Varinthorn The Siamese Buckaroo

FOLLOW ME HERE!

2010-03-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

What's up in November

2009-11-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Two of my projects (The Mon Counting Book and Model Minority) were accepted to be exhibit at Lewis and Clark Multicultural Symposium. Come check it out. Sixth Annual Ray Warren Multicultural Symposium (2009): MIXED: THE POLITICS OF HYBRID IDENTITIES November 11-13, 2009 Free and open to the public. All events will be held on campus. Parking is $4 before 7 pm and free after 7 pm.

I'm also a part of 2 exhibitions this November. Come check it out!
IMAGES FROM: THE PSU ART DEPARTMENT CADRE
November 2, 2009 – November 29, 2009
Interior Lobby | Gallery Hours: 10-5 Monday-Friday
Nighttime Exterior | Video Viewing: Dusk to Dawn | 7 days a week
Statement:
The Portland State University Art Department is made up of... over one hundred full time art
professors, adjunct professors, and day-to-day art operations staff. This current exhibition of
images will give a visual image to the face, and a face to the image, of the artwork, processes,
and philosophies behind this diverse group of people.
Please stop by, day or night, to catch a visual glimpse of the diversity and dedication of these
people in the New Video Gallery in the lobby of the newly remodeled Art Building at Portland
State University.

OUTLOOK: Portland State University Art Graduates 2005-2009 James Yood | Guest Curator. Statement: This year the PSU Art Alumni Committee will focus on the work and achievements of recent graduates from the PSU Art Department from 2005-2009. The PSU Art Alumni and Friends Committee and the PSU Art Department provide this opportunity to demonstrate the PSU Art Department’s support and dedication towards career advancement of it’s art alumni. This years curator, James Yood, will bring national exposure and critical context to these artists work within the broader national art world conversation. The artists selected for OUTLOOK are: Justin Auld, Gordon Barnes, Carly Bodnar, Christopher Clother, Varinthorn Christopher, Posie Currin, Shelby Davis, Greg Delapaix, Mathew Frank, Xtal Giarth, Tobias Greiner, Ethan Ham, Shelley Hershberger, Maryetta Jacques Bietz, Verity Kent, Namkirn Khalsa, Michelle Liccardo, Alanda Lozano, Dle Mercier, Yasha Renner, Ben Rosenberg, Mandee Schroer, Kentree Speers, Jasmine Swisher and Nishiki Tayui.

Exhibition: Thursday November 5, 2009 – Friday, November 27, 2009 Opening reception: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 6-9 p.m. Curator James Yood | PMNLS Lecture: Monday, November 17, 2009 | 7:30 p.m. | Shattuck Hall Annex | Room 198

yikes

2009-03-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted. Not much happened. I'm still trying to get things done. I finished a second pair of socks. Here is the article my husband, Sukjai, and me published together. Click here!

One small step for me

2008-11-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

I finished the socks! The toe parts are all square but they are comfortable (my husband said). I knit them out of an old wool sweater. Hopefully this is a giant leap for me to finish all my projects.

2008-11-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

McTongue

2008-10-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

Siamese Buckaroo mentioned on The Asian Reporter

2008-09-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Click to page 5. You can also pick up a copy at your neighborhood. Look for green newspaper box with the sign "Asian Reporter" Thank you Toni Tabora-Roberts for writing about my projects.

Asian Reporter - Upload a Document to Scribd

Assignment from Jen (Tuesday, September 30th, 08)

2008-09-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

Answers for Jennifer Delos Reyes "3 questions" assignment. Jen co-teach the Social Practice class with Harrell this term.

1. WHY DO YOU WORK WITH THE SOCIAL AS A MEDIUM?

I want to do something that community can participate in or related to. I stopped making material based work after I live in Alaska and realized how fast global warming has become. I thought that if my husband and I are trying our best to live green, and believe that we should give back to the earth, then why can't I have a career that support my believe? Why do I have to compromise it for the sake of making art or being artist? I already made sculpture from recycle material at that time but I want to take it further, make less objects. Also I realized that my parent, cousins, and non-art friends has never been to the art museum. They feel too nervous to walk into gallery. I started to ask myself why I am doing this. It's never be about money at the beginning. I have never sold anything in my life. So I start to select my career choice. What do I want to do with this art education? What should I spend the rest of my life doing? I have always been a political active person and I believe in activism work so I start apply that to the project. I had a difficult childhood and I have seen a lot during those years so mundane and everyday life never attract me. As much as I love those cool projects that create fun activities, I never feel like doing them. Maybe I'm one of those naive artist who thought they can save the world (and I still believe that I somehow can). So I tried to do projects that make a change or save something from being lost. Basically do something that I think matter. I feel really uncomfortable to say that "Social" is my medium. For me Social is not the medium, I am the medium and Social (community) is the artist. For example, my Dave's Killer Bread project, the only thing I'm contribute is the idea of making a book and my book design skill. The wonderful stories and pictures are from Dave and other contributer. Dave is already an artist and very creative person. He just doesn't have time to make a book. But I do have time and therefore I am his medium.

2. TO WHAT END? (WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS? WHAT IS THE DESIRED RESULT?)

I'm here with the conviction that my childhood background, subsequent life experience, and current environmental and political beliefs will inspire me to create sustainable, functional, and socially-conscious art works that the community can relate to and benefit from. My plan is to integrate my social art practice with other fields of study to create works that promote a better environment, advance social development, support human rights, enhance diversity, and preserve ethnic and cultural heritage. I know it might not be what art supposed to do but I can't help it. Somehow I feel that I need to do it this way, or change my career plan entirely. The goal is that people get something out of it, whether realized about toxic in their food, chemical in their surrounding, or help the city save the rotten river they saw everyday. When my dad was young he swam in Jao Pra Ya river (largest river in Thailand) everyday. Some day my grandma will yelled at him to get her some prawns. He said all he has to do was reach under the dock and grab them. River was so clean you can drink it. You can't even swim in Jao Pra Ya river now. I want clean world that my dad once lived for my children or great grandchildren to be realistic. I don't hate other art, this is highly just a personal choice. Just how I think I should live and work. Also I like humor, so I'm trying to put that in to keep people interest.

3. WHY DO YOU POSITION WHAT YOU DO IN AN ART CONTEXT?

First, I became an artist because I have no choice. Nobody tell me that by the time I realized what I want to do it will be too late. You need so many prerequisites for other fields and I have already invest in many years of my life to earn art degree. I'm not going to change field and gain more education loan debt. Plus, other field is so inflexible. For example, soup kitchen only open for certain hours, so if you are homeless you have to force feed yourself dinner at 4 pm. I probably got fire on my first day as Social Worker who try to do a midnight pancake breakfast. Also I have so many interests and art give me that flexibility, I can do social work today, linguistic tomorrow and so on. In a good way I think art is perfect for what I do. I keep thinking about advertising since the Harrell Fletcher told us at the first term "try to think of your work as advertising, how they attract people, what is the advertising agency does? So I guess that sort of how I position myself. I saw people, topics, or organization that I think interesting. Then I collaborate to make projects that advertise or promote them. I also want the work to embed in the society just like advertising so I try my best to stay away from gallery setting as much as possible. I don't want people to have to make an afford, stop doing what they do and go to gallery to experience art. My target audience is not art lovers or artists. But again maybe someone like my mom who went to the market one day and see one of my work and thought "hey that cereals I ate has chemical which known to cost cancer". And maybe she'll stop buying it and tell her friends. I just thought, if "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" sounds and looks as cool as Nike's "Just do it" ads, the world will be different now. After all, you don't have to pay a museum admission fee to see Coke's commercial. Writing the answer to this question caused me a lot of stress because I feel that I am shooting myself in the foot, again feeling like I'm in the wrong field and I have no future in the art world. But I am very happy about what I am doing so I guess that's cool. Good questions by the way.

Summer 08 (2) TBA

2008-09-29T23:52:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY WEBSITE & SEE TBA 08 PROJECTS!

Summer 08

2008-09-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

Pictures from my paper presentation, "Mindfulness in Thailand: A Phenomenological Analysis" at the International Association of Cross Cultural Psychology Conference (Jacob University, Germany). I forgot the camera so I don't have picture of me at the podium. Thank you Jean Marc for sending photos.

It's Not Easy--exhibition at Exit Art

2008-07-21T12:39:00.001-07:00

I got lucky. Three of my work has been selected to be included in the exhibition It’s Not Easy, from July 24 to August 29, 2008 in Exit Underground at Exit Art. There are about 200 work exhibit, selected from almost 700 submissions. I'm very interested to see how other artist/activist came up with the definition of "Green". Wish I'm in NY for the opening.

OPENING IN EXIT UNDERGROUND: It's Not Easy
It’s Not Easy is an exhibition inspired by the recent tidal wave of efforts to go ‘green’. Exit Art asked artists, activists and the general public to submit responses to the question: What does ‘green’ mean to you? The over 200 photographs, texts, drawings, graphics and other works in It’s Not Easy were submitted through email and printed on 8½” x 11” recycled paper, giving equal – and sustainable – attention to each work. It’s Not Easy is the second exhibition of SEA (Social Environmental Aesthetics).

It's Not Easy opens on July 24, 2008, 7-10 pm

Can food is the new plastic (or actually worst)

2008-07-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

This is sad. I learned about BPA (Bisphenol A) in canned food. The amount of BPA in canned food is twice more than plastic! I don't really eat canned food, but I bought some ingredient in can like coconut milk (in Thailand we just make it fresh from coconut). Even the organic canned food has BPA. It comes with the cans.

BPA links to hormone imbalances, including breast and prostate cancer, early puberty and changes in brain structure, particularly for exposures during key points of fetal or early neonatal development.

Read more below.
http://www.treehu
gger.com/files/2008/05/bisphenol-a-in-cans.php

P.S. if you are going to cook curry, use coconut milk that comes in paper boxes. Or milk it
from fresh coconut if you can get some. I know I will from now on.

Mrs. McCain is original

2008-07-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

Everyone probably already heard of this. I first read it a while ago and somehow I still marveled at Mrs. McCain's courage to keep on stealing. Maybe she is very innocent, not very smart, or high on cherry flavor cough syrup. I mean, if I'm going to steal other people recipe, I won't copy it from famous source like Food network or Hershey. I'd bribe a really old lady for recipe and threaten to takeaway all her blankets and tea kettles if she ever tell anyone. "All employee must wash their hands"

From Wonkette
"A few months ago, John McCain’s second and current wife, “Trollop” Cindy, was caught stealing recipes from the Food Network and publishing them as her own material, a simple lapse of ethics that you’re supposed to learn, and master, at age four. Cindy has contributed another recipe, to Parents magazine. This recipe for Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies was, of course, directly cribbed from Hershey’s website."

Farm Life

2008-06-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

I surprised my mom on the phone call Sunday night. We were talking about my future after graduation (if I manage to graduate) and I told her that I really really want to have kids and be a farmer. It's the farmer part that surprised her. She made me realized that this farming thought has been accrued only after I moved to the US, which is 8-9 years ago.
As a young child, I wanted to be many things but never once a farmer. Why now?

I don't know! When I lived in Pathumtanee I had many farmer's friends. Mostly rice farmers. My ancestors, as far as I know, dig clay to make pots and roof to trade for food (my dad's part the Mon people who took refugee in Thailand after Monland broke). That's also how my dad's family made a living, my grandpa's second job was a medicine man, making medicine using traditional Mon herbal. I still have to find out what my Thai's ancestors did, I only know my grandpa employed as a soldier, got killed when my mom was young. My grandmother later married a fellow soldier, who became my second grandpa.

One thing came to mind, Things grow like weed in Thailand back when I was young (except rice). I would ate an orange and spit the seed out, then find an orange tree grew from it. 10 mangoes trees around the house that require no special attention. Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, basil, lime, ginger...pick it or dig just before cooking. Then throw the seed or root back to the ground, it will come back after the rain fall. Rice farm need strong people, lots of people and water buffalo. I was really sick a lot as a child. So maybe that's explain it. Or could it be global warming and the use of chemical that made me want to grow my own? I want to grow
veggies, fruits, and herbs that is safe for my family to eat. In South Dakota my husband and I grew 1/8 acre of organic veggies & melons. It was one of my most favorite memory & the greatest joy.

"what kind of farmer do you want to be?" my mom asked
"Goats farmer or salt farmer" I said
"Goats sound like fun, but salt farming is too boring" mom said

Have a great summer everyone!!!!

2008-06-25T19:30:00.001-07:00

2nd Year Proposal

2008-06-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Faculty:
I didn't mean to make this proposal came out so fancy. But as usual, I started to write a short proposal, then I tried something new and had a lot of fun with it...one thing led to another and here it is, a short proposal & maybe a bit informal for graduate school. Please click HERE to go to link.

World Heritage Set back

2008-06-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

3 years ago UNESCO put Khao Yai National Park on the World Heritage list.
My mom lives and opened a small camping/bed and breakfast there. I love everything about Khao Yai, the beauty, the people, animals, the air (range 7 best ozone in the world due to 600,000 hectare of mountain/forest). Anyway the Thai newspaper (Thairath) just announced that the world heritage list made Khao Yai so popular. The result? Now every inch around Khao Yai (the mountain are protected by Thai National Park, they mean the area around the park) are all purchased by rich people, mostly businessmen, politicians, and celebrities. People who sold the land are mostly poor farmers. This is very sad. The land's price has been upgraded by the park's new status. What the new landowner want?
1. more golf and spa resort
2. luxury hotels and restaurant
3. high tech animal watching tour

Meanwhile, the tigers are hard to see these day. “Tigers are an indicator species. Their presence in the forest demonstrates a healthy ecosystem and is important in maintaining biological balance. The decline in tiger numbers is a serious environmental concern.” according to Khao Yai's National Park staff.

A paradox of land conservation.

2008-05-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

What's in the mail

2008-05-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

Look ma! It's a passport!

THANK YOU ROYAL THAI CONSULATE NEW YORK!

2008-05-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yes We Can!

2008-05-18T16:42:00.001-07:00

I joined 75,000 Portlanders at the South Waterfront on Sunday to listen to Senator Barack Obama speak. I have never seen Portland so diverse! So inspiring! So united! Everyone was excited to be there. Some people were there just to get the chance to see him from almost a mile away. Everyone was there: White, Black, Asian, Native American, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, men, women, gay, straight, young, old. We are all one and
at some point we all shout
"YES WE CAN"

passport photo

2008-05-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Passport photo! Looking very proper in the yellow shirt (the yellow shirt show respect to the king & to Celebrate the Thai King's Birthday--my dad bought me the shirt). I'm trying one more time to get a temporary passport through Thai Embassy in NY.

I need passport soon. I want to go home, that's more important than Germany, just go home. I need to go home.

In the meantime, I want to stop speaking unless it's necessary, such as classroom or work related but no more personal comment, no more excuse, no more self explaining,
no more voice. Maybe this can be a project?

I'm tired & I want to improve my writing skill.

Read "the Price Is Rice" article here

2008-05-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Click here to read my article "The Price is Rice" on Daily Kos.
http://www.dailykos.com/user/siamese%20buckaroo

No Country for Old Me!

2008-05-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have heard about my struggle to attempt to renew my expired passport. After many mailed documents, phone calls, and emails, the newest issue is that the Thai government wants my marriage license to be certified by the US Secretary of State.

"You mean Condi Rice?" I asked with amusement.
"US secretary of State" an officer from Thai embassy said
"You mean Condi? Condi Rice?"

I saw my research presentation in Germany waving goodbye and I already bought the ticket! But I'm most frustrated because it's been a really long process so far.
My expired passport can't be renewed. After 9/11, the Thai government issued a new passport system which requires me to go to the embassy and do it in person. There's no embassy in Portland. Plus, I can't use the last name "Christopher" until Condi signs the document. I asked if I can just get a new passport, then change the last name part later.

"No, once the new passport is issued, you can't change anything. You're stuck with it for the rest of your life" the Thai embassy said.
"How can I get back to the US then?" My green card has "Christopher" as last name"
I asked and received no answer.

More bad news is that the passport takes about 2-3 weeks and I still have to apply for a visa to go to Germany because I am a citizen from a developing country. Americans and citizens from other rich countries are free to travel to most countries in the world without a visa as long as they do not stay longer than 90 days. I have to pay about $95 for a visa application, provide proof that I have enough money, provide proof of round trip plane ticket purchase, etc. and I have to go to the nearest German consulate (San Francisco) for an in-person interview.

Such is life and I can't complain. I just feel a little bit like I'm in limbo. I'm half Mon which has no country, half Thai but received very little help from the Thai embassy/government. I can't get a US passport because I'm not a citizen and I can't get out of the US without a valid passport.

But as my husband said "When life gives you lemon, make a stiff Long Island Ice Tea" (he never actually said this, I just kinda wish he did). So I'm going to make this an (art) project somehow.

Progress!

2008-04-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

I made some progress on the BES (Portland Bureau of Environmental Services) kids education website.
Click here to see it http://www.xstreamspdx.org
My brain has been caught up with computer codes lately, so I decided to knit again (great cure for stress, seriously). Here is one raggedy sock (I'm far from a neat knitter), will I finish a pair of sock? Let's keep our fingers cross.

Daily Kos

2008-04-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Some of you might remember my attempt to submit letter to editors for the NY Times which is fail miserably. I decided to publish the article on my website, but yeah I only have a few visitors. So I posted a diary on the Daily Kos, and now I have people comments and send me encouraging message. This is why I write! Good comments are nice but I would not mind the bad one. Just the fact that people are reading it is enough for me to write (Am I narcisistic? probably) Here is my Daily Kos link http://siamese-buckaroo.dailykos.com/

My Heart Origami Menu

2008-04-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't present to P' Yui (the food cart owner and chef) yet. I'm a little nervous and hope he likes it. But if not, then I'll make a new one.

THE PRICE OF RICE!

2008-04-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

You might already know, the price of rice and wheat went up the roof in this past few month. Click here to read NY Times article

It's a hot topic around the world right now. Today the Thai government announced that the rice seller decided to stop deliver rice to prisons, blaming the price of rice is higher than the current bid. Click here if you can read thai. The budget for prisoner meals in Thailand is 42 bath per person per day. That's a little more than $1 (at the time that $ is down). The budget included everything that produce the meal, cook's salary, oil, heating cost, and etc. I thought that was low, but find out that Florida only pays $2.67 for three meals a day for each inmate and according to the PalmBeach Post article on March 29, Lawmakers in the House want to reduce that cost to $2.30 a day. England spend a bit more, £1.87 ($3.70) per day for adult prison and £3.81 ($7.50) for Young Offenders. I can't find the price, but below is from the old Times online article about prison in Italy At a prison that detains murderers and Mafiosi in Velletri, a small town south of Rome, in Italy, prisoners play an active role in cultivating organic fruit and vegetables and making fresh juices, jams, tomatoes, olive oil and wine. The prison has state-of-the-art food production zones including the latest computerised fertilising systems in its orchards, and micro-filtered wine-making equipment in its cantina. The harvested fruit (including grapes, peaches, cherries, strawberries and figs) and vegetables (including tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines,) are incorporated into the prison menus. The prisoners even get 250ml of wine per day in a plastic bottle. The menu is based on typical Italian cooking, including pasta and minestrone and other Mediterranean specialities. “The coffee is superb in prison prepared with extreme care and attention, and sweets and pastries made with as much imagination as possible in the environment."

Bellissimo!

Umm

2008-04-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

A while ago I was kicked out of the Yerba Buena Garden by a security guard. I was asleep with my dog and the guard woke me up.

"There's no sign telling me not to" I said.

But the guard informed me that it is absolutely a "no, no"
"No dog, No luggage" He said. (I checked out of the hotel and had no place to go).
"You must leave the park now" He told me.
"Are there any other park near by that we can rest?" I asked
"I don't know, I don't live here" He said

I just think of this event because while I search for stuffs to put in my poor resume. The link below just came up and I realized that although it's indirectly, this is the second time the YBCA security guard sort of rejected me. (link below) Ouch......
http://www.collectivefoundation.org/collectivegrants/awarded/ybca_grant.html

My review link

2008-04-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Last 2 days I did a YouTube experiment on this blog, I posted a bunch of clips and then code them to auto-played at once and it was so annoying and it gave me a severe headache. I think they use the same technique in military to torture terrorist prisoners (country/countries remain anonymous per request). So if you did not tune in this past few days, you just miss it! Another reason to check this blog everyday :) Make it a routine, like brushing your teeth (well, unless you only brush your teeth on weekly basis, then find other routine that's more often).

Anyway, it's been a while since I keep up with this blog. Below is the 2008 Winter Term review, part video, part live presentation.
http://www.khaochae.com/winter08

This is my Amber's Artist interview book for Professor Pat Boas's seminar class (Artist as Writer). We were assigned to do an artist interview. Interview the second year MFA student. I interview Amber Jensen and decided to make an online book for her using children book as a theme. This will be post on the www.khaochae.com main page soon.

But for now go to www.khaochae.com/amberjensen

Guten Tag

2008-03-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

I received this email today. I am super excited. I have to re-learn German (did it for a year and quit). I'm not very good at it but hopefully I can understand some.

I am pleased to inform you that your submission for a single oral presentation, "Mindfulness in Thailand: A Phenomenological Analysis," has been accepted to the congress program. Cordially
Klaus Boehnke

The 19th International Congress of the

International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)

Check out the congress website at

www.jacobs-university.de/iaccp2008

Word?

2008-02-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

The death of Maharishi brought me back to Thailand in 1996, a year that my sister & I decided to practice Hinduism. We even persuaded my mom to come to the temple with us.
I don't know why did we stop going. I think I was at the age of searching for something I could hold on to (can't speak for my sister). I remembered that in the late 1997, I started to read bible & went to the mass. Then I stopped going again (I'm a poster child for quitters).
Anyway, I read the Daily Kos & NY Times today & found out that Maharishi was the owner of an organization worth $300 millions(University, books, DVD, real estate etc.) The organization based in Fairfield, Iowa. The weird thing is, it was the biggest contributor of Ron Paul Campaign!
OMMMMMMMMM

The abstract

2008-02-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

My husband and I collaborated on the mindfulness research. We just submitted abstract to the International Association of Cross Cultural Psychology Conference (University of Bremen, Germany). Read our abstract below
Mindfulness in Thailand: A Phenomenological Analysis

In recent years Western psychology has developed a burgeoning interest in mindfulness. Although preliminary evidence supports the efficacy of several mindfulness-based approaches to psychotherapy (e.g., Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression), there are subtle though important distinctions between contemporary Western and the traditional Buddhist operationalizations of mindfulness. Relatedely, Baer (2003) cautions that current mindfulness-based interventions risk overlooking important elements of the long tradition from which mindfulness meditation originates, and Kabat-Zinn (2003) warns that if the prevailing kinds of mindfulness research and theorizing are continued exclusively, they may prove limiting, distorting, and ethnocentric. Therefore, in this presentation the first author, a native Thai Buddhist woman, explores the differences between the nature and function of her culturally inculcated Theravada Buddhist mindfulness and contemporary Western psychotherapeutic mindfulness. In the second part of the presentation we review the results of a study in which we assessed Western mindfulness in 24 Thai Theravada Buddhist monks using self-report measures of mindfulness developed in the US. In providing support for our hypotheses, the quantitative results revealed that the monks had equivalent (and on some subscales lower) levels of Western mindfulness relative to American college students with no meditation experience, and the qualitative results suggest that the monks conceptualized mindfulness in different terms than in the West. Implications for future mindfulness research and therapy practice are addressed.

Siamese Buckaroo for Obama

2008-02-04T14:04:00.001-08:00

In 2004 while working for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in New Hampshire. My husband & I knew that we would win in New Hampshire but Kerry would not win the election. The campaign were not very well organized & Kerry did not established enough trust for Americans. This year it took me a while to decide who I want to volunteer for. After I finished reading Barack Obama's book "Dreams From My Father" and listen to the debates. I made a decision.

I want change.

My letter to the Village Voice

2008-02-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

Response from The NY Times Public Editor
Dear Ms. Christopher,
Thank you for writing. I will make sure the appropriate person sees your message.
Sincerely,
Michael McElroy
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times

I haven't heard anything since then so I decided to send the article to the Village Voice.

Dear Mr. Harkavy:
I wrote this letter and article to the NY Times in response to their biased article about Thailand & Thai elephants. They did not publish the article. I was wondering if the Village Voice would consider publishing the article. I believe it is a very important issue that I would like to disseminate. Thank you so much.

Elephants at Maesa Elephant Camp, Chiang Mai Thailand

2008-01-22T10:21:00.001-08:00

MY LETTER TO THE NY TIMES

Dear NY Times:

When I first saw the article "Caution: Elephants Brake for Food on Bangkok's Roads" written by Mr. Thomas Fuller, I was very excited. I have been living in the United States for ten years and any reminiscence of my home, Thailand, is a joy for me to see and read. However, I was disappointed with the article after I read it. Mr. Fuller wrote the article from a perfect journalistic perspective, which included interviews with the locals and concise historical research. However, as a Thai woman who grew up in Bangkok and then lived in Khao Yai National Park where the majority of elephants reside peacefully in their own habitat, I feel that Mr. Fuller's article was a bit superficial and rife with stereotypes. For example, it would be nice to read something from Thailand without seeing words like "illegal activities", "fake watch", "pirated DVD", "red-light district", "a Go Go bar", and of course "bar girls". Yes, the article was about elephants in Bangkok, but there are many areas in Bangkok and other parts of the country that can provide Mr. Fuller with an elephant dwelling experience. Although I cannot deny that it is much quicker and easier to find news sources in the red-Light district.

Furthermore, the ending of the article is bit biased toward humans.
The article portrayed the elephant as "powerful, restless creatures prone to rebellion" and as "fierce" creatures. I grew up with a different view of elephants. For me, they are smart, gentle, and spiritual. In my opinion, it is not the elephant who is restless and rebellious. It is the human being who is powerful and fierce. I have written a small article titled "Under Elephants" (attached file) for your consideration. I hope that it may describe the more direct relationship between Thai people and elephants. Thank you so much.

Varinthorn Christopher

Harrell Fletcher's Winter Assignment

2008-01-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

Social Practice students got the Winter Assignment from Harrell. Below is the email
"So for this assignment I'd like you all to do a project that involves (collaborates with or works with as a subject) a non-art type person or people, that has a public venue (which just means that some set of people from the general public can experience it without going to a special venue) and that you document it with at least one image and a simple text description that is then posted on your blog".

I decided to do a commercial for the Thai food cart. The theme is "Home Coming" which inspired by how I feel when I introduced myself to the owner. Like other Social Practice project I started by introduce myself & what I'm doing (but this time I spoke in Thai). Many times I found that people are sort of suspicious & afraid but the first thing he said to me is "Hey are you hungry? Sit. Let me make you something to eat". One sentense transferred me to the other side of the world, the side I was born & raised, the side that is my home. The owner happened to be a camera man from Thailand. He did many famous Thai movies. I am a bit embarrassed of my pathetic student short film. But I hope to get better soon.

Siamese Buckaroo Radio Episode one

2008-01-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

Listen to The Siamese Buckaroo Radio Episode one from Khao Chae Here
But if you are lazy to go there below is the player. You can now download & listen to us through your i-pod or your phone. We are everywhere! Find us & Rss feed us at iTune, Podbean, Podcast Pickle, Podcast Alley & Podcast Directory. More new episode coming soon!

New Year 2008

2008-01-01T21:34:00.000-08:00

NEW YEAR 2008 Report from the Siamese Buckaroo Production.
We have our own You Tube channel now! Click on the blog title to visit.

Have you seen the new update of Khao Chae lately? If not check it out!
Also I might start posting something in Thai. But I know my main readers are English speakers so sorry English speakers for your inconvenience.

Chai Yo

84

2008-01-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

วันนี้ (2 ม.ค.) สำนักพระราชวัง มีประกาศเรื่อง สมเด็จพระเจ้าพี่นางเธอ เจ้าฟ้ากัลยาณิวัฒนา กรมหลวงนราธิวาสราชนครินทร์ สิ้นพระชนม์ ความว่า

สมเด็จพระเจ้าพี่นางเธอ เจ้าฟ้ากัลยาณิวัฒนา กรมหลวงนราธิวาสราชนครินทร์ ได้เสด็จประทับรักษาพระอาการประชวร ณ อาคารเฉลิมพระเกียรติ โรงพยาบาลศิริราชพยาบาล ตั้งแต่วันที่ 15 มิ.ย.2550 ตามที่สำนักพระราชวังได้แถลงให้ทราบเป็นระยะแล้วนั้น แม้คณะแพทย์ได้ถวายการรักษาอย่างใกล้ชิดจนสุดความสามารถ พระอาการประชวรได้ทรุดลงตามลำดับ และได้สิ้นพระชนม์เมื่อเวลา 02.54 น. วันที่ 2 ม.ค.2551 รวมพระชันษา 84 ปี

54

2007-12-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

Thai Lecture at Guggenheim

2007-12-26T21:21:00.000-08:00

I found this article on Bangkok Post (click the blog title to read it), an English newspaper in Thailand. It is a report on Dr Apinan Poshyananda's lecture 'Thai-Tanic: Thai Art in the Age of Constraint and Coercion', delivered at the Guggenheim Museum. Dr. Apinan was the first Asian scholar to speak in the Hilla Rebay Lecture series (Yeah!!). It was pretty cool for me to see this. The sad thing is that out of all of the Thai artists he mentioned, there is not one female artist, and in all of the struggling he mentioned that Thai artists have gone through, he did not mention the female side of the story. But hey, the dude still did a great job at the lecture. I half expected this news to be somewhere in a Thai language newspaper, but I found nothing. Maybe because we just had an election & I guess it took over every space in the paper. There's no art section in Thai language newspapers, just entertainment.

So above is just a political cartoon about current situation. I grew up reading this guy. And the other one is the Thai police new campaign tactic; dressing up in traditional Thai soldier costumes & handing out flyers to encourage people to be more careful during new years celebration. Outta sight man.

Where have I been?

2007-12-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

Break is almost over! Break is almost over!
I haven't done much of my own projects at all.
Just a lot of reading and working hard on website design.
I have been re-designing a website for Arthur Bradford's How's Your News It has been really fun.
They are shooting a series for MTV in January & will air in May 2008.
I think it is going to be really good & funny.

Variety Shac

2007-12-17T18:32:00.001-08:00

I heard of these girls from Arthur Bradford (How's Your News?). They rock!!! I have been thinking about doing something like this with people of color. Click on the blog title to go to their super cool website.

Iconic Photographs of the 20th Century, Recreated by Senior Citizens

2007-12-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

This is so awesome!

Check out Brad Pitt's Social Practices Project

2007-12-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

A shorter copy of my review

2007-11-30T20:34:00.000-08:00

I have to cut some music part out due to YouTube limit.

HIT ME!

2007-11-25T14:12:00.000-08:00

Hate me, Hit me, Shower me with punches.

Link: PlayMyGame

I need Pizzazz

2007-11-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

I found an article from the NY Times today, titled "A Cover Girl Who’s Simply Himself". It's about Andre J., a very handsome African American man who was on a November cover of French Vogue (as a model). Andre J. is not a cross dresser, in fact, he would preferred that you think of him as "a performance artist who rolls out his own stage every day." Andre J. has been dressing like this forever & he received attention by just being himself & stop caring what people think of him. People would come up to him and said“Wow, oh my goodness, what the hell, you look fantastic, holla brotha” and his favorite so far "I am just so glad you're alive" The article also brought my attention about Blaxploitation and Exploitation film (awesome future platform for me). As I research on how to be a comedian (remember one of my platform choice?). I realized that many comedian play characters in their acts. I was quite a different person when I did the Junk to Funk model. I want to take this further. Can I? and How I? are to be continued. I think the first step is I need to have a pizzazz (from my research of Andre J. after reading the article, he often used this term a lot). Oh and I need to do something with my overly oily + shinny face (hell girl! have you been cooking? my friend would say).

Umm Dangerous Zone

2007-11-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

I should be writing a paper, but this is so much fun.
Than Shwe is a Burmese junta leader Senior General. I hope I can still go to Myanmar.

My Life with Bush (A new book)

2007-11-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

Parasite Project

2007-11-19T15:48:00.001-08:00

From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
parasite
Function: noun Etymology: Middle French, from Latin parasitus, from Greek parasitos, from para- + sitos grain, food Date: 1539

1 : a person who exploits the hospitality of the rich and earns welcome by flattery 2 : an organism living in, with, or on another organism in parasitism 3 : something that resembles a biological parasite in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return

I have been thinking a lot about medias and thinking about what my professor, Harrell Fletcher told our class one day. He said we should start thinking of ourselves as advertising agents or commercial design company. How do we reach people? and how to get the word out there. I had this idea that maybe I can use the "letter to editor" or "reader comments" as my advertising method. it's easier now that everything can be done online & thousand of people read those comments. So this project is about posting my comment on various online sources, and sort of being a parasite by included my web & school program in there. Below is the reader comments I have posted so far.

Response to "Child Matadors Draw Olés in Mexico’s Bullrings" By MARC LACEY

Published: November 19, 2007. THE NEW YORK TIMES

112.
November 19th, 2007 2:48 pm
Link
I'm a vegetarian so I was surprised that I am saying this. Bull fighting is a cruel activity but it is also a part of their culture. I wonder if this tradition should be preserved? In my opinion, I would rather see people stop eating meat instead (or at least kill the animal themselves instead of mass murder at the factory farm). What about the fact that NASCAR uses so much oil, is that not cruel and wrong too? As for children participate in bull fighting, yes it sounds wrong but I wonder if there are any different between child matadors and child actors, child models, child athletes? These children face the same danger (look at JonBenét Ramsey). We saw many parents brought their small children to many political protest and people are recently talking about the children rights to vote. If the children are old enough to participate in those things, can't they be a matadors? Killing and hunting used to be parts of our survival, in the old day a boy would be practicing these skills just like farmer teaching their children how to ride a tractor, or us teaching our children to cross the street, to count 1-10, to be a mean football player for Ivy league scholarship.
— Varinthorn Christopher, MFA student (Social Practice) Portland State University, Oregon. www.daikons.com
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
Response to "Here Comes the Stain Again" By Frank Bruni

Published: November 20, 2007. THE NEW YORK TIMES (Diner's Journal)

19. November 21st, 2007 1:17 am
Maybe you could start a campaign to “Stop Napkin of Shame”. That could save the restaurants lots of laundry bills & maybe Al Gore would be proud of you (less spending on water & resources). Get dirty rich folks! — Posted by Varinthorn Christopher, MFA student (Social Practice) Portland State University, Oregon. www.daikons.com

Response to "Helping Hand of Hef", Here at Playboy" by Matt DeMazza 11.19.07 5:00 AM CST

Playboy Magazine blog
Way to go Hef!

11.21.07 12:28 AM CST by Varinthorn Christopher, MFA student (Social Practice) Portland State University, Oregon (Playboy did not show my web address, but the reader can click on my name to go to my web site)

Response to "From 'Project Runway' to Cheap Chic" by Stuart Elliott. Published November 22, 2007, 10:04 am The NY Times.

1. November 22nd, 2007 11:47 am
We are such a “BUYING” culture. We woke up everyday with messages “YOU NEED TO HAVE THIS” “YOU NEED TO BUY THIS” This just made me feel that TV is so boring and predictable. Project Runway can do something more creative, like altered the cloth for thrift stores or make clothing out of trash like the Junk to Funk event in Portland, Oregon. — Posted by Varinthorn Christopher, MFA student (Social Practice) Portland State University, Oregon. www.daikons.com

From Junk to Funk

2007-11-18T16:52:00.000-08:00

My friend Ramona llea asked me to be a model for her "Oh So Delicious" dress made from Soy Ice Cream Tubs. Ramona collected the tubs for a year. Her dress was selected to enter the Junk to Funk show. I was reluctant at first because I haven't done anything like this before & I was afraid that I would fall down from the stage. But then I said yes, thinking, why not push myself to try something new. Plus Sam Adams and Pollyanne would be there! I had a great time! People made amazing things from trash. I met a lot of new people. For a shy person, this is really a "social" practice. Click here to see more pictures of the events.

พนม ยีรัมย์

2007-11-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Platform

2007-11-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

There is an article in the NY Times this week about how Oprah has found her new PLATFORM! (it is YouTube) She called her new platform "Oprah Channel" or something like that. This freaked me out! Then I had an epiphany! That I am not an artist & I will never be one. I just want to be an artist mainly to get back at my dad (who devoted a big chunk of his life to preventing this particular dream of mine from coming true). So who am I?

When my brain grows up I want to be an editor, writer, and comedian (no kidding).

Thus, I am making a new online publishing website (my new Platform) featuring books, magazines, tabloids, newspapers & what not. It will be launch really soon. What am I writing right now?

THE BUMRUNGTON COLD WAR, A historical exhibit of contentious Father-Daughter relations. (non-fiction)

Change My Pattaya

2007-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

What to do? what can I do? Serious future project to change Pattaya and child sex tourism.

Catch the poop project

2007-11-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Click on blog title to go to project blog.

Sun Tattoo by Yu-Chiao Wang

2007-10-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Diversity Project #1

2007-10-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

This project called "Speak UP" I wrote to Willamette Weekly & the editor was so kind to published it on line.

See my article on Willamette Week web site

Eat

2007-10-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

The following description of a Thai mealtime was written in the 1850’s by Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix:

The Thai take all their meals seated on a mat or carpet. The dishes are enclosed in great bronze vases with a lid in a conical shape and adorned with red cloth. The dishes are cut in small pieces and the rice is placed aside and to the right in a great, widening bowl. On the left side, there is a basin with water in which floats another small basin to drink. The diners have neither spoons, nor forks, nor knives. They only use a mother-of-pearl spoon to take from the plates. For all the rest, fingers are sufficient for them. Only when they are satisfied do they drink pure water or a cup of tea. Drinking from the same bowl or cup is not shocking to them. Among the rich people, the husband usually eats before his wife who serves him at the table.The Princes and the King are only different from their subjects by the richness of the cutlery and the variety of dishes.

The dining hour is, so to speak, sacred for the Thai. One never bothers somebody who is eating; even masters themselves watch out not to interrupt the meal of their slaves. The time of a meal is also a time for silence. Even if one is with ten or twenty people to eat together, one barely hears a few words escape one or the other, so deeply engrossed are they in their business! Thus, their meals take only about a quarter of an hour. One must also remark that they never drink before or during a meal, only afterwards.

Comissioner Sam Adams and his staff stood up to fight against Poverty

2007-10-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

I stopped by commisioner Sam Adams office at City Hall unannounced & Sam is really kind to get out of his important meeting & rally his staff to stand up along with a million people around the world as a part of UN projects to end world poverty by 2015. Please click on the project title to go to UN project link.

Get Up! Stand Up! Portlanders!

2007-10-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Join me Portlanders and be a part of UN Stand Up against Poverty project. October 16 + 17, 2007 here is the details:

STAND UP and SPEAK OUT is a worldwide call to take action against poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals. During the 24 hour period between Oct. 16th at 9pm GMT and Oct. 17th at 9pm GMT, millions will literally STAND UP and SPEAK OUT to show that they refuse to stay silent or seated in the face of poverty. Help us break the world record so we can break the record of broken promises. Click the post title for the project web site.

What I will do?

I will walk around classrooms & public places in Portland, Oregon. These include City Hall, parks, library etc. & encourage people to stand up to fight against poverty.

Social Practice Undergrad Class

2007-10-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

FUN IS FREE!

Another Dessert! Another Good Time!

2007-10-09T00:47:00.001-07:00

I had another dessert! I spent almost 2 hours with Matthew & we had Russian Tea Cakes at Whole Foods Market.

Artist Without Borders

2007-10-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

For some reason I am thinking about the ability of artist to be mobile & there are many artists, such as Gabriel Orozco who practice on the road and using what already available as materials, or inspiration. I'm thinking about starting Artist Without Border project that is obviously inspired by the concept of Doctor Without Border. Who would not love to travel?

A snippet from Seattle Art Museum

2007-10-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Avalon Receiving A Tarot Kit

2007-09-27T13:32:00.001-07:00

21 cities at once performed

2007-09-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

I was participate in a project called 21 cities at once performed. A series of simultaneous events happening on September 14, 2007 @ 6pmEST as part of Conflux Festival, NYC. Curated by Hope Hilton + Nat Slaughter. Click on the post's title to go to their site. Here is what I did
1. I visited an office building next to where I lives and tell them to turn their lights and computers off at night. (I sent in sound document which can be listen through the 21 cities site once they updated it)
2. I ate ice cream with some homeless people while not talking about being homeless. I had a great great time with this one, below is the report I sent along with the picture:

Ice Cream Project

September 14, 2007, 3:15 PM. The temperature was in the mid 70’s in Portland, Oregon. I saw Jim, Ivy, and their dog Annabel on the sidewalk at SW 10th & Yamhill asking passerbys for cigarettes and spare change so I asked if they would like to join me for an ice cream – both said “Hell Yeah”. Jim asked why I picked he and Ivy, and I said, “I want to have ice cream with someone & I don’t feel like buying a rich man ice cream”. During the walk I learned that Jim and Ivy have been experiencing homelessness for a while now. Both had been traveling; hitchhiking from Washington through Portland and planning to leave Portland the next day for Redwood, CA. We went to the Italian style Ice Cream place called “Mio Gelato”. After trying several ice cream flavors including Watermelon, Peach, and Pistachio Jim ordered 1 scoop of Chocolate on a sugar cone. Ivy ordered 1 scoop of Tiramisu on a sugar cone. I ordered 1 scoop of Vanilla on a sugar cone. We sat at the outside table and talked about Thailand, Thai people, Portland, Portland people, Seattle, Dogs, Dog food, Parents, libraries, Hemp stock, Love, Dreams (Ivy wants to be a famous artist and Jim wants to be a famous singer, musician & song writer), dreadlocks, labor works, waitressing jobs, Jose Padilla, Parks, Zoos, Vegetarian vs. Vegan, & the US government. At one point we also tried to make Ivy sing but she was too shy. We also talked about drawing, my space pages, how the cone is always the best part of the ice cream and commented about the pool of chocolate ice cream on the table. Jim cleaned up the table and we walked together to the Ride Aid on SW 5th Ave where we hugged each other goodbye.