http://www.vudeja.com/ is where it�s at!

Dear vudeja.com viewers (Mom, Julie, various stalkers, google traffic, and that guy in zimbabwe),

I have decided to bring an end to my current photoblog http://www.vudeja.com/blog and start up a new photo project by the same name �vudeja�. Instead of just changing the design for my current site I though it would be better to archive all my postings and photographs from the last 11 months http://www.vudeja.com/blog/archives.html in the original format and start from scratch.

But Why Mark? Why Why Why!?? Well for a few reasons.

1. Design. I felt that my current template was distracting attention away from my photographs, well at least for me it was. And the fact that many photographs were on each page distracted a lot more. Too many links, buttons, and I wanted everything to be viewable in one window without having to scroll down. simple and clean.

2. Time. I still want to post semi-regularly but the fact that I have recently switched completely over analog cameras means I need a lot more time to do this. Sure you may argue that digital is more efficient but I don�t believe efficiently has anything to do with it. Since when has efficiently been a factor in art? I mean going out on the lake with fishing rod, hook and bait is really inefficient if you just want to eat fish right? But that�s the thing, you don�t really want to simply eat the fish, you want to enjoy the process of waiting, hooking, landing and cleaning the fish. Hence the URL of the new site �enjoi�

3. Disk Space. One thing that my host will not let me upgrade is the disk space. So posting multiple photographs every few days tends to add up. I�m not interested in buying a new domain name just to acquire more disk space so the next best thing would be to post smaller photos. Of course the full sized photos are available for anyone that is interested.

4. Bandwidth. My host sets me up with plenty of bandwidth but if current trends continue my monthly bandwidth quota will be gone soon. This is mostly due to google images recent crawl of my site. I don�t like the idea of putting a paypal link on my site to collect funds for my personal website, but if you want to donate money send me an email and I�ll fill you in on my favourite charities.

Thanks again to everyone who checked my site periodically and commented on photos or items I wrote about. I�m not going anywhere, same email address, still in Japan just new URL. http://www.vudeja.com/

Mark

new edition of photography magazine 28mm is up with a submission from one of my favs, Justin Ouellette.

hibakusha, the documentary masako and i helped with (post production) will be showing in shibuya starting march 20 and playing untill april 23 at eurospace *map*. we're even listed in the film credits, but don't think our names will be found on imdb any time soon.

i have one free ticket and one discount ticket, so if you're in tokyo and interested please let me know and i'll send you the tickets. the film will also be playing in osaka, sendai and sapporo.

world peace now 3.20 @ hibiya park. starts at 1pm

to find march 20 events in your area check united for peace

a great collage of images from last year's internatonal day of action can be seen in a system of a down's music video for "boom" in which they teamed up with director michael moore.

finally getting around to scanning some more of the b/w i shot last christmas in canada. enjoi.

If you just scan the headlines, like so many others do these days, you would be under the impression Japan has taken a positive step in the right direction towards banning tobacco advertising. on the other hand if you where to actually read any of the articles you would know this to be totally false.

The headlines were,

�Japan to ban tobacco ads in public places�
�Japan gets tough on smoking advertisements�
�Japanese lawmakers look to crack whip on tobacco ads�
�JAPAN: Tobacco ads to go up in smoke?�

What the headlines should have read is "Japanese government gives into tobacco industry yet again"

The Washington times reads,

�The Japanese government will impose a ban on tobacco ads in public places such as train and bus stations, the Mainichi newspaper said Monday. The goal is to prevent minors from acquiring the habit, officials at the Finance Ministry and the Tobacco Institute of Japan said. Beginning in April, cigarette advertisements will be banned in public areas except for tobacco shops and designated smoking areas. Advertising on transport vehicles such as trains, buses and taxis will still be permitted, but ads on television, radio and the Internet will be banned, except for advertisements exclusively aimed at adults. However, advertisements designed to improve smoking manners and prevent youth smoking are free from the ban, officials said.�

So wait, what is actually being banned here?? Advertising in public areas except for the actual train (every 3rd ad is for a tobacco company) radio and the internet? I can close the pop up ad but still have to stair at the Marlboro banner in my face for my 3 hour commute every day. But what I find most disturbing is the fact that this ban is not being regulated by the ministry of health but by the ministry of finance and the tobacco institute, the same ministry of finance that still owns 2/3 of Japan tobacco. Isn't that like letting the auto industry dictate car safety regulations or allowing pharmaceutical companies to approve drugs that hit the market?

If the ministry of health has no say in this then what the hell is it for in the first place. The leading cause of death in Japan is cancer with lung cancer at the top of the list. In 2001 55,028 (stats from the Japan Almanac 2003 published by the Asahi Shimbun) Japanese died of lung cancer alone not to mention stomach, liver, colon and rectum cancer, all of which are caused by tobacco. If this doesn�t fall into the mandate of the Ministry of Health then nothing will.

The fact is that the tobacco industry, namely JT (world's third-largest tobacco group), is dictating the laws of the land to the government which is by the way it�s biggest shareholder and the media is just completely fallen asleep on the issue, and try to present the picture that the government is cracking down on the industry, which if you look at the facts is just laughable.

yet another from the batch of expired kodachrome with slight colour correction in photoshop, actually just "auto level". side note- hamdy's wife hiroko gave birth to their daugher laifa a month before frankie was born at the same hospital.

"and so... it really comes down to a very basic choice that we have to make as a civilization: either: we will learn to bury the animosities of our ethnocentric, militant traditions and come to understand that earth's survival depends on our collective, unified participation... or we will sustain this cycle of violence and revenge until humanity is returned to the status of primitivity and, earth reduced to the rubble of antiquity. it's really up to us... it really is... up to us."

-ending quote from short video channel surfing the apocalypse

thought we could use a little colour around here. the above is a selection from my first processed batch of 16 year old expired kodachrome. this is the original developed colour, it hasn't been photoshopped.

somehow i expected more, something a little wilder, not so uniform. i wanted to see all these "warped, faded, exaggerated colours" even though that's not what i read about and was not what others told me might happen. i choose to ignore that advice and hoped for something new and creative, yet maybe found it in a different way.