There are several scenes in the movie “The Killing Fields” that make ones stomach clench. Dished out in the end, though, is a sense that goodness does prevail. The movie, mostly about a Cambodian journalist, Dith Pran’s escape from that country during the rule of the Khmer Rouge is heart-wrenching.
I read that Dith Pran died on Sunday from pancreatic cancer. He wasn’t old, only 65, but what a lifetime of change he witnessed. Pran had become a photojournalist for the New York Times after his escape. He was born near Angkor Wat, so in honor of him, here is a video posted by imorgan10 on YouTube that is simply lovely. I imagine that when Pran made his treacherous journey, he never expected his homeland would become such a tourist destination.
After my night at the circus, I’ve thought some more about circus acts, the discipline it takes to get good enough to end up in a circus somewhere, and the countries from which performers hail. How people end up in a circus interests me. I can stand on my head. That’s about it. I’ve never been able to touch my toes and still think a split is just something you make with a banana. The other kind is out of the question.
Here’s a YouTube video of vintage circus acts. The aerial acts are similar to what we see today, but the acts with the strong man may not translate to today’s audiences. David Letterman’s stupid human tricks, maybe. Poor guy. What a heck of a way to make a living.
The second YouTube video is of a Olga and Pavel Polistovskie, two circus performers whose jobs seem a bit more fun than a cannon ball in the stomach.
According to NME, “emo” kids in Mexico and Chile have recently been attacked by other music subcultures — punks, metalheads and even the rockabilly set.
“Emo” refers to a youth subculture which involves a punk-meets-geek approach to fashion, angst-driven “emotional” music, and a general depressive nature. It is often regarded as a watered down version of the punk movement, much to the emo kid’s dismay.
Daniel Hernandez, of LA Weekly, who has been covering the recent attacks, blames the hostility towards the emos on two things: the fact that Mexicans generally regard the emo movement as a joke, and that a certain Televisa personality, Kristoff, recently spewed out his emo hatred on national television. This clip includes a few choice swear words in English. (It is in Spanish but you will get the gist of it.)
Obviously there is a lot of controversy about the attacks and both sides are responding by looking for someone to blame. Some have chosen to blame the lack of opportunities for the youth stating, “in Latin America, there are nearly 30 million young people who have no opportunity to study or work,” and so they are turning to drugs, crime or even taking it out on those not directly involved.
Hostility towards the emo subculture in Mexico has hit chat rooms, message boards and social networking sites. On March 7th in Queretaro, a state in central Mexico, around 800 youths gathered in the city’s Centro Historico district looking to pick a fight with the emo kids who regularly hangout there. Judging by the videos circulating on YouTube, they certainly found the fight they were looking for. The following week the same thing happened in Mexico City, check out the video below to take a look.
When asked why the recent violence has occurred, a young emo guy said he believed it was because the punks and metal-heads felt that emos were ‘posers’. But, basically from the news I can find (in Spanish mostly) there doesn’t seem to be any clear indication of why this specific group has been targeted.
Kristoff has apparently called off the attack but whether this will quell the violence remains to be seen. The Mexican government wants to point the finger at someone and should Televisa be held accountable, Kristoff might be feeling a little emotional himself.
“No Wrong Turns” chronicles Kelsey and her husband’s road trip — in real time — from Canada to the southern tip of South America in their trusty red VW Golf named Marlin.
If you were in New York’s Union Square yesterday, you may have walked past 100 or so people engaging in a chain of French kissing. Organized by French group Institut Bonheur (Institute of Happiness), the kissing party was set up to break the world record for the longest chain kiss. You gotta love the Frenchmen that is so into what this group is doing that he says, “this French kiss has to be the new symbol of what we call happiness and freedom.” Crazy Frenchies.
Vice Magazine’s relatively new video site VBS.tv has just finished up its 14-part series on North Korea, called The Vice Guide to North Korea. Host Shane Smith uses some stealth “guerrilla video” tactics to cover all the usual North Korea attractions, from the “world’s greatest eyefuck” known as the Arirang Mass Games to the “most lavish two-stop subway money can buy,” the Pyongyang Metro.
Along the way, Shane frightens some North Koreans with his karaoke rendition of a punk rock song, receives a guilt trip free of charge with a tour of the captured US ship called the Pueblo, and attends a talent show displaying North Korea’s “creepily overtalented future generation.”
The series gives an in-depth, and often hilarious, “tourist’s-eye-view” of what it’s like to visit North Korea. Head on over there and check ’em out.
If you prefer the written word to moving pictures, read about the time Gadling’s own Neil Woodburn infiltrated North Korea.