Awesome Video by David!

David has posted a private Video.
It is only available to members of his mailing list and lemme tell 'ya, you don't wanna miss it!
More details here.

You can join the mailing list here.
Do it!

David in the Fiji Times!

David on D2, sporting his dazzlingly brilliant Mancunian tan - the question being, has anything changed since!

The Fiji Times series of Shark-related articles continues.

This time, it is Shark Smitten, a piece about David's sharky quest and of the goals he wanted to achieve whilst in Fiji. It is of course way too flattering and now that the film team has finally! left our shores, you can all look forward to a totally unbiased exclusive eye witness account of their Fijian adventures - and lemme tell 'ya, it's gonna be pretty shocking stuff!

Shortly, it shall be revealed

• whose little heart was broken
  
• who laid on his stomach & screamed like a girl
• who became a predator in order to understand the predator
• who was cowardly abandoned in the arena all alone & surrounded by large predatory Sharks
• who shall never, ever again get anywhere near a can of Heineken, ever!
• and above all, who went home with a tan and who did not!

Keep watching this space!

Little Swiss Heart?

Bullfighter - whilst David continues to hallucinate, MPO continues to deliver. Awesome!

Right!
Read David's new post here.

David's first Video Diary - Cool!

Here's David's first message from the battlefield.
Enjoy!



Blog post here.

Way too busy!

Yet another dazzlingly brilliant pic by MPO!

Apologies.
Between trying to keep track of the exploding Fiji Shark conservation push, hosting David and Michael, lining up a new business venture (watch this space!), wrapping up Mangroves for Fiji (again, watch this space!) and least but certainly not last, diving with large mellow predatory Sharks (!), I'm just too busy for coming up with any in-depth blog posts - undoubtedly much to the relief of some quarters! :)

So whilst I'm running around like a headless chicken, please read David's latest post.
Brilliantly dazzling (or was it the other way round?) - thank you!

Touchdown!

The BAD boyz and the Of Shark and Man crew, fltr: Hugh, Hamish and David!

I must apologize to Kirsty.
I did publicly call her pasty and my only excuse is that I hadn't yet met David!

I mean, check out the picture - shocking!
This is my very best attempt at painting in a modicum of color, after which my trusted Apple has gone into permanent dreaded wheel of death mode. Talk about somebody being dazzlingly brilliant, and this literally - and yes buddy, this is payback (an honored SOPAC tradition) for calling me names on your blog! Man, I got a reputation to defend here!
Never, ever forget who controls the gas mix you inhale!

Anyway, yes, they are here!
The unequaled (!) crew of From the Office to the Ocean - Of Shark and Man have finally landed and we look forward to four weeks of equally dazzlingly brilliant and frantic activity, and stellar conversations! Case in point, today's menu: first Shark dive in the morning, and I'm quite confident that David will want to tell you about it himself. Off to Galoa for inspection of Mangroves plantation, interview with planters and village visit. Then, rush back to the Uprising, interview with Shark divers from Asia, shoot of lovo preparation, cultural show.
Not to shabby for three terminally jetlagged exhausted and dehydrated (and pasty!) British blokes after a 48-odd hour marathon from London to Fiji!

May the fun begin!

The Trailer!

David Diley on location in Mallorca

Behold the trailer of Behind Blue Glass!
Which automatically answers the question about Manchester vs Fiji Time - in Fiji Time terms, one week is lightning fast and I already very much look look forward to witnessing David's tribulations in trying to get anything done at that pace once he hits our shores! :)

Great job buddy!
Now, we obviously want to see the whole enchilada, namely
Filmed on location in Mallorca, "Behind Blue Glass" tells the story of Mallorca's history and tradition with the Great White Shark and in which, seven unwitting volunteers come face to face with sharks and in doing so, send out a powerful message in favour of the conservation of these awe inspiring animals.

Did I read Not long to wait now ;) ? Meaning... ?
No pressure! :)

"Behind Blue Glass" Trailer (1080p HD) from David Diley on Vimeo.

David - not a Dream anymore!

David Diley. Gotta work on that look - and on the tan!

Remember David?
Well, I was expecting a formal-formal announcement, but no such luck - he keeps talking about it in a rather oblique way and anybody who is not an insider will not quite catch on to the news.

So there.
David is coming to dive with us in July!
Right now, he is hopelessly mired in the post production of his first Shark-centric documentary, Behind Blue Glass which he has shot in Mallorca in April, and I cannot wait to see the trailer which is being announced for soon - which of course begs the question, is Manchester time any different from Fiji time!
We shall see won't we! :)

And in the meantime, check out this interview!
Aptly placed in the section about Challenges, it tells the story of one seriously committed, stubborn and outright crazy dude who just refuses to take no as an answer!
Yes, I'm rather impressed!

Anyway, about the Fiji gig.
David will be producing Shark.My God, the first instalment in his planned world wide doco series about people and Sharks. I know very little about the specific storyline and look forward to hearing more as time goes by - and to dashing the inevitable romantic illusions about what it takes to live, work and advocate Shark conservation in a tropical island paradise! I'm already driving him completely crazy as I simply refuse to micro-plan his visit but keep telling him that things will simply happen in their own time!
Not to worry Dave, Fiji is great and I may add, WAY better than other SOPAC countries (trust me I know!) - and bloody complicated at the same time! :)

And talking of last minute complications.
David needs some gear and is looking for sponsorship.
Like I said the first time, this is a realistic chance of achieving great exposure and very possibly, of even earning a buck in return for a modest investment into a worthwhile cause.

Please, think about it.
Vinaka vakalevu!

David - great News!

Remember David, the man with a dream?

We've of course very much remained in touch.
Thing is, I don't want to jinx things by talking about stuff that may, or may not eventuate and have thus refrained from blogging about his trials and tribulations but instead waited for events to unfold at their own pace.

Well, I was impressed then and am totally blown away now!
We just had a conversation and he has shared some of his upcoming plans - and things are looking much more than just "good", they are looking stellar! This is happening to a dude who decided to take a massive gamble and relinquish his job in order to follow his childhood dream and devote his life to Sharks, and who kept persevering all the way to the point where he ended up being homeless and borderline destitute!
Talk about walking the talk and being totally fearless and totally committed!

Anyway, it's not for me to break the news.
I know that he is planning to reveal some of it soon, and I can only urge you to keep an eye on his blog and on his Facebook page.

Congrats buddy - nobody deserves it more than you!

David Diley - dreaming of Sharks!

Want to live the dream?
Start out by having one!

For David, that dream is about making a movie about Sharks.
We've become pen pals shortly after I commented on his excellent opinion piece about the Shark diving industry, and I've been able to witness how a rather crazy idea has become increasingly tangible, first with a proper concept and film script, then a website and a blog and now, this teaser trailer.

"From the Office to the Ocean" - Official Teaser Trailer from David Diley on Vimeo.

I say, very well done indeed - and I love the music!
Thing is, David is doing this with very little funds, out of sheer passion and in the firm belief that things will happen if you want them hard enough - to the point that in order to be able to fully concentrate on his project, he has quit his job and is now tethering on the brink of homelessness and financial destitution. Talk about being one determined individual, and totally nuts on top of that!

Funny thing is: I can totally relate to it!
In fact, I am deeply impressed and also a little jealous: I did find myself in exactly the same situation at the age of 30 and did not have the guts to follow through and had to wait for another 15 years before being able to finally break out. Despite being well secured, that was probably the scariest and most traumatic event of my life (if you haven't done it, you probably wouldn't understand) and I can only imagine how David must feel as he ventures out over ever thinner ice.

Long story short: David needs sponsorship.
I truly believe that this would be money well spent - not only because everybody deserves a break, but because there's no doubt that the man is highly motivated, focused, tenacious and above all, highly talented (more videos here) and that any investment would likely yield a very satisfactory return.

Give it a thought please.
You can find David's e-mail address in his profile and I know that he will be highly thankful for any support you could extend, even if it were only some words of encouragement. It's rather cold out there and some human warmth may go a long way in keeping him going.
All the best buddy, and fingers crossed!