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Villa Fence With Mind- Blowing Aquarium
Mehmet Ali Gökçeoğlu, a successful businessman and topographical engineer from Turkey, has built the world’s most amazing fence for his luxurious villa in Çeşme, Izmir. Eight years ago he replaced the metal fence at the front of his property with a 50-meter-long aquarium filled with hundreds of fish and octopuses. I know, you have to see it to believe it. Luckily we have the photos and videos to prove it.
Located just a few feet away from the shores of the Aegean Sea, Mehmet Ali Gökçeoğlu’s property has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Çeşme, attracting up to a thousand visitors a day, according to its owner. The villa itself is pretty impressive, but it’s not what draws so many people to this place. They come to see the aqua-fence. Eight years ago, the Turkish businessman had the eccentric idea to replace the front fence of his home with a giant aquarium full of various marine creatures from the Aegean Sea. Building the transparent structure was actually the easy part of the project.
The hard part was linking the aqua-fence to the Aegean through a 400-meter-long buried pipeline, so the water could be changed continuously to keep the aquarium looking clean and its inhabitants happy. Gökçeoğlu hired a team of private divers to perform the task, and ended up paying approximately 40,000 Turkish Lira ($21,000) to fulfill his dream. The businessman says just seeing people line up outside his house staring at his creation makes it all worth it.
Sea bream, sea bass, mullets, eels and octopuses are just some of the marine species found in Mehmet Ali Gökçeoğlu’s aqua-fence. According to several reports, there are now almost 1,000 fish living in this man-made wonder. Even though it’s been eight years since it was first unveiled, the unique aquarium still draws crowds of tourists every summer. To make sure no one comes close enough to damage his fragile fence or steal some fish, the owner set up a surveillance network of 17 cameras with facial recognition system. Visitors can look, take photos and record videos, but getting too close will probably set off some kind of alarm.
So if you’re ever in Çeşme, be sure to stop by Mehmet’s place and check out his aqua-fence. I’m pretty sure it’s the only one of its kind in the whole world.
Photos: Mehmet Ali Gökçeoğlu/Facebook
Sources: Maras Gündem, Son Söz
What comes to mind when you hear the word sacrifice?
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| What comes to mind when you hear the word sacrifice ? |
I was reading this and thinking about my upbringing. sacrifices were understood as part of daily life. So I did a little search for perspective...sharing the thoughts.
It always means that you must sacrifice something very dear to you when His call comes. Bowl of Saki, October 2, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
When we think deeply about the problem of life, there is no path in the world, whether spiritual or material, which we can tread successfully without a sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifice is great, and sometimes small; sometimes the sacrifice is made first, before achieving success, and sometimes afterwards. As sacrifice is necessary in life, it is made by everyone in some form or other, but when it is made willingly, it turns into a virtue. The greater the ideal, the greater the sacrifice it demands... sacrifice of a possession is the first step; the next one is self-sacrifice, which was the inner note of the religion of Jesus Christ. Charity, generosity, even tolerance and forbearance, are a kind of sacrifice, and every sacrifice in life, in whatever form, means a step towards the goal of every soul.
We Catholics who grew up straddling the cusp of the conciliar divide may have a vague memory of the phrase “offer it up.” It was advice frequently given by the sisters who taught us our catechisms: “when you are in pain, when you are disappointed, when your feelings have been hurt, offer these things up to the Lord and ask him to use your suffering—that He join it to His own pain on the cross, for the good of others. Offer it as penance for your own sins, or the sins of those who cannot or will not do penance for themselves; offer it for the sick, the lonely, or for their intentions.”excerpt..
There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice.
Ask yourself, “Would I need a George Bailey moment of gratitude and admiration to justify all I’ve sacrificed?”
If the answer is yes, you know you’re not living a completely fulfilling life–one in which you look out for yourself, and honor your wants and needs as much as other people’s.
This makes now the perfect time to ask yourself: how can I accept where the choices I’ve made have taken me–but make more balanced choices from here on out for a truly wonderful life?
( The main character, George Bailey, sacrificed everything he wanted in life for the people around him. If he continued to operate in a constant state of self sacrifice, he’d likely always have regrets where other men have dreams.
And why should he not have the chance, at some point, to feel satisfaction that isn’t hinged upon having saved someone else’s life?
At the end of the movie, he receives the ultimate assurance that his life is best lived with everyone else’s interests before his own: a party where he receives all the gratitude and admiration he clearly felt had been lacking prior.
The implication seems to be that he should continue on this path because everyone’s life would have fallen apart if he didn’t come to their rescue.)
Question is how can one do this and live life in a balanced way?
