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Another load of mirrors

Posted by Stephen on 11:50 am in Outreach | Comments Off on Another load of mirrors

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Another load of mirrors in the making… .

Catholic Mission

Posted by Stephen on 11:49 am in Outreach | Comments Off on Catholic Mission

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At CARITAS, the Catholic Mission. The guy in yellow is their wheelchair mechanic. Look at all the stuff behind him.

BRAIDED AND PLAITED

Posted by Stephen on 9:55 am in Outreach | Comments Off on BRAIDED AND PLAITED

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In my efforts to promote what I’m up to I stumble up against militaristic metaphor and simile all the time. Nevermind me; we all do. ‘A weapon in your arsenal’, “an arrow in my quiver”, “cannon fodder” (me), the ol’ “Silver Bullet”; the nefarious ‘War against Blah,Blah,Blah’. It’s an easy trap to fall into and it don’t mean much. But you’re talking to a guy who won’t (and has never) worn ‘camo’ for the same and, prolly, puerile reasons.

I killed a squirrel with a pellet gun at the cottage when I was 8 and that was enough for me. I’ve never gotten over it. I might not be firing on all 6 chambers, but I am on all 8 cylinders. And at good times, there’s some nitrous in there besides. So I’m feelin’ good and I’m ready to go, but I ain’t “locked and loaded”; I’d like to say I’m braided and plaited, but that gets me into white dreadlock territory; it’s not a good look. No one ever said it’d be simple. One way or the other the trigger is always cocked and there’s one in the chamber.

The gleeful rampant killing thing makes me jumpy as a frog. I mean, it’s well documented; people develop a taste for it. Can’t get enough. It happened here. (more…)

Bong Battambang

Posted by Stephen on 9:56 am in Life in Cambodia | Comments Off on Bong Battambang

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Here in Cambodia the Khmers generally call each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, unless they are actually brothers and sisters in which case they probably just shout: ’Hey you!’ Anyhow, it’s charming and a whole lot better than ‘comrade’, which must have been the reluctant vogue for a grim long while. So by now I have a few Khmer friends and they call me Bong Steve, only it comes out more like ‘Bong Stayeu’, which I like.
Now, man, I’m Bong Battambang. I arrived here just yesterday afternoon and already I like it very much, which is handy, cuz it’s going to be my new crib for a small handful of weeks. In the near vicinity and within easy day-rides I can access many places to the NW, towards the Thai border and the NE towards Lao. These are areas where decades of militarism have left behind thousands of tonnes of unexploded ordnance, where the de-mining outfits of all sizes are most active, and where, sadly, amputees can be found in appalling abundance. These are the ‘Maiming Fields’. (more…)