Where is Matt right now?
DECEMBER 23, 2011 - Today I'm learning to dive at Fun and Sun Dive and Travel on Malapascua, Philippines (http://bit.ly/vAoQjP). In three days, we be swimming with thresher sharks. Merry Christmas to me :)
Xpat Magazine March, 2008
I’m sitting here at my desk gazing out the window, trying to put to paper some kind of goodbye letter for my last issue behind the wheel of Xpat. But as I reflect on my time working on Xpat, and in Taiwan, I’m filled with a single emotion: gratitude. So, instead of saying goodbye, I’d like to thank all of the people who helped me make Xpat what it is today.
I would like to thank:
The good people of Taiwan for providing me with the opportunity to create this magazine and for putting up with the astounding amount of bullshit they receive from the ignorant and unappreciative portion of the foreign community
The foreigners who show our host country people the courtesy and respect that they deserve
Paul Andrew for his dedication from the first moment of the first meeting at McDonald’s nearly three years ago
Cindy Loo and Chris Scott for unwavering participation and excellent work on every issue
Rebecca Xiou for bringing in translations on time, but even more so for being a dear friend
Jeremy for showing me the nature of boundaries, and how flimsy they are
My tree-planting supervisor Matt for demonstrating to me the only way to lead – by example
Kurt Cobain for introducing me to the raw emotion of artistry
Kerouac for spouting streams of saintly spontaneous prose
Cervantes for a noble and timeless hero
Dostoyevsky for The Brother’s Karamazov; if you only read one book for the rest of your life, read this one – within its eleven-hundred pages you will find the greatest story ever written and everything you’ll ever need to know
Donovan for advice and support
Garret for thinking more and believing less
Hemmingway for illustrating the importance of a clean, well-lighted place
Twain for unimpeachable integrity and spawning American literature
Hunter S. Thompson for never backing down
Vice Magazine for picking up where Dr. Gonzo left off
Dante for the Divine Comedy
My parents for making me read instead of watch TV
David Lynch for hours of brilliant confusion
My brother Ben, for buying me my first tape: Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine
Ani Difranco for doing it her way gracefully and brilliantly
Bjork for being splendid unique
The Mars Volta for renewing my love of music
Danielle for sleeping on the beach and running through rice fields at dawn
Ghandi for showing that the only real strength is strength of will, and that violence is the weapon of the weak
Buddha for being. And not being.
Picasso for painting Guernica; a morbid billboard-sized depiction of the Fascist bombing of a town by the same name, and for solemnly telling the Fascist fuckers when they asked him if he was responsible for the creation of the painting, “No, you are.”
Emily for yoga on the dance floor and friendship as thick as blood
Mickey for being an incredible animal and caring for my dear sister
Jana Mattie for showing us how fragile we all are; something we could forget no more easily than we could forget her beautiful smile, piercing eyes and unending kindness
Steve for listening during troubled times
Emilie for a year and a half of abandon and adventure
You for reading
Sincerely,
Matt Gibson
Xpat Magazine March, 2007
The definition of ‘Lookism’: discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance
The average hourly earnings of men with “below-average looks” and “above-average looks” compared to the national average in North America respectively: -8.9% and +5.4%
The average hourly earnings of women with “below-average looks” and “above-average looks” in Shanghai: -31.1% and +9.7%
The personality traits that people to attribute to ‘attractive’ people based solely on their appearance: successful, contended, pleasant, intelligent, sociable, exciting, creative and diligent
Marilyn Monroe’s dress size in the 1950s: 16 (approximately the same as a size 12 today)
Catherine Zeta-Jones’s dress size: 6
Percentage of women dieting at any given time: 44
Percentage of American adults who think they’re obese: 19.8
Percentage of American adults who are obese: 30.5
Number of new anorexia and bulimia patients each year in the U.S. according to Naomi Wolf’s feminist classic The Beauty Myth: 1,000,000
Percentage of American women suffering from anorexia or bulimia (same source): 60
Factor by which one study found the above statistics to be overstated respectively: 13.3 and 120
Number of Hairdressing Industry employees in Britain: 180,000
Total number of professionals working in skin care salons, nail salons, and barber shops in the U.S. in 2003: 1,600,000
Percent increase in salon professionals working in the U.S. between 1999 and 2003: 24
The labor market situation of salon professionals according to one beauty school directory: There’s a “severe shortage of licensed salon professionals”
The worlds first and second largest exporters in the “Beauty and Jewelry Industry” respectively: China and India (39% of global exports)
The world’s first and second largest exporters in the “Apparel and Fashion Industry” respectively: China and Pakistan (41% of global exports) 8
The apparent center of the fashion world: China
Top three plastic surgery procedures in the U.S. in 2005, and the surgeries performed: liposuction (324,000), nose reshaping (298,000), and breast augmentation (291,000)
Total spent on cosmetic plastic surgery in the U.S. in 2005: $9.4 billion
Total number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. in 2005: 10.2 million
Percent change from 2004: +11
The Greek goddess of beauty: Aphrodite
How she was born: Kronos castrated his father, Ouranos, and threw his penis into the sea which caused it to froth, and from the foam Aphrodite was born
A faux interview with George W. Bush in which I ask fake questions and inject real George W. gaffe’s, or bushisms, as answers
DECEMBER 23, 2011 - Today I'm learning to dive at Fun and Sun Dive and Travel on Malapascua, Philippines (http://bit.ly/vAoQjP). In three days, we be swimming with thresher sharks. Merry Christmas to me :)
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