Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Octopus movie, Avalon, free class, and more
(please scroll down for details)
Way to go Lakers!!! Hopefully, they're an inspiration for the Dodgers . . .
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER - I don't have a Netflix account but my sister does, so through her generosity (on her b-day no less) we settled in to watch this film over the weekend. Highly recommended. It's really two parallel stories. One is certainly about the octopus and her life cycle along with day-to-day activities as she comes to interact with and learns/decides to trust Craig Foster, who narrates the entire film from his own perspective. And that sets the stage for the second theme of the movie, and perhaps the title, because Foster was going through some rough personal times and would escape to the ocean for some mental realignment and decompression. The second storyline is how the octopus helps him re-find himself and teaches him things about life in general. The entire film is set in South Africa and is wonderfully shot. Given that Foster is a free-diver, there are some sequences where you find yourself saying, "How long can this guy hold his breath?" So I'm sure there is some film trickery and editing at play here. But they definitely captured some unique moments of interaction between the two. My favorite - and perhaps the saddest - comes towards the end of the film where Foster goes to the surface, the octopus goes with him and lays on his chest, and they just sort of stay there for a while cuddling. (Bear in mind that cephalopods have a life cycle of two years or less so don't expect a happy ending for this film.) But the film is nicely done, well-shot, relatively short (85-minute run time), and will leave you likely going, "Ooooo, I want to get an octopus of my own."
AVALON ON WEDNESDAY - We've got another one of our mid-week day trips to Avalon planned for this Wednesday. We'll leave out of San Pedro on the 9AM ferry, taxi over to the park and pick up tanks, will do three dives, then head back over for the 6PM ferry home. $150 covers you for ferry, taxi, tanks/fills, and the guided dives. We'll look for Giant Sea Bass (we had great encounters last time) as well as all the other things the Park has to offer. The weather's supposed to be nice too as it's supposed to start heating back up again. High is supposed to be in the mid-80s. Call us at 310/652-4990 to get signed up. I have to finalize the list with the Express by Noon Tuesday so that's your deadline.
ZOOM MEETINGS - A month or so ago, I pitched the idea of doing some informal Zoom discussions, sort of like a dive club meeting. I haven't forgotten about that, it's just that I haven't gotten around to scheduling anything. But perhaps we can do something in the next week or two. If you have any topics that you'd like to pitch, please shoot me an e-mail.
ISLA GUADALUPE - We got a note from Nautilus Liveaboards the other day that Guadalupe is STILL not open for diving and they're basically giving up on the season (which would be ending soon anyhow). They're in the process of re-positioning their boats down to Cabo San Lucas for the Socorro season. Although Socorro is still closed as well, we expect a "good news" announcement from the Mexican government sometime next week.
MOVING THE TABLES & COMPUTERS CLASS - Actually moving it twice. It was originally scheduled for this Wednesday but I won't be back from Avalon in time so I moved it to next Wednesday. But now I've got something booked for that evening so I'm moving it back one day, to Tuesday evening, October 20, 7-10PM. This is a FREE class and is aimed at those of you who would like to get a bit better understanding of what it is your dive computer is telling you. Since very few people teach tables nowadays, or do a rushed/crappy job of it, we'll start with some easy tables principles because they form the basis of the information coming out of the computer and then will ease into why the computer says what it says. Even though it's a freebie, you still need to sign up for it (otherwise, I'll just watch TV) by either e-mailing here or calling us at 310/652-4990.
ALSO ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, THE NTSB REPORT ON CONCEPTION - The NTSB will give their final report and recommendations resulting from the Conception fire on Tuesday, October 20, as well. This will be a Zoom-style webinar. The good news is that while these normally start at 6:30AM PDT, since they know there will be a large West Coast viewership, they've pushed it back and will start at 10AM PDT. It likely runs three hours or so. And it will be archived, so if you can't watch the live-stream, you'll be able to view it later on. There will NOT be an opportunity for viewers to comment or ask questions. But if you'd like to hear what they have to say, you should tune in. NTSB staff will present their finding to the NTSB Board, who will eventually vote on accepting, modifying, or rejecting those recommendations. Here's the link to the live-stream: NTSB CONCEPTION REPORT.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, wash your hands, wear your mask, don't forget to vote (where early voting or vote-by-mail is available), and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
(please scroll down for details)
Way to go Lakers!!! Hopefully, they're an inspiration for the Dodgers . . .
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER - I don't have a Netflix account but my sister does, so through her generosity (on her b-day no less) we settled in to watch this film over the weekend. Highly recommended. It's really two parallel stories. One is certainly about the octopus and her life cycle along with day-to-day activities as she comes to interact with and learns/decides to trust Craig Foster, who narrates the entire film from his own perspective. And that sets the stage for the second theme of the movie, and perhaps the title, because Foster was going through some rough personal times and would escape to the ocean for some mental realignment and decompression. The second storyline is how the octopus helps him re-find himself and teaches him things about life in general. The entire film is set in South Africa and is wonderfully shot. Given that Foster is a free-diver, there are some sequences where you find yourself saying, "How long can this guy hold his breath?" So I'm sure there is some film trickery and editing at play here. But they definitely captured some unique moments of interaction between the two. My favorite - and perhaps the saddest - comes towards the end of the film where Foster goes to the surface, the octopus goes with him and lays on his chest, and they just sort of stay there for a while cuddling. (Bear in mind that cephalopods have a life cycle of two years or less so don't expect a happy ending for this film.) But the film is nicely done, well-shot, relatively short (85-minute run time), and will leave you likely going, "Ooooo, I want to get an octopus of my own."
AVALON ON WEDNESDAY - We've got another one of our mid-week day trips to Avalon planned for this Wednesday. We'll leave out of San Pedro on the 9AM ferry, taxi over to the park and pick up tanks, will do three dives, then head back over for the 6PM ferry home. $150 covers you for ferry, taxi, tanks/fills, and the guided dives. We'll look for Giant Sea Bass (we had great encounters last time) as well as all the other things the Park has to offer. The weather's supposed to be nice too as it's supposed to start heating back up again. High is supposed to be in the mid-80s. Call us at 310/652-4990 to get signed up. I have to finalize the list with the Express by Noon Tuesday so that's your deadline.
ZOOM MEETINGS - A month or so ago, I pitched the idea of doing some informal Zoom discussions, sort of like a dive club meeting. I haven't forgotten about that, it's just that I haven't gotten around to scheduling anything. But perhaps we can do something in the next week or two. If you have any topics that you'd like to pitch, please shoot me an e-mail.
ISLA GUADALUPE - We got a note from Nautilus Liveaboards the other day that Guadalupe is STILL not open for diving and they're basically giving up on the season (which would be ending soon anyhow). They're in the process of re-positioning their boats down to Cabo San Lucas for the Socorro season. Although Socorro is still closed as well, we expect a "good news" announcement from the Mexican government sometime next week.
MOVING THE TABLES & COMPUTERS CLASS - Actually moving it twice. It was originally scheduled for this Wednesday but I won't be back from Avalon in time so I moved it to next Wednesday. But now I've got something booked for that evening so I'm moving it back one day, to Tuesday evening, October 20, 7-10PM. This is a FREE class and is aimed at those of you who would like to get a bit better understanding of what it is your dive computer is telling you. Since very few people teach tables nowadays, or do a rushed/crappy job of it, we'll start with some easy tables principles because they form the basis of the information coming out of the computer and then will ease into why the computer says what it says. Even though it's a freebie, you still need to sign up for it (otherwise, I'll just watch TV) by either e-mailing here or calling us at 310/652-4990.
ALSO ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, THE NTSB REPORT ON CONCEPTION - The NTSB will give their final report and recommendations resulting from the Conception fire on Tuesday, October 20, as well. This will be a Zoom-style webinar. The good news is that while these normally start at 6:30AM PDT, since they know there will be a large West Coast viewership, they've pushed it back and will start at 10AM PDT. It likely runs three hours or so. And it will be archived, so if you can't watch the live-stream, you'll be able to view it later on. There will NOT be an opportunity for viewers to comment or ask questions. But if you'd like to hear what they have to say, you should tune in. NTSB staff will present their finding to the NTSB Board, who will eventually vote on accepting, modifying, or rejecting those recommendations. Here's the link to the live-stream: NTSB CONCEPTION REPORT.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, wash your hands, wear your mask, don't forget to vote (where early voting or vote-by-mail is available), and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
