Tahitian Pearl Farming: A day in the life...

[youngpearl]

LOL, art work ! the photoes are so gorgeous .
What is your camera's model, josh ?

 

[Karl]

Josh:

Great pictorial! Your crew looks like a fun bunch to work with! So...how often is Timi put to work sewing you guys up anyway?

 

[Slraep]

Very, very nice pics Josh!..... Except, why is the towel-headed-mustachio-ed Tahitian dude giving us the "mano cornuta"? I'm hoping there are no Italians on the pearl forum! Or is that the "El Diablo" sign secretly telling us he supports Bush and is himself part of the Illuminati and a member of Skull and Bones or Bohemian Grove? I only ask because there is also a CAT involved. Okay, it's not a black cat, but it's a cat nonetheless!

For anyone wanting to become proficient in "Italian hand gestures", there is a short but very informative video on YouTube. I can't post the link here because it's worse than the video on learning "pirate talk".

Slraep

 

[Josh]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the nice things you said.

I'll be sure to put text between all photos next time so they don't get cut off. Blaire, yes it is hard work. Really hard work but we love it.

Yup John, the depressed dollar isn't all bad.

Jerin, yes Camelia is treated like a queen and rules like one. We would fall apart without her.

Youngpearl, I am the happy owner of a Canon 20D. The lens is the Canon 10-22mm (not a true fisheye I'm told).

Karl, Timi gets out his needles and thread about three times a year. Less than a month ago he sewed up another of our team who is on my website but didn't figure in the pictorial called affectionately Kingkong. Kong incurred a healthy gash on his temple that Timi expertly closed up. Handy to have the steady hands of a grafter on call. I guess that does make Timi head grafter after all.

Slraep, the mano cornuta is being performed by JR and I'm not sure how up on his Italian signs he is but I do know he knows how to rock on. He is kind of mysterious though. I'll have to keep my eye on him for possible Illuminati connections. You got me intrigued again with the Skull and Bones and Bohemian Grove. Have a link? The pirate video you posted I watched over and over BTW.

Here's another look at our ferocious Ocelot. Haha, I have so much fun on this board.

 

[GemGeek]

Yay Josh! Love the cat! Name? Sex? Age? Favorite tricks?

 

[GemGeek]

Oh yeah, just for reference sake, here is an ocelot:

 

[Josh]

Your moniker is Gemgeek but I'm the real geek, sitting here in front of my computer chortling over your picture of a real Ocelot (that costs a lot).

 

[GemGeek]

Geeks must stay together!

 

[Josh]

Yup!
The name of kitty is either To'erau (north wind) or Mara'amu (south wind). They are identical twins and only Laurent, the manager, can tell them apart. It's actually funny to watch all these manly men be sweet with these two cats.

 

[Slraep]

Slraep, the mano cornuta is being performed by JR and I'm not sure how up on his Italian signs he is but I do know he knows how to rock on. He is kind of mysterious though. I'll have to keep my eye on him for possible Illuminati connections. You got me intrigued again with the Skull and Bones and Bohemian Grove. Have a link? The pirate video you posted I watched over and over BTW.

Tell JR that there are more macho men than metallica-heads in Sicily and Southern Italy. If he pops that hand gesture there, either in front or in back of a dude, it means that dude's wife is "stepping out on him"(capeesh?). A BIG INSULT that might get you some laughs if you are a funny looking foreigner, or get your legs broken---depending. (Isn't he in the back of YOU in the pic?).

If JR sticks his thumb out at the same time, it will mean LOVE in sign language. An overall better gesture. But if he insists on pretending to be a tough Italian, then he should at least adopt a nickname like Terrycloth Head Jr. or Mr. Thumb-less. JR wouldn't happen to be the head of "waste management" on the farm, would he?

If you are up to a geeky read on Skull and Bones, this one is pretty good:

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_skullbones12.htm

For the instructional video on "Italian hand gestures" just google "Italian hand gestures" and you will be able to easily find the YouTube tutorial. (I can't get any clearer!)

By the way, the pirate Jean LaFitte is somehow tied into Skull and Bones.

Slraep

 

[Josh]

Thanks for the link. I'll have a look.
JR is a very nice guy who I don't think is too fussed about appearing macho in Italy or the middle of the South Pacific. Good for laughs though.
I do appreciate learning love in sign language.

 

[Perle]

Wow, amazing! Okay, what we really need is a pearl-guide house out there, so we can visit Josh & Co. and "help" them with the harvests and so on . . . .

Seriously, love those photos, Josh. Keep 'em coming!

Perle

 

[Josh]

Perle, You're certainly welcome to come visit but I do have one question first: can you speak pirate?

 

[Perle]

Aye, Cap'n, and a fine bit o' rum I'd be bringin' ye, too. Yarrr!

Perle

 

[Valeria101]

....
Here is apprentice grafter JR, swiftly bringing a nucleus to his oyster for the second graft after pulling out a pearl.
...

Cherry color pearl, you say Glad to hear. Looking forward to that private list thing, Josh

 

[Josh]

Scurrrrvy knave...

 

[SteveM]

What a life, Josh. Appropriately, your pearls manage to express the fabulous vibrancy of their environment.

 

[Josh]

I've been meaning to do this post for a while. Earlier in this thread I talked about our pet ocelot and the nearby jungle. OK, it was a cheap shot and so I thought that I should probably explain why that contrast was funny to me. The Tuamotus are barely above sea level and the endemic life they have is pretty well limited to a few species of birds and crabs. Even on the lush high island of Tahiti there were no mammals living before the arrival of man. There are still no snakes or frogs. It's just too far from anything.
The first picture shows how low lying the land "mass" is. I love how the cloud dwarfs it.

 

[Nerida]

New desktop background - thankyou again!!

 

[Josh]

This is just a pic of the farm as taken from land. We stock the buoys on the beach for easy access.