Extreme Heat

Our Hot Season began with a vengeance and much earlier than I expected this year.  It is a real furnace.  Nighttime lows are always above 85*F and daytime highs are between 98* and 101*F, and it has been this way for a few weeks now.  Out in the sun it is wicked, and it is hard to find any breeze.  Add to this the ever-present high humidity and you get Sweat City.  It’s likely that it’s going to be like this right through May.  We look forward to the Rainy Season after that for some relief. 

I think that the above complaint about the heat is something I write about every year.  But it always takes me completely by surprise every year, because it is so intense.  However, it is the biggest news item in our lives at this moment, therefore I mention it again. 

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-Zenwind. 

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Mundee Is Back, with their Rock n Roll!

The Rock Pub (“Bangkok’s House of Rock”) has long been my main music mecca here, and I try to get into the city to attend their gigs at least twice a month if possible.  I like the music of all the house bands there – however, me being an old guy I tend to identify more with the bands who play older Rock music, say from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. 

And Mundee is that band.  They are veteran musicians with a mastery of those songs that I’m most familiar with, and they truly Rock!  I can identify perhaps 95% of the songs Mundee plays – and maybe, for most, tell you who wrote the song, who covered it, in what year, and where I was when I first heard it on the radio.  (Radio!…Ga Ga.) 

As for the Rock Pub’s other house bands, they are all fantastic, and one with a somewhat similar-sounding name, Munson, is also one of my long-time favorites, playing an early range of songs from perhaps a decade later than Mundee’s repertoire.  I can identify maybe 70% of the songs Munson plays by song name or band.  Munson makes Heavy Metal weigh-in way heavy. 

(I lost track of contemporary Rock by the early-1990s because I was finishing college and beginning my teaching career, and I just didn’t have time to pay attention.) 

For the younger band Jimmy Revolt, who have a stunning range of songs in their repertoire – and whom I love to hear and also consider to be good friends – I cannot tell you much about the majority of their songs’ histories because they are much newer, but I’m a major fan of anything they play because they do it so well.  And they do know an amazing variety of oldie crowd-pleasers for whenever the Rock Pub is filled with old-fart farangs.  Versatile and cool. 

But Mundee speaks personally to my own youth as an ancient devotee of Rock and Roll.  They play classic hard rock that stirs up intense memories.  Mundee had not been playing at the Rock Pub recently, because of some kind of an accident a band member had.  But when I saw that they were finally scheduled back for a recent Saturday night gig, I just had to make a special trip into town for them.  They did not let me down. 

Mundee will probably be slotted again into the regular Wednesday night gig – after many years being the Saturday regulars.  This is good news for me, because Wednesday is often the best time for me to get into the city.  I’ve planned this coming Wednesday entirely around their gig.  Rock On. 

-Zenwind. 

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50 Years Ago: Apollo 8 to the Moon

As a youngster I had been an enthusiastic fan of the American space program, especially in the early Project Mercury years.  These feats were heroic and dramatic, and I followed them eagerly.  I lost track of its progress during the Gemini phase and the early Apollo, because I was a coming-of-age teenager and had a lot of stuff on my mind, such as girls, Rock n Roll, and an addiction to reading.  So it was a surprise when I heard about Apollo 8 much, much later.

Because fifty years ago today I was towards the end of my Marine Corps recruit training at Parris Island, SC.  USMC Boot Camp had been intense, and we had not had any news of the outside world for months.  No radio, TV, newspapers, etc.  Nothing. 

We had finished our basic recruit training then we did the intensive two weeks of rifle science and firing on the Rifle Range.  We had only a Command Inspection and a spell doing mess-hall duty before we were to be graduated as Marines and sent on to Camp Geiger, NC for Infantry Training Regiment. 

A half-century ago on this night we were marching back to the barracks very late after midnight after a very long day working at the Mess Hall getting ready for Christmas dinner tomorrow.  We marched in step but more relaxed, under a bright moon.  The Senior Drill Instructor, whom we obeyed on instant reflex, gave us a puzzling marching command.  Instead of “Eyes Right”, etc., he said “Eyes Up!  Platoon!  Look up at the Moon.” 

Confused, we looked up and saw the bright Moon above.  The Senior DI said:  “Be proud.  Three Americans are orbiting around the Moon right now.” 

I was dumbfounded.  What the Hell?  We had no word of the space program for a long time or any hint of this Apollo mission.  All we could think is that this took real balls. 

They strapped three astronauts unto the top of a massively huge ballistic missile and then lit it and rocketed them up out of Earth’s gravity-well and then around the Moon.  The Apollo 8 crew did 10 orbits then returned to Earth.  What a ride!  In the annals of exploration, this was one of the most audacious voyages of the modern era.  I’m still in awe. 

-Zenwind. 

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Loi Krathong 2561 BE/ 2018 CE

The Full Moon of November is the festival of Loi Krathong, where folks float little baskets on the rivers and waterways which are lit with a candle.  It is a family affair and children are a big part of it.  It heralds the end of the Rainy Season and (supposedly) the start of the drier Cool Season (although I’m still sweating my farang ass off in the still-lingering humidity!). 

During this last week along the street to the river they have been building rides for children, booths for selling loads of carnival stuff, and a stage at the river for a band with tables for revelers.  (During the political riots of 2010 and the Great Flood of 2011 this festival was locally absent; but now it’s back to normal and thriving.) 

This year I chose not to go out into the neighborhood under the moonlight.  The crowds are just too packed for my tastes, too many slow-moving crowded sidewalks with small kids.  The bands are not to my taste either, and it’s impossible to find a spot in which to view them anymore.  In the past I could view the band from the bridge, but the crowds are too dense now. 

So I watch the Full Moon in private, absorbing its tranquility. 

-Zenwind. 

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US Marine Corps Birthday 2018

The US Marine Corps celebrates its birthday on 10 November.  On this date in 1775 John Adams proposed, and the Second Continental Congress approved, the formation of two battalions of Continental Marines.  Appropriately, the first recruiting locale was a tavern, Tun Tavern in Philadelphia.  The rest is history. 

Fifty years ago today, I was in my first week of Marine Corps Boot Camp, a Hell I had been warned about but could never even imagine how horrendously cruel it would be.  (I wrote a bit more about that time HERE.)

It was the first chapter in the true overall Marine experience, summed up as: 

“And when he gets to Heaven,

To Saint Peter he will tell:

‘One more Marine reporting, Sir.

I’ve served my time in Hell’.” 

-Zenwind. 

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Seasonal Changes

I am aware that the seasons in my original home town area of NW Pennsylvania are in radical change right now, and I miss those changes, the sights and smells and the feel of the air.  As October matures and the leaves change color and then drop completely by Halloween, the ancient Seasonal Turn comes about when pastures no longer grow and one must have already filled the barns with fodder for livestock which must last until the greening of May. 

The seasonal turn in the north temperate zones – when pasture grass and green leaves come around once more after May Day/Beltane, and then half a year later the green world dies again at Halloween/Samhain – this is an ancient timetable more basic and earthy than solstices and equinoxes. 

Here in Thailand we are also about to experience an important seasonal change, that of the end of the Rainy Monsoon season and the beginning of the general Dry Season which includes the shorter Cool Season.  By this coming mid-week (Halloween) the dew point is forecasted to be much lower and far more comfortable than anything we have seen for many months.  I expect to see some stars in the night sky again.  (For so many months, I have only seen a star a couple of times a month and the Moon only a bit more often.) 

I’m looking forward to not packing an umbrella every time I go out, to walk even short distances without being drenched in sweat, and to turn off the a/c at home for long periods of time. 

-Zenwind. 

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New Immigration Office

Today I did my obligatory in-person 90-Day Report of my current Thai address (although it has not changed in 12 years).  The new aspect of this routine is that my province’s Immigration Office has just moved to a new location.  It is more spacious with enough seats, is much closer to home and easier to get to, and has much better access to taxis for getting back.  I like it.  (So far.) 

The last provincial immigration office – which had opened within the last 10 years or so – was located far to the north and way out in the boonies amongst rice fields with no taxi traffic, so I would have to pay a taxi driver to stay to take me back.  This meant the driver would have to wait anywhere from a half hour to three hours.  I hated that aspect of it, but I admit I did like the country scenery of the trip.  That building was rather new and was air conditioned, but all immigration business was done in just one room, so there were many times when I could not get a seat and had to stand for an hour or more, packed shoulder to shoulder like a sardine.  Nightmare. 

But the immigration office I went to in my first few years here was even more of a terrible nightmare.  It was in an old area of Bangkok, and the building had no air conditioning and was absurdly crowded.  The smell of fellow aliens offended even me!  Tuk often went with me in those days – and she still always does for the major annual April visa extension – and we would celebrate finally getting our dread business done by going to The Hard Rock Café for lunch.  We are glad that first office is behind us, although we do miss The Hard Rock Cafe. 

This new office promises to make immigration ordeals more bearable.  (We hope.) 

-Zenwind.
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Monitor Lizard on the Prowl

Showering after a very long Sunday midday march in the neighborhood and after some protein recovery intake, with a big mug of iced beer in hand I took advantage of a lull in the rain to sit out on the downstairs courtyard stoop to give some time and attention to Fat Cat, our adopted outdoor cat.  (She cannot come inside since she attacks Pinky, our long-time indoor cat, so she has to rough out a lonely life outside that we try to solace with regular food and with as much attention as possible.) 

As I sit, Fat Cat parades back and forth next to me, relishing the petting and talk I give her.  Suddenly she stops mid-stride and looks intensely down the narrow courtyard.  I follow her gaze and see a Monitor Lizard ambling up to our end of the courtyard from the direction of the drainage ditch. 

This monitor was not the biggest I’ve seen, probably being an adolescent, but they are always still a sight to see – like a dinosaur in your immediate presence in the 21^st century.  Its nose-to-tail length was more than a yard, and nose-to-butt was over a cubit (18 inches).  It was slender with long legs and huge claws.  Tongue repeatedly lashing out to smell for the food that is often left out for cats, it patrolled around the courtyard areas where food is often found.  It came within five feet of us, well aware of us and not afraid.  Fat Cat was only marginally afraid, staying close to me but just watching with wary fascination.  I got a chance to study its eyes as it ambled about very near us, and it was eerie.  It never let up its awareness of me – implacable reptilian gaze. 

These lizards are amazing.  Each and every one I’ve seen is uniquely different.  I believe it is true what I’ve heard said from people who know these monitor lizards well:  that each one has a unique personality – like cats or dogs. 

Monitors are often called “reptilian cats” because of their intelligence and cunning as predators, and for their speed and strength.  Years ago we finally figured out the mystery of the periodic disappearance of three kittens when the fourth of the litter was found dead.  An adult monitor had methodically hunted down and eaten three half-grown kittens over a period of several weeks.  The fourth was not eaten because it was too big at the shoulders to be swallowed – it was old enough to be neutered – but we found him dead with his head and neck slathered in saliva.  The monitor had grabbed him by the head, probably broke his neck, and then tried to swallow him before giving up.  Imagine a reptile that is able to ambush a cat! 

Today the monitor looked straight at me, five feet away, and seemed to consider moving closer.  Cat food had often been left close to the stoop I was sitting on, so it had that in mind.  Its narrow head was turned straight toward me so that both its eyes had me in focus.  Fat Cat was beside me, a bit behind, not taking her eyes off the beast.  I simply extended my hands slowly, forward and wide to the sides with palms out.  The lizard got it and slowly turned and ambled away, nonchalantly sniffing other places and eventually climbing up a vertical pile of wood and debris with amazing ease. 

I usually have my mobile in my pocket at all times, but at this moment just out of the shower I didn’t have it at hand.  I really regret that because I could have filmed this extended exotic encounter at close range.  The lizard was not shy or eager to run away, and I could have recorded that haunting yellow dinosaurian eye that regarded me without fear and with seeming equanimity. 

-Zenwind. 

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Asalha Puja, Monsoon Season

Asalha Puja, the major Buddhist observance during this last Full Moon, is a big deal in Thailand, an extended public holiday. 

It is a celebration of the Buddha’s First Discourse after his Awakening.  He teaches his five old fellow ascetics who had formerly practiced with him in extreme renunciation and hardship.  Buddha declared the Middle Way between the extremes of self-mortification and gluttony, and he taught the practical way to enlightenment:  the Four “Noble Truths” and the Eightfold “Noble” Path. 

Stephen Batchelor has reanalyzed the Four “truths” in his Secular Buddhism project, emphasizing them as tasks to be practiced rather than truths to be believed as dogma.  After 50 years with Buddhism, this key discourse finally makes sense to me and integrates well with what I’ve always practiced as a heretical Dharma Bum. 

The day after Asalha Puja also marks the start of the Rains Retreat in Theravada lands, when monks stay close to their home temples for three months until the Rainy Season ends.  The monsoons blowing in from the Indian Ocean dump a lot of water on us this time of year. 

-Zenwind.
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Frantically Reading

I am hopelessly behind in my huge volume of correspondence.  Can’t keep up with writing emails to friends and family. This is because I am trying to read as many of this year’s Prometheus Award nominees as possible before the voting deadline of July 4. 

As a voting member of the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), I now realize that next year I will have to start reading the nominated novels immediately after they are announced at the first of the year.  Some of them are very long works, and some are sequels to previous novels that I haven’t yet read. 

The Prometheus Award goes to the best Science Fiction novel with libertarian themes published in the last year.  The Prometheus Hall of Fame Award goes to older works including short stories.  (Because I find the Hall of Fame nominated works hard to acquire, I rarely vote on this category.) 

Of the novels I’ve read so far, my first choice vote will go to Powers of the Earth (2017) by Travis Corcoran, first of a series.  Powerful stuff.  Also good reads getting my secondary ratings are Darkship Revenge (2017) by Sarah Hoyt and Artemis (2017) by Andy Weir (also author of The Martian (2011) which was made into a fine 2015 film). 

Gotta go.  So much to read – so little time.  

-Zenwind.