Good Idea

Mini-skylights made from recycled pop bottles for dark rural houses with little or no electricity. Very creative those Filipinos. Let there be light (thx, Stella).

Virgen de Guadalupe

This photo expresses so much of what I love about Mexico: the old work truck, the bundles of carefully wrapped produce heading to market, the homemade wooden enclosure and green tarp, the man in back watching over everything (or, at least, getting a ride), the t-shirt with the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Taken on the road near Acatzingo, Puebla. [NOTE: I remember taking this photo, but I could never find it. Turns out I took it with Silvia Purata's camera on one of our trips back from Oaxaca (see Alebrijes). She dug it out for me yesterday (thx, Silvia)].

Shwethalyaung Buddha

The Shwethalyaung Buddha outside of Bago, Myanmar is over 55 m long and 16 m tall; it is the second largest reclining Buddha statue in the world. Great story here. The statue was apparently built in 994 during the reign of the Mon king, Migadepa.  It was lost, however, in 1757 when the city (called Pegu, at the time) was pillaged by the Burmese king Alaungpaya. The statue, buried under a thick growth of tropical vegetation, was uncovered - and subsequently restored - by the British in 1881.

The Buddha's mosaic pillows (shown below) were added in 1930. [NOTE: The largest reclining Buddha statue, at 74 m, is at Dawei, Myanmar in the Tanintharyi Region (see Reclining Buddha and Reclining Buddha II for other examples of this beautiful form of Buddhist iconography)].

More Tools

Some of the tools used by artisans in Oaxaca to create alebrijes (see Alebrijes and Eco-alebrijes). [NOTE: I think I took this picture in the village of San Martín Tilcajete in the Central Valley of Oaxaca. Silvia?] [CORRECTION: I apparently took this photo in Arrazola (thx, Silvia)].

Tea Break

Taking a break in a tea shop in Shimbweyeng (I think) during the 2005 rattan survey of the Hukaung Valley in northern Myanmar (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey). L to R: U Tun Shaung, media assistant in WCS Myanmar Program; me; U Kyaw Lwin, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Botany, Mandalay University; U Tin Maung Ohn, Associate Professor, Department of Botany, University of Yangon; U Myint Maung, Warden, Hukaung Tiger Reserve; U Saw Lwin, orchidologist, Department of Botany, University of Yangon; Zon Nay Tun, head, WCS field crew. Great group of people. [NOTE: I assume Andrew (see A Palm, Two Botanists With Cameras) took the photo].

Tools of the Trade

We gave each of the field crews in the Selva Maya growth study (see Selva Maya III) a little plastic lunch box (available at OfficeMax in Chetumal) full of stainless steel strapping and extension springs. These items are what you need to make dendrometer bands (as shown here) to precisely measure tree growth.

A dendrometer band is custom-made for each sample tree in the field. Lot of opening and closing of the plastic lunch box, but they held up very well (thx, OfficeMax).

Longhouse

One of the few remaining Dayak longhouse in the Sanggau District of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The kids sitting out front spent a large part of their day helping me collect illipe nuts (see Illipe Nut and Dayak Kids II). [NOTE: Image was scanned from an old slide and looks a lot like an Instagram picture from an iPhone. In this case, however, the "vintage" effect is not an effect]. 

Porter II

Another porter from Myanmar.  This one from the village of Namyun (see Driver Needs A Drink Of Water) in Sagaing Division near the border with India. Younger, smaller in stature, and cargo more precious than in the previous post; same task, same attitude, same flip-flops.

Porter

This young fellow was working as a porter at Kyaiktiyo, in Mon State, Myanmar (see Kyaiktiyo). He'd wait down at the base of the mountain near the parking lot and carry people's bags, e.g. mine, up the steep ramp to the pagoda. Very professional. And courteous. And strong. Maybe 12-13 years old? [NOTE: He would carefully wrap the client's bag in plastic in case of rain during the ascent].

Back To The Start

Lovely video for Friday.  Produced by Johnny Kelly for Chipotle, with incredible animation, Willie Nelson doing a fantastic cover of Coldplay's classic, "The Scientist", and a touching storyline about a farmer who turns the family farm into an industrial animal factory, sees the error of his ways, and puts things back in order.  A beautiful story about sustainable food systems.  Good stuff. [NOTE: Download the song here. Proceeds benefit The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation].