Meeting Refuse

Technorati Tags: China, Shanghai, Photography, Tourism

Waiting for dumplings

Technorati Tags: China, Shanghai, Photography, Tourism

Influences – Martin Parr

Friends have been asking me who my photographic influences are lately. I would love to respond with Ansel Adams, however, although I love Adams, I do not gravitate towards beautiful landscapes. I prefer the odd, the ugly, and the absurd. I have several influences; Martin Parr is at the top of my list. Parr’s work has inspired me for years. His ability to capture the essence of the mundane suburban experience has pushed me to turn my camera on friends, family, strangers, and even myself at times. I aspire to take photographs that are as boring insightful. Parr's website is a great place to get to know his work. There are several other online resources as well:

Mobil Phones is a flash enabled installation showing Parr’s obsession with people who talk on cell phones. It is outstanding.

Martin Parr We Love You is a flickr site devoted to his work.

Martin Parr Photographic Works 1971 – 2000 is a NMPFT site from an 2003 – 2003 show of his work.

The Martin Parr profile at the BBC

A Lens Culture 10 minute interview with Parr (it is worth a listen)

The photograph shown above is called Common Sense. It is my favorite Parr photograph.

a fear of moral decline

It seems that Americans trust atheists less than any other segment of the population; lower even than Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians. Thankfully, atheists are not compelled to wear the scarlet letter “A” on their breasts. A study scheduled for publication in the April issue of The American Sociological Review will portray this completely depressing picture. According to UMNnews, Atheists, 3% of the population, are shunned because of the majority’s "fear of moral decline". The last time I checked, America’s prison population was replete with internees calling themselves Christians. Moral turpitude is acceptable as long as one has religion.

I prefer to fault Christians for American’s moral decline, and so do other Christians. Karen Horst Cobb authored America's Moral Decline and the Rise of False Christianity for the Common Dreams News Center. Her insightful essay captures the essence of the challenge facing American religion today. Modern mega churches are transforming American Christianity into something immoral. Cobb's supposition demonstrates authentic insight into the morality issue. I recommend reading it.

Technorati Tags: Atheism, Atheist, Religion, Christianity, Morality,

my picture of the day

I had one of those mind numbing workdays where when you’ve finished for the day, you think everything, no matter how mundane, is magnificent. I was stuck in traffic when I beheld this carroty amalgam of graffiti suppression and thought – wow, how pretty.

Technorati Tags: Photography, graffiti, Los Angeles, Freeways

The Carnival Of The Godless

I don’t know where my head has been lately, but apparently I missed out on a valuable Atheist resource - The Carnival Of The Godless. I followed a comment back from a post somebody made and found this wonderful website full of interesting links to Atheist oriented topics. Well, better late than never. I wonder if they will let me host a Carnival?

A different visit

The weekends are typically the most common time for the various religious groups to pay a house call. We get the Jehovas Witnesses about once a quarter, the Mormons less frequently, the odd local church from time to time, and then the alternative nutball outreach church one or twice a year. I know the nutball church well; they are the ones with the biker dude and drug addicts that make you want to pretend you are not home. The one church I never see is the local Korean church. The message is clear, if you are not Korean, you are not welcome. I’m ok with that – churches and I don’t really get along.

It is normally a crapshoot when it comes to religious doorbell ringers. They all have the same underlying urgent message; are you a Christian? They get right to trying to pin you down, and then they start the conversion rhetoric. Most of these people don’t get past hello with me or my family. When my son Jon was living with us it was a different story, Jon did not like to be rude.

When my doorbell rang (actually they knocked) I was surprised to see a Korean man standing on my porch. He handed me a door hanger that introduced Ambassador Church. I expected the standard “are you a Christian" line. Instead, he introduced himself and launched into a brief explanation about his visit. He was a member of a new church in the area. Services we open to all. They were trying to form a community. They were within walking distance and wanted to let the neighborhood know the news. That was it – no pestering, no pressure, no judging. Just a friendly guy inviting anybody who opened their door to a community based service. Based off my interaction, if I were a Christian, I would pay a visit. Perhaps they should visit the local Mormon temple?

I visited their church website. They seem very solid – not a whiff of nutballs or the peoples temple. They are a group of Koreans who formed a church open to all. They play music, worship, and pray in a converted office building on the corner of Valley View and Orangethorpe. I think my pastor friend Brad would get a big kick out of this church. Their mission seems completely in harmony with his vision for Christianity. Hmm….

Why did I post this? Well… I found this door hanger in the grass outside my backdoor this morning. I liked the play of the dew and light on the paper. I took a picture and decided to blog about it.

Technorati Tags: Religion, Christianity, photography, blogging,

Restoring the dignity of atheism

Slavoj Zizek wrote an insightful essay for the International Herald Tribune on Tuesday. Atheism is a legacy worth fighting for is a compelling argument for the celebration of atheism as an ideal under which all religions can flourish. Zizek touches on a truism with this statement:

When I do a good dead, I do so not with an eye toward gaining God’s favor: I do it because if I did not, I could not look at myself in the mirror.

When religious people ask me the “how do you live without morals” question. I laugh to myself. Because, much like Zizek, I know the right thing to do when presented with an ethical dilemma. The most compelling argument Zizek makes is along this line. The right thing to do – is to adopt the relativist stance of multiple “regimes of truth”. All religions are free to worship in their own way as long as their own way is not imposed as the absolute truth on others. Atheism is in the best position to mead out fairness.

Technorati Tags: Atheism, Religion, Islam, Christianity,

Untitled #1

I shot this in the Bund sightseeing tunnel in Shanghai, China - March 2006.

Technorati Tags: shanghai, china, bund, photography

urban ugly

Dukes has been on this corner for at least 30 years. It’s been ugly the whole time. The ubiquitous burger shack defines urban ugly. They do make a mean chunky beef burrito though!

Technorati Tags: photography, americana, ugly

Cat signage

For some reason, this type of sign fascinates me. I don't even know what this guy is selling, blue kitties maybe?

Technorati Tags: photography, signage

I'm still stuck in the 70's

Don't mind his ugly elaphant ears, just adminre his cool ride.

Technorati Tags: photography, nova, ugly

I lost my voice

It’s hard to write about things like this, but I’ll take a chance here tonight since so many of my regular readers have asked what the heck is going on.

A few months ago, I had a good day at work. The good day was followed by an even better day spent in conversation with a close friend. On the third day… well, I got the crap kicked out of me in a very public way. Just when I had started to think things are going well, I felt a tug on the rug that normally signals a bruising fall on my ass. I went from high to low in the space of 72 hours. It has been all down hill since then. I don’t know if my career is salvageable. I’ll work through this problem in the months ahead. It may be, or it may not. I am not afraid of this, but it is part of what has occupied my mind these past few months. The other piece of the puzzle is my conversation with my good friend. He is smart and constantly challenges me. This time he challenged my atheism with the best argument I have ever heard. He shook me to my roots. I lost my voice.

I’ve found my voice again. People might not like what I say, and judging by the occasional hate mail I receive, some may wish to do me harm. I know a few things better now and I have a better sense of my own thinking. Here are a few things I hold dear.

• The existence of God cannot be proved or disproved.
• What other people believe is none of my business – what I believe is my business.
• Religion and Science are mutually exclusive; one cannot be used to explain the other.
• A moral compass is standard issue equipment for each of us. Some people can follow a compass on their own while others choose to ignore it. Still others spend a lot of time talking about their compasses while telling others how to use theirs.
• Whom you love is your own business.
• Love is what life is all about.
• Friendships are important to your mental heath. True friends are hard to make and even harder to keep. I can count my true friends on one had. I married my best friend.
• Life is fragile and much too short.
• Stupid people suck the life out of you – dishonest people simple suck.
• Betrayal often masquerades as friendship – this is particularly true in the politics of the workplace.

More to follow….

Mojoey


Technorati Tags: atheism

Feost for the eyes

This "Feost for the eyes" is a tourist draw on the Bund in Shanghai. Pay RNB150 and a slow people mover takes you under the river to the modern side of the river. I saw these types of spelling errors on many signs - or, I should say, somebody who could spell pointed it out to me!

Technorati Tags: Shanghai, China, photography, photoblogging, travel, tourism

Shanghai street scene

Technorati Tags: Shanghai,, China,, photography,, photoblogging,, travel,, tourism