Summer in Ganges: Finally summer has arrived!

Map of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

Map of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

Went down to California the slow way; here is a bit of what happened, visually speaking.

Map of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

Map of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia

@Kenneth M. Fersht

early rushes from the shoot by Phil Pendry in Toronto, Canada, Belly Dance Convention, for The Sensualist's Dream Video Series

ganges_post_storm

ganges_post_storm, a photo by kmax on Flickr.

Ganges Rainbow with eagle in a tree

Ganges Rainbow with eagle in a tree, a photo by kmax on Flickr.

On the topic of law enforcement and justice

There is a lot of corruption in law enforcement to be uncovered and dealt with if we are to be better off as a society. The problem is intrinsic in a system which is attractive to those with a natural urge to power trip over others, those looking for situations in which they can fulfill sadistic, bullying tendencies also. Some are there also because they sincerely wish to help others, fight crime and do good and we should not forget that. In some cases organized crime has stacked the deck by planting some of their own in police department, government, and other positions of authority. 

I believe that stricter psychological testing and perhaps higher standards of education prior to being allowed to be in that position of authority would benefit law enforcement, and there fore all of society within the current system. It should be noted that with less money spent on military action and other  defence, gasoline and/or murder related expenses, we could easily provide everyone with a free university education, better quality earlier education and experiences, free day care for single moms, free top quality health care, train more doctors, nurses, provide emergency help for those who are really in dire straights also. With all of that in place, people will feel less desperation, there will be less "impossible" seeming situation for people and there fore less crime.

With a more just world there will be less "dissent" also among the various peoples of the world and less and less need for police in general. There is corruption also, and lots of it, in the hacker community; many people engaged in the dark side of hacking, stealing identities, scamming, selling viagra and loan sharks, dodgy real estate offers, and don't forget to stop in to Rotterdam on your way out to pick up your multi-million dollar inheritance, from some deposed bank official or dick-tator in Nigeria. But the solution to that is exercising some simple common sense most of the time. Students should be taught how to spot dodgy internet claims and what to do or not to do in those situations in high school. People also must be brought up in a less materialistic way so that they will not fall prey to scams which capitalize upon peoples need and greed. 

It's time that the world woke up to the big lies that are perpetrated daily by our various cultures. Big money and politics do not belong in the same bed, big money has to go from that equation. As long as large corporations are footing the bill for election campaigns there will be corruption at the highest levels of government and in the military and police forces which are supposed to be serving and protecting the people. All too often the politicians end up serving the well do do, bowing to the multi-national and often lawless "people" known as corporations; these machines, beholden to their shareholders and little else, without conscience are the equivalent of multi-tenticled socio-paths and are currently greedily stripping the planet for all of the resources they can get their suckers on and have been for quite some time. 

Many of the visions of George Orwell's 1984 have come to pass also, with so much daily surveillance of the average innocent individual for example, especially in urban centres. Add to that the erosion of human rights in both east and west and we are looking at a real struggle for redemption right now the world over. We can do it now, with the "hive-mind" effect that is growing exponentially and sweeping the planet via the internet. That's why it is so crucial that we keep avenues of sharing knowledge, information, and ideas open and out of the control of the corporate elite. People often use the expression, "it's all good"...well listen children..don't be so naive..it's not "all good"...there is always a balance, swinging precariously between "good" and "bad"  currently 51% good perhaps to 49% bad but if we lapse in our duty to stay active and informed we will collectively suffer for it and future generations will suffer even more. That's why it's so important to fight for the light, to eschew the darkness, the greed, the power-trip, the taking for oneself at the expense of another...if not it soon becomes 51% bad to 49% good and can get much worse than that. Just ask any survivor of a concentration camp how bad it can get. Humans have an absolutely shocking history; one of being remarkably cruel/brutal to one another at times. At the same time we have capacity to love, to care for one another, the help and teach one another, to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to show compassion and empathy (although this may not be our natural state, it is a higher state to which we can aspire) Our natural state may be as animals, savage beasts, fighting over scraps of a kill for dinner after all if you look at the bulk of human evolution and not too distant past. 

So it is this duality which we must be aware of and make every effort to tip the scales on the positive side. 

Peace, sincerely, Kmax

Robots of War

Photo by Neil Blevins: ©2011-Neil Blevins
posted here with permission from Neil Blevins
http://www.blogger.com/profile/03447010756723306703

A few years ago I become interested with the way in which robots have been and may be used on modern battlefields. This group, examines historical, current, future, real and imagined 'fighting machines".

Robotic creatures/vehicles of death of many varieties, are in experimental and in some cases already highly functional stages of development.

The merging of nano-tech with robotics and drone weaponry is happening. Tiny flying devices capable of delivering a chemical or biological payload are a possibility at this point. These devices can be and therefore will be networked and sent out as a cloud or as individuals to do their controllers bidding. They will be able to fly like an insect, magnetic when need be, able to stick to metal surfaces and also to crawl when necessary on non-metallic surfaces. A swarm of these sent into an urban population could do massive damage and start an epidemic for example.

Another interesting/terrifying recent development is that of the wearable robotic exoskeleton, capable of increasing an individuals strength multi-fold and also of being armoured and armed with heavy weapons. These are capable of running at high speed also and will no doubt in the near future be able to fly also, with the integration of light weight materials such as graphine fibre composites, with heads up displays these could be controlled by the individual wearing the armoured exoskeleton or by a networked command centre. The general will have to eventually be a computer as one can easily imagine two or more such systems in conflict having to calculate outcome probabilities, strategy, and actions, within a time frame of nano-seconds in order to compete with/defeat the other system. Imagine one computer code named Fischer and another Kasparov for example and each of those controlling armies of drones. This is not as far fetched, sadly, as it may sound at first glance.

Imagine a future where the entire planet is controlled by the military-industrial complex politically (not too far off the current situation) and militarily and among the population, the 99% if you will, are governed by this military police state. "Citizens" are injected with GPS chips for easy tracking and if disobedient to the state/empire they can be "terminated" using a targeted drone of some sort. The food and water supply are also owned and tightly controlled by the Central Scrutinizer, which could then easily lay siege to any region. The super computer, nick named oh let's say, Mark-Z 2044, responsible for analysis of "facebook pages" and other compiled databases containing individual profile information in order to determine who is a likely "dissident" and/or "undesirable" and should be either surveilled with more diligence and/or detained and/or terminated.

If you have any images/ideas/knowledge concerning this topic which you would like to share please do.





Created with flickr slideshow.

Reflections on a Neon Buddha

Sometimes i think that the new tenets of buddhism as interpreted in the west have more to do with fashion than with compassion. More to do with being part of the "in crowd". I have made a few observations and decided that all you really need to be buddhist is a few prayer flags hanging from your mast or eaves trough (preferably a bit tattered like an old pair of jeans) and that the compassion part you pull it out and put it on at gatherings with other pseudo-buddhist posers. Perhaps you like Zen as a visual aesthetic. Perhaps you enjoy the ritual aspect of it also, the lighting of incense, you delight in your golden buddha statue, placed with perfect feng shui in one corner of the room, a brass bowl of rose petal water and a little electric fountain perhaps, the buddhist equivalent of a neon jesus, your own personal shrine to enlightenment and high ideals.

I'm not one who subscribes to any pre-set system of beliefs, rather I take what works for me and seems reasonable from each of many systems of belief and modify as needed to work within the context of my own life, environment, and culture. A Fusionist in that sense. Maybe a bit buddhish (note the lower case b) as many of the tenets and teachings of Buddism appeal to me.

I remember hearing the dalai lama at one of his earlier speeches in Central Park. Maybe it was 1998 but i'm not sure. To paraphrase one important thing he said, "Some people are big, others small, some black, some white, some brown, some yellow, some pink (here i'm embellishing a bit i'm sure just because i remember the message more than the exact words), some people are rich, some are poor, some strong, others not so strong, some smart, others less so (here he gave a little laugh of humility, apparently conceding himself to be perhaps not the most intelligent person in the room) but everyone is deserving of compassion". So the central tenet of Buddhism is compassion, that's one message that we hear again and again from all buddhists. An important part of the message however is this; that simply because one person is more intelligent than the next, it does not necessarily make them a better or more valuable person, and if a person is less intellectually inclined, it does not make them any less of a person, or less deserving of compassion. One does not choose ones IQ or intellectual capacity any more than one chooses where on earth one is born, or the colour of ones skin, nor do we choose the prevailing cultural belief system of the society we are born into, and therefore our level of access to education is also not of our choosing most of the time. 

Hearing the Dalai Lama say this was an important lesson for me at the time because I had been raised in a very liberal family, taught not to be racist or sexist and I had the arrogant belief at that time that i was without prejudice. It was listening to the Dalai Lama that made me realize that my prejudice was of the intellectualist variety. This is a form of elitism. He really helped me see that and in so few words.  A very important lesson i think and one that I very much want to pass along.  When we were younger, and had seen and experienced a bit less, we thought that it was important to be "cool", to be "hip" to be astute, in other words, when it came to interactions with others, a kind of social intelligence that takes a lot of people far, to be perceived as a leader, a thinker, a humorist, or someone who knew just what music was right on time or ahead of it's time perhaps. As i got older i started to realize that the most un-cool thing there is really is thinking that you're so cool and realized that being warm, having empathy for the other, and viewing others not as lesser if they were apparently less intelligent or did not come off as being well educated was more important than being perceived as cool. 

Living in the downtown core of a big city for quite a while (far too long) as i did, I have known many "geniuses" and of many different sorts, some mathematical/scientific, left brain geniuses, many highly creative right brain geniuses and a few with good hemispherical integration that had both varieties working together, literary, musical, all kinds of geniuses; they are not as uncommon as one might think. The thing is that i've known a few who were  arrogant, obnoxious, sometimes verbally abusive, mean, elitist, and were not really too pleasant to be around due to their massive egos. Often, intelligence is used as a weapon, to hurt others, to make them feel lesser, to put them down, make them feel dumb. So just because a person is a genius or has a high IQ, it does not make them better than the other; it can make them worse sometimes if you consider than it's much nicer to hang out or converse with someone who may not be a genius but is honest, warm, quick to smile and laugh, loving, nurturing, humble, sincere..those qualities are far more valuable than intelligence, which really in the human race is not all that uncommon.

Also remember that we are here to share with one another and to care for one another, the strong in one area must help the others who are not as strong in that area and try to do so without ego, though that may be hardest thing for many, myself included. Although i admire humility when i see it in others i don't claim to have mastered it to any great extent but i'm trying.

So if you are an intelligent buddhist out there remember compassion; treat those who you may have considered your lessors as equals as they may well be your superiors or at the very least your equal in ways that are more rare and valuable than intelligence.

Made a Movie

I made this movie about Salt Spring Island; this is draft 2 entitled "Salt Spring Island: Isle of Angels" but the finished title will be "A Fine Madness" here it is:-) Don't forget to turn on HD for best viewing experience and also put on headphones for good sound quality.

ganges_Panorama2011-9-23

ganges_Panorama2011-9-23, a photo by kmax on Flickr.

Salt Spring Island2011-9-21.mov

Cumberland Festival

We are going to be playing the Cumberland Festival this weekend; lot's of logistics going into this one, chiefly in finding the 3 seperate parts of my 8 person tent, which i've not used in 6 years or so.

I want to sail there but don't think i'll have time.

Meanwhile got two new contracts for web development so i'm also busy with work.

Make hay while the sun shines they say and i'm doing just that.

More later but i have to post this pic of one of my favourite people on the island, Rudy;

When i play guitar on the street, which i sometimes do, Rudy comes by and dances free form which always makes me smile. This pic is from the Morningside Cafe however, down in Fulford.

Morningside Cafe has the bestest coffee on Salt Spring Island in my opinion and also one of the nicest environments to enjoy it in. Also recommend the blueberry danish and the book and music collection is excellent too. There is so much i could say about this cafe but i don't really feel like typing an essay at the moment so you'll have to tune in for future instalments of this extremely sporadically written blog.

Samba Du Soliel

Samba Du Soliel, a set on Flickr.

Joined the local Samba band just for kicks; it's a riot too and plenty of great photo ops which i hadn't really considered when i joined up this past winter. I'm playing bells which is not my first choice but that's what they needed. It's making me deaf so i'm going to have to stop at some point otherwise my guitar playing will surely suffer. I have some video of this parade also, which was the Luminaries Lantern Festival in downtown Vancouver. We started at coal harbour and marched to Canada Place. I got some HD video also but have not quite dealt with that yet; I watched it though and it's pretty good!

I'll post it when it's ready.

Living is Paradise

There is no doubt that Salt Spring Island is a sort of a blessed paradise on this planet. Perfect environment for so many things; nature walks of course, hiking, cycling, swimming, sailing, creating, partying, loving, fires on the beach, politically stable, solid economy, never any wars, no nuclear reactors nearby, great medical system and other social services, fantastically diverse community. It's just so lovely out here and the people are really great! I totally love Salt Spring Island, BC, and once again, feel so blessed to be here.

Poster-V4--final-MOSAIC-2010-2b

Poster-V4--final-MOSAIC-2010-2b
Originally uploaded by kmax

I did not make this poster; I have been hired to photograph the upcoming festival by Ptarmigan Music and Theatre Society. I'm posting this here for the purpose of promotion and in order to embed in thier blog found at www.ptarmigansociety.org

Uploaded by kmax on 4 Aug 10, 8.39AM PDT.

Surrounded by Orca

I was sailing north from Poet's Cove on South Pender Island the other day when suddenly i was surrounded by a Pod of Orca. There were perhaps 12 individuals in the group. I was trying to go wing on wing at the time in a light wind, a precarious balance especially when one first sets one's sails.

They caught me by suprise; I heard a loud splash of tail fluke and a distant cheer from a whale watching boat that was about 1000 metres astern off my port side. I turned and saw the whales swimming close to shore, along the bluff's where all the locals, seals, and various other boaters fish for Salmon.

These waters are rich in Coho, Spring, and other varieties of Salmon. It's herring spawning season too and there were millions if not billions of herring jumping out of the water and spawning, mainly at dusk.

I had an immediate thought when i saw the first Orca; 300 mil lens. I dove into the boat and dragged up the big artillery, a contax 35 mil film camera and a 300 mil lens. While trying to balance the tiller (unsucessfully) between my knees and keep Mystic on track i attempted to change lenses, from the wide angle that was on the camera to the 300 mil. Something went terribly wrong and i could not focus the damn thing. It was not mounted correctly. I saw that the Orca were going to be a challenge to shoot as they appeared relatively unpredictably on the surface and were gone before one could have a chance to frame and focus. I discarded the film cam and grabbed the digital SLR that was sitting always ready on the cockpit, gib flapping in the wind due to the relatively low wind and wing on wing running directly down wind. I guessed at where, directly off my port beam the next Orca might appear. Bingo! The Bull of the POD, leader of the pack surfaced right where i had guessed and i held my finger on the shutter shooting 5 frames per second of the whole sequence, set upon the simplicity of the Trincomali Channel and it's various Ilsands and islets. Here is the best of the sequence, shot on an 85 mil canon lens, not the right lens for the job really but all's well that ends well.

Pacific Yachting Magazine Publishes two photos by Kmax

I'm pleased to announce that Pacific Yachting Magazine has chosen to publish two of my photographs of Ganges Harbor for thier June issue. See pages 2, 24 & 25 (spread). While I want to point out that niether of these two pics is among those which I consider to be my best shots of Ganges or Salt Spring Island, I'm still delighted that they chose these pics and see that they fit the context of the article quite well. Here are the two pics they chose to use.

A Collection of Information relating to the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

A Collection of Information relating to the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico