:: see below for some photos and anecdotal (sometimes random) notes from a recent trip I took to southern Vietnam. This was only my second time in Vietnam, so please correct me if I got anything wrong. Thanks.  // AjS

snaps ::

scribbles ::

• Vietnam is really two words and should be spelled Viet Nam.
• Pepsi not Coke.
• I have never seen stores selling caskets before. In Vietnam such stores are all along the roadside. It’s very sad to see a stack of children-sized caskets ready for the sell.
• There are a lot catholic churches in Vietnam.
• Vietnamese cemeteries are above ground and beautiful.
• Warrior sneakers and Tiger beer are the only Chinese brands I noticed in the Vietnamese market.
• Pho is of course never better than in Vietnam.
• Motorbikes not cars.
• Vietnam has some of the most interesting signage, particularly government propaganda anti-smoking, and disease awareness signs.
• Vietnamese people don’t stare, at you in fact, you’re lucky if they look at you at all.
• Some local fishing boats look like teacups floating in the water.
• In-store / shop / home Buddhist shrines have flashing neon lights.
• Quite a few people speak Mandarin. More than I would have expected.
• Samsung and NOKIA seem to be market leaders in the hand set space in Vietnam.
• A few KFC, no McDonalds. A good thing.
• WIFI internet access is fairly readily available in HCM city. The fastest internet connection I’ve accessed in years in in the HCM city airport courtesy of Vietnam Airlines.
• Vietnamese coffee is still the best coffee in the world to me.
• Automobile horns are different…they are considerably louder, at a higher pitch, and more annoying.
• Buildings are tall, skinny, and deep.
• Motorcycle helmets is a good industry to be in.
• “Same same.” is a full and proper sentence in Vietnam.
• Unlike the most of the rest of East Asia, Karaoke is not a very big deal here.
• Barefoot.
• Limes, not lemons.
• Bugs are bigger here.
• What’s the point of the last 3 zeros in local currency?
• The Mekong River is very muddy.
• The Vietnamese, like almost every country I’ve ever visited (accept Germany) appear to be quite patriotic.
• There is no subway in HCM city, although I understand that is going to change soon.
• Although the official name is apparently HCM city, most local people still seem to refer to it as Saigon. Saigon sounds much better, but
• HCM was a pretty interesting guy and probably worst have a big Vietnamese city named after him.
• A lot of graffiti tags, but couldn’t really find and proper pieces.
• There is an odd and very obvious surplus of older Western men with badly done arm tattoos running around this country.
• Palm trees and coconuts.
• To my great delight, 8bit Nintendo is still played by the average Vietnamese “gamer”
• The Saigon River-front in downtown HCM city reminds of what Shanghai must have looked like in the late 80s or so.
• Bread appears to be a pretty standard part of local cuisine…unlike most other East Asian countries.
• Petro not gas.

:: Tuesday marked the one year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake. Almost 90,000 people died in the disaster – over 5,000 of them children, trapped under the rubble of their own school classrooms, but spare a moment to think about 126 that did survive. Rescued from collapsed schools and designated as some of those most severely affected, they were brought to Beijing and enrolled in a specially tailored program of rehabilitation. The children, mainly Qiang and many of them orphans, gave a name to their new family at the Shuren-Ribet School in Beijing, “ShuMeng-ErMa” – hope in Sichuan for Qiang sons and daughters.

With no written system, Qiang culture and history have always been passed on by storytellers, musicians and religious leaders, but almost all of these ‘cultural carriers’ perished in the earthquake, leaving the preservation of Qiang culture at risk. The ShuMeng program works not only to offer basic education, food and shelter to these children, but to provide Qiang cultural classes, counseling and a sense of structure to their lives. Children who had nothing now have hope and a chance to make something of their future, but without funding, this program will have to close. The children will be separated from each other and sent back to schools in disaster-stricken areas. Such an upheaval would not only remove each child from his or her new surrogate family at the school, but it is unlikely any would receive education in Qiang culture or traditions at newly constructed schools in Sichuan – something that puts the future of this minority’s traditions in danger.

These children have been given hope, but risk having it taken away again – you can help.  // AjS

:: taken in Shanghai at a friend’s apartment; a circa 1930s / 40s Soviet Cyrillic typewriter made by a company called PMZ (or ПМЗ, short for Podol’skom Mekhanicheskom Zavode, or in Russian, Подольском механическом заводе), which also apparently made motorcycles. If anyone has any more information about this company or this typewriter, please comment below. Thanks.  // AjS

:: head over to The Boston Globe for a compelling photo essay that takes a look at North Korea from across the Yalu river in Dandong (Liaoning Province), China.  // AjS

:: a chess game of advertisement in Los Angeles. Via PSFK and here. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

[full disclosure: 56minus1 is employed by Edelman Digital; BMW is an Edelman Digital client.]

:: a short time-lapse / stop-motion film by Keith Loutit made with about 5000 still photographs – part of his spectacular Little Sydney series. The film features the sculpting of a sand whale by Greenpeace activists on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia; a statement against the whaling industry. H/T Kenneth Tan. Bravo, well done.  // AjS

Helpless from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

:: see below for a photo-essay by Kevin Bauman capturing 100 abandon houses in Detroit.  // AjS

:: a grassroots documentary film project by two soccer players who travel the globe exploring the less glorified side of the world’s game: pick up games; dirt, concrete, and sand pitches; impromptu contests, homemade balls, etc. Check out the homepage to learn more about the project, and, if so inclined, !  // AjS

The Soccer Project from Rebekah Fergusson on Vimeo.

:: everyone’s favorite French photographer, JR, is back doing what he does best, this time in Cambodia. See below for a sample. Wooster Collective, as always, has more here.  // AjS

:: taken in Capetown, South Africa by 小杜, link here to see these photos in their full, original format. 小杜 is also the force behind 我要 li(ttle)URL.cn, a Chinese URL shortening service.  // AjS

::  a TED presentation by Barry Schwartz, an author and academic, in which he makes a passionate call for “practical wisdom” as an antidote to a society gone mad. Rules often fail us; incentives often backfire; wisdom can rebuild our world.  // AjS

:: JR is a brilliant French photographer whose work transplants large-scale photographs onto highly visible public spaces, buildings, and even vehicles. The resulting effect is tremendous. See below for a sampling of JR’s most recent projects in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and Kibera, Kenya. Bravo, well done. // AjS

[h/t to Panthea and Nial for introducing me to JR's work]

:: I’m not sure where or when I first saw these photographs (maybe here) – they’ve been floating around for a while – or who took them / did the research. At any rate, they deserve sharing over and over again as they represent a fascinating look into the lives of everyday people and food consumption habits around the world.  // AjS

[update: these photographs were originally published in the book . h/t .]

Mali: The Natomos of Kouakourou
Food expenditure for one week: $26.39

Guatemala: The Mendozas of Todos Santos
Food expenditure for one week: $75.70

India: The Patkars of Ujjain
Food expenditure for one week: $39.27

Greenland: The Madsens of Cap Hope
Food expenditure for one week: $277.12

United States: The Fernandezes of Texas
Food expenditure for one week: $242.48

France: The Le Moines of Montreuil
Food expenditure for one week: $419.95

Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City
Food expenditure for one week: $221.45

Great Britain: The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis
Food expenditure for one week: $253.15

Luxembourg: The Kuttan-Kasses of Erpeldange
Food expenditure for one week: $465.84

Turkey: The Celiks of Istanbul
Food expenditure for one week: $145.88

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: $189.09

China: The Dong family of Beijing
Food expenditure for one week: $155.06

Australia: The Browns of River View
Food expenditure for one week: $376.45

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: $68.53

United States: The Caven family of California
Food expenditure for one week: $159.18

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: $151.27

Canada: The Melansons of Iqaluit, Nunavut Territory
Food expenditure for one week: US$345

Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: $317.25

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Mongolia: The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar
Food expenditure for one week: $40.02

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: $260.11

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: $500.07

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: $1.23

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: $5.03