I hope you'll join us and follow the adventure!
In A few days Ill depart for the Chilean Andes to re-join the Planetary Lake Lander Project. One of my roles this year, aside from collecting scientific data, will be Outreach, meaning I hope to post a lot about our activities, both here and on the new PLL website, planetarylakelander.com
I hope you'll join us and follow the adventure!
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Aqua Survey High Def. Productions Producers Garrett Hayes and Andrew Froening Made this film happen.
I hope you'll enjoy it and share it, because Im off to the Andes again this week in my new role of Education and Outreach Lead, and look forward to sharing my enthusiasm for this exciting project by making a lot of very short videos and sharing them, both here, and on the new website for the Planetary Lake Lander Project I was recently affected by a movie trailer that was so haunting that I watched it over and over again on the computer after coming home from the theater. The trailer impressed me more than the film I went to see.
The scene in the new movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" that I loved so much is where a black and white photograph of an brazen adventurer ( Sean Penn) beckons the desk-bound introvert Walter ( Ben Stiller) to join him. The image, pinned to corkboard, is so infused with a landscape of danger that you can practically hear the jungle drums beating, and the choppers overhead. In one hand The Adventurer holds a Leica camera, (first choice of those willing to put their safety and comfort on the line to bring back images from the edge), and with the other , almost imperceptibly, he gestures for Walter, and the rest of us, to join him. In the scant seconds that you have known him, you know well enough what Walter needs to do, and when he heeds your encouragement and nods his head that yes, he’s game, all hell breaks loose. This scene, the film, and the 1939 short story by James Thurber that inspired it might be asking you and me a question: Can you ignore this invitation to leave the comfort of your couch, your home, your lifestyle, and join the Adventurer?, Will you, like Walter does in stunned amazement at the choice he is making, nod almost as imperceptibly as the original beckoning gesture, say “Yes to Adventure”? I think the reason this scene affected me so much is that it represents what I had hoped to achieve since I first started saying that my passion is to share the excitement of scientific exploration. With my voyages, stories, and blog posts, I have hoped to encourage people in the simple act of saying yes to adventure. This beautiful film created by Ben Stiller appears to have captured that spirit perfectly. I just needed Sean Penns smoldering gaze to pull it off. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens on Christmas day. One of the most interesting people I met in Laos as part of Aqua Survey's Anti UXO Effort was Phong Savath (who, like a lot of 20 year olds, prefers to go by his internet tag, which is Peter Kim). This dance performance says without words why I, and everyone else that meets him, have an unmistakable amazement for the triumph of the human spirit. The "We Are Kind" Concert in Vientienne, Laos will raise money for other victims of Legacy Bombs from the Vietnam War.Remember our friend Phong Savath (aka Peter Kim), from the movie Bomb Country? This irrepressible young man hasn't let the bomb that took his hands and sight stop him from pursuing his dreams, and the evidence is in the upcoming concert that has been his labor of love for years, and that he described to me when I first met him at the COPE center .
The concert date is approaching soon, and with Aqua Survey as one of its sponsors, Garrett Hayes and Haig Born departed today for the Lao Capital to film the action. I look forward to following via the We Are Kind Facebook page |
My Name is Eric and My Job is Scientific Exploration.
That means I'm lucky enough to join expeditions to excavate sunken cities, climb volcanoes, find missing bombs, and Sail old research vessels, while searching for the mysteries of the natural world. Categories
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