up we play silly popularity games. But, I didn't make the rules, I'm just trying to take advantage of them!

So follow this link, and five star that sucker!! my video application!

Unfortunately, it runs more slowly (especially so on the island reef job site) on YouTube. Very frustrating of course after all the effort to see the video skip and lag so far behind the audio, but you work with what you've got right? =)

For a truer run, watch it in my blog here below. But don't forget to rate it 5 stars at the official site as that's how they'll know you guys are actually out there!!

FINALLY, some business to take care of. For you guys who have been with me from the start, thank you, thank you! As promised, I will be drawing a name and delivering up the winner a DVD of their choice having to do with Australia!!! You tell me what it is and it's YOURS!

I will make the announcement in tomorrow's blog! What will it be? Crocodile Dundee? Steve Irwin's Crocodile Hunter the Movie? The original Mad Max? Ah, the Man from Snowy River! OR, you may choose a movie that has an Aussie IN it! You pick, I send. Badabing, badabang!

See you all tomorrow, and don't forget to rate that video!

So, How Long IS That Reef??

If you've been following my blog and recent application video post, you might be wondering (like Mandy from the video) just how long that reef really is!! Or even WHAT it is (like Constance).

So I thought I'd be kind enough to answer these two questions for all you curious types.

But first check out this awesome footage from Tourism Queensland. You can find out a lot more info by checking out the media section at their site Island Reef Job.com

So the answer to the first question - "Where in the world IS the Great Barrier Reef?", as you've seen in previous posts, is the great country of Australia. Now to be more specific, it borders the northeast coast of the state of Queensland, Australia.

The answer to the second question is a bit more tricky. How long IS the Great Barrier Reef? I guess it depends on where you begin counting coral. Now if you wanted to you could really start counting at the southernmost tip of New Guinea and work your way down from there.

But even if you started in the far north at Somerset, Queensland, Australia and ended at Bundaberg, Queensland in the south, that would be 1480 miles (or 2387 KM for all you people in the rest of the world).


However, most estimates range in the mid-1200 mile range. But when you're talking about a living organism, things are in constant flux. I mean, if you got a big hurricane in it might pull up huge chunks of the reef, and well, then you've lost a few miles...

Then there are the Crown of Thorn Starfish, which eat up coral with gusto. They say as much as 30% of the coral has been digested by these critters. So then, do we count living reef, or dead reef? Dunno.


To all that coral I want to say hurry up and grow already, because the more the better, right? But you can't rush pure wonder...

Stay tuned for some outtakes, some more pics, and some more deadly VPC bios...

One More Thing...

My hat is off to Tourism Queensland for coming up with such a brilliant marketing scheme!! I mean what better way to generate world-wide publicity for Queensland than this? You've got all of us poor folks running around like crazies doing crazy things for a shot at paradise.

Brilliant! And thank you! At least I'll be more connected, more market-savvy, and more in shape than I was before I started this whole thing, and I'm sure the same is true for everyone else involved.

Check out the following article about the job: at the Brisbane Times.

WOO HOO THE ROCKET HAS LEFT THE PAD!

I am extremely, deliriously happy to announce (in-between sloppy typing and nodding off) that the video is entering cyber-space as I write. Now I don't want to get too happy because it's only half out of the other computer in the room as of now, and the little wheel of death has been spinning for some time at the queensland servers - SO, crossing my fingers that the pipes don't go down while this little gem is en-route.

After a day like yestertoday (not that's not a typo), anything could happen. Do I dare begin explain...well sure, why not, I've got nothing better to do....oh wait, yes i do (snooooore....)
____________________



Ok, It's now nine hours later. 9:56pm to be exact. I'm feeling slightly rejuvenated after a CiCi's Pizza run (love their buffet!), and a five hour nap. I feel a little bit like I just came out the other end of Willie Wonka's chocolate factory, but I guess it's good to experience that every now and then.

Let me pause here to say for all you "get to the point" people that YES, HALLELUJAH! the video is d-o-n-e, and I'm going to try to catch up on some sanity!! Now carry on...

So, yesterday, I was going to put together my video. I had all the pieces shot, and just needed to weave them into a complete whole. Little 15 second intro, few photos, video clips, some interviews, no problem. Until I found out that my Final Cut software was screwed up on my laptop. Which meant I had to use my desktop. Fine, except I had all the files on my laptop. Well, that's easy, you say. Just use a flash drive, or a CD! But my desktop is ancient. 7 years old, so, uh, it doesn't have USB 2.0, and all the newer external drives won't work with it. And of course, I forgot about the CD option...duh.

So, I figured I'd go to the store at about 10a.m. to get a thumb drive and resolve the issue. Easy transfer, BAM - done! But when I got there, I realized that there aren't any fire wire thumb drives, or portable hard drives for that matter - not at the stores! (of course, the two that would carry such things are no longer in business...)

Solution number TWO. Buy a large external drive which would be firewire, and which I could use to tranfer all those files from my laptop to desktop and vice versa. So after some running around that's what I did. Only when I had finally gotten the drive hooked up, files loaded, and tried to put it on my desktop - unt uh. No dice, nope, nada. The drive, while recognized in the flow chart, wouldn't show up on my computer.

It was now noon, and I had to be done by 4:30pm. Starting to get frustrated, I figured I could use an old external drive to do the job. SO, I got the NEW drive, put it back on my laptop, and proceeded to transfer ALL 200 gigs of info onto it from my old drive via the USB 2.0 port. But after "processing" the files to prepare for copying for like 10 minutes, it said it was going to take 87 hours to complete the transfer. EIGHTY-SEVEN HOURS. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? I DON'T HAVE 87 HOURS. I have FOUR, and counting!!!!

SO, I cancelled the operation. I thought maybe it would be faster via fire wire - since my new drive is so fancy, it has USB 2 AND firewire! So I plugged in my firewire port and dragged the files again to my hard drive. NOW it was even slower!! What the HECK was going ON!?

So I cancelled THAT operation, too, and the wheel on my screen kept spinning for longer and longer periods of time. FINE, I thought I'll just THROW SOME STUFF AWAY - like all my OS9 stuff. Who needs that anyway?

Well, all this dragging files back and forth, out of the trash, cancelling operations was apparently not well-liked by my hardware. I ejected my NEW drive from the laptop, and it went away. But THEN it magically reappeared. Why? Um, yeah, I forgot to unplug it from the USB port, so this whole time I'd had it plugged into my computer via USB AND Firewire. I don't think that's a good idea...

Just ask my OLD hard drive. Because it crashed. Hard. And now I'd managed to buy a new drive that didn't work, and crash 200 gigs of information on my old drive.

All for 15 seconds of video.

And I was just getting started! Finally, 6 hours after I started this whole compatibility circus, I finally realized I could just burn a CD...

Call me whatever you want at this point. I deserve it. At this point I had accomplished absolutely ZERO on my editing, had spent $250 on new equipment, and had to go teach my evening class. My roommate walked in just at that moment and said,

"So, you STILL working on that video?" Insert the expletives here because I'm ashamed to say they were running thick in my mind. I let him have it for a few seconds minus the potty mouth words, and then ran out the door to class. Yesterday, it was 75 degrees here. Today it was 25, except I forgot so I left without a jacket. All fine and good. Until I got to my car at 8:30pm, without a coat, and discovered that, whaddya know? My battery was dead!

Well, a few phone calls and one good friend later, my friend BEN's big Bronco was next to my car in the street. Only, uh, his hood wouldn't open. Now this would all be fine in 80 degrees. But it wasn't 80, it was 25. And I had no coat. By now, I was just laughing...a strange, deranged sort of laughter that makes you afraid when you hear it in the movies...

No really, it was becoming really funny. Either you laugh or cry. Laughing is easier. So, finally the hood was jimmied open, the car started right up, and I was on my frozen way home. Now I figured I'd better just start editing when I got home because I only had one day to finish everything before the deadline. And that's what I did.

I put together 15 seconds of video - all night long...I saw the sun come up - it looked so beautiful stretched across the golden fields outside the window. I saw it every few seconds in-between my micro - naps I was now taking. Finally, by 1:30pm, TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS after I began this madness, I compressed the final copy, and heard the angels singing. Or maybe that was delirium. At any rate, that five hour nap did a world of good.

HOORAY!! It didn't matter that the island reef job website wouldn't take my video after 10 tries, or that I had to use three different computers to get a browser that worked properly. All that mattered in the END was that I had accomplished the goals I had set out for myself when I first decided to do this crazy thing.

I DID THE VIDEO!! And it is now a great joy for me to annouce that STAGE ONE of my journey to the Big Reef is now FINISHED.

Welcome to stage TWO. The next phase is mostly waiting, networking, blogging, and building exposure, all while praying I make it into the top 50. Hope you guys stay with me on the journey!!!

And please feel free to make any and all comments or suggestions on the site. OH, and, check out the VIDEO and pass it along!! In the next few days, I'll be posting some out-takes.

Blessings.

I Must Be Insane

Working like crazy on my video. I must love pressure, cuz I'm under it - and the worst part is that it is self-induced. Why can't I just enjoy the regular 9 to 5 life?? =/

At any rate, today I purchased a scanner/copier/faxer/printer/dishwasher/dryer/rocket launcher thingy to do my whole life for me, including blowing it up when it gets too out of hand (which it's about to do).

But of course I can't figure out how to turn it on...ah, I remember the sweet days of ruler-lined notebook paper and pencil smudges!

I'll let you know when I surface, which will be right before the clock strikes midnight on the 21st.

Dum dum dum, DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM. Hope all you other island reefers are kickin' it on your tweeter decks somewhere, cuz SOMEone has to be relaxed at the moment or else the world will start to wobble...

Ciao for now.

Which One of these VPC's will Kill You?

Which one of these combinations is the one that will kill you? OR Hey guys! It's been a crazy few days around here. Between working on my video, blogging, twittering, facebooking, and working on my currently paying gigs, I feel like a three ring circus except that I'm in all three rings at once. How does THAT work out?

Well, I'm excited to say I've received another top 10 bio from one o' those personable VPC's (Very Poisonous Critters). I've constructed a little puzzle above to introduce our current VPC. If you can figure it out without looking below, you get an extra Gold Star for the day!

So, prerequisite drum roll please!!! If you guessed the BJF, you are dead right. And if you didn't get it, you're dead wrong. If you touch one of them, you're at risk of death either way, so be very nice, take a step back, and welcome the Box Jelly Fish to blogger fame!

You may remember that these graceful, floaty little blobs of jelly are cousins of the coral polyps that have built the largest living structure in the world. And I'm sure they're thankful for their cousins' hard work because some of them live not too far from the protective walls of the reef (but not actually ON the reef - a very important distinction).

So why is it that these little guys are so bad? Well, first of all, there are roughly 19 known species of the BJF. And, they're not exactly like true jelly fish in that they actually "hunt" their prey (don't worry - they like shrimp, not people). The smallest of these identified critters from the class Cubozoa is the Carukia Barnesi (named after Dr. Barnes, a general practitioner. He discovered a live specimen in 1966 after spending a few hours on the sea bed staring up into space until one came floating by his mask).

At any rate, Carukia Barnesi is also known as the Irukandji jellyfish. These little guys, roughly an inch across or less, aren't content to just laze around in the sea. No, they're on a mission. They've got places to go, people to see, fish to catch. They actively swim up to 1.8 meters/second. I saw one swimming the other day with a gold medal around it's bell...



They only have four tentacles, which can trail from each corner of their bell up to around 16 inches behind them. Unlike most other jellyfish, they have nematocysts (stinging cells) on their bell as well as their tentacles. It's usually the bell that people come into contact with and are stung by. (That is one bell you do NOT want to ring...)

Usually, the sting is very minor or unnoticed, until 30 (or 5) minutes later, when it begins to feel like you're giving birth to octuplets, only 10 times worse. Now, being a man, I can't even imagine giving birth, period. But I'm thinking that there might be some women out there who wouldn't mind if a few more men had an encounter with a Irukandji jellyfish, just to encourage a little empathy...

This unbearable cramping, spasmodic pain in the lower back and just about every other muscle in the body, along with sweating, vomiting, nausea, respiratory failure and heart attack is known as Irukandji syndrome (ok, maybe child birth isn't quite as bad as that...). There is no anti-venin for the sting, so life-support and lots of vinegar is the recommended fare. Vinegar, when poured over the stung area, neutralizes any unfired stinging cells and can save you from a whole lot more pain.

The name of this little box jelly comes from the "Irukandji" tribe of Aboriginals who lived in Australia's Palm Cove area where the stings were frequently reported. I just keep thinking it's a strange honor to be named after such a VPC, but then it's other people who usually do the naming for you.

The really cool thing about these critters is that they have four sets of six eyes, one cluster on each side of their bell. Wouldn't that be convenient. Then you wouldn't have to have a neck. Which they don't. Nor do they have a central nervous system. Which leaves scientists (and tourists) wondering how they actually utilize those images they're receiving. Amazingly, 4 eyes in each set are simple photo-receptor cells (like the ones on your digital camera sensor) and see light and dark, while 2 eyes actually have a retina, lens, and cornea. In fact, the lower eye also has an iris which adjusts to the brightness of light. And they're far-sighted, too.

The bad thing is that they're transparent, so while they might be able to see us, we can't really see them. The good thing is the waters of Australia are fairly free of them during the dry season (May - November), so the risk of getting attached to one is very slim. There have only been two recorded deaths in the history of Irukandji stings. Like you're more likely to get struck by lightning than to get smacked by an Irukandji jelly. So rest easy. And if you're really nervous about it, buy a pair of nylons because they can't sting through them. Unless they're fishnet, but that might be a little weird anyway...

All in all, these little VPC's are the most venomous creatures in the animal kingdom known to man. I think they must have gotten that way by being called "Block Head" and "24 Eyes" in school. But that's just my opinion. I'm going to mind my own business, and pack a bottle of vinegar for lunch. By the way, the best news of all is that there are very few at the reef. Most of them are close to shore. So enjoy your stay, swim with a partner, and be glad for nylons.

If you're interested in a lot more detail, check out the following sites: http://www.marine-medic.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_jellyfish

See you next time!

Gettin' In Shape - Swimming with the P

I'll let you guys figure out what the P is, (think giant pool at a rec center...), but thought the momentous occasion of my re-acquaintance with the world of P was worth recording, being another step toward the best job on the planet!

So what do you all think of my entry into the water? I think it was the best I've ever done! ;-) Heck, why don't you guys out there join me in (re)discovering the art of swimming!!




PS. I haven't forgotten about the most deadly little critters down at the reef. I'm just waiting for them to get back to me with their bios - you know how life in the tropics is in a bit slower current of time...these guys just chowin' on one last plate of plankton before getting down to business!

Another Brave MOS (Man On the Street) Soul...

Hey, guys! Hope you are all doing well and enjoying some of the sunshine we've been having here in Nashville today WOW, beautiful day!! Got a couple of vids to continue the two most important questions of the year:

1. Where in the world is the Great Barrier Reef, and
2. How LONG is that sucker??





Hey, I don't script 'em folks, I just turn on the camera...but cheers to these guys for stickin' their necks out. Next time the great barrier reef comes up in general conversation, they'll be golden!

Rules for Man On the Street

Ok, so while cruisin' around taping, I've discovered a few things that make the experience much more user-friendly. Like making sure people actually WANT to be video taped...

My question is why wouldn't EVERYone want to have their face all over the internet? Um, dunno. Maybe they're practicing to be lawyers, or celebrities in hiding, or criminals, or, uh, maybe vampires. I hear you can't see vampires on tape... (which brings up a strange question: why is it that you CAN'T see vampires on tape, but you CAN see ghosts on tape...hmmm.)

This is the first rule on tape!

Announcing our first Man on the Street...

Ok, so it's on the porch, and it's two women, not one man, but all the same...

So the last couple of days, I've been carting a video camera around asking people two questions:

1) Where is the Great Barrier Reef?
2) How long is the Great Barrier Reef?

The biggest thing I want to do in my videos is convey a sense of what people know (or don't) about the Great Barrier Reef, and to provide answers to the above questions. They are simple questions, but (as you will see) not always common knowledge. And, uh, I don't write this stuff folks. I just shake hands and turn on the camera...

At any rate, I'll be posting various clips giving you guys a glimpse into what's going on upstairs with our fellow citizens. BTW, don't be too hard on them. After all, when did you really know the answers to these things... OH-kay!?

Hope you enjoy! =)

My Prayers are with the Aussies

Hey, guys. As many of you are aware, there have been massive fires and flooding in Australia in the last few days. Just wanted to say that my prayers are with those who have lost family, friends, and possessions in these events!!

Check out AussieJoysLife for some links to info. about the fires as well as the link below.

Images of the fires.

Sea Snake Swim.

See Johnny stare. See snake check Johnny out. See Johnny wet his suit. See snake swim after minnows instead. See Johnny leave snake alone.

Olive sea snake

flickr: by Wibble_Roisin

So goes a theoretical kindergarten book on sea snakes in the ocean and the great respect we should have for them. Critter #2 on the most poisonous list are sea snakes. Keep in mind this list is in no particular order - all these critters deserve a place in it without discrimination.

Around the Great Barrier Reef, there are 14 species of sea snake, more or less. One of the most common is the Olive sea snake, which can grow up to 2 meters in length. It bears live young (as do all but 5 species), and can stay underwater for 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how active it is. Hey, you could hold your breath that long, too if you had a lung that grew all the way to your shins.

Even cooler, it seems that sea snakes can breathe through their skin, too, which gives them the distinct advantage of being able to get to the surface if they forget to look at their dive watches to see how long they've been down. (Just kidding, they don't really have dive watches...) They can actually meet up to 20% of their oxygen needs through their skin.

Contrary to popular belief, not all sea snakes are venomous. The Turtlehead sea snake, for instance, just eats caviar (a very high society snake). Being against violence, wearing furs, and all that stuff, it doesn't really need any venom.

But, the Olive sea snake does have venom. And it is very curious (just ask Johnny). Fortunately, as a general rule, sea snakes aren't mean-spirited, and won't try to bite you just because you're lookin' at 'em. And they typically have little fangs, and like to conserve their venom. Which is good because like the venom in a lot of sea creatures, the venom of sea snakes is very deadly. It takes up to 100 times as much venom to cause death in humans from a land snake bite as it does from a sea snake bite. Bummer for eels, which are oh, so much smaller than humans... =(

The usual follows upon being bitten. Voluntary muscle paralysis (and disintegration), brown or black pee (those were DEFINITELY the wrong vitamins), and eventually respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and death. The good news is that can take several hours, giving you enough time to get to a hospital and get some HELP!

Check out these VIDEOS on youtube for some more sea snake action, and as always, keep your fingers to yourself... ;-)

Electric Blue Golf Balls of Death

Sounds dramatic because it is. Yeah, while researching the Great Barrier Reef, I stumbled on some nasty little critters. Well, they're only nasty if you're nasty to 'em first, but I've decided to do a TOP TEN list of deadliest critters at the GBR.

Critter #1 - Normally, it trys to blend in to its surroundings and is brownish or greenish, with dull blue rings. Yes it's also the size of a golf ball, kind of like those cute little gremlins back in the '80's. Until you water them. Then, BAM! Three minutes from death. The first top ten selection is the Blue Ringed Octopus. There are actually three confirmed variations of the species.

While it's tiny, it has a beak that can cut through a wet suit, and venom that it mixes with its saliva, so when it bites you, in goes the venom. 3 minutes later, you're in cardiac arrest and respiratory failure. AND, there's no anti-venin for it.

The nice thing is it's very non-aggressive and only bites when it's threatened (i.e. someone tries to pick it up). Fortunately, it's rings glow electric blue like a neon sign when it's feeling insecure. Unfortunately, that's usually a split second before it strikes.

The great news, of course, is that if you get CPR and life-support, you'll be ok when the venom works its way out of your body several hours later. Rule of thumb: Don't pick up little electric blue golf balls of death...

If you want more info, like the ingredients of the toxin (fascinating for all you medical types) check out (you guessed it) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus.























At any rate, tune in tomorrow (later today?) for the next critter in the list, and possibly some footage that I shot today. Have to say it's been fun being the "man on the street" interviewer! AND, I'll be sharing some guidelines I'm picking up in the process of filming...

How Do you Increase Blog Traffic?

Hey, guys. Hope you all are doing well!! I'm not doing so great, as I've caught a cold of some sort, BUT it gave me time to get some more things scratched off the "to-do" list. One of them being to find out how in the heck to increase traffic to my blog.

SO, if you've got a blog and have been wondering the same thing, I found this great site which has loads of tips on how to do it. I found it compliments of my friend Joy Argow (check out her link in my links), a real-life Aussie living here in Music City - and yes, she works with a band (go figure).

Here's the link: http://web2mom.com/10-great-blog-traffic-tips.

Does anyone have any other tips they can share from their experience on how to accomplish that?

At any rate, tomorrow I think I'll be trying to do some VIDEO, and writing a bit about electric blue golf balls that bite...

Roll Cameras...

Hey, folks. I'm going to post some vids in the next few days for your opinions - i.e. you get to tell me how bad they stink and give me great ideas for better ones...yee-haw!!!

Lolli-polyps Make for Sweet Reefs

So I've been running around like crazy the last few days, aarrrrrgh! I'm sure you can relate. The list of things to do is like dryer lint. No matter how much you get rid of, it just keeps growing. So it's about time to do some video taping. I think maybe this weekend...

Anyway, there really is no such thing as a lolli-polyp, but there are coral polyps (which you sure as heck don't wanna lick). They belong to the phylum Cnidaria, as do jellyfish. And they have stingers like jellyfish - hence the no licking rule.

So, thousands of polyps grow hard shells all attached using calcium carbonate from the sea water. Millions and millions of these shells together make up reefs, essentially huge structures made out of limestone, housing a cornucopia of polyps of every shape, hue, and color. At the Big Reef there are over 400 species of coral - brain coral, fan coral, branch coral, coral soup, coral gumbo, breaded coral, coral and beans...

Oh, yah, and they're carnivorous. Fortunately they're usually only a few centimeters big, so not to worry, they don't eat too much, mostly plankton, algae poop and stuff like that. And they can reproduce (asexually) by splitting in two or (sexually) by spewing millions of eggs and sperm into the ocean. These connect and hatch tiny new polyps, which then swim down onto the coral reefs to start their own shell domiciles. If they don't get eaten first. By whales. Or fish. Or other corals. Can you imagine if they all survived? I mean, for crying out loud, the Big Reef is already 1200 miles long (well technically, it's over 3000 smaller reefs. Either way you can still see it from space).

So there you have it. The world of the "lolli-polyp". Sweet.

flickr.com - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

















Toadstool Leather Coral - this is a whole colony of polyps, and is so named because it feels like leather to the touch.



wikipedia.com
















Sea Nettles, a type of jellyfish, free-swimming relatives of coral. Did you know they have no respiratory or excretory organs?

Wonderful World of Wonky Holes

Ok, hope y'all are doing well today after the disappointing loss at the Superbowl. I guess it just wasn't in the Cards for Arizona to win (get it? In the Cards? geez...what can I say, I inherited my humor.)

Anyway, I've recovered fairly quickly from the loss since it was only the second game I watched this season... yeah, I'm more of a "do" guy - would rather be playing football than watching it.

SO, question of the day: (Another drum roll, please)

What in the world is a Wonky Hole?

a) the flabby anus of a Rockfish (no lie, I didn't make that line up...)?
b) A volcanic vent in the ocean floor spewing hot gasses?
c) The Aussie term for a small beach pub where the locals hang out?
d) A fresh water spring in the middle of a coral reef in the ocean?

Ahhhh, I'll let you ponder that for a minute. But before I answer, I've got just a couple of things to clarify about the blog -

THING #1! - There are 5 stages to becoming "caretaker" for the Big Reef.

Stage 1 - submitting a video.

Stage 2 - getting into the 50 video pool.

Stage 3 - getting into the short-listed 11 video pool. This consists of 10 folks chosen by the Queensland tourism peeps, and ONE wild card video voted on by the world.

Stage 4 - getting interviewed for a week in the wonderful state of Queensland

Stage 5 - packing the bags for six months and heading (woo hoo!) to the land of polyps.

(BTW, Here's a picture of a bunch of polyps all together in a colony - good thing they're not bigger, cuz they're meat eaters...yup. more on that later.)








photo from Wikipedia









At any rate, we are now in STAGE 1, so stick with me for the ride, and we'll see what happens...

Ok, thing #2 to clarify! I'm giving away a free DVD during each stage to ONE someone who's following this blog and makes at least one comment or contribution during that stage. Hope you like movies based around Australia...

Thing #3 to clarify! The photo at the top of the page is not from the Great Barrier Reef or even Aussie Land. If you guess where it's from, I'll put your name in my blog title for a WHOLE WEEK, lol!

FINALLY, what the heck is a Wonky Hole? In case you haven't guessed it by now, a Wonky Hole (sorry mr. rockfish) is the Aussie term for a submarine fresh water spring on the sea bed in the middle of the BIG REEF. They can be found as far as 60 km offshore.

They were first discovered by local fishermen. Apparently their nets kept getting snagged in spots and almost capsizing their boats. They realized that this was because the irregular coral growth around the submerged springs was causing rough bottoms that were snagging the nets - so, they called them wonky, or topsy-turvy, off-balanced holes. Lots of nutrients, great fishing, hazardous navigation!

Wonky holes are located along riverbeds which existed in the last ice age ending about 11,000 years ago. At that time much of northern Europe and North America was covered by ice sheets up to 3 km thick; the water tied up in the glacial ice lowered the sea level more than 120 m. Less water, more land.

When the ice began to melt, the waters rose, and what was land was covered with seas.

The sediment in the submerged river beds from that period have been covered with coral in many places. Since the sediment is more porous than the surrounding materials, it channels fresh water to thin spots in the coral, creating the fresh water springs and voilá .

A Wonky Hole!

If anyone has a pic of one, feel free to contribute!! And, as always, if I make it down there, I'll be sure to post a pic of my own for you all!

Thanks, Wikipedia for your help on that trivia! Yah, what a cool place the GBR is!!

I used to want to date a mermaid...

Hey, folks! 20 days left til the app. is in. Still contemplating what to put on the video...

Been a crazy weekend here, what with the Super Bowl, ACDC in town (as witnessed by thousands of peeps with little flashing red devil horns wandering around Nashville last night), and some serious Salsa dancing!! Gotta get in shape for the big reef adventure, you know!

So I promised I'd show you a picture of a mermaid, and uh, drum roll please - HERE SHE IS!














image: october_lee photobucket.com








Well, uh, ok, so the REALLY real ones look like this...








photo: Paulyd - flickr.com


Yeah, and, they're also known as sea cows, not exactly a flattering term to a mermaid...

But more realistic for sure. Actually these mammals, which breathe air and eat grass on the sea bed in warm waters (hence the name "cow"), are credited for the inception of the mermaid legends.

Sailors apparently, seeing them from above slipping through the waters, mistook them for half women and half fish (maybe a little too much rum??), and reports of them from the far seas began to trickle back to the civilized world. These mammals are also known as Dugongs (the Tagalog word for the sea cow).

There are a few thousand Dugong along the Great Barrier Reef, but they are found all over the world in temperate/tropical waters - where it is warm enough for sea grasses to grow. They belong to the order Sirenia and are related to Manatees. They live as long as humans, and can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh up to 880 pounds - so much for the vegetarian diet...

Aaannd, yep, some folks still believe in real mermaids. Check out the link below for the REALLY REALLY real photos of a mermaid (where are all the mermen, I wonder??)

http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/new/mermaid.htm

SO, if you make it to the Great Barrier Reef, be on the look out for the legendary creatures - you might just find Ariel down there eating some leafy greens...

And if I make it down there, I promise to track one down for you and get a real-live photo of my own for ya!

NEXT TIME: What in the world is a wonky hole?

The Countdown has Begun...

Welcome to all of you! Thanks for checking out my blog. If you're reading this, it's likely because you've found out I've decided to try and land the best job in the world - of course "best job" is a relative term, but I'd say this one fits the title pretty well...

Check out www.islandreefjob.com for the details (WOW).

SO, I'm glad to share the journey with you, no matter how long or short it may be! I want to accomplish two things with this blog:

1. Keep you all updated on the latest in my efforts to get to the largest reef in the world - uh, that would be the Great Barrier Reef!

2. Ignite your imaginations with some of the coolest facts I can find about the GBR. Hopefully, you'll share your facts too, and this'll be a pretty cool place - like the Discovery Channel, except maybe way back when it was just starting...

You may be wondering why I'm interested in the job. Well, I'm asking myself the same question. Part of me thinks this is CRAZY and I don't stand a chance. I live half way around the world, am competing against all of those super-human peeps out there, and can't even speak Australian... (is that a language? j/k!)

Welcome to the way we feel about most things in life! So in a way, this is a challenge for me - a challenge to myself to stretch in ways I haven't before - hm, that sounds fun!! =/

The other part of me thinks WOW, INCREDIBLE, the PEFECT FIT! A job I'd do in a second if someone walked up and offered it to me. So why NOT? I mean, who wouldn't want to live on an island in the sun for 6 months, getting paid to explore 135,000 square miles of pristine ocean paradise!? Duh!

So, here's to nothin'. The clock is ticking. At this point I still have to create and upload my application video by February 22. I'll post it here in the next few days to get your opinion - if it stinks, I'll do it again, until we get something that works!!

PS - if you're applying for this job too - hmmm, uh, gee I don't know what to say! good luck!?

PPS - Did you know Mermaids live at the GBR? I'll show you a pic of one next time...