ROXY MORON album out now!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Im proud to announce that my brothers band ROXY MORON has just released their first album and im proud to have supplied them with the image for the sleeve.
So go out there, support independent music and buy the album!
KK
So go out there, support independent music and buy the album!
KK
Salutations
Saturday, December 20, 2008
To all of you out there who have kept up with the madness, the beauty and the bizarre events of 2008 in Afghanistan, I thank you for your time and interest.
I hope that I will be reporting some more positive news from here in 2009.....Inshallah
I wish you all a festive time in this holiday season and if anyone is in the neighborhood, drop in for some snow and schnapps.
KK
I hope that I will be reporting some more positive news from here in 2009.....Inshallah
I wish you all a festive time in this holiday season and if anyone is in the neighborhood, drop in for some snow and schnapps.
KK
RIDE OF RESPECT
In Respect for our fallen comrade Jason we organised a ride in his honour. We had a great turn out of KKMC members who had all benefited from the experience of riding with Jason.
As always we had mechanical problems, but this time we were thwarted with so many break downs and flat tires, I know that where ever he is....Jason was having a good laugh at the lack of mechanics knowledge we executed.
Respect to the KKMC
As always we had mechanical problems, but this time we were thwarted with so many break downs and flat tires, I know that where ever he is....Jason was having a good laugh at the lack of mechanics knowledge we executed.
Respect to the KKMC
Taliban blows up Christmas and we ask where does tax payers $$$ go?
Press Association
Taliban insurgents have blown up a lorry packed with Christmas turkeys bound for British troops in Afghanistan. The frozen turkeys were destroyed in an explosion on the route from Pakistan to Camp Bastion.
The consignment, weighing 325kg, was intended for troops in Helmand Province, where up to 3,000 soldiers will spend the festive season. But the Christmas dinner will go ahead as planned after the Ministry of Defence flew out replacement birds, ensuring soldiers will not miss out on their special meal.
On Christmas Day soldiers will be able to tuck into the replacement turkey rolls as well as 135kg of roast pork, 424kg of gammon and 67.5kg of beef, topped with 200 jars of cranberry sauce. Brussels sprouts will not be left off the menu - chefs will prepare 62 boxes, weighing a total of 148.8kg. There will also be 300kg of roast potatoes and 120kg of carrots.
And there will be 222 Christmas puddings, 37 Christmas cakes, and one mince pie and one After Eight mint each. The total cost of feeding the troops in Bastion's four dining rooms is £10,265, or just £3.42 each. But there will be no brandy for the Christmas sauce, with Camp Bastion a dry area.
All British soldiers will receive a Christmas box, which includes a multi-tool, three juggling balls, a sewing kit and a travel pillow. They will also receive crackers, party poppers and balloons. For Camp Bastion, Townley has ordered 3,000 crackers, 2,880 party poppers, 3,600 assorted balloons, 2,880 party hats, and 3,000 streamers.
Taliban insurgents have blown up a lorry packed with Christmas turkeys bound for British troops in Afghanistan. The frozen turkeys were destroyed in an explosion on the route from Pakistan to Camp Bastion.
The consignment, weighing 325kg, was intended for troops in Helmand Province, where up to 3,000 soldiers will spend the festive season. But the Christmas dinner will go ahead as planned after the Ministry of Defence flew out replacement birds, ensuring soldiers will not miss out on their special meal.
On Christmas Day soldiers will be able to tuck into the replacement turkey rolls as well as 135kg of roast pork, 424kg of gammon and 67.5kg of beef, topped with 200 jars of cranberry sauce. Brussels sprouts will not be left off the menu - chefs will prepare 62 boxes, weighing a total of 148.8kg. There will also be 300kg of roast potatoes and 120kg of carrots.
And there will be 222 Christmas puddings, 37 Christmas cakes, and one mince pie and one After Eight mint each. The total cost of feeding the troops in Bastion's four dining rooms is £10,265, or just £3.42 each. But there will be no brandy for the Christmas sauce, with Camp Bastion a dry area.
All British soldiers will receive a Christmas box, which includes a multi-tool, three juggling balls, a sewing kit and a travel pillow. They will also receive crackers, party poppers and balloons. For Camp Bastion, Townley has ordered 3,000 crackers, 2,880 party poppers, 3,600 assorted balloons, 2,880 party hats, and 3,000 streamers.
Learning a lesson the hard way
Been having 'fun' applying for my latest Iranian visa. The frustrating process always takes longer than you want, this time I am in a bit of a hurry to get to a funeral service.
Sitting in the office today with some close Afghan friends, I was complaining about how its never a simple application.
One of the Afghans piped up and said: "Hey F... you! You know eventually you will get the visa, it is just a matter of time. We have spent months and months, if not years applying for visa's only to be rejected again and again.
I was blessed by who ever the powers that be, to be born with an Australian passport. A ticket to ride. My Afghan friends here are young, talented, skilled and street wise. All they want is a little bit of freedom, but they are trapped by a invisible barrier to the real world called a border.
Sitting in the office today with some close Afghan friends, I was complaining about how its never a simple application.
One of the Afghans piped up and said: "Hey F... you! You know eventually you will get the visa, it is just a matter of time. We have spent months and months, if not years applying for visa's only to be rejected again and again.
I was blessed by who ever the powers that be, to be born with an Australian passport. A ticket to ride. My Afghan friends here are young, talented, skilled and street wise. All they want is a little bit of freedom, but they are trapped by a invisible barrier to the real world called a border.
White City get down in the Studio
White City was so productive on the tour that we thought we should dive into the studio and record some of the tracks we sketched while in Dushanbe.
We were lucky enough that AWAZ Productions gave us free recording time. The set was challenging for Archie to master, but in the end he sorted out the sea of cables and set up a not bad studio for Kabul, Afghanistan.
In 3 sessions we recorded three tracks that we hope to put online, as soon as Archie finishes the mastering. The long term goal of White City is to write more, dispel with many of our 'covers' and record the first ever Lo-fi (rock) album in Afghanistan.
Rock on
Stayed Tuned
KK
We were lucky enough that AWAZ Productions gave us free recording time. The set was challenging for Archie to master, but in the end he sorted out the sea of cables and set up a not bad studio for Kabul, Afghanistan.
In 3 sessions we recorded three tracks that we hope to put online, as soon as Archie finishes the mastering. The long term goal of White City is to write more, dispel with many of our 'covers' and record the first ever Lo-fi (rock) album in Afghanistan.
Rock on
Stayed Tuned
KK
Shoe Sale!
We all head about the antics of the Iraqi journo that threw his sole at Bush. I would have done the same but maybe not used a shoe...... Well now the shoes are on sale, guess where?
Ebay. Bidding is starting at 99 cents all the way up to $25,000.
The Holy Shoe
Maybe the shoe will go down in history along with the shroud of Jesus, the Mona Lisa and Tutan Kamans mask as one of the worlds most treasured items.....
Ebay. Bidding is starting at 99 cents all the way up to $25,000.
The Holy Shoe
Maybe the shoe will go down in history along with the shroud of Jesus, the Mona Lisa and Tutan Kamans mask as one of the worlds most treasured items.....
The world is a sad place.....
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Life is too short
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
I have only moments ago found out that my close friend Martin Ebbing has passed away from heart failure. Martin and I met in Kabul and we would meet in his house in Tehran, drink wine, smoke cigars and discuss Central Asian/Mid East issues. Martin's wife; Zohreh is not only a fellow photojournalist but dear friend.
Martin was in the process of completing what was probably to be his masterpiece in his many years of reporting. A piece on perceptions of 30 diverse Iranian's lives before and after the revolution of 1979. I hope this report will not go to waste and someone will finish this amazing project he almost completed.
To Zohreh and Martins son Nick I wont say my thoughts are with you, I say: I actually know exactly what you are going through and it does get easier.......
I lost my father in June, another close friend Jason in October and now Martin. Life is too short to waste. Live every second, savour every breath, enjoy every interaction. Don't waste your fucking time pleasing your boss, make yourself happy and the people close to you.
RIP
Martin was in the process of completing what was probably to be his masterpiece in his many years of reporting. A piece on perceptions of 30 diverse Iranian's lives before and after the revolution of 1979. I hope this report will not go to waste and someone will finish this amazing project he almost completed.
To Zohreh and Martins son Nick I wont say my thoughts are with you, I say: I actually know exactly what you are going through and it does get easier.......
I lost my father in June, another close friend Jason in October and now Martin. Life is too short to waste. Live every second, savour every breath, enjoy every interaction. Don't waste your fucking time pleasing your boss, make yourself happy and the people close to you.
RIP
Germans consume 990,000 liters of beer in Afghanistan
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
It's commonly known that vast quantities of vice leave Afghanistan's borders each year, but German forces are fighting back. Media reports show that German military bases in the country received shipments of more than a million liters of alcoholic beverages last year. That included 990,000 liters of beer and 69,000 liters of wine. If all of this were consumed only by the 3,600 German troops stationed in Afghanistan, that would come out to 275 liters of beer per soldier.
Back in the Fatherland, the opposition Free Democrats party, which requested these figures from the military, seized on the revelation as a sign that more must be done to relieve the boredom of German troops. But the Defense Ministry shrugged these concerns off, saying troops were "well within" the two-cans-per day limit.
If President-elect Obama pressures Germany into sending its troops south to fight the Taliban, maybe they'll have fewer chances to tank up. But so long as Chancellor Angela Merkel adamantly refuses to let this happen, I say "Prost!"
Back in the Fatherland, the opposition Free Democrats party, which requested these figures from the military, seized on the revelation as a sign that more must be done to relieve the boredom of German troops. But the Defense Ministry shrugged these concerns off, saying troops were "well within" the two-cans-per day limit.
If President-elect Obama pressures Germany into sending its troops south to fight the Taliban, maybe they'll have fewer chances to tank up. But so long as Chancellor Angela Merkel adamantly refuses to let this happen, I say "Prost!"
High Jinx in Tajiks
I could give you a image by image report of what happened, but I think the images will tell the story: We went, we rocked, we terrorized the locals and we came home.
The only thing we forgot to do was throw a TV out the window...... Ahhh we'll do it next year!
KK
The only thing we forgot to do was throw a TV out the window...... Ahhh we'll do it next year!
KK
2 years and counting....
Monday, December 01, 2008
It was this day exactly two years ago that I landed in Kabul to commence work with Aina Photo Agency. It was a cold day then, like now.
In those 2 years, Aina Photo Agency from strength to strength, now being 100% Afghan owned and run.
I was also lucky enough to be a member of a military rock band: The Insurgents and now member of the infamous White City band. We have since created the Combat Rock Collective, a group of like minded musicians and artist who want to ring some 'life' into the social scene in Kabul.
I also was privileged to be one of the Co-founders of Skateistan, the first ever skateboarding school in Afghanistan.
Myself and close friend Jeremy founded the Kabul Knights Motorcycle Club, that did the first ever successful trip to the forbidden Wakhan Corridor. We also rode with the KKMC around the better parts of this majestic country.
I have found many good friends here, no more dearer to my heart than my Afghan friends (or as I call them, my boys). A group of young Afghan men, who have dreams of traveling the world, but also helping better their homeland. Without them I would not know all I know about this fascinating country.
But it is not all good. There has been a lot of unnecessary death and destruction in these troubled lands. I wish I could say its getting better, but that would not be the truth.
When my close friend was gunned down for still unknown reasons, it made me question why I am here and whether it is worth it to stay. But every day something unique and memorable happens and it reminds me why I came here and why I should stay.
So maybe I have done a lot, but there is a lot more to come. I have some big projects in the making and I hope they will improve this country and make 2009 as interesting as the last 2 years.
Thank you Afghanistan and to all the people who have supported me in these 2 best years of my life.
In those 2 years, Aina Photo Agency from strength to strength, now being 100% Afghan owned and run.
I was also lucky enough to be a member of a military rock band: The Insurgents and now member of the infamous White City band. We have since created the Combat Rock Collective, a group of like minded musicians and artist who want to ring some 'life' into the social scene in Kabul.
I also was privileged to be one of the Co-founders of Skateistan, the first ever skateboarding school in Afghanistan.
Myself and close friend Jeremy founded the Kabul Knights Motorcycle Club, that did the first ever successful trip to the forbidden Wakhan Corridor. We also rode with the KKMC around the better parts of this majestic country.
I have found many good friends here, no more dearer to my heart than my Afghan friends (or as I call them, my boys). A group of young Afghan men, who have dreams of traveling the world, but also helping better their homeland. Without them I would not know all I know about this fascinating country.
But it is not all good. There has been a lot of unnecessary death and destruction in these troubled lands. I wish I could say its getting better, but that would not be the truth.
When my close friend was gunned down for still unknown reasons, it made me question why I am here and whether it is worth it to stay. But every day something unique and memorable happens and it reminds me why I came here and why I should stay.
So maybe I have done a lot, but there is a lot more to come. I have some big projects in the making and I hope they will improve this country and make 2009 as interesting as the last 2 years.
Thank you Afghanistan and to all the people who have supported me in these 2 best years of my life.
