The Beacons Collective

07/13/2022

You don’t get much more epic BTS than this. and I on a private client shoot way back when. 2 for 1 great white sharks all day long 🇲🇽

05/10/2022

Happy Ependymoma Awareness Day. Ependymoma is Layla’s type of cancer, very rare so hard to study. Only 200 cases per year.

04/29/2022

So this happened yesterday and today. Hilariousness.

04/02/2022

The one, the only shot on cavern

03/07/2022

Fundraiser link in profile. The past 7-months have been grueling. A 6-year old with brain cancer is the most unfair, maddening, and completely infuriating thing a parent can ever face. But this was such a beautiful bright spot that Layla talks about daily, being invited by Peter Chang and the to release Haggis, the sea lion, back to the wild after they rescued and rehabbed her. Just a rough draft here and all one take, but releasing for karma, and shot on iPhone and thanks to Ben Freeman at PowerPlay Retail. This is part 1, part 2 has yet to be filmed and awaits us in the very near future, beginning this Weds night from LAX to BOS as we go to finish this thing off once and for all at Boston Children’s Hospital, a place I personally was a patient of, many, many times. The voice over is by me, with a very special message, to Layla, while on the boat, moments before we released Haggis.

11/30/2021

Giving Tuesday, link in comments! Help us raise $2,500 for sea turtles today! Link to gofundme in profile or search for “I Am Layla.” Layla, is 6, and has been diagnosed with one of the rarest forms of brain cancer known to man, an anaplastic supratentorial ependymoma. She also has a rare strain of it to make matters worse. On august 1st she was rushed to the ER with uncontrollable headaches and vomiting. She kept asking me to save her. An hour later, life changed forever when they told me she had a brain tumor. She had emergency life saving surgery the next day. Two weeks ago she had a second brutal brain surgery and had started radiation therapy this week. She will start chemotherapy after that, for surely a long road. She is also one of only 60 kids age 6-11 in San Diego county to be selected to the Moderna trial. She received her second vaccine yesterday. We were selected prior to all of this and because of it, it almost did not happen. This is the story of her journey, of where she has been, but where we are going and what we are doing, with this, “FUN(d)raiser.”

11/18/2021

“Hooman, you have something stuck to your head. I remove it for you Hooman!” Love it when they do this, with

11/13/2021

So, what happens when you mount a GoPro GoPro HERO 10 to your mask and have another facing you on a sea lion dive with Waterhorse Charters? :)

11/08/2021

Help Layla Beat Brain Cancer - An Extremely Rare and Aggressive Type

Help Layla Beat Brain Cancer - A Rare and Aggressive Type. Layla was rushed to the hospital on August 1st and diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain cancer. She needed a second surgery on September 9th, completed proton radiation treatment, and will start chemotherapy soon. This fundraiser is to help her, help her help other children through donating to cancer research, and helping her help animals and nature by donating to the animal non-profits of her choosing. For more information, go to her GoFundMe page by going to GoFundMe and searching for "I Am Layla."

11/03/2021

Moderna just called. All patients have been unblinded and Layla got the vaccine! She graduates from radiation on Thursday, her final and 33rd appointment, and I got the email this am that the Pacific Marine Mammal Center is releasing the sea lion on Saturday! Layla will be setting her free and I will be filming both “graduations!” What a day! And yes, there will be a film next week, and yes, you will cry!

10/30/2021

Layla & Scott. She’a too young to have a crush, she secretly adores him, but constantly pretends she doesn’t like him at all. It is hilllariousssss. She even made fun of him by writing a story about how he’s a big baby because he was afraid to go to the dentist and had to have his mom drive him. And Despicable Me behind them LOL!!

10/05/2021

CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8 | cbs8.com

Front page news…

News 8 and CBS8.com is the local source for San Diego breaking news and top story headlines. Get the latest local San Diego TV news, sports, weather & traffic - KFMB Channel 8, San Diego, Calif.

10/02/2021

We are 61% to the goal! Link in comments…

10/01/2021

We have a WONDERFUL update on Layla for you all! First off, Layla is doing phenomenal. And with this, she has decided on her first animal non-profit that she wants to donate to, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center out of Laguna Beach, CA!!! The center specializes in rehabilitating marine mammals in distress, especially sea lions (which she LOVES) and harbor seals. They also do dolphin and orca research. You can see their web site at:

https://www.pacificmmc.org Now, for the best part!

Soon they will be releasing a female sea lion named Haggis (pictured). Haggis was very weak and malnourished when they found her and an x-ray revealed a fish hook lodged in her esophagus, which they removed. She has since doubled in weight and is ready to return to her home, the ocean! They have invited Layla to be the one to set her free, to open her cage and let her run to the water! What an honor! We will be streaming this live on Instagram () and posting a video later.

Layla will be donating $2,500 to the center, but here's the fun part. We are currently 60% to the "FUN(d)raiser" goal. If we get to the goal, 100%, Layla will then donate ANOTHER $2,500 to the center, for a grand total of $5,000! Can you help us get to the goal?

What we need most of all, is shares; text, email, post on facebook, instagram, linkedin, etc. Share with friends, co-workers, bosses, businesses you frequent, etc. Share Layla's story by using the link below.

www.gofundme.com/iamlayla

If every person following this story on GoFundMe, shared it with just 3 people, and all of those people shared with 3 people, in 7-days it would have reached 1.4 Million people! Let's all have a great weekend and help get this story out there by sharing away!

Thank you all! More to come next week!

09/30/2021

This is the absolutely special and precious moment when Layla was able to return to school earlier this week, after being away for over a month and going through two brutal brain surgeries. Link is in profile to her gofundme, “FUN(d)raiser.”

09/28/2021

Link to gofundme in profile or search for “I Am Layla” on gofundme. Layla, is 6, and has been diagnosed with one of the rarest forms of brain cancer known to man, an anaplastic supratentorial ependymoma. She also has a rare strain of it to make matters worse. On August 1st she was rushed to the ER with uncontrollable headaches and vomiting. She kept asking me to save her. An hour later, life changed forever when they told me she had a brain tumor. She had emergency life saving surgery the next day. Three weeks ago she had a second brutal brain surgery and had started radiation therapy last week. She will start chemotherapy after that, for surely a long road. She is also one of only 60 kids age 6-11 in San Diego county to be selected to the Moderna trial. She received her second vaccine last week and is now a vaccine advocate for other kids with news stories hitting the airwaves soon. We were selected for the trial prior to all of this and because of it, it almost did not happen. This is the story of her journey, of where she has been, but where we are going and what we are doing, with this, watch the video, link is in profile, “FUN(d)raiser.”

09/23/2021

I. Am. Layla - FUN(d)raiser

Link to gofundme campaign in comments or go ther and search for “I Am Layla.” Layla, is 6, and has been diagnosed with one of the rarest forms of brain cancer known to man, an anaplastic supratentorial ependymoma. She also has a rare strain of it to make matters worse. On august 1st she was rushed to the ER with uncontrollable headaches and vomiting. She kept asking me to save her. An hour later, life changed forever when they told me she had a brain tumor. She had emergency life saving surgery the next day. Two weeks ago she had a second brutal brain surgery and had started radiation therapy this week. She will start chemotherapy after that, for surely a long road. She is also one of only 60 kids age 6-11 in San Diego county to be selected to the Moderna trial. She received her second vaccine yesterday. We were selected prior to all of this and because of it, it almost did not happen. This is the story of her journey, of where she has been, but where we are going and what we are doing, with this, “FUN(d)raiser.”

09/23/2021

Fundraiser link in profile and daily in IG stories.

Layla is 6, and on august 1st she was rushed to the hospital with uncontrollable headaches and vomiting. It came out of nowhere. It turned out to be a brain tumor, cancerous, and one of the most rare and aggressive types known to man. Less than 200 kids get it in the USA each year, and she has a rare strain of it to boot. It is called an anaplastic (aggressive) supratentorial ependymoma, which is a mixture of different types of cancers. She had life saving emergency surgery on August 2nd and needed a second brutal brain surgery again on September 9th. She has now begun radiation treatment and will soon after begin chemotherapy. This is a film about her journey, but also where we are going give that we now have this, “opportunity.” This will be unique, special, and inspirational. 🇨🇷

09/22/2021

COVID-19 may impair men’s sexual performance

Want that shot now? :P

09/08/2021

Surgery done. Same as last time. As far as he could tell he got it all. MRI tomorrow will tell the story. Follow the science. What a kid.

09/07/2021

WARNING, this difficult to watch as it involved a child battling brain cancer, and is my open message to the Universe and how I feel about it. This film is called:

Infinity Stare

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Countless times I have had random people ask me if I am "military." Others who know me better, have commented that my gaze off in the distance is intriguing, leaving many to wonder what is going on behind my eyes. "Thousand yard stare," some have called it. Some believe the thousand yard stare to be where you look for the enemy. But in truth, the thousand yard stare, coined by a photograph taken of an American soldier during WWII, on the island of Peleliu, a battle that paved the way for success at Midway and a place I have been to which left me in awe of the Japanese determination, is less about distance and more about complete emotional detachment to complete the brutal task at hand.

"I don't know how you held it together," for those 150-hours end-to-end some have commented to me. How is simple; I completely detached emotionally and just got to work, and did my job. But in truth, my stare is not a thousand yards, it is off into Infinity because that is where the Universe lives. I have had my eyes on the enemy since the day she was born. Something told me that I was going to have to be in the right place at the right time, that the Universe was going to come for her prematurely. I never let it know, but I have been watching it silently, waiting, wondering, what, when and where would be the moment it would try. It is a burden that I have lived with everyday for 6 1/2 years now, but no more. All the Universe has done is stripped me of any remaining fear now and awoken the roaring beast inside of me. It is time. This is the fight I have known was coming and the fight I have been waiting for. It threw the first blow utilizing the element of surprise, knocking us down, but now the tide has turned, even as we head into the hospital right now as all of you are viewing this, for a second brain surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30AM to remove the remaining tumor before we start radiation therapy every weekday for 6-weeks starting in 2-weeks, followed by 4-months of chemotherapy, a month after radiation is complete.

I thought it was using Covid to come for her. But in truth, as we rounded the corner into 2020, my cinema business was ready to explode, Covid shut the doors on all of us temporarily. And if it had not, I likely would have been in some other part of the world when all of this had happened, perhaps being out of communications for weeks at a time, and taking many days to get home. I'd have been too late. The irony of Covid is fascinating. I truly felt like Covid was what was coming for her. In hindsight, covid did a beautiful, almost poetic thing, kept me here so I can help keep her here for a long, full, rich life that will long outlive mine. Not even a pandemic could stop us, as we thrived. The Universe is not immune to making mistakes as is nothing in nature. So it resorted to this sneaky, spineless, cowardly tactic of giving her one of the rarest cancers known to man and a rare strain of it at that.

In nature, nothing stands alone in existence. Everything in nature is part of some community whether it wants to be or not. Everything is able to be observed, judged, competed with. Everything is capable of making mistakes. Our Universe is but one of many. And this Universe has chosen brutality, a weapon of the weak and scared. Other Universes surely look on and shake their heads, living in harmony, watching us all suffer unnecessarily. But in truth, our Universe makes mistakes too, it is the way of nature. I for one have caught it napping on a handful or two of occasions.

Everything we experience, every move we make, every thought we have takes place in the nanosecond past. By the time you complete your thought it is behind you cosmically. But every now and then the Universe screws up, and for those hyper aware, can experience everything in real time, for a fraction of a split second. It is what explains athletes "being in the zone" or how "he has eyes in the back of his head." It is in these moments, that since what we normally experience in the past, has us seemingly peering into the future, like we knew something was coming. And in those moments the view is endless and what you can pull from it can be life changing.

About 7-months ago I stated out loud that I could feel the Universe coming for her, that I would look into my vision of her future and not see her going to college, walking down the aisle, becoming a mother, etc. At a certain point, something stopped or paused in my view at that time. On April 20th, 2003, Easter Sunday, a classic Spring New England day, I stated that i did not know why I was saying what I was saying, but that was the last time our extended family was all going to be together like this. It was. Two weeks later he was diagnosed, and two months later, our beloved glue that feld our family together, was gone, my grandfather, the man shown in this film. But this time, I am doing everything humanly, and beyond, possible, alter the course. My hope is that this gift of hyper awareness and unrivaled natural instincts was given to change the course of her life. When I took her into the ER on August 1st the headaches were so bad that the Head ER Doctor entered the room to me over her, consoling her as she screamed over and over, "save me Daddy, save me, do something!"

When she was born in 2015, The Beacons Collective did not exist and all I owned was a $400 GoPro. Thanks to the beautiful image you all saw, on her 8-month birthday, she inspired me to preserve the innocence in those eyes. She didn't found The Beacons Collective, she did something so much better, she inspired it. "Layla's going to see the world," I said. "You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome." Robin Williams, the only human on the planet that could ever play my crazy grandfather on screen, said in Patch Adams. That's exactly what we're going to do here. It has all come full circle, the very thing that she inspired is what is going to keep her alive. None of this existed until it all began at the end of 2016. I founded Beacons to show her the world, to see the world through her eyes, and her very inspiration is what is going to save her life. It is as if she knew and guided me to lay down the infrastructure so that when this is over we can leverage all the wonderful relationships, including so many wonderful people reading this, and get out there to keep her well.

This type of aggressive cancer is not like others, an anaplastic supratentorial ependymoma, there is no benchmark that if you're cancer free for a certain number of years, 5 for most, that you're considered cured. This insidious disease can come back at any point down the line in her life, and currently, if it does come back, there is not much the Dr's can do. So we're going to get back out there. That is what we've been doing and we're going to continue to do. We're treating the soul, and hope, that's what we're selling here, hope, while we science the s**t out of this.

Thank you to Julian Cisneros for the music that is so incredibly fitting, and to Adil Schindler for the closing shots of me.

This is my open message to the Universe.

06/27/2021

TWO weeks from TOMORROW! The action will be insane as all the males jockey for dominance and mating rights for when the females show up later in the season. 14 spots left on our trip. Let’s go! No excuses! Nautilus Liveaboards

https://nautilusliveaboards.com/go/schedule/trip/3009772

06/09/2021

Booooommmmm!!! Finally!

06/03/2021

Moby - 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? (Reprise Version)' (Official Video)

Amazing visuals and message!!!

05/26/2021

Woohoo!!!

Tortuga encontrada en Fernandina corresponde a una especie considerada extinta hace 100 años

*El proceso del análisis genético, fue liderado por la Dra. Gisella Caccone y su equipo de genetistas de la Universidad de Yale.

Galápagos.- Luego de dos años que un equipo de la Dirección del Parque Nacional Galápagos del Ministerio del Ambiente y Agua y, la organización Galapagos Conservancy realizaran estudios genéticos y la respectiva comparación del ADN de una tortuga gigante hembra adulta encontrada en la isla Fernandina con otro espécimen extraído en 1906, revelaron que ésta pertenece a la especie Chelonoidis phantasticus, considerada extinta hace más de un siglo.

Lea más https://bit.ly/3fk12Vu

05/18/2021

Rest In Peace brother. The beauty of the Internet is your work and talents will live on at Reefhunter until that little ball of gas in the sky explodes and scatters all of us into a billion directions, at which time pieces of me, you, and all of us can coalesce to do it all over again because why not; it was a ride worth riding over and over like it was an empty amusement park. The journey is never over. Enjoy your cosmic sleep which is that thing the most unintelligent species to ever walk the earth calls death. We will all see you in a few billion earth years, aka, the blink of an eye. Rest up, you’ll need it. Sharks are Universal and unite the cosmos. See ya soon dude.