It’s often a challenge for me to parse UK newspapers, unlike USA media many don’t maintain even a pretense of objectivity. Reading the first sentence of this article by The Mirror it would sound dire.

“Poor Sombo has been forced to pound the pavements for 30 years after being captured and tortured by communist rebels.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/editors-picks/2012/01/12/campaign-to-save-sombo-the-elephant-from-her-agony-115875-23695049/

A few days ago there was a more nuanced article by The Phnom Penh Post, followed by a TravelFish summary.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012010653829/Lifestyle/whats-sambos-future.html
http://www.travelfish.org/blogs/phnompenh/2012/01/phnom-penhs-elephant-sambo/

It’s pretty clear that Sambo’s owner is aware of the situation and would be happy to see she gets care.
It’s hard to find someone in Phnom Penh who isn’t a Sombo fan.
http://alisonincambodia.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/sam-bo-for-president/

The real challenge is that Sombo’s mahout, Sin Sorn, will lose his main source of income. So to retire an elephant, you’ve pretty much got to ‘drop the mahout‘.

It’s easy to sympathize with a symbol like Sombo. Like many Cambodians, she is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge time, and has health injuries originating from that horrible time. Many of my older Cambodian friends suffer from fairly preventable health issues such as bad teeth, high blood pressure, and stress-related illnesses. There is a lack of access to diagnosis, medicine and treatment.

Let’s heal Sambo. And while we’re at it, she can serve as a reminder of a larger concern facing the citizens of a relatively poor country.

Petition:  http://www.change.org/petitions/retire-sambo-ban-elephants-in-phnom-pehn
(As of this writing? 3,183 signatories.)

(If you’d like to read more about health issues in Cambodia, I highly recommend ‘Diapers and Durians‘.

In your kind home you taught me / To chant Pali reverently,
Treat books with care, so gently, And to daily humbly pray

To the Three Jewels, our teachers / And all creatures, ’til the day
You and I must fade away, Die and decay, chasing peace.

Above: Khmer Arts Academy Performance, April 2009.

Last year when Trent Walker’s teacher (Prum Uth of Cambodian Living Arts) passed away, Trent was moved to write a song in English, sung in the meter of Smot chanting.

Smot is sung in Pali and Khmer, and an English approach demonstrates its vernacular utility. (Trent will be the first to admit that he’s not the world’s premiere Smot singer. However, in terms of innovation, he’s demonstrating some really interesting things about how we percieve this art form.)

Commonly, Smot is associated with funerals, but more broadly speaking it’s religious music, used for ceremonies, consecrations, healing, gift giving ceremonies and more. Get the full details on Trent’s blog.
http://ttwalker.blogspot.com/2010/02/lectureperformance-on-cambodian-dharma.html

Tags: cambodian,dance,khmer,smot

Scholar and blogger Erik Davis (formerly of blog DeathPower) is back with
“Imagining the Real World.” Hooray!
http://erikwdavis.wordpress.com

Off to click through the many tidbits on offer, digesting a rather exhaustive examination of Chomsky Cambodia chronology.

Postscript: more drama on that last bit from Details Are Sketchy!
http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/scorned-in-cambodia/

Doin’ my best to spread the good word about Cambodian comics & Our Books at South Korea’s Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF), with a talk on Cambodian comics history.

So many comics, so much art, so many cool people, so many bottles of Soju!

Stay ‘tooned for short comic précis, to be drawn during our upcoming 24 Hour Comics Drawing Day. Same day as Barcamp Phnom Penh! Yow!

Photos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/slugdog/sets/72157622324601675/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/comicslifestyle

Tags: cambodia,comics,korea