Latest news with #nautical
CTV News
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Team Yukon seeks second Celebration of Light win in Vancouver
On a barge floating in English Bay, Vancouver, Team Yukon is preparing to open the Celebration of Light on Saturday. Led by married couple Warren Zakus and Kiara Adams – who met as firefighters in Yukon – the team is seeking its second Celebration of Lights win after having won the competition in 2022 while representing Canada. 'Our theme is 20,000 leagues under English Bay,' Adams told reporters on Friday aboard the barge where the fireworks are being set up. 'It's a show that's inspired by the old movie. We wanted to do something that was nautical themed.' While the team claimed victory in 2022 – they insist they learned from the experience and are focused on putting on an even better show during this all-Canada edition of the fireworks competition. 'This is our second time here competing and I think we really paid attention to the audience reaction, we paid attention to the different things we could do with the barge, and we kept that all in mind when we were designing this year's show – to make it even better yet,' said Zakus. An operation this complicated needs a team – that includes technicians like Collin van Uchelen – who is legally blind. 'We're putting in an electronic match into each one,' van Uchelen told CTV News as he worked aboard the barge on Friday. 'And so what I need to do is prepare it by opening up the port here at the end, inserting the match, we tape it closed, and then Brian next to me, is wrapping it with plastic to keep it dry and foil to keep the sparks off it.' Saturday's event begins with a 10 p.m. drone show, before the fireworks begin at 10:15 p.m. Significant road closures will be in effect starting at 6 p.m. each day the fireworks are on, and police will be setting up barriers on key access points. An additional 400 officers will be on the streets to help manage the crowds, with many in the community still on edge following April's SUV ramming attack at the Lapu Lapu festival.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meet quatix 8: the most advanced purpose-built smartwatch for mariners from Garmin
Rugged nautical watch includes new built-in speaker and mic with chartplotter voice command capabilities, larger AMOLED display and more durable design OLATHE, Kan., June 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Garmin (NYSE: GRMN), the world's largest1 and most innovative marine electronics manufacturer, today announced quatix® 8 – the ultimate nautical smartwatch purpose-built for life on and off the water. With a new built-in speaker and microphone, it's easier to control the helm2 or answer a phone call3 while staying focused on the water. Available in two sizes – 47mm and 51mm – both models feature a 1.4-inch AMOLED display, scratch-resistant sapphire lens and tough titanium bezel, while new leakproof buttons and a sensor guard protect the watch from the elements. And with incredible battery life of up to 16 days on the 47mm watch and 29 days on the 51mm, it's easy to extend the adventure. "From the open water to the office and everywhere in between, quatix 8 is equipped with premium features that support those who love the water through every part of their day. Reliable marine tools give mariners the control and awareness they need while boating, sailing or fishing. Then once it's time to dock, the watch's robust collection of wellness features and fitness activities can help them stay on top of their health and pursue their passions."–Susan Lyman, Garmin Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing Durable design Built to withstand the toughest conditions without sacrificing style, quatix 8 has been tested to U.S. military standards for thermal and shock resistance and includes a new ambient light sensor, ensuring the screen is easy to read even in harsh sunlight. And the built-in LED flashlight provides convenient illumination on the boat or at home with multiple light modes and a red safety light to help preserve night vision. For those looking to take their adventure below the surface, quatix 8 is dive-rated up to 40 meters and includes new leakproof metal buttons and a sensor guard to help protect essential sensors during scuba and apnea dive activities. On-the-water companion With a built-in speaker, microphone and a host of dedicated marine features, quatix 8 is the ultimate smartwatch to control a helm. Confidently navigate the water, add waypoints for fishing spots and control other Garmin chartplotter functions with wrist-based voice commands via Bluetooth®. When paired with a compatible smartphone, mariners can also make and take calls from the watch and use the phone's voice assistant to verbally respond to text messages. With just a few taps, quatix 8 acts as a remote for compatible Garmin trolling motors, Fusion® entertainment systems and more – while also keeping users updated on conditions like water depth, speed, heading and wind. And with preloaded boating and sailing apps, it's easier to stay aware and track time on the water with tide change and anchor drag alerts, tack assist, race start guidance and regatta timer. Available now, quatix 8 has a suggested retail price of $1,199.99 for the 47mm model and $1,299.99 for the 51mm model. To learn more about the suite of health, fitness, navigation and connected features available on quatix 8, visit Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionized life for anglers, sailors, mariners and boat enthusiasts everywhere. Committed to developing the most innovative, highest quality, and easiest to use marine electronics the industry has ever known, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday. For the tenth consecutive year, Garmin was named the Manufacturer of the Year by the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA). Visit the Garmin Newsroom, email our media team, connect with @garminmarine on social, or follow our blog. 1Based on 2024 sales.2 Requires compatible Garmin chartplotter and Bluetooth connectivity3 When paired with a compatible smartphone About Garmin International, Inc. Garmin International, Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin and Fusion are registered trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Garmin is under license. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Such statements are based on management's current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2024, filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983), and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 29, 2025 filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 001-41118). Copies of such Form 10-K and Form 10-Q are available at No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. MEDIA CONTACTS:Brianna Silverman and Adrieanna View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Garmin International, Inc. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNET
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Crisol is a BioShock-Like Cult Horror Shooter Using Your Blood For Bullets
One of the best things about Summer Game Fest is discovering games that blend some of your favorite classics into something wholly new. Crisol: Theater of Idols is a game with clear BioShock influence in its first-person shooter exploration, but melds some cult horror from games like Resident Evil 4 into the mix. On top of it all, to reload your gun, you've gotta sacrifice your own blood -- and take a chunk from your own health bar. It's a novel mechanic that combines with the gothic, nautical setting for a promising approach to horror action games. Crisol is being developed by Vermila Studios, which was acquired by Embracer Group in 2020, but the game is being published by Blumhouse Games. After playing through a 20-minute demo of his new game, the studio's CEO David Carrasco explained how its game is a course correction for horror games. Each gun has its own blood-reloading animation -- for this pistol, spikes jut out from the handle and pierce to palm to draw their tithe to reload. Vermila Studios "We've thought for a long time that survival horror was getting to where you didn't have that survival element so much," Carrasco said. "We wanted to give it an extra layer of tension by using your blood, your holy blood, to defeat these unholy monsters." I certainly felt it in the demo. As I stalked the moonlit cobblestone streets of an island teeming with unholy, creepy marionette creatures, knowing every missed shot was a bit of lost life. Survival horror games give players weapons to quench fear (or in their absence, amplify it, as with the Amnesia series), but tying my guns' efficacy to my health made me slow down and pick my shots, amping up the fear as enemies closed in -- "keeping that tension constantly in the back of your head," as Carrasco put it. While I felt the slightest concern for players with poor aim, there are health-restoring syringes sitting in the corners of abandoned shops and buildings. Crisol also has a mechanic where players can harvest blood (and thus, chunks of life) from dead animals lying around. Tying weapons to health is a twist on another survival horror game trope of saving heavy weapons ammo for dangerous bosses later on, Carrasco noted -- in Crisol, you'll always be able to use your big guns…for a price. In Crisol, players take on the role of Gabriel, captain of the Tercios Del Sol, a command of soldiers under a sun-worshiping religion that takes on holy missions. He receives a divine order to go to an old island that's spun off into its own sea religion, Tormentosa, and deal with idol statues that have come alive and begun rampaging around. When I asked what inspired Crisol, Carrasco was up-front that Bioshock and a number of Resident Evil games (4, 7 and 8 specifically) had the right mix of artistic design and gameplay Vermila Studios was looking for. Dishonored was another source for its heavy emphasis on art. "Sprinkle in Spanish folklore, religious undertones, and in the end, with all of those fantastic and crazy and brutal inspirations make something that will be unique and memorable," Carrasco said. Marionette-like idol enemies that have come to life on the island. Vermila Studios Spanish folklore is underutilized compared to the Japanese, Nordic and American mythology that appears in many games, Carrasco said. Vermila Studios, based in the Spanish city of Madrid, drew on its home country's history and culture -- and though the island players visit in Crisol doesn't explicitly take place in Spain, players will be able to connect the dots with the cathedrals, old architecture, polychromatic statues and stained-glass windows that make up the game's visual language. That blend applies to religion, too: players will run into a faith following on Crisol's island that follows religions of the sea and sun, which I saw a bit of in the demo, with deification of mermaids and other pseudo-pagan effects. But Carrasco acknowledges the Catholic influence in the game, too. "We've taken a lot of religious inspiration from different religious, like the Catholic Church, which has a lot of deeply rooted components in the Spanish culture, but [also] some other, older religions, even cults from very old history," Carrasco said, affirming that there's no explicit connection to the Catholic church or Christianity. "We do have holy blood, but it's not like a Christ or any connection to the reality of religions nowadays." As I wander the cobbled streets of the demo, I see how all these elements blend into Crisol's visual language. Vermila Studio has a larger-than-usual art department, Carrasco noted, with around 20 people working for five years scribbling out drafts of enemies and locations to give the game a look and feel that felt familiar, fantastical and plausible at the same time -- that it really could be on an island out to sea. Vermila Studios As players explore the 10- to 14-hour game, they'll experience the creeping horror of the cult's presence, but Vermila isn't relying on a lot of jump scares, Carrasco said, which can lose their impact if overused. Rather, the game will rely on the tension of enemies behind and pursuing you, from those you run out of blood bullets (and health) to defeat, to those unaffected by your weapons. In the second half of the demo, I ran into what Carrasco was talking about: a tall, hulking marionette monster with an impossibly wide smile that called out to me, shrugging off my bullets as I darted into buildings to evade its pursuit. Like other invulnerable pursuit bosses (Mr. X in Resident Evil 2, Jack Baker in Resident Evil 7), I had to sneak around while finding bolt cutters to clip chained-off doors. I also had to roll up a gate agonizingly slowly, expecting my stalker to close in on me at any second. I escaped into a mermaid-themed restaurant and the demo ended, but the vibes of the game stuck with me. They clearly appealed to Blumhouse, too, who were interested in Crisol's dramatic art style and its blood mechanics. For Vermila Studios, Blumhouse was a good fit for its track record of bringing in new artists and projects that may be smaller but bring something new to the table. "For us, being a part of this Blumhouse lineup is just like a partnership made in heaven -- or hell, maybe -- where they understand horror and what tickles that," Carrasco said. Crisol: Theater of Idols is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox later in 2025.
Vogue
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
All Aboard the S.S. Sydney Sweeney!
Fleet Week may be over, but that didn't stop Sydney Sweeney from embracing the nautical look. While she's keeping herself more than busy filming the third season of Euphoria, preparing to portray Kim Novak in the Colman Domingo-directed Scandalous, and mothering her new puppy, Sully, Sweeney has also found the time to promote her forthcoming film, Echo Valley. The actor, alongside her costar Julianne Moore, made her way to Midtown Manhattan early this morning (June 4) to discuss the thriller on Good Morning America. Sydney Sweeney in Manhattan, June 4. TheStewartofNY Coperni fall 2025, look 3. Photo: Courtesy of Coperni For her morning show spot, Sweeney opted for look three from Coperni's fall 2025 show. Styled by Molly Dickson, she wore a black button-through vest with a white striped sailor collar and a layered, pleated white miniskirt with an asymmetrical hem. The actor added a pair of black Wayfarer sunglasses and swapped the flat moto boot from the runway for a heeled black knee-high model. Yesterday, Sweeney was spotted in more traditional ladylike fashions in a full Burberry look: That included a belted beige trench dress, telltale plaid peep-toe kitten heels, and an olive green Knight Arc bag. But today, in her Coperni top, she's making the case for maritime dressing. Sure, S.S. may mean 'Steam Ship,' but it might as well stand for 'Sydney Sweeney.'
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Empress Murders by Toby Schmitz review – Jazz Age mystery packed with corpses and charisma
On stepping aboard the Empress of Australia, the setting for Toby Schmitz's debut novel, I thought I might be in for a fizzy nautical romp. I rather hoped so. The news, presently, is mostly vile; a parade of cruelty, stupidity and profound, preventable suffering. A Jazz Age mystery authored by a celebrated Australian actor – you'll have seen him on mainstages across the country, and recently in the TV adaptation of Boy Swallows Universe – sounded like just the ticket. In the early chapters of The Empress Murders, we have just one corpse to contend with, and many dazzling characters to follow through the staterooms and corridors of the upper and lower decks. Inspector Archie Daniels, the ship's detective, seems like a glum chap, Chief Steward Rowling is sweatily unwell, and we learn quickly that Mr Frey, an Australian poet, fought at the Somme and Gallipoli. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning But the war is over, it's 1925, and the Empress has been fitted out with a new cabaret saloon. The passengers are primed to drink and dance and drug their way across the Atlantic. There's Tony Hertz-Hollingsworth, 'sapphire velvet sports coat with plum silk pocket square and matching tie (top button popped), white trousers knifepleated, two-tone wing-tips'. His wife of three weeks, Nicola, spots Frey and squeals 'Newcomer!' Everyone is a suspect, no one can escape, the parties simply must continue. Frey is a freeloader, having invited himself to dinner with the Cavendishes; they 'really are tall enough to write home about'. Such larks! There might be a murderer aboard, but surely one dead deckhand will not spoil the fun? As the Empress sails further away from Portsmouth, however, Schmitz confounds expectations. We are no longer in a jolly Agatha Christie novel, but perhaps in a film directed by Sam Peckinpah or Park Chan-wook. The corpses pile up, so many of them that they spill out of the kitchen where Inspector Daniels directs them to be stored. The parties take on a desperate air and the pace of the novel slows. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion The violence of the crossing is mirrored by the back-stories of the characters, which, as they emerge, form a collage of the waning British Empire and its brutal legacies. Through the lives of the toffs, the musos, the waiters, the bodyguards and sundry passengers and staff, we traverse the Commonwealth and witness dispossession, genocide, enslavement and all manner of violence and hypocrisy, returning again and again to the charnel houses of the Great War. These flashbacks are heavy-going and mighty didactic, as if Schmitz suspects his reader risks – like the cast and crew of the Empress – being so taken with the froth and frocks as to be indifferent to the bloody truths they conceal. It's not giving anything away to say that the reader twigs to who is responsible well before the poor old ship's detective does. We might grasp for a neat motive to explain the crimes but soon enough realise that any such reckoning is inadequate. Schmitz cues us to see the psychotic violence of The Empress Murders not as the work of an individual but as the expression of nothing less than history itself (let the band play on). The narrative machinery of The Empress Murders is unusual, in that the novel is narrated in part by the boat. The boat-narrator speaks not just in the voice of the Empress of Australia, but an armada of boats. The Empress is a bark canoe, a trireme and an ocean liner, an unsinkable boat with a commanding narrative position. Schmitz uses this device sparingly, staying mostly in a cozy close third and ventriloquising his characters; as boat, he addresses his readers directly. I'm not sure this very conspicuous narrative device is strictly necessary, but it is a measure of Schmitz's aesthetic ambitions for his novel, which are aligned with the avant-garde techniques of the first decades of the 20th century. The poet Frey is obsessed with Dada, and so, I think, is Schmitz, whose approach to narrative design rests heavily on jump cuts and collage, on startling juxtapositions and stomach-turning shifts in register. It is through the boat that Schmitz delivers an ominous thesis about history: 'Within my names within names, my kernel has always included Death Barge. Whether you believe in me or not, I've always been ready to ferry you to annihilation.' This is no pleasure cruise. By this stage of the novel, the reader has abandoned all hope of returning to the soothing rhythms of the jaunty nautical murder mystery. In terms of genre, we have been blindfolded, spun around three times and given a shot of brandy. Is it farce? Is it genius? Is it a bit? The reader is left with little choice but to stumble on and let the boat do its thing. Schmitz wants to entertain his readers, and also to provoke them. His characters are delightfully loquacious – ribald wits, most of them – and even the sullen ones are daubed with charisma. What it's all for is another matter. Is The Empress Murders a pulpit for Schmitz to rail against the abuses of empire past and present – or is it an improv stage? Is it a grand dissertation on history – or an experimental frolic? Are we being instructed to reflect on the past, or to look around at our annihilating present with fresh eyes? The answer to these questions is: all of it, and more. This is a novel that wants to be everything; it's stuffed to the gills not just with corpses but with language, with games, with gorgeous costumes and period details. The effect is overwhelming. But as Schmitz and the Dadaists and a thousand cabaret artists know, aesthetic derangement is a fit response – perhaps the only appropriate response – to a senseless and cruel world ferrying itself towards destruction. The Empress Murders by Toby Schmitz is out now (Allen & Unwin)
