Erstellt am: 7. 12. 2015 - 18:56 Uhr
Johnny's Journeys: Autumn / Winter 2015
Johnny's Journeys links:
Well, the last few months in 2015 have been very interesting ones for me, in my role as FM4's roaming reporter. I've toured multiple land masses, attended all kinds of unusual sporting events, and been forced to contemplate the grisly role Europeans have had in the histories of native people around the world. I've also had a disgustingly high carbon footprint.
But, here we go.
Johnny's Journeys: Larrakia Nation (Darwin, Australia)
Darwin is a very interesting place to visit, because while it was colonized by the same British subjects and convicts who colonized much of the rest of Australia, a very strong community remains of the ORIGINAL people who have lived there for tens of thousands of years.
The particular community living in Darwin is known as Larrakia Nation. I spoke to a local activist named June, to find out more, not only about names, but also about the relationship between Larrakians and the colonial Australians who now live there too.
Johnny Bliss 2015
An important reminder that in much of the western world, we often have been exploiting lands where native people were already living, for much longer than our european cultures have even been around.
Johnny's Journeys: Sundarbans National Park (India)
The Sundarbans are the largest mangrove forest in the world, and an archipelago just south of Bangladesh and the Indian city of Kolkata.
Johnny Bliss 2015
The Sundarbans are known for mud, mangroves, and - most especially - rare Bengali tigers, who have been known to attack and eat humans. But Tigers are not the only hunters at work in the Sundarbans. Both humans and tigers alike are often hunted by another, ancient predator.
That is the voice of Mowgli Kumar, who along with his brothers AJ and Rajesh, runs regular tours down to the Sundarbans from the Indian side of the border near Bangladesh.
Johnny Bliss 2015
Johnny's Journeys: NaNoWriMo Novel Marathon (Vancouver)
This November, I signed up for a worldwide literary marathon called Na No Wri Mo, or the National Novel Writing Month. Participants commit to write 50,000 words of fiction together in the month of November - the length of a short novel, and to do so as a community. I was in my origin city of Vancouver in Canada, and thought I'd try my luck writing one as well.
Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month
While I was there, I met some other participating authors, named John and Rena. I asked what the appeal was, writing a novel at such a crazy pace.
For more information about NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month), which takes place annually in November, check it out online, and meanwhile, here are links to my novel, Rena's novel, and John's novel.
Johnny's Journeys: Astoria Blanket Fort (Vancouver)
Back in my origin city of Vancouver, Canada, I visited something very interesting... a real-life BLANKET FORT comedy event that takes place monthly in a renowned venue called the Astoria in East Vancouver.
But what does it mean to go out to a blanket fort? Well, I spoke to some people at this comedy event to find out.
So, with echoes of a furry convention, pajamas, and a whole lot of comedy, the event in Vancouver is exactly what it sounds like - a blanket fort for adults. But there is also music. I spoke with a musician who performed at the event. Her name is... Shirley Gnome, a very raunchy country singer.
Johnny's Journeys: Election Day (Vancouver, Canada)
October 19th was Election Day all across Canada - and I went all the way to Canada to vote! This election was significant, because there were three major parties vying for power in Canada. Two of the major parties are liberal, or left-leaning. However, the party who were in charge for the last ten years, is very, very conservative.
Even before the election, there was the feeling that change might be in the air. But then again, part of why Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party was in power in Canada for so long, is because Canada's political system is one where the Winner takes All. So with only the Conservative party versus several progressive parties, the liberal vote was often split. If each individual party got less than the Conservative party, it would enable them - the Conservatives - to stay in power, even if combined, the progressive parties receive substantially more of the vote.
EPA/STEPHEN MORRISON
So this has been happening, and the Conservatives have been regularly winning the most seats of any single party every election, and been able to stay in power for the last decade. This time, however, things turned out to be different. Before the results came in, I asked some Canadians on the streets of Vancouver to tell me what was important about this year's election, and who they thought might win.
Thanks in large part to a phenomenon called strategic voting, the moderate-left Liberal Party swept to majority power in a landslide, leaving all opposition parties in the dust. Part of this was thanks to a campaign promise to change the electoral system to something more representative, before the next elections.
Johnny's Journeys: Victoria Hotel (Taxco, Mexico)
I went to the mountainous city of Taxco, which is just a couple hours away from Mexico City, en route to Acapulco. What happened was, I met a guy named Jerry, who told me about an amazing place called the Victoria Hotel. Here's how Jerry remembers his last visit there.
Johnny Bliss 2015
But a lot can change in 55 years. Before we visited the Victoria Hotel, we asked a local for directions, and he gave us a little warning. The hotel may not be quite how Jerry remembers it.
Johnny Bliss 2015
So warned, we anyway decided to go and see if we could find that mango pie. There we discovered a dilapidated ruin, with a bar attached, but not much else. Jerry expressed his disappointment.
Johnny Bliss 2015
Sometimes it is dangerous to revisit the places we have loved, because we can find that things are not quite as we remember them... and it often doesn't need 55 years to happen. On the other hand, seeing how things have changed can also provide us with a special kind of closure.
Johnny Bliss 2015
Johnny's Journeys: Chichen Itza Ball Game (Yucatan)
On the site of the ancient Mayan Ruins of Chichen Itza, I found what would appear to be an old ball court. I thought it was pretty neat that the ancient Mayans had a football game of their own.
Johnny Bliss 2015
The thing is, ancient Mayan sports were a little bit different, a little bit... bloodthirstier – and religious! – than the similar games we play today.
Johnny Bliss 2015
I met a Mayan guide named Manuel, who gave me the scoop.
Johnny's Journeys: Internet in Cuba (Havana, Cuba)
On my travels through the Caribbean, I visited a fascinating country where internet until recently was practically nonexistent. Only in the last couple of months did small INTERNET PARKS open up where people could log on to the internet, and even then it was slow, still very expensive, and pretty impossible to use for sending audio files to radio stations.
But for Cuban people, this much internet access was unprecedented! At the park, I scored an interview with a young, smart-phone-using Cuban millennial named Reina.
I turned my Cuban interviews into a Reality Check Special in October; for more information about that, simply check out my web story.