tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:15:50 +0000Story is a powerful and clarifying human invention. Stories do not give instruction, they do not explain how to love a companion or how to find God. They offer, instead, patterns of sound and association, of event and image… It is through story that we embrace the great breadth of memory, that we distinguish what is true, and that we may glimpse, at least occasionally, how to live without despair. Barry Lopez From About This Lifehttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)Blogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-4790774314091507932Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:18:00 +00002009-12-18T21:19:36.643+07:00Prayer of Peace - Relief & Resistance in Burma's War Zones [English subtitles] from Front Films on Vimeo.http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/12/prayer-of-peace-relief-resistance-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-3483791470390252743Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:25:00 +00002009-11-16T19:33:40.962+07:00The rat is out of the bottle, shaking its fur, blowing hot small breaths on to its legs.A quiet but intense whine emerges from his vibrating body." Would you get that?"The man doesn't move from his lounger."Honey, I said would you get that?"The woman is watching someone move in the bushes close to the poolman's hut."I'm busy."The woman scoffs," Oh sure, busy doing nothing. And they talk about thehttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/11/ex-rat-5.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-1072324602520116502Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:41:00 +00002009-11-12T12:52:51.555+07:00The rat was pretty wet. Stuffed as he was into the water bottle there was still room for the water to get in.His fur was slicked with pool water but he was nearly out.The plastic was tough but he had nearly gnawed enough for his head to poke out. "Well?"The man was sitting on the steps, after work, drink in his hand, his silk tie with ethnic pattern lay draped across his thigh. The top button of http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/11/ex-rat-4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-6070877272907552113Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:54:00 +00002009-11-10T12:50:58.255+07:00"I'm going to set a trap for the maid."The woman slides the patio door closed and looks across at her husband who is lounging by the pool."What's that?"The woman kicks a few dead leaves along the pale tiles. " Does the poolman just clean the pool?"She kicks the leaves into the pool.The man squints over his sunglasses."Honey, you know I hate it when we talk across the pool. The water just swallowshttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/11/ex-rat-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-6640873150888114323Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:47:00 +00002009-10-05T14:10:41.862+07:00The pool man after waiting patiently at the edge of the pool for the water bottle to bob towards him, scoops it out of the water, shaking the excess back into the pool."Anyway."The woman sits on the edge of her lounger and scrolls through her emails."Anyway what?"The man squats down at the edge of the pool and then quickly stretches out to do a few press-ups in quick successionThe pool man walks http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/09/ex-rat-instalment-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-4627819827252827892Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:43:00 +00002009-09-22T13:02:21.929+07:00"Oh my god, that maid of mine..."A rat peeks out from under calentia bush close to where a woman is lounging by the pool.The woman tuts at web footage on her phone of photographers hounding Air France relatives, white with shock, as they arrived at the terminal to await news. "How awful."The pool guy looks up and smiles. The waitress in an ao dai has let a tray of bottled water slip from her griphttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/09/ex-rat-conversations-overheard.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-1352246247209420878Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:00:00 +00002009-08-19T22:27:26.739+07:00It was the right idea, a now tried and tested route; from long haul to short break; from moving around as much as we could to staying still, limiting need to beverage decision and the sugary dilemma of where to eat. Such sloth beguiled by willing hands paid at local rate; such was our jet lag we sank into neo-colonial roles and listened to the splash of pool water, the rustle of palm fronds and http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/08/returned-both-ways-2-hoi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-5683869450214030317Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:29:00 +00002009-08-19T22:27:49.344+07:00http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/08/returned-both-ways.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-8091758035456593361Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:39:00 +00002009-06-23T07:39:25.345+07:0064 Words for Aung San Suu KyiShared via AddThishttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/06/64-words-for-aung-san-suu-kyi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-7590599540609455040Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:11:00 +00002009-06-19T21:13:39.125+07:00Proud of you Frances! See the link to The Vaselines live on Rolling Stone.http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/06/frances-mckee.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-1800736207264224408Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:25:00 +00002009-06-03T09:25:28.478+07:00At the side of the road there is a rat. An ex rat. It must have run out of the undergrowth that's sprouting with wild plants and fuming with fermenting garbage. A quick dash across a busy Hem like some kind of grimy Watership Down scene and splat the rat is flattened by a bike, the thin tyre track still visible on its grey fur. Squeezed like a tube of toothpaste near its end. Everyone must have http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/06/rat-is-getting-flat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-6458860450516105370Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:48:00 +00002009-04-24T21:51:40.000+07:00Wary of summation, knowing the pitfalls of characterisation after the briefest of times, it is hard to describe the two weeks in Japan. Having been in Vietnam for nearly three years I know how initial impressions of a place can be tempered into something different. What seems strikingly different can turn out to be remarkably similar while cultural quirks can become intractable ticks, the slide http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/04/arigato.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-6884216507541451944Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:32:00 +00002009-04-23T12:52:16.384+07:00http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/04/untitiled-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-5628547039311128364Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:27:00 +00002009-04-23T12:48:41.973+07:00It's not surprising that the Japanese love Sakura or the cherry blossom that explodes in April. Of course it's a sign of spring and that is welcome after cold, hard winters but it's also because it's pretty and pink; like the lap dogs with tartan bows and pink ruffles in an Osaka park; like the kittens and cats adored and fattened in quiet Tokyo streets. While it was great to take photos of majorhttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/04/sakura.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-8275489011550756083Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:53:00 +00002009-04-22T20:25:56.113+07:00The metro provided a funneled, concentrated view of the inhabitants of the world's largest city. There were many facts to digest, one, took a while to chew as well as to get through; a downtown station called Shinjuko handles around 34 million people a day.Women are given their own carriage to avoid the attention of gropers who, we are warned, take advantage of the crush to touch what isn't http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/04/silent-thrall-of-privacy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-5086142649581607648Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:51:00 +00002009-04-06T20:14:16.540+07:00http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/04/hello-tokyo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-8713500312857046857Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:31:00 +00002009-02-25T10:21:13.966+07:00 There are triple the number of cars compared to when we first arrived, clogging up the potholed arteries that form most of the city streets. It does seem strange to notice such a thing, as though the roar of the South East Asian tiger, the growl of industrial change can be measured continuously by the eye. It can here. Buildings growing like rapeseed; ugly, progressive, striking and yet the http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/02/to-have-and-have-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-660758419393283640Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:10:00 +00002009-01-26T21:40:26.325+07:00Everybody has gone from our neighbourhood. Nearly everybody. At Tet those with family in the Mekong or other provinces make the journey to their hometown by bus, truck or moped, their belongings lashed to their back. The street stalls near us have a few traders remaining who sell last minute melons ( a traditional New year fruit) and a few more forlorn sellers of Tet trees, sit beside their yet http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/01/tet-desert.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-6053346459176557499Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:00:00 +00002009-01-25T21:02:38.022+07:00Wishing you all a happy new year of the Oxhttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/01/chuc-mung-nam-moi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-3019525223515284536Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:19:00 +00002009-01-03T17:22:31.420+07:00http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/01/koh-phangan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-3198796362440178818Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:25:00 +00002009-01-01T20:27:51.825+07:00 http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2009/01/thai-puppy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-1888916341370983377Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:35:00 +00002008-12-26T15:40:53.650+07:00It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening, it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter.Rest in Peace.http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2008/12/harold-pinter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-7984618210727652977Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:04:00 +00002008-12-24T11:18:54.398+07:00To all friends and familyWe are on Koh Phangan in Thailand for Christmas and New Year. I'd like to share Yuletide Greetings with friends and family and to thank you for your kind comments about the blog. It means a lot to know that people are reading about our lives in South East Asia. Thank you too for your emails and letters. Your words andpictures bring a valued sense of home and connection tohttp://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2008/12/yuletide-greetings-from-thailand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-6832011455749380590Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:27:00 +00002008-11-22T22:33:58.066+07:00 http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2008/11/ruin-in-forest-near-hue.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23941047.post-7222384613229416933Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:09:00 +00002008-11-17T21:34:01.420+07:00Hue had the $$!t bombed out of it in the American war and there is a sense here, even though people are friendly, that memories are longer and the party line is more strictly followed - the taxi driver gently but firmly corrects my use of Saigon to the simply correct name, Ho Chi Minh City. There are still bullets in the citadel, a huge expanse of half renovated religious outhouses - antiquity http://thejunkyardofcircumstance.blogspot.com/2008/11/hue.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JunkyardofCircumstance)1