Loy-Krathong

Happy Loy-Krathong to everyone! The most beautiful holiday in Thailand is an ancient fertility ritual. Families or lovers who aspire to build families will take to every body of water tonight to light a candle and float it away within a banana crafted pawn. This illuminates the ponds around Bangkok with a glow of love and peace. The tradition is ancient and is believed to have begun in the far north of the country where they were making an offering to the Nagga. If you visit Thailand I think this is truly a must see event, because it is done on such a local and rural level that you can truly see the Thai people interacting with each other on a communal and loving basis. It is not commercialized or catchy the way so many of the other festivals have become. I mean its really cool, buy a little banana float, light the candle, hold it with your lover and then set your troubles afloat in this symbolic representation of a better future! Lovely. 

Nebraska Football's 2 greatest knights

Husker football is making me sleepy again here in Thailand. The games are usually on at about midnight Saturday night for me. I tune them in on the internet and scream and yell and get all fired up and then usually can't sleep when the game ends at about 3:30 or so in the morning. Over all the season has been disappointing. We are only 5-3 after controlling 7 of our 8 games almost completely, but finding a way to lose 2 more games than we should have. Our offense is the worst I can remember, but there is a reason I can't stop watching these games and that can be simply summed up with two words, CRICK and SUH! Not since the Peter brothers who played for the Huskers in the 90's glory days have we enjoyed such hard hitting and fast defense linemen. They don't just create pressure for the quarterback to worry about, they get sacks, tip passes, create fumbles, and wear down offensive linemen. The create holding penalties, disrupt the passing flow of every QB and crush running backs who dare to run inside. Suh is the most amazing player we've had in years, but when the double and triple teaming happens it opens the door for Crick to be great and last week against Baylor he was amazing with 5 sacks.  I know our offense is horrible so far, but its beautiful to watch a defense like this. I can't get enough. Bring on Oklahoma, we may not get a win, but we are sure going to have some BIG HITS! 

Rich and Poor, there can not be one without the other

The other day I was asked to slip down to the Bandara Hotel for a taste of one of Bangkok's finest chef's latest creations. Chef Pop is an amazing artist of the culinary arts and its always my pleasure and also my part time copy writing job, to go and test his food and then write about it for his press releases and such. The restaurant is Mason Chin and it is a beautiful venue where tables are arranged in a glass atrium where street lights glow outside allow passers by to look in with envy and allow those of us sitting within to watch the comings and goings of the bustling city folk. It's amazing.

The food, amazing. Nearly every dish is created with an international flare, spices coming from India or Thailand mixing with fish coming from the coast of Australia or even the United States. Meats imported from Australia and mixed with vegetables produced in Europe. Caviar from Russia and  truffles from France, truly there is no limit to the extravagance of Chef Pop's kitchen. 

We drank wine imported from Chili while enjoying 5 courses of delicious dishes. The other food reviewers were a mix of folks, I was sat next to an Indian Editor who was delightful dinner company. She was funny and seemed to know everything about food. Across from me was a young British writer. There was a Thai woman who had been educated in America and several Thai women who had been educated in England. So as we all indulgence ourselves with this delightful task, it occurred to me that there are people on the planet by the millions that will never in their life time experience a meal like this. Why? If we were paying for this meal it would have exceeded $150 dollars per person. That's not even taking into account the wine we were drinking or the tip we should be leaving. In America that wouldn't be that expensive, but imagine a nation where the AVERAGE worker makes $200 a MONTH.  Because here in Thailand the guys preparing this meal are lucky to make that much. So is it right for those of us who HAVE to enjoy when so many HAVE NOT?

Hey, I was there to do my job because I have a mortgage, child support, and credit debt coming out of my ears. But lets face it, every once in a while I could splurge and have splurged for meals like this. Especially in my single days when a meal like this with the right girl probably increased my potential for success 10 fold. 

My question is this, and I'll be blogging more about this in the coming days, CAN THERE BE RICH without POOR? 

Husker Season Again

Since the day I moved to Bangkok I have struggled with my love of Nebraska football. During my time in the states it was an absolute passion for me. I grew up with season tickets, because my father worked for the university for 27 years and I have so many amazing memories from Memorial stadium. While I was living in Denver I attended 9 straight CU vs NU games traveling either to Boulder or to Lincoln without fail. So coming here, where the games take place at 2 in the morning is very difficult. I really can't sleep when the game is on no matter how poor the opponent. The big games I can usually find on the internet, but for the little ones the radio is good enough. 

I'm sure my Thai neighbors think I am a mad man hearing me crying and cheering with every play at 3 or 4 in the morning, but hey football season is just once a year. I love my HUSKERS and far from home or not, I keep up with my team and hope for a return to greatness! 

Globe Trotters in Bangkok

It was a real honor to have the United States Embassy extend an invitation to our school to come and meet the GLOBE TROTTERS. I remember as a kid how mesmerizing these hard wood magicians were and letting our Thai basketball players take a look at them was a lot of fun. I was most impressed with their skills, but even more impressed with how they worked with the kids who had come to see them. A class act all around! Thanks USA it was a nice event and the free red, white and blue donuts was a sweet touch!

CODY Gallas drawing

Well an artist took a stab at drawing my character CODY GALLAS from the book THOSE WHO HEAR. I loved writing this book which I describe as MODERN GOTHIC. I am currently in the process of trying to bring this book and series to life in a more graphic way. My first choice would be a graphic novel retelling of the story, but would love to do a comic version or an animated version. 

Any artist out there who would like to get involved in this project please contact me. I'll need many I think. 

WELCOME to BANGKOK

Welcome to the world Sa'ida Naree Siam (which translates into Happy/Lucky Woman from Thailand) Arnold. Our neighbors and close friends Speedy and his wife Dr. Arnold were surprised to find themselves rushing to the hospital 2 months before the scheduled arrival of their daughter. Both mommy and daughter are fine, but little Sa'ida will have to stay in the hospital this month to further develope. It will be an argues, but exciting month for the Arnold family. 

For those who knew Bui

POEM for my FRIEND 

Ending Worlds

His entire soccer team came to his funeral,
Except for Kenny Zanky whose mother had him for the weekend.
His X-wife was there and his son, just a toddler, looking bewildered and a little scared from his uncle’s tears.
“He looks just like him,” someone slipped, and his mother cringed a moment.
The divorce and a new husband couldn’t change her son’s uncanny resemblance to his father.
He’d lost her – his wife – in the usual way, first it was her respect and then her love.
She hadn’t left him because he was sick.
The cancer came as a kind of toxic byproduct,
perhaps spawned from the ranker of their rancid hopes…
It grew and spread, and he weakened.

We had all been inseparable back in the day, my daughter and his son,
My girlfriend and his wife,
their brothers and cousins, in my house.
Our weekends were barbeques, video games, poker, and beers. 
My house and their cooking.
He spoke sparingly making us hang on his thoughts, often unfinished.
He listened even less, nodding as his eyes squinted doubtfully, then completely disregarding what had been said.
We had forgiven each other. 
I forgave the way he always arrived unannounced, drank up my beers, and drug me out. 
I forgave him for the 7-Up he mixed with my 15-year-old bottle of French Bordeaux.
He forgave me for always calling his bluffs in poker and taking his cash, for my incessant advice about his finances, my meddling and how I always made him cook. 
He taught my daughter to swim.
He told me the truth about my girlfriend, when no one else dared my temper. He dared, he stood right in front of me and made me eat the truth and then helped me drink it down.
Then it all, like a teetering inverted pyramid, fell to pieces: I kicked her out, she kicked him out, I moved away, sold my house, and from far away I heard the news – that it had all been too much. 
Three years had passed since we’d spoken when I called him, and three weeks later he’d be gone.
He disregarded bravery, admitting the pain was becoming too much. Telling me there just was nothing to fight for.
I encouraged him to battle on, teasing him that no one made me noodles like him and that I’d pay for his ticket to come see me if he’d just get strong enough to cook, but this only made him cry. 
And then I knew. 
His brother took the phone and thanked me for the call, shyly saying he couldn’t talk anymore now – too many tears. No voice left. 
We hung up and that world was gone. 

BIRTHDAYS

Oddly it seems there are a slew of birthdays this time of year. July and August seem to be filled with birthdays and of course they are filling my social calendar. I myself am often a bit sad around these symbolic days as lets face it, birthdays might as well be called the markers of the reverse or anti-calendar. We count from 1 to some undetermined number, perhaps 70 or 71, while acting cheerful about the gloomy reality of these numbers. We are doing a countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7... all the way to our oblivion; however, we are doing it HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY, HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY, Happy 50th Birthday, happy 60th birthday, and let's face it our jubilance subsides with each one to a point where we are just barely clinging to our existence like a grasshopper on a windshield wiper of a truck going 85. Anyway, happy birthday to SPEEDY, MOD, TED (Curtis), Sister Judy, Sister Cindy, Linz, and everyone else that is slipping my mind right now. 

Feed Those Thai Fish

So when it comes time to test the character of someone I like to take them to the river, stick a roll in their mouth, lean them out over the edge of the boat, and let the giant catfish rip the loaf from their mouth. Few have the courage, but this crazy blond American by the name of Laura, was up for the challenge!

Siminoe loves a little KISS

All of us 80's children had one band on our mind when we were kids. The best band in the world, KISS! Enjoy this blast from Rock and Roll Past! And if you know the words, you--my friend--are OLD!

Screen Writing for ALL

Well it is time for a push to action. Movies are a passion of mine. I love to watch them, analise them, talk about them, and especially I enjoy writing my own. If you share this love, I have found a very interesting and FREE site for downloading screen writing software. Good script software is super expensive, so I highly recommend you try Celtx. Click on the title and visit their site. You should feel safe in downloading their program and you will be amazed at how easy writing a movie can. Of course writing a good one is another matter all together.

Crepe in Thai style

repes in Thailand are made on the street or in the mall. The process is simple enough, but they tend to add a little Thai style to the creation. When I have had a rough morning, I love to treat myself to a tasty Crepe. This girl works on our campus and she works 12 hour days 6 days a week. Her estimated pay is about 5,000 baht a month or roughly $125 dollars. But she is always smiling and friendly. What is our cost to buy one of these snacks? 25 baht or about 75 cents in US money. Far too cheap considering the heat she has to work in.