On October 4, 1957, the world’s first satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched into the cosmos. Greta, who was 17 at the time, got home from school on the tram and in her imagination leafed through a magazine of do-it-yourself sewing patterns. She had peeked at the magazine earlier, over the knees of her classmate Dasha (despite Greta’s importuning, Dasha had refused to lend her the magazine, even for one night). In the kiosk next to the tram stop, a Komsomol member of about 50 grew obsolete. She wore a red beret and was using a sharp pencil to solve a crossword puzzle for experts.
Greta placed two coins on the counter and received in return toffee with the taste of soap, and an orange postage stamp illustrated with a satellite. The stamp, which had been distributed throughout the country, perpetuated the gap between the Soviet Union and the United States in the space race. Greta returned home following her shopping, to an apartment that had been nationalized d ue to the housing shortage. Its three flats had been divided among three families who insisted on not getting along with each other. The stairwell was inhabited by a drunk who was always about to die. Greta smiled at the drunk like a girl who has a future and gave him her toffee. She put the glossy stamp in a small envelope next to a ring from the czarist period, which she had received as an inheritance from her grandmother, and slid it under her goose-down pillow.
On the agenda was an argument about the best way to pickle cucumbers and cabbage leaves. From there the way was short to personal jibes. Yulia Andreiva scolded Nadia Yaruslavna for it being inconceivable that Gennady, Nadia’s husband, did not clean the toilet bowl after he, pardon the expression, took a crap. Before Nadia could fire back at Yulia and tell everyone exactly what her husband did while she went to the market, the radio announcer declared in a faint voice the good news from Moscow: a live passenger was capable of surviving a launch into orbit and enduring weightlessness. Everyone applauded and Greta felt embarrassed for having received the national holiday in a checked yellow robe and messy hair. Afterward she paused to think and decided that the honorable thing to do would be to buy another stamp, this time with a likeness of Laika’s profile. Greta placed the new acquisition in the drawer of her desk at school and decided that it would be her amulet for getting good marks, so that when the time came she would be admitted to medical school.
Owing to a shortage of connections with members of the socialist party, Greta managed only to get admitted to evening studies in economics and commerce. Parallel to her studies, she started to work as a salary accountant in a screw factory. Married engineers, who had striped hankies in their pants pockets, invited Greta for black tea and a dry cake in the cafeteria. Greta did not want to fall in love with any of them. She preferred to remain free and not expand the pile of laundry in her tub, which she did by hand. Her only dress, a brown dress made of cheap material, and her underwear, by now gray with age, were immersed in the tub’s murky water every week. Through the thin walls in her room Greta had learned how couples make love. She herself had undergone the experience only once, when she was 12, with a stuffy-nosed urchin from a parallel street. In exchange she got a loaf of dry bread.
2012年4月27日星期五
2012年4月26日星期四
CEMENCO Erects US$20M New Plant Answers Vision 2030 Delegates' Pollution Concerns
Without the slightest idea that Vision 2030 delegates, concerned about the health hazard CEMENCO brings, would call for its relocation from Monrovia to Bensonville, the local cement giant disclosed yesterday evening that it was erecting a new US$20 million "state-of-the-art" cement manufacturing plant.
The new plant, according to Counselor James Doe Gibson, is due to be completed and ready for operations by December this year. It will answer all the pollution concerns anybody in the area may have about cement fumes polluting the densely populated surrounding areas, including Jamaica Road, New Georgia, Freeport community, etc.
The Daily Observer personnel had just left the closing session of a two-day National Visioning Consultation in New Georgia, in Montserrado County's District 13, where delegates had raised the alarm about the cement fumes emitting hourly from CEMENCO's plant, causing a great health hazard to the people of the surrounding area. The delegates called for CEMENCO's immediate re-location to some distant place within Montserrado. They named Bensonville, ancestral home of the Tolbert and other Montserrado families.
The delegates complained that the cement fumes were affecting the eyes of many local residents, and causing people to contract cataracts. The delegates said the best solution was the relocation of the plant to a place where there would be enough space and not too many people, and Bensonville or some other rural community in Montserrado would be best suited for the move.
One delegate, addressing the Consultation in the Gabriel Kpoleh Public School in New Georgia, cautioned his colleagues that CEMENCO provided a lot of jobs and income for the community and a re-location of the company could lead to economic disaster for the area.
Another delegate wondered whether an alternative solution could not be found, so that the plant would remain in its present location, but with the pollution "minimized."
Delegates said if that were possible, then that could be a solution to the problem.
En route from the Consultation, Daily Observer personnel called CEMENCO's Accounts Manager, Ms. Waito Davis, a Tigress from the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), and informed her of the Vision 2030 delegates' concerns about the company's pollution problem.
It was at that point that Mrs. Davis quickly informed the Daily Observer that there was absolutely no need to worry. She then disclosed that the company was erecting the brand new plant that would definitely take care of the pollution problem.
"We ourselves who work here are at risk, and the company knows that," she told the Daily Observer. "So the company is building this new plant that will take care of all the pollution problems," she added. She then suggested the newspaper contact the company's Administrative Manager, Counselor James Doe Gibson, for further clarification.
It was Cllr. Gibson that told the newspaper of the cost of the new factory, US$20 million, which he described as a "state of the art" plant. It would, he said, "eliminate all the pollution we currently experience from the old plant currently in use." That plant, he told the newspaper, "is over 40 years old and causing us a lot of money. The fumes you see in the air during operations, is nothing else but cement. Each speck of the fumes is cement that we are losing. The new plant would cut out those losses completely, save us money and maintain a clean environment," Counselor Gibson asserted.
He added, the new plant is being constructed very near our cafeteria. If it were not pollution-free we would not be placing it there," he said.
As to the Vision 2030 delegate's suggestion that the plant be re-located to Bensonville, Cllr. Gibson such a move would make a bag of cement "very costly. You're talking about a price escalation of over US$25 per bag," he said. "That would be too costly for anybody."
Counselor Gibson then told the newspaper that cement factories throughout West Africa are situated around ports. The reason: it is far cheaper to move your clinker and other materials from a nearby port than from elsewhere.
"It costs us US$33 per truck to transport our clinker, the main ingredient for cement manufacture, from the Free Port of Monrovia. If we had to bring it from Brewerville, the cost per bag of cement would be US$20. That would be prohibitive. It would be even costlier transporting it to a further distance, such as Bensonville," he added.
Counselor Gibson assured the Vision 2030 delegates and the entire Liberian public that CEMENCO is well aware of the pollution problem, a problem which, he emphasized, would soon be a thing of the past.
The Vision 2030 District 13 delegates had one more major pollution concern. The Daily Observer will bring this and other concerns to the public in subsequent stories beginning tomorrow.
The new plant, according to Counselor James Doe Gibson, is due to be completed and ready for operations by December this year. It will answer all the pollution concerns anybody in the area may have about cement fumes polluting the densely populated surrounding areas, including Jamaica Road, New Georgia, Freeport community, etc.
The Daily Observer personnel had just left the closing session of a two-day National Visioning Consultation in New Georgia, in Montserrado County's District 13, where delegates had raised the alarm about the cement fumes emitting hourly from CEMENCO's plant, causing a great health hazard to the people of the surrounding area. The delegates called for CEMENCO's immediate re-location to some distant place within Montserrado. They named Bensonville, ancestral home of the Tolbert and other Montserrado families.
The delegates complained that the cement fumes were affecting the eyes of many local residents, and causing people to contract cataracts. The delegates said the best solution was the relocation of the plant to a place where there would be enough space and not too many people, and Bensonville or some other rural community in Montserrado would be best suited for the move.
One delegate, addressing the Consultation in the Gabriel Kpoleh Public School in New Georgia, cautioned his colleagues that CEMENCO provided a lot of jobs and income for the community and a re-location of the company could lead to economic disaster for the area.
Another delegate wondered whether an alternative solution could not be found, so that the plant would remain in its present location, but with the pollution "minimized."
Delegates said if that were possible, then that could be a solution to the problem.
En route from the Consultation, Daily Observer personnel called CEMENCO's Accounts Manager, Ms. Waito Davis, a Tigress from the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), and informed her of the Vision 2030 delegates' concerns about the company's pollution problem.
It was at that point that Mrs. Davis quickly informed the Daily Observer that there was absolutely no need to worry. She then disclosed that the company was erecting the brand new plant that would definitely take care of the pollution problem.
"We ourselves who work here are at risk, and the company knows that," she told the Daily Observer. "So the company is building this new plant that will take care of all the pollution problems," she added. She then suggested the newspaper contact the company's Administrative Manager, Counselor James Doe Gibson, for further clarification.
It was Cllr. Gibson that told the newspaper of the cost of the new factory, US$20 million, which he described as a "state of the art" plant. It would, he said, "eliminate all the pollution we currently experience from the old plant currently in use." That plant, he told the newspaper, "is over 40 years old and causing us a lot of money. The fumes you see in the air during operations, is nothing else but cement. Each speck of the fumes is cement that we are losing. The new plant would cut out those losses completely, save us money and maintain a clean environment," Counselor Gibson asserted.
He added, the new plant is being constructed very near our cafeteria. If it were not pollution-free we would not be placing it there," he said.
As to the Vision 2030 delegate's suggestion that the plant be re-located to Bensonville, Cllr. Gibson such a move would make a bag of cement "very costly. You're talking about a price escalation of over US$25 per bag," he said. "That would be too costly for anybody."
Counselor Gibson then told the newspaper that cement factories throughout West Africa are situated around ports. The reason: it is far cheaper to move your clinker and other materials from a nearby port than from elsewhere.
"It costs us US$33 per truck to transport our clinker, the main ingredient for cement manufacture, from the Free Port of Monrovia. If we had to bring it from Brewerville, the cost per bag of cement would be US$20. That would be prohibitive. It would be even costlier transporting it to a further distance, such as Bensonville," he added.
Counselor Gibson assured the Vision 2030 delegates and the entire Liberian public that CEMENCO is well aware of the pollution problem, a problem which, he emphasized, would soon be a thing of the past.
The Vision 2030 District 13 delegates had one more major pollution concern. The Daily Observer will bring this and other concerns to the public in subsequent stories beginning tomorrow.
2012年4月25日星期三
Corri McFadden On House Of Consignment Episode 9: Warehouse Sales And Ta Ta's Closet
Episode nine featured the warehouse sale for charity, I wish this episode was longer because I could have watched this forever, it was so fun to see how fast-paced that day was.
I know, that episode needed to be like three hours. Actually, it could have been forty-five minutes long because that's how long it took to sell out.
How did that even come to be?
We get a lot of items that either didn't sell or people say "Just donate it for me," and we started getting a lot. So I got a warehouse and we would just box it all up with the intention of doing some kind of sale, but we didn't know what. I had been saving all these items for a year, and when the show came about, I thought it was perfect. We'll pull it all out, we'll do a charity sale, and my boyfriend had just built the Greek Hellenic Museum, it hadn't even opened yet when we had the sale, and it was the perfect venue for it. I wanted to do a bag sale because I didn't want people shopping for items, I just wanted the stuff gone and we just wanted to raise money for charity. There were 15,000-plus pieces and I was like, what are we going to do with all the leftovers after the sale? The last thing I want to do is box it all up again and move it back into storage. At the end, there was one single glove left on a table at the end. We did a morning news piece the day before the sale and they showed off what we had, Armani, Chanel, just things that didn't sell, and the next owning I got a call from the police at about 7:30 to tell me I had a line over the freeway.
How many people actually got in?
I would say probably about seven hundred. We raised over $12,000 in forty five minutes. That money went to the Primo Center, which is a group that benefits underprivileged women and children in the city. The day before the sale, a group of women came in and we styled them and outfitted them with new wardrobes, so that in itself was rewarding, those women were glowing. It was awesome.
Do you wish you raised the price so you could have earned more money?
No, I don't think so. At the end of the day it was about raising what we could and clearing out merchandise that had no home. We're going to make it an annual event now.
Let's talk about Nicole, because things start to get a little tense with her this week.
She was negative the whole time we were planning the event. She was convinced it was going to be a failure, she thought we'd have to truck people in and that no one would come to the sale.
Did you know she felt that way and was saying things behind your back?
I didn't. She wasn't voicing any of that to me. I had several complaints that she wasn't helping and that I should send her home, we were all working hard, but she was off doing her own thing. The only time anything clicked for me what the one time I put on the headphones and was listening to her film a scene that day, that was the only time I ever did this all season, and I heard her tell Jena "We need to clean up that table…You know how Corri is," and I was like, Oh my God, you're undermining me and you don't even believe in this event. You need to be on board!
Let's talk about LaToiya's closet clean.
LaToiya lived in a very small house and she has stuff from high school — HIGH SCHOOL — she had so much stuff. And she had her alter ego Ta Ta. She was so much fun. She was great, we confirmed for her that some handbags that an ex had given her were fake.
What's the general reaction when someone finds out their stuff is fake, does that happen a lot?
It's a mixed bag. For instance, yesterday we did a closet clean in someone's home and all the bags were fake. But when the client called, they told us they had all this Gucci and Louis and we got there and it was all fake. And we don't want to offend anyone but you have to explain this to the client. And we also don't want them taking it to another outlet to get rid of it. It shouldn't be sold. And she's claiming Neiman Marcus ripped her off. I'm like, what Neiman Marcus are you going to? So you get a lot of that, and then you get people who had no idea. When your husband gives you something, you're not running off with a diamond tester, you assume it's real, so no one wants to hear that their items are fake, but a lot of people know. If you knew the back end of counterfeiting, it's really dirty, but luckily the government is taking a harder stance on it. But we have to check every single piece that comes through. Authenticity is something we harp on and are working on every day.
I know, that episode needed to be like three hours. Actually, it could have been forty-five minutes long because that's how long it took to sell out.
How did that even come to be?
We get a lot of items that either didn't sell or people say "Just donate it for me," and we started getting a lot. So I got a warehouse and we would just box it all up with the intention of doing some kind of sale, but we didn't know what. I had been saving all these items for a year, and when the show came about, I thought it was perfect. We'll pull it all out, we'll do a charity sale, and my boyfriend had just built the Greek Hellenic Museum, it hadn't even opened yet when we had the sale, and it was the perfect venue for it. I wanted to do a bag sale because I didn't want people shopping for items, I just wanted the stuff gone and we just wanted to raise money for charity. There were 15,000-plus pieces and I was like, what are we going to do with all the leftovers after the sale? The last thing I want to do is box it all up again and move it back into storage. At the end, there was one single glove left on a table at the end. We did a morning news piece the day before the sale and they showed off what we had, Armani, Chanel, just things that didn't sell, and the next owning I got a call from the police at about 7:30 to tell me I had a line over the freeway.
How many people actually got in?
I would say probably about seven hundred. We raised over $12,000 in forty five minutes. That money went to the Primo Center, which is a group that benefits underprivileged women and children in the city. The day before the sale, a group of women came in and we styled them and outfitted them with new wardrobes, so that in itself was rewarding, those women were glowing. It was awesome.
Do you wish you raised the price so you could have earned more money?
No, I don't think so. At the end of the day it was about raising what we could and clearing out merchandise that had no home. We're going to make it an annual event now.
Let's talk about Nicole, because things start to get a little tense with her this week.
She was negative the whole time we were planning the event. She was convinced it was going to be a failure, she thought we'd have to truck people in and that no one would come to the sale.
Did you know she felt that way and was saying things behind your back?
I didn't. She wasn't voicing any of that to me. I had several complaints that she wasn't helping and that I should send her home, we were all working hard, but she was off doing her own thing. The only time anything clicked for me what the one time I put on the headphones and was listening to her film a scene that day, that was the only time I ever did this all season, and I heard her tell Jena "We need to clean up that table…You know how Corri is," and I was like, Oh my God, you're undermining me and you don't even believe in this event. You need to be on board!
Let's talk about LaToiya's closet clean.
LaToiya lived in a very small house and she has stuff from high school — HIGH SCHOOL — she had so much stuff. And she had her alter ego Ta Ta. She was so much fun. She was great, we confirmed for her that some handbags that an ex had given her were fake.
What's the general reaction when someone finds out their stuff is fake, does that happen a lot?
It's a mixed bag. For instance, yesterday we did a closet clean in someone's home and all the bags were fake. But when the client called, they told us they had all this Gucci and Louis and we got there and it was all fake. And we don't want to offend anyone but you have to explain this to the client. And we also don't want them taking it to another outlet to get rid of it. It shouldn't be sold. And she's claiming Neiman Marcus ripped her off. I'm like, what Neiman Marcus are you going to? So you get a lot of that, and then you get people who had no idea. When your husband gives you something, you're not running off with a diamond tester, you assume it's real, so no one wants to hear that their items are fake, but a lot of people know. If you knew the back end of counterfeiting, it's really dirty, but luckily the government is taking a harder stance on it. But we have to check every single piece that comes through. Authenticity is something we harp on and are working on every day.
2012年4月19日星期四
Gucci Returns to Shanghai with Fashion Show and New Campaign
Gucci's Creative Director, Frida Giannini, is taking the iconic fashion house back to China on April 21 with three exclusive events.
In the morning, Giannini will host a cocktail reception at the Wai Tan Yuan, during which Gucci's new campaign—starring Li Bing Bing—will be revealed. The campaign is dedicated to the brand's handbags, jewelry and watches, and features both classic accessories as well as new styles.
In the evening, Wai Tan Yuan will play host to Giannini's first fashion show in China. She will present the Fall/Winter 2012-2012 collection to 600 specially invited guests. Notable attendees will include Hilary Swank, Lapo Elkann, Bryan Ferry, Li Bing Bing, Yang Mi, Huo Si Yan, Chen Kun, Feng Shao Feng, Peng Yu Yan and Wu Zun.
Following the fashion show will be a private party at a location designed exclusively for the event. The Gucci Club will span three floors and feature Gucci Premiere evening gowns from the Florentine archive, including the couture dress Hilary Swank wore to the 2011 Oscars. Bryan Ferry will take the stage for an exclusive performance, followed by a DJ set by Isaac Ferry.
In the morning, Giannini will host a cocktail reception at the Wai Tan Yuan, during which Gucci's new campaign—starring Li Bing Bing—will be revealed. The campaign is dedicated to the brand's handbags, jewelry and watches, and features both classic accessories as well as new styles.
In the evening, Wai Tan Yuan will play host to Giannini's first fashion show in China. She will present the Fall/Winter 2012-2012 collection to 600 specially invited guests. Notable attendees will include Hilary Swank, Lapo Elkann, Bryan Ferry, Li Bing Bing, Yang Mi, Huo Si Yan, Chen Kun, Feng Shao Feng, Peng Yu Yan and Wu Zun.
Following the fashion show will be a private party at a location designed exclusively for the event. The Gucci Club will span three floors and feature Gucci Premiere evening gowns from the Florentine archive, including the couture dress Hilary Swank wore to the 2011 Oscars. Bryan Ferry will take the stage for an exclusive performance, followed by a DJ set by Isaac Ferry.
2012年4月18日星期三
D11 Responds To Gang, Gun Rumors Out of Wasson High School
Wasson High School officials conducted a random bag check after a school fight caused rumors about gang violence and weapons at school.
The fight happened Thursday, and district officials said only a small number of students were involved.
Some parents told KRDO Newschannel13 they were upset about the checks and not being informed about the possible gang and weapons activity.
District 11 officials say the bag checks were done at random, and that after Wasson's investigations the rumors were determined to have no validity.
"It is not our intention to cause any kind of uncomfortable atmosphere. We wanted students, parents and staff to feel safe," said Devra Ashby, the district's spokesperson.
Students were also gathered in an assembly and reminded by administration that there is a "no tolerance" policy for weapons in school.
Also, district officials said that each school has the right to conduct random bag check of students is safety is deemed to be an issue.
The fight happened Thursday, and district officials said only a small number of students were involved.
Some parents told KRDO Newschannel13 they were upset about the checks and not being informed about the possible gang and weapons activity.
District 11 officials say the bag checks were done at random, and that after Wasson's investigations the rumors were determined to have no validity.
"It is not our intention to cause any kind of uncomfortable atmosphere. We wanted students, parents and staff to feel safe," said Devra Ashby, the district's spokesperson.
Students were also gathered in an assembly and reminded by administration that there is a "no tolerance" policy for weapons in school.
Also, district officials said that each school has the right to conduct random bag check of students is safety is deemed to be an issue.
2012年4月17日星期二
Takashi Murakami on Junk Food, Warhol, Napping
Takashi Murakami does things in a big way.
For an exhibition in Doha, Qatar, he designed a Gulliver-sized inflatable replica of himself, its giant, calloused hand extended to greet entering museumgoers.
"Children, adults, families — I want to bring everyone into my world," Mr. Murakami says.
For the last 24 years, he has strived for that. The 50-year-old artist and entrepreneur draws freely from Japanese pop culture to create work that is both critically and commercially successful. His handbag designs for Louis Vuitton resulted in a now-ubiquitous best-seller. For Kanye West's 2007 album "Graduation," he designed an anime-inspired cover. His work has shown at Los Angeles's Museum of Contemporary Art, France's Chateau de Versailles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
His Doha show, "Murakami-Ego," revisits many of his best-known themes, including otaku, or geek, culture, and his own "Superflat" aesthetic that merges high and low culture. Kaikai and Kiki, two cartoonish, grinning characters that are well-known to Murakami fans, make an appearance, but one highlight is new: a 100-meter panel with Buddhist monks, drawn in the traditional nihonga style Mr. Murakami was trained in.
"Murakami-Ego" also critiques Japan's response to last year's nuclear crisis and what Mr. Murakami considers the country's sour mood. "Right now, Japanese people are very low," he says.
For an exhibition in Doha, Qatar, he designed a Gulliver-sized inflatable replica of himself, its giant, calloused hand extended to greet entering museumgoers.
"Children, adults, families — I want to bring everyone into my world," Mr. Murakami says.
For the last 24 years, he has strived for that. The 50-year-old artist and entrepreneur draws freely from Japanese pop culture to create work that is both critically and commercially successful. His handbag designs for Louis Vuitton resulted in a now-ubiquitous best-seller. For Kanye West's 2007 album "Graduation," he designed an anime-inspired cover. His work has shown at Los Angeles's Museum of Contemporary Art, France's Chateau de Versailles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
His Doha show, "Murakami-Ego," revisits many of his best-known themes, including otaku, or geek, culture, and his own "Superflat" aesthetic that merges high and low culture. Kaikai and Kiki, two cartoonish, grinning characters that are well-known to Murakami fans, make an appearance, but one highlight is new: a 100-meter panel with Buddhist monks, drawn in the traditional nihonga style Mr. Murakami was trained in.
"Murakami-Ego" also critiques Japan's response to last year's nuclear crisis and what Mr. Murakami considers the country's sour mood. "Right now, Japanese people are very low," he says.
2012年4月16日星期一
Thailand hosts the world's biggest water-fight - the Songkran Festival
On April 13, 14 and 15 each year, Thailand celebrates its New Year with Songkran, a traditional festival that falls in the hottest time of the year and involves the throwing of water.
Unlike many of the most prominent supposedly religious traditions celebrated in western society, (Easter eggs evolved from a Pagan ritual to become the hallmark of a Christian celebration and Father Christmas is modeled on a character in an old Coca Cola commercial) Songkran has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years and has always involved the throwing of water.
It's a much-loved local tradition, and all of Thailand's 60 million inhabitants get involved, plus a few million "farangs" who fly in for the fun. If you've neglected nurturing your inner child, there's nothing quite like a water fight to bring junior to the fore.
Believe it or not, these images were captured in one of the less crazy parts of Songkran in Bangkok - they were taken from the safety of the Australia Bar in Soi 11 Sukhumvit and I didn't stray much outside the bar for fear of what would happen to my gear.
Ice cold water is an entirely different matter though, and you will remember getting doused with close-to-freezing water.
The action gets going around midday, though it's entirely possible to find yourself on the wrong end of a bucket of water at any time during the three days of the festival, regardless of the hour of day.
I was amazed that my cameras didn't get soaked, but as I became more immersed in the spirit of the festival and a little braver, I realized that some sanity actually does prevail and from time-to-time, when someone caught me outside the confines of my safe haven, they were quite considerate about the cameras - though there was no mercy for the body or my clothes.
In such circumstance, it's best to just hold the cameras above your head and "cop it." If you look through the images you'll see women holding their Gucci handbags above their head while they are drenched.
I saw several people spared a thorough dousing during the three days - one was on crutches with a leg in plaster, one was an elderly woman, and another was in a wheelchair.
With the sudden rise in popularity of smartphones over the last two years, many of the casualties of last year's Songkran apparently involved dead Android and iOS devices. I came prepared with a spacial bag I'd purchased in a camping store overseas - it cost me US$50.
Entrepreneurialism is alive and well and living in any Asian country though, and this year there were dozens of vendors walking the street selling high quality (with ziplock and fold) plastic bags which were very similar to the one I'd brought with me, though at 30 baht (US$1.00), somewhat cheaper.
Unlike many of the most prominent supposedly religious traditions celebrated in western society, (Easter eggs evolved from a Pagan ritual to become the hallmark of a Christian celebration and Father Christmas is modeled on a character in an old Coca Cola commercial) Songkran has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years and has always involved the throwing of water.
It's a much-loved local tradition, and all of Thailand's 60 million inhabitants get involved, plus a few million "farangs" who fly in for the fun. If you've neglected nurturing your inner child, there's nothing quite like a water fight to bring junior to the fore.
Believe it or not, these images were captured in one of the less crazy parts of Songkran in Bangkok - they were taken from the safety of the Australia Bar in Soi 11 Sukhumvit and I didn't stray much outside the bar for fear of what would happen to my gear.
Ice cold water is an entirely different matter though, and you will remember getting doused with close-to-freezing water.
The action gets going around midday, though it's entirely possible to find yourself on the wrong end of a bucket of water at any time during the three days of the festival, regardless of the hour of day.
I was amazed that my cameras didn't get soaked, but as I became more immersed in the spirit of the festival and a little braver, I realized that some sanity actually does prevail and from time-to-time, when someone caught me outside the confines of my safe haven, they were quite considerate about the cameras - though there was no mercy for the body or my clothes.
In such circumstance, it's best to just hold the cameras above your head and "cop it." If you look through the images you'll see women holding their Gucci handbags above their head while they are drenched.
I saw several people spared a thorough dousing during the three days - one was on crutches with a leg in plaster, one was an elderly woman, and another was in a wheelchair.
With the sudden rise in popularity of smartphones over the last two years, many of the casualties of last year's Songkran apparently involved dead Android and iOS devices. I came prepared with a spacial bag I'd purchased in a camping store overseas - it cost me US$50.
Entrepreneurialism is alive and well and living in any Asian country though, and this year there were dozens of vendors walking the street selling high quality (with ziplock and fold) plastic bags which were very similar to the one I'd brought with me, though at 30 baht (US$1.00), somewhat cheaper.
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