Thursday, September 6, 2007
Accidents can strike when you least expect them, and more often than not, about the only real defence you have in such circumstances is to be fully prepared for almost any eventuality.Is that unrealistic ? I think not, remember, we are talking here about one's own life, or more particularly I suppose, the lives of family and friends. I don't think we should become paranoid or overly concerned or prepared for every eventuality, to such an extent that it starts to override the pleasure one is deriving from the act of going boating, but nevertheless, it certainly pays to be mindful of situations that can occur, and have your boat and crew drilled in readiness for those situations.Basic safety needs do not necessarily relate to items you can buy or install on your boat. Basic safety needs can be as simple as having a good boat to begin with, a mate to accompany you, and the boat fitted-out properly.
It is impossible to ignore the question of experience. An experienced small boat fisherman has an obvious advantage over a person going fishing in a small boat for the first time. And the more experience one has, the less likelihood there is of anything occurring that would take you by surprise. As your experience quotient develops, it stands to reason that you'll be enjoying your boating more and minimising any potential risk factors.A Safe Boat It's so obvious, it almost seems facetious to mention that the basic safety requirement is a safe boat! The safest boats have sufficient foam flotation to support the weight of the crew, the motor and gear should the boat be swamped or for some reason or other fill up with water.I'm not impressed with air tanks, and although many manufacturers in Australia diligently build their boats with a series of air compartments sealed in under the floor, these are rarely of any real value.If the worst does occur, and the boat is barrel-rolled or swamped in a bar, then the air tanks are in the worst possible place — under the floor. This is just about the perfect way of ensuring that the boat will float, upside down ! Small open skiffs and runabouts, dinghies and the like, have an advantage, because the thwarts fitted to these boats are usually packed with foam, and even if they cannot be self-righted, these small boats are usually low enough in the water to scramble back on board. The question of stability is another basic safety requirement and be assured, each boat is different. Some boats are a lot less stable than others — often to an alarming extent. The 4.0 m Hook'em, for example, is easily the most stable 4.0 m fishing boat on the market and quite easily copes with three or four big blokes standing on the gunwale. If you did this in most 4.0 metre aluminium boats, the lot of you would end up in the drink! So stability is relative to the boat's type and model, and it pays to shop very carefully for a boat which is stable at rest and underway.
Back on the straight and level ... the fact unfortunately remains true that it's a lot easier to tip a boat over on your own, than it is if you've got a mate with you. Even if you go to snare a fish in the net, the very act of leaning over on your own without any counter-balance, means it is obviously a lot easier to turn the boat over than if you're fishing with a mate who instinctively, leans the other way while you snare the fish.
Most of us don't even think about it, but if you do fish on your own, make very sure the fuel tank is located opposite your seating position. If it happens that you lean over to fish and the fuel tank is on your side of the boat, there is an excellent chance that a roll movement will develop, having sufficient momentum to tip both you, fuel tank and net into the briny.
Tragically, it happens over and over again, in perfectly calm waterways all around this great country of ours.
for more information about boating and fishing log on: http://www.marinews.com
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By
internet marketing consultant
www.elixirwebsolutions.com
What the tourist looks for in Amsterdam
The first thing many tourists do when they get to Amsterdam is start looking around to see if they can find all the dodgy stuff. So let's start with that.
Amsterdam is famous for its cannabis cafes – exactly what they sound like, cafes that sell cannabis. While this is not completely legal as many people think, the police turn a blind eye to the practice as long as the cafes don't get too big, or threaten to overrun an area. You'll probably find that most areas have one or two small cafes, but you might have to ask around.
The most well-known of the red-light districts is De Wallen. Prostitution is legal here, in a strange network of back alleys with glass-doored flats, and is surprisingly affordable and clean. Walking down the street is absolutely surreal, especially considering the lovely canal right next to it.
Let's turn to some higher culture. Those canals are simply beautiful, and they criss-cross the city, much like they do in Venice. One of the most enjoyable things to do in Amsterdam is to simply sit in a coffee shop by the canal (cannabis or not, your choice) and watch the world go by.
Amsterdam boasts a very large selection of museums. There's the Rijksmuseum, the traditional national museum of the Netherlands, and Stedelijk modern art museum – they're conveniently located right next to each other, on Museumplein ('Museum Square'). Museumplein is also home to the Van Gogh museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Van Gogh paintings.
A little further out there's the Rembrandt House Museum, a Rembrandt gallery in the house where he once lived. Similarly, Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam has been turned into a museum, complete with the secret room where she hid from the Nazis, preserved just as it was when she was alive.
John Gibb is the owner of Amsterdam tips
For more information on Amsterdam check out http://www.amsterdam-facts-and-tips.info
High Tension is NOT for the Faint of Heart
High Tension (2003)
Tagline: "Hearts will bleed."
Every time I go to the video store, I'm assaulted by a new wave of low-budget horror flicks. Many have slick packaging and can boast either an award or critical praise, while others look like they were put together in the dark by rabid monkeys. Either way, the outside of the film often has very little to do with what's on the inside. That neat-looking movie nestled in between Moulin Rouge and Runaway Bride may be a major disappointment, while the one on the bottom shelf of the back row may be surprisingly good. You rolls the dice and takes your chances.
This was my dilemma when I came across the French film High Tension. On the surface, it had all the elements that would drive a horror fanboy wild. Buff chick on the cover? Check. Buff chick holding a weapon capable of mutilation and carnage (in this case an industrial buzzsaw)? Check. High-quality design and clearly marked "Unrated"? Check.
And if that wasn't enough, just look at some of the critical blurbs printed on the front and back of the case: "It will scare the hell out of you!" exclaims Dennis Dermody of Paper. "The best horror movie of the year!" cries Shawn Edwards of Fox-TV. "A must-see!" screams Time Out New York.
Nevermind the fact that I've never heard of Paper or Time Out New York. What did I really have to lose, besides an hour and a half of my life? With that thought in mind, I picked up High Tension and took it home. Hours later, the movie was in, and the lights were out.
To begin with, I guess I should give credit to the filmmakers for keeping things nice and elementary. The plot is so simple that even a child or small animal could follow it. In a nutshell: Marie (Cecile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn) are college classmates and best friends. Hoping to study for exams in peace and quiet, they travel to the isolated country home of Alex's parents. The girls arrive late at night, say their hellos, then go to bed. Soon afterwards, a deranged killer (Philippe Nachon) shows up at the front door and rings the bell. After that, well, I think you get the general idea. And this is all in the first fifteen minutes. The rest of the movie consists of Marie trying to catch up with the killer, who has abducted Alex and thrown her in the back of his would-only-be-owned-by-a-serial-killer van.
Very little seems to happen in High Tension besides a series of murders and chase sequences, but somehow they're able to stretch it out to an hour and a half. Luckily, the movie is still short enough to keep from seeming repetitive, and the audience is whisked along with precious little time to catch their breath. No doubt, just what director Alexandre Aja was shooting for.
I could complain that the characters are one-dimensional, but what would be the point? This is a movie which deals with in-your-face terror and graphic violence. When the axes start swinging, the characters themselves aren't even that important. They're just there to provide a target for all the sharp cutlery.
Still, the psychological aspect of the film would have been more successful if the audience were allowed to get to know Alex and Marie a little better. We get a brief amount of banter to start the picture, but five or ten more minutes would have been nice (especially considering the turn that their relationship takes towards the end of the film). And the other victims of the killer? Well, they're so underdeveloped that I felt absolutely nothing when they bought the farm. Of course, developing all these characters would have cut into the time allotted for bloody mayhem, so maybe it's for the best in the long run. Besides, underdeveloped victims are a staple of the horror genre. We watch this sort of film to see people get dismembered, not quote Shakespeare.
And fans of dismemberment have plenty to cheer about. There's some really brutal stuff in the unrated version of High Tension. Take, for example, a scene in which the killer buries an axe in the chest of an unlucky victim. First, we're treated to the sounds of the victim's breastbone cracking and splintering as the killer twists and pulls on the handle. This is where lesser gore movies would stop. The killer would pull the axe free, and the victim would drop lifelessly to the floor. But not High Tension. The victim falls face-first onto the floor, the axe still embedded in his chest. Then, the killer places his big work boot on the victim's back and presses down, forcing the axe blade to penetrate even deeper into the now-ruined chest cavity. That, gore fans, is how you shoot a murder scene! Of course, some top-notch special effects help punctuate the killings, adding a further sense of gory realism to the proceedings.
I also want to give credit to the filmmakers for having the courage to kill a child. True, the actual deed occurs off-screen, but so many movies wimp out and avoid this kind of thing altogether, as if real-life serial killers have never preyed on children. The innocent child ducking and dodging the otherwise unstoppable killer has become almost as big a horror cliche as the virginal girl who always makes it until the end. Well, not in this film!
And let's not forget the much-hyped twist towards the end of the film. It no doubt helped High Tension garner such attention, but don't even bother trying to figure it out during the course of the picture. The revelation comes from left field with nary a clue to speak of (most of those got left on the cutting room floor). Still, the twist is inventive and allows the picture to stand out from among the crowd. You'll probably love it or hate it. Me? I was somewhere in the middle. While I respected the filmmakers for trying to do something different, I also couldn't help but notice that some earlier events seem to make the "twist" impossible. But enough on the subject. Watch the movie and judge for yourself. I don't want to give anything away.
I want to end this review by complimenting Cecile De France on her performance in the film. She bleeds, sweats, suffocates, and swings a barbed-wire club with the greatest of ease, and through it all she looks absolutely stunning. The role of Marie doesn't require her to speak much, but she does a nice job of conveying emotion through simple gestures and facial expressions. If she keeps this up (and turns in a few dramatic performances to boot), we might just be seeing the rise of a French Sigourney Weaver. And as I sit here thinking back to Sigourney Weaver in her prime, that's something I would like to see very, very much.
