Daily Archives: July 31, 2022

Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan McMillen participates in world's largest international maritime warfare exercise

PEARL HARBOR A 2005 North Marion High School graduate and St. Paul native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).

Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan McMillen is a boatswain's mate serving aboard the USS Gridley currently operating out of Everett, Washington.

A Navy boatswain is responsible for preservation, driving and overall readiness of the ship.

Today, McMillen uses skills and values similar to those he learned in St. Paul.

"I learned a sense of ownership," McMillen said. "You take the job you are given. Taking ownership and running with it are things I learned before joining the Navy. I've brought these traits with me into my naval service, and it's helped me excel both professionally and personally."

As the world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring safety at sea and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

The theme of RIMPAC 2022 is Capable, Adaptive Partners. The participating nations and forces exercise a wide range of capabilities and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces. These capabilities range from disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex war fighting. The relevant, realistic training program includes gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as amphibious, counter-piracy, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal and diving and salvage operations.

"I enjoy interacting with other nations," McMillen said. "I'm looking forward to bouncing ideas off each other. Seeing how they do things are a couple things I want to see happen at RIMPAC."

Serving in the Navy means McMillen is part of a team that is taking on new importance in America's focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of the national defense strategy.

"Our presence at sea offers comfort to other countries," McMillen said. "The Navy keeps the sea lanes open and provides security around the world."

With more than 90% of all trade traveling by sea, and 95% of the world's international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber-optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy.

According to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, four priorities will focus efforts on sailors, readiness, capabilities and capacity.

"For 245 years, in both calm and rough waters, our Navy has stood the watch to protect the homeland, preserve freedom of the seas, and defend our way of life," Gilday said. "The decisions and investments we make this decade will set the maritime balance of power for the rest of this century. We can accept nothing less than success."

RIMPAC 2022 will be led by Vice Adm. Michael Boyle Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, who will serve as Combined Task Force commander. Royal Canadian Navy Rear Adm. Christopher Robinson will serve as deputy commander of the CTF, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Adm. Toshiyuki Hirata as the vice commander, and Fleet Marine Force will be led by U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Joseph Clearfield.

Other key leaders of the multinational force will include Commodore Paul O'Grady of the Royal Australian Navy, who will command the maritime component, and Brig. Gen. Mark Goulden of the Royal Canadian Air Force, who will command the air component.

"Providing for my wife and my daughter are the values and opportunities the Navy has given me," McMillen said.

During RIMPAC, a network of capable, adaptive partners train and operate together in order to strengthen their collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. RIMPAC 2022 contributes to the increased interoperability, resiliency and agility needed by the Joint and Combined Force to deter and defeat aggression by major powers across all domains and levels of conflict.

As a member of the U.S. Navy, McMillen and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.

"Continuing the traditions and the history my family has with the Navy is very important to me," McMillen added.

Additional information about RIMPAC is available at ttp://www.cpf.navy.mil

John Sorensen is a chief mass communication specialist for the Navy Office of Community Outreach.

You count on us to stay informed and we depend on you to fund our efforts.Quality local journalism takes time and money. Please support us to protect the future of community journalism.

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Pamplin Media Group - From St. Paul to the high seas - Portland Tribune

SailGP will hold its third event this weekend at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth, UK, where Great Britain hopes to grab a win from Australia, which has dominated this season, winning the first two events in Bermuda and Chicago.

Great Britains team driver Ben Ainslie said sailing in the UK was a huge motivation in his teams battle against the Aussies, led by Tom Slingsby. We want to be racing against the best talent and Toms team have been really turning it on at the end of last season and into this season, said Ainslie at a press conference.

But you also dont get many opportunities to race at this sort of level and its extra special to race in front of a home crowd, he added.

While the sailing promises to be fast and furious this weekend, the league has also trimmed the mainsails on its sustainability commitment, one of its founding pillars. It said the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix will be the most sustainable on-water event ever, with the largest number of electric solutions.

The series will have the largest solar array SailGP has ever used, employ renewable energies like HVO to power its technical area, and include displays featuring bio-methanol as an energy source. This will enable the entire race village to be 100 percent powered by clean energy, said a league statement.

The event will also feature a foiling sailboat with propulsion technology that produces green hydrogen from the wind, with only oxygen emitted. This technology could be used on future raceboats, noted the statement.

Vitas electric Seal will also be used as the official fleet boat for Plymouth and upcoming SailGP events in Copenhagen and Saint-Tropez. The electric rigid-hulled inflatables have a top speed of 30 knots, with AC and DC fast charging. SailGPs Tom Verity said the electric RIBS will be a great step forward in our transition to clean energy on-water.

The series plans to be fully powered by nature by 2025, said SailGPs global impact and purpose director Fiona Morgan, highlighting the UKs record high temperatures last week as evidence of climate change. Plymouth will be a real showcase of how we need to work together to tackle the climate emergency and every change makes a big difference.

SailGP also set up an Impact League, a separate competition that measures each teams sustainability efforts during the season, from how they travel to events to the types of clothing they wear. Sixty percent of team members said they are going vegan at different events; three of Great Britains racer rode bicycles to Plymouth, and virtually every team has sought ways to make tenders more fuel efficient. Last year, Team New Zealand, which did poorly in the sailing competition, won $100,000 for finishing first in the Impact League. The money was donated to Live Ocean to fund ocean research.

Were just getting started and youll see more and more sporting and performance benefits given to Impact League winners, said Morgan. I really hope other sports follow suit.

Watch this weekends races live via Facebook, YouTube or via the SailGP app. The CBS Sports Network will have a delayed broadcast.

Read more:

SailGP Is Back With a Fast and Furious Weekend of Racing on the High Seas - Robb Report

Disney has plenty of treats in store for parkgoers this spooky season.Mickeys Not-So-Scary Halloween Partyis returning to the Magic Kingdom for the first time since 2019. The Sanderson Sisters will once again be running amok, amok, amokat the spooktacular event, while the Pumpkin King a.k.a. Jack Skellington will host Disneys Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks display.

Walt Disney World Resort, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, isn't the only place where Disney fans can have a ghoulishly good time. From the West Coast to the open seas and abroad, here are scary fun Disney events to look forward to this year.

Related: 101 Disney Trivia Questions and Answers to Make Game Night Magical

Get ready to trick-or-treat at the most magical place on earth!Mickeys Not-So-Scary Halloween Partyis returning to Magic Kingdom for 37 select nights between Aug. 12 and Oct. 31.

In other gloriousnews, theSanderson Sisters will be back for theHocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular. Winifred, Mary and Sarah, with help from Disney villains, will mix "sinister shadows, terrifying nightmares and use the nefarious powers of their frightening colleagues to conjure the ultimate Hocus Pocus Party Potionand cast a spell on everyone in Magic Kingdom park!"

Jack Skellington from Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas will host Disneys Not-So-Spooky Spectacular. The evening will also include Mickey's Boo-to-You Halloween Parade and Disney Junior Jam at Storybook Circus.

Disney has teased that some attractions at the park, like Mad Tea Party, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and Space Mountain, will have a"Halloween twist."

The ticketed event takes place from 7 p.m. until midnight and guests are allowed to dress up for the party.

Meanwhile on the West Coast, the Oogie Boogie Bash A Disney Halloween Party will be taking place in Disney California Adventure Park on select nights starting Sept. 6 from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m.

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Highlights from the ticketed event include immersive treat trails, Mickeys Trick and Treat live show and the Frightfully Fun Parade starring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Disney villains. Cars Land will be getting into the spooky spirit with Mater's Graveyard JamBOOree and Radiator Screams. Guests can also embark on a Halloween adventure on the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction atAvengers Campus.

Over at Disneyland Park, the Halloween Screams fireworks show will kick off on Sept. 2 (happening on select nights), in addition to the Main Street Pumpkin Festival.TheHaunted Mansion is also set to reopen on Sept. 2 as Haunted Mansion Holidayfeaturing decorations inspired by Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Related: 103 Best Disney Movie Quotes

Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse and Clarabelle Cow make their costume debut as the Sanderson Sisters from "Hocus Pocus."

Disney

Pack your swimsuits and costumes because Halloween is hitting the high seas on board Disney Cruise Line's shipsthe Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wishstarting in September.

Guests sailing on the "Halloween on the High Seas" cruises will see Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse and Clarabelle Cow make their costume debut as the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus,plus enjoyMickey's Mouse-querade, Halloween-themed desserts,Halloween activities and more.

Disney Cruise Line's newest ship, the Disney Wishwhich began sailing summer 2022will also debut a magical Pumpkin Tree in the Cinderella-inspired grand hall.

The Villains Rockin Halloween parade will kick off at Tokyo Disneylandon Sept. 15 and run through Oct. 31. During that same time period, Night High Halloween, a "spectacular fireworks will add color to the Halloween atmosphere at" both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.

Disneyland Paris will be welcoming back the Disney Halloween Festival on Oct. 1 through Nov. 1.Disneyland Park, one of the two parks in France, will also offerDisney Halloween Parties until 2 a.m. on Oct. 29 and Oct. 31.

Next, check out our favorite quotes from Walt Disney.

See the rest here:

Get Your Spook on With Disney in the Parks and at Sea This Halloween Season - Parade Magazine

It's been a very busy summer of TV watching, so I'm happy to say that this week is a little lighter on new offerings, which makes it the perfect time to catch up on shows like The Bear (FX on Hulu) or Netflix's Virgin River. (Speaking of, read our latest with the romantic drama's new showrunner.) There's also plenty of great, smaller shows you might have missed, like PBS's docuseries In Their Own Words, which re-airs the episode on Queen Elizabeth II this week.

Perhaps most exciting of all though is the comfort TV food that premieres this week, starting with Hallmark Channel kicking off its annual Fall into Love programming event with four new original movie premieres each Saturday. Up first: Love in the Limelight with the PenaVegas.

For the foodie, there's Alex vs. America on the Food Network, which premieres this Sunday night and includes episodes on Italian food and brunch. Say no more. Also happening this week: The Bachelorette heads to the high seas this week, while Netflix airs Wedding Season on Friday.

A lot of new shows are on the way next week, including season three of Netflix's Never Have I Ever and the debut of Prime Video's A League of Their Own, so enjoy the slight break now. I'll see you back here next Sunday.

The Golden Girls (Hallmark Channel): There's a Golden Girls pop-up restaurant that's now open in Los Angeles and will be coming to New York City, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago beginning later this year. It's a fully-functioning (and delicious!) caf and bar that transports guests into the wicker-loving land of palm trees, cheesecakes, and lanai's.

To get in the mood before you go, you can stream the classic sitcom on Hulu or tune into one of the series's best episodes when it airs on the Hallmark Channel tonight. To Catch a Neighbor (season two, episode 24) features George Clooney and Joe Campanella as police officers who set up a stakeout at Blanche's house to capture neighborhood jewel thieves; it is the penultimate episode of season two and originally aired on Saturday, May 2, 1987 on NBC. For more on what it's like to visit the pop-up, take a look on my Instagram page (in feed) here. Reservations available at Bucketlisters. You can stream Golden Girls on Hulu or watch the Clooney episode at 10 p.m. ET/PT tonight on Hallmark Channel.

The Golden Girls (from left): Betty White, Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan.

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What to Watch the Week of July 31: Hallmark's Fall Romance Movies Have Begun - Glamour

Michelle Obama is coming to dinner! Obviously, the best-dressed family on television would bring their sartorial A-game, thanks to nine-time Emmy nominee Michelle Cole earning her fifth nom for her work on the final season of the Kenya Barris-created sitcom.

While hosting the 44th first lady (playing herself), the Johnsons invited the laughs, too especially after physician Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) and advertising exec Dre (Anthony Anderson) exclude the kids and grandparents from the occasion. I love how theyre plotting to figure out how to see her, says Cole, who collaborated via top-secret Zooms with Obamas stylist, Meredith Koop, on her vibrantly cozy JW Anderson sweater. Its a casual dinner for her, but everybody else was over-the-top.

Dres pumpkin-hued velvet smoking jacket by Etro, over a black turtleneck, signals his professional success and accompanying pay bump. Hes dressed up for his wife, and hes doing it for Michelle Obama, says Cole.

As the three settle in for dinner, Junior (Marcus Scribner), in a graphic-patterned Dries Van Noten sweater, unsubtly attempts a photo with Obama. Then, college grad Zoey (Yara Shahidi) saunters across the room in a too-chic-for-doing-laundry lavender and python-print set by Alessandra Rich under the guise of a performing the chore only to inquire about gifting samples from her upstart fashion line to the ultimate influencers, Sasha and Malia. Shes carrying the laundry basket with her gold boots on, says Cole with a laugh.

Dres parents, Ruby (Jenifer Lewis) and Pops (Laurence Fishburne), also dress for American royalty. Cole imagines Pop dusted off a tuxedo that hes had forever, while Ruby curtseys in a majestic fuchsia designer gown, bedecked with sparkling rhinestone jewelry and a tiara. Where did they get the crown? asks Cole, surmising Ruby would have repurposed youngest granddaughter Dianes (Marsai Martin) discarded toy costume jewelry. Maybe Diane had some stuff in her hope chest.

For Cole, colorful fashion plays an integral role in portraying three generations of a successful Black family living the American dream in L.A. This is what we represent, she says. This is who we are. This is how we dress.

Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her Gen Z writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) take her refreshed stand-up act on tour hitting the road and the high seas. Deborah Vance going on a cruise was just like candy to me, says Kathleen Felix-Hager, who earned her second Emmy nom.

Expecting a gay-men cruise, Deborah makes her grand entrance in an on-theme pastel blouse and duster by Casablanca, featuring a distinctive sailing and racing print. Her custom-built wide-brim pink hat with matching trim snipped off the robe complete the commanding ensemble. How else will Deborah Vance walk onto a cruise ship? Shes got to look amazing. Its got to be like, Im here for all of my people! says Felix-Hager. And then she finds out theyre actually not her people.

Thats because Deborahs business manager has booked her on a lesbian cruise, and she must endear herself to an audience shes historically insulted. Making headway, Deborah confidently sports a bright orange floral-print blouse with brash silver sequins on the forearms. Deborah still wants to be the center of attention, even though its the breakfast buffet, says Felix-Hager. She still has a little bit of her Vegas flair.

Deborah brings her comedy act on board, taking the stage in her trademark sparkling pantsuit. Felix-Hager custom-designed Deborahs shimmering set with head-to-toe tiny purple and black sequins. The soft, flowing fabric supported co-creator Lucia Aniellos script and direction, with Deborah awkwardly dancing onstage (Oh no, shes doing Ellen, says a horrified Ava) and revealing her bared shoulders that further turns off attendees offended by a tone-deaf routine.

Deborah is unceremoniously kicked off the cruise. I knew that they were going to end up in a dinghy, and I wanted a color that would pop out in the ocean, says Felix-Hager about Deborahs striking red, pink and navy blouse by La DoubleJ, accessorized by a tactical orange life jacket and a vintage scarlet hat with delicate ruffling. Its just so beautiful, chic and kind of ridiculous, she adds with a laugh.

First-time nominee Dana Covarrubias fondly recalls her initial fitting with Martin Short for the Upper West Side-set mystery series. As Oliver Putnam, the comedy legend introduces his characters signature showman-esque style via a scripted line. Really?! Do you not see this coat?! yells Oliver as a driver nearly hits the former Broadway producer as hes crossing on red.

Olivers statement outerwear was written as a shaggy bergamasco dog style coat, explains Covarrubias. But due to collaborative discussions with Short (and the now-famous marigold faux fur of fellow amateur detective and true-crime podcaster Mabel Mora, played by Selena Gomez), Olivers coat evolved into the tailored, amethyst-hued Haider Ackermann. Marty is the comedian, says Covarrubias. Hes the one that should be making the joke, not necessarily the costume.

Olivers purple-and-white polka dot Turnbull & Asser scarf also set the tone for his dramatic wardrobe full of early-2000s designer jackets, vests and neckwear harking to his showbiz heyday producing the likes of Splash! The Musical and Newark! Newark! We found such a great theatrical look for him, says Covarrubias. Marty is so expressive and gestures a bunch, and the scarf moves with him.

Completing the sleuthing trio, Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) sports a navy palette and short-brimmed fedora that express his professional prime as the star of the 90s police drama Brazzos. Covarrubias took inspiration from cop shows of that era to find a vintage leather trench for a throwback scene from the bayou-set show-within-a-show. We wanted to create a really strong silhouette, because we wanted to reference this Brazzos silhouette in the current timeline, she says.

Only Murders also makes for an entertaining Easter egg hunt for fans to guess which improv riffs make the final cut. Covarrubias found herself ad-libbing, too. Oliver always likes his dips. Dips for dinner! she says. She imagined Oliver always at the ready to snatch and conceal tubs of Greek delights, thus ensuring his pants featured a generous number of deep compartments.

For the re-examination of the societal treatment that Pamela Anderson (Lily James) endured after the theft and dissemination of a homemade sex tape made with then-husband Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan), first-time nominee Kameron Lennox needed to find a very delicate balance because mid-90s fashion is just inherently funny. I didnt want to poke fun at them, says Lennox. They had their own unique style that inspired so many people then, and even today.

Historically accurate wardrobe helped highlight the rapid rise of celebrity obsession, bolstered by the tabloid paparazzi and sea change in media technology. After the VHS tapes contents are released on the burgeoning World Wide Web, Pam and Tommy attempt an incognito trip to the library to access the internet in the most conspicuous mid-90s outfits ever: Pam in a pastel blue terry cloth hoodie, cropped track pants by Hard Tail and Christian Louboutin Ugg-style stilettos, and Tommy in monochrome black mid-calf-length board shorts and a flat cap worn askew. It was a little nod to celebrities trying to hide themselves [from the paparazzi], and that never worked, says Lennox.

Tommys non-acknowledgement of the scandals impact on his wife peaks during the premiere of Barb Wire, Pams movie-headlining debut. I wanted to show that he wasnt getting it, says Lennox, who dressed Stan in a flashy suit by Fullerton, California-based heritage maker El Pachuco Zoot Suits. Its actually bright-cherry red upholstery fabric with flames indented into it, says Lennox. She imagined Tommy re-wore a mesh tank top saved from the height of his hair-metal fame and notes, there are flames on the tip of his cowboy boots.

The 90s wardrobe also emphasizes how the cruel, misogynistic humor of the era wasnt funny as exhibited by a Jay Leno interview, during which Pam maintains her dignity. Lennox found a black spring 1993 Versace dress and customized the decolletage-baring silhouette to fit James maternity prosthetic. It is a testament to her strength and personality that shes still going to own who she is, no matter what people said about her or how they viewed her, or how society would assume you should look [when pregnant], says Lennox. Shes just true to herself.

This story first appeared in a July stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

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How Costumes in Black-ish, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building and Pam & Tommy Helped Land the Jokes - Hollywood Reporter

Iconic cinematic teams are just hard to separate, provided nothing too horrible or conflicting prevents such reunions. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio definitely qualify as one of those teams that doesnt seem to quit, as they even team up on upcoming movies that might not even get made. Though their latest effort Killers of the Flower Moon has been delayed into 2023, Scorsese and DiCaprio have set sights on another movie theyll be making as an Apple original.

This time, the boys are heading out to the high seas, as THR reports Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are in talks to respectively direct and star in a tale of naval malfeasance. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder is the source material thats in question, as author David Granns recent historical book recounts the story of a 1740s mutiny that went to trial. With two separate groups of survivors questioning each others roles in the proceedings, survival and morality would be called into question.

One rather interesting question that needs to be answered is whether or not The Wager will see a theatrical release. Apple TV+ has certainly sent some of their films to theaters, with this years Best Picture winner CODA benefitting from a streaming and theatrical release.Then there's something like Killers of the Flower Moon, which is being sent to theaters through a partnership with the projects original studio home of Paramount Pictures. The Wager, on the other hand, is purely an Apple Original Films baby, so there's no obligation for a wider release model outside of an awards qualifying run, which would allow flexibility in how to release the film.

Non-fiction has been a common thread throughout quite a few of the films that Scorsese and DiCaprio have teamed up on in the past. Starting with 2002s Gangs of New York, the two would go on to draw from real figures and events to deliver The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street in the years to come. Counting Killers of the Flower Moon in the equation, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have made four movies that stem from non-fictional narratives.

Fans who have tracked the history of either collaborator are probably thinking that while The Wager sounds like a fantastic project, that doesnt necessarily mean its going to happen as quickly as its been announced. Seeing as Leonardo DiCaprio has been attached to The Devil in the White City since 2015, that adaptation could present a potential stumbling block for this new book on the shelf. Thats provided that White City's current incarnation as a Hulu TV series is still even on the books.

Several of Leonardo DiCaprios best movies have been shepherded by the hand of Martin Scorsese. Any time their names are mentioned as connected to something, even if its a bonkers short film/casino ad directed by Scorsese, the occasion will usually make news. For now, we'll have to wait to see what news comes out of The Wager's development cycle. In the meantime, Killers of the Flower Moon is set to bring Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio back to theaters, presumably at some point in 2023.

Continue reading here:

Ahead Of Killers Of The Flower Moon's Release, Leonardo DiCaprio And Martin Scorsese Are Re-Teaming For Another Apple Movie - CinemaBlend

Tales of pirates on the high seas and lost shipwrecks have no doubt inspired many bold endeavours.

For winemaker Sasha McDonald the idea of sunken treasures has led to the creation of an Australian first sparkling wine, cellared at the bottom of the sea.

"I mean, you might have heard of stories about ancient shipwrecks that have been discovered with bottles of sparkling wine or champagne that have been matured perfectly underwater, pulled up hundreds of years laterand they're still in mint condition," Ms McDonald says.

"That was kind of where the idea started from, but we've played with it a little bit."

Sashawas inspired to make her own drinkable treasure. It led to a collaboration between her family's Glenarty Road vineyard and Rare Foods Australia the world's first commercial abalone producer.

In 2019, they dropped a couple of hundred bottles into the deep blue sea near Augusta in Western Australia and crossed their fingers and toes.

Rare Foods provided the casing for the bottles in the safety of abalone nets in their ocean farms for the crates to be stored safely.

Lowering the wine is a job left to divers, braver than most. This stretch of the ocean comes with very big sharks and rough seas.

This wine was almost never made.

Several years ago, Sasha's husband, Ben McDonald, was about to make the tough decision to pull up the vines on the generational family farm, which was losing $60,000 a year.

"The management investment scheme and the ups and downs of the wine industry meant the price went from $2,500 a tonne down to $800," Mr McDonald says.

"I was making a pretty good loss. Six years ago, I decided I was pulling the vineyard out and putting 300 sheep in the vineyard to eat all the grapes off."

But a serendipitous knock at the door from a keen young winemaker, who would become his wife, changed those plans.

They now operate a successful paddock-to-plate restaurant and wine label that has changed the fortunes of Glenarty Road.

That includes the successful experimentation with the underwater sparkling drop.

The trial bottles spent 14 months at the bottom of the sea.

When they were brought to the surface, they had a definite shipwreck appearance. Coral and crustaceans had taken up residency on the bottles adding to the aesthetic charm.

"There were hundreds of different species of crabs, eels and little baby abalones growing on them,"Ms McDonald says.

But all this extra work is not just to give the bottles a stand-out story. There is a scientific theory too, that the lees the dead yeast particles that form a fermentation in the wine are naturally stirred by the extreme currents of the Southern Ocean.

"What we are trying to do in the Margaret River region is produce world-class wine," Ms McDonald says.

"For us, we want to build a beautiful texture into the wines that we produce.

"We've lowered down our sparkling on full lees. It's still on the fermentation solids.

"The bottles are laid on their side in crates and we basically just let the gentle ocean current move the bottles from side to side, stir up those lees and build that texture kind of like you would stir a chardonnay barrel to build up flavour."

The underwater conditions are thought to emulate the critical ageing factors that influence the flavour of wine:consistent temperatures, the absence of light, air, and movement.

MsMcDonald also thinks the salty surroundings may also change up the taste.

"We have done some blind tasting comparing a control, which didn't go underwater at all, but stayed in a similar condition," she says.

"This 'Fathoms'Cuvehas apretty amazing textural component, almost with a slight salinity to it that weget anyway in this vineyardbecause we are so close to the Southern Ocean.

"It has reallyenhanced that, and just creates such a uniqueand, I guess, a real sense of place for that one wine."

The practice of submerging wine is slowly growing worldwide, particularly among the big champagne houses in Franceand winemakers in Spain and Chile, although it is the subject of a legal battle in the United States due to sanitary concerns.

The world's first underwater wine congress was held in 2019 to explore topics such as themarine sustainability of the new industry.

"We have learntthat other people are doing it around the world. It's quite exciting,"Ms McDonald says.

At Glenarty Road Cellars, the endeavour to dive in deep has paid off with each bottle fetching several hundred dollars and they have just lowered another 550 bottles into the ocean this year for cellaring.

It's a risk that is paying off for the McDonalds.

"Now we actually want to make a proper business out of it," Mr McDonald says.

"It's all about good products going in and the care and handling, andI think there's something magical in the ocean as well."

To learn more about Sasha and Ben McDonald's underwater drop and other innovative stories,watch Movin' to the Countryon ABC TV,Fridays at 7:30pm or any time on ABC iview.

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Underwater drop anyone? Winemakers use the ocean as their cellar in an Australian first - ABC News

Move over birds and bees, there is another pollinator on planet Earth, and it lives in the sea.

In a study, published Thursday in the journal Science, scientists found that a tiny crustacean, Idotea balthica, played the role of pollinator for a species of seaweed. They do this by inadvertently collecting the algaes sticky spermatia, its equivalent of pollen, on their bodies and sprinkling it around as they move from frond to frond in search of food and shelter.

This is the first time an animal has been observed fertilizing an algae. This discovery not only extends the scope of species that use this reproductive strategy, it also raises questions about whether it first evolved on land or in the sea.

It was long thought that animals only pollinated plants on land. However, in 2016 scientists discovered that zooplankton pollinate Thalassia testudinum, a sea grass species found in the Caribbean. Sea grasses are the only flowering plants that grow in marine environments, but they remain closely related to terrestrial plants. Seaweeds on the other hand, while technically plants themselves, are not closely related to terrestrial plants.

The discovery that Thalassia testudinum was pollinated by animals was made after scientists noticed an unusually high density of marine invertebrates visiting sea grass flowers. Shortly after this discovery, Myriam Valero, a population geneticist at Sorbonne University in France, observed something similar happening among the red algae she was studying.

The seaweed species she was studying, Gracilaria gracilis, always seemed popular with invertebrates, specifically the isopod species Idotea balthica. Because Gracilaria gracilis produce spermatia that, like pollen grains, cannot move on their own, Dr. Valero wondered if the isopods might be playing a role in the spermatias dispersal. Earlier studies suggested that the spermatia of Gracilaria gracilis were dispersed by ocean currents, but given their abundance in calm coastal rock pools, Dr. Valero suspected another dispersal mechanism was at play.

To test her hypothesis, Dr. Valero and Emma Lavaut, a graduate student at Sorbonne, grew male and female Gracilaria gracilis and placed them six inches apart in seawater tanks. Half the tanks were populated with the tiny crustaceans, while the others were not. At the end of their experiment, they found that fertilization occurred around 20 times as much in the tanks with the isopods than in the tanks without them.

In a subsequent experiment, the researchers took crustaceans that had spent time in tanks with reproductive male Gracilaria gracilis and transferred them to tanks with unfertilized female algae. They found that doing so also resulted in high rates of fertilization. They examined the isopods under a microscope and found that they had spermatia stuck to nearly every part of their bodies.

The researchers believe the isopods have a mutualistic relationship with the seaweed. The algae provides the isopods with food in the form of a species of microalgae that grow on its surface as well as shelter. In exchange, the isopods help fertilize the algae.

This is such a profoundly fascinating study that really shakes up our understanding of how seaweeds reproduce, said Jeff Ollerton, a visiting professor at the Kunming Institute of Botany in China who was not involved with the study but co-wrote a perspective article that accompanied the study in Science on Thursday. This type of interaction may have been going on long before plants ever evolved and using a third party for reproduction may have much deeper roots than we ever realized if youll excuse the pun.

The group to which the Gracilaria gracilis belongs is thought to have evolved around 500 million years before the first plants appeared on land. Although isopods only hit the scene 300 million years ago, it is possible that before their arrival, there were red seaweeds that relied on some other now-extinct marine invertebrates to pollinate them.

It may be possible that the relationship between seaweed and animals predates the evolution of the animal-plant relationship, said Dr. Valero, who acknowledged that this hypothesis could not yet be proven. Another possibility, she said, was that animal-mediated fertilization strategies evolved independently and repeatedly in the terrestrial and marine environment.

Dr. Valero added that it was important to find out whether other red algae species relied on marine animals for fertilization because it could be critical to the maintenance of biodiversity in our oceans. While scientists are documenting how pollution and climate change affect the relationship between plants and pollinators on land, we have no idea how these forces impact the relationship between algae and their pollinators in the ocean.

In the coming years, Dr. Valero hopes to be one of the scientists to figure this out.

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Like Bees of the Seas, These Crustaceans Pollinate Seaweed - The New York Times

The history of wealthy people avoiding consequences by living in international waters is surprisingly long and doesnt reflect well on Dan Snyder. Like various Russian oligarchs, tax evaders, and L. Ron Hubbard before him, the Washington Commanders owner has reportedly taken up semi-permanent residence on the seas, specifically on his mega-yacht, the Lady S. Snyder may argue that he is merely enjoying the Mediterranean on his $180 million pleasure boatwhich this month has been located near Sicily, Monaco, and Portofinobut for much of the summer, it proved rather convenient as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform tried, and failed, to serve Snyder with a subpoena. The yacht gambit has yielded a critical legal victory for Snyder: If hed been served, he would have been forced to testify in front of Congress. But because he successfully dodged the subpoena on the high seas, he was able to choose to appear before Congress voluntarily, which means he will be able to choose which questions he answers. He can even appear via Zoomperhaps from the sundeck of the Lady Sand face questions about the workplace culture inside his NFL franchise.

Some owners oversee unsuccessful football teams; others are off-field embarrassments. Snyder is both. Before Snyder entered the picture, the Washington NFL franchise was one of the most successful in the league, winning three Super Bowls from 1982 to 1991. From the time of the AFL-NFL merger until Snyder bought the team in 1999, Washington had the fourth-most playoff wins of any franchise. Since then, however, its won just two playoff games, none since 2006. Snyder also spent decades advocating for the teams former name, which was a racist slur for Native people.

Hes also cheap, and has a tendency to hold on to other peoples money: He has reportedly withheld money from Washingtons minority owners, concealed revenues that were owed to the NFL as part of a revenue-sharing agreement, and held back millions in refundable deposits he was supposed to return to season-ticket holders. All this while seeking to squeeze every last penny from his teams fans. He took the unusual step of charging the fans to attend training camp, once forced them to pay for parking by banning pedestrian access to the stadium, and used to sue season-ticket holders who could no longer afford to honor their contracts. The franchise has charged fans sky-high prices on everything from tickets to beer to watch their awful team in a decrepit stadium. Last year a railing collapsed, nearly causing Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to be crushed under a sea of fans, and a pipe burst, causing fans to be drenched in something that may have been sewage. (The team claims it was rainwater, even though it was a perfectly sunny day; Washington perhaps literally pissed on its fans and then told them it was raining.) The shoddiness of the stadium extends to the turf field, which has been widely criticized, including by the teams own players. The gross grass has been the site of multiple leg injuries, including a gruesome and career-altering ACL tear to Washingtons most exciting player of the Snyder era, quarterback Robert Griffin III.

But you dont get called in front of Congress for being stingy or running a losing sports franchise. The path to Snyders impending congressional questioning began in July 2020, when The Washington Post published a report on Washingtons sexist workplace culture, with 15 women detailing accounts of various forms of harassment and bullying at the hands of male Washington employees. That led Snyder to commission an investigation from prominent D.C. attorney Beth Wilkinson, an investigation that was later taken over by the NFL. Wilkinson, in a verbal report presented to league commissioner Roger Goodell last summer, confirmed the existence of a culture of sexual harassment throughout Snyders tenure as owner; the franchise was fined $10 million and Snyder was required to step back from the day-to-day operations of his team. However, the specific details of Wilkinsons report were suspiciously kept under wraps, and Snyder was allowed to maintain ownership and control over certain business initiatives. (Notably: He was featured in the announcement that the team would be renamed the Commanders.)

Because the Wilkinson report failed to reveal the details of Snyders wrongdoing in 2021, the House oversight committee launched an investigation into the Commanders toxic workplace and the National Football Leagues response. In June, the panel released its findings, which included evidence that Snyder had attempted to derail the NFLs investigation through the creation of a concurrent shadow investigation. Also in June, the Post reported that Snyder had previously settled with an employee who said he sexually assaulted her in 2009.

Snyder is terrible at his job and has a distinct ability to make life worse for virtually everybody with whom he comes into contact. So when the news broke that Snyder is evading Congress on a yacht, you could imagine Washingtons long-suffering fans and anyone with a general sense of human decency crossing their fingers and hoping that maybe this would be the end for Washingtons commander-in-chief. Maybe a brave maritime Robin Hood would track Snyder down and force him to walk the plank of the Lady S, or at least return him to a land where Congress can serve him with that subpoena. Then, perhaps, Congress could strip him of his team.

But thats not really how it works. Snyder may be the poster boy for general shittiness among team owners, but the mechanisms for stripping him of his ownership depend primarily on his peers. And while taking to the high seas to live indefinitely on a yacht may seem outlandish to most people, its life as usual for his fellow NFL team owners, many of whom are also big boat billionaires. In fact, Snyders 300-foot boat is actually on the small side compared to other NFL owners mega-yachts. Although many have speculated about whether Snyder will be stripped of his franchise, he likely doesnt have to worry about a mutiny. After all, the potential mutineers have yachts of their own.

Its fair to wonder why Congress is investigating Dan Snyder. It seems like it has plenty of you know Congress stuff to deal with at the moment. The House oversight committee is meant to be a watchdog for the federal government, ensuring that the executive branch is running smoothly and not overstepping its boundaries. But it also regularly investigates corporations and public institutions under the justification that misbehavior might have a channeling effect on the rest of society. Sports fans will remember how, in the course of investigating steroid use in MLB, the committee brought baseballs top sluggers to D.C. The intent of the investigation into Snyder, his football team, and the NFL is not to find anybody guilty of crimes or to enact punishments, but to better inform congresspeople as they craft legislation about the issues at hand.

To that end, Representative Carolyn Maloney (DNew York), the committees chairperson, has introduced a pair of bills based on the Washington investigation that are designed to help employees in other workplaces fight back against harassment, including one that would ban the use of post-dispute nondisclosure agreementsas Snyder long used NDAs to silence current and former team employees. But thats the extent of Congresss reach. Congress is not a court. It cant punish Snyder, no matter what it findsit can merely draft laws discouraging others from behaving like him.

In fact, Congress wants to know who could remove Snyder from his team. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) asked Goodell, who voluntarily appeared before the committee in June, whether he could remove Snyder as the Washington owner. His answer: no. Its the other way around. The NFL (and other American pro sports leagues) are essentially co-owned by their member franchises. The league profits dont go to shareholders; they are split among the 32 teams. The leagues rules are passed by the NFLs executive committee, which is composed of the owners of each team. If the league office has the power to do somethingfine players, hire officials, etc.that power is given to it by the teams. The leagues owners voted to hire Goodell; as the NFLs website notes, they could vote to fire him. Of course, they wont, because hes done a good job of generating income for the league, as well as shouldering blame for the NFLs worst mistakes.

This brings us to Snyders peers, his fellow NFL owners, who can vote to expel one another. But to do so would mean doing something that is unprecedented in the modern history of American sports. Perhaps you think you can remember a time when this happenedbut it hasnt, at least not recently. There have been several instances when owners have come under pressure and sold their franchises shortly thereafter, but in seemingly every case the final result was a voluntary sale without the formality of a league vote mandating a sale. Former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson immediatelyand voluntarilyput his team up for sale in 2017 after Sports Illustrated reported on his use of racist and sexist language in the workplace. Former Reds owner Marge Schott was suspended from day-to-day operations after her (repeated) defense of Adolf Hitler, but she wasnt forced to sell. According to the Post, Schott was given a choice in 1999 of selling the team or facing indefinite suspension.

The closest thing to a recent official owner expulsion came with former Clippers owner Donald Sterling. One of the most disgusting humans you could imagine, Sterling maintained ownership of the Clippers through decades of harassment and discrimination lawsuits, but was felled in 2014 by his inability to open his mouth without saying something preposterously offensive. First, he was caught on tape delivering a racist rant to his mistress; then, his attempted apology for the rant resulted in Sterling criticizing Magic Johnson for being HIV-positive. The NBA suspended Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million, and commissioner Adam Silver moved to bring about a vote to expel Sterling. Ultimately, Sterlings wife, Shelly, voluntarily sold the team days before a league hearing on whether to expel Sterling. When the deal was reached, Sterlings expulsion hearing was canceled. Perhaps were splitting hairsit certainly seems likely that NBA owners would have voted to force Sterling out if the sale hadnt made it unnecessarybut officially, the sale was voluntary. Shelly Sterling even retained owner emeritus status.

In the end, most owners on the verge of losing their teams choose to save themselves the embarrassment of an expulsion vote. But few people are as stubborn and inflexible as Snyder, who has spent years fighting any and every suggestion on how to improve his sinking franchise, and has dug in his heels on even the most meaningless disputeslike suing journalists who were critical of the team or taking a bankrupt grandmother who couldnt pay her season-ticket deposit to court. (Seriously, he once sued a bankrupt grandmother. A court ordered her to pay more than $66,000 to the billionaire.) Snyder is so immune to accepting responsibility that hes tried living at sea to avoid being asked questions by Congress. If anybody would fight off the inevitable, clawing and screeching like a cat trying to fight off bath time, its him. He hasnt listened to any of the thousands of people who have asked him to sell the team over the past 23 years. I dont think hell start now.

Its easy to imagine Snyder refusing to sell unless forced to by the NFL. Its equally easy to imagine his co-owners refusing to force him out. Forcing someone to sell their team might seem like a fake punishmentafter all, they would still get the money from the sale, and the most recent NFL team sale price was over $4.5 billion. Thats enough to ensure that someones great-great-grandkids die ludicrously rich. But to these modern-day kings and queens, team ownership is about more than the money. Their positions in charge of these wildly popular sports franchises make them notable in a way that staggering wealth cannot. Their teams become family businesses, passed down from generation to generation. They put their kids and in-laws in front office positions, sometimes making decisions about the football team itself.

Its not exactly like Snyders fellow owners are some progressive heroes. In 2020, the State Department investigated allegations that Jets owner Woody Johnson made racist and sexist remarks while serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom. In 2019, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was arrested as part of a prostitution sting. (Misdemeanor charges filed against Kraft were dropped in 2020.) In January, former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores brought a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL that spotlighted how the leagues issues with hiring Black coaches begin with its predominantly white owners, who have a tendency to hire white front office executives, who in turn hire white coaches. If the leagues owners voted on whether to kick out Snyder because of his misbehavior and workplace misconduct, how many would wonder whether theyve done something that could get them kicked out of this exclusive club?

Its entirely possible that Snyders fellow NFL owners will make history and vote him out. Hes an embarrassment to the league whoperhaps this is the most important factorcould be costing his fellow owners money, through mismanagement of a large-market franchise and allegedly hiding cash that he should be sharing with them. The NFL says its committed to uprooting sexism and discrimination, and Snyder is a drain on the leagues bottom line. Booting him should be a win-win.

But he will be judged by a jury of his peers. The people who will decide whether Snyder has to give up his team are also the only other people on earth who own NFL teams, and therefore are personally invested in avoiding the precedent that someone can be stripped of their team ownership and all the power that comes with it.

The NFLs owners have an opportunity to do the right thing and make clear what they stand for as a league. But NFL owners also have an opportunity to hammer home that they are all but immune from the punishment they fear the most, and if they give Snyder a pass, they would further green-light their own misbehaviors and exempt themselves from future reckonings. Snyder can sleep easily on his yacht.

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The Washington Commanders Investigation and Dan Snyders Summer at Sea - The Ringer