Texture

Banyan bark, thelonius purple moss, gingko leaves, skin of the thistle-willy frog, surface of a pothole puddle in a Rajdamri soi, the hairy tickle of a rambutan rolled up the back of your knee ... texture. Southeast Asia has the most wonderful textures in the world.

The wizened visage of a Malaccan smithy, the tongue of a starving Intramuros street cat, the spikey threat of a Bruneian durian ... those surfaces are life, they are stories and fables that zing into your eyeball and finger tips.

Come and scrape along, drag you finger, lick the rain, roll in a paddy. Take a full bite of Southeast Asia -- and you will be living well, and fully.

I am the Loris

You have a great job when you are getting paid, even if it's not what the AIG derivatives guys are making, to camp out in Northwestern Cambodia and set rare animals free into their native habitat. Yeah, that is good stuff ... and that is exactly what our friends at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) were doing in late February and early March.

BBA is honored to contribute its time and expertise to WWF as one of our humanitarian partners in Asia. WWF is doing incredibly important work across Asia, but BBA is particularly engaged right now in their efforts in the Mekong region.

This handsome young Loris is literally in the process of leaving his basket to go back into a habitat that should be safe for him to eat well, date voraciously and generally have some fun while surviving in, well, the Jungle.

If you'd like to know more about the World Wildlife Fund and their work in Southeast Asia, please check out their website at www.worldwildlife.org.

World Wildlife Fund Captures Footage of Rare Javanese Rhino

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia released rare footage showing the behavior of a Javanese rhinoceros and her calf. The group reports there are only 70 rhinos left in the conservation park, as the population has been decimated by poaching and deforestation. WWF plans to transport some of the rhinos to another area of Indonesia to guard against extinction in the case of localized disease or natural disaster.

The video shows the behavior of the rhino as it forages for food, rests and inspects WWF’s infrared cameras: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080529-rhino-video-ap.html.

Be sure to check out WWF's projects around the world at: wwf.org.