only (lonley) children

our trekking experience made us realize how well we get along with complete strangers.. analyzing this over another rice lunch I figured that our sociability has everything to do with growing up with siblings.. Caroline has 3 and I have 2. Also alot of love doesn't hurt. I just find it difficult to remember one only-child that I have met in all my life that wasn't awkward, socially challenged, insecure or had trouble being alone once an adult.. I shouldn't generalize, I am sure there are OK only-children out there and not so OK children with siblings, but for sure there is a trend here. I do feel bad for an only child, its lonely and does no good to an adult who can't be alone, needs constant attention and reminders of how important and great they are just because thats what they were told or even not when they were kids... its mental.

Trekking adventure

without much detail (I leave that for Caroline to elaborate in 49daze.blogspot.com) our trekking adventure was great. we returned to the city today after spending two days and a night in the woods doing woods-type-things. My favorite was bamboo rafting today, beats Great Adventure and Disneyland a million times. Riding the elephant was not my favorite part... it just seems wrong. We met some interesting people and one annoying british bitch. Oh and my other favorite part was taking a shower in a waterfall (freezing mind you).
there was a couple from Holland, a couple from Australia, a couple from California, and a few others including a girl from ohio and this very talkative British woman and her very quiet anonymous husband. There was also this older British man (whose presence confused me at first, then we thought maybe he is dying and this is one of the things on his list of things to do before he dies.. I don't know).
Before I forget, that British woman was so chewing my ear on our way back telling me about civilized this and chaotic that.. obviously she had issues but why do I have to listen to this garbage. plus if civilized to you means downtown Geneva then why the fuck are you going to Cairo and Bangkok? just to complain about how chaotic and uncivilized people there are.. fucking looser, limited! what a prude. she was complaining about some water getting on her pants when we were rafting so I said "it wasn't even that cold, you should have felt the waterfall water we showered in this morning, that was really cold," she responds "I put my hand in water 300 meters away from a glaicer, I know cold water." gees, what is this a competition.. reminded me of this other bitch I have the displeasure of going to school with.

On another note: last night I was uncomfortably close to a sexual encounter between our Thai group leader and one of the girls on the Trek. lets just say we were all sleeping together next to the fire (its freezing at night) when the girl starts giving the guide a hand job or something.. thank god he came quick. hahaha, it was just strange.. but it got wierder when a couple of hours later that same girl was spooning with me.. I had no interest what-so-ever, however, male physiology does wonders when one is sleeping, and I didn't want her to confuse a distended state of an organ for a sign of interest plus she just gave another man a handjob or something pretty much infront of me, so I turned my back towards her and move a few inches to express my disintrest. wierd. this whole situation may or maynot have to do with the amount of whisky I consumed around the camp fire.

Forth sex

I was having coffee across the street from the yoga studio the other day and I grabbed a random book off the shelf and I think it was called Third Sex about 'ladyboys' in Thailand. So traditionally in this region and especially Thailand there are not only two sexes (male, female) but FOUR!! (male, female, male-becoming-female and female-becoming-male) these do not involve physical alteration and are culturally accepted and recognized sexes with ancient histories. A male-becoming-female is a person born physically as male but who lives and feels as though he is female and fully adopts a female life loving males. A female-becoming-male is the exact opposite. This has nothing to do with homosexuality which is still looking down upon as it is traditionally seen as odd for male-male love but male-becoming-female loving a male is normal. I know it sounds complicated for a western mind, which is very rigid when it comes to sexual roles BUT you gotta appreciate this option of a third and a forth sex!! These sexes are also accepted by Buddhism as they are understood as having to do with one's reincarnation..
When we were in Sukhothai we met two male-becoming-females, one of whom is an artist painting traditional icons and selling them near by one of the major Buddha images. I wonder if its OK for two male-becoming-females to love each other or is that another twist to homo-relations since they are the same? Not sure.. Fascinating shit though!

Thai Standards of Beauty

Watching TV and seeing adverts everywhere in streets and in magazines in Thailand I find a different kind of Thai than most of the people I have actually seen on the streets. On TV and in Ads, Thais are very white, "typically" Asian-looking, and not exactly special in appearance. On the street I have seen such beautiful people, dark skin, beautiful eyes and features, women with sharp looks and men with strong hands. I feel like there is a beauty standard here that is sought by the entertainment and advertising business which is totally disconnected from the majority of people on the streets whom I find to be far more beautiful. Its like in the US, where there is an image of "the American" that is used in entertainment that is a bit misleading (as if everyone in the country is blond, in perfect shape and had perfect hair all the time) thats what the poor people in the "developing world" get to see.. besides Fear Factor I guess. The truth on the American streets is obviously much uglier.
There is alot of diversity in people in this region of Thailand. So many different kinds of Thais from different backgrounds and origins from all over asia have made their way here and formed their own unique cultures and distictive physical appearances.

on a related topic, I have seen guys with the best haircuts I have seen anywhere I have been. Totally naturally cool! no pretentions. alot of the guys here look like what every hipster and indie-rock boy in New Jersey would pay fortunes at Hot Topic in his local mall to look like. I just wanted to add that note about style.. I dig what I see here... all the way!

life in Chiang Mai

I love this city. Again I find myself enjoying easy life with not-so-complicated people, away from jelousy, envy, pity, just to name a few of what one faces on a daily basis in Cambridge. I just slip on my comfortable pants, go for a walk, sit in a cafe, have a well-made cup of coffee, meet some clear-minded people, some here for a while, some have moved here, some are just passing-by like myself. There are alot of writers here, seems like a good place to come and stay for a while during the process of writing a book. A few Italian writers, a few French and even a couple of Americans are roaming the internet cafes editing their transcripts. There is a street with a few bars, cafes and resturaunts with various writer-related themes: The Library, Ink, and Writers Cafe are just a few.
Got up at about 8 today, Caroline went for her morning run while I slept some more, then we moved to another guesthouse that we found yesturday, its brand new and gorgous and cheap too.. since we are here until the first of Jan we though we might as well move to an excellent place and enjoy it.
I went for a walk in the morning, alone, to enjoy the plathura of cafes, had breakfast at this french-diner-looking place, yummy omlette suffed with an onion/tomato mix served with the yummiest multi-grain bread and coffee all for 85 Baht, that comes to about $2.50, AWSOME!! I was missing some American-style breakfast. After my walk, met up with Caroline and we took a tuk-tuk to visit this amazing temple outside the city, set in the forest with these underground tunnels for meditation, I met another totally hot young monk, I just find it to be so hot to meet all these atractive, young, monks.. they are very shy and not very talkative even if they speak english.. but I must say, a few of them got me interested! total fantasy right now.

We had Yoga practice today at 5, it was really crowded but very nice, I just love the people that go to our yoga studio (called Yoga Studio), the instructor today was new but good. can't go tomorrow because we are leaving in the morning for a two day+one night trip out in the "jungle": water-rafting, elephant riding, mountain hiking, village sleeping.. its gonna be awsome!

after a meal in a popular local eatery, I thought I'd come blog the day.

Oh yea, how can I forget, Last night we went for a walk across the moat (Chiang Mai is a perfect square in plan with a moat all around) towards the Night Market and oh boy we passed a few interesting bars with lots of horney, usually ugly white men with their Thai girlfriends, it was bizarre watching the chemistry! took a few peeping-tom photos to document the strange phenomenon.

Thailand on Christ+mas

its Christmas and next week is Eid and new year.. its awsome being here during this time of year.. I love the type of tourists and expats that are here. there were three kids from the US singing christmas songs last night at the weekend night market, it was, interesting. We moved to a new guesthouse today where we have a split level room, I got the upstairs and Caroline downstairs.. its a really lively place with lots of fun people.. met two french guys there, very nice, they are here learning oil massage for a few weeks.. maybe I'll ask for a free trial run..

the way to Chiang Mai

its Christmas eve in Chiang Mai, about 2:20 in the afternoon. I'm about to go to Wat Suan Dok (a temple and monastery) where I am spending the night with monks, mediation will be the only activity.
Last night, we arrived after a 5 hour bus ride from Sukuthai (birthplace of Thai civilization/culture) and we found a bustling night market on a street a couple of blocks away from our hotel. lots and lots of shopping, the best fabrics, thai pants and scarves I've seen.
Sukuthai is my favorite town so far.. it has the most beautiful historical park with a mix of palms and pines and lilly flowers in ponds with temples and buddhas sprinkling the landscape. I headed out with my motor bike yesturday on a ride around the countryside after I dropped Caroline off at a Thai Massage hut where she spent most of the day learning the nessesary skills. It was gorgous out. we have been hanging out in with a german couple and an 18-year-old israeli guy and a dutch girl we met on the bus there.. the town is small enough that you run into the few tourists there all the time. The Coffee Cup is a cafe around the corner from our Old City Guesthouse where they served some amazing food. Food has been a theme on this trip, lots of eating, I love thai food. I had a red curry dish my first night in Sukothai that makes my mouth water when I think about it. the street food there was the best. that town had an incredible market with cheap yummy eats.. so much to say about the food (the good, and the bizarre)...
before Sukothai we were in Lop Buri, a town overtaken by monkeys who have lost any fear of humans.. it was great, strange, had a few funny incidents that Caroline will elaborate upon in our Thailand trip blg (www.49daze.blogspot.com) including getting in the back of a pick-up truck then going into a panic because we thought we were being kidnapped.
LopBuri was after Ayyutaya were the conference closing dinner was. we stayed there the night and spent the following day on bikes checking out the historical park shock full of temples and more temples.
its hard for me to have as much of a spiritual experience as usually happens when I travel alone because I am with caroline and we are always talking and laughing but its a different experience, I like it as well.. I just wish I can remember all the details.
just a quick note on architecture.. there is very little architecture in the traditional sense.. as in clearly defined plots with buildings set on foundations with some sort of regulatory structure.. most of what is built along the roads and in the smaller villages are hap-hazord wood and aluminum sheet structures, some of them are well-done and some are just frightening. most of the houses are on stilts. the aesthetics are entertaining with plenty of exaggurated columns and collaged facades. the ancient architecture is .. difficult to grasp. almost all of it is mass-oriented, more like sculpture with almost never any habitable space. they are like objects in fields, massive brick structures with a smooth skin. to my surprise most of it is not that old, the majority has been 400-500 years old however they look like they are prehistoric because of their primitive forms, and the serious damaged condition they suffer. there is something really beautiful about their age appearance but I have yet to be impressed. the buddha images almost always have no heads, and a buddha image is still holy even if all that is left is its lap.

I have to go pick up our plane tickets to Ko Samui (island in the south), we fly there on the first so we can attend the first Full Moon Party of 2007 on Jan 3rd.
exciting stuff!!!

From Chiang Mai with love.
49daze.blogspot.com

Hello from Bangkok where hairy pies are everywhere

Its Monday here and probably still sunday in the USA... this city is cracking me up!!
Caroline and I arrived on Sunday in the crazy oversized brand new Bangkok airport after 23 hours in the air plus 2 hours layover in Tokyo. We had arranged for a limo to pick us up and it was awsome! our hotel where the IASTE conference is taking place is pretty .. ummm.. hyperrealistic. from our 19th floor room where we have an entire wall of glass overlooking the city, the view is impressive. low market-style blocks with bars and pool halls mixed with tall tall high rise blocks. almost everyone is wearing yellow shirts. lots of sex tourists (almost all white americans, irish and australians).. and lots of "hairy pies" to serve them.

we leeeave tonight with the conference to Ayutayya where there is a closing ceremony of sorts and then we stay there and begin our own journey.. caroline and I are starting a new blog dedicated to this trip but I will keep posting on hereee once in a while. oh my god this is just exciting stuff, let me tell ya!

from bangkok with love.

god is god

seriously, god is god.. I just shared a spiritual experience on the bus from ny to boston with saima.. i usually don't meet people like that in the states but my god it was a sweet heavinly little meeting..I think i have two new special friends..
the whole thing makes me think of this amazing film (Sayat Nova) which has been used to make the video for Juno Reactor's "god is god" with Natacha Atlas vocals.. check it!
[videos only viewable on the original post on my blog]

strange things I see when i take a nap

some people have missed the train and they are mad about it. some people have a man's face when they are not a man. some people just eat hot pockets everyday and they are mad about it. some people are afraid of the gynocologist. oh people.. people who need people. sigh

ahwak

a day out with the kids

join the ROTC for the travel

strange ROTC ad. I don't understand it.

the fountain

I think I just saw the most beautiful movie ever made. The Fountain. I am not good with giving movie reviews, but I cam say that it is extremely well written, acted and the visuals and music are incredible.. and yes it totally made me cry. now trite, bitter, jaded people may not be so emotionally moved, so if you feel like your emotions are constantly supressed, then don't go. Those who want to see a well crafted movie and are not afraid to cry in public should give it a go.

I'm getting ready for Japan

in preparation for going to japan soon.. I remembered the section in Sonar over the summer that was all about Japaneses DJs and artists.. here is one of my favorite dudes in that section.. I love the video art behind him.. I also (thanks to Youtube) added plenty of videos of my favorite sonar moments in the blog in June that I posted on my experience at the festival... happy Japaneses video!

music

alright.. in the spirit of thanksgiving, I thought i should post some random music videos that I am thankful for:

AFX - This is absolutly brilliant (I LOVE!!! Chris Cunningham)


The cure




Portishead (I LOOOVVVVEEE)


slowdive


Nancy Ajram




My bloody valentine


Dirty Sanchez


Miss Kittin and Felix


Amr Diab


Natacha Atlas




Billy Corgan

I love humanists especially when they speak arabic

This post contains a video, if you can't see it, you need to view the original post on my blog.

I'm saving myself an $80 application fee

sunday night my ID didn't work at the gym so I went monday morning to get a new ID. when I was in the ID office there were two new MIT police officers getting their IDs. comolete with their uniforms, boots and guns they stood there clueless, one of them seemed so excited to have an ID that also says MIT on it, it was a strange sight. I was looking at them becasue the whole thing was taking long, and frankly I was so bothered by the sight of a fucking gun or two for that matter right infront of me. now I am not sure what goes into police training, or even worst, campus police training (something tells me if you go for campus police you are simply not even good enough to be an urban police person, meaning you are already sucking as to be part of a job known to be ruled by thugs and loosers and past high school drug dealers) anyway, one of them (for the lack of a better word) was such a pussy, he could not even make direct eye contact with me. its just rediculous. later that day Saima told me about the UCLA campus police incident and I finally watched the video.. I am angry. It reminded me of when we had cops with machine guns standing everywhere in NYC a couple of years ago, and how angry that made me. here some links and videos to spread the news on this incident. and I guess I am not sending my UCLA application, not that this can't happen anywhere, but I am ashamed that these fucking campus cops were not even put off the job until an investigation is done, they have been working their shifts since the incident. for this to happen right here in the middle of a library on a california campus and people are wondering why are so many people hating of american troops abroad.. well can't you imagine what they do there.. and only once in a while it gets so bad that people know about abu graib or random rape of 13 and 15 year old girls. everyone.. and I mean everyone in the military or police in this country is just as scum as the police in places like egypt except they are given the illusion of power, machine guns, tasers and a badge that gives them the security to fuck with who ever they want as long as no one is looking, but once in a while someone is looking (and thankfully has a video phone to record it)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostafa_Tabatabainejad

عندما تحكمك الكلاب ...... فلا تشكو من ألم العض

"أجلس مع الزملاء على المقهى معزيا نفسى على أنقضاء عيدا أخر و أنا وحيد

لأجد أحدهم يأتى يبلغنا بأندلاع الثورة قاصا علينا الاحداث الاولى لأندلاعها

نهب دافعين الحساب للحاق بركب الثورة حتى لا تفوتنا فنعض على النواجز

قائلين يا ريتنا كنا معاهم

ندخل شارع طلعت حرب و نلتحم بالجموع كلهم ممن طحنهم الفقر

و البطالة و أصبح لا سبيل لهم الا الثورة

وقفت منتظرا سماع خيوط الهتاف الجماهيرى

كى أنخرط مع الجموع هاتفا بسقوط نظام أكل الدهر عليه و شرب

لم أجد أبطال مناضلين محمولين على الاكتاف هاتفين بحب الوطن

بل مجموعة من الهايجيين جنسيا الخارجين من بوتقة الحرمان و الكبت

و الذين وجدوا صيدهم السهل وسط الزحام فأخذوا فى الهجوم بأعداد

غفيرة على كل من تحمل تأء التأنيث فى الشارع

مستعملين أسلحة الثورة من شتائم و سباب و أصابع

مهللين لكل قطة تقع فى مصيدتهم

مطاردينها حتى اخر قطرة

فإما الوقوع فى الارض و الاستسلام

وإما الهرب الى أحدى المحلات التى اصبحت كملاجىء القصف

مع هذا كله لا تستغرب أستنكار كبار السن لملابس البنات

و أنهم يا عينى هما اللى عملوا كدة فى الشباب ووصلوهم لكدة

او رمى اللوم على مصر اللى مابقاش فيها رجالة

و بيسيبوا بناتهم تخرج كدة

و لا تستنكر تخاذل الامن ووجود عدد لا يتعدى العشرة أفراد

فالثوار هذه المرة مطالبهم جنسية بحته

تحيه لأبطال الثورة الحقيقيون

الفقر

البطالة

العنوسة

الكبت

الحرمان

فأولائك الهايجون فى وسط البلد اليوم

ماهم إلا أدوات فى أيدى هؤلاء"

warm rainy nights

aaahhhh, smoking with the window wide open and wind blowing in at 68 degrees on a november nights feels so good!! what is wrong with this weather! I just checked weather.com and its actually colder in Alexandria, Egypt right now than it is in Cambridge, MA! I have also gone back to listening to dublab which brings back memories of Newark. I miss them days.