90-DAY GEISHA

I have just finished reading this fascinating book, by Chelsea Haywood, about hostess clubs in Japan, but with insights into many things Japanese, including the psyche of that enigmatic place and its enigmatic people. Having been in Japan only months ago, I found that it brought back lots of wonderful memories. Admittedly, I never had the experiences that she did (and frankly, I wouldn’t have done that to my body and my mind!! – the number of times she ends up in a drunken and drugged stupor – even if it was “for the book” – is frightening) – but I did experience a hostess club in Kobe. The father of my Japanese friend, who I was staying with, owned and ran quite an exclusive one in the centre of Kobe, and we went there one evening. I observed all the wierd behaviour described in the book, but only now, vaguely understand it … if it is something that can ever really be understood.

It was a very readable book and her style very natural. But, I did get a bit annoyed at how many times she mentions how beautiful she is (quoting her customers of course). She was only 21 when she was there (4 years ago), and she was a model, so she probably WAS beautiful, but was she THAT beautiful???

I found this interesting photo of Chelsea on Flickr by mattbooy. It was taken in an underpass near Waterloo Station in London, for promotional purposes. I recognised the location as I had been there, also on my last trip, and had taken photos of this same artistic graffiti, which adorns the walls, the whole length of the underpass. 

This is my picture.

Barack Obama the man

20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight1258

Originally uploaded by Barack Obama

 

This photo shows the human side of this man, who is soon to become the most powerful man in the world. He is now the president elect of the United States, but he is also a Flickr contact of mine.
Will it be like Kevin Rudd, who was everyone’s facebook friend (including mine), until he became the Prime Minister of Australia?? Will it be seen by his aides as a security threat, to have such a public profile? This photo alone, had 151 comments, and another, also posted on 7 Nov 08 – election night – of he and his wife on the couch smiling into the camera, had 423 comments. He has a list of testimonials that scrolls down forever, but it just goes to show that the tide is changing in politics. Barack Obama is young and vital and charismatic. Girls scream and cry when they see him, like a pop idol. The fact that he is black, I think, is irrelevant.
Not that I have any illusions that Barack Obama spends any time on Flickr, uploading his own photos, and checking out his contacts’ photos (he has 7,142 contacts). I realise that it is just another arm of his publicity machine – but for a Pro Account of $30 per year, it is a lot cheaper that an ad on prime time TV. The first of his 50,423 items was posted on 3 Feb 07, at the start of his campaign, and after scrolling though all his sets, I can see they are all pictures of him on the campaign trail. There is not one set entitled “Christmas with the Folks” or “Picnic in the Park”. Though I will admit that he did take time out from his campaign to visit his ailing grandmother. I also admit that the cynic in me saw this as a clever ploy to attract the older voters, until I found out that she died 2 days before his election win.
What for me is amazing though, is that the internet is changing EVERYTHING. Social networking sites are becoming a significant form of communication for millions of people. So, why shouldn’t the pollies get onto the bandwagon???

www = wonderful wicked wierd

I never cease to be amazed at the power of the www – to link people, places and ideas.
Ever since I first posted my old scanned slides from Afghanistan in 1974 onto Flickr last year, there has been a snowballing effect. I have had a fascination for that country ever since I visited it back then. I read any book on Afghanistan that I could get my hands on and watched documentaries and films about it. And of course, followed with dismay and horror … the war on terror that was waged there after September 11, 2001. But after the flickr posting, I was contacted by Afghanis all over the world, many of whom had never seen as much of their homeland as I had. Many of them had been forced to leave it as children, and many have very bitter or sad memories of it. So, they were grateful to me, for having preserved this slice of history of their country. I was invited to join Afghanistan flickr groups, and facebook groups, and kept in contact with my growing circle of Afghan friends in our virtual Afghan country. I attended a book launch in Sydney, when my facebook friend, Mahvish Khan, was on a promotional tour of Australia. I bought and read her book My Guantanamo Diary, about Afghan detainees in Guantanamo Bay, with great interest.
Then the latest chapter, in this ever widening story, came when one of my photos was posted on a flickr blog. Then a whole lot more people looked at my Afghanistan set, and the daily views went up to 500 or so on that day and I made a few new contacts. Then futurowoman, a historian/photographer, posted a blog about it, and lo and behold ….. a heap more views (2,076 on one day in fact).
I can’t help but feel that this virtual journey will again take me back, in real space and time, to that timeless land … and I hope it will be a much happier and more peaceful place.