TOP 5 THINGS ABOUT #TRUMP the #TWEETING Leader of the FREE WORLD

TOP FIVE things I've noticed since President Trump has taken office. #5 Things are happening fast. Love him or hate him, but another bill is being signed every day and they are pretty much what he'd promised in his campaign. #4 The world is in shock. Living outside the USA as I do, hardly a day goes by that I don't hear the name Trump mentioned by people that truly have nothing to gain or lose from this president's policies. The world is so uncertain, the old WILD CARD scenario is in play here. Not sure if that will be good or bad, but nobody seems to know what to make of a president whose TV shows are hilarious and on most people's cable package reruns every night. Is this real or is this entertainment. Hey, it's America, nothings real and absolutely nothing is entertaining anymore. #3 Americans are talking about politics. I have never been interested in the political comings and goings of my birth nation or any nation for that matter. But now, people are talking.  Truthfully I look at this differently and far too pessimistically as I actually don't believe anything ever changes. Big business is directing a global economy and leaders in nations don't dare cross them for fear of job layoffs or pipeline closings of oil or factory relocation, all of witch put politicians out of work quick. News channels that direct the public opinion are owned by these companies and sometimes by the politicians. The masses grumble about this or that, but while they protest in the streets or complain at the dinner table, what's really going on is far more insidious. The world is being terraformed, it's resources destroyed, it's people--desperate to keep their family in food and clothing--vote to chase any hope for a leader who will at least protect their job. #2 America can not in anyway or by any stretch of the imagination, hide the drastic divisions which exist in the country. I've never seen such hostility from one side and such admiration and celebration by another. It's sad to see these divisions so ostentatiously brought to light; however, as an American I've always known they were there and always hoped for generations to lessen these as our children's wisdom should undo our grandparent's ignorance. My ignorance was believing the next generation wouldn't just look at us for guidance. OOPS, we did it again. And the #1 thing I've noticed since President Trump has taken office is that his wife is really HOT.

#UNIVERSITIES #RANKINGS #EDUCATION Well the RANKINGS are IN

Well let's give respect where respect is do. The English have achieved the top spot in this years WORLD university rankings. Oxford is never far from the top, but at times the upstart Americans manage to thrust either Cal. Tech. or Harvard or Yale up above the pinnacle of British education. So here is the top 10 in descending order. Oxford, Cal. Tech., Stanford, Cambridge, M.I.T., Harvard, Princeton, Imperial College of London, Swiss fed. institute of Tech. Zurich, and Berkeley in a tie with Chicago U. Notable absence is Yale and U. of Penn, who often crack this list but not this year. Notable RISE would be U.C.L.A. who are the highest I've ever seen them at 14th in the world.
Americans best bet to return to the top in 2018 would have to be Cal. Tech. as they were just edged out by their British competitor this year.

Sadly for the nation of Thailand they have only 1 school cracking the top 600 finding itself in the general ranking of 500-600 best, and this of course is MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY. It is very disappointing considering a nation as small as Singapore has 2 in the top 55. So why is a nation as wealthy and globally integrated as Thailand bragging only 1 university in the top 600? I will do a follow up article about this in the coming weeks, but congrats to Mahidol for being the top representative for the Kingdom.

ALBERTO shows us his illustration process #digital #anime #manga #art #illustration #Comico #Thailand

http://www.comico.in.th/titles/157/chapters/24 go see the final product.

CHAPTER 4 PART 13 THE BOY IN THE TRUNK #anime #manga #comic #Vietnamese #Beauty

THAI #RIVER #QIGONG #Mornings #boat #healthy

It's amazing what mornings feel like along the river. Mornings, since I started doing Qigong exercise every morning, start at 5 A.M. but somehow I feel better and more energetic after. I am a complete novice at this, but my goal for 2017 is to try this exercise every morning and see how I feel heading into 2018.

So what is Qigong? It is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates physical postures, breathing techniques and focused intentions or meditation. People do Qigong to maintain health, heal their bodies, calm their minds and reconnect with their spirit. But I'm hoping to be able to throw rebel soldiers around like rag dolls like Darth Vader does with the force. So far no powers of levitation, but some seriously clear thoughts and spontaneous  smiles  from an over all kind of mellow energy buzz.

I know it beats a coffee with a shot of whiskey the way I started many of my mornings in my twenties.

COMICOประจำวัน CHAPTER 7 #Thailand #manga #Comic #storyboard #ACTION #profile

CHAPTER 7 is FREE RIGHT HERE

In chapter 7 the WORLD of the DEATHSTICK is really getting hot. TAKE A DOUBLE TAKE at the chapter by clicking above. ENJOY for FREE and FOLLOW PLEASE.
THANKS!

THAI KITE HEADED YOUR WAY #Thailand #Kite #fly #Sea #celebration #love #lost #flight

New Years parties are often a gathering of old friends. My friend Pat and I have achieved an unbelievable 15 straight New Years parties together. Which would make sense if we were family or childhood friends, but actually I met Pat in Thailand and circumstances brought us together for the first couple New Years Eves and then it just become what we do. Still 15 is an amazing number. We have had New Years in Las Vegas, at the beach in Cha Am a few times, and mostly in night life locations around Bangkok.

So for this year's  celebration we decided to return to Cha Am, and with the help of some generous friends, we gathered at this lovely beach house north of Cha Am. It was a great deal of fun that started with wonderful sea food, wine, and since we had 4 young boys along with us, we settled into flying kites.  The breeze was ideal for this. It's nice to impress children with our kite skills when actually it was just a matter of flipping the kite up just as a gust hit and whooof up in the air they flew.

So this kite above, the THAI kite you see zipping just beneath those white clouds, is the kite I'd like everyone in the world to keep an eye out for. I'll tell the story like this

1. We see the lovely beach house.

2. I get the kite up, but not to it's full potential. Let's go out on the rocks to get more wind.

3. Scouting the wind.

4. We got the kite up like aeronautic geniuses.

5. I handed my kite string to our youngest member, Keith, who decided Kite's are not meant to be held back they are made to be FREE. 

When that kite took off it went higher and then zoomed away from the beach as if it had a mission to travel somewhere.I don't know where that kite went, but I know Keith was right, kites are not meant to be tethered to the Earth they are meant to travel the skies and travel the skies, I'd like to believe, he still is. 

Carrie Fisher #starwars #Fisher #sadness

My first crush has passed away. It is a sad day on Earth and every galaxy between ours and those far far away. 

As a boy of 9 watching the original star wars after waiting in line for hours to get tickets, the entire experience was an amazing memory. I was, like millions of fans around the world, immediately enraptured by this vibrant sarcastic princess the moment Carrie Fisher blasted her way into a trash dump. Seeing her come back to the Star Wars franchise and be so powerful on screen as a mature actress was a delight, but sadly we won't be able to see her work continue. The rumor is she had already finished shooting her scenes for the upcoming film, so there will be a bittersweet feeling to watching this. But of course it will be a STAR WARS must see. Rest in Peace Princess Leia. #forcebewithyou 
Princess LEIA is gone

COMICO #deathstick #thailand #comic #manga #illustration #THAI Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 on COMICO

The action continuous on COMICO'S WORLD OF THE DEATHSTICK. Please check out our THAI LANGUAGE comic. FOLLOW us on COMICO and help us grow.

THE COLD OF WINTER SETS IN #tropical #asia #Thailand #bkk #cold #winter

Winter has gripped the city and everyone is rushing for those denim jackets and long sleeve shirts to insulate themselves from the brutal chill. When things drop below 80 Thai smiles seem to melt into permafrost frowns. It is a hard time, but the people of Bangkok will survive. I mean next week it's supposed to be back into the high 80's so ... well yeah. I am heading to the beach.

MEDITATIVE and DELICIOUS #cooking #cook #fresh #meditation #food #writing #bosssucks

A few years back I went through a rather rough break up and shift in my life. As trite as the saying may be, 'When one door closes another one opens,' certainly was proven true for me. I guess there was no direct correlation here, as my X never cooked, but neither had I. So wanting to do a bit of hibernating and revitalizing, I began cooking.
I'm certainly not a young man, so at times new things make me sigh that old man sigh. 'HMMMM, new things...' All of my life I've been a restaurant, takeout, delivery kind of guy. Living in Thailand it's made even easier as their are food stands everywhere selling the most delicious Thai cuisine for less than a meal at Mcdonalds. (So I'm told I'm actually allergic to Mcdonalds so I'm not sure.)
So why cooking? Well I think it began out of boredom or laziness to head out to the street and find some food. Then it became a health quest.
Cooking has become, as now I probably cook about 50% of my meals, a way for me to calm down and focus on something vital but unimportant. Vital because, 'hey we got to eat' but unimportant because I'm the one eating it so if my playful experiment in the culinary arts fails in taste quality, well it's still food. And since it's just for me I've made the conscious decision to make it healthy. Raw vegetables, no meat, lots of throw in goodies like wheat germ or flax seeds, and just in general foods that make me have more energy and feel better following the meal.
If you're still not sure if you should try it, think of this. If you have a boss or coworker who is driving you crazy in their quest for ultimate office power. Mushrooms look a lot like these pencil necks and slicing the head off of a mushroom stem can be a surrogate for doing it for real. I mean after all, if they are making you miserable, chances are they ARE MISERABLE. So don't do anything stupid, get it out of your system vicariously through vegetables.

A Legend Passes #astronaut #pilot #hero #Glenn #USA

It is always sad to see the lives of amazing people pass on. What is amazing about John Glenn? Well a better question is what isn't. 95 years of awesome could perhaps describe the true action man. He truly did it all. Please enjoy this short tribute to him from PBS. If you don't know who he was, get to know John Glenn.

LANGUAGE is POWER #English #Chinese #Spanish #language #

Language is power or rather communication is. It's language that is the vessel we use to traverse the barriers and distance between people, societies and individuals. I was excited when one of my students wanted to offer a class to First Responders in how to deal with English speakers who had been injured. We had a lot of fun working with them and sharing ideas on how best to assist the non-Thai speakers.
So how important is English in the world today? I was surprised actually, because everyone knows Chinese is by far the most wide spread language on the planet, but actually as second languages English is a dominant force. There are more than 603 Million people using English as a second language as apposed to the 190 million people who speak Chinese as a second language.
I know these are kind of random comparisons, but I will say this, in the world today language skills are opportunity keys. English is the language of business, especially e-business, and speaking it well can certainly be an asset to anyone.
Reminds me I better work on my THAI, which has become far too rusty.