The last time I saw Maurice was just before I went to Thailand in December. We ran into him on the street going to art galleries. He grabbed my ass when he went to hug me. I didn’t mind…it was kind of what Maurice did. In fact, I came to expect it from him. I said to him, “Get you some, Maurice…get a good handful!” And we both laughed and said goodbye on the street. I will miss those goosings and that smiling face.
Here’s a short video of the memorial with sound excerpt from a 2003 Outright Radio broadcast for Maurice’s 75th birthday…
And of course, in the spirit of Maurice, Michael and I dressed for the occasion. I’m sure Maurice would have approved…
Sebastian and I finally finished our collaborative movie about SE Asia. It’s only 5 minutes long. It covers our month-long journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to Lao as seen from our perspective and shot all on still cameras: Panasonic Lumix LX3 and Lumix ZS3. This one our big production, so if you only have a few minutes to watch, watch this one…
The ones that follow are not so artsy and are just thrown together as a visual travelogue.
A note to Panasonic – the camera developed a black spot on the lower right hand corner of the sensor as soon as I got to Thailand. It’s still under warranty but was deeply disappointing to have that flaw in the camera at the beginning of the trip.
And here are the no-frills videos. First Thailand, an elephant ride, a visit to the tailor and the night market with Dianna and Larry…
And this one is from Lao…don’t miss the Hilltribes fashion show and cameo appearance of UDDER DOG!!
Still been trying to shake the shits. Was able to eat today and get out of the dingy hotel room – wehoo! But still seem to have a little evening fever and the hot water in the shower is helpful. Now Sebastian is coming down with a cold. Christ – I’ve been sick half this trip now.
Sebby and I walked across the Nam Khan river today on a bamboo bridge to a little village. We shot this novice in both black and white and color. There are rare times when B&W just won’t do, sorry Ansel. Novices and monks just look better in color for the obvious reasons of their saffron and yellow robes. While Sebby wandered the monastery, I sat under a tree admiring the beautiful old wood house where the novices live. My philosophy is that if you sit long enough, the imagery available will improve as your awareness of your environment heightens. So I sat there and hoped that a novice would come to the window. Lo and behold a novice appeared in the frame.
He scowled at me. I smiled. His face wouldn’t change. I kept smiling and then asked him his name in Lao, “Chow soo yung?” He told me his name, still scowling. I said my name was David, which he repeated as “Davist.” Finally his grim face softened. I continued smiling and snapping shots, switching from B&W to color and when he finally broke a smile I saw that he had some odd teeth – one that grew diagonally in the front. This explained why he probably won’t smile much. But the cat eyes make up for his imperfect smile…
Sunday before the Lao food surprise that left me retching, we took a walk with our novice friends from Wat Senesoukarahm to a little pottery village on the other side of the Mekong. This woman is renowned in her village for her good cooking. She and her family live among the ashes from the underground kiln they use to fire the pots and bricks they make from the clay at their pond. She was making a wokked omelet with eggs from the ubiquitous chickens that wander about and some greens from the garden they keep on the banks of the Mekong…which they hand water with a can.
Sebby and I are having a cave evening in the hotel just listening to Brahms and longing for Western desserts.
I don’t know how it happened. Was it the 2 pieces of lettuce I at with my padsee-ew, maybe the Indian dahl, maybe the mango for breakfast? Or was it unwashed hands – mine or someone else’s. Whatever it was, let me tell you it is not pleasant to have all your orifices exploding in technicolor. Worse even than vomiting are the dry heaves. God just let me be over this! The weird thing is that I’ve hardly been eating any meat and I’ve been very cautious about hand-washing. You just never know in a country with questionable water sources.
Oh, and I’m still not over my cold – bronchitis or whatever it is. And I have a fever to boot. So I’m all bundled up here in the tropics. Oh the joy of traveling in developing nations. This is the reason I said I’d never go to India, but it seems India doesn’t have the monopoly on gastrointestinal hell.
Sebastian has been an angel rubbing my back while I’m on all fours worshiping the porcelain god, cuddling with me to keep me warm.
You’ll thank me for no pictures today. Going on antibiotics tomorrow if I’m not over this.
On January 15, 2009, Sebastian and I had our first date. I roasted a chicken and sweet potatoes for the little German student from my chorus. That night he would have eaten the foot-long sandwich from Subway alone in his dorm room. Instead he had a home cooked meal and watched a movie in the back house with me. Together we broke innumerable years of isolation.
Exactly one year later, we’re in Laos celebrating one great year together photographing butterflies in a field of rotting fruit at the Kuang Si waterfall which really is THAT turquoise. It’s the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen. It looks like some sort of fake-o-rama movie set.
Here are some of the butterflies we saw (as photographed by Sebastian)…
And now for something completely different!
Today we took a boat trip with Larry and our Buddhist novice friend Oun to the Pakou caves. I actually thought it was unimpressive, but the boat ride was great and we stopped in villages along the way to check out the weavings.
The boat cushion I sat on had the strangest only-in-Asia inscription…
Rewinding a bit to Thailand, Dianna showed me her cigarette packs with smoking-related diseases required by law. Collect ‘em all!
Sebastian and I took a 30-second boat ride across the Mekong today from Luang Prabang to a tiny village and monastery. The disparity between the wealth on one side of the river and the poverty on the other is shocking. Still, the locals were very obliging to the universal hand signal of me holding the camera up and pointing to them. No one said no.
Everyone always says, “Great pictures. What kind of camera?” I promise not to be insulted and gently remind people that good photography isn’t about the camera. That said, one can hit one’s creative ceiling. And I am definitely pushing this SLR in a compact to its limits. So the answer is, I’m shooting with my new Lumix LX3. It is a joint venture between Panasonic and Leica, and mostly delightful – especially shooting black and white and RAW format. The zoom, as expected is inadequate and often forces me to get uncomfortably close to people. But hey, it’s a good excuse to mingle shoulder-to-shoulder. It’s a tad slow in RAW format causing a few seconds delay between shots. The other bummer is that it has developed a black spot on the sensor when shooting video. So it’s going back to the manufacturer when I return.
This kid was adorable riding an adult’s bike around the muddy streets. He knew how to say one word: money. Harumph. It’s hard to get shots of kids without them doing the peace sign in front of their faces. So you have to get ‘em quick.
This boy was part of a small gang of friendly kids whom I filmed and photographed.
They squealed with delight watching the motion pictures in instant replay – probably their first time seeing themselves in video.
Sebby and I have a ton of films to show you all when we’re back. The Internet here is painfully slow so all I can put up for now are stills. We’re saving the best for our return: a film of moving stills. It will eventually be on YouTube…just shooting and pouring all into iMovie for now.
Oh days of grandiose delusion I fancy myself being a photojournalist, inspired by the likes of Alfred Eisenstaedt, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier Bresson, and W. Eugene Smith, clicking around the planet for Life Magazine with their Leicas. Alas, photojournalism is a dying profession as one we met yesterday from the Marin Press Democrat confessed. Sigh.
My cold has peaked and I’ve been downing mystery pills from the pharmacy to aid my congestion. Still I can hardly sleep because of my cough. So I’m up with the monks at 4 am – listening to them gonging and chanting. Larry is feeling better but weak. Sebastian seems nearly better and a little restless for adventure. I’m content just wandering around scouring villages for every photo opportunity.
Situated on a peninsula at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, Luang Prabang is undeniably the most charming place in SE Asia.
Luang Prabang is a temple town with French colonial architecture. Delicate-boned Lao people serve you baguettes and French pastries in cafes and the silk market is out of this world…
We went across the river today buying silk with Larry in a small, mud-road village. The finds were spectacular.
Unfortunately, we’re all sick. Two of us have the dreaded you-know-what that keeps you located conveniently near the exit, if you know what I mean. The other of us has a cold and is dripping snot all over the place.
Then a hike to a waterfall. Then white water rafting. Then a bamboo raft…
Then a visit to a hill tribe village…
Add in 4 hours on a stinky songtow and only 1 bowl of rice to eat all day and you have exhaustion and I think I’m coming down with a cold – just in time for Luang Prabang tomorrow. Crap.
Sebastian and I are having a little cave day – taking some time out from the hecticness of Thailand and its foul air. My lungs are saturated with diesel fumes from 3 hours on the back of a pickup truck going to a cooking school and farm yesterday.
So here are a couple of funny things we’ve seen. At a urinal at the museum. Every time I use a urinal, my first instinct is to wash my feet…
From a menu. There are so many westerners around Chiang Mai, you wonder why Thai people seem to have no interest in getting their English correct.
