It's life Jim

A big thanks to Vic for organising a trip to the Marine Life Identification Course in Plymouth. It was an excellent course that I would definitely recommend. We learnt a great deal that I'm sure will have an impact on our diving for years to come. The DS-AC team even managed to come second in the Quiz - and yes, there were more than two teams!

We had a session on the beach collecting specimens - it was wonderful having an excuse to poke around in rock-pools like children again. There were fascinating specimens in the lab: a dogfish was born overnight, and an anemone was spitting out perfectly formed miniature young. I'm not sure that the idea was actually to feed the specimens to each other - the cuttlefish didn't seem too interested in the small crab Roy introduced him to - although the Snakelocks anemone seemed very pleased to embrace the shrimp!

We had a great dive at The Mewstone on the Sunday - with hundreds of Sea Urchins, Starfish and Cotton Spinners. On the rib, on the way back into Plymouth sound, we came across a 6-7metre basking shark, which looped back around to take a closer look at the snorkellers that had jumped in; that was until Tony got into the water - then the shark immediately made a fast exit!

Debbie Harpley

If so, have you heard, or been known to say anything like this?

Q All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
A Oral

and

Q Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
A No

Q Did you check for blood pressure?
A No

Q Did you check for breathing?
A No

Q So, then it is quite possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
A No

Q How can you be so sure, Doctor?
A Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.

Q But the patient could have still been alive, nevertheless?
A Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practising law somewhere.

These are word for word accounts, taken down and now published by court reporters.

STOP PRESS!

I was recently informed that a member of the club has lodged a complaint about the content of Going Down. The particular issue in question was the one containing the tale of the girl giving her boyfriend a blow job at 10 metres (whoops I said it again, sorry - I meant to say fellatio). Apparently this person usually puts Going Down up on the notice board of their local school and felt that this issue should not be read by children, mainly because it contained the term 'blow job'. I have been asked to either tone it down a bit, or to produce a single 'clean' copy if such terms are to be used in future; i.e. to produce a version that would be suitable for children.

 My response to this request is that I'm not prepared to tailor the newsletter in order to target a group for which it was not intended. If, however, there is a general feeling within the club that Going Down sometimes crosses the line, then I will take note. All I ask is that you contact me directly and don't get someone else to do your dirty work for you.

One final thought. Unless the complainant actually alters or covers up the words 'Going Down' before pinning the newsletter up on the noticeboard, I would suggest that there is a slight inconsistency in their argument.

Date last updated : 24/04/05