Jori's Blog

JK Rowling is my hero

J.K. Rowling handmade seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a book referenced in the 7th and final Harry Potter novel.  Amazon purchased one of the copies for roughly $4 million.  Photos and details are here.  Insanity!!!

apple store

A new apple store opened in the meatpacking district yesterday.  Matty had the bright idea of waiting in line for over an hour in the sub-30 degree weather.  We did get two $10 itunes gift cards out of the deal, but would you believe that the the brand new, three-story apple store has not one bathroom for customers?!  Unbelievable.  Anyway, here's a photo of the store (and the line):

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Brooklyn Sunset

I haven't seen a sunset like this since the Arizona days.

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Darfur/Darfur

DarfurDarfur

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I meant to post about this the night it happened, but alas...things have been a little crazy recently.  For the last week, the New York Historical Society has projected building-sized images of the genocide in Darfur onto the Museum's exterior walls to make a statement about the need for action in Darfur. The images were taken by some of my favorite photographers - Lynsey Addario, Ron Haviv and Paolo Pellegrin.  The night opened with a panel discussion at the Historical Society led by Anne Curry which included John Prendergast, co-author of Not on our Watch with Don Cheadle, co-founder of the ENOUGH Campaign and a senior advisor to the International Crisis Group and Omer Ismail, a refugee from Darfur and co-founder of Darfur Peace and Development, a U.S.-based advocacy organization.

Along these lines, my subway reading at the moment is "What is the What?" a fictionalized memoir about Valentino Achek Deng and his 13-years as a refugee in Kenya and Ethiopia during Sudan's 22-year civil war.  This book is changing my perspective of the world.  Achek is 26, the same age as me.  While I was enjoying my comfortable childhood in Tucson surrounded by my family, Achek was trekking across Sudan on foot while being bombed by Sudanese air forces, while dodging land mines, while being preyed upon by wild beasts and human killers.  He survived disease, famine and unimaginable hardships.  Many of his family, friends and countrymen weren't as lucky.  It makes me very grateful to have been born in the time and place I was.  But more importantly, it gives me the fire to not only educate myself about what's happening across the globe, but hopefully to one day see it and document it with my own eyes.

The Devil Came on Horseback

The Devil Came on Horseback

I'm not someone who normally advocates for causes.  As an effort to be a balanced journalist, I'll attend rallies only to photograph and never to hold signs or voice my support for an issue.  However, tonight, i saw a movie that makes me want to stand in Times Square with a megaphone and scream at people to wake up.  I saw "The Devil Came on Horseback."  It's about U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle who, in 2004, went into the Darfur region of Sudan as a military observer for the African Union.  He witnessed mass killings, villages being looted and destroyed and countless people being driven from their homes.  Unable to intervene, he took hundreds of photographs, came back to the United States, and began a mission to educate the international community about the atrocities.  While the film is by no means perfect, its message is shockingly clear - a genocide is occurring right in front of our faces, and the world is doing very little to stop it.  The raw evidence is laid out for all to see.  I hope each and every person who reads this will go out and see it.

The Devil Came on Horseback - IFC Center
Wednesday, July 25 - Tuesday, July 31
11:05am, 12:40pm, 2:35, 4:30, 6:30, 8:30, 10:25pm

Filmmakers in person Fri-Sat at 6:30 and 8:30pm shows!

 

Wedding day, UNCUT

Here are some photos from the 77-degree, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day.

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Parasols were given out during the ceremony.  Matty and I took one home, but I don't think we were supposed to.  Sorry BBG!

Wedding cake was cut and eaten.

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Kathryn and Dan were our table mates.

Beautiful flowers everywhere (it WAS at the botanical garden, so you wouldn't expect any less!)

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Me and my handsome date.  Anil took this polaroid, and it was pasted in the guestbook.

flying feathers!

I photographed the massive pillow fight in Union Square today for kicks and giggles.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture it as well as I wanted to because of an uncooperative camera battery, but I think you'll get the gist.

Eagles and Cheesesteak

Last week, I accepted a three month position at the Philadelphia Daily News.  My first day is September 5th and I'll be there until sometime in December.  This is my first big break on the road to my ultimate goal of becoming a newspaper staff photographer, so I'm incredibly excited to get started. 

I'm looking at apartments this weekend in Philly.  If anyone has advice on neighborhoods to live in, I'm all ears!  Also, suggestions on places to eat, shop, walk around, tour, etc, would be helpful as well...

An Inconvenient Truth

I saw this movie for FREE on Sunday (You can too - click here).  Now, like Matty, I want the whole world to see it!  In the meantime, here are some ways that you can save energy and reduce your carbon dioxide emissions (see www.climatecrisis.net):

1.Change a light.  Replacing one regular bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 150 lbs. of CO2 a year.

2. Drive less. Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often.  You'll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don't drive (yay New Yorkers!)

3.  Recycle more. You can save 2400 lbs of CO2 per year by recycling just half of your household waste.

4.  Check your tires.  Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%.  Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 lbs. off CO2 out of the atmosphere.

5. Use less hot water.  It takes a lot of energy to heat water.  Use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 lbs. of C02 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 lbs saved per year).

6.  Avoid products with a lot of packaging.  You can save 1200 lbs of CO2 if you cut down your garbage by 10%.

7. Adjust your thermostat.  Moving your thermostat just 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 degrees in the summer could save about 2000 lbs of CO2 a year. 

8. Plant a tree.  A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime (check out this).

9.  Turn off electronic devices.  Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you're not using them will save you thousands of lbs. of CO2 a year.

QotD: Reality TV Star

If you could be on any reality TV show, which one would you pick and why?

The Amazing Race!!  Who could resist a free trip around the world?