Kyala and Oscar, two penguins at England's Amazon World Zoo,

have a new chick.  The new chick has yet to be named, and its

sex remains unknown.   Source.

  you might remember that Kyala and Oscar had a chick stolen

last December by some &*%##W$er scum-bag.  the chick

could not survive without its parents for more than a few

days, but despite pleas from the zoo, it was never returned.

sadly, it is presumed dead at this point.

file picture of kyala and oscar.  i can't tell who's who

 (frankly, i'd like to kick the ass of whoever stole the

penguin chick and teach them a lesson about messing

with weaker, helpless creatures.  really pissed me off.

and if the guy is too big for me to handle, i'll get my

cousin Ed to do the mauling ... Ed can take anybody!)

  the zoo has installed t.v. cameras and motion sensors

to prevent a repeat of the earlier crime.

    the myth of the "fastest gunslinger" being the best is alive

and well, thanks to tons of Hollywood movies and a dozen

t.v. shows back in the 50's and 60's.

  but "fast" had nothing to do with survival in the Old West.

in fact, the slow and steady shooters were by far the most

deadly (and long-lived) oponents.

  let's consider just two pieces of evidence.

  first, according to Franz Alm, a sheriff in the Yukon Territories

during the gold rush, and the person with the highest tally of

killed men in the Old West, here's what to do:

"Hold the gun with both hands. Aim carefully. Pull the trigger slowly.

 That's how you kill a man."  Source.

   Strange words indeed, if one believes the myth of the

fastest gunslinger: "both hands; carefully; slowly."  But

there you have it.  Not a single word relating to speed

or being first to draw.

   Second, here are the words of Wyatt Earp, of Tombstone

fame.  Earp was, of course, one of the participants at

the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.  Here is his

description of the start of that particular fight:

  "When I saw Billy and Frank draw their pistols,

I drew my pistol.  Billy leveled his pistol at me, but

I did not aim at him.  I knew that Frank had the

reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man,

and I aimed at him."   Source.

  What??? Are you telling me that one of the legendary

gunfighters of the Old West saw someone was

aiming at him and decided to shoot at someone else?

  Yup... speed to the draw meant nothing.  Accuracy

meant everything.  That's why Earp decided to take

Frank McLowery out of the fight first: he was "a good shot."

Earp survived the fight.  Neither of his opponents did.

  .... of course.... by now you know how this relates

to diving, right?

Small eel in Roatan, Honduras.  I've never would have seen it except that I was going

 very slowly, just drifting by, letting my eyes fall on this and that.

    well, in lots of ways, "fast is last" when it comes to diving.  have

you noticed how slow and deliberate really experienced divers are

in and out of the water?

    first of all, they take their time to set up their gear.  slowly and

carefully they put it all together -- once, the right way.  then, there's

gearing up.  again, they are not in a hurry.  they save their energy.

they don't get winded fighting with a BC. 

    as they enter the water, again they are unhurried.  they have

made sure that their air is on, that they have everything they need.

no shouting to a buddy in the front of the boat to hand them

x, y, or z.

    and in the water?  here's where a good diver really shines.

good divers are slow.  they are not swimming to and fro, spending

all that precious energy.  remember, water is 800 times denser

than air, so every bit of effort costs you energy, and using

energy uses air.

    you've heard it before, but it's true.  you can see more

in ten square feet of reef if you just hang back and relax

than you can see racing up and down 200 feet of reef. 

    so... i guess my (rambling) point is that as divers, it

pays to slow down.  slow and sure is best.  it's not a race

to get into the water, and it's not a race when you're down

there. 

   ok, not exactly dive related, but how could i pass this up?

    apparently, somebody runs a contest for "World's Ugliest Dog." 

and apparently, the same dog won the last three years in a row.

    world, meet Sam the World's Ugliest Dog:

    sadly, i only found out about Sam AFTER he was dead

(some day, i hope, someone may say the same about me...

or maybe not...)

    anyway, Sam also had a website.  but be warned, some of his

pictures may not be suitable for children, some Republicans, and

pregnant women.

           the American Heart Association has become the first major group

to shift to a compression-only CPR model.  See Story.

        most of us Rescue-trained divers received instruction to do CPR

by performing 15 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths,

and repeating same.

       apparently, this was too complicated for some would-be rescuers,

and others did not like the "mouth to mouth" portion of the process,

so authorities felt that CPR wasn't being administered as often as it could.

      by getting the "mouth to mouth" portion (the 2 rescue breaths)

out of the picture, the AHA hopes that more would-be rescuers

perform CPR.

     the new model consists of 30 chest compressions followed by

an optional 2 rescue breaths.  however, the 2 rescue breaths are

only optional -- the rescuer can simply continue giving chest

compressions until the professional arrive.

     according to the article, "After reviewing thousands of studies,

an international team of scientists found that CPR is too complicated

for the average person."

     i mean... come on...  what does this say about the average person?

how difficult is it to do 15 compressions followed by 2 rescue

breaths?  anyway...

    one thing this won't change is the "in-water, surface rescue"

scenario. it's almost impossible to do compressions while in the

water, so i assume that portion of the rescue procedure for divers

won't change.