Selfish PR Move or Truly a Step Toward Enlightment?

I know that it has been a while since my last few posts, my apologies but I have been pretty swarmed with photo editing that putting words together can sometimes become difficult when all I know is “levels”, “contrast”, “highlights”, “color balance”, and “saturation”. I often wake up in a cold sweat just screaming those words.

So many of my thoughts on what I want to write are thrown on the back burner for this blog because I want to accompany each post with memorable photos and since I am constantly editing and taking more photos, I'm always behind. But no excuses, therefore many ideas and topics will be old, but nevertheless interesting.

“Enlightenment cannot be obtained without working hard at it. To believe otherwise means you are harboring some form of selfishness.” - His Holiness the Dalai Lama

I chose this quote because I originally was going to write about a much more unrelated topic but just recently read news that Los Angeles Laker, Ron Artest has filed the paperwork to legally change his name to Metta World Peace.

“I think I did it for a lot of good reasons,” Artest (or World Peace) said. “It's going to open up a lot of eyes. And create a lot of good energy.”

While many people are laughing at Artest's actions, and many have been for years now, I think that it is admirable. I recall back in 2004, writing about Artest's involvement and key role in the Palace Brawl, in which is fought several Detriot Pistons fans on (and in the stands) during the middle of a game.

Artest career has been plagued with bad attitude, punishment, and perhaps even misunderstanding that includes 60 technical fouls, 33 foul-outs, 17 flagrant fouls and six ejections. And not to forget his record-setting 86 game suspension after the “Palace Brawl.”

But the man, who I judged quite severely when he was in his “punk” phase, has dramatically changed. He has gone public saying that seeking help for mental health and therapy is important for everyone and that everyone deserves a second chance like he has been given. He really is somewhat of a new-and-improved man. He raffled off his 2010 NBA Championship ring to help children with mental illness, has done dozens of volunteer and philanthropic work, so much so that it earned him the NBA's citizenship award for philanthropy in mental illness.

And on the court he's changed as well, only getting six technical fouls and one ejection last season.

Does he go about his business in an unorthodox manner? Absolutely. Do I agree with the way he addresses certain serious subjects? Not all the time. But what I think is impressive is that instead of changing his legal name to something egotistical like “Ochocino” like Chad Johnson (whom is once again changing his name back to his birth name), Artest is making a bigger statement. He plans to have his jersey (one internationally known for the Laker purple and gold) read “World Peace” on the back. Although it's not exactly a loss of selfishness or egotism, it should be commended that its a gutsy move and it gets the idea of actual world peace on peoples minds.

I stumbled upon this story on Twitter, as the words Metta World Peace was trending. My time as a Theravada Buddhist monk taught me more than I can still understand, but one thing I learned a lot about is the word “metta” which has many meanings in the Pali language. Most have meanings are of loving-kindness and compassion toward all things and beings. But I always remember that every message or email that my master wrote, he signed off with the word “metta” and I asked him the meaning.

He said (in so many words), “monks must use the word metta because it is all encompassing yet generalized. Monks cannot use words to lay people (those not part of the sangha or monkhood) that elicit any sort of love or praise. They must remain level headed, non-bias.” So signing off with metta has more meaning than the direct definition of loving-kindness to all things.

I do not really like that someone must change their name to send a message (especially if they are someone famous) when if the message is for the “world” but shows some egotistic tendencies. But at the end of the day, I don't think Artest doesn't really deserve the bad press for this act, as I think he is intelligent enough to know that his name is synonymous with “bad-boy.” Therefore attention will be brought to him, which in turn means attention toward the main message... world peace.

This is not much of a feel good post but I think recognition for this “trending” event can definitely be turned into a positive light, rather than a negative. So in Ron Artest's attempt to find enlightenment, I recognize that he has (and will continue) to have a difficult time with his reputation, but as HH the Dalai Lama says, enlightenment is not obtained without hard work. I hope that he finds what he is looking for with this life changing event and that he truly believes in (and understands) the grandeur of a name he has chosen.

Nostalgia is a Powerful Drug

There is not much in my life that I can say that sends me into a deep nostalgic place more than images of Thailand...
For the almost three total years in the Land of Smiles, I have an ample amount of love and connection with the country which I lived it so peacefully.
Recently, I have been offered another photography exhibit and the curator enjoyed a lot of my "travel" photos. So, in my attempt to gather some of my favorites, I had to dig through my photos, dating way back to 2006 all the way up to today. I have barely scratched the surface of the amount of thousands upon thousands of photographs that I need to look through because most of the time, that sweet sweet taste of nostalgia comes in and sweeps me (and my productivity) away.
But the beauty of it all is that I have images to bring me right back to that time, place, smell, sound, feeling, etc.
At the request of a friend interested in some of my work -- whom I lived in Thailand with for six months -- I scoured through my photos, but only of Bangkok, and narrowed down some basic BKK life shots. In between flipping through folders, I looked at my fellow photographer/Thailand lover/Ajarn Rich's photos on his blog at http://dickmarks.com
...His work is stellar and I highly recommend looking at his stuff and his writing.

Courtesy of Richard W. Marks

I also stumbled upon another talented photographer whom I am a fan of on Facebook named Luciano Mortula. This picture of his brought me right back to Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bangkapi. It was just a rush of memories and feelings when looking at both Rich and Luciano's photos from Thailand.

Titled: C I T Y O F A N G E L S Courtesy of Luciano Mortula

So without any delay, I needed to post a few images that remind me of the life in Bangkok. If you have lived there, I hope the memories come rushing back to you as they do for me. If you have never been there, hopefully you'll get a better understanding of the jai dee life.

*Be sure to head over to my website for more photos in my Nostalgic Thailand gallery and wander around the rest of michaeltirone.com for some new photos.
**If you are interested in some of my photos (whether it be to print, frame, or just have a digital copy) please contact me at wmtirone@gmail.com

Being Uncle Mike is a Pretty Cool Title

With all of my travels and being away for so long, missing family is obviously a very hard thing to cope with. Especially when new additions to the family come and I am not there to welcome them to this beautiful earth.

Back in 2009 my sister had her first son, and my first opportunity to be Uncle Mike, but at the time I was in Bangkok, and had been there for about 9 months at that point, so I didn't even have the chance to see my sister carrying my first little nephew. Like I said, it's difficult to only see pictures and hear stories over the phone and not be a part of it all. But that is the part of the "nomadic traveler's" contract, so I lived vicariously through my family as little Logan was introduced into our family.

I had the great chance to meet him at about 4 months old for about three days when I came home for a wedding, but obviously not enough time.

Now that I am back in America, I have had the chance to see Logan grow more and more. At first I was just referred to in baby blabber as "uh oh mai". Then my sister taught him how to say his new toy she bought him; a bike. So once he could say that, I was "Uh Oh Mike". Now he can hold conversations with me, mostly just "C'mon Uncle Mike!" as he holds my hand and walks me to play soccer or play with the bouncy ball-- which is a pretty awesome feeling.

As of last week, I can officially say I have a niece, as my other sister just had her first child, Ayla! And I thought since I got my first chance to see her via Skype just the other day, I would write a little post about how cool it is to be an Uncle and to see my niece and nephews firsthand (or somewhat so) grow up.

I have been photographing Logan a lot lately and I have thousands of photos of him already, but these recent ones from Easter have really made me happy, especially because he is photogenic like his "uh oh Mike". So now he is somewhat of my little model, especially since he's got piercingly deep, ocean-blue eyes like his mom and dad.

Maybe I will be able to teach Logan how to sing this song in tribute to Thailand...

Or I can try to have Ayla properly "wai" when someone says "sawa-dee ka" to her...

But enjoy these photos of my little "Logo" from Easter and check out the rest of my pictures from Easter on my site:

Logan Michael = cool guy.

Perfect

You caught me doing something naughty, I can tell!

Oh hey!

Just driving the tractor like a big boy.

One of my favorites with that smile!

Get Me to South Africa!

Last year, on this date, was the start of the most frustrating, exciting, enthralling, challenging, and emotional month and/or year of my life.

On May 25th, 2010 I stood, ankle deep in water from the torrential downpour of rain, on an empty Bangkok street for over an hour trying to hail a taxi cab. I had a massive backpack on and small bag with my camera inside in my hand. I was calling the university's security guards to call for a taxi, but no cabs were in sight (which is a complete rarity in BKK). It was eerie yet frustrating.


At the time, Thailand was in a political crisis. Downtown people were protesting, Red shirts were fighting Yellow shirts, hospitals were being overtaken and evacuated as political power moves in a substantial civil war. Just two week prior, Khattiya Sawasdipol, the former army general who was leading the anti-government protesters was shot in the head and killed, which flared the fighting even more. From then on, the country was on lock down with a curfew of 9pm. (For a play-by-play of some of the Bangkok protests and another write up of my interpretation of the curfew, check this out at tinglish.net)

Thai soldiers stand off the Red Shirt protesters. (AP Photo/Wall Santana)

Burning tires was the cause for most of the smoke within Bangkok... until they set Central World on fire. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

(AP Photo/ Wally Santana)

I hated seeing my favorite country literally go up in smoke. To see the "Land of Smiles" have so much tension was heartbreaking and for the first time I wanted to leave Thailand... and I was.

A view of downtown Bangkok on fire from the protests and the Central World Mall.

My efforts to hail a taxi was to get to the airport for my trip to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup (and to see my friends Colin, Kelsey, Emily, Meg, and Lise of course). I just spent a month as an ordained Buddhist monk in the remote regions on Thailand and so the violence paired with my cultural shock was almost overpowering.

There were times where I felt like a brand new person, a 23-year old just dropped back into Bangkok like in the Sims or something. Music felt like it was curing my soul after being absent in my life. Wearing underwear was like a foreign feeling. Being able to eat after 12 noon was gluttonous to me. Sleeping on something other than a marble floor was like heaven for me. The stimuli was everywhere but extrapolated ten fold after being so secluded from it all for only a month. So when I had the chance to get away from all of the danger and violence and hate, I knew it would be good for me.

All images were taken by Kachorn Chiaravanont.

I finally got a taxi and arrived at the airport in full sprint. Once I got to Singapore Airways' counter, I was told that I was too late and could not board my flight. I panicked. I absolutely freaked out! I was not late. I had plenty of time. They said the gate had already closed and I could not check my bags or anything. I pleaded to the woman that I had to get on that plane and she told me there was nothing I could do about it. She later told me that the flight was for 8:35. I looked at my ticket from my travel agent and it said 9pm. The flight time was changed without anyone telling me. I was crushed. All my money I spent on my tickets, housing, game tickets, etc was just blowing by me. My mind went into a tailspin and I didn't think I would be going to South Africa at all. Fortunately, the woman understood my circumstance and booked me a flight two days later (a day after my Thai visa expired). I didn't care, just knowing I had a seat was all that mattered.


After trying to plead my case two days later at the airport with customs that I am not an "illegal visitor" and that I had been living in Thailand for two years, I gave up and paid the fee once they threatened to arrest me because I was arguing my case. Not the best situation to go into just weeks out of being a Buddhist monk.

I finally boarded the plane and made my extremely long flight to Cape Town (through Singapore) to arrive in a city where I knew very little about and just hoped to find a way to survive the week before Colin, Kelsey and Emily arrived. I barely did survive, I don't know how I did, but that story will be for another post later in the week!

Black and White Wednesdays: A Collection of Other Photographer

Since a lot of my photography is based around the many colors of the world (and since I am far too busy with past photos) I enjoy looking at other photographers work and how they portray things without color. So here are some of my favorite black and white shots for this week.

This photo is from Scott Nichols Gallery and this image alone is why I aspire to take black and white photographs. It's beautiful simplicity has a slight complexity to it, like a painting. The rest of his work below is also incredible, go to his site and take a look at all!

Here are some black and white night shots...

All of these images are from the photographer Marcin Stawiarz. Check out his black and white portfolio, it's fantastic. His use of contrast and extremely white whites and dark blacks without overpowering the image is fantastic. His ISO must be quite high and probably taken on a tripod considering all of these photos are taken at night.

I have an image very similar to this (as it sort of looks like the Chao Praya River in Bangkok) that I hope to put up in the next few days.

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesdays and go to these two artist's sites, they are truly talented photographers!