TA - photos

Puerto Rico: The Other US

2005-12-10T02:09:00.000-05:00

Puerto Rico was my last stop. I visited my friend Laurel there for several days before returning to Chapel Hill, NC. We walked in a rainforest and on a beach. There were hallmarks of US influence, but it didn't feel like US territory.

"This magnificent laurel..."

A rainforest we walked in.

A beach we walked on.

Buenos Aires: Vitality

2005-12-04T00:23:00.000-05:00

I ambled in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a couple of weeks and soaked in the energy of its art.

Live tango by Galerias Pacifico on Calle Florida

Caminito is the main street in La Boca, a section of Buenos Aires known for its colorful houses.

La Recoleta Cemetary has some snazzy mausoleums...

...including Evita's.

It is crucial that you know the artist does not smoke crack naked.

Galerias Pacifico meets your material and conceptual needs; there is a cultural center with several exhibits inside the mall. "El Perseguidor" by Martin Dinatale Cortázar.

I wandered into the University of Buenos Aires.

Ordering a sammich at a coffeeshop led to this presentation.

I passed a modern art gallery on the way to a modern art museum and met Mercedes and Natalia. The painting in the middle is "La luz recuperada" by Beatriz Barreiro.

Buenos Aires' obelisk, built in 1936, commemorates the city's 25th anniversary.

"Floralis Generica" by Eduardo Catalano

Sydney's Koala Park

2005-10-11T09:57:00.000-04:00

Zoos cage animals in unnatural environments, but enabling people to see uncommon animals raises awareness about the existence of species they might have otherwise neglected. While I'm determining my position, I can visit zoos.

Koala Park has: koalas,

Double-Wattled Cassowaries,

Eastern Grey Kangaroos,

a bird with pubic hair on its head,

birds with green beaks,

sheep,

peacocks,

and Pink Cockatoos.

New Zealand: Like a Virgin

2005-10-03T07:20:00.000-04:00

New Zealand's landscape looks like it's only now been touched for the very first time. The outdoors are great; I'm reminded of Colorado.

John Robert Godley, Founder of Canterbury, New Zealand

"Chalice" by Neil Dawson in Cathedral Square

Christ Church and Chalice

Sculpture in front of Christ Church

There are trails you can wander after riding the Christchurch gondola.

Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown

Duckies in the Lake

A tree on the shore

A hybrid of baobabs and fractals near Doubtful Sound

Sign imitates life

The front page of Queenstown's "Southland Times" on September 27, 2005 features an article about frozen fried eggs.

Onlookers looking on Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound sounds like the name of a novice experimental band, but the only sounds here are those of nature. (And the boat engine.)

Sydney: A Quiet London

2005-09-27T22:59:00.000-04:00

I zoomed through Sydney, Australia for a week. It's like a quiet London.

Sydney Harbour

Harbour Bridge

Skyline at the Harbour

Sydney Opera House

A coworker once told me about a top executive at our company, "He doesn't shit ice cream." Her point was that we're all human. Maybe so, but someone's shitting ice cream and someone else is profitting from it. Unless it's the same person?

When life gives you lemons, give life to an idea. "Capri Battery" by Joseph Beuys.

"Walking in Time" by Dominique Sutton on George St.

A prehistoric-looking bird in Hyde Park

Chess player contemplating his next move on the big chess board at Hyde Park

Chess game on a normal-sized board

Goldie in a Robin suit at a club called "Home"

Goldie started his set with hard drum'n'bass and someone wanted it harder.

Andre the Giant: from LON to SYD

An alley posing with the backs of two people

A festival in Chinatown

Dobell Memorial by Bert Flugelman

A fallen soldier

Stephen Walker's "Campania" by the Harbour

Business peeps at a coffeeshop

Wingara Bridge at Sydney Airport. Poetry forms the base.

Teehee

Raindrops and a setting sun at Sydney Airport

Bangkok: Organized Noise

2005-09-25T01:11:00.000-04:00

I zapped India's Mumbai Airport without a visa, got sent back to Amsterdam, and then I flew to Bangkok, Thailand. I'm half-Thai, but I've spent my life considering myself white because I identified with my dad who was Polish. I still find it hard to believe I'm half-Thai since I was nurtured far away from Bangkok.

I can say I've been to India. I can't say I got far. Mumbai Passport Control.

Beggar in Bangkok

Democracy Monument

A blurry picture of a roach

A shrine on one end of World Trade Plaza

And another shrine on the other end

Lingam Shrine. That guy in the background on the right, possibly afraid that this would be my sole impression of Thailand, gave me directions to another shrine.

Lingam Shrine figurines

A Shrek painting on the ground at Lingam Shrine

Ronald is ecstatic to see you.

Juice and water vendor

We would like to sell you a car in the mouth for thrills.

Incense in the air at Erawin Shrine

The dancers at Erawin Shrine

The wooden elephants at Erawin Shrine

A rough summary of your life

First World in Third World: MBK Shopping Center in Siam Square

A breakdancer practicing on the SkyWalk outside of MBK

Raisin' tha roof at Wat Arun

River by Wat Arun

Roof detail at Grand Palace

It's the restricted places I want to access.

A sculpture of Buddha at Wat Pho

A sculpture not of Buddha

Reclining Buddha. This dude is huge.

Morning yoga exercises in Lumpini Park

On the left is a man napping in Lumpini Park. In the middle and right are lizards who leave him unharmed.

There's no place like phone booth.

Or path in Lumpini Park.

A sculpture at the National Museum.

Me, an artifact, and newfound friend Sarice at the National Museum

Chinatown: Not for the Claustrophobic

I went to an art gallery at Silpakorn University to see a specific piece displayed in my guidebook that was no longer on exhibition, but this piece outside the gallery piqued my interest.

The entrance to Nana Entertainment Plaza. In the middle is a young rose seller. She asked me to take her picture and later she asked me to buy a rose. I asked her to buy my tripod. She whipped out 100 baht (about $2.50) and then demanded that I give her the tripod. I heard her snatch the 100 baht back, but I didn't see it. Sneaky girl! To the right of center you can see a prostitute being hugged by a client. To the left of center in the background, a prostitute covers her face.

Tuk-tuks waiting to tuck you into bed

Zipping Lately

2005-09-23T05:04:00.000-04:00

And then we zipped north from Nice to Paris and then Amsterdam.

This is not a reproduction of not a pipe to not smoke in this section.

The bones of over five million people are resting in Paris' Catacombs. These skulls heart you.

Perhaps I'm obsessed. The cafe where Amelie was filmed.

Out the train window from Paris to Amsterdam

We sell Bad & Douche.

Heavy metal in the air, gas mask on the face.

Drum'n'Bass DJ Goldie playing in Amsterdam.

Zagging Westward

2005-09-22T02:34:00.000-04:00

After Poland, Emily and I zigzagged through Vienna, Austria; Venice, Italy; and Nice, France.

It is important that I kindly greet the cats I pass, but it is not important to the cats I pass that they kindly greet me. Featured in this picture: a scarecrow, a cactus, and a hissing cat in Vienna.

Bedroom light

"Tongue". The artist's name resembles "Mickoe Ruzick". Made of polyester. 2004.

Not a pipe behind the reflection.

Me and Emily in Venice

Ponte dei Sospiri

Venice is known as the "City of Canals".

It's not known as the City of Dock.

St. Mark's Basilica

This scene reminds me of Amelie.

Dali's melted clocks for sale

Enrica Borghi's "La Regina" posing on the right with other works at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice.

Roland Flexner's "Tongue in the cheek"

A rejection letter from MOMA to Andy Warhol regarding his gift of "Shoe" for Museum Collections.

The beach in Nice

A manmade waterfall

Ol' skool repruhzentayshun: Sugarhill Gang

Warsaw: Saw War

2005-09-09T06:12:00.000-04:00

Warsaw is still reeling from the Holocaust.

A sign for a postcard shop.

A group of tourists posing in front of Heroes' Memorial. Would the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising approve of these tourists cheerfully posing in front of a monument used to portray their sacrifices?

Heroes' Memorial

Nathan's Villa Hostel in Warsaw had a sign for walking tours of the Ghetto. I signed up and sure enough, our guide took us directly into the former and present ghetto.

"In the period from Nov 15, 1940 to Nov 20, 1941 this wall marked the limit of The Ghetto."

Bullet holes in the brick.

Umschlagplatz Monument: "Along this path of suffering and death over 300,000 Jews were driven in 1942-1943 from the Warsaw Ghetto to the gas chambers of the Nazi extermination camps."

Old Town

Art revives the spirit.

Auschwitz

2005-09-06T11:38:00.000-04:00

Prague: Posh Pop

2005-08-19T07:10:00.000-04:00

Public displays of affection.

More PDA. I'd never witnessed ladybug sex before. I should have been okay with that.

Is it a slug? Nasty or cute?

A wooden witch of the west. If it's a witch.

This astronaut tripped over her own sculpture and became part of it.

Petrinska Rozhledna resembles the Eiffel Tower.

Charles Bridge

A sculpture on Charles Bridge.

And more bridges.

Prague Castle

Obligatory twilight shots.

The astronomical clock in Old Town Square. People would gather around this clock on the hour to see those little wooden people move (top right of picture).

This guy is perpetually hanging from a bar.

Old Jewish Cemetery.

A wall filled with names of Jews killed during WWII.

Another light lighting an alley at night...

...along with a another tree bordering a city sight.

Wood in the nude.

The face of street art.

Ireland & Scotland: More than Beer

2005-08-17T03:57:00.000-04:00

I trotted from London to Dublin, Ireland and then to Edinburgh, Scotland. Then I galloped to Prague.

An alley in Ireland.

The Guinness Brewery Tour is a joke, but I did enjoy the simplicity of this sign.

I met Jonathan and Jessica at the Globetrotters Inn in Dublin. The three of us successfully made it to the end of the Guinness Tour. In retrospect, we should have been given the beers at the start of the tour.

A sculpture of a girl jumping.

This is the closest I ever got to a shark. Who cares if it's dead?

It's a salt shaker.

This is what traditional Irish music looks like. You have to hear the vision.

A sign in Glasgow. I hadn't thought of education this way.

A parade in Glasgow. I was naturally inclined to take a picture when the woman jogging in the foreground approached me and told me not to take a picture. She said the people marching were the equivalent of the KKK in America. She proceeded to give the passers-by the finger and then continued jogging.

[Edit on March 20, 2007: Thank you Jason Fung for correcting me -- this and the picture above this were taken in Glasgow and not in Edinburgh as I had originally posted.]

A hosteller named Erin at Globetrotters in Edinburgh looking out the window.

A view of Edinburgh Castle from Starbucks.

A street on the Royal Mile.

After Edinburgh, I galloped to Prague via train to meet up with Emily. I made it to Paris and then an hour into the Paris-Prague voyage, the train stopped. Apparently an SNCF train ahead of us hit a car. We were delayed eight hours so I took pictures.

London: Sandbox of Landmarks

2005-08-15T09:04:00.000-04:00

I went to London to see my friend Meredith, who was in London for a day, for a day in London. When she left for America with her friend Erin the next day, I stayed in London.

assport Control at London Airport.

A row of apartments. I like spectrums.

My reflection in a fountain.

Bless This Crack House

Tower Bridge

A display in a shop window to an empty shop behind the window.

Subliminal marketing of food.

Westminster Abbey

Picadilly Circus wants to be Times Square.

Update -- I received an e-mail from a stranger about the above caption:

To: Tevan Alexander
From: Leon
Sent: Sun, January 22, 2006 8:35 pm
Subject: Piccadilly Circus!

Hi

Accidentally found your pictures.

Good, but would just like to point out, that Picadilly Circus has been around for a
very much longer time than Time Square!

So what wants to be what?

Leon

Andre the Giant: from LAX to LON.

An interpretation of gasoline at an anti-war demonstration near Big Ben.

London Bridge

Big Ben is big.

A handrail within the Tate Modern.

Tate Modern has it all.

Millenium Bridge outside the Tate Modern...

...posing with St. Paul's Cathedral and a homeless man.