2010 NCCE Conference

I'm in Seattle at the 2010 Northwest Council for Computer Education convention. To be very specific, I am in a workshop at this very moment learning to use some new Adobe on-line software. That's why I am on-line writing a blog entry right now. More about that in another blog.

My hero Captain Jacques Cousteau

This morning's opening keynote speaker was Philippe Cousteau, grandson of one of my childhood heros, Jacques Cousteau. As a kid I looked forward to the occasional National Geographic specials broadcast on TV. Even though his thick French accent was sometimes difficult to understand, it nevertheless forced me to listen more carefully to the important message he delivered about the wonders of the world's oceans, their beauty, mystery and the connectedness of my life to that of the creatures of the sea. He inspired me at an early age, to study marine biology and for a time I did think of majoring in that field in college. In fact he inspired an entire generation to go to sea, to study it and to become more aware of what our human actions were doing to the oceans of the world.

His son and grandson have tried carried on their grandfather's legacy and Philippe has created popular programs on the Discovery Channel that bring the wonders of the sea as well as the continuing crisis in our oceans into our living rooms. So as you might imagine, I was anxious to hear what he had to say as well as to be in the presence of a member of the Cousteau family.

The presentation didn't start out well. Philippe is a very good looking man. In fact the buzz around the convention was that he was a McDreamy type, a reference to the popular TV show Grey's Anatomy. His video introduction splashed across the screens in the hall flashing snappy, fast-paced photos of him in various GQ-like poses. I would have thought that he would have wanted to down play the GQ model image in favor of a more legitimate scientific, thoughtful, introspective image. Perhaps that doesn't go well with today's fast paced sound bite documentary style.

Philippe Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau

His grandfather's documentaries unfolded slowly, letting the beauty of the oceans and the story he was telling wash over us. No fast paced, thumpy music score or contrived near death experiences. Just the beauty of the sea and the lessons to be learned. Sadly, his speech lived up to the shallow image of his video intro. What he had to say had no more depth than a tide pool at low tide.

The depth of his thoughts could have been given by most anyone with the most basic knowledge of the issues of our oceans. The one saving grace was that he interspersed it with thoughts, video clips, quotes and insights into his grand dad's life. It seemed to me that he is doing what he does, not because of any personal driving passion to acquire further knowledge of our planet, but rather he is capitalizing on the family name and his good looks to carve out a career in the family business. Sad and disappointing!