Guitar Hero: Steet Poets of Chiang Mai - coming soon

Loy Krathong is a three day celebration of the new moon in the twelfth month of the Thai calender. It is called "the festival of lights."

Ping River

Krathong are small rafts made with banana leaves and decorated with a candle and incense. They are set adrift in the local river. In larger cities, enough krathong are set adrift so that the river appears to glow like molten gold. In Chiang Mai, the celebration is also called "Yi Peng," and they honor the goddess of the river.

Khom fai are the balloons that are launched. As they climb into the sky, the drift away and form little constellations. During the festival of lights, man creates stars.


My personal favorite.

time lapse of 1-2 seconds

On average I was shooting one second exposures with a Canon DSLR using an 18-55mm lens. I have two tripods, but they are currently in the mail. One thing I have learned to appreciate in photography is motion blur. Sometimes it is a beautiful thing.

There was also a parade that I discovered too late.

Khom Fai over Chiang Mai, November 2008
Canon A620

More pictures will follow.

Loy Krathang (also spelled loi kratang) is celebrated once a year. On the traditional Thai calender, it falls on the new moon of the twelfth month. This is the Thai year 2552.

I regret that I didn't get any pictures of a loy krathong, but I did get a number of images of khom fai, the miniature hot air balloon.

In Chiang Mai, the celebration is two-fold. It is also called Yi Peng, and banana-leaved krathang are set adrift in the Ping River to honor the goddess of water, Phra Mae Khongkha.

Loi Krathong - November, 2008

The full moon celebration is literally "a festival of lights." Miniature hot air balloons are used to carry sins and blessings to heaven. Along the Ping River, offerings to the river goddess are shared. A simple orchid, a candle and three burning sticks of incense are set into the river, where they drift downstream. There are also a lot of fireworks.

From my point of view, Loi Krathong is the night when men create stars.

More images will follow.

Canon Kiss Digital X w/ 18-55mm lens, ASA of 800 or 1600. No flash was used in taking most of the pictures I plan to share.

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The
sun was just a red orb in a greyish-white sky the day the plane landed
at Incheon International Airport on Oct. 25, 2005. I couldn't tell
where the ocean ended or the sky began. A few minutes later I saw the
island rising up to meet us, the horizon lined with trees, and the
tires screeched as the plane touched down and taxied to our departure
gate.

I never left Korea.

In Seoul, I visited the five
palaces of the Joseon Dynasty. I walked in the places where kings
walked. But I saw things the ancient kings could never imagine. Seoul
is an incredible city. The Han River flowing through the center of the
city is as gentle as a lake, but can overtake the Olympic Parkway
during the rainy season if it rains long enough and hard enough. The
golden 63 Building stands out against the concrete and steel greys of
the surrounding buildings.

I've come to appreciate the natural
beauty of Korea. From Namhansanseong to the Bukhangang Valley leading
to Chuncheon, to Apsan Park in Daegu and the East Sea at Sokcho, I have
experienced the beauty of the Land of the Morning Calm, and I
understand why the morning is calm. The golden sunrise, the morning
glory and Rose of Sharon, the early winter snows, the reflecting pools
of spring become the green bowls of harvest when the rice has matured.
How much more beauty is there to this country I have called home for
three years but have not yet witnessed?

From Korean tradition
I have found poetry in motion expressed in the poomsae of Taekwondo and
in the Flower Dance. While attending the Chuncheon Open International
Taekwondo Championships, the Korean Tigers demonstration team performed
their routines. In the dojang I have studied and practiced some of the
forms and found beauty in the martial art. On several occasions I have
photographed lovely Korean ladies in Hanbok, spinning in lively circles
and kalidescopes of color of the spring.

I have learned much,
so much so that Koreans tell me I know more of their history than they
know. My fellow teachers tell me I should be teaching Korean history in
university. Such thoughts make me laugh. If only other people loved the
joy that can be found in a history class. Too many have told me that
they don't like history. I understand this. Bad teachers kill the
desire to learn. Good teachers inspire students to make history. I want
my students to make history. Let them surpass me, and I will bask in
the warmth of their joy.

My time in Korea is soon to end. In a
couple of days I will be moving to Thailand. I will study. I will
learn. I will teach. I will write a new chapter of my life. My Asian
Experience continues....

"Most of All"

"Since I Laid My Burdens Down"

"Crossroads" - w/ laptop steel guitar

When the Constitution of the United States was written, it was the hope
of the Founding Fathers that the people would be responsible with the
liberties guaranteed to them by this document. The right to
keep and bear arms guaranteed that the government would always be under
the control of the people.

Living in Korea has given me a
chance to study some Asian history. Watch any movie from any time
period and you will find unarmed people always having to defend
themselves from heavily armed thugs or military abuses. Kings are
notorious in history for the oppression they brought to the people they
were to serve and protect. Loyalty was always a one-way street. People
have to be loyal to the government. The government doesn't have to be
loyal to the people.

During the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, the
aristocracy was corrupt. The people had to pay the government taxes,
and the aristocrats were to collect the taxes. When the government
officials came for the taxes, the aristocrats would say the people had
not paid the taxes, when in actuality they did pay, and the officials
would then go and collect the taxes from the peasants. This double tax
burden on the people led to a breaking point. The people rebelled. The
king did not listen to the people and had them disarmed. Aristocrats
could have weapons. The people could not.

We are a long way from
the day when farming instruments were weapons for war. Firearm
technology has ever been changing, from wheel-lock to flintlock to
cap-and-ball to.... Vulcan miniguns. The people, in order to be the
greatest asset in defending the nation's borders, should have access to
state-of-the-art military grade equipment. The people make up the
militia, and need to understand the weapons of war they would use to
fight foreign enemies. If the current administration had played their
cards right following 9-11, we would never have needed the Dept. of
Homeland Security. Instead, every man and woman would have been asked
to train to do their duty to help insure another terrorist attack would
not happen on American soil. Training in weaponry, emergency medicine,
and other skills useful in a crisis would have been made available to
all people. The greatest asset to America has not been called to help
prepare for such emergencies. On the other hand, the people are the
best check and balance in existence to insure that tyranny does not
become the way of life it was in pre-revolutionary America. An armed
civilian force keeps the government honest. Take away the weapons of
the people, and the people have no rights.

I know many people do
not like automatic weapons. I can understand that. Properly used, they
can be very dangerous. Devastating firepower. We don't have to like it.
I don't like it. But in this world we live in, it is a tool that
occasionally has to be used. It is our responsibility. It is our curse.
Some have a moral compass that keeps them in check so that the power of
the weapon is not abused. Some do not have such moral foundations. They
get their hands on an AK or other type of weapon and they do a lot of
damage.

I know some people enjoy firing cap-and-ball firearms.
I have friends who enjoy the firepower of the MP-5 submachine gun. I
have had a good time with the MP-5. But I hate the fact that this world
is a dangerous place and that occasionally such a weapon is needed. A
person should not train above the weapon he or she feels the most
comfortable with, but one never knows when the skills using a
Smith&Wesson .38 revolver or an M-60 machine gun just might save
one's life, or the lives of others. People with a conscience will mourn
having to pull the trigger. It is the difference between the hero and
the villain. If only we had more people of conscience in the world, it
would be a safer place to live and such weapons would need not to
exist.

Then again, there are some people who are willing to
let the world burn. From them we must defend ourselves, our loved ones,
and so much more that we believe we would be willing to die for to
protect.

The next generation of weapons being developed by the
military will be more devastating than what is now available. The only
thing in life that is guaranteed is more war, more bloodshed, and in
spite of it all, life will go on. Life is worth defending. The evil
character traits of humanity must be destroyed, for they are opposed to
life. The automatic weapon is a tool to either destroy life, or to
defend it, just like the cap-and-ball was the tool for the time in
which it was developed. All we can do is pray for an end to evil so
that guns of every type are never again needed.