I joke a lot about...

SCUBA diving not being a hobby but like a lifestyle, or better yet, like an illness.  More and more its become a true statement at least for me and the crew I normally dive with.  

From my experience, there's a paradigm shift when you catch the bug.  And, when I say "catch the bug", I'm not talking about your "once every two-three year resort" diving bug; I'm envisioning the "once to several times a week, I'll dive anything at least once" fever.  When this "infected" diver passes by a body of water, he wonders if it's dive worthy.  Free weekends at home become less and less; Vacation plans involves some body of water; gift he gives and receives is usually dive (or water) related.

Here's an illustration.  Below is a picture of me w/ The Fog in Cozumel, just a couple of hours before his wedding.  The photograph was taken by head usher, Silverman.  And, Yes.  We all made it to the wedding on time, just barely.

Something Old:
  Tusa Fins

Something New:
  Diving Palancar Reef

Something Borrowed: 
  The AL 80 on his back

Something blue:
  The Water All Around.

 
Cozumel at 80' with the groom hours before his wedding.
Originally uploaded by Knight Diver

If you're ever interested in getting this sick, let me know...

Technorati Tags: SCUBA

Spooky...

check this out, it's kind of spooky. 

Ghost in need of a workout?

Speaking of ghosts and with Halloween just around the corner, anyone interested in doing some Ghost Hunting?

Technorati Tags: ghost needed to do some working out

In need of a new SCUBA goal.

I'm now on the hunt for a new SCUBA goal. 

Slowly but surely, over the past several years, I've been continuing my own personal dive education.  During this time, I've helped many individuals attain their open water and up certification.  Over the past three years, I think I've been Divemaster or was an Assistant Instructor for over 150 divers. 

Some people may think this would get old, but I don't.  I believe it's vital to review basic open water skills until it becomes natural. 

[[One of the many important skill I like to harp on with any student is buoyancy control.  It truly does make for a good dive experience as well as allows for better air consumption and environmental conservation.  The thing is with this skill is it only come with diving experience.  So, you new divers, get out there, get wet and blow some bubbles. Anyway, I digress.  ]]

I guess what I was trying to say is that by basically being an SCUBA Instructor's apprentice, I get more of a chance to work on the basics and prepare myself for more difficult dives.

Until recently one of my personal SCUBA goals *was* to visit the Andrea Doria, a wreck site known as the "Mount Everest" of Scuba Diving. 

For those of you who don't know, the Andrea Doria was an Italian Passenger ship that collided with a freighter and sunk in 1956 off the coast of Nantucket.  For the longest time it was a frequent destination for treasure hunters and historians alike.  However, due to the conditions of the water in which the Andrea Doria finally rests, a number of divers have lost their lives at this site.

From my most recent research of the dive site, the ship has been collapsing more and more on to itself and is deteriorating to the point where diving the wreck is almost pointless and not worth the risk.  Why?  First of all, the minimum depth is now 190' and can go down to the sea floor at 240'.  Add to this the fact that there is a strong current that rips through the area and the heavy sediments can quickly make the dive a zero-visibility dive. 

Sigh...  this just doesn't sound fun.

I could give much more information of the Andrea Doria, but anyone interested could do a search on google or check the wiki on it....  but my point it that if I'm going to do something personally "remarkable", it needs to be worthwhile.

So, if anyone is reading this and has any thoughts, please let me know.

Technorati Tags: SCUBA,goal setting,challenges,Andrea Doria

Mel Brook's animated series.

Spaceballs has been reincarnated 21 years later on G4. 

It's called Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs: The Animated Series. 

[[ I HAD TO TAKE THIS OFF, it annoyed me]]

check out the promo on their website.

(the site: http://www.bounceyourspaceballs.com/)

If you like Mel Brooks' humor you'll probably enjoy this show.

From the previews, it looks more crass than the actual movie version, wow...  so, hold on to your seats and don't watch the clip if you're easily offended.

If you don't know who Mel Brooks is you're probably just too young.  Check out his wiki write-up here, and definitely check out his other movies. I would highly recommend History of the World, Part 1.

Technorati Tags: Mel Brooks,Spaceballs,Spaceballs the Animated Series,funny stuff

A pretty cool online ad.

It gets harder and harder to impress the average joe nowadays.  Especially with all those fancy flashy websites, neato graphics things, blinky lights and in your face viral videos, etc...  etc...

But you've got to check this out. 

It's neat, it's hip and... and... I just like it. 

It's on Youtube.

It's your 20 second diversion of the day...

Technorati Tags: Wario Land Shake It up ad,Flash,YouTube advertising

Good Clean Fun!

A little diversion for today...  Enjoy.

(popout, in case you can't see it.)

It's long, but it's worth it.

Vic and Lauren

Vic and Lauren are in Philadelphia running a half-marathon this morning.  You could follow 'em in real time at http://www.liveraceresults.com/liveelite/Default.aspx

Vic's Bib Number is: 14223

Lauren's Bib Number is: 12296

Here are their current stats after getting to the 10K/10M marker.

Good Luck to the gals!  And, as a big brother to these two, should I be worried about what goes into the "Sex" column?

Technorati Tags: Phiadelphia Distance Run,Vicky and Lauren are runners,run run runaway

Toys that kill...

Chowin' down.
Originally uploaded by SAM.R.I

Sometimes when I can't sleep, I'll put random terms into a search box and see what I find...

Basically, this is what you get when you cross Lego and Zombies on flickr.com.

Enjoy!

Another recall from Aqua Lung

25,000 Apeks second stage regulators are being recalled because the diaphragm cover can be missing.  This is bad.

Check out this link: http://tinyurl.com/4mqgdw

and http://www.aqualung.com/us/content/view/285/

Technorati Tags: SCUBA

Aqua Lung announced recall yesterday!

About 6,000 Titan DIN 1st Stage scuba regulators and Titan/Conshelf DIN scuba adaptors, made in France by Aqua Lung USA are being recalled.

Apparently, the over-tightening of the DIN retainer during installation can cause it to break and the regulator can detach from the scuba cylinder.  This, obvious, can pose a drowning hazard.

The company has received one report of a DIN retainer breaking under pressure. No injuries have been reported.

The recalled regulators have serial numbers lower than 6062501 stamped on the side of the body. The recalled adaptors are marked "300 BAR MAX" on the side. The recalled products were sold at authorized Aqua Lung dealers nationwide from January 1997 through this month. Details at 877-253-3483.

US Consumer Product Safety Commission Site:

http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml08/08393.html

Technorati Tags: Aqua Lung Titan Regulator Recall

Camp Ocean - One Day Left

Okay kids only one day left... here's the deets, we only need 400+ more votes... So, please tell 400 of your friends to vote. Voting closes tonight at midnight. <> [Originally Posted August 5, 2008] This is a project I've been thinking about for awhile. I stumbled across the Members Project web site and thought I should take my idea to the next step. Take a look and if you think it's a good idea, please nominate my project for consideration.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

The National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that each year, over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and over 40,000 die. One woman in eight either has or will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.[1]

Think about that statistic... for example: ~65 of my Facebook Friends are female; Statistically, eight(8) of 'em will be affected by breast cancer.  Frankly, that's eight too many. 

If detected early, survival rate dramatically increases.  My mom was able to overcome breast cancer primarily b/c of early detection, so I do what I can to keep people informed of the benefits of routine check-ups.

So, please click on the pink ribbon above and tell 10 people to do the same.

What is the link you ask?  It's:

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing.

Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

If you're curious as to whether this is really spam or not...  check out this site for more background information: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/mammogram.asp

 

Technorati Tags: Breast Cancer Awareness,TheBreastCancerSite.com

Free diving during your SIT?

[This was posted a long long time ago]

It was a beautiful night, Sher and I were sitting around enjoying a couple of beers...  when all of a sudden our conversation turned totally romantic and went down the road of SCUBA and the bends. 

The question is, can one get bent while free diving, during their surface interval time?  I'm thinking that yes it's quite possible.

For you recreational SCUBA divers out there, you know that you should do a three minute "safety stop" at around 15 feet prior to surfacing at the end of your dive. *

For you non-divers, this practice adds an additional margin of safety (hence it's name), by allowing more inert gas to escape while they are compressed before breaking the surfaces which is at 1 atm. 

Either way, that safety is a self-imposed "decompression" stop done during a no-stop dive.   However, regardless of whether a diver chooses to do a safety stop or not, one must look at the surface interval time as the final decompression stop of the dive.  Once at the surface, the diver is no longer breathing compressed air and by normal breathing will eventually off gas saturated nitrogen. 

 

As an FYI, The YSCUBA and PADI programs both agree that 12 hours is the acceptable time for the body to return to it's normal, atmospheric, levels of gas saturation after a dive.

So, now, throw in free diving between SCUBA dives. 

Free diving is breath-holding diving.  So at depth, you're not loading any more nitrogen; however you're no longer allowing nitrogen to escape.  Additionally, if your surface time between free dives is low, there's definitely little off gassing being done. These simple facts alone mess up decompression calculations, if a diver is using dive tables. 

One last thought, when one free dives down to depths greater than 33 feet, there is further recompressing of inert gas bubbles at depth and ascending again at a rate more that suggested when SCUBA diving.  One would think this is bad.

So, in conclusion I would have to say it would be best to avoid free diving during your SCUBA dives and if one would want to snorkel, they should stay at the surface.

Technorati Tags: Free Diving,SCUBA,Surface Interval Time,Decompression Theory

Because Seth Rogen *is* funny...

AND, more importantly, it's written and directed by Kevin Smith.  What is it?  It's the movie "Zack and Miri Make a Porno". 

Here's the redband trailer.  BTW, it's not for kids...  so put the little ones to bed, before clicking play... 

Lots o' F-bombs...

To TrailerAddict.com
http://zackandmiri.com/

enjoy.

Technorati Tags: movies,Kevin Smith,Zack and Miri Make a Porno

2 minutes and 19 seconds of fun...

Here's a favorite...  it's an honest and emotionally in-touch R&B song from http://runawaybox.com/.  Enjoy.

BTW, I love Boston Market!

Technorati Tags: funny video,runawaybox.com,comedy,honest r&b song