Greg and I had a mantra before we embarked on our trip to Thailand: “Make as few plans as we could get away with.” We didn’t want to be tied down to an agenda when reading about Thailand was only going to give us a small window into the best way to travel here. We’ve lucked out so far, but were becoming quite concerned this morning that our luck had run out.
Pretty much as soon as we got to southern Thailand, it became completely overcast and spouting spurts of HEAVY rainfall. We just got into Phuket and it was raining just as much as our mood was souring. We were spoiled earlier with the courtesy and cheap prices of northern Thailand. In the south, the sun and scenery brings too many tourists and too much money. And now we didn’t even have the sun.
So we scrambled to figure out how to salvage our remaining days. We couldn’t get out of Phuket, so we decided to attempt to follow a very loose rumor about a “mom and pop” bed and breakfast joint that I heard about for $8 a night. “Down a dirt road about 2 kilometers from the Marriott” is all I had to go on.
But the cabbie spoke as much English as we spoke Thai and explaining “bed and breakfast” wasn’t working. He dropped us off at what looked like a pre-1989 East Berlin re-creation from the outside. At that moment, what turned out to be the hotel manager walked by and noticed our predicament. He offered to help us and allowed us to stay at what turned out to be a very secluded 5-star hotel for a fraction of the price. We now have our own private pool at our room and several kilometers of our own beach (!).
We were thinking of heading back to Bangkok early, but now we might be a little more flexible with our non-existent agenda.
Anytime Greg and I hit anything remotely resembling a tourist trap in Bangkok, we’re surely going to get asked by locals, “How many years?!” They then commence to point at our beards (occasionally even tug on them). Following this, we’re always propositioned to whatever service that they’re pimping. This happens with enough consistency that it’s clearly a script.
What I want to know is, who disseminates this script. Somebody once studied how spangers were able to consistently display the same sign (“Parents Killed By Ninjas. Need $$ for Kung-Fu Lessons.”) across the country by a matter of months. I wonder if the same logic applies in Thailand. Or if there is some sort of conference where they agree on the best street sale strategies.
There appears to be a parallel in Thailand to Americas obsession with being tan: I’ve seen tons of “whitening” products. All of the lotions in stores contain “whitening” and even most of the advertising here feature very pale Asians that clearly attempt do their best to emulate the “West”. But as curious as they are about Western culture and our beards (boy, do people like to stare at them), facial hair is apparently regarded in Thailand as unkept and frowned upon, unless it’s a single hair emanating from a mole.
I think I’d rather have a beard.
We just got into Chiang Mai and checked in with the woman at the front desk. The first thing she said was “You should shave that off. You’d look very handsome without the beard.”
Greg and I just got into our layover in Seoul before hitting Bangkok. Best plane ride ever. They have Tetris built into the seats! Greg and I were able to play vs. each other for about 9 hours. Outlets in the seats, hot towels applied to the face, spacious seats. I applaud you, Korean Air. Congratulations on superior air travel service and being awarded the BrumBrum Sky Travel Level Of Excellence Certificate.
I love discovering overlooked music from back in the day; particularly those that have been used in samples. Below is a mix of all sorts of stuff form the 60′s and 70′s: soul, jazz, mood, Orleans, ska; some of which as been sampled more than just a couple times. I have no real reason to share outside of the hope that someone might share back. If you’ve got an interesting song, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear it…
Trinkas – Remember Me:
The intro to this song was used in Jurassic 5′s “Quality Control” in an interlude, but the rest of the song is even better.
Serge Gainsbourg – La Horse:
Harpsichord detective funk, with a touch of banjo. He’s more than just a father of a hot girl who can’t write her own material.
Bob James – Take Me To The Mardi Gras:
Sampled over 40 times, most notably in Run DMC’s “Peter Piper“. Miles Davis even sampled it in the song “Work It”.
Soul Brothers – Free Soul:
Recently caught this one through Lily Allen’s “Smile“. Her producers have good taste…
Toots & the Maytals – Pressure Drop:
I can’t believe these guys are still playing. Their version of Radiohead’s “Let Down” is every bit as good as the original.
Hugh Masekela – Grazin’ in the Grass:
Just played last Sunday in Seattle. Sold 4 million in ’68 as a jazz instrumental.
Gunther Kallmann Choir – Daydream:
This song is showing up a lot these days with Lupe Fiasco and Jill Scott.
Professor Longhair – Big Chief:
Another Lily Allen sample from the song “Knock ‘Em Out“. Their use of this one is more blatant than some of their others.
Jean Jacques Perrey – E.V.A.:
Mostly this guy does quirky show-tunes with crazy bing-bong noises, but this was his hit. Grabbed by Tribe, Dr. Octagon, Gang Starr, etc.
Chosen Few – Collie Stuff:
Covered a few years later by Kool & the Gang and re-branded as “Funky Stuff“.
Vincent Geminiani – Ophis Le Serpentaire:
Heavy French soundtrack mood music.
Bobby Hebb – Sunny:
One of my favorite songs. Not necessarily obscure, as BMI calls it the 25th best song of the last century, but I rarely run into someone who knows it.
I’m a sucker for “Best of” lists, particularly if they come from my friends (hint, hint). Here’s mine:
Books
Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan Big time comic releases seem to be more sporadic these days in comparison to a couple of years ago, but this one fits the bill. Israelis with identity issues makes for good reading.
I Am America by Steven Colbert Obvious one for me. I’m a sucker for anything that he does, as evidenced by viewing all 337 episodes of the Colbert Report (as of this writing).
Into Hot Air by Chris Elliott It’s not as good as his last, but it’s still quite good. A cast of Chris Elliott, Kristen Dunst, Michael Moore, Martin Sheen, Tony Danza, and more set out to climb Everest.
Please Clap Your Hands by the Bird & the Bee It’s just an EP with 5 songs, but each is pop perfect. The production is great.
Armchair Apocrypha by Andrew Bird I probably spent more time with this album than any other this year. Even better than his near perfect And the Mysterious Production of Eggs.
Alright, Still by Lily Allen My guilty pleasure. This is probably the popiest album that I’ve ever fallen for. I very much doubt a sophomore album that matches this.
Holy Smokes! I’ve been a fan of Andrew Bird for a few years now and have become a bigger fan with each release he’s come out with. His last full album just came out about 2 months ago and I think it’s his best yet; and now he’s on tour to promote it. I’ve never been able to make it to a show when he’s come, but I caught him last night at the Tractor Tavern and was blown away. He’ll start a song off with a little picking on his violin. Loop it on his Line 6 petal. Layer a little padding and melody over it. Then grab the guitar and sing n’ play over that. Maybe whistle a little line while playing a melody in unison on his glockenspiel. His drummer might be playing one handed while controlling a sample on the laptop or playing something on his MIDI controller. What really stood out was his whistling. You can’t tell through his records just how good he is at it. But see for yourself (Real Player). That performance gives you an idea…
Every now and then, I’ll somehow find my way into a conversation on social policy and individual responsibility. I might enjoy the conversation, but it doesn’t take me long to realize that I don’t have that Chomski-like ability to recite facts and recall quotes. And that’s where I loose: I can tell people how I feel, but I sure as all heck have a hard time telling them why.
Well thank all that is super for writer’s like this. This is one of the most concise and well said essays on class and poverty. It’s the type of thing that I wanna’ link to here so that I can just point people to that story instead of just being smart myself — the American way™.
I got stuck in the same way the other day when I was having a chatty-chat with someone regarding Kerry Vs. Bush Vs. Kucinich. She asked me what I had against Kerry; and even though I’ve read plenty about hisvotingrecord that I don’t think is perfect, I drew a blank. But I knew that I was a Kucinich fan (he’s vegan!).
She said, “Well, how about this metaphor: Your car (the economy) breaks down outside of town. Another dude (Kerry) in a car pulls up offering to fix your automobile, but you tell them no because you’re holding out for a guy (like Kucinich) to give you a fix AND a wax.” (Ed. note: She didn’t say “dude”. That was creative license at work. Also, she didn’t say anything in the previous parentheses, but man, they really make that metaphor clear.)
That got me thinking until someone else mentioned that the person who offered to fix the car would be using bubble-gum and toothpicks that wouldn’t last me the trip back to town. And that got me thinking about how I don’t want to get stuck again, ’cause I’d get hungry and probably try to eat the gum. And I hate gum.
But none of that matters, because by most accounts, Washington State is not a swing state. And it looks like it won’t be come November (What is the threshold for a swing state, anyways?). So I can vote for Kucinich and know that Bush will not carry Washington State. If I lived in Florida or Oregon, I’d have to re-evaluate my thoughts. But luckily I can vote outside of the shitty two-candidate system. I really hate the attitude that people are specifically voting for the lesser of two evils instead of voting for who they think is the right candidate.
Points on Kerry and Kucinich:
Between 2001 and 2003, the Arab American Institute rating for Kerry went from a 75% rating to a 33% rating, while Kucinich has maintained a 100% rating.
