A King with No Arms

March 30, 2008
NYC

At the Cloisters today. There is a statue of a king, but he is unidentified because he has no arms. Why you would need the arms to decide who he is I am not sure, but ok.

What is FREE in New York City?

March 29, 2008
NYC

Free Hugs in Union Square. I had one myself!
What could be better than that?

The Armory Show

March 28, 2008

Went to the Armory Show today before I had a meeting down at Saatchi and Saatchi. I must say, I was far more impressed and interested in what I saw at the Armory Show than I did yesterday at the Whitney Biannual. There were a hand full of artists that were doing things that I thought was interesting, but nothing hit me in the gut, either good or bad. I was simply indifferent to most. Some even looked as if its an arts and craft project gone too far.

Yet, at the Armory Show, there were things that I immediately had a reaction to. To be fair, there were pieces that I made me want to rethink my love for contemporary art, but at least there was a reaction. Indifference might be the worst sin of all.

The image is a bit blurry, but I think this woman's shoe is as much a work of art as anything else there.

A Drink with a New Friend

March 26, 2008

I am in New York until April 4, so we will blog in present tense, for the next week or so. We will return to the past soon!

I had a drink last night out in Brooklyn with my new friend Steven Rinella, who gave me this excellent quote in support of Wok the Dog:

To say that Charlie Grosso’s Wok the Dog is ‘food photography’ is like saying that Ansel Adams took pictures of big rocks. By illuminating the global human relationship to food, she makes the farthest corners of the world seem somehow expansive yet knowable, bizarre yet right next door. These images are beautiful, technically perfect, and sometimes a little bit creepy.”
- Steven Rinella, author of The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine

Steven was just a really great guy. It was the first time that I had meet him and I feel privileged to have made a new friend.

Everest Base Camp and Porridge

December 3, 2007,

At the Everest Base Camp at last.
The picture is a view of the north face of Mt Everest from the Ronghu Monastery, the highest monastery in the world. We shared a bowl of porridge with the monks of the monastery.
As amazing as it is to see Mt Everest and be a EBC, the highest places I will every go, this trip was certainly about the journey and not the destination.

Monk in Debate

December 3, 2007
Edging toward Everest Base Camp

Stopped at Sakya Monastary and got some great images here. We saw a lot more monks milling about and a little bit more into their lives. One thing I discovered is that even if they are monks and have dedicated their life to the study of Buddhism, they are still young men, and they certainly horse around like such (see video). The footage show them "debating" at least that was what we were told, it sure just looks like they are goofying around, does it not?

We went inside of their dining hall and there where these lockers, with locks and key, where the monks keep their bowls and cups. Strange.

Curious Monk

December 2, 2007
Shigatse, Tibet

You must be asking yourself, are we ever gonna get to Everest, soon, very soon, I promise. This time warp will end!

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At the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, we had a chance to see the monks as they gather for their evening prayer. I had my Hasselblad 501 with a 40mm lens on it, its demands quiet a presence in the age of pocket size digital camera. I had it around my shoulders, just kinda hanging out, chatting with the other 4 travelers we have seen on our journey to Everest Base Camp. All of sudden, one of the young monks, he can be no more than 16, leaned in towards the eye piece of the view finder on the camera and took a look through it. So I held up the camera for him to get a proper look through the view finder. I remember falling in love with photography when I had my first look through a Rollie, god, it was amazing to see the world through the view finder of such a camera. I wonder how it made the young monk feel. Or if its even an experience he had before. Or what he thought of what he saw?

Carcass and TV

December 2, 2007
Shigatse, Tibet

More carcass at the market today. Many many more of these goat carcass that just sits. Some are hung up on a wires and some are not too fresh any more despite the cold. There are even piles of goat heads that along side the sitting bodies of their former selves.

The best and most surreal thing is a row of goat carcass sitting in front of an appliance stores.

30 Tibetans had died in the protests

March 16, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

New York Time - "The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, rejected calls for a boycott of the Games to protest the crackdown.

'We believe that the boycott doesn’t solve anything,' he said Saturday on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, The Associated Press reported. 'On the contrary. It is penalizing innocent athletes and it is stopping the organization from something that definitely is worthwhile organizing.' "

Would not a global act of solidarity, volunteered boycott of the Olympics by the athletes be a profound statement? It would mean the plight of our fellow brother man matters to us? That we care more than our own individualized glory and being able to compete in Olympics? I hope that there will be such a day when we care profoundly for the suffering of our fellow men that we would for fore sake our own needs.

Violence in Tibet as Monks Clash With the Police

March 15, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

In an article in the New York Times this morning there is news of Tibetans in violent protest aganist the Chinese, "stories were circulating among local Chinese that soldiers had been wounded and had not been allowed to fight back against Tibetans throwing rocks."

Our recent trip there was amazing, even if I am not done in recounting the journey. The resentment amongst the Tibetans are hight. Its difficult for them to get jobs cause most of the jobs are taken or given to the Chinese. Yet I still found the people at large to be extremely warm and friendly.

How much oppression can one take before its too much and they decide to throw rocks and fight back? How will the Chinese Goverment deal with this embrassement, this lost of face, on the eve of the Olympic Games?

I have seen the faces of the Tibetan people, they are not just a group of people anymore, but individuals...

Bones and Fat

March 13, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

Pause the travel story for a day and to present time:

I got Jennifer McLagan's review of Wok the Dog today, its pretty thrilling I must say. Here is her review:

Toronto, March 2008

I was intrigued when Charlie asked me to endorse her photography show “ Wok the Dog”.
Why would a cookbook author have anything to say about a photography exhibition?
However, when I saw Charlie’s work I realized that we were both thinking about the same
issues.In my books, Bones: Recipes, History & Lore, and Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes, I am trying to connect people with real food and its source. With her photographs Charlie too, is showing people where their food comes from.

In her photographs of markets, Charlie reveals that many peoples still have a direct link to
their food. They have instinctive, natural understanding of food and eating that is passed on
from generation to generation, a culture of food. Here in North America, we have so distanced
ourselves from our food we no longer understand that meat comes from living animals. The
consequences of this lack of knowledge are disastrous.

Food has ceased to be a pleasure to be celebrated, shared and enjoyed. We see food as fuel, a
necessity, even a medicine. We break it down into bad and good components and turn to
scientists, celebrities and advertisers to tell us what and how to eat. We outsource the
preparation of our food to large industrial corporations. The result is that we have never been
less healthy and we have lost the visceral appeal of cooking and eating.

Look closely at Charlie’s images; let them inspire you to take back control of what you eat. Go
out and shop in markets, seek out small suppliers and buy real food. Most important of all –
cook your own food!

Only by cooking and sharing meals will we establish a culture of food.


Jennifer McLagan

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Can't thank you enough Jennifer! I really appreciate it doesn't even began to express how much your thoughtful words mean to me. :)

Sit, Carcass, Sit!!!

December 2, 2007
Gynatse

Strolled over to the market after a morning of instant coffee. Its amazing how in times of need, what was not acceptable in any other circumstances (instant coffee) is suddenly a life line that you cannot do without!

The market is 50 yards from the hotel, not suprising since the entire town only has one stop light. I walk in, and I am in LOVE all over again! First time in my life, I see these carcass that are sitting upright as if they were dogs. They have their heads taken off, gutted and skinned and not a bit gross cause its so cold. There are dogs everywhere, nawing on bones and what scraps that falls off the table. This market has its own system of what is sold where. The pork is along the wall on one side, with vegetables in the middle and the yak is on the opposite side of the pork tables. Lamb was at the end of the market and there is very little poultry and fish which were actually outside the main building.

The sight of an entire side of pork, yak or an entire lamb, WOW! Its amazing and you really get good grasp of each animal's proportion. Its even stranger as the day goes on and we are driving through the country side seeing pigs, yaks and goats, endless amount of goats roaming about. I can't help but see the pigs and goats as headless carcass or a single side of pork instead. SURREAL!

The one sided heater

December 2, 2007
Lhasa to Gynatse, Tibet

Our hotel room here in Gynatse is FREEZING COLD! We had rented a space heater for an extra 50Yuan, boy was it not worth it. Its a four sides space electric heater but they had taken the fuse out on 3 sides so it would not pop the circuit breaker. You can only feel the heat when you are 3 inches away from it. It is actually warmer outside than it is in the room.

We could hardly sleep it was so cold. Tucked away in our down sleeping bags that are rated for -5 deg C along with long underwear and hats we still are not warm.

We finally gave up at first light and wondered up to the roof top to watch the sunrise over the old fortress and to warm ourselves up.

Shes just a girl who claims that I am the one

December 1, 2008
Lhasa to Gynatse, Tibet

We are on the road. Our destination is Everest Base Camp, its a 5 day round trip with stop at monstaries and other significant land marks along the way.
A couple of hours outside of Lhasa, we stopped along the Yamdroktso Lake. It is breath taking. The water is the color of turquoise and its magificant in how isolated and touched the lake is. You wish you could hike around the lake.
We stopped for lunch at this tiny town, one intersection and nothing more. A few Tibetians came into the resturant while we were in the middle of lunch, they saw Don, a foreigner, and one of the guys pulled out his cell phone and started to play Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean." We found ourselves quietly rocking out to the music as we slurp down our noodles. Not hearing English for days, "Billy Jean" suddenly became quiet comforting.

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Back in Present time:

Here is the first official quote of endorsement for Wok the Dog
From Warren Belasco, Professor of American Studies University of Maryland Baltimore County, Editor, _Food, Culture and Society_

He is teaching a course about food right now and have been discussing meat-related issues in the couse. He has linked Wok the Dog to his course website.

"I do believe [Wok the Dog] is a powerfully compelling meditation on the boundaries we draw when it comes to deciding what to eat, as [it] force us to take a stand on a question that we'd rather just avoid. "

The Edge of the World

November 30, 2007
Lhasa, Tibet

Or rather the roof top. I am really excited about being this far out, being this high up, being so far out to the edge. I can't help but feel that we would learn something about ourselves as we push the limits of our comfort level, as we rearrange what currently constructs our world.
So far, I think I love this edge. This little corner of the world.
The children of the pilgrims beg for money often when they see foreigners and they are hard to shake off. They follow you around for a good long while and they hold up what money they have already been given in their hands as they ask you for more. This one boy who would not leave me alone kept on asking for a dollar and I say to him, "You already have money!" He would smile, shrug his shoulder and ask again. Its sad when children have to beg. But it feel more like a game to them than anything real. It is not that I am against charity but how do you give and still help them to help themselves at the same time?

Life's Greatest Joy

Los Angeles, CA

Had some friends over for dinner last nigh to celebrate the first endorsement I got for "Wok the Dog."
For Starters, Zucchini Mint Croquettes from Molie Katzen's Vegetable Dishes can't Live without.
Followed by Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, and Mint Salad and Roasted Leeks, both from Nigella Lawson's new book, Nigella Express.
For Entree, I made a Lamb Shoulder with Preserved Lemons, Dates and Almonds in honor of Jennifer McLagan for being the first one to endorse "Wok the Dog."
Desert was a Flora's Famous Zucchini Cake with Lime Curd from Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess.
The pictures here are by far the least exciting thing from the evening. We shared the meal with some old friends and made new ones as well. Sometimes that is all really there is, the meals we share and the friends we share it with.

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Recently during Chinese New Years, I asked mom what they were making for New Years Eve, she told me and the list of food almost made me cry. The deliciousness of the food aside, what got to me was that I was the only one not there to share it with them. That I am the only family member missing. And when I think of my family, I can't help but think of all the meal my grandma or my mom has made and enjoyed by us all who are crowed around the table.