.
It is still almost impossible for me to get online, so I’ll just leave a short note here while I have some limited access. We are all doing very well (except my computer), and there really isn’t much news.
.
I am feeling more fit than I have in a long time, and today I just returned from a long march through an area of the city that is new to me. I am in my explorer mode, my true nature.
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Tomorrow the plan is to take the boat downriver on a shopping expedition and jump ashore like a raiding Viking. I need to get another pair of solid sports sandals, and of course I also plan to sack a number of bookstores. Ooh rah!
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-Zenwind.
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31 August 2010
21 August 2010
Offline: Computer Down
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21 August: My home computer is increasingly dysfunctional, so I can barely even log online these days. I will ask Tuk to look at it when she gets more time. Damn addictive technologies! – we get so that we depend on them.
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My point is that family and friends can now expect even longer silences from me for the foreseeable future.
.
-Zenwind.
21 August: My home computer is increasingly dysfunctional, so I can barely even log online these days. I will ask Tuk to look at it when she gets more time. Damn addictive technologies! – we get so that we depend on them.
.
My point is that family and friends can now expect even longer silences from me for the foreseeable future.
.
-Zenwind.
03 August 2010
Reviews of Dan Simmons’ novels
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I have four new posts on Zenwind blog about Dan Simmons and his novels. He is a favorite of mine, and I will read anything I find of his. My Intro Review is followed by three reviews of his books: Ilium/Olympos; the Hyperion Cantos; and my favorite, The Terror.
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-Zenwind.
.
I have four new posts on Zenwind blog about Dan Simmons and his novels. He is a favorite of mine, and I will read anything I find of his. My Intro Review is followed by three reviews of his books: Ilium/Olympos; the Hyperion Cantos; and my favorite, The Terror.
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-Zenwind.
.
01 August 2010
Reading, Reviewing, and Recovering from the Hot Season
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During the Hot Season of spring and early summer, it is hard to be active and productive because of the oppressive heat and humidity, and one becomes weak. This year’s Rainy Season monsoons are weak due to El Nino-related weather patterns, but the clouds have relieved the wicked heat a bit. On recent nights, I have been able to go outside without a sweatband on my head. But I still put ice in my beer.
.
I’m trying to exercise and build up some strength after the long period of heat and inaction. I have dumbbells and a very light routine of lifting, and after six weeks I’m feeling much better.
.
I’m also getting into a more ambitious reading program and working on long-abandoned drafts of reviews. I missed a big book fair in downtown Bangkok this week because I was feeling too sick to travel. (We had gone out for movies and dinner, and I ate too much; it takes me days to recover from such big meals, but I can rarely resist them.)
.
Here is my Review of the novels of David Gibbins, a marine archaeologist and historian that I enjoy reading.
.
During the Hot Season of spring and early summer, it is hard to be active and productive because of the oppressive heat and humidity, and one becomes weak. This year’s Rainy Season monsoons are weak due to El Nino-related weather patterns, but the clouds have relieved the wicked heat a bit. On recent nights, I have been able to go outside without a sweatband on my head. But I still put ice in my beer.
.
I’m trying to exercise and build up some strength after the long period of heat and inaction. I have dumbbells and a very light routine of lifting, and after six weeks I’m feeling much better.
.
I’m also getting into a more ambitious reading program and working on long-abandoned drafts of reviews. I missed a big book fair in downtown Bangkok this week because I was feeling too sick to travel. (We had gone out for movies and dinner, and I ate too much; it takes me days to recover from such big meals, but I can rarely resist them.)
.
Here is my Review of the novels of David Gibbins, a marine archaeologist and historian that I enjoy reading.
.
18 July 2010
New Book Review: Matterhorn: a novel of the Vietnam War
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I have just posted a new book review on my Zenwind blog. It reviews Karl Marlantes book, Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (2010). One of the best war novels I’ve ever read.
.
I have just posted a new book review on my Zenwind blog. It reviews Karl Marlantes book, Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (2010). One of the best war novels I’ve ever read.
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13 July 2010
The Runaways: Joan Jett before The Blackhearts
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Movie Review: Fearing that this film’s limited showing will soon end in Bangkok theaters, I took an early boat downriver to the city just to see The Runaways. It’s a film about the late-‘70s all-girl band that Joan Jett was in before she hit it big with The Blackhearts. The long boat and rail trip there and back knocked the hell out of me, and I’ll be incapacitated and in pain for several days, but it was worth it.
.
I was never familiar with the music of this band, The Runaways, because in those days I was on the go, climbing in all my spare time, and I was oriented to rock radio rather than albums. And The Runaways’ brief fame was more overseas than in America, and they were especially popular in Japan. But I do remember Joan Jett and The Blackhearts later hitting the radio waves in the early ‘80s. Wow!
.
“I love rock and roll!
Put another dime in the jukebox, Baby!”
.
This film isn't really a classic, and it doesn’t make my list of my favorite reviews, but it does present the raw and rude nature of the ‘70s. Kristen Stewart plays Joan Jett quite well, and Dakota Fanning plays The Runaways’ teen singer Cherie. The downward spiral of substance abuse was a basic part of that infamous decade. If you want a sample of the ‘70s, and/or if you like these young actresses, you might be interested in catching this film on DVD.
.
Movie Review: Fearing that this film’s limited showing will soon end in Bangkok theaters, I took an early boat downriver to the city just to see The Runaways. It’s a film about the late-‘70s all-girl band that Joan Jett was in before she hit it big with The Blackhearts. The long boat and rail trip there and back knocked the hell out of me, and I’ll be incapacitated and in pain for several days, but it was worth it.
.
I was never familiar with the music of this band, The Runaways, because in those days I was on the go, climbing in all my spare time, and I was oriented to rock radio rather than albums. And The Runaways’ brief fame was more overseas than in America, and they were especially popular in Japan. But I do remember Joan Jett and The Blackhearts later hitting the radio waves in the early ‘80s. Wow!
.
“I love rock and roll!
Put another dime in the jukebox, Baby!”
.
This film isn't really a classic, and it doesn’t make my list of my favorite reviews, but it does present the raw and rude nature of the ‘70s. Kristen Stewart plays Joan Jett quite well, and Dakota Fanning plays The Runaways’ teen singer Cherie. The downward spiral of substance abuse was a basic part of that infamous decade. If you want a sample of the ‘70s, and/or if you like these young actresses, you might be interested in catching this film on DVD.
.
30 June 2010
Reading Thoreau’s Walden
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I have just finished reading Thoreau’s Walden. My immediate reaction is one of mild shock, and I am astonished at the likenesses between Thoreau and myself.
.
Let me explain. I had always thought that I had read most of Walden, either completely or in major part. But I hadn’t. I had tried to read it in excerpts or from library copies when I was in high school, but I could never finish it then. I was bored with its length.
.
I always recognized – from the bits of Thoreau that I had read and from reports of his life – that he and I were very close spiritual brothers. In my first major hitchhiking trip in 1968, right after high school and before the Marine Corps, I went to Concord, Mass. and to Walden Pond. It was an almost “religious” moment for me to stand alone at the site of Thoreau’s cabin.
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I know that I will read Walden again and savor it over time, and eventually I may write a longer review of it. Here I will just say that I have found a true personal classic.
.
I have just finished reading Thoreau’s Walden. My immediate reaction is one of mild shock, and I am astonished at the likenesses between Thoreau and myself.
.
Let me explain. I had always thought that I had read most of Walden, either completely or in major part. But I hadn’t. I had tried to read it in excerpts or from library copies when I was in high school, but I could never finish it then. I was bored with its length.
.
I always recognized – from the bits of Thoreau that I had read and from reports of his life – that he and I were very close spiritual brothers. In my first major hitchhiking trip in 1968, right after high school and before the Marine Corps, I went to Concord, Mass. and to Walden Pond. It was an almost “religious” moment for me to stand alone at the site of Thoreau’s cabin.
.
I know that I will read Walden again and savor it over time, and eventually I may write a longer review of it. Here I will just say that I have found a true personal classic.
.
25 June 2010
Book Review: A Man on the Moon, by Andrew Chaikin
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I have posted a book review of Andrew Chaikin’s A Man on the Moon on my primary perennial blog, Zenwind. A great book.
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I have posted a book review of Andrew Chaikin’s A Man on the Moon on my primary perennial blog, Zenwind. A great book.
.
21 June 2010
CNN and BBC Slammed by Freelance Reporter
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21 June: Freelance farang reporter Dave Sherman wrote this article slamming the news coverage of CNN and BBC during most of the Red Shirt protest crisis of April and May. Thai news people had made the same complaints but the farang networks and reporters had defended their reporting. Dave Sherman voices the viewpoints of many Bangkokians, and it is well worth reading.
.
-Zenwind.
.
21 June: Freelance farang reporter Dave Sherman wrote this article slamming the news coverage of CNN and BBC during most of the Red Shirt protest crisis of April and May. Thai news people had made the same complaints but the farang networks and reporters had defended their reporting. Dave Sherman voices the viewpoints of many Bangkokians, and it is well worth reading.
.
-Zenwind.
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