TODAY'S BACKPAGE

WELL, HERE WE GO, AGAIN. JUST A FEW DAYS AGO I WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE RIGHT ON TOP OF HILLARY CLINTON OVER ON CNN GO, THE ASIAN VERSION OF THAT BIG TED TURNER NETWORK.

WE SLID BACK A FEW PAGES SINCE THEN. THERE'S PLENTY OF NEWS GOING ON AROUND THE WORLD, I GUESS. SO, I'LL JUST HAVE TO SCHEME AND PLOT, CRAWL AROUND WITH MY TRUSTY CAMERAS AND FIND A NEW ANGLE TO GET BACK IN PRINT SOMEDAY.

BEING IT WAS MY FIRST TIME GETTING PUBLISHED IN ANYTHING AS BIG AS CNN, I KEPT QUIET WHEN I SAW SOME OF THE CONTROVERSY TAKING PLACE IN THE COMMENTS.

SOME FOLKS COMPLAINED ABOUT ANIMALS BEING ABUSED FOR PLEASURE OR ENTERTAINMENT.

PROBABLY BEST FOR ME TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT.

I SPENT A FEW MONTHS AROUND THESE FIGHTING BULLS AND KNOW THEY'RE JUST REALLY BIG PAMPERED PETS.

ONE GUY COMMENTED IT WAS EVIL 17TH CENTURY STUFF AND AS BAD AS DOG FIGHTING AND COCKFIGHTING.

I'M NO FAN OF EITHER OF THOSE SPORTS, MYSELF AND IF I WAS I'D BE DAMNED IF I'D TAKE MY KIDS TO POSE ON A FIGHTING DOG OR CHICKEN'S BACK AFTER THE FIGHTS.

WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO SAY TO THE PEOPLE PROTESTING OKINAWAN BULLFIGHTS:

WHO GIVES YOU THE AUTHORITY TO DENOUNCE BULLFIGHTING?

TELL ME YOU'E NEVER EATEN BABY CARROTS.

INNOCENT LITTLE VEGETABLES RIPPED AWAY FROM THEIR ROOTS BEFORE THEY EVEN REACHED MATURITY JUST FOR YOUR PERSONAL SATISFACTION.

SEE THE BLOODLESS BULLFIGHTING ARTICLE AND COMMENT IF YOU'D LIKE. I'VE GOT OTHER THINGS I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING !

Twice Within a Week

It's been awhile since I've updated here. I've been too busy researching and typing on other people's blogs and neglecting my own.

It started paying-off, though. Twice in the past week my photos and attempts at writing have hit online travel magazines. This photo of a Mud Festival, along with another of dragonboat races got published at http://www.apogeephoto.com/

Another version of my Bullfighting in Okinawa was published 3 days earlier in a travel and culture online magazine http://www.nihonsun.com/2009/07/03/bullfighting-in-okinawa/

One thing I've learned, recently is that this internet thing, I'm always complaining about is a pretty handy tool when it comes to making contacts. You can meet all kinds of professional writers and photographers, help each other out, get published and avoid getting caught in scams (Which there are plenty of, out there).

To all my friends, photographers and writers: Thank You and have a good week !

Bullfight

After the Crab and Bird got flushed down wherever things go after you empty the Recycle Bin, I decided to go have a beer last night. It all started off innocently enough, until I ran into another cameraman; then it turned into a few more beers and some Karaoke. Soon it was 1:30AM and I wandered on home, knowing my plans to catch some sunrise shots were probably doomed. But, the good news was, I had written a note to myself and stuck it in my cigarette pack; something about a total eclipse of the sun 22 July, this year. A potential MILLION DOLLAR PHOTO ! And I was invited to go shoot it up in Kyushu, Japan.



Lots of things are done differently here: People drive on the left side of the road, Take a shower before they get in the bathtub, Get their butts washed while they're sitting on the throne, and conduct important business in bars after working hours ! And the Bulls fight each other instead of some guy with a cape and a dagger. But, that's not what this POST is really about.



Some nice lady in Colorado emailed me this morning asking me to sign and return Copyright papers for publishing this and another photo along with a story about Okinawan Bullfighting (of course not this exact photo, but one like it). As soon as I see it, I'll believe it and tell you where to find it and I hope NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC finds it, too and asks me to go to Kyushu and shoot the total eclipse of the sun ! I'm done feeling crabby, now; think I'll go home, take a shower, take a bath and crash early to see if I can catch the sun come up tomorrow.