Twenty Million Dollar Girl Michelle Wie

A little off the subject of SE Asia, bit hey, I saw Michelle Wie on TV right here in Cambodia last night and it reminded me of this shot of her at The Pearl Open in Hawaii five years ago. A bad crop by the publisher but what can we do, we submit they chop…..haha.

She was 14 back then but now she is all grown up. I am not embarrassed to say that she beat me when she was just 9 years old at the Ala Wai Golf Course in Honolulu, Hawaii (the world's busiest) one afternoon. She hit the ball long and straight and shot about 3 over par. Me? Well let's just say I enjoyed my usual golf course activities including; exploring creeks and ponds, examining sand, enjoying groves of trees and shouting my favorite number, FORE!

I hope Michelle gets back on track because she is a really nice person. She doesn't like photographers much but who does these days? Good luck at the Kraft-Nabisco Michelle…….and tell those photographers to keep quiet!


John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photographs
My Photoshelter Archive Homepage

Peddle By Hand

An underprivileged Khmer man rests on the wooden bed of his peddle by hand wheelchair near the Mekong River sidewalk promenade in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I wish this man could meet Patrick Hughes.

As the 6th issue of NEED Magazine explains,

"Patrick Hughes thought of himself as a “normal” undergraduate. He played rugby, joined a fraternity at the University of Kansas and, like most young adults, struggled to figure out his direction in life. Patrick became friends with Jay, a young man on campus, after striking up a conversation about music. The two went to fraternity events, study sessions and sports matches together. Because Jay had autism, Patrick’s other friends questioned their friendship and avoided interacting with Jay. Patrick began to reflect on why including Jay in his “regular life” was so challenging. He realized that people with disabilities experience devastating isolation because the world can be so unwelcoming. “Who is making it difficult for them to be included? Is it them? Or us?” he asks.Although disability does not negate an individual’s desire to be accepted, it can change how society treats them."

Patrick Hughes is a DOER!!! Mr. Hughes founded an outfit called Inclusion Solutions. I hope I will become more like Patrick Hughes don't you?

John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photographs
My Photoshelter Archive Homepage

Chinese Language Class

Students at the Angkor School in Kampong Cham, Cambodia, reach for the top of a bulletin board. The curriculum at this institution offers French, Chinese and English language classes as well as Cambodia's native Khmer. It seems that most of the kids want to learn Chinese. Which country do you think has more influence on Cambodian affairs, America or China?

John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photographs
My Photoshelter Archive Homepage

Is This Cambodia? What Would Albert Einstein Think?

Well yes, this is Cambodia too! It's The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) in Phnom Penh. The FCC once served as a refuge for foreign journalists but journalists themselves don't hang out much here anymore and neither do local Khmers. It's a nice place for people "traveling through" though.

Many folks passing through the Cambodian tourist "metropolis's" of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh are surprised when they learn that about 40 % of the 15 million people who call Cambodia home would have to work 3 weeks to afford just one beer at this establishment. This scene is proof that some people at least don't have top save up quite that long.

Fifteen or twenty bucks will feed 40-50 orphans a day in Cambodia so start saving up! Whether you spend your savings on beer or food, well that's up to you. Please keep on mind though that the "Average Joe" in Cambodia doesn't ever have to make that decision. His stomach is doing the talking….growling???

If you are a reader of this blog it's apparent that I am no Einstein as the saying goes. I'm an "Average Joe" too. So take it from the man himself.

“The world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far has created problems that cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them.”

Albert Einstein

John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photographs
My Photoshelter Archive Homepage