Chaos abounds...

Indeed the Reds are persisting, Kevin Bacon came to town for a second-hand sale, and my memory of the weekend resembles that of a goldfish on ketamine.

Alas, we all press on. Regardless of the ness.

Is that all there is?

All I want for Christmas...

Dear Santa,

I have been thinking about what I want for Christmas, and I am starting to realise the massive task you face each year of deciding who has been naughty and nice. In terms of my own behaviour, I can honestly confess to you that I have been at the extremes of both. It's been a tough year.
I know this perhaps doesn't make your decision in my case any easier, but I would really love a new Computer if possible.

Thanks in advance,

Rich.

Who Killed Bill?

The irony was overwhelming over the weekend here in Bangkok when someone took the Tarantino title 'Kill Bill' a little to literally.. Found in a room of the Nai Lert Park Hotel by the maid, Bill (David Carradine) seemed to have found himself strung up to the wardrobe and a little over-auto-erotically asphyxiated. The binding material varied from wire to rope to shoelaces, but whatever the vice, what better place in the world for the 70-year-old to end it all on such a seedy note than sin city.. Nice one Dave.. And thanks to the thai press for plastering this photo on page 1.. all class..

lucky number 7

Harry Nicolaides, the aussie guy jailed in here in Bangkok for crimes against the king, made it back to Melbourne over the weekend.
For fear of giving the guy undeserved publicity, I have avoided commenting until now, but he deserves some cyberroasting.
What a twat, really. The self-published book sold only 7 copies, and made its way to the Royal Palace via direct mail from the author himself., who has lived here before and should know better.
For a little bit of cheap publicity he fought the law and the law won. I hope for his sake that it will be worth all the crawleys he has no doubt contracted after his spell in Bangkok's jail system.

Burn baby burn..

The New Year's Eve Santika fire finally has a culprit.. And for the Thais, that's very important.. But for Saravuth Ariya, lead singer of band Burn, its tough cheddar.. He has been scapegoated with the blame for the blaze, clumsily diverting attention from the club owners and managers responsible for the inadequate fire escapes and layout of the tinderbox club..
It provokes all kinds of thoughts about corruption, the power of money, and the role of the police here.. Think, as a profession, they are probably to most overweight.. But i still finance their good living everytime i get pulled over on my moto.. its easier to just give them the 100 baht note and perpetuate the apathy.. are we all indirectly responsible for the Santika blaze?..

Wong on..

There is a bar in Bangkok, a wonderful bar.. Remarkable mostly for its unremarkableness and the atmosphere that ensues from the lack of pretension.. It was there on Friday night that I found myself in new friends arms singing along to unnamable deep n dirty '80s hits whose lyrics could only come back to me at 4am.. Even Wong himself was belting it out, standing barefeet on the bar, whiskey soaked eyesockets and temperament.. The beer fridge was empty and the tabs ran wild.. but Wong doesn't seem to care.. hell be there the next night, and the night after.. at least there is one decent boozey afterhours in this turvy-topsy night city..

roadrage fodder

my buddy from work had a car accident this morning.. he hit a guy who crossed the road in front of him.. all on camera, police involved, nobody killed, all good.. somehow both parties agreed to a 3,000 baht ($105) payout.. which is about two weeks wage for an average Bangkokian..

So ive been thinking of starting a business, training masochists to play in traffic and get paid for it.. there is potential there.. somewhere..