.
Again I sing the praises of my favorite transportation in the tropics. Sorry if I’m repetitious and have written this before.
.
Taking express boats to downtown Bangkok is slower than going by taxi and much hotter, although sometimes river breezes give a bit of relief. But the boats are much cheaper and are an adventure in themselves. One gets to see Bangkok at water-level, at its roots.
.
Sometimes the boats are so crowded that there is standing room only. If that is the case, I like standing in the back squarely in front of the engine-box. Let me explain:
.
An express boat is about the size of a bus, an aisle going up the middle with pairs of seats on both sides. The pilot is up front. The forward two-thirds is seating; the aft third is engine-box plus steps up to the deck in the stern where folks embark and disembark as the boat briefly hitches to the piers along the way.
.
If I have to stand during the voyage, I prefer the times when the standing customers are not too packed together, so that I can pick my spot, standing squarely in the center, just in back of all the rows of seats and immediately in front of the engine-box. To me, that is the boat’s center of gravity, its very soul. Standing there, I can feel every bit of the boat’s flex as the wooden structure twists and bucks with the waves. Looking up the length of the vessel from this spot, I can watch the pilot turn his wheel and then feel the slight delay of the craft’s response. It is the organic center of the ship.
.
On those days when it is not too crowded, this standing spot is also the coolest place on board because the breeze funnels right back to you.
.
Blessed coolness. Zen delight.
.
-Zenwind.
.
08 April 2011
21 March 2011
St. Patrick’s Day 2011
.
St. Patrick’s Day was also the day of our monthly libertarian meet up, and I got a late start, getting on an express boat in late afternoon. It was the coldest daytime temperature I have yet seen in Bangkok, in the low 60sF. Everyone was bundled up against the cold wind, including me. It was the only day and night I can remember here when I did not sweat.
.
The meet up was great, with very good conversation and camaraderie. By 01:30 there were only me and a longtime buddy left. We closed down the Bourbon Street bar and walked to the nearby Dubliner Irish pub to see if their St. Patrick revelries were still going on. The Dubliner was quite empty and not serving any more drinks. There were still bottles breaking on the floor, and the whole place looked as dysfunctional as a battle zone, so we exited the back door. Once outside we had to carefully push our way through a crowd of milling, staggering, wild-looking fellows – most certainly all Irishmen.
.
We walked to another venue where we could talk some more. Our conversation covered all topics from Man and God and Law to movies and books. Finally we closed down that place and went down the street to find some munchies at an all-night store. We stood on the street eating and talking until we could barely keep our eyes open, then parted ways.
.
I arrived back in my home neighborhood at 04:00, and the streets were quiet and empty. Must be there are no Irish here. The only one showing any holiday spirit was a local soi dog who spotted me and trotted along with me to my gate. I threw out some food to her, making her very pleased. It was a great day for the Irish.
.
-Zenwind.
.
St. Patrick’s Day was also the day of our monthly libertarian meet up, and I got a late start, getting on an express boat in late afternoon. It was the coldest daytime temperature I have yet seen in Bangkok, in the low 60sF. Everyone was bundled up against the cold wind, including me. It was the only day and night I can remember here when I did not sweat.
.
The meet up was great, with very good conversation and camaraderie. By 01:30 there were only me and a longtime buddy left. We closed down the Bourbon Street bar and walked to the nearby Dubliner Irish pub to see if their St. Patrick revelries were still going on. The Dubliner was quite empty and not serving any more drinks. There were still bottles breaking on the floor, and the whole place looked as dysfunctional as a battle zone, so we exited the back door. Once outside we had to carefully push our way through a crowd of milling, staggering, wild-looking fellows – most certainly all Irishmen.
.
We walked to another venue where we could talk some more. Our conversation covered all topics from Man and God and Law to movies and books. Finally we closed down that place and went down the street to find some munchies at an all-night store. We stood on the street eating and talking until we could barely keep our eyes open, then parted ways.
.
I arrived back in my home neighborhood at 04:00, and the streets were quiet and empty. Must be there are no Irish here. The only one showing any holiday spirit was a local soi dog who spotted me and trotted along with me to my gate. I threw out some food to her, making her very pleased. It was a great day for the Irish.
.
-Zenwind.
.
Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On
.
I’ve finally found my niche in the Bangkok nightlife, amongst somewhat ageing Rockers – with a lot of white hair and beards in the crowd – who are diehard fans of the old-time Rock and Roll of Peter Driscoll and the Cruisers. They played last week at the Wine Bibber Sangria in Bangkok, and they really rocked the joint. I have written before about how I’m a big fan of Peter’s performances. I try my best get into town when I know he’s playing a gig. I am one of the only regular Americans at these gigs, for all the accents I hear are English, Scots, Irish, or Australian.
.
Peter is a walking historian of early Rock. As a lad growing up in England in the 1950s, he got into all the music coming in from the States. As a teenager there he recorded “Paralyzed,” a song from Elvis’s second album. One thing that continually amazes me is Peter’s brief historical prefaces to most of the songs he covers, little bits of info about who wrote it and various performers of it. He is up to date on those people of early Rock, often mentioning that such-and-such a person involved with the song “died just last Friday,” for example.
.
His band, The Cruisers, has a partially new line-up, and they are getting really tight as a group. The crowd was not as thick this time as it was for their performance last month, but it was because of a heavy rain that day that thinned out the crowds everywhere in the city – even the evening Skytrain was un-crowded.
.
Peter and the Cruisers did songs by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins (“I’m a lone poor boy, and I’m a long way from home”), the Everly Brothers, Rick Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley and His Comets, Dion and the Belmonts (“I’m a wanderer, yeah, the wanderer/ I roam around, around, around”), Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, etc.
.
At the stroke of midnight they started up a new set with a powerful version of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny Be Good,” and we all rocked on until late.
.
-Zenwind.
.
I’ve finally found my niche in the Bangkok nightlife, amongst somewhat ageing Rockers – with a lot of white hair and beards in the crowd – who are diehard fans of the old-time Rock and Roll of Peter Driscoll and the Cruisers. They played last week at the Wine Bibber Sangria in Bangkok, and they really rocked the joint. I have written before about how I’m a big fan of Peter’s performances. I try my best get into town when I know he’s playing a gig. I am one of the only regular Americans at these gigs, for all the accents I hear are English, Scots, Irish, or Australian.
.
Peter is a walking historian of early Rock. As a lad growing up in England in the 1950s, he got into all the music coming in from the States. As a teenager there he recorded “Paralyzed,” a song from Elvis’s second album. One thing that continually amazes me is Peter’s brief historical prefaces to most of the songs he covers, little bits of info about who wrote it and various performers of it. He is up to date on those people of early Rock, often mentioning that such-and-such a person involved with the song “died just last Friday,” for example.
.
His band, The Cruisers, has a partially new line-up, and they are getting really tight as a group. The crowd was not as thick this time as it was for their performance last month, but it was because of a heavy rain that day that thinned out the crowds everywhere in the city – even the evening Skytrain was un-crowded.
.
Peter and the Cruisers did songs by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins (“I’m a lone poor boy, and I’m a long way from home”), the Everly Brothers, Rick Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley and His Comets, Dion and the Belmonts (“I’m a wanderer, yeah, the wanderer/ I roam around, around, around”), Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, etc.
.
At the stroke of midnight they started up a new set with a powerful version of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny Be Good,” and we all rocked on until late.
.
-Zenwind.
.
13 March 2011
Anniversary of a Cult Founder
.
[quote] It is an anniversary for the late Mr. Sell Bond Blubberd. Blubberd was a genius, the greatest of all the 20th century intra-galactic seers and cosmic historians, and he was a magnificently successful religious profit [sic] and a brilliant scam artist. [/quote]
.
[I am quoting this document exactly as it was written and forwarded to me by a Ch’an friend by the name of Han Shan, who was once briefly acquainted with the cult mentioned here. –ZW.]
.
[quote] Blubberd is best known for founding the incredibly lucrative Church of the ScienceFictionist, a religion of wide international following to which many high-profile celebrities and other notorious zanies flock. Many are expecting Charlie Sheen to get on board very soon, if he can muster up the required cash.
.
Blubberd is also famous as an absolutely hilarious cosmic jester, a laugh-out-loud-funny, hold-your-gut-and-roll-on-the-floor-gasping-for-breath satirist and prankster. For instance, after a typical ScienceFictionist Church newbie is lured into many years of studies, continual browbeating, and tens upon tens of thousands of dollars of contributions to the church, he is finally given access to the promised secret documents underlying the holy metaphysics of the entire religion. I.e., one must achieve the church’s official higher status of the level of an “ID-e-OT DCLXVI” – and this costs a lot of money to buy into – before earning access to the secret documents.
.
Surprise! When you are finally given permission to read this cosmic history and theology of the church in these secret sacred documents, it all just seems like something out of the more seedy science fiction scenarios or cheaper comic books. You read about the cruel galactic dictator, Zeranhu, and his atrocities millions of years ago, e.g., “The Twoth Affair,” revealing the Flaming Buttocks story that involved massive turmoil, death, destruction and terror on earth and its near environs. What a prank! Blubberd always had promoted his persona as that of a high-seas pirate, and you can see from photos of those days that he was laughing his ass off all the way to the bank. A genius of joke and scam, rolling merrily in the money. What a guy!
.
Blubberd’s business model here is incredibly successful, even improving upon other similar traditional religions’ scams by orders of magnitude. What a dude. He was a cynical opportunist with a great sense of humor and a genius for talking people out of their gold. It is sad that his church’s heirs today have no such sense of humor at all and are mostly concerned with both controlling their sheep and filing lawsuits against anyone who insults or threatens their holy cash cow.
.
Mr. Sell Bond Blubberd was a really funny guy – a modern pirate with incredible audacity – and we will all miss him. [/quote]
.
-Zenwind.
[quote] It is an anniversary for the late Mr. Sell Bond Blubberd. Blubberd was a genius, the greatest of all the 20th century intra-galactic seers and cosmic historians, and he was a magnificently successful religious profit [sic] and a brilliant scam artist. [/quote]
.
[I am quoting this document exactly as it was written and forwarded to me by a Ch’an friend by the name of Han Shan, who was once briefly acquainted with the cult mentioned here. –ZW.]
.
[quote] Blubberd is best known for founding the incredibly lucrative Church of the ScienceFictionist, a religion of wide international following to which many high-profile celebrities and other notorious zanies flock. Many are expecting Charlie Sheen to get on board very soon, if he can muster up the required cash.
.
Blubberd is also famous as an absolutely hilarious cosmic jester, a laugh-out-loud-funny, hold-your-gut-and-roll-on-the-floor-gasping-for-breath satirist and prankster. For instance, after a typical ScienceFictionist Church newbie is lured into many years of studies, continual browbeating, and tens upon tens of thousands of dollars of contributions to the church, he is finally given access to the promised secret documents underlying the holy metaphysics of the entire religion. I.e., one must achieve the church’s official higher status of the level of an “ID-e-OT DCLXVI” – and this costs a lot of money to buy into – before earning access to the secret documents.
.
Surprise! When you are finally given permission to read this cosmic history and theology of the church in these secret sacred documents, it all just seems like something out of the more seedy science fiction scenarios or cheaper comic books. You read about the cruel galactic dictator, Zeranhu, and his atrocities millions of years ago, e.g., “The Twoth Affair,” revealing the Flaming Buttocks story that involved massive turmoil, death, destruction and terror on earth and its near environs. What a prank! Blubberd always had promoted his persona as that of a high-seas pirate, and you can see from photos of those days that he was laughing his ass off all the way to the bank. A genius of joke and scam, rolling merrily in the money. What a guy!
.
Blubberd’s business model here is incredibly successful, even improving upon other similar traditional religions’ scams by orders of magnitude. What a dude. He was a cynical opportunist with a great sense of humor and a genius for talking people out of their gold. It is sad that his church’s heirs today have no such sense of humor at all and are mostly concerned with both controlling their sheep and filing lawsuits against anyone who insults or threatens their holy cash cow.
.
Mr. Sell Bond Blubberd was a really funny guy – a modern pirate with incredible audacity – and we will all miss him. [/quote]
.
-Zenwind.
25 February 2011
The Rock Pub in Bangkok
.
I have recently discovered The Rock Pub in downtown Bangkok, and I love it. They specialize in Rock and Roll, and these folks do not compromise – there is absolutely no half-stepping for this rocker culture. One of the terrific Thai rock bands that plays there is Mundee, and they just got a major new fan after I heard them play the other night.
.
Hearing Mundee’s covers of ‘70s and ‘80s heavy rock was like a transfusion for me, an elixir, an exile’s redemption. I got there late, at about 00:10 hours. The place was not crowded, so I had a good choice of seats. From then until closing at 02:00, I was not disappointed with a single note. The vocals, lead guitar and rhythm section were all right on.
.
The first full song I heard was Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin: “We come from the land of ice and snow….” Perfect – I could almost feel the wind in the sail. Next was Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills, which is still in my head and which frequently makes me look back over my shoulder: “Run to the hills; run for your life.” This was followed by a Jimi Hendrix song, and the lead guitarist did an incredible job. Then Zeppelin’s Black Dog: “Didn’t take too long ‘fore I found out/ What people mean by down and out.” Then Hendrix’s Purple Haze: “Excuse me while I kiss the sky.”
.
The band took a break, but one of their singers filled it in with solos: Dust in the Wind, Bohemian Rhapsody, etc.
.
The rest of the band came back at 01:15 and they gave us a hell of a show until closing time, starting by pounding out AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. This was followed by a great heavy metal song that I cannot ID at this moment. Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer was followed by Zeppelin’s The Ocean:
“Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain…”
“Used to sing in the mountains but the mountains washed away….”
.
The band delighted me when they played Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love, a great favorite of mine when I was 17 and ever since.
.
Winding up, they surprised me by performing Black Betty (“bam ba lam”), a great old folk-blues prison work-song covered by Lead Belly, Dave “Snaker” Ray, and Ram Jam’s 1977 radio version. This last version was on the radio during my early rock climbing travels and earliest solo climbs. Years later I sang the lyrics to try to cheer up my young rope-team partners when we were climbing the multi-pitch Old Route on the south face of The Roostercomb in a rain and hailstorm; the narrow traversing ledge was slanting outward at the top of the climb and threatening to dump us over the edge with the hailstones like icy ball-bearings under our feet – my teammates must have thought I was nuts. (It just now dawned on me why I sang that particular song to them there: it had been the radio song-of-the-day when I first soloed that very climb in September 1977; my first multi-pitch solo on-sight lead.)
.
Mundee ended the night with Led Zeppelin’s song, Rock and Roll:
“It’s been a long time since I Rock and Rolled…
“Seems so long since we walked in the moonlight…
“It’s been a long time, been a long time,
“Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time."
.
Yes it has.
.
-Zenwind.
.
I have recently discovered The Rock Pub in downtown Bangkok, and I love it. They specialize in Rock and Roll, and these folks do not compromise – there is absolutely no half-stepping for this rocker culture. One of the terrific Thai rock bands that plays there is Mundee, and they just got a major new fan after I heard them play the other night.
.
Hearing Mundee’s covers of ‘70s and ‘80s heavy rock was like a transfusion for me, an elixir, an exile’s redemption. I got there late, at about 00:10 hours. The place was not crowded, so I had a good choice of seats. From then until closing at 02:00, I was not disappointed with a single note. The vocals, lead guitar and rhythm section were all right on.
.
The first full song I heard was Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin: “We come from the land of ice and snow….” Perfect – I could almost feel the wind in the sail. Next was Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills, which is still in my head and which frequently makes me look back over my shoulder: “Run to the hills; run for your life.” This was followed by a Jimi Hendrix song, and the lead guitarist did an incredible job. Then Zeppelin’s Black Dog: “Didn’t take too long ‘fore I found out/ What people mean by down and out.” Then Hendrix’s Purple Haze: “Excuse me while I kiss the sky.”
.
The band took a break, but one of their singers filled it in with solos: Dust in the Wind, Bohemian Rhapsody, etc.
.
The rest of the band came back at 01:15 and they gave us a hell of a show until closing time, starting by pounding out AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. This was followed by a great heavy metal song that I cannot ID at this moment. Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer was followed by Zeppelin’s The Ocean:
“Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain…”
“Used to sing in the mountains but the mountains washed away….”
.
The band delighted me when they played Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love, a great favorite of mine when I was 17 and ever since.
.
Winding up, they surprised me by performing Black Betty (“bam ba lam”), a great old folk-blues prison work-song covered by Lead Belly, Dave “Snaker” Ray, and Ram Jam’s 1977 radio version. This last version was on the radio during my early rock climbing travels and earliest solo climbs. Years later I sang the lyrics to try to cheer up my young rope-team partners when we were climbing the multi-pitch Old Route on the south face of The Roostercomb in a rain and hailstorm; the narrow traversing ledge was slanting outward at the top of the climb and threatening to dump us over the edge with the hailstones like icy ball-bearings under our feet – my teammates must have thought I was nuts. (It just now dawned on me why I sang that particular song to them there: it had been the radio song-of-the-day when I first soloed that very climb in September 1977; my first multi-pitch solo on-sight lead.)
.
Mundee ended the night with Led Zeppelin’s song, Rock and Roll:
“It’s been a long time since I Rock and Rolled…
“Seems so long since we walked in the moonlight…
“It’s been a long time, been a long time,
“Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time."
.
Yes it has.
.
-Zenwind.
.
14 February 2011
The Ides of February
.
14 February 2011: Our winter is about over, sadly. It is now getting to be Sweat City again after just a mere couple of months of comfortable weather. It rained a bit the other day and the humidity (dew-point) has finally gone back up into the “oppressive” range. The sun will be a constant source of discomfort for the next four months until the Rainy Season’s clouds cover it.
.
I got into the city last Thursday to do some exploring. I saw the movie The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Bale should win this year’s Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, he was that good.
.
I went into town mainly to hear Peter Driscoll and the Cruisers play old-time Rock n Roll later in the evening. They were playing at a wine bar in an area of town I’d never seen, so I went to the neighborhood early and had the chance to see some places I’d always heard about in the area.
.
First I had supper at a Lao restaurant nearby called The Vientiane Kitchen. (Vientiane is, of course, the capital of Laos and just across the Mekong River from Thailand’s Issan, or Northeast, area; the Lao and Thai histories, languages, cultures and cuisine are closely related.) This place has reasonably priced Lao/Northeastern Thai food plus a stage show that features somewhat traditional musicians, dancers and fighters. The mock sword battles are done by comedian/performers. The place is open and non-a/c, with a tree growing up in the hall’s middle and going through the roof.
.
Nearing Peter’s showtime, I walked the one klick up the soi to the Wine Bibber Sangria, the venue. It was one of the first really hot/humid nights that I’ve walked in for a while, and I was drenched in sweat by the time I arrived. I glanced at the incomprehensible wine list but then just opted for cold, cold beer.
.
Peter’s music was fantastic, as usual. He played early Rock songs and gave brief historical notes on who wrote it and covered it. Songs I had first heard so many decades ago by The Rolling Stones or The Beatles were given a deeper history. Part of my ongoing Rock n Roll education.
.
Apart from my exploratory rambles, I’ve been reading a lot. I finished another Dan Simmons novel, Black Hills, where an 11-year-old Sioux boy is on the battlefield at Little Big Horn just as Custer dies, Custer’s ghost entering into him and haunting him for decades after. It is historical fiction with a fantastic twist – excellent.
.
I am now finishing the fifth and last novel in Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy cycle, the Earthsea saga. I want to read more of her wonderful writings.
.
-Zenwind.
.
14 February 2011: Our winter is about over, sadly. It is now getting to be Sweat City again after just a mere couple of months of comfortable weather. It rained a bit the other day and the humidity (dew-point) has finally gone back up into the “oppressive” range. The sun will be a constant source of discomfort for the next four months until the Rainy Season’s clouds cover it.
.
I got into the city last Thursday to do some exploring. I saw the movie The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Bale should win this year’s Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, he was that good.
.
I went into town mainly to hear Peter Driscoll and the Cruisers play old-time Rock n Roll later in the evening. They were playing at a wine bar in an area of town I’d never seen, so I went to the neighborhood early and had the chance to see some places I’d always heard about in the area.
.
First I had supper at a Lao restaurant nearby called The Vientiane Kitchen. (Vientiane is, of course, the capital of Laos and just across the Mekong River from Thailand’s Issan, or Northeast, area; the Lao and Thai histories, languages, cultures and cuisine are closely related.) This place has reasonably priced Lao/Northeastern Thai food plus a stage show that features somewhat traditional musicians, dancers and fighters. The mock sword battles are done by comedian/performers. The place is open and non-a/c, with a tree growing up in the hall’s middle and going through the roof.
.
Nearing Peter’s showtime, I walked the one klick up the soi to the Wine Bibber Sangria, the venue. It was one of the first really hot/humid nights that I’ve walked in for a while, and I was drenched in sweat by the time I arrived. I glanced at the incomprehensible wine list but then just opted for cold, cold beer.
.
Peter’s music was fantastic, as usual. He played early Rock songs and gave brief historical notes on who wrote it and covered it. Songs I had first heard so many decades ago by The Rolling Stones or The Beatles were given a deeper history. Part of my ongoing Rock n Roll education.
.
Apart from my exploratory rambles, I’ve been reading a lot. I finished another Dan Simmons novel, Black Hills, where an 11-year-old Sioux boy is on the battlefield at Little Big Horn just as Custer dies, Custer’s ghost entering into him and haunting him for decades after. It is historical fiction with a fantastic twist – excellent.
.
I am now finishing the fifth and last novel in Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy cycle, the Earthsea saga. I want to read more of her wonderful writings.
.
-Zenwind.
.
01 February 2011
Groundhog Day
.
1 February 2011. Winter continues to be comfortable here, although the mosquitoes seem to be at their worst now.
.
Groundhog Day (aka, Imbolc) is tomorrow. It has no significance here, but in the high latitudes of the temperate zone in Celtic Europe it was always one of the “cross-quarter” days related to the marking of the vegetative season’s birth and death. It is not really midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, although it is close. But it is rather almost exactly between Halloween (Samhain), when the grasses and leaves have stopped growing, and May Day (Beltane), when the green world is re-born. Thus, Imbolc was the half-way point in the calendar of the ancient herders; if you still have half of the fodder left that you put up in the autumn then your animals will eat well until Beltane. August 1 or 2 (aka, Lughnasadh to the Irish or Lammas to Anglo-Saxons) marks the opposite cross-quarter day when the greening season is half-way through. These holidays were also celebrated elsewhere in temperate Europe.
.
In America, this time of year is Groundhog Day, marking sort of a half-way point of the long winter. And then there is the wonderful film “Groundhog Day” (1993) starring Bill Murray, a film which celebrates changing and rebirth, and which is highly praised by many philosophers and religious thinkers.
.
“Oh, Wind! If winter comes
Can Spring be far behind?”
-- P.B. Shelley
.
-Zenwind.
.
1 February 2011. Winter continues to be comfortable here, although the mosquitoes seem to be at their worst now.
.
Groundhog Day (aka, Imbolc) is tomorrow. It has no significance here, but in the high latitudes of the temperate zone in Celtic Europe it was always one of the “cross-quarter” days related to the marking of the vegetative season’s birth and death. It is not really midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, although it is close. But it is rather almost exactly between Halloween (Samhain), when the grasses and leaves have stopped growing, and May Day (Beltane), when the green world is re-born. Thus, Imbolc was the half-way point in the calendar of the ancient herders; if you still have half of the fodder left that you put up in the autumn then your animals will eat well until Beltane. August 1 or 2 (aka, Lughnasadh to the Irish or Lammas to Anglo-Saxons) marks the opposite cross-quarter day when the greening season is half-way through. These holidays were also celebrated elsewhere in temperate Europe.
.
In America, this time of year is Groundhog Day, marking sort of a half-way point of the long winter. And then there is the wonderful film “Groundhog Day” (1993) starring Bill Murray, a film which celebrates changing and rebirth, and which is highly praised by many philosophers and religious thinkers.
.
“Oh, Wind! If winter comes
Can Spring be far behind?”
-- P.B. Shelley
.
-Zenwind.
.
15 January 2011
Mid-January 2011
.
15 January 2011: Not a lot to report – only that the weather continues to be much less humid than the norm for the rest of the year and that it is (so rarely!) comfortable indoors and out, except for the damn mosquitoes. The cold I caught between Christmas and New Years is finally gone, but I interrupted my exercise routines when I was feeling down and so I am fighting the uphill battle to get back in shape.
.
I just finished watching the 10-hour HBO miniseries “The Pacific,” and I wish my father could have lived to see it. Excellent movie-making and attention to historical details.
.
In a related matter, I posted to my Zenwind blog, linked here, about a nightmare episode I had around 15 years ago. (Not mealtime reading.)
.
-Zenwind.
.
15 January 2011: Not a lot to report – only that the weather continues to be much less humid than the norm for the rest of the year and that it is (so rarely!) comfortable indoors and out, except for the damn mosquitoes. The cold I caught between Christmas and New Years is finally gone, but I interrupted my exercise routines when I was feeling down and so I am fighting the uphill battle to get back in shape.
.
I just finished watching the 10-hour HBO miniseries “The Pacific,” and I wish my father could have lived to see it. Excellent movie-making and attention to historical details.
.
In a related matter, I posted to my Zenwind blog, linked here, about a nightmare episode I had around 15 years ago. (Not mealtime reading.)
.
-Zenwind.
.
31 December 2010
New Year’s Eve 2010/2011
.
31 December 2010. I’ve been reading and enjoying yet another Dan Simmons novel, this one a horror story named Children of the Night (1992). It takes place mostly in the immediate chaos of post-Ceausescu Romania, and the horror a reader experiences here is not just from the vampires but also the horrors revealed of the recent communist regime there. The astounding occurrence of HIV among babies in state orphanages in Romania in the Ceausescu-era communist state; the remaining thuggish legacy of the socialist police state; it is all chilling. Add to this the local lore of Dracula, aka, Vlad Dracul Tepes (The Impaler) – is he a historical figure now long gone for centuries, or is he truly Undead? Some of the best historical research on Dracula is evident.
.
People watching: I’ve been sitting outside in the shade watching people cross the small nearby intersection of sidestreets (aka, sois). From my hideaway spot, I can view the soi without being seen easily. A lurker in the afternoon shadows.
.
I will have to declare myself on the side of the Stoics when it comes to basic human nature: i.e., people make up one huge universal family (aka, a “universal brotherhood of man”). Although I am profoundly retarded when it comes to learning foreign languages, I can still observe the obvious universal human behaviors. Groups of kids and adults here still show typical group behavior, e.g., leaders/followers, slackers/hard working entrepreneurs, good faith/bad faith, confidence/un-sureness. Loners/Lone wolves.
.
I managed to catch a head-cold right after Christmas, and I’ve always thought the hardest colds to kick are the ones you catch in warm weather. My voice is still so bad that the cats scatter when I try to speak.
.
It’s a nice afternoon, with temps not getting up above the 80sF, and the humidity is quite tolerable. Yet I still lit a mosquito coil and set it upwind of my chair. Biting critters still bite us every single day and night of the year, even now in our “winter.”
.
I came back from a grocery run – the usual: ice, noodles, beer, plus a new fluorescent light bulb. The main soi is pretty quiet, because during this New Year holiday a lot of folks have left town to visit family in the provinces. Mass migrations, always with the worst traffic casualties of the year.
.
I just saw one young family of 4 saddled up to go for a multi-day trip. They were all on one motorcycle, and the father and mother had small/medium backpacks and shoulder bags. First on the cycle was a little boy, sitting in front of his father and partially on the gas tank; then the father, driving the machine; then a little girl; and at the end was the mother, hanging on to the back of the seat. I felt sorry for the little girl because, sandwiched as she was between father and mother, she couldn’t see the scenery. Hope their trip goes well and they return safe.
.
I was planning on reading more while sitting outside, but my music player has been playing some Miles Davis jazz, and that just makes me lean back and smile. With a big pint mug full of Chang Classic beer and ice, it’s all so Cool and Collected.
.
Evening shadows are bringing in the more aggressive mosquitoes, so I’m going back inside. We will be back out for the fireworks.
.
Happy New Year!
.
-Zenwind.
.
P.S. – Just logging on to send this, I received the bad news that Nomads pub, the great live music venue, is closing. There was always only a few of us there listening to fantastic music from acts such as The Soi Dogs Blues Band. So one shouldn’t be too surprised. Thais have been killing their tourist industry by frequent violence and puritanical alcohol laws, and the Euro and US Dollar have tumbled so far in exchange that one’s purchasing power is not what it used to be. The US$ has lost 1/3 of its value to the Thai Baht in the last few years. Thus, the good music venues have been drying up.
.
31 December 2010. I’ve been reading and enjoying yet another Dan Simmons novel, this one a horror story named Children of the Night (1992). It takes place mostly in the immediate chaos of post-Ceausescu Romania, and the horror a reader experiences here is not just from the vampires but also the horrors revealed of the recent communist regime there. The astounding occurrence of HIV among babies in state orphanages in Romania in the Ceausescu-era communist state; the remaining thuggish legacy of the socialist police state; it is all chilling. Add to this the local lore of Dracula, aka, Vlad Dracul Tepes (The Impaler) – is he a historical figure now long gone for centuries, or is he truly Undead? Some of the best historical research on Dracula is evident.
.
People watching: I’ve been sitting outside in the shade watching people cross the small nearby intersection of sidestreets (aka, sois). From my hideaway spot, I can view the soi without being seen easily. A lurker in the afternoon shadows.
.
I will have to declare myself on the side of the Stoics when it comes to basic human nature: i.e., people make up one huge universal family (aka, a “universal brotherhood of man”). Although I am profoundly retarded when it comes to learning foreign languages, I can still observe the obvious universal human behaviors. Groups of kids and adults here still show typical group behavior, e.g., leaders/followers, slackers/hard working entrepreneurs, good faith/bad faith, confidence/un-sureness. Loners/Lone wolves.
.
I managed to catch a head-cold right after Christmas, and I’ve always thought the hardest colds to kick are the ones you catch in warm weather. My voice is still so bad that the cats scatter when I try to speak.
.
It’s a nice afternoon, with temps not getting up above the 80sF, and the humidity is quite tolerable. Yet I still lit a mosquito coil and set it upwind of my chair. Biting critters still bite us every single day and night of the year, even now in our “winter.”
.
I came back from a grocery run – the usual: ice, noodles, beer, plus a new fluorescent light bulb. The main soi is pretty quiet, because during this New Year holiday a lot of folks have left town to visit family in the provinces. Mass migrations, always with the worst traffic casualties of the year.
.
I just saw one young family of 4 saddled up to go for a multi-day trip. They were all on one motorcycle, and the father and mother had small/medium backpacks and shoulder bags. First on the cycle was a little boy, sitting in front of his father and partially on the gas tank; then the father, driving the machine; then a little girl; and at the end was the mother, hanging on to the back of the seat. I felt sorry for the little girl because, sandwiched as she was between father and mother, she couldn’t see the scenery. Hope their trip goes well and they return safe.
.
I was planning on reading more while sitting outside, but my music player has been playing some Miles Davis jazz, and that just makes me lean back and smile. With a big pint mug full of Chang Classic beer and ice, it’s all so Cool and Collected.
.
Evening shadows are bringing in the more aggressive mosquitoes, so I’m going back inside. We will be back out for the fireworks.
.
Happy New Year!
.
-Zenwind.
.
P.S. – Just logging on to send this, I received the bad news that Nomads pub, the great live music venue, is closing. There was always only a few of us there listening to fantastic music from acts such as The Soi Dogs Blues Band. So one shouldn’t be too surprised. Thais have been killing their tourist industry by frequent violence and puritanical alcohol laws, and the Euro and US Dollar have tumbled so far in exchange that one’s purchasing power is not what it used to be. The US$ has lost 1/3 of its value to the Thai Baht in the last few years. Thus, the good music venues have been drying up.
.
17 December 2010
Mid-December
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17 December 2010. Woops! I forgot to post here on the middle of the month as I try to do. It has been a busy couple of weeks. What has most distracted me is just finishing up reading a Dan Simmons horror novel, Summer of Night (1991), a wonderful 600 page read that I may review at another time. I loved the book and could not put it down. Simmons is one of my all-time favorite writers.
.
I did get into the city yesterday for a meet up with friends and a major book-hunt, lugging back a backpack full of good volumes. I got home late and am still groggy. Bangkok still amazes me – what a wild town!
.
-ZW.
17 December 2010. Woops! I forgot to post here on the middle of the month as I try to do. It has been a busy couple of weeks. What has most distracted me is just finishing up reading a Dan Simmons horror novel, Summer of Night (1991), a wonderful 600 page read that I may review at another time. I loved the book and could not put it down. Simmons is one of my all-time favorite writers.
.
I did get into the city yesterday for a meet up with friends and a major book-hunt, lugging back a backpack full of good volumes. I got home late and am still groggy. Bangkok still amazes me – what a wild town!
.
-ZW.
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