Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The Professionals

Today we look at the professionals, the ones that brave the cold waters, stinging jellyfish, and squealing kids to make mermaiding a career. The ones that truly love answering the question, "What do you do for a living?"


Mermaid Melissa
Professional Mermaid Life

Our first story today comes from Priceonomics. In this article, columnist Zachary Crockett focuses on Mermaid Melissa, a professional mermaid since 2007.

"What started as her offering to perform at children's parties has since expanded into a fully-staffed 'mermaiding troupe' that puts on shows all over the world, and an arsenal of five custom-made mermaid performance tanks that are rented out frequently for private parties."

In addition to being a performer, Mermaid Melissa is also well known as an activist and voice for all animals, not just marine life: "Let's help save the oceans before all creatures become mythical."


The Perks

Camille Antoni and Vice Media bring us our next article, 'The Perks of Being a Professional Mermaid'. This article highlights career mermaid Claire, said to be France's first professional mermaid.

"Surprisingly, nobody in France had heard of mermaiding so Claire took it upon herself to get the scene started."

Birthday parties are great, but when the Paris Aquarium calls, you know you're on to something!

The article includes a video showing still shots and video clips of Mermaid Claire in action.


Not Just For Kids

For those new to the mermaid world, note that you don't need to be a professional to enjoy mermaiding. You don't need to be a particular age, and you don't need to be female.

CBC News Calgary shares with us an article by Danielle Nerman, 'Mermaid tails not just for kids, say adult mermaids'. Very true! This article continues the discussion: Are mermaid tails toys? What is the safety concern?

The article also covers adult mermaids and professionals, including well known mermaids Hannah and Raina. Be sure to take a look at the 14-photo slide show.


Best wishes and starfishes,
-Mermaid Cynthia
cynthia (at) goldmermaid.com

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Second Pan Trailer

The second trailer is out for the movie Pan, starring Levi Miller as Peter. In the first trailer, we found out that Cara Delevingne is playing the part of a mermaid in the film. In the short glimpses offered by this second trailer, it appears that Cara is actually playing twin mermaids.

There are a number of recent articles on Pan and the second trailer. I will share two with you today. The first article is from Courtney Lindstrand of Teen Vogue. This article focuses on Ms. Delevingne and includes the 2.5 minute trailer.

Jess Denham and The Independent bring us the second article on the new trailer. In addition to the trailer itself, this article includes six film stills and news of a petition. There is much controversy on the casting of Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily.

If you missed the first Pan trailer, The Independent's article has a link to that one as well.


Pool Bans

So you have yourself a beautiful mermaid tail. You have been to the ocean, and have mastered swimming and breath holding. You may have also swam with dolphins... But they won't let you in the community pool!

Canadian mermaids and mermaid advocates believe pool bans are crazy.

"In fact, Edmonton’s head of water recreation said the tails might encourage kids to hold their breath too long and black out."

Get all the details in this article at National Post, written by Gordon Mcintyre.


Mermaids in Paradise

Here is another short article on Mermaids in Paradise, an upcoming movie based on the novel by Lydia Millet.

“Mermaids in Paradise tells the story of a couple who discover the existence of mermaids while celebrating their marriage in a tropical paradise and work to prevent the mermaids’ reef from being turned into a theme park."

Read the book first, or wait for the movie? Tough decision.


Two Hundred

You have just read my 200th Cynthia Mermaid blog post. Thank you for visiting each week, and for telling others about the blog!

We reached 90,000 views on May 13th, and are currently averaging just over 2000 views per month. Mermish 101 has been the most popular single posting this past month.

Mermaids and mermen, remember to send me your mer-news... appearances, projects, and amusing stories, and don't forget to include photos!


Best wishes and starfishes,
-Mermaid Cynthia
cynthia (at) goldmermaid.com

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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

An Extreme Sport

According to The Guardian travel site, the latest extreme sport is mermaiding!

“I want to steer people away from thinking free diving is solely this extreme activity that’s really dangerous and show it can be fun. Free diving shouldn’t be intimidating. If being a mermaid gets more people into the sport, that’s great.”

Meet travel writer Susan Greenwood, now also known as Sue-Sea the mermaid, as she explains why swimming like a mermaid is the new extreme sport. Love the gold fish-tail, Susan!



Fraternizing

We reached deep down in the duffel bag to find this story: It appears that a US Navy submarine captain was recently relieved of duty for fraternizing with mermaids. Hey, what's wrong with that?

"Someday soon, the United States and the Navy will recognize the validity of human-merfolk relations.”

Dick Scuttlebutt (is that his real name?) has all the fishy details in this recent article at Duffel Blog.


Best wishes and starfishes,
-Mermaid Cynthia
cynthia (at) goldmermaid.com

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Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Time for Conversation

RIMS (Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences) head dolphin trainer, Teri Turner Bolton, should be convinced: dolphins can communicate with each other, and agree on a common path of action. Their language, however, still remains a mystery.

"Either one dolphin is mimicking the other so quickly and precisely that the apparent coordination is only an illusion. Or it’s not an illusion at all: When they whistle back and forth beneath the surface, they’re literally discussing a plan."

National Geographic brings us this very interesting article by Joshua Foer. Dolphins love to swim with us merfolk. Perhaps one day we can have a little chat.


Mermaid Cinderella?

Imagine Belle, Cinderella, Mulan, and Pocahontas... drawn as mermaids. Ariel would love the company!

No need to imagine... Swim on over to this article from Cosmopolitan, where Alex Rees introduces us to the great work of the illustrator known as The Nameless Doll.

Each illustration is an animated GIF, and every one is a must-see work of art.


Best wishes and starfishes,
-Mermaid Cynthia
cynthia (at) goldmermaid.com

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