Rose and Jack are about to hate cephalopods

[By Robbie Cobb/Shed Labs, via Bottleneck]

Ocean skyscrapers, Jurassic Park 3D, and other news

People vs Nature: The Fort

• As the climate continues to change and the world gets deadlier for humanity, a couple of Ukranian designers have conceived what they believe to be a structure so sturdy that God himself couldn't sink it. I know I've heard that somewhere before... Bold claims aside, I'd totally live in that place.

People vs Nature: The Swim

• A guy from Texas is planning to swim across the Pacific Ocean, from Tokyo to San Francisco. He's already made it across the Atlantic once.

People vs Nature: The Biopic

• James Cameron is producing a film about "the love between free divers Francisco 'Pipin' Ferraras and his wife Audrey Mestre, and the record-setting attempt that claimed Mestre’s life." Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Green Lantern) will direct.

People vs Nature: The Tour

• If you missed out on that Groupon trip to the Titanic wreck, you can still book a similar trip for regular price. Deep Ocean Expeditions will be happy to take you down to 10,000 feet or deeper. All you need is between $30,000 to $375,000 depending on location. The Titanic costs around $60,000, but you can get to the Bismark later this year for less than $48,000. The most expensive one is called 20,000 Leagues Under the Atlantic and allows tourists to "traverse the North Atlantic basin, picking out an undersea route from Europe to North America."

Remember those photos of the Titanic wreck?

• You can own them (and other cool images from the site) if you get the April issue of National Geographic.

So just what is down there at the bottom of the ocean?

• It's fun to think about, but no one knows. That's why James Cameron is going.

The US Navy wants Robo-Subs

• I mean, who doesn't? But the Navy's likely to get theirs.

Why giant squids have giant eyes

• Atomic surgery explains it and uses Gary Gianni illustrations to help.

Floating islands

• Unfortunately, not that kind. But some scientists think that islands that float on the water may be responsible for the biodiversity on Madagascar.

Speaking of isolated islands

• They don't get more isolated than Tristan da Cunha, roughly equidistant between South America and Africa in the middle of the Atlantic.

Hanging tents

• A company called tentsile has invented a cross between a tent and a hammock "to provide separation from wildlife, including insects, snakes and other predators but also from sand storms, earth tremors, cold or wet ground, debris or contamination." I do most of my camping at the Hyatt, but I still want one.

The River could join Terra Nova at Netflix

• Like with Terra Nova, nothing's signed yet, but Netflix is thinking about it. The River hasn't been officially cancelled at ABC yet, but c'mon. You know it's going to be.

If you want to watch something about a river... 

• I recommend Tarzan and the Great River, and tell you why at Flick Attack. Short version: it's a cross between Tarzan, Bond, The African Queen, and Apocalypse Now.

Tarzan trading cards

• This is going to be a busy year for Tarzan merchandise. Wish we could get a new movie or something though.

Reading List: Becky Cloonan's The Mire

• Know what I love more than comics about decrepit castles in swamps? Nothing.

Jurassic Park 3D

• You knew it was coming. Now you know when: 19 July 2013.

Titanic mapped, Tarzan unchained, and other news

More news this week. Is this the start of a regular feature? Mmmmaybe...

Tour the Titanic site

• There are actually a couple of ways to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. The best one is to have $12,500 sitting around and schedule your deep-ocean sub excursion through Groupon. You also need a time machine to go back and beat the group who's already booked it. It's normally a $60,000 value though, so assuming you have a time machine, it's totally worth it.

• Otherwise, you're stuck with looking at these awesome sonar maps like the rest of us. The image above is from the ship's intact bow, but check out the link for other sections as well as a map of the whole debris field. It's amazing.

Private island for sale

• You know, if you're rich, don't have the time machine, and are looking for other things to spend your money on, you could just buy this $12 million island and its "rustic" house in the Florida Keys.

Penguins harness ocean energy

• I'm pretty sure that "rustic" includes electricity in those island digs, but if it didn't, maybe you could power the place with this wave-energy converter (called the Penguin) that a Finnish company has created and is ready to deploy.

Jungle Book: The Musical

• People have been putting on musical productions of Disney's Jungle Book since at least 2010 when that cast photo above was taken, but since Robert Sherman passed away last week it seems kind of appropriate to mention that there's a new one. And this new production is bigger than the Jungle Book Kids shows that have been around for a while. It's adapted by a Tony-winning writer/director and will open in Goodman's Albert Theatre in Chicago at the end of June.

Jungle Hooters

• If you're in the mood for something jungle-themed, but aren't planning on taking the kids and happen to be in Brooklyn, Jaguars 3 is a jungle-themed, Italian/seafood restaurant/nightclub with a cabaret and jungle girls. 

Tarzan wants his animals back; needs to feed them correctly

• Last week we got the story of former Tarzan actor Steve Sipek who lost his private animal sanctuary. More details came out this week when Florida wildlife officials revealed that Sipek wasn't feeding his animals the proper diet or keeping them in safe enclosures. When he was released from jail, Sipek held a fundraiser and raised nearly $7000 towards the $8100 he needs to upgrade his enclosures to state specifications. I hope he also has a plan and budget that includes red meat.

Tarzan: an adoptee's perspective

• Adopto-snark has a fascinating perspective on the Tarzan story (particularly how Disney portrayed it) and what it says about adoption. It's fascinating because it's based on real pain and rejects the popular view that adoption is all warmth and hugs. "Tarzan narrates the adoption experience from the adoptee’s point of view more honestly than any Disney film to date," she writes. "Despite itself, it addresses the unhealthy practice of denying rather than acknowledging or even celebrating differences…but it really fucks things up when it shows that this denial is the right thing to do, and that APs [Adoptive Parents] will be rewarded for it."

Tarzan for the YA crowd

• I bristled when I read this interview with author Andy Briggs about his re-writing Tarzan for modern, YA readers. I love that he gave an encouraging talk to kids about the writing process; it's just that Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels have always been discovered and enjoyed by young readers. I resent the suggestion that the current generation of kids "probably wouldn’t read a book that was 100 years old." I argue that they will if it's well-written and marketed towards them.
  
  When I sighed about it on Google+ though, a YA lit educator questioned me about it and made me rethink my position. I still hate the suggestion that Briggs' book is designed to replace Burroughs' (though I probably inferred that, rather than Briggs' actually implying it), but I agree with my Google+ friend that "we should be pushing for more 'pairing', e.g., ERB's original writing with other interpretations of the character and then asking the reader to compare and contrast ideas, themes, etc." I would totally love to spend an afternoon listening to kids talking about the similarities and differences between Burroughs' original and Briggs' take on it.

Speaking of new books...



I may have to spin this off into a separate feature if I can keep up with it, but here are a few ocean/jungle adventure books coming out soon.

• R Kikuo Johnson’s The Shark King presents Johnson’s take on the Hawaiian shape-shifting shark-god Kamohoalii by putting it in the context of a story about a young boy “who has to balance his yearning for Dad’s guidance with his desire for Mom’s nurture.” It'll be published next month by TOON Books, which has some wonderful-looking sample pages.
• Archaia is teasing their 2012 lineup which includes appropriate-to-this blog books like the Cursed Pirate Girl collection and Hopeless, Maine: Personal Demons (about a demon-haunted, isolated, island community off the coast of some state or other), as well as other cool genre stuff like the next Mouse Guard collection and a Space: 1999 graphic novel.
• Finally, this isn't a new book, but to celebrate next month's Pirates! Band of Misfits movie, UK newspaper The Guardian is giving away a bunch of copies of the first book in the series tomorrow.