Crime inflicted on nature

Rich and pristine British Columbia forests keep disappearing from our sight at alarming rate. The environmentalists define it as the loss of biodiversity where record number of plant and animal species face inevitable extinction. 

The area was thick, dense and almost hard to penetrate when trying to get access to nearby Chehalis Lake (south-western part of British Columbia) at its northern tip two years ago. It is now subject to widespread clear cutting and that seems like a man's pre-programmed crime was inflicted on the defenceless environment.

When visiting the area, it's clearly evident that a savage and uneducated man declared a vicious war on something that has never harmed us. Heavy duty machines ram the forests when making their new paths and creating logging roads in places where wildlife lived and cut trees in a matter of seconds.

Logging industry along with fishing dominates on the map of BC job market. Every BC government tries to do its best to keep it as dominant factor when it comes to discussing any job related issues. But numbers, statistics, and professional tendencies apart - this very part of BC looks very sad when seeing old growth forests falling down for the benefit of ever increasing corporate profits.

The job opportunity for people is what the government gives to those who destroy and after a while go away to destroy more. Nobody calculates the risk of losing the forest forever versus short sighted goal of employment for not many who wreak havoc on nature when backed with modern technology.

Think about dying beautiful forests at the end of the world when looking at high quality print and glossy magazines at your local newsstand that many don't even care looking at or buying. Think about advertising flyers delivered to your doorstep that you're sick and tired of reading and throw them away when you see them. Think about when you print one side of a single sheet paper when not paying attention about flipping and printing the other side of it.

Urban landscape - your average cell phone shots

Urban landscape - a very popular theme amongst all photographers. How many times, however, do we happen to carry the camera with us when we venture into this urban jungle? Very rarely, right? Then the cell phone comes handy, almost all of us have it.

People for sure think that the regular cameras with their long zoom lenses are too much invasive and when people see them they often turn their heads off.

Here's a substantial collection of shots which weren't generated by any regular camera; they were shot with the cell phones that I have had: Nokia, Sony Erickson, Blackberry, and Sony XPeria.

The images were selected for this article while browsing through the folders with images taken in different times, some of them are 3-4 years old. For some reason, as I can see, I have survived all the hype of having and using iPhone.

While looking at all the shots I still don't have the crave of having it at all.

A few questions to Cindy Sheehan.

Here’s the case. Cindy Sheehan – do you remember the woman who’s son went to the war in Iraq and got killed? Then she wanted her questions answered by the president himself by being present near his ranch in Texas? Well, with all my anti-war nature and being all against that shit, I have a few questions to ask Cindy:
1. do you, Cindy, know how many Iraqis your son had killed before being killed by those who have an unalienable right to defend their country for no matter what?
2. where were you when your son was watching TV with violent cartoons on Sunday morning?, or maybe every day?
3. have you ever bought him another version of Nintendo with the war games as a Christmas gift that he enjoyed with his friends?
4. have you ever spoken to him about what the war and killing others was all about?
5. have you ever told him that life and human dignity means exactly as much to others as it does to you?
6. have you ever switched your TV off right in front of your son’s eyes in the middle of the movie with S. Stallone, Ch. Norris or B. Willis?
Can you answer at least one of these questions to me, Cindy, please…

In the morning.

A complete stillness of the air in this morning can be so healing, no single movement of a twig in the trees around. The smell of the air is refreshing and the colours of nature can nurture thoughts, mood and feelings for the whole day. Surprisingly there are no birds ever-chirping in the neighborhoods – is it a sign of weather change? Possibly not, because it already changed from cloudy to sunny yesterday. Total silence around as if all the traffic has stopped on a near-by highway. The sun is making its way through thinning, morning clouds. Oh, wait a minute – there are two birds talking to each other, did they wake up to the brighter sun? It's going to be another good day...

Why do I like reading the blogs.

I just realized this simple fact that I really like reading the blogs. Why is it so? No question - these smaller and bigger pieces of information tell me something about simple and ordinary people's life. The stories are written from the bottom of the heart of their authors. The most important thing is that they are completely free from typical corporate media bullshit, lies and deception. Nobody censors the blogs, nobody puts any priority about what goes first on air and what's of less importance for people to know. Nobody lies to me that I am witnessing the world as it reveals and comes under my roof from the most trusted news media in the world. I don't want to see any talking heads in fashionable suits that are ever present in my magical black box, revealing to me "their" truths that I have to learn and be truthful to. I don't care if everything is written or otherwise served to me according to the rules of "correct writing" that people can learn during 8-10 night sessions courses at the local college. I love looking at people's everyday shots from their environment, learning about poverty of children in Haiti or someone's motorcycle ride across the continent. I like simple people stories about their life and what they do and think in their everyday life.

Stairway to Heaven - 38 years ago right here...

Can you guys realize that Led Zeppelin may have played their "Stairway to Heaven" for the first time on the American continent right here in Vancouver? They kicked out their tour at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum on August 19, 1971. After recording it in early 1971, they could have played it in Europe (Italy, UK, Denmark) and came to Canada while having it on their list of pieces to perform in North America. So, what the heck, why it's not 35 or even 40 years ago..., it doesn't matter. Let's get together in the middle of August and sing or play along something that will never be obsolete and the piece of music itself will never be duplicated or otherwise repeated the way they played it right here. Let's show the entire North America that this song was played on this continent right here, in our city.

Thank you!

You were teaching me colours and showed me grass for the first time. You told me about some distant worlds when the world within the eyesight was enormously huge. You took me once under a tree and told me we could do a lot of things together. Thank you for leaving me once on the street and you watching me if I was able to find my way back home, all by myself.
Now I am far away, sitting on hot chairs but thanks to you I am never lost, not only in the Amazon jungle but also in my life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I remember our last walk on slashy snow and soon after your last heartbeat. I wanted to talk to you but the graves don't talk back.
I wanted to see you in my dreams but you have never shown up. I wanted to ask you a few questions but it was not you who was coming to my dreams. I apologized for bad things I had done to you - did you hear that?
Come here and see me, I am waiting, still waiting and hoping not to consume your time while you're busy traveling in other worlds than the ones you were telling me about. I'll wait tonight too although it's hard to fall asleep with my fingers crossed.

The best airline in the world.

No doubt that Lufthansa is the best airline in the world. Outstanding client service on board, very well prepared staff ready to meet every passanger's demand, high professionalism and pleasing looking people - all that makes your trip a great and unforgettable experience.
I can't tell how many different airlines I was flying but the one on Lufthansa always leaves something to remember. No doubt that Lufthansa logo can be a mark of German decency and accuracy. It's just that feeling or a piece of good memory about something special that falls into memory and something that is missing in every North American airline where you have an impression of random professionalism of onboard staff. Early in this year I was flying an intercontinental flight on United Airlines from Sao Paulo to Chicago. An ugly looking, sweating, fat and cross-eyed steward was joking while serving the passengers, "what kind of coffee would you like to drink for dinner"? Completely blunt food, a can of urine-like American Budweiser (or some other beer of the same quality) for USD6 with terrible smelling and tasting coffee on a long distance flight can bring every patient passanger to an easy vomiting. Nobody even got an idea to bring fantastic smelling and tasting Brazilian coffee on the plane..., oh - wait a minute - did I mention lack of imagination? Never UA again!

Donations to BC Children Hospital.

Donations are nice things - we all know about this. They help, they save life, they show that people care - amongst other things. We come for grocery shopping to the supermarket and see another call for donations, this time for BC Children Hospital. Is it not a great idea to withdraw - let me assume roughly - only two military helicopters and their personnel from this idiotic war in Afganistan that Canada got involved with and shift all the released funds for BC Children Hospital? I bet all the hospital's needs will be covered in the entire province from that simple and easy operation. Hospitals and their funding are the responsibility of the government through the tax policy. At the bottom line we have already paid to fund the hospitals so why grocery stores try to collect money from us? But - wait a minute - we already paid to fund the military, too. These guys go for stupid war games to Afganistan and kill other people (and their children too) just because they didn't do anything wrong to Canada - we all know that. It seems that the government, in the name of showing support for their partners, have more arguments behind them to fund the military who kill people than to fund the institution that fixes and saves people's life. It seems that - in the eyes of government - there's more justification to destroy life than to protect it. Is it not something "deadly" wrong that in democratic society the "government of the people, by the people, for the people" don't give a bloody f***ing shit to recognize the fact that they have to serve people and others, who never did any harm to us, are humans and have their kids too? How about military guys donating some money to children hospital in Kabul or Kandahar once in a while? Doesn't sound too good to be true?
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Canadian government, let alone their military servants...

Tips for better life.

Everyone of us gets these chain e-mails once in a while. Some of them are funny, some irritating and some have that special knowledge that we want to share with others. I got the e-mail titled TIPS FOR BETTER LIFE and used the asterixes to answer it.

1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
***** Especially when a patrolling cop is pulling out the taser for no bloody reason.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
***** And watch FN news ticker at the bottom of your magical plasma black box. In the time of financial crisis this will finally calm you down and will take your breath away for exactly 10 minuts.
3. Sleep for 7 hours.
***** If your neighbour’s barking dog doesn’t wake you up at 5 AM
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
***** Some say 3 L’s – live, love, laugh
5. Play more games.
***** Chess is always good…, it has a lot of meditation but how about the “stony face” social game – any takers?
6. Read more books than you did in 2008.
***** is “Italian war heroes” considered a book? If it is, I’ve passed the first step already and am happy for my 2008.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
*****… especially when you make your way thru the rat’s race on a busy (looking like a parking lot) highway early in the morning.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
***** prepare to yell – to older folks because they can’t hear, to younger brats because they can yell louder than you.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
***** … and then go and buy a few coupons for 6/49 draw
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
***** remember that the Cubans make good on sugar cane and the Africans are really good at growing bananas.
11. Drink plenty of water.
***** Evian, Canadian Spring, Aquafina and other kinds – they are all distilled waters, the genuine one is in beer.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
***** a cop, your financial adviser and Leonard Cohen
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
***** don’t forget that the Hollywood people are ever present on Oprah, ET or Dancing with stars and you love these, don't you?
14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness
***** tell your ex- how much you love her/him and remember that their fuckups made you a really happy and better person.
15. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
***** Forget NWO, G-7, G-20, the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group - you can't really control them. But remember that the Iranian and Israeli nuclear physicists invest their time and energy for brighter future too.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class - but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
***** the problems in life are like skipping classes at school – the more you skip the more problems in life you (will) have and algebra will show the signs of discontinuity.

17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
***** tell the first part to the people in Africa and the last one to the people in North America and Europe.
18. Smile and laugh more.
***** but remember, the cosmetic surgeons are waiting to iron your wrinkles you will acquire while laughing
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
***** Love all those happy blue-and-white toy-soldiers playing with real bullets with Palestinian kids.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
***** remember George W. Bush? – he set a perfect example, follow him!, ALWAYS!
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
***** But Johnnie Cochran did it for OJ Simpson – how could this have been possible?
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
***** Forget the future and concentrate on the present, some people say that “living in the NOW” is what it counts, so does another "holiness", Dalai Lama.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.
***** instead, let the CEOs and other bankers compare their life to yours, maybe they will learn something special from you and you will finaly start walking in their shoes. Share this idea with them and wish yourself good luck!
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
***** … so don’t worry, be happy... (Bobby McFerrin).
25. Forgive everyone for everything.
***** Forgive George Orwell for his theoretic ideas and Zbigniew Brzezinski for the near future practice.
26. What other people think of you is none of your business.
***** … but sometimes I want to know what the Revenue Canada think when they see my papers after April 30th.
27. GOD heals everything.
***** announce this fantastically bright revelation to all those who die of cancer,…, any cancer, anywhere in the world! This revelation will help people understand the true nature of God much better so they can die peacefully without asking any more stupid questions.
28. However good or bad a situation is - it will change.
***** Murphy’s law says – whatever is going to go wrong, it always will.
29. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
***** Start getting together with your friends in the bar more than working with them
30. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
***** garage sale events are the ones that are designed just for getting rid of unnecessary things.
31. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
***** Ask the average Palestinians if they have free access to fresh water, shelter and if they can have a spare pair of shoes once in a while.
32. The best is yet to come.
***** That’s why I am still reading it, until the end, to find out what’s best for me.
33. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
***** middle finger to slow drivers in a fast lane too???
34. Do the right thing!
***** well, I am writing the comments to this e-mail and take nothing for granted. How about you? - say NO to drugs and be politically correct, pay taxes and die unless Bruce Willis saves you. Oh, save the Earth and use the sunblock too.

35. Call your family often.
***** remember, however, that your call “is monitored for security reasons” so don’t sound unsecured for your family.
36. Your inner most self is always happy. So be happy.
***** a healthy puff of grass will help you realize your state of ultimate happiness.
37. Each day give something good to others.
***** spend another quarter of a dollar to those very poor folks in Vatican who work REALLY hard to make your brighter future after you die.
38. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
***** Don’t speed, don’t drink, don’t overwork yourself, don’t make too much money and don’t have sex too much…, you know your limits already, don’t you? Oh yeah, I knew it!
39. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
***** … and then go and watch the 1st part of “Zeitgeist”
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about.
***** That’s why I want to share it with you hoping that you will add some of your comments. Thanks a lot!

The case of 2012 - gimme break...

OK, we all have to get ready for this. We must know this right away because the Mayas and Nostradamus had known it long time ago and all the wave of New Age zealots have known it for some time now so we have to listen to them. We have to blindly follow them as they are the only ones to have known the real truth. There are not only them – whole bunch of visionaries who claim that they just got “the message”, know perfectly the date when the Earth will change its magnetic poles. It doesn’t matter that the Earth has already changed its poles in last 150 days ago or so. The Nibiru will hit the last nail into our coffin. After that catastrophe, we will all change our conscience and much better world will emerge but what happens if the huge waves of Armageddon will flood the Earth washing us all away? But anyway, it doesn’t matter, only those whose conscience is about to change for better will survive the flood and Harmonic Concordance was the first significant event that announced very positive changes to come. You didn’t notice that? – oh well…, your conscious was riding wild and crazy in another direction when those “spiritually” selected saw it clearly.

What’s the protection and getting away with life in the time of the flood? Well, you can join the Perfect Vision project and buy shares in South Africa because the end of Maya calendar doesn’t apply for the region of Drakensberge. Great idea – join it, just do it!

Remember the case of Y2K?, everybody was getting ready for this. No joke - some government employees in Vancouver were called off from the new year’s eve party to slowly watch their computers changing the clock and the world depending on them supposed to be doomed in one second…, and soon after. These dedicated employees, sacrificing their private fun time on the turn of century saved our life and we are grateful for them for that. I am sure that the presence of these responsible ones saved our life at that very moment. Thanks to them, a special wave of bullshiters sat at their still working computers and have littered the internet with their ideas of possible scenario at the end of 2012. I have another question to ask them - if you guys see it so clearly, could you, please, give me six numbers between 1 and 49 for the next 6/49 draw? You don't know?, you can't? or this is the mystery of those "spiritually" selected? - ya right... By the way, I can't help but wonder if printing companies will stop printing calendars ending right after December 20th, 2012...
Who, this time, will save us? We are now waiting for those spiritually selected - forget the government employees - to come out.
Only you - spiritually selected - will save the planet, you are our future,... damn it!

Map cards collection.

They started coming to me at some point of time and - thanks to my friends and family - have been coming since, now combining a collection of a few thousand. Colurful and artsy designed, sometimes really cheesy looking, sometimes high-tech reproductions, showing an area enclosed to a size of a rectangle with an imaginable possibility to see something in real space with one look of an eye. Ready to bring the distant reality from thousands kilometers away that can be held in one hand, located easily in between two fingers. Telling something about the distant area of a land or island, line of a river or coastline, texture and shape of a mountain, zigzagged with lines of streets or highways, documenting before-and-after reality, and showing why people thought it was an important part in their life. Marked with flags, national emblems, state birds, additionally describing other attributes of distant reality. As a learning tool (and teaching, too), running the imagination high and being a direct reason to make further plans for possible visits. Changing the touch of a small cardboard into a real time exploration experience for all the senses and learning about other places, its people and different cultures.

Waves and wires of communication.

There are the moments where it seems that all the wires and waves of communication are either going weird or just completely broken. Sometimes it's hard to communicate with people when calling them, leaving a message and there's silence for a long while. Sometimes there are repeated calls to someone and no answer, like nobody has ever been there or had a phone at all. "Please leave your message, I will call you back..." and after yet another message left, nobody is responding at all. Sometimes a series of days happen when it's hard to either express what's in mind or otherwise explain an idea or - again - nobody's responding. Sometimes, when talking live or over the phone, it's hard to either explain an idea or be understood. Very often something, somewhere and somehow is breaking the lines and waves of communication. Is it a special layout of stars or planets or a festive time or upcoming weekend or a political, sport or cultural event, illness or other personal happening that makes people deconcentrate, neglect, ignore? Why is it all going that way? What's weird on the way? It's neither the phone itself nor even its cellphone culture (..."sorry, I have someone on the other line"...) that makes people stop the conversation, changing the topics or fumbling with the words once it's finally progressing. What the heck is going on with this communication thing?

Are you ready...(what's wrong with the picture)?

Are you ready to show your two middle fingers to theory and practice of the Catholic Church as the institution? Are you ready to finally say your loud "NO" to lies, bullshit, deception and extortion of money for ages? Are you ready to say "NO" to the elite of Vatican and their level of life that has nothing to do with what Jesus Christ used to do as the first (supposed to be...) precoursor of the Catholic Church? Will you ever agree for people very much impacting your life and representing the institution that has claimed your minds already? Will you finally start asking questions and get the right answers from those who say that they are in between you and the God? Will you ever try to dig into the infamous history of the Church and ask why they have always been on the side of the powerful and the mighty rather than on the side of the poor and the needy? Will you ever try to answer the question why their greed for money is the mark of their lifestyle that has evolved much from that of the Jesus? The picture shows the president of a free European country visiting Vatican on his first visit abroad. How come the president of 40 milion people (who came to Vatican to kiss the "Holy Father's" rings) can be an effective president in his own country? How come the "holy" term applies to the man on the right side of the picture? What's on the picture is really disgusting to me to the bare bones, but maybe not only to me.
Do you think that religion can intersect the life of a state and be a part of the country's constitution?
What do you think is wrong with the picture? (This picture, unlike all others on this blog, is not mine.)

Sometimes...

Sometimes your phone call wakes me up in the middle of the night. I check the time; it’s about 3 AM… Strange, but I can’t fall asleep either. We talk for a long time and when the day breaks through, we say ‘good night’ to each other.
Sometimes your SMS wakes me up in the middle of the night. You can’t sleep either?... Long exchange of SMSs…, sweet dreams!
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and somewhere in between hot and fresh scrambled eggs and another game of chess I look for you in my dreams…, but there’s a cold other half of the bed.
Sometimes I find catching myself talking to you but my words end up in silent emptiness, sometime they bounce upon the walls, but usually I swallow them all after a while.
Sometimes I look at the cold Harvest Moon thinking of you and I feel pleasant warmth, then I sleep much better.
Sometimes in the middle of the night I look up at the ceiling and smile to its whiteness above, it reminds me our white bed sheet and us on it relaxing.

Sometimes I long for you… a lot!