Sunday, May 5, 2024
Temperature: 88
Humidity: 67%
Precipitation: Soon come
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Mood-Ring Dive Gear To Improve Communication On Blacktip Island Boats
A Blacktip Island scuba outfitter has launched a line of thermochromic crystal-infused dive equipment so divers can tell at a glance what mood their fellow divers are in. (photo courtesy of Moodman001)
A Blacktip Island entrepreneur this week announced a new line of scuba diving equipment infused with 1970s-era thermochromic mood-ring technology in an effort to facilitate communication on the small Caribbean island’s dive boats.
“Rocking boats, seasick divers and disappointing dives can lead to tension and misunderstandings on dive charter boats,” Bamboo You president Piers ‘Doc’ Planck said. “People tee off on each other with little or no warning. Dive staffs tend to bear the brunt of it. That’s where heat-sensitive Mood-O-Dive comes in.
“With one glance you can tell what mood a person’s in, then proceed accordingly,” Planck said. “It started with mood rash guards, but then we realized the technology could be applied to so much more—wetsuits, masks, sunscreen, you name it. It’s inspired by the way squid flash colors to communicate. All we’re saying, is give mood a chance.”
Island dive staff applauded the development.
“Lots of times, you can’t tell whether a diving guest is pissed off, queasy or just Zenning out,” Eagle Ray Divers divemaster Marina DeLow said. “That can lead to saying the wrong thing and a major confrontation. With Mood-O-Dive, you can avoid all that. If their gear’s red, they’re pissed; yellow they’re seasick; blue they’re chilling. And we have charts posted on the boat so everyone can tell what each color means.”
Some divers were skeptical.
“As nice as it is to see someone’s mask turn red and know to back off, but it can also lead to misunderstandings,” dive guest Suzy Souccup said. “This morning I thought my husband was happy to see me, but he was just wearing a new blue wetsuit. And it’s a total invasion of privacy when I pee in my wetsuit and it turns bright orange, for all the world to see.”
Others embraced the new technology.
“Truth be told, I’ve never been able to read people’s moods” Chip Eunick said. “With this gear, though, I can tell. I check the tags and logos to make sure it’s real Mood-O-Dive. Then, if the wetsuit turns black or red, I back off; blue or green, I’ll start a conversation. It helps avoid faux pas between dives.”
Others refused to use the gear.
“Nobody’s business what moods I’m in,” diver Joey Pompano said. “And I already know. If somebody can’t tell what mood I’m in before coffee, I can’t help ‘em. I just slap a Mood-O-Dive sticker on my black gear folks leave me the hell alone.”
Planck has plans to broaden his use of the technology.
“If Mood-O-Dive proves as popular as we think it will, we’ll phase into thermochromic benches on the dive boats,” he said. “We’re also experimenting with heat-sensitive deck paint, in case people refuse to use our sunscreen, so dive staff can adapt their dive briefings mid-briefing to better serve the dive guests.”
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Temperature: 86
Humidity: 69%
Precipitation: Sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away
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Chautauqua Event Set For Blacktip Island This Weekend
An artist’s rendition of a 19th-Century Chautauqua tent meeting, which Blacktip Island organizers hope to revive this weekend at the island’s Heritage House. (illustration courtesy of Jerrod Ephesians)
The Blacktip Island Ecumenical Council Thursday announced it will host a Chautauqua a two-day event, to provide island residents with education and entertainment, this Saturday and Sunday near the small Caribbean island’s Heritage House.
“It’s an old-time idea that needs to be resuscitated,” said BIEC leader, the former Reverend Jerrod Ephesians. “For an isolated place like Blacktip, it has special importance. This is a chance for Blacktippers of all walks of life to come together for conversations, readings and discussions of the issues of the day.
“We get too caught up with our daily tasks and lose sight of the big picture,” Ephesians said. “This’ll give us a restart to think about culture, art and new ideas with everyone in the community. Just because we’re a small, backwater island doesn’t mean we have to be cut off from the rest of the world.”
Organizers noted the weekend would feature a variety of learning opportunities.
“There’ll be offerings under the tent for everyone,” Blacktip Island Community Players director Doris Blenny said. “In addition to yodeling, impromptu interpretive dance and lecturers, we’ll also have workshops in painting, dominoes, philosophy and pantheistic religion.
“It will be as if a 19th Century French artistic salon was transported to Blacktip to provide everyone with a moral and spiritual uplift,” Blenny said. “The event will conclude with an open-mic poetry reading where attendees can describe their weekend experience.”
Some residents questioned the reason for the event.
“Sounds like a bunch of hippy nonsense to me,” Linford Blenny said. “Folks beatin’ on drums and givin’ themselves Indian names, I ‘spect. Just another excuse to drink and smoke dope, like everythin’ else on this little rock. Moral uplift? Anybody moves to this island, they gave up self-improvement long ago. That sort of thing just messes you up on Blacktip.”
Others welcomed the event.
“I think it sounds lovely,” seamstress Chrissy Graysby said. “The kiddos will love the entertainment and French classes, and I’ll be able to finish that sonnet cycle I’ve been working on this past month. And if some religion gets mixed in, so much better for everyone, so long as they don’t beat us over the head with it or ask for donations.”
Ephesians was frank about his expectations.
“This is something Blacktippers have been clamoring for, whether they know it or not,” he said. “But realistically, we are competing with the island’s bars on the weekend. And karaoke night. We just hope it proves popular. Or, truthfully, that anybody shows up.”
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Temperature: 85
Humidity: 68%
Precipitation: Oh, yeah
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‘Shroud of Booger’ Divides Blacktip Island’s Scientific, Religious Communities
A swath of fabric, showing the front and back of a bearded man, found in a cave high on Blacktip Island’s southern bluff, has sparked controversy on the small Caribbean island (photo courtesy of Sally Port / Tiperon University-Blacktip)
A pair of Blacktip Island residents exploring a cave on the small Caribbean island’s southern bluff Wednesday discovered a long piece of cloth bearing the faint front-and-back image of a bearded man, prompting some on the island to compare it to the famous Shroud of Turin.
“We were poking around in one of those high caves up the bluff face,” Hugh Calloway said. “At first, when we saw the cloth, we gave it a wide berth—no telling what had gone on in it, or when. Then Jessie noticed the face on it, so we took it outside for a better look.
“It looks like one of the Bottoms,” Calloway said. “Truth is, it’s a dead ringer for Booger Bottoms. We’re calling it the Shroud of Booger ‘til someone tells us otherwise.”
“People’s used those caves as shelter during hurricanes for centuries,” fellow explorer Jessie Catahoula said. “The way it was laid out in there, we reckon somebody died way back when, when people couldn’t dig a grave. And now, after all these years, the body either rotted away or animals ate it.”
Local scientists speculated about the shroud’s age.
“From the cloth thickness and weave, this could very well be from the early 1700s,” island historian Smithson Altschul said. “That would date it to the island’s earliest settlers. The height and facial hair suggest a seafaring individual. The trick now is to find out who it is. Was. Radio-carbon dating’ll tell us for sure.”
Others disagreed.
“That’s a modern sheet, from the 20th Century,” Sally Port, chair of the Tiperon University-Blacktip history department, said. “Got one just like on my bed, down to the Wal-Mart label. Still, we’re doing DNA testing of it and the island’s residents to see what the connection is.”
Some in the island’s religious community say the cloth should be enshrined.
“Too similar to the Turin shroud to be a coincidence,” Our Lady of Blacktip’s Father Audley Crossblesser said. “It’s not Jesus—we know where that one is. But this could well be the shroud of one of his Apostles. Ten are accounted for, but no one knows what happened to James the Lesser or Simon the Zealot. In running from the Romans, one of them could have sailed here. This is a holy relic and needs to be preserved in the church.”
Island authorities were skeptical.
“With those modern features and cloth, my guess is Booger Bottoms dried himself off up there and left the sheet behind,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette said. “Most likely he was down there poaching lobster—as he’s wont to do—he saw me coming and high tailed it to that cave to hide. That’s where I’m starting my investigation, anyway.
Bottoms could not be reached for comment. Eagle Ray Cove resort announced plans for an interactive Shroud museum to attract island visitors.
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Temperature: 83
Humidity: 71%
Precipitation: Bet on it
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The Blacktip Times 