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I’ll be shooting this event this evening as the volunteer house photographer for the Ubuntu Educational Fund. Hopefully it’s a lot of fun, and gets me some cool pictures of Paul Simon and Hugh Masekela performing and Kevin Bacon presenting?!

If that title doesn’t get me flagged then I don’t know what will, but I just woke up this morning and got this email (below) in my inbox. I also just watched a documentary called “The Future of Food” that talked about genetically modified food and its impact on our health and the methods of farming around the world. It wasn’t the most interesting documentary until the end, when it brought the ‘terminator gene‘ into play. Here is why it terrifies me:

“The terminator gene is a specific genetic sequence inserted into a seed’s DNA. Once activated by a synthetic chemical catalyst of the manufacturer’s choosing, the sequence renders the seed and crop it produces sterile. Patented by the USDA and Delta and Pine Land Co., now owned by Monsanto, this terminator technology has no agricultural or economic benefits for farmers or consumers. The only motivation is to protect intellectual property rights, according to owners of the technology“

Monsanto have already been suing farmers all over North America for the use of their patented corn crop, when the farmers never planted the seed, it had just naturally crossed into their fields. What would happen if the terminator gene  just spread naturally across all crops???

Anyway, here is the email that I got from who knows who in my inbox this morning. Maybe I could spend my free days on the streets of NY selling these bamboo masks to terrified NY’ers??

Dear Sir/Madam,
Our company is a professional bamboo carbon products manufacturer. These days, a terrible flu is attacking north America lead to many people died from it.  People wear face mask for free from infection. But as we know, the normal mask has lack function.
Our Particulate active carbon respirator with certification  NIOSH N95 CE EN149:2001 FFP1 FFP2, has Four to Nine layers, each layer is made of soft Polypropylene (P.P.) inner layer, reduce the fiber drops and increase the wearing comfort. High efficient active carbon absorbs nuisance organic acid vapors. Exhalation valve reduces hot air buildup and easy breath in hot/humid environments. Suitable to long time wearing. The filter lays is made of high efficient melt blown web, resists dust and oil-free particle.  Cool latex-free cloth head straps for comfortable wearing. Efficiently resist nuisance organic acid vapors, suited to chemical agriculture, solution cleaning, spray, printing, electronic, food processing, auto body shop, ship building, ink and dyeing, sterilizing, etc. workshops.

And at current, a obvious function is help people anti a deadly flu virus.

Mean while, the price is cheap  only  US$ 0.8-3/PC (the price depend on layers).

Our minimum wholesale order is 1000pcs, shipping free.

I was at the Art Exchange again last night to shoot the “Viva La Musica Bella” event presented by the New Rochelle Opera. I’m starting to miss my Mamiya 7ii and the Imacon scanner at Pratt. It may be time to shoot some film!

My old friend Chris Jennison sent me this new picture of Asif, my friendly Kashmiri salesman and devout muslim. Something tells me the photo was taken specifically for me. When I was there in June, I found Asif no longer selling carpets and now specialising in the jewelry business. I guess it allows him more time sweet talking the ladies and ultimately makes him more money. He was particulalry amused one afternoon when I explained the alternate meaning of a ‘pearl necklace.’

As you can see, the lighting at this event was particularly rough. I was told not to impose on the participating dancers who were learning how to jig, so a flash was out of the question. Unfortunately my Canon 20D and 40D don’t handle low light as well as the pro models. I can’t wait for my 5D Mark ii to arrive!!! The Arts Exchange space is an amazing renovation of an old bank in White Plains and is a fantastic art space and event location, but often confronts me with plenty of lighting and back drop troubles.

This blog could probably just post things about how old I feel and it would continue on quite happily… I clearly remember this tragedy that happened 20 years ago today. It’s my first real memory of any news story that really showed a large amount of death close enough to home for me to pay attention. I thought of it again when the towers were hit, even though it was on a much smaller scale, but it still felt close. Most Americans I’ve talked to, don’t even know about it, so here is the BBC memorial story. It had one strange and eventual benefit for me and I’m sure lots of other kids that attended the games, which was the removal of the horribly scary fences that stood strong at the front of all of the stands, creating an impenetrable perimeter to the pitch. They were the main cause of all of the deaths, and they always made me think of a prison fence, blocking access and ultimately a good view of the pitch. Not being a big football/soccer fan, I was glad of anything that made the sport more enjoyable and accessible, and that let me attempt to feel as passionate as my Dad always did. See an image of the crush against a fence here. It was at the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday but was a game between between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, which was abandoned soon into the second half.

I’ll give you a clue – I’m not thinking “Mother” or “Father.”

I’m sure it’s gonna be both for me and Amanda in the coming years, so no rush! I met my ‘Frost’ nephew this weekend and had a blast watching the in-laws ‘coo-ing’ over him. I even spent some time bouncing him, hoping he wouldn’t cry. He is nowhere near as cute as my brothers kids Josh and Ben (a legal disclaimer against my perfect 2 nephews – my namesake turned 1 last week!).

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From just outside Ithaca

I don’t think Erica or Jeff expected NYC to be so welcoming to their nuptials. It was awesome to see complete strangers congratulate them on the street. The new registry office near City Hall was pretty slick and kept me on my toes. The faux backdrop at the office was beyond incredible, and the food at “Broadway East” was unexpectedly good.