Dream Jobs and Heros

Somehow over the course of 8 months I've watched more MMA fights than I even dreamed possible. Watching meatheads pound the living shit out of eachother has really grown on me. Hopefully its not making me more violent or agressive.

After learning the ins and outs of what different fight organizations are like, I've really come to appreciate the Japanese ones. The new defunct Pride organization being my all-time favorite. Pride didn't have any rules! It was great! But unfortunatly UFC bought them out, and now you aren't allowed to soccer kick people in the head when they are on the ground. Sigh... the good old days.


Anyway. This entry is about my dream job - being a great MMA announcer. I usually get way more excited about a good announcer than the idiots trying to kill eachother in the ring. Mike Buffer (who works UFC events) is probably the voice you think of when you think of fight announcers. A la:



He's pretty damn good I'd say.
But he is a guy, and this kind of job is pretty hard for girls. Mainly because women nearly always get stuck being scantily clad ring girls who probably have two brain cells but just happen to have a nice bikini body. Also, and not to be sexist here, but women generally just don't have that kind of voice.

But Lenne Hardt. She is one hell of an announcer. She works primarily with Japanese organizations, so I assumed that she was some super sweet Japanese woman. But last week, for the first time in 8 months, we watched a fight that showed her announcing! Just look at her!



Listen to her in all her glory!



I want more than anything in life to email her and ask her to take me under her wing. A dream!

And just for the record, check out this glamour shot of her!

Crazy Heart

I'm a sucker for a sad western.

Neither Here... Nor There.

I'm going to take a huge assumption, and decide that many of you have either seen or heard about the documentary Jesus Camp (2006). Ironically, one of the least assuming but also most powerful documentaries on the evangelical, fundamentalist Christian right in America. It lets the pastors, children and bible camp activities speak for themselves, which portrays more powerful ideas than overlaying the film with a voice over, or leftist interviews.



In any case, I watched it (and was shocked by it) again with my roommate recently. He has never seen it, and growing up in a Baha'i family, really didn't know this section of society existed. He was stunned. So stunned that he began investigating his own faith, and subsequently so did I. We spent hours on wikipedia examining the Baha'i religion and not being in anyway religious myself, I was blown away.

I found many aspects of it different and appealing.

"Bahá'í notions of progressive religious revelation result in their accepting the validity of most of the world's religions, whose founders and central figures are seen as Manifestations of God. Religious history is interpreted as a series of dispensations, where each manifestation brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed

Meaning, it sees the nine world religions stemming from Prophets (ie: Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha etc) as steps towards a better understanding of God."

Also, I found the 12 Social Principles pretty interesting....

Unity of God
Unity of religion
Unity of humankind
Equality between men and women
Elimination of all forms of prejudice
World peace
Harmony of religion and science
Independent investigation of truth
Universal compulsory education
Universal auxiliary language
Obedience to government and non-involvement in partisan politics
Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty

I'm also in love with their temples....
































Most of Bahia's progressive and interesting bits are largely due to the fact it hasn't pushed 200 years old. Hasn't really had time to branch out, evolve, diverge etc.. to aquire any of the weird bits other religions tend to have. There are a few unfortunate parts though, like the focus on marriage being between a man and woman and a few other bits about homosexuality. Not saying that this mentality is necessarily followed by any Baha'i's I know, its just unfortunate they are there in scripture. In any case my roommate is going to take me to a Baha'i community event so I can get the full effect and see just how awesome it is.

I'm rollin'

I have nearly my entire trip booked now, a big relief. There were some highs and lows during this process. The lows mainly being that I am no longer taking an epic train journey accross Canada. I just cannot afford well over $1000 for four days of my life. The highs? I got a sweet flight instead! At a fraction of a fraction of the cost.

I'm going to have to get my travel agent a mighty fine gift while I'm away.

Other ways I'm saving money?

For starters everyone who travels and is at all social should sign up for Couchsurfers. If you haven't heard of it is one of the most amazing ways to really be immersed into the place you're visiting. The premise is pretty simple: sign up and state whether or not you have a couch availible for strangers (not a requirement mind you). The next time you travel you simply have to search for your destination (even Iraq, if you're adventurous) and Ta Da you have a free place to stay!

Its actually pretty safe as well (considering). Couchsurfers always leave references for their visitors and hosts, and obviously creeps get banned, and you never stay with someone who has a bad reference. Women can easily stay with other women too. If you are uncomfortable staying on someones couch - many people have a full bedroom!

(One of my favorite surfers, I took him along to a music festival...and we found a couch!)

I've never surfed, but I've hosted many, many lovely people. Having said that I've only ever hosted someone who I wished I hadn't. He wasn't at all dangerous, he just really was lacking in the social skill department, told me many details of his life I never needed to know.

I've been using it to line up places to stay at strategic times and locations all over Southeast Asia. I've also joined a Travel Buddy Indonesia group, which is helping me meet Indonesians with the same travel goals as me.

And just for the record: I'm excited to swim with these guys again.
Ko Jum - Here I come!

I'm (kinda) a model! But who isn't...

So this may be a little different than what I've been posting on here (Indonesia. Indonesia. Indonesia.) And I would be posting about the Indonesian Togean Islands right now but I couldn't find the pictures I wanted (to steal) and got fed up with the whole idea.

I haven't been posting many crafting things either - I'll get to that I promise.

In anycase, my friend Maria came over last night to take pictures of me. Since she is a 3rd year photography student, and I am nearly always around, I tend to be called on to be a 'model' a lot. In fact people who work at the Craft College stop me and say "Are you that girl from the City Hall exhibition?" or "Do you know Maria?"

I'm not saying I'm any good at it, I'm just saying I'm in a lot of photos. Maria is really whats awesome about these photographs, and I thought I'd share some of her talent on here.

I'd give you here website or something, but she doesn't have one.






(Now I'd like to point out I was wearing a top here - I can't explain where it went in this picture. But I was wearing it for sure)

I did a nude-y photoshoot with her too. Not really scandalous at all. But I don't want those pictures out there so much on the internet at large. Not that I'm showing anything other than my back and bit of crack (not even my face!). My mother always said, "Never take photographic images of you naked or doing drugs" and considering all the scandals out there lately I think thats really good advice. Thanks mom! I'll appreciate it when I'm president!

Sally Mann

Yesterday while trying (in vain) to brainstorm some more activities for my students I stumbled across the photos of Sally Mann. The book was dealing with them as sexually controversial images - this author needs to get over himself.

Her images for the series "Immediate Family" are chilling, especially beautiful and almost always nudes. I'd be hard pressed to call them sexually exploitive. Even my minimal research so far has already made it quite clear that her children (the main subjects in this first series) always knew they were posing for thecamera, and had a choice about whether they wanted that image used. She also stopped shooting them in the nude when they hit puberty.
Hay Hook
She looks like so much like a glowing goddess, a contradiction hung up like a piece of meat.


Night blooming cereus

Last Light


....liberating in so many ways

From the settings you can only imagine how amazing their homestead is in colour. But with her use of warm, high contrast, black and white it seems like something out of a horror film. Suddenly a muddy child can also be seen as a child with cuts and bruises.

I think I've fallen in love.

Yucky Art

Oh man, look at me go with blogging lately.

A long time ago on a social networking site I'm on (not facebook!)I found this:
(Three Girls)

How amazing is that! But unfortunately it was just in a stranger's album with no title or artist. Usually I don't care, but for some reason I really fell in love with this work.

Lucky for me, while on Fecal Face, I stumbled upon an interview with Allison Schulnik.Can I say WOW?

There has never been a time when I can remember specifically being so floored by an artist. I mean, I like art, I like paintings, but all of her work - especially her heavily textured oils are awesome.

(Detail of hobo clown #2)

There is so much beautiful despair in her work. They are so heavy - but so colourful. Every painting seems to be literally screaming with emotion. I mean look at this guy:

(Monkey Head #2)

In the Interview, Ryan Christian says:

"The way you handle your materials is really interesting. To me there is always this perfect balance of yuck and beauty."

Perfect.

This one reminds me of Jean Poutine - a terrible, lonely creature that lures you in with his cuteness.
(Boochie [New Years Eve Painting])