Photo credits: Ajalraj
Similar to the Theyyam dance, Thirra is a ritual dance performed in Goddess temples of the North Malabar region of Kerala.It is believed that the puny frame of the performer draws the strength to support the massive headgear from the loud clothing, ceremonial facial paint and the dance movements themselves presented in front of the deity the Goddess.This art form is performed by the artists of the Peruvannam community. Continue reading
Chefs are rapidly turning vegetables into the cash cow of the cookbook trade. Illustration by Serge Bloch.
If you are a New Yorker subscriber and a foodie, you look forward to the Food issue, which comes out in November each year, and anything written, at any time, by Jane Kramer. For good reason, the latter. Case in point:
Three years ago, I retired the chili party that I used to give in Italy at the end of August. This was a shame, because I liked my party, and thought that the chili made a nice reprieve from the ubiquitous barbecues of summer. Two of the twenty-four regulars at my party were vegetarians—one reluctantly, under a doctor’s orders. A doable number, it seemed to me: for years, I put out a bowl of pasta al pesto just for them. Then, from one chili party to the next, everything changed. Continue reading
Photo © Fabrice Jaine
I’ve noticed a number of positive and interesting developments as of late in the area of marine species protection, pointing to an increasing recognition, by policymakers, of the value of natural capital and associated ecosystem services, particularly the value arising from ecotourism.
In February of this year, the Government of Indonesia granted full protection to manta rays within its nearly 6 million square kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ), making it the world’s largest sanctuary for manta rays. This reverses the trend of the past three decades wherein Indonesia has had the dubious distinction of being home to the world’s largest fishery for sharks and rays. Why the reversal? It seem that studies showing that the ecotourism value of a manta ray is an estimated $1 million over its lifetime, as compared to the onetime value of several hundred dollars for its gill rakers and meat played a key role in persuading policymakers to take action to protect the iconic species.
A few weeks later, the President of Palau announced that the country’s entire 200 nautical mile EEZ will be declared a marine sanctuary and closed to commercial fishing and seabed mining. This follows a move a few years earlier to declare Palau a shark sanctuary. In explaining the reasoning behind the moves Palau’s president noted that a dead shark is worth several hundred dollars, whereas a live shark is worth $1.9 million in tourism during its life span, and that his country will promote scuba diving, snorkelling and ecotourism as an alternative income to commercial fishing. Continue reading
Sony Dong was charged with smuggling songbirds into the United States by strapping fourteen of them to his legs and trying to walk out of the Los Angeles International Airport.
Click the image above to go to this story, with podcast, at National Public Radio (USA), which covers the illicit wildlife trade story we linked to yesterday from a different angle:
Exotic animal trafficking is big business, and Southern California is a hub.
In March, Cheng Zhuo Liu of Chula Vista, Calif., pleaded guilty to smuggling frozen sea cucumbers over the Mexico border. The 100 pounds of sea cucumbers, worth up to $10,000, were found in the spare tire compartment of Liu’s Hyundai.
Fish and Wildlife Service agent Erin Dean says there are many ways to traffic wildlife in Southern California. She says smuggling avenues include LAX, the sixth-busiest airport in the world; the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the nation; and the Mexican border. Continue reading
Our thanks to Mel Duarte for this referral of a design idea that has artistic legs and history, but is as fresh as ever:
In a small Brazilian village, artist and photographer Mel Duarte came across this great example of turning an old thing into a new thing.
“I really like the idea of creative recycling, and hope to inspire people with the potential it offers. With this in mind, I took the chance when I was in a little town in Bahia, Brazil, called Serra Grande, to wander through the village looking for something that could express this idea. That’s how I came across the recycled toilet bowl – it’s such a lovely example of how waste can be turned into something funny and beautiful.” Continue reading
Photo credits: Renjith
The national tree of India, the Banyan is one of the most magical and mystical of trees. In Indian culture the Banyan tree is considered to be sacred and leaves of the tree are considered to be the resting place of Lord Krishna. It is also believed that Buddha achieved enlightenment while sitting under a Banyan tree. Continue reading
female – Munnar, Kerala
Photo © Matt Reinbold
Thanks to Miles Becker for this summary of an article that touches on a theme we have highlighted in the past–sourced from Bush, E.R. et al. 2014. Global trade in exotic pets 2006-2012. Conservation Biology doi: 10.1111/cobi.12240— at Conservation Magazine‘s website:
Pet stores are filled with colorful critters originating from the wilds of other continents. All the cages and terrariums stay well stocked while many prized species decline in their native habitat. Does the global fascination with exotic pet species hasten their extinction?
One way to find out is to compare the list of traded species with a list of species in trouble. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) maintains records of reported legal exports from its 180 member countries. The conservation status of species are listed on the red list curated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Both datasets were analyzed by conservation biologists for a seven-year period of international trade in bird, reptile, and mammal species. Continue reading
Photo credits: Abhay
The Santa Cruz Basilica is a heritage church in Fort Kochi with a colorful history. Built by the Portuguese in 1505 and elevated by Pope Paul IV to cathedral status in 1558, it was demolished by the British in 1795 when they took over Kochi. Bishop Dom Gomez Ferreira commissioned a new building at the same site in 1887. Continue reading
No matter how you view it, driving more fuel-efficiently is a worthy goal, but in a world with more than enough aggression already we think “Softer Slower” by Huntley Muir sends just the right visual reminder of another reason why driving more gently is a worthy goal:
Su and Donna, the two halves of artist duo Huntley Muir, have painted a poster that encourages people to be more tender on the accelerator.
“We decided to cut our speed by 10 miles an hour to save fuel and cut pollution and noise. It really works – we do use less fuel, it’s safer, less stressful and we don’t even notice the difference. And we are below the legal speed limits as well. Such goody two shoes. Continue reading
An elephant seals basks on Heard Island. Photograph: Australian Antarctic Division, HO/AP
Thanks to the Guardian for their coverage of environmental issues around the world. We give credit where due, and this is continued good news for marine conservation without any qualifications (not even going to mention mining policies):
The government has created Australia’s largest fully protected marine reserve near two far-flung islands, in a move which environmental groups say will help safeguard rare whale species.
The Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve has been expanded by 6,200 sq km following a scientific assessment of its conservation values.
The reserve now spans 71,200 sq km of ocean. Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian external territory located 4,100km south-west of Perth, are barren, uninhabited outposts considered among the most remote places on Earth. Continue reading
Sakleshpur, Karnataka
Jeff Bezos wants Amazon to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company.” What do customers’ interests and concerns include? We believe customers increasingly care about the environmental practices, and cultural impact, of companies they buy from.
George Packer published a profile of Amazon in mid-February that raises questions about the modern form of capitalism, especially with regard to its impact on culture. Today in a follow up blog post about Amazon on the New Yorker’s website Packer brought to our attention this study about cloud computing’s best and worst corporate citizens. Amazon does not fare well in the analysis. Click the image to the left to go to the full publication, but start with the quick summary below:
Executive Summary
For the estimated 2.5 billion people around the world who are connected to the internet, it is impossible to imagine life without it. The internet has rewoven the fabric of our daily lives – how we communicate with each other, work and entertain ourselves – and become a foundation of the global economy.
Seemingly on a daily basis, new businesses that use the internet as their foundation are disrupting and often replacing long-standing business models and industries. From music and video to communications and mail, more and more of our “offline” world is moving online. We can expect that trend to continue and accelerate as the global online population reaches 50% of the world’s projected population, moving from 2.3 billion in 2012 to an expected 3.6 billion people by 2017. Continue reading
Photo credits: Jithin Vijay
The Kodungallur Bharani Festival is celebrated in the Kodungallur Bhagavathi Temple to commemorate the extermination of the demon Darika by Bhadrakali. This festival attracts the largest congregation of Velichappadu or oracles in Kerala. A series of unique rituals are performed during the festivities. Continue reading
Endearing, yes, unless “Lights Out” makes you think the way Philip K. Dick did about dreaming while inanimate, or even as Shakespeare did; dark stuff that, but we get the point of our friends at this great initiative:
Design company Hudson-Powell have created this rather endearing poster, encouraging us to show light bulbs a bit of compassion.
“In the Shinto religion inanimate objects are often given a persona or spirit to help people relate to them in a more humanistic way and to create a dialog with the object. Taking this idea and applying it to light bulbs, making them delicate living things that need rest and can dream seemed like a playful way of getting people to remember to turn them off.”
Why? Continue reading
Yanacocha Reserve, Ecuador
Details is not one of our regular go-to publications, and trendy is not our thing, but this story is worth a read if only for the fascinating graphics:
This is a handcrafted story. Assembled according to the time-honored traditions of the delightfully anachronistic magazine industry, it was carefully conceived by a small group of experienced editors, then slowly stitched together around locally sourced quotes, each word expertly tailored to your reading enjoyment (stitched—a nice word, isn’t it?). The author, emerging from the seclusion of his quiet work warren, submitted the piece only after it had met his exacting specifications and according to no schedule but that dictated by the work itself.
Photo credit: Dileep
Charcoal ironing boxes were heated with smoldering coals that were taken from a fire and placed inside a box on the top of the iron. The lid of the box had a handle, which allowed people to hold the hot iron as they ran it over clothing, smoothing out wrinkles. In Kerala the box was traditionally made of bronze.
The image above is a reminder for us, as much as it is a pass along to you. After finally securing, in early 2013, a supply of beautiful glass water bottles for all of our restaurants and guest rooms in Kerala, Raxa Collective has been working for the last year to source a reusable and conveniently portable water bottle. The Earth Hour original purpose of the series of which the above poster is a part has a long tail of utility. Today we give thanks for “BYOB” by Rebecca Penmore, one of the altruistic designers at Pentagram giving us more clarity on why we should re-use:
On a hot summer’s day when hydration was the name of the game, Pentagram designer Rebecca Penmore noticed that our bottles of tap water are much more than liquid containers – they are an extension of our personality.
“The aim of my poster is to encourage people to carry their own bottle of tap water and avoid countlessly re-buying mineral water. I have used the well known acronym BYOB as a simple and straightforward way to communicate this message,” says Rebecca. “Bringing your own bottle is not only an easy way to reduce your global footprint, but it can be a great form of self expression!”
Why? Continue reading
Organikos 