An Inconvenient Truth

WAKE UP, it's time to open up your eyes. You can do something and you will have to do something about how you live if you have some kind of moral standards in your system. I say, fuck you Big Brother and your life sucking parasite CEO's. People, stand up and stop being so fucking convenient. Fight the system, fuck the system.....not later, don't wait for someone else. DO IT NOW AND DO IT YOURSELF.

www.climatecrisis.net

5D

After some ups and down I finally got the break I needed financially for m.w.c.p to invest in a more reliable work tool. Canons fullframe, 12.8 MP, 2.5" LCD Digital SLR was my pick, and after been working with Canon gear for quite some time now (I actually started with Minolta stuff) it was nothing new under the sun. The 5D comes in a sturdy body with the most essential work modes you need i.e without all the crap you can be without. I told myself that from this year, 2007, my trusted workhorses, the EOS 1V & 1N just had to give more way for the digital times we have in head of us and play a bigger role in the future of m.w.c.p. I do still love the film medium and prefere to work and have my work published in film, so these great 35mm cameras will never stop to be in my bags since old school always is gonna stand the test of time if you ask me. But at least we have here a great foundation in the 5D to continue the Canon legacy in the field of freelance photography. Man, these guys of Canon Inc. should seriously consider to sponsor guys like me and my freelancing peers (gonna give them a call someday when I get to it!). Without hesitating for even one second, we will use our hard earned money or our savings to get their products in our camera bags.

(5D with battery grip BG-E4)

YELLOW MC

Was asked by a German bike magazine to do a story on the Japanese custom building scene. Or to be more specific, the Japanese "metric" custom scene. So I started this article by visiting the low profile but highly qualified builders from YELLOW MC in Ashikaga, Toshigi prefecture. I have been told before on various occations by visiting Americans and Europeans that the "Metric" custom trend was growing steadily elsewhere so the timing for this article couldn't be better. On the local Japanese scene we see 99% Harleys, the rest are British engines and then at last a very small number of Japanese custom builds. This trend is slowly changing due to influences from abroad. The whole thing has to go full circle and come back to the original core to get somewhere at all. So in a near future we will see more CB400cc, Kawasaki 750cc etc on the road, ape hanger style!

Check out the Yellow Mc on : www.yellowmc.jp

Arbor Skateboards

Gonna cruise in the year on a new skateboard...in style. The "Hybrid" board from Arbor Skateboards was my pick. A super smooth, concave long-skate of Hawaiian Koa wood that will be just perfect for the slopes of urban Tokyo, where I live. Still a "Bambi on ice" in many tight corners and busy intersections, but this baby is going to take me there. I'll keep my old, beaten up "no brand" board for my weekly suicide missions in the halfpipe.

-"Better to regret something you did, than something you didn't do." (Isn't that what someone said after he fucked up real good?)

Specs38.00"x9.25", wheel base 24.00", Wheels 65mm 78a, Truck Randal R-2 150s

Yokozuna death thrust

Had the pleasure to shoot a Sumo tournament here in Tokyo last weekend. The foreign invaders have made a name for themselves even here. With the Mongolian ace Asasyoryu at the helm as the one and only Yokozuna (top rank) at the moment this must be a horn in the side for many proud local Islanders. Taking over the title in a near future might me the Bulgarian bulldozer Kotooshu, in the rank of Ozeki and with a famous Yoghurt manufacturer as his main sponsor. Somo is a truly great tradition with deep-rooted and stoic values. K-1 and PRIDE is for looser jocks compare with a raging, 3 second speed of light thrust from a pissed-off Yokozuna.

AMERICAN HARDCORE 80-86

Went to see Paul Rachmans documentary based on Steven Bluch's book :AMERICAN HARDCORE: A tribal History. Say what you will 'bout our brothers in the US of A, the true core of HardCorePunkRock is something we all have to thank these pioneers of DIY and freethinking, fuck the system all the way. A short lived movement that sprung out of Reagans pocket as an unwelcomed surprise (for the minions) and swung a couple of angry fists at the whole establishment. A small core of people made something that we still today love to relate to, the fundament of stuff if you love music and know how to use your own free will.

P.M.A

STAND STRONG 2x0x0x7

A dogs (me) paradise.

Back in town. While most of you were sitting in a sure nightmare at home (not bad) or with relatives (bad) and trying to convince your own ego that you had a good time with all that greasy christmas food and false hopes that 2007 will indeed be something else, we ( me, myself & I ) were reading Henry Miller, Robert M.Pirsig and other inspiring work, in a hammock with a warm sea breeze as the only distraction. Still in Thailand but a world away away from bomb blasts (5 in central Bangkok on New Years eve) and other annoying spectacles. Popped over to Vietnam as well to check out Saigon and the delta in Southern Vietnam. Great food and lots of scooters.

Work-wise, are going to change my workstyle/flow for 2007 a bit. Still aiming to keep my photography as simple as I possible can with clean, true and honest work in the center. But some expanding has to be done to broaden the mind and exposure of my work. Some new gear is scheduled to replace some out of date machinery and to cut the financial burden even more, digital photography will have to play a bigger role, for better or worse...do or die!

My secret Island in the Andaman Sea... fuck Waikikki and Bondi...!