Worth an Oscar?

My jungle experience

This ghastly winter is perfect time for reminiscing last summer.

I had the privilege to visit the wild in Malaysia. Nature was awesome. And loud. You wouldn't believe the sounds one can hear - and panic over - during the night. (Only a mosquito net between me and the beasts looming in the dark.) Never have I seen so many wild animals within just one day. And each were very special living only on those parts of the world.

It was shocking to realize how little there was left of the original jungle. From the airplane you could see miles and miles of palm oil plantations. Guess it's a good business for the locals, but practically means a slow death for the original ecosystem. Found myself speechless.

Well, money talks and we consume this palm oil in our noodles, creams, lotions, lipsticks, soaps and even (God forbid) "biodiesel". According to Rainforest Action Network up to 50% of all goods sold in the grocery store contain palm oil. I'm a bit sceptic with that number, but even lower percentages would be horrid.

I've never been a nature lover in the sort of crazy lets-chain-ourselves-to-these-trees-to-stop-the-bulldozer kinda way. But to close my eyes and pretend the problem is not there anymore. I can't do that. I'm not sure if we're even allowed to.

Imagine that

There's truth behind this cheesy story. But as a health worker I wanna point out couple things. The workload is likely to be immense. You're expected to do and know everything from disease prevention to code blue. This trained worker is likely to come from a large family sometimes as the only one with an education. The family will benefit financially from her working abroad.

These decisions have a lot to do with ethics unlike in so many other professions. What kind of impact do you want to make? What matters to you? Guess the hardest part is if you're all alone. Sharing the responsibility with someone will lighten the workload.

I have an enormous respect for my colleagues doing their grassroot work in rural areas. They've told me some unbelievable stories. They're there even tonight. Celebrating New Year with people who respect them.

2011 to remember

"You sexy thing"

Oh what a night to remember. Couldn't get pictures better than above. That's what you get with cheap seats. "We're not a sing-a-longy kind of band" Said the NME headline, but boy did we sing.

It's funny thing. An amazing gig. Seriously one of the best I've ever seen. And right after so many excited people coming out. Yet there's one thing that can make them forget the past two hours. A busker with a quitar and all of a sudden the whole subway is singing "Wonderwall". Even the drunk guys with monkey outfits. Guess it's the power of the 90's.

As the year is coming to an end..

I've been going through my pics for the past twelve months. And what treasures have I found. Like this one. The artist is called Edgar Doctor and the painting Green Country.

Merry Christmas!

Very close to tears over here. Like the style of this movie. Christmas is all about God taking not just one but several risks at the same time to bring hope and salvation to the world.

Could it?

North Korea: Kim Jong-il’s death could be opportunity for human rights | Amnesty International

Toxic cultural environment

During my break from blogging I worked with psychiatric patients. An eye opener of what's going on in the world and people have to go through. Broken families, cheating partners, loneliness, drugs, the unbearable hatred towards what oneself sees in the mirror. And a lot more. I cherished moments when I could be of help and felt so small realising how little I can do. There are cases with pure biological bacround but so often loads of heavy weight on too feeble shoulders.

The following clip is Jean Kilbourne speaking of how advertising shows women. I've never heard of her before, but I like her style. To the long list of causes why people break into pieces I certainly will add the following.

I'm back, part II

New home, new job and most important faster access online.

Here's Freddie

I'm back

Seen much and experienced more than I can handle.
I'll try to add more of the jungle pics later.

This clip has been on my mind for months.
I love it.
Though I'm not sure if this add does justice to it. Exhibition hall vs. blog site.

Maria van Riebeeck, living in the Cape of Good Hope, sings a lullaby to her adopted indigenous child. The language is not generally known by the 17th century Dutch and she vows to love this girl more than her biological children. I've seen the lyrics in English but failed to find them to add here.




The artist, Andrew Putter works in Cape Town.