Owner: david mctavish photography URL:http://www.davidmctavish.com/blog/ Join Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:37:11 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: simple photos of every day life by david mctavish Site statistics:Click here
relief 2007-09-25 22:51:55 Some days the heat can really creep up on you and the back of your brain craves relief
by sitting back and enjoying a cold one. I'm sure this guy would have gladly traded his water bottle for an ice-cold Heiney. Now here's where he and I can commiserate: the 12 USD asking price. At that price, he's not the only one that can use his imagination and turn water into beer. Shuffle on down, let the drinking begin.
car troubles? 2007-09-24 13:58:52 some times you can't win for trying. What was meant to be a full-day excursion quickly turned into a comical display of what can go wrong next. Our drivers' short-cut turned into a four hour harikari drive at 100km/h with no seatbelts along the back roads of India's interior (all this despite the fact that we were only 100km away from our intended destination). For our troubles, we were rewarded with this road-side pit-stop for directions and the mandatory cool down period. And who said they don't make 'em like they used to.
waiting for change 2007-09-23 01:51:05 One of the most difficult things about India is accepting the fact that you can't help everyone. The level of poverty is intense and the flood of good intentions will quickly overwhelm you. Sometimes, the help you provide isn't the help they search for, but you can only hope that they will grow to appreciate the lesson.
watch your step 2007-09-22 04:54:32 Another location in the Mohabs area; these steps lead up to a lighthouse that is over 500 years old. The amazing part about it is when you walk around the base you realize they carved the entire mountain to appear as an elephant carrying the lighthouse. Read more:watch
Mohabs 2007-09-22 04:50:27 Mohabalipuram, or better known as Mohabs to the locals, is the first authentic tourist attraction we've been able to venture out to. And being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we had high hopes which were not disappointed. The craftsmanship is absolutely awe-inspiring when you realize that these people spent 200 years carving ONE big rock into all of this. (You'd also hate to be the guy who accidentally chiseled off the elephant ear after 150 years of development :)
displaced 2007-09-22 04:39:54 Three years ago, nobody in India even knew the word tsunami. Today, this temporary refugee camp is still fully inhabited. With tarps and thatching for homes, these people make their lives the only way they know how. It certainly illuminates the difficulties you witness on TV when you can see the faces that were affected.
resilience 2007-09-22 03:41:55 Our first day in Akkarai introduced us to a lifeline: Christine at the Ayur Grammam massage spa. After seeing my camera slung over my shoulder she gasped and knew right away who I had to take a picture of. Within minutes we were all on a rickshaw to her place to visit her housekeepers' mother. Christine told her that a photographer had arrived to take pictures of her for her wedding day, and they dressed her up in her finest saree as she beamed with pride. I like this picture because it shows the grace that she exhibited in such a fragile state.
field trip 2007-09-21 17:23:33 Our trip to Mohabs was fairly short, it was the first time we tried to venture out while trusting Zen at home. As one would expect, we worried about him the entire time we were out; only to find that he was quite fine when we arrived back home. As we arrived at the main site in Mohabs we came across a convoy of school buses full of students on an outing. The entire bus was watching us diligently; however, these were the first two to beam out a smile. Once the camera came out, there was a lot of smiling and waving to greet us.
fragrance 2007-09-29 19:11:30 To contrast yesterdays' post, we were quite pleased to find a little oasis of florists; who were all too pleased to have their photos snapped. The scent of fresh jasmine filled the narrow walkways; and somehow, the eerie glow of the sun beating through the over-hanging tarp provided just the right ambiance.
lost and found 2007-09-28 19:25:12 It seems that with the commotion and complete insanity of traffic here, losing your shoes is a common occurance. From what I gather, the courteous thing to do is post it along the street. I wonder if these shoes somehow make their way to the same place in the sky as their lost-mitten and single-sock brethren?
closing time 2007-09-28 19:11:30 I'll hazaard a guess that the aroma of fish baking throughout the day is somewhat responsible for the mass exodus of the farmers' market at closing
time. While I'm sure that everyone has their own incentive to be heading home; there's that certain je ne sais quoi about lingering around such a fresh aroma for an extended period of time. Now, what I was shocked about was not having to weigh the cost/benefits of any lucrative last-minute bargains. Do I really want this half-baked fish for 20 rupees? Probably for the best, I'm sure the inner cheapskate would've won out.
thank you for smoking 2007-09-27 22:51:55 it would seem that India missed the memo on the public outcry against smoking. Still, I'm sure she's sucking that ciggie back and thinking; damn that's good...
We've got our first appointment with the "baby doctor" today. I've been nominated for the task of holding the poor sucker as he gets shivved with his regularly scheduled vaccination. Nothing like scarring him for life early on; fortunately, he's a tough lil' bugger.
moove over 2007-09-26 22:51:55 I'm not sure if we were temporarily transported to Pamplona, but there was certainly the sense of a good cow race in the air. Ole Betsey here was taking up the rear, but the fancy-shmancy stroller would prove no match over the long haul.
satisfaction 2007-10-04 15:48:09 So I hear from the grapevine there is a lot of rumbling about not posting enough photos of zen. So, by popular demand; I present the wee lil stinker himself. Green bean's recently been switching over to a tofu-based formula which will hopefully help with that triplicate chin issue. He's definitely been the wee lil piggie having roast beef; I don't even try to get between him and his dinner anymore: he's got a mean left hook.
Oh, I was supposed to inform you that there are new videos posted.
bikes 2007-10-04 15:01:00 I'm not sure what it is about bicycles; but everywhere I go I always seem to add a few more photos to the collection. Now that I think about it, it seems bikes
and mops; I'm not quite sure why but there must be something deep in one of Van's psychology books that could explain. Van believes this is my best photo of a bike ever, and trying to be modest, I still would have to agree.
a new definition of fresh obsessed 2007-10-04 13:22:00 If you like your mutton fresh
, do I know the place for you. There's something a little unnerving about pointing at a live goat and correllating it with supper. I guess we've been insulated from such activities by having large-chain grocery stores serve us meat in nicely vacuumed-sealed packages. Perhaps if goats weren't so domestically cute it might be easier. Now I didn't say it was impossible, and that was one tender slab of mutton. (BTW, they call goats mutton if you were thinking I was errantly referring to lamb. :) Read more:obsessed
out for a swim 2007-10-03 14:49:00 So Monday was an interesting day. Apparently, all of India comes to a halt while the government decides on calling a mandatory strike. It seems that a lot of companies take this very seriously, as there have been reports of debauchery in the past. Even my work took matters of precaution by claiming it as a national holiday. We were suitably warned to stock up and stay home for the day, which we were more than happy to accommodate by spending a day at the beach and swimming in the pool. Now, I have to admit, I'm not responsible for the shot, but isn't he adorable?
objects in mirror are closer than they appear 2007-10-02 14:40:00 So our new rental car finally arrived; and today was officially the first night parked in the drive-way. It's nice having the luxury to be able to go where you want, when you want. And the timing couldn't have been better seeming as we once again without power for over 24 hours. We decided that the subconscious confines of being at home were enough to drive us onto the insane roads of India. With me at the wheel, we headed into the unknown; with the back-seat driver providing some timely reminders of how cars drive on the left-side of the road; and some not-so-timely reminders of "look out". Sure enough, first day out, and I took off the passenger-side mirror overtaking a bus. If you've been to India, you'll know that the roads are fairly tight, and the traffic likes to stop on a whim; so defensive driving is taken to a whole new level. I'm just glad the mirror was all we lost. Fortunately, we have a driver that comes with the car on Tuesday; I believe I'll be leaving the rest of Read more:appear
, closer
, objects
howdy 2007-10-01 14:20:43 I find I get one of two possible reactions from people when they see me walking around with my camera: either the nasty sneer or the come-hither and take our snaps. Occassionally there is the third reaction of the person being overtly shy, but a well-timed smile generally moves them back into one of the two categories. When I first saw this group of old foggies, I was fully expecting the "get off of my yard" treatment. Fortunately, they seemed to be captivated by the camera and wanted several photos taken of each. By the end of it, I thought I'd run into a bunch of divas, they spent a good twenty minutes looking at their snaps and claiming 'superb'. Probably the highlight of both of our days. Read more:howdy
zen 2007-09-30 14:20:43 Saturday mornings have been designated "dad's time to satisfy his photo bug", where I take an auto-rickshaw into random places in Chennai. I'm sure the rickshaw driver loves me by now, it's a guaranteed 3 hours of driving all around with zero destination. So far, I've been finding some incredibly interesting locations. As part of my daily routine, I always sneak a photo of zen so that I can look at him on the camera view-finder while I'm out and about. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even miss me while I'm gone, but I know I steal a good three or four glimpses of him while traipsing about Chennai.
bull's eye 2007-10-15 01:37:00 while back home the obsession with cows involves late-night field tripping; in india cows are accessorized like the rice rocket down the street. from racing stripes to spinners and fancy bells; these cows have got it goin' on.
airing the dirty laundry 2007-10-13 01:25:00 so, we've got an interesting dilemma: we've got some hired help but there seems to be a gap on the communication (I presume it may have something to do with the fact that we both speak completely different languages). I'm sure she's trying her best, however, I'm not sure how many times I can afford to have our clothes dried beside the pool after it's been chlorinated. As much as I like tie-dye, I'm just not sure it's making a fashion come-back any time soon. Read more:dirty
blehh! 2007-10-12 01:22:00 I'm not sure what overwhelms people here, but they seem to do the funniest things when you pull a camera out. Most of the kids will reach for the camera to look at the picture before it's even been snapped. I suppose that's just a warning sign to me that I need to be quick about this.
discarded 2007-10-11 01:03:00 The old abandoned amusement park also seems to be somewhat of a retirement home for statues which have served their purpose. There's quite the menagerie of life-sized statues; some which have a creepy child-like/Disneyesque persona to them that I couldn't unnerve myself to shoot. She's one of the lucky ones, she's only lost her hands.
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