Angering the Forest Spirit

So, yesterday Pee Kai comes up to me and he's really excited about something, as usual, I have no idea what. He reems off a whole bunch of Thai words that I've never heard before, as he often does when he's had a couple glasses of Hong Thong, then waits for my response. I reply with my quintessential "mei khao jai" (I don't understand). After some deliberation he mimes the act of holding a chainsaw and then makes a buzzing sound with his mouth as he waves the imaginary machine in front of him. Following his drift I mime holding a camera and make a clicking sound. He knods, I knod; the communication gap has been bridged. It's all smiles and laughter from then on and he explains to me in words that I understand that I will come home from school tomorrow at 10 and we will go...somewhere. That's my quite literal briefing.

Today, on my way home from school I bump into Pee Kai at the gas station and we ride out together. We travel down winding side roads and muddy dirt paths on our motorcycles until we arrive at a beautiful spot overlooking a shallow valley. There is the skeleton of a house on a slight ridge where Toto (his son) and another man are sharpening the blades on some chainsaws. It turns out that we are clearing the land in front of (what will be Pee Kai's cottage), for planting coffee. They spend the next couple of hours cutting down innumerable trees while I snap pictures. They even let me use the chainsaw to chop a couple down myself. As the spinning teeth dig into the bark churning up sawdust, my residual hippie sentiments kick in and I imagine a giant black ooze demon emerging from the heart of the tree, voiced by Tim Curry and singing 'Toxic Love' to me while it feeds off of the fumes of my smoking chainsaw. Yes, I probably saw Fern Gully too many times, but unfortunately, in real life there are no hot little faeries to appeal to my forgotten sense of morality.

As I walk over the remains of the trees we felled I think a little more. Is it worth destroying the habitat of so many creatures just so that humans can turn a profit? It is moral to harness nature solely for your own benefit? I think back to the coffee that I drank that morning, to the coffee that I had the morning before that. I remember the thousands of cups of coffee that I've seen clutched in the hands of so called 'hippies' sporting reusable coffee mugs as they flutter off to another philosophy class. I think about that and I realize that if we really love coffee so much, Pee Kai has every right to chop down a couple of trees to feed our need. He has every right to expand his enterprises and provide a good future for Toto, who skipped school that day so he could learn the practicle skills being applied there. I realized that it's easy to condemn people for chopping down rainforests and other natural habitats to plant crops. It's easy until you actually meet those people who aren't evil at all. In the end this was no tragedy only an allegory of human morality and empathy. Oh, I saw a giant centipede today and pointed out to Pee Kai. I thought it was so awesome. He immediately chopped it in half with his machete. Apparently they are really dangerous; allegorical allignment? Maybe a little. Now for some 'Green Police mugshots'.

Pee Kai lights a fire to keep mosquitoes away while we eat breakfast, I hope they all starve!

Look at this evil bastard! He's itching to destroy some natural habitat. You can see it in his eyes.

Getting down to work (don't worry, I cropped the dead baby birds out of the picture)

Taking a break to sharpen the teeth on the chainsaw and discuss how much we hate all animals. We decided on the middle ground between 'a lot' and 'just enough'.

Take that Mother Earth! GET SOME!

Pee Kai gloats over his glorious victory over the natural world

Pee Kai explains to me that his kung-fu style is a mix between crane and cobra! Mononoke is no match!

This thing was huge, that's only half of it! When I took this picture it was still moving, creepy. Chain yourself to that environmentalists!

I'm out!

Waiting in the Rain

I got stuck in the rain at my local shop on my way to school today so I snapped a couple photos to pass the time. I chatted with a couple of the mechanics and their friends who were having a morning coffee. They really got a kick out of being photographed.

This guy was a bit of poser, but it works

I've never seen anyone able to look this dignified in a wife-beater

Ha! They were cracking up, joking about how they aren't handsome enough to be models, or something like that. I can only pickup on so much.

Mother's Day My Way

In the spirit of Mother's Day, I now present a poem that I wrote for my Mom. A static representation of love. I actually wrote it as a rap to Blackstar's Brown Skin Lady haha, it just came out better that way. So you can read it with a little impromptu Kweli-esq flow if you want to.

Happy Mother’s Day My Way

You’re the consoling consolidation

Of a family spread across multiple oceans.

You’re the chemical equation of a love potion

So potent that distance doesn’t make a difference.

We all know it and stay in high spirits,

Chivalrous, noble-minded and brave

Because that’s the definition of our name.

Where we came from and where we are

 Is one in the same.

Gallants overseas, overland, over time, over what?

Home is where we stand connected by

Networks of love. 

You’re the fibre optic cable, the satellite, the life line

The warm voice always coming through the phone line

And I’ve shown my love, one or two few many times,

But since it is mother’s day I’ll let it spill over these lines.

Thank you for

Facilitating, rehabilitating, making

A fire under my ass when I’m procrastinating.

Never letting me be the second best version of me

Certain to be the best work of art there could possibly be

With these supplies that I was given, now I’m living to fullest.

You asked for a poem so I swallowed my pride with the bit bullet

And spit out my fractured heart in words collecting on the page;

A placid puddle reflecting all the maturity of my age.

So I can say that you’ve always been there to hold my frail hand,

That I love you and I know you understand 

That you’re frustrating only because I know you’re always right

And sometimes we fight,

But it’s like flint and stone clashing to bring true knowledge to light

And right the wrong calculations I’ve made inside my moral compass

To prevent my freedom from breeding greediness and selfishness.

You help me realize I don’t know shit about poetry, I can improve

Because the love on the page falls short of the love I have for you.

That’s absolute, it’s maybe half of the truth at best

How can I capture a love existing in every single breath,

In every single word, in every sound that I’ve made or heard

Words shy away until the only thing that’s left is her.

My Mom.

So, as I travel around this earth

That you delivered to me from birth.

I ego trip on believing that I’m my own seeker first,

But then I wonder deeper

Can the student really ever surpass the teacher?

The one that

Spotted my lies and dotted my i’s so I can see

The one gave me this life assignment and checked my work regularly

So I could perfect it in my own way, aligned by what she had to say

But give it my own twist at every turn and eventually make the grade.  

Thank you for

Giving me life so I can breath

Providing opportunities

Even though you could see

The ones I squandered already.

Thank you for

Giving me praise so I love to learn

Steering me away from wrong turns

And giving me love so I could yearn

For another’s,

Whose love is just as good as my Mother’s

And if I’m lucky, I'll find it if I try

But, the bar is set pretty damn high

That’s the beauty in the art tryin.

So let the tests of unfair weather begin.

I’m ready and it’s true

That I owe it all to you.

I'm ready and it's true

That I owe it all to you.

That’s how I say

Happy Mother’s Day my way

To you.


From Jordan

Generations

I watched this TED Talk on longevity a long time ago and living in Khao Na Nai got me thinking about it again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-jk9ni4XWk 

(By the way, TED Talks are the most worthwhile thing you can do on the internet. So if you don't know, now you know.)

One thing that will strike you if you ever get the chance to travel to Khao Na Nai (which is completely possible if you so desire, check out khaonanaivolunteer.blogspot.com for more information), you will notice the abundance of older people that are incorporated into the community.

Beware of opinionated rant. One of the most important criteria for longevity is a person's role in society, their feelings of self worth and their life's direction, meaning or ikigai. But, what respect do we really pay to our elders in North America? I know I painting broad strokes, but I can think of very many instances where we do. After all we are a generation of huge technological and social development. It is easy to think of your elders as inferior when they can't figure out how to turn on a computer or harbor backward and often racist sentiments that were ingrained in them during their youth. In a throw away culture where a ten year old cell phone is laughable how can we find a place for the previous models that lead to your existence? Why can't we find value in what we consider antiquated and old fashioned? When will our retirement homes stop baring resemblance to scrap yards of old computer chips in China? It makes perfect sense, in order to live a long life you need a reason to do so, you need direction, meaning, ikigai and you need to feel valued. Right now we sacrifice meaning and value in favor of the presevation of health. Our elderly are removed from their communities and families where they valued (or maybe not) and placed in retirement homes or 'rehabilitation facilities' where their likely hood of having meaningful experiences is drastically reduced. The reason to live is removed while physicians work their hardest to prevent them dying. It's a cruel hypocrisy when everything around you seems to be priming you to die, but preventing you from doing so.  Tremendous care and resources are dedicated to perserving life, but a life filled with what? Life isn't about trying to stay alive as long as possible, but about enjoying and valuing the experiences that we have in the time avaiable. So why sacrafice experience for time when it's the reason we want more time in the first place? Who knows. Rant over.

In this respect we can learn a lot from the way the elderly are treated in Thailand. As you get older you command more respect, unlike in North America where, as Dan puts it our "social equity peaks at around 24" . Here in Khao Na Nai, just as in the 'blue zone' there is very little sense of retirement, only a sense of slowing down and settling into old age. It is not uncommon for them to play an integral role in the raising of children, cooking and doing chores around the house. As Dan illustrates, not only is this good for the grandparents but also the children. People over 70 fly around on motorcycles and go to the market, they make speeches at community gatherings and . They are constantly active because there are no conveniences. Value is synonymous with age here and families would never dream of sending their father, grandfather or great grandfather to a home. It is very seldom that you see any old person even living alone, they often live the same house where they raised their children and watch and assist as their children do the same. In fact, when I was discussing it with a teacher at the school she didn't understand the idea of a retirement home. When I finished explaining, she said "Oh, like in Japan". I wasn't sure what she meant so I asked her to clarify. She said "In ancient Japan when a person reached 60 their son or daughter would take them out into the woods and leave them there to die". I thought about this for a second, laughed and replied that it wasn't so different. The treatment of elderly people here in Khao Na Nai is very closely aligned with the recommendations of the 'blue zone' study. For this reason, people live very long lives here despite the fact that they have very little health care available to them. I wanted to capture the closeness between generations that I saw here and result were these three images. Although the third isn't as affecting hopefully the caption helps do it justice.

 

 

Pee Mun and her sister in law shucking mak next to the front porch. She comes over almost everyday and will sit there for hours working the chopping block and the machete. After a couple hours she will stand up and say her back hurts and eat lunch with us. Although I barely understand her I can tell she is one spirited lady because her and Pee Mun are always laughing as they work. 

Another one of Pee Kai friends or relatives, there are so many always coming round the house that I can't keep track. Anyways, on this occasion he was taking his grandson for a trip around the neighborhood sporting his awesome fedora. The little guy starting clapping right as I took this picture which made for a pretty magical moment between two not so distant generations.

 

Pee Juh's dad still lives in the house that he raised his children in. His son (Pee Juh's brother) and his family now live their with him. He is 79 and needs to breath pure oxygen every once and a while, but that doesn't stop him from moving around the house, chatting with guests (such as myself) and giving advice to the kids.

By the way, 'Pee' is a title that is given in Thailand to anyone who is older than you, be it 20 years, 1 year or even one month. Its connotation is one of belonging and respect. It translates to something like older brother or sister. Everyone is family.

Japanese Hip Hop

Just finished an awesome book called 'Hip Hop Japan' that I borrowed from Ben. It has some really interesting discussions on avenues of globalization, artistic legitamacy and originality as well as on the use of Japanese language in hip hop. If you like hip hop give these songs a listen and I think there is no need for discussion to determine that they are dope. The book focuses on the idea of genba or 'a place where things are created' in order to understand more about the nature of global phenomenon. I can't wait to get to Japan and check out some of the Genbas in my surrounding area and start shooting some photos. For now I'll have to bump these tracks on my lame ass netbook speakers and dream.

I love the old school flavor on this track, reminds me of Hiero, they love talking about their flow and believe me there's a lot to be said about it.

Buddha Brand - Funkymethodist

Rhymester are dope, again this songs got that raw beat feel while they discuss and define what it means to be a B-Boy in Japan.

Rhymester - B-BOY IZM

Another ill track, very 93 til infinity beat-wise; chill, laid back and funky.



Soul Scream - TOu KYOu

I can tell this one's straight from the heart although I don't understand it, yet! Plus, how can you not get into that beat? The funky guitar riff backed with that slap bass really hits the spot.

Ozro Saurus - My Dear Son

If your down with the style, this is only the tip of the iceberg, these guys have so many dope tracks out there.

The Wonderful World of Mr. Sun

Sun is awesome, he's crazy and he lives life as though his blood is made out of highly concentrated strawberry cool aid. He doesn't stop smiling, ever, he never stops moving and he never stops eating candy. All day, ice-cream, chocolate bars, fanta, oreos, you name it and he's probably already finished eating it. He's like the genetic crossover between a butterfly and a red bull and we love him. The name Sun couldn't be more appropriate. He is a constant stream of energy. He laughs at everything and loves everyone around him. He's a sweetheart and a charmer, so he rarely gets in trouble for anything, which further fuels his sugar induced adventures. These photos are some that I took of him during our trip to Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday and yes, he really doesn't like to wear clothes.

I love how innocent this photo is

Jungle Book

It was so difficult to get a shot that was in focus, he moves around so much. Almost all of the photos I have been posting are taken with my new 50mm f/1.8 lens and I've mostly been playing around with the possibilities with shooting at f/1.8, which mean a very short depth of focus. In short, it is difficult to capture a moving subject with this depth of field. But, I think it having the water being in focus here while the surroundings stay blurred worked out really well.

Everyone loves Sun's antics, Pee Tik (in the background) got soaked soon after this photo was taken

Peace out

People who make you realize that you don't know shit: Larry Lourcey

In 2007 Larry Lourcey is a master photographer, in fact he has a degree from the Professional Photographers of America stating precisely that. Larry's attention to detail is visually poetic. He has the ability to capture an entire story in every frame in the same fashion that a poet captures one in every line. This particular image is a great example http://lourceyphoto.com/gallery/?album=1&gallery=6, it is thought provoking, mysterious and leaves so much to the imagination. I love the composition of this image for the same reason.

In portrait photography it is especially important not to waste a single pixel. Everything inch of the photo needs to speak directly to the personality of the person being shot. This photo struck me with its fresh take on capturing attitude and depth http://lourceyphoto.com/gallery/?album=1&gallery=2.


Check out his whole 40 @ Forty collection it is fearless in its exploration of different styles, genres and toasts to other artists and photographers. Truly an inspiration for portrait photography. It makes me wish that I could paint, but whatever, "when life gives you lemons, say fuck these lemons and peace out". Oh, he can play piano too. This shot has such awesome ecclectic textures and style. I love this guy.

Larry Lourcey, I toast you for helping me realize that I don't know shit about portrait photography.

Thank you

The Land of Smiles

One thing that has amazed me about Thai people is the camaraderie they share with one another. I have never seen more tightly knit groups of people anywhere else in the world. One any given afternoon you can see groups of boys watching TV draped over one another, children wrestling in the playground or relaxing with their heads in each other's laps. They tend to be very open about the affection that they share for one another and do not shy away from this very PG PDA. Sociablity one of the pillars of Thai culture. Everything is shared, open and inclusive, from Songkran festival, to food, to the layout of homes. Every family enjoys relaxing out in the open air of their front porch or one constructed seperate from the house chatting with friends and family as they pass by. There is no such thing as a closed door, everyone is welcome. One day, as I was eating dinner in the kitchen a child wandered into the house, marched into the kitchen polished off my glass of water right in front of me, poured a new one, drank that too and left like nothing was up. That was hilarious. Thai culture does not allow time for privacy, everything is out in the open and shared with everyone. Friends, friends of friends and sometimes even strangers are all recognized as family and invited to enjoy each other's hospitality. It is no wonder that Thai is world renowned for this trait. This collection of photos is aimed at highlighting the closeness that Thai people share with one another and also how willing they are to share their cheerful and carefree lifestyle with a smile.

Rubber Farming in Khao Na Nai

Did you ever wonder where rubber comes from? I know I never did.

But, for some people, actually almost all people in Khoa Na Nai, rubber is the life-blood of the community that provides families with a better quality of life in an area where few other opportunities are available. In Khao Na Nai if you ask someone what their profession is they might laugh at you, because unless they are standing in front of the local barber shop, selling food at the morning markets or repairing motorcycles, they are a rubber farmer. In Khao Na Nai you cannot go anywhere without seeing rows of rubber trees lining the roads. Every single home is accompanied by a plantation. It is after all the most lucrative way to use your land. Coffee is a close second. However that is not to say that rubber is enough to provide for a family by itself. Therefore, all those fortunate enough to own a large plot of land in Khao Na Nai utilize every square foot to its full potential.

A perfect example is Pee Kai, a resident of Khao Na Nai for over 30 years, (and also my host) controls around 3 acres of land. One acre is reserved for rubber trees (or yang pa ra, a word you can't help but learn while living here) and since they give off such an acrid, sewage-like smell they are located far away from the new house. Despite the distance there is always a hint of that pungent odor hanging on the breeze. But, that is not all he uses his land for. He also grows bananas, durians, jack fruits and mak (a gross, chewable nut-like thing that many people apparently manage to enjoy). There are two cat fish ponds in the back that are restocked and fished every six weeks or so. In the pond a lily pad-like water plant grows to ensure that the stagnant water is replenished with oxygen and gourds grow over head to offer shade to the pond. In the large open space beside the house coffee is dried and when coffee is out of season mak, which falls out of the mak palms lining the house, is dried. The backyard consists of an outdoor kitchen, six large concrete reservoirs that collect rain water and a personal land fill (there is no garbage pickup after all). The water in the reservoirs can be pumped into the house for showering, flushing the toilet and doing laundry. The shower, by the way, consists of a large plastic barrel and a scoop in a fully tiled room with a drain in the corner. There is no hot water, but who cares, it's 35 degrees outside, who needs a hot shower. The toilet is also ingenious in its simplicity; a toilet bowl and a scoop to flush. This all goes to show that in places where you can't afford to waste space, you don't. Also, having a pig that hangs around the house is a great way to get rid of any left overs (thanks Dam).My point is you can be successful by employing every inch of land you have. This is an excellent lesson for us in North America where the aesthetic of wealth has long been derived from the ability to leave space unemployed. The 'lawn' for example exemplifies a space that's utility is sacrificed in favor of uniform, green uselessness. Not only this, but it creates more work to retain this aesthetic than it would putting it to better use. I suppose redundancy is more chic than backyard industry.

Toto, now in grade 9, has his first summer job farming rubber

Those who are not fortunate enough to have land, on the other hand, lead very difficult lives and have very few career options. They can work at a shop, sell food from the side of a motorcycle mounted stall (which are an amazing sight) or help farm and process rubber. These people cannot afford to build a home and must instead live inside of a raised thatch hut that offers very little protection from mosquitoes and the mid-day heat. Most other homes have tile floor, which provide some comfort from the sweltering sun.

Pee Mun shows me how its done

Back to rubber. It comes out of a tree that you must cut everyday to ensure a constant flow. The cutting is done in the mostly in the early morning when temperatures are cooler. The cut is made on a slant that leads down to a small drip that guides the liquid rubber into a small cup for collection. Once in the cup it begins to harden. The result is hundred of rubber balls about the size of a large grapefruit. These can either be sold to a processing plant or cleaned, combined and flatten into large mats at home. One load of around 400kg of rubber (around one months worth from a small plantation) will win you $1000US depending on the going rate.

The sun rises as the work is almost finished

The implications of rubber farming on the community are mostly beneficial, but it does have its drawbacks. Given that it is so lucrative a profession many children in the community do not look past it to seek other forms of employment nor do they see any better opportunities available to them outside of their immediate surroundings. The result is that many young boys do not take their education seriously. As was pointed out to me by a local teacher, they see their parents making a comfortable life by farming rubber so they just want to do that. Many boys in Khao Na Nai will drop out of school after grade 9 and never persue further education. Unfortunately, up until this year, the local school did not offer classes beyond grade 9, which meant that students would have to commute to another town to study. The local school has just opened a grade 10 program and will open grades 11 and 12 in the following years to help encourage education. Although it may not seem like a problem as long as children have a life-long career waiting for them, there are very high rates of illiteracy in the community as well as a need for more skilled workers for the community to advance. Fortunately, many of the girls from Khao Na Nai express desires to travel to Surat Thai for college and to fill important roles as teachers and doctors. Although the core of the community and culture will be preserved by the rubber farming boys, the future development may now be in the hands of the girls.

 

Don't forget, it's not going to cut itself, so lend a hand (it's not easy by the way)

In order to shoot these photos, I woke up with Pee Mun and Toto at 6am and went with them to their nearby rubber plantation where I was immediately put to work. I split my time perfecting my rubber tree cutting skills and capturing some of these amazing images. We finished work at around 7:30am and thankfully headed back to the house for coffee.