The Philadelphia City Paper has a nice new story about artist/graphic novelist Aaron Birk. An excerpt:

“…the circle of life – death, karma, regeneration – maintains a tight orbit around Birk’s worldview. And for the Maryland-native artist whose hands are rough from working with the earth, the end always justifies the means. ‘If you can just say thank you and be grateful,’ he says in a radio-ready voice stifled slightly by the city’s sudden frost, ‘your whole world opens up. How am I going to use my day? How am I going to use that minute?’

“Birk, who seems equal parts Buddhist, ecologist and unrelenting optimist, has plans for his minute.”

Read the whole story here.

Thanks to reader Micah O, who sent this doozy:

“i dont know if you have seen these but i did at this indian gas station the other day and started laughing

“i thought it was funny they would have to use that symbol to promote something that kills so many and so many struggle with.”

Obviously, he means “funny-weird,” and not “funny-ha-ha.”

Thanks for sending it, Micah.

Really:

So what’s the deal here? Well, this item is one of the most recent pinhole cameras — yes, it works — by the artist Wayne Martin Belger. As Belger explains, the camera is “named ‘Yama,’ [after] the Tibetan God of Death. In Tibetan Buddhism, Yama will see all of life and Karma is the ‘judge’ that keeps the balance. The skull was blessed by a Tibetan Lama for its current journey and I’m working with a Tibetan legal organization that is sending me to the refugee cities in India.”

He goes on to explain that Yama was designed for two series of photographs, the first being Belger’s “interpretation of the modern incarnation of Southeast Asians deities.” The second “will take place in the Tibetan refugee cities of India, a homecoming through the eyes of a 500 year old Tibetan.”

Belger’s cameras — and the photos they take — beg to be seen, not just for their power, craziness, and artfulness, but also because Belger has a unique focus on documenting and transforming suffering.

Other cameras include “Untouchable,” which is “designed to study and photograph a geographic comparison of people suffering from HIV,” and the “Heart Camera,” which Belger says was created “to take photos of soon-to-be mothers who are at least 8 months pregnant, and [to] explore my relationship with my twin brother who died at birth.”

It’s meaningful stuff — sometimes a bit outrageous, sometimes very beautiful, and often both. You can see all of Belger’s cameras on his website, here.

We recently got an email from film director Tony Kerns, about his new film, A Month of Hungry Ghosts:

“Hello Horse – I found your site a few months back and have been wanting to send you some info about my indy documentary film A MONTH OF HUNGRY GHOSTS.  The film documents an entire seventh lunar month in Singapore in 2005 and captures many events and angles pertaining to hungry ghosts practices in Singapore.  It’s getting a small theatrical release in Singapore this August and I hope to get it into some film festivals next year.  I thought you might be interested in this project.  We captured a lot of interesting things throughout the shoot.  The site has more info, pics, trailers, teasers and my production “blog” about the shoot along with updates on screenings.  Please check it out if you get a chance. Thanks!”

Definitely, Tony. It looks TOTALLY cool. Let’s hope it gets around like it should.

Fellow Worst Horses can check it out here.

As we’ve reported, The Firstborn’s new album, The Noble Search, is on its way. And not a minute too soon. If you’re down with crazy-ass metal, and you’re down with Buddhism, then you need to check out what Bruno and the gang are up to on their new record.

They’ve got a new website up. Check it, and check back, as more updates are promised. You can hear a sample track and even download a PDF of the lyrics now.

LOVE. THIS. BAND.

If you saw the below post, you know how excited we were to learn about Thomas Scoville’s online comic-book version of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Here’s the “cover” (left).

Scoville was kind enough to write back to the Horse about it, and explained the thinking behind his bright idea:

“I’m kind of amazed by how much coverage it’s gotten. It was just some background research I’m doing for a novel — I’m trying to use the BT as a guide text for a pop culture novel. Though I’d read bits and pieces of the BT for years, I realized I’d never gotten my mind around the whole thing — it’s not very ‘sticky’ to a western mind like mine, I guess. So I had the idea of dumbing it down: if I were a teen, how would I explain it to me? — comic book form, with pop culture figures and images to make it stickier and less threatening. So I tried that. An hour a day for about a week.

“I’m just tickled that so many people found it entertaining and/or informative.”

Well, count the Horse among them.

Here’s hoping that Thomas will keep exploring along the lines he’s drawing for us. Somebody give this guy a book — or, comic-book — deal.

You can see the comic here. And check out the rest of Thomas’s site here.

Check THIS out. It’s a sample panel from “The Comic Bardo Thodol” (aka The Tibetan Book of the Dead), as created and executed by writer/artist Thomas Scoville.

This is seriously one of the coolest things the Horse has ever seen. It’s fun! It’s visionary! It features Donald Trump as Yama Raja, the Lord of Death. (Of course.)

But don’t take our word for it, see it for yourself. Here’s the link. Have fun.

Big thanks MUST be said to good ol’ Dr. Nick Ribush, of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, for passing this on to the Horse.

Why not go and give the LYWA website a little traffic to say thanks to him for his sharp eyes and good taste?

Big thanks also to Thomas Scoville just for making something so equally dharmic and cool.

…Lastly, thanks also to reader Erin F, who sends on the link for The Joy of Tech’s comic, “What meditating people really think about.”