Chris and Koi's Magical Night

I met Chris about 7 years ago when I first came to Thailand. He and his crew of friends were a big reason I chose to live in this country. I mean they were so friendly and so welcoming to me I found myself feeling at home within months of moving here. Over the past 7 years this group has been my support and teachers about this kingdom. I'm so happy for he and Koi, she's a special lady and they deserve the happiness they have found together. 

It was a crazy night of old friends, families, three live bands, John singing some of his hits, wine, and in the end Tequila. Yikes!

I really apologize for the sound quality, especially for John who is a professional singer and star here in the Kingdom of Thailand, but my camera is just a little point and shoot so his voice is not done any justice. I will say it sounded great live.

Congrats to the bride and groom! Best of luck and all the love!

AIG can burn

F.U. AIG

Here's a little story I've got to tell about one lovely company we know so well, they started way back in history and now we all own a piece of them 'oh why me?'

Our government says let's bail them out,

if we don't have AIG then we have no clout.

With all our tax money going into their account,

they began to dance, scream and shout. "We're rich again on US money, this is so easy and oh so funny."

"We never paid off when people needed us, but now we need the people's cash and they just wrote us a blank check."

"Ha ha ha USA, we're the boys of AIG and we're here to say, our bonuses are big and we deserve every cent, because in a socialist state it don't matter what you spent. We got the cash, the courts, and bonuses too. So step off citizens we are in charge, that's why are bonuses are so damn large." 

"If you want some success we can show you the way, screw up, blow all your cash, and some government guy will say, 'we need AIG they insure my yacht how we gonna live with out them I need them a lot.' So in comes the money oh it really can't be."

But if you don't believe you don't have to listen to me, take a journey to America's car city. Up in Detroit nobody drives, in Washington by Jet every car executive arrives. "Oh we're broke, our cars don't sell if we don't get the US money my G5 I'll have to sell."

But we all know its the US socialist state and we're going to bail you out and without any wait. executives shouldn't worry they are the ruling class and in the USA it's all about the cash. Even if you lose someone else's money, it's okay, it's alright, it's all so funny. We'll reset the game, start you off fresh, that's why we send out the IRS.  They'll collect the money from all those poor drones, and none of them will do anything but bitch and moan. Ask Mr. Snipes in his prison cell, if you don't pay for bailout's you go to hell.  

Bangkok's Floating Market GATEWAY STYLE

Last weekend Marisel de Guzman of Gateway High School fame, arrived in Bangkok for a bit of rest and relaxation. I was never Marisel's teacher, but we have many mutual friends and have known each other since she was in high school and I was teaching high school. It was amazing to see her all grown up and happy. She has been traveling Asia with her boyfriend Paul and they left their final leg for Bangkok. I was very excited to see her and her gentleman caller. Paul was very nice and I thought very quiet until I got to know him a little bit better. By our final day together he was feeding fish out of his mouth and chucking bread rolls at Chinese guys trying to eat some soup in peace. I guess people from San Diego are not as conservative as I thought.

Enjoy the video above. We shot it while floating around the water canals of Bangkok. If you are ever in Thailand I highly recommend you get up early one morning and enjoy this river cruise. You'll see the river people's lives up close and enjoy 3 different food markets. If you need some information on how to go, simply drop me an email and I'll help you set it up.

Enjoy!

Kindle me this and Kindle me That

So the coolest feature of Amazon is probably the KINDLE device. This thing allows you to download books immediately. The KINDLE list is growing daily, as more and more best selling authors are offering their novels on this technologically advanced venue. But, who cares about those guys, the cool thing is they are putting up my novel THOSE WHO HEAR and ECHO POOL for electronic purchase. 

I am very proud to be a part of the KINDLE family. Check out my 2 listings on Amazon's KINDLE offerings by clicking on the title of this article. It's really great because many people are a little short on cash and can not afford to buy my book, but with KINDLE I can offer it for about half the price. Basically all the shipping is taken out. So please, be the first to download and enjoy my books! Kindle me baby, YEAH!

Chinese Class

For the past 4 years I have been asked to teach an English survival class to Chinese agriculturalists who come over to do research in Thailand. Thailand is the #1 exporter of rice in the world and one of the top fruit exporters in the world, so they come to study with the Thai professors. It is always a pleasure for me to get to work with them. I learn so much about Chinese culture and about the Chinese mind set as they emerge as a global power. This years group was full of spirit and in general they were a very fun group of students. The work ethic of Chinese people has always amazed me and it makes me feel like I'm a really good teacher when they improve so fast, even if it was more do to their hard work than do to anything I presented. I hope all of these students will stay in touch during their year in Thailand and when they return to their homeland. 

The final point that we came to in our best discussion is this: China is rapidly becoming a free market society in which people who work hard believe they can find their way into the class above them. In other words, the Chinese are socially mobile as the poor work to move into the middle class and the middle class is endeavouring to become rich. And we decided that the United States, my homeland, has become a socialist state in which the government owns all banking and supplements all jobs by owning huge shares in all major manufacturing companies. So when I was in high school and Mr. Miles described communism and capitalism I think he made a critical flaw, given time all white becomes black and all red swirls into blue and all capitalists will turn communist if their capitalism is failing. 

TV Dead and Well

"I have never been one for inaction," Malcom X. I have given this quote to my students for years because I believe it makes a very bold statement and reminds them that the key to success or to even living life instead of waiting for death, is action! Action is the difference between the passivity of TV watching and the more self directed addiction of the internet. I will not completely defend surfing the net all night as far too many of us do, but I will say that it is a drastic improvement from the brain dead who sit idling watching TV for hours. Science has proven your brain is less active during TV viewing than sleeping and in essence while you WATCH your brain goes into a state of mild hypnosis. "What, sorry, I didn't hear you I was watchin' this." Sound familiar?

Many people are wondering just what it was that brought down the American empire, which many social scientists are calling the shortest lived empire in the history of the Earth. I believe it can be best described as addiction. Now drug addiction isn't helping anything, but as a society Americans are sickly addicted to flat screens, plasma screens, bigger and bigger their viewing technology gets -- fatter and fatter they grow -- and now suddenly, like a balloon being filled with a tire pump, the empire is BURSTING!

Look no further than passivity. Passive viewing, 26 minute stories sum up life problems with quips and giggles, canned laughter and guffaws and then roll credits. TURN YOUR TV OFF!

This is not a joke it is a public service announcement. At least if you are on your internet you are directing your experience. You select what you want to investigate, you read what you want to learn about. You can watch programs on the internet, but at least you searched them out. Sitting passively and allowing program directors to shuffle through their tired list of sleepy false reality TV shows is sad. Do people really care who got voted off what island? I'd like to vote the entire lot off of planet Earth to be honest.

Turn off your TV or simply throw it in the closet. I put mine away a couple years ago now and honestly I do NOT miss a thing! 

NO TOURIST VISA NEEDED IN THAILAND

Thailand may be the best shopping place in the world. It certainly can brag some of the biggest venues for this in the world. These mall  monstrosities are usually between 4 and 6 stories of everything from name brand rubbish to locally made imitations of name brand rubbish. I myself am not much of a shopper, unless you consider being lost in bookstores for hours shopping -- actually that is more about my poverty as I usually am reading parts of books for free and then putting them back. But a new law is going to allow people into Thailand without a tourist visa. For the next 3 months it is gates open to the city of Bangkok. With no tourist visa restrictions the government is trying to stimulate some shopping growth. Great plan and good for all the guests of the Kingdom. So SHOP SHOP SHOP you consumers, and please dress nicely because I just might be in the mall and I'm not there to buy Gucky or Louey Sting Stong, I'm there to observe the beautiful people walking around in their little fantasy world. Very entertaining to watch them consume! It is like watching chickens pecking in the dirt for seeds, they strut around with their heads wobbling about as if they were searching for the holy grail, and then when they think they have spotted something they peck, peck again, peck and then begin the strutting again. Shoppers are very entertaining, the dance of the chickens pecking away.