Films that I have enjoyed watching with my eyes

For those of you who know me well, you will be aware (as I have previously stated) that music is my biggest day-to-day passion. Whenever I get the chance to engineer a music-listening situation I take it. I think it would be a dream come true if I could work in music radio. I have also already written about ‘a few of’ the books that have nudged me towards being out here. In my head, there is only one relevant omission in this tripartite of personal inspirations and that is films. I am DEFINITELY not a film buff and I have not seen many films that others would call classics or must sees but I know what I like and I generally like what I have seen. I shan’t pre-amble too much so let’s do this.

I’ll be vaguely chronological and list the films in the order they came into my life:

The Blues Brothers. Jake, Elwood, THE BAND and one the greatest supporting casts ever, right up there with Escape to Victory. I first saw this when I was quite young. Young enough to deeply cherish the music but more importantly, one of the greatest cars chases of all times BUT old enough know what swearing was and that it was naughty. It blends action, humour and music seamlessly. There is a gentle background plot of trying to raise enough cash to save an orphanage which is fun but it the constant surprises and semi-surreal lunacy that is ever present throughout the film right down to the closing scene. I am not sure how it DIRECTLY inspired me to wander off into the world but I am fairly sure that this film slightly helped mould me into the person I am today... and it has this quote:

“It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it.”- Jake and Elwood Blues

One of my favourite indulgences in life is listening to and telling stories and I’ll listen to pretty much anyone. When I saw a trailer for Big Fish I was pretty excited, so much so that I did not see it in the cinema or when it came out on DVD but about 3 years later when one of my flat mates own and let it to me. I like Ewan McGregor and he plays the protagonist - Edward Bloom in the re-telling of his life stories and the myths he told of himself. The colourfulness of the patchwork the Tim Burton brings together is truly invigorating. I think I love this film, and forgive me for sounding narcissistic, because it reminds me of me a little and how I want to live my life and be remembered. There is also a line that has always stuck with me. It goes a little something like this:

“ Now I may not have much, but I have more determination then any man you're ever likely to meet”- Ed Bloom

Into the Wild is the most obvious and clearly direct influence on my life as it stands at the moment. The story is based around a young fella who graduates from high school as valedictorian (whatever that means) and gives all his college fund to charity and disappears off on the road on a journey to the hallowed land – Alaska. He gives himself the road name of Alexander SuperTramp a direct influence on me giving myself the name WonderBear (capital W, capital B). The stories he tells, the pace at which he lives his life and the priorities he aligns himself to are very similar to those that I aspire to PLUS, my first trip away ten years ago was a convoluted journey to Alaska. It is a must see... and one day, I will get to Slab City the setting for some of my favourite scenes. As an added bonus, the Eddie Vedder written score is brilliant enough to stand alone as an album. I know it sounds a bit clichéd but I hold the following mantra pretty close to my heart:

“The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences” – Alexander SuperTramp

KickAss – a modern day fable about one man’s desire to make the world a little bit better with a slight tinge of what some might call vigilantism. The vivid colours, graphic fight scenes and bold plotline are directly correlated to its origin as a comic book. KickAss’ message evolved around not just idly standing by while someone is being wronged. He finds something and gets involved – a phrase I coined for myself while trying to build up some positive momentum a few years back. I admit that it is not the deepest film nor the most unique but it can be quite an inspiring film if you allow yourself to be swept along in it. Let’s face it, ANY film that has a twelve year old girl as an untouchably hardcore superhero is going to be fun.

“Guys, doesn't it bug you? Like, thousands of people wanna be Paris Hilton and nobody wants to be Spiderman” - Dave Lizewski

I would love to hear your thoughts although I am not going to commit to agreeing with them to them but I promise I will at LEAST read them...

Happy viewing,

Ads

Reading can be cool... especially if the books are AMAZING

Following on from the theme of things being a touch quiet for me here, I have decided to continue to furnish your eye with my words about the creative influences that help me sail along in my life. Strangely enough, recently I have not been reading all that much. I have found that I glean much more pleasure from writing and researching bits and pieces instead. I would NEVER have guessed that that would be the case.

THIS part is going to be a little bit out of left field. Hold on to your hats... BOOKS. Along the way, I have read some books but there are three that stand out as direct influences for the current path my life has taken. Ready? Steady... GO! Papillion – Henri Charriere, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seaton and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

 Papillon – a book about escape, adventure, desperation, emotional and physical strength all under the umbrella of injustice. Oh and it’s based on a true story. Don’t get me wrong, I know I am not the first person to have ever read this book but it is an inspiration to me so if you read it you MIGHT understand a little bit more ABOUT me. When life hits you round the face with a 10 pound trout, don’t get upset that you have trout juice on your face, escape from prison in French Guyana, build a raft and sail to freedom. That is the basic theme of Charriere’s story with fewer mentions of trout though. He tells his story in a brutally frank and pragmatic tone of voice which, considering the story’s content is an achievement in itself. He is a hero. One of MY heroes. Bravo Henri, you are a great man.

Old Man and the Sea is a slightly different bag of words. It is still set in the tropics but this time, despite the tale of bravery on the seas, there is a far more introspective tinge to the story and its protagonist – The Old Man. Plus, Hemingway loved rum, I love rum... we’re basically the same person! We will all face tests along our journey of life, some we will surpass and others might get the better of us but it is not the outcome that is always important. More often than not it is how we deal with these occurrences as they arise and what we learn from them and most importantly whether we make the same mistake again. This (short) story takes the reader on a trip through adversity, anger, despair, desperation through to pride and humility. If there was a little of The Old Man’s moral fibre in all of us, the world would be better place.

Seton was a pioneer naturalist, a founder of the Boys Scouts and an influence on Sir David Attenborough. As if that isn’t enough, he was an excellent illustrative writer. Wild Animals I Have Known is a series of short stories about the animals he had known and the nuances he observed. Firstly, I love (almost all) animals unconditionally and unequivocally so it is with shear and superficial delight that I love reading and re-reading this book. His ability to depict the uniquely individual characters of each animal that he has known not only makes you wish you had known the man himself but the animals he talks of. He would definitely be one of my ultimate dinner party guests.

The last book is slightly out of left field so bear with me. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a tremendous short story which shows the social development of Charlie – a slightly awkward, introspective teen - in his first years at High School in Pittsburgh. Chbosky use various references to the media of the time to help build his characters and give a rich backdrop to the overall story most notably the music listed. There are many moments in life where you doubt yourself so it can be a relief to learn that you are not the only one. I have never read a book that is so heart-wrenchingly honest in describing the confusions, frustrations and glorious triumphs that come from trying to understand people. This book is not for everyone but I would recommend you give it a go and you will be pleasantly surprised. It is a insta-recommendation from me whenever someone asks.

Here lies some of the inspiration for my desires to see, live in and experience lands far away. I have minimal desires to embellish further.

For now good people, happy reading.

In a bit,

BeardFace esq.

(Some of) The Music that inspires me to be here

It has been a quieter week for me this week. This does not mean less happened BUT it does mean that I MIGHT wander off-subject even more than normal. It got me a’thinking about the whats and the wheres. I know, I always say something like this so as to gently drift into a faux-philosophical ‘closing thought.’ I am aware of this so please do not hold it against me, I have never pretended to be a great writer neither have I ever alluded to being anything but a fella with a beard. Read on or not, it’s your choice.

I thought that instead of drip feeding you bits and pieces of inspiration, I would give you a creative foundation of influences upon which I have build my mental state. Some areas, such as music, are much more fluid and change daily/hourly/minutely(??) but other areas mainly books and films are fairly rigid and hard to impregnate. In this musical sojourn , I have concentrated more on songs with home as their main theme for no other reason than home is often on my mind in a good way.

Edward Sharpe – Home. This is a song that has amazingly mixed feelings for me. It is a wonderful example of how to exemplify loving sentiments with happy noises. I love it. Sadly, it is tied up in a web of memories that I would rather forget - it’s all very soap opera-ish. Home. It’s where you lay your hat. It’s where your heart is. It’s where you get fed, cleaned and watered. It’s is where you are happy enough to make a sound of utter utopian content similar to that which the girls makes at 3:42. The warm, happy jangly feel to this track makes my head think of the messes that you made and grew to love in your room when you were younger. It’s like building a blanket fort for the soul. Trust me, I have built a LOT of blanket forts.

Welcome Home by Radical Face. This conjures COMPLETELY different set of memories and emotions. It reminds me of a wonderful period in time that I spent with Jimmy McSparron - Trekkingnut in the village of Pa’ Umor in the Kelabit Highlands in Sarawak, Borneo. Despite its central theme of going/arriving home, the minute the chorus starts the build, I have a strong sense that I NEED to head out into the world and see it. It’s pretty much an irrepressible compulsion but I think that has more to do with the grand, crescendo-ing, soaring vocals and major key than the lyrical content. I I’d be curious to hear what you think.

I know wrote about him but a few weeks ago BUT Michael Kiwanuka’s Home Again still features heavily in my daily mental playlist and it also fits quite nicely with this theme. His heart-achingly raw, longingly sorrowful voice adds a wonderful depth to the intensity of this song. There is a strong sense of regret and desperate hope that he'll feel home again, in this case it seems like home is wherever SHE might be. Broken hearts, we’ve all had them, we’ve all dealt with them differently we’ve all (hopefully) bounced back stronger from them. I know that the cognitive re-visiting of such memories can have a detrimental effect but the whatever-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger principle works with great effect here. If I weren’t for the heartbreak and anguish of 2010, I doubt I would be as happy as I am now.

It is not all about the umm-tiss umm-tiss of modern music y’know. Ave Maria sung by Maria Callas – the song that played as my Grandfather – Api – was cremated shall forever hold an intensely strong fire in my belly that makes my heart swell with pride. This was a man who talked himself and family out of many MANY difficult situations during the Magyar Revolution in the 1950. I do not think that many people know, mainly because I have never told them, that I see a great deal of Api in me. From what I know and remember, he was a proud and courageous man who held honesty and humility as important virtues. He spirit has definitely been passed down through the generations.

Lastly Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat major. Firstly it is hard to find a picture to represent this so I added one of my own.My friend Mike and I would often listen to this in the evenings in the jungles of Sarawak and drift off to our respective cerebral havens. Just so’s you know, neither Mike nor I are Beethoven. I don’t have a lot to say about this. It is glorious. It is beautiful, magnificent and reminds me why I am so happy to be alive. Give it a go.

You have to understand that these are a tiny weeny snapshot of the music that really presses my buttons and has a direct correlation to what I am thinking. If you are curious enough to see where else my audio wanderings go then have a look at my hypemachine playlist. I admit that I have not updated it recently but that is mainly because my internet connection cannot sustain the streaming music. Aaaaaaaaaah the joys of living in the third world... One day, if you are lucky I will have finished my life story and I am sure music will feature heavily there.

For now, happy listening.

Be well good people.

Love, WonderBear(d) x

Life - it's worth thinking about

It feels like a long time since I first wrote but let’s be honest with eachother, sometimes life gets busy. Yeah, I know what you are thinking but I DO do things quite often. I have daily chores and responsibilities

Firstly, I’ll give you a brief rundown of what else has been happening. Juilette and Laura are deeply entrenched in their DiveMaster training while Suzi finished hers INCLUDING the snorkel test. That’s her. The one in the pictures. PLUS a new DMT – Belinda – arrived. Hurroo!

Before

After

We have been diving at Siquijor and Sumilon a fair amount recently. I understand that I talk of these magical, mystical places full of curiosity and wonderment but why? Why?! If you’ll allow me to indulge my love of the analogy then I shall explain. If you imagine my head office – Liquid HQ – is where I work, there is the conference room (the bar); breakout rooms (the classroom and dive shop) and the training facilities (the pool). We also have a few satellite offices, partner companies and preferred suppliers – dive sites. These are the Dauin Coast, Apo Island, Siquijor, Sumilon and Oslob each of which gives us something slightly different but all equally important to us. Gotta love the corporate schpeil.

This is mainly another excuse to put a photo of myself up
BUT Siquijor is in the background

I look at Siquijor every day. I am fairly sure we all do because it is on the other side of the strait from us (it’s the island in the background there). I have been here for a while and wanted to dive over there pretty much ever since I arrived so when I was presented with the opportunity I bit off everyone’s arms.

I was doing two specialities – Deep Dive and Nitrox – so not only was I on a day trip, I was a student again. It appears I really like learning about things I like. Siquijor was dive 1 of my Deep Speciality and dive 1 of Nitrox. To make things better, Our Old Friend was my instructor. What are these specialties I speak of? Well, they are basically extensions of your certifications that allow you more options when it comes to diving and dive planning. Having the deep speciality allows me to dive to 40metres which is not necessarily important but interesting. Nitrox speciality is actually quite geeky and very cool. Basically it certifies you to dive with a different blend of compressed gas. A normal tank is filled with standard compresses air which is roughly 79% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen whereas Nitrox is usually a higher percentage Oxygen. This does not mean you can go deeper BUT it does mean you can stay at a depth for longer as I diminishes the risk and prevalence of decompression sickness.

The day started wonderfully well with the sun shining, the seas were amazingly calm and Sundancer was ready. We were a small group and spirits were high. Once we were in the water, which was a chilly 26°C (no sarcasm – it was COLD) Our Old Friend and I descended over the edge of the wall to our target depth of 36metres did some exercises and then slowly swam along the front of the wall gradually increasing out depth exploring caves and crevices along the way. I know I keep saying depth isn’t everything and it isn’t BUT it is a weird thought to be 12 stories UNDER the water. Dive two was my first Nitrox dive and it was fun. We were able to stay deeper than the rest of the group for the same time that they dived which in this case was a technicality but being deeper can often be useful if you are diving on a wreck or looking for something in particular at a given depth.

As if this wasn’t enough the NEXT day we were heading to Sumilon to finish my Deep and, just as a sweetener, we were going to hopefully go snorkelling with the local celebrities – whale sharks. Our Old Friend was in attendance and disco Phil one of our new managers. It is very rare for the three of us to head out together so, that day was a real treat. I was going to write a fair amount about my feelings of the whale shark trip and what goes on there but I think our fearless leader – Zoe – wrote a really great article on them already. HERE. Basically, there were 2 or 3 whale sharks one of which was around 12metres. I named him Humphrey. It was kinda cool for me because I was swimming back to the boat and I saw a turtle in mid-water so I stopped to look at him for a while. THEN Humphrey swam right up behind me and said hello. So at least I got to see him on my own without all the other people there. Perfect. The dives were great. I am certified to 40metres now. The company was even better. Thanks guys.

Me with Alan (in Blue) and Roy. Captions on a postcard please

It sounds silly but these days for me are made SO much better for me by hanging out with the boat crew despite not always understanding each other, the banter always flows. PLUS I get to indulge me love for music in poignant situations. Picture the scene. It’s a glorious day (in paradise). You’re on a boat with good good people. You have some of your favourite music in your ears. (this is the clincher) and you are lying on the very front of the bow of the boat. BLISS. There were many moments over these two days where I was struck by an overwhelming sense of euphoria. It’s an ALMOST indescribably perfect ethereal feeling that I have felt few times before and I doubt I will feel with such strength in the future. It takes me back to mantra I used to utter to myself a few years back when I was going through a tough time. FIND SOMETHING. GET INVOLVED. I still live and die by that. It can be something you connect deeply and emotionally with or something that fuels the fire in your belly but whatever it is and wherever it takes you, make sure have SOMETHING that fulfils your passions and get involved in it. Right now, I have travel, diving, adventure, my beard and the wonderful people I have left behind as well as those I am now surrounded by.  I am no genius, but please. Think on it. Feed your passions. They are important.

As I have already mentioned, music is a hugely significant part of my life. Recently, the song Biko by Bloc Party has been a focus. The lyrics plead ”if I could eat you cancer I would” because “you’re not doing… this alone”. Somehow the track feels uplifting and empowering while being gently punctuated by heart-wrenchingly thought provoking sentiments.  Last year I lost two very dear people to cancer. They were both awesome. They each shared an adventurous spirit with a noble, chivalrous and kind outlook on life. They were great friends to me. I like to indulge myself while listening to this song, the memories it helps to conjure and the warmth they fill me with. Peter and Mo. You truly were an inspiration. You are missed but your spirits live on!!

Jamiroqui – Blue Skies (Flux pavilion remix) – this might be for the younger folk out there. It is exactly what is says in the title. It is the audio representation of blue skies. Y’know, that soaring, timeless and ageless sensation you get when you see that gorgeous spectrum of blue that the sky has the unique ability to show-off. Thanks sky. You rock.

I hope this finds you well. I hope you are winning in whatever it is you need to win at. Most importantly, those people in life you care about know that you care.

Until the next time good people, take it easy.

Much love, Ads (beardface)

I love it when a plan comes together

I sit here as Juilette plays guitar, I sink further and further, deeper and deeper into and smug warmth that is almost comparable to a euphoric sense of content. Why would a man use such hyperbole with such little regard for those words not considered to be worthy of the term superlative? As Our Old Friend said to me today (as a joke as I took a slightly different path back from the beach) – “the last thing Liquid needs is a maverick Ads”. Well basically, I am coming off the back of an indescribably wonderful series of days. Admittedly, I said indescribable BUT, as you can guess, I am going to describe them now.

Let me set the scene. If you have been lucky enough to read some of my words before, then you will know how beautiful Liquid Dumaguete is. Let me go a little less mainstream in my description now. My name is Adam WonderBear Detre. You know this. I am called many things by many people BUT, those out there who know me best/closest they call me Ads or Bear. I don’t know whether it is something from childhood or whether it is the comfort of feeling close to someone purely by what/how they call you, regardless, I like being called by a familiar name. It was hard leaving the UK this time around so when I came back and my friends and family here called me Ads, it made the transition a little bit easier to the point of filling my heart with a little bit of joy. The people here managers, staff and guests alike are AWESOME.

I digress. Diving. That is what I do and that is why I have my alarm set earlier here than back home in the UK for my former office job. It has been a tremendous few weeks of day trips to Apo Island, Siquijor and Sumilon Island; on top of all this there have been a multitude of coastal dives and of course, a massive number of PADI certifications. My personal highlights include diving at Apo with Sandra. Much as she was a lovely lady, it was more what happened than with who. Gui and I were working together which is something I always enjoy and we had decided on trying the Coconut Point drift dive. A drift is when you drop in on a site that has a known current and you ‘ride’ it, much like skydiving sideways… underwater… This particular dive definitely got the adrenaline pumping as we hit medium-strong horizontal AND down currents gently sending us over a variety of Apo’s famously exquisite corals. Not only this, but in one of the few current shadows, we stumbled across a HUGE (bold, caps, underline and italics intended) fish called a Jack. I estimated it to be around 2-2.5metres long and maybe a 1metres tall. Let me put it this way, it put Morris the resident BIG Grouper (found at Publacion) to shame.

Earnie the Eel

Having worn the guests/students out a tiny bit, Gui and I decided to have a nice relaxing shallow dive to finish the day. Sandra and I wandered off around the shallows at Katu Panan – one of my favourite dive sites in the area – and we immediately blessed with the gift of a turtle feeding on some soft coral. He seemed pretty chilled out and very comfortable with us being there so we stayed for five minutes always respecting his space and not busying up his area too much. This is something I strongly believe in. We, as divers, are VISITORS to the underwater worlds so we should ALL leave stuff ALONE. Mini-rant done. We continued to wander around at around 7metres deep (it’s not all about depth y’know) and once again, lucky us, we stumbled across a fluorescent green hermit crab the name of which we have not been able to determine yet. Awesome. Quite content with having found these two I felt like my work there was done. Oh no. As if by magic, I was staring blankly at a rock trying to centre and focus my thoughts, during which and to my amazement, I found myself eyeballing an octopus poking his head out of a crack in said rock. Double-awesome. Ok, so at the risk of showing off, it does not stop there. Sandra had been asking to see a sea snake all day, so I was pretty keen to pander to her desires. It was as if I had set everything up so that while hovering at 5metres for our safety stop, I looked down to see an iridescent snake eel gliding through the corals. I nonchalantly tapped her on the shoulder to point it out and right on cue, she squealed with delight.

a tiny TINY crab

All this sounds fairly unimportant BUT as a DM (oh yeah, I passed all my exams) part of your role is to not only guide dives but also point out local wildlife. Anyone can spot a fish because there are loads but spotting a rare fish or a tiny organism or downright weird something-or-other is a bit of an art form. That afternoon was one of the first where I felt I was able to accomplish this to a creditable level. I have a LOT to learn from Alfred who has telescope eyes while being a bastion of aquatic knowledge.

Our Old Friend has recently started on the road to his dream diving job. He has started his Tec Diver training courses which will take him towards becoming a Tec Diving Instructor. What is Tec Diving? Isn’t diving diving? ‘Fraid not. There is recreational diving which is generally run by the associations you have heard of – most notably PADI and sends people down to 40metres (having passed a Speciality Deep Dive Certification). Tec Diving is more like what you imagine hardcore diving to be like - lots of tanks that look like jetpacks. Plus, from what I can glean, lots of clips and extra gear that sounds cool and does amazing things with minimal margins for error. There is an extraordinary amount of theory that accompanies the practical side of things and THIS in itself is worth looking it to. It covers everything from manufacturing principles and servicing through to human physiology and psychology. It is the closest manifestation of diving that I know of that takes it from being an activity to way of life. There is no limit or end to the learning and development involved. Plus it gives Our Old Friend and excuse to indulge his favourite activity – talking about, playing with and buying new dive gear.

This week has gently been soundtracked by The Stornoways – We are the Battery Humans. AND Bright Eyes – First day of my life. I could write for HOURS about this song. It is easily one of the greatest songs of my lifetime. Listen to it and create your own memories. You will not regret it I promise.

I have talked a lot today and I have not even mentioned the important bits that I was going to write about. I would have put exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence but I have the voice of my old English teacher shouting at me not to so please imagine that the last sentence was accented by three exclamation marks. I will try and give a brief photographic run down of what else has happened:

We celebrated the 30th year of Gui being born

The Liquid Dumatini was created

Eva had her snorkel test

I had MY snorkel test - Branston Pickle included

From all of us here - G'BYE FOR NOW!!