Zöe Keating

I have recently discovered and become a big fan of avant cellist Zöe Keating. With just her cello, a foot-controlled Macbook Pro that runs Ableton Live, SooperLooper and MidiPipe, a bank of MIDI pedals, live looping, and various plucks and strums and taps and slides - she produces an entire orchestra of sound. She distributes her own music sans record company, she lives in a redwood forest, she has red dreadlocks. There's a lot to like here. She has produced three recordings, Into the Trees, One Cello x 16: Natoma, and One Cello x 16. All are worth a listen. [NOTE: Video shows her playing "Escape Artist" at TED in San Francisco. Turn the sound up a bit so that you can hear the subtle nuances here]. 

Naw Aung

Naw Aung (see Naw Aung and His Sagawa and Tool Repair) is a villager from Shinlonga (see Shinlonga) who has helped out during all phases of the community forestry work (see Hukaung Logs) in the Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve. He's amazing in the field. Here he is taking a smoke break during the inventory of the Village Management Area (see Last Stake). [NOTE: All fieldwork in northern Kachin State has been temporarily suspended due to fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army. More details here].

Rice fields at Phong Nha-Ke Bang

The karst formations surrounding Phong Nah-Ke Bang in Vietnam (see Phong Nha-Ke Bang) contain a fabulous assortment of caves and grottos, they house the longest underground river in the world, and the region was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The unique geology is shown in the background. The foreground presents the most ubiquitous of all livelihood activities in Southeast Asia. All of the arable landscapes outside the park are skillfully farmed for rice every year. Life goes on. 

Mayan Backstreets

Narrow tunnel running through one of the main pyramids at Becan in the state of Campeche, Mexico. As I squeezed into this space, I reflected on who might have been doing the same thing in the middle Pre-Classic Period (550 BCE). And whether the tunnel was built for access - or avoidance. [NOTE: You come out the other end in a large courtyard].

Chuc Thanh IV

So many wonderful images from the 550-year-old Chuc Thanh pagoda in Vietnam (see Chuc Thanh Pagoda, Chuc Thanh II, and Chuc Thanh III). This one shows a young trainee nun sitting on top of a scooter engrossed in a comic book. She looked up when she heard me walk by and gave me a photogenic pose and a lovely smile.

Haegt, Kemur Ljósiỗ

Another musical offering from Iceland (see Heima). Ólafur Arnalds is a young composer who blends piano and strings into tasteful loops that evoke classical, pop, ambient- and a lot of other things. I really like his music. The video was made for the song "Haegt, kemur ljósiỗa" from his lovely new album, ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness. [NOTE: Haegt, kemur ljósiỗ, I'm told, translates as "slowly, comes the light"].

Near Vinh

Hundreds of children riding their bikes home after school in the blazing afternoon sun of Central Vietnam. Wonderful diversity of hats, scarves, and helmets. A little scary how close the buses and trucks come. [NOTE: Clip was filmed from inside an air-conditioned car near the capital city of Vinh in Nghe An province]. 

No Cars/Cars?

The sign outside my hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi might suggest that vehicular traffic is prohibited, i.e. only pedestrians and maybe scooters allowed. After walking the length of the street, I know there is a similar sign, facing the other way, at the other end. But this street (Hang Bac) is always clogged with traffic. Maybe the sign means no cars, but buses (shown above) are allowed? Or maybe the sign is positioned so far from the corner that no one can see it? Or, perhaps as is true with many things in Vietnam, the sign is just a suggestion.

Stuck

Mr. Cuong's window started sliding down every time we would hit a bump. Which happened a lot.  He tried to wedge some folded-up pieces of paper into the window frame to keep it up, but it kept sliding down - and letting out all of the air conditioning. He finally pulled off the road in a shady spot to remove the door panel and fix the problem, and sank into about two feet of beach sand. Stuck.

Before too long, a local farmer on his tractor passed by, sized up the situation, and pulled over to help. He had us back out on the road in no time. [NOTES: After he pulled us out, the farmer stopped, undid the ropes, gave us a wave, and drove off. So much for the idea of giving him a tip. Mr. Cuong later pulled over on a firm surface in front of a tea shop and fixed the problem with the widow].

Bún in Dong Ha

We stopped for breakfast in a little noodle shop on the outskirts of Dong Ha. Everybody got bún bó Hué, the delicious, spicy beef noodle soup so characteristic of Central Vietnam. I got green tea (0:49), while Mr. Thanh and Mr. Cuong opted for cá phê sũra đá, or strong iced coffee (0:42). What a breakfast. [NOTES: Lovely instructions for making Vietnamese coffee (iced or hot) are presented here. See Good Bowl of Noodles for a look at breakfast noodles in Guizhou, China].