Saturday, November 27, 2004: Loy Kratong

I've been meaning to put up a post about that Rolling Stone Magazine's top songs of all time list, but I've been busy. Maybe next week if I get the chance.

Last night Sandy and I went out for Loy Kratong Festival to this restaurant across the river near her Sister's house. We had been to that restaurant once before after Sandy's Sister Pooh graduated from University in 2003. I recall the place having outstanding breaded shrimp. Sadly last night's affair had a set menu. Still the food was outstanding.

Loy Kratong is the festival where everyone sets little baskets with candles and incense in the river in order to make a wish for the new year. I'm sure that’s a pretty vague explanation of the whole thing. In any event its a big big night out with people selling the Kratongs lining the streets near any river or canal, as well as a great deal of eating and of course drinking.

We got a taxi over from the Redoubt to the restaurant. Traffic wasn't great but I don't normally go that route at 7:30 pm on a Friday so I'm not sure if it was any worse than normal or not. We paid bought our tickets for the dinner and sat outside by the river. There has been a big tropical storm in the south of the Bay of Thailand that came over from beyond the Philippines, so the weather has been relatively cool as of late. It hasn't rained but it has been windy and overcast for much of this week. Last night sitting by the river was just wonderful.

At around 10:00 pm we let our little boats go. They had to be lowered down in this basket thing on a stick. Fortunately some drunken Thai fellow helped out. I was afraid Sandy was going to fall in. But Mr. Helpful lowered the basket thing after we had spent some time trying to ignite the candles and incense.

Today we went to MBK. I am still looking at digital cameras and I wish I wasn't. Too many choices. Too many manufacturers. The whole thing gives me a headache. We also did some clothes shopping. I bought some items that I will need in about a week as well as a pair of jeans. The jeans cost a whopping 320 Baht which is about ten bucks.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004: Free Phone

Well my little phone is dead. Apparently the special piece that needs to be replaced can't be had as the phone is a year old and out of production. I do get a new phone though, as that one was still under warrantee. I am not sure which model they will give me, but I imagine it will be big and ugly with a colour screen. I may go to MBK and try and find my old model there if I am too displeased by the new one.

Thursday, November 18, 2004: Punishment

Last night we watched “The Punisher”. The key punishment in this movie had to be lameness of whole thing. I know that the movie is based on a comic book (please can we have at least a ten year moratorium on movies based on comic books?) and I would imagine that the story is close to the original comic book BUT… Haven’t we seen this story, oh, about 100 times already?

1) Under-cover cop and ex-special forces dude bests baddies
2) Baddies kill hero’s family and or think they’ve killed him
3) Hero “healed” and comes back to seek revenge
4) Explosions, gun battles, fistie-cuffs ensue
5) Revenge is had, thank you come again

Off the top of my head I can name several movies with this EXACT SAME STORY that do it much better. “The Punisher” is basically “The Crow” sans the Goth art direction and good soundtrack, or “Hard to Kill” without Steven Segal’s pony tail and Aikido. I would actually say “Hard to Kill” is much better in that watching the Hero snap the bones of the baddies is more satisfying than having him just shoot or blow them up.

The other problems with the movie would be… The guy who plays the Punisher and his Gen-X cliché comic side kicks. Isn't the viewer supposed to like or empathize with them? Perhaps the film makers forgot that bit.

I am unfortunately the in demographic that crap like this is marketed towards. What the Big Wigs might not realize is that this film comes about 10 years to late, and comes far too lame. And enough already with people flying back 10 feet after they’ve been shot with a shotgun. That wouldn’t happen. If they’d done this movie with Henry Rollins as the Punisher and made it more stylized and less cop-action heroish it might have worked.

On an up note though Travolta was a great Baddie Boss and that was the main reason why "The Punisher" didn’t suck as quite as much as “The Day After Tomorrow”.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004: Same Same Same

More of the same.

Two more murdered in southern Thailand

BANGKOK – A former policeman and a migrant worker from Myanmar have been killed by gunmen in Thailand's restive south amid continuing violence that has left more than 540 dead this year, police said yesterday.
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Retired police colonel Aroon Khongchangkit, 51, was killed late on Saturday by gunmen who burst into his home at a fruit and rubber plantation in the southern province of Yala. A worker from Myanmar, identified only as Ton, 19, was shot dead in front of Col Aroon's house.
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Police said the gunmen used the same type of military assault rifle that was among hundreds looted during an attack on an army base in January, sparking the current wave of unrest. The shootings followed five blasts within 24 hours since Friday afternoon, which killed a Buddhist man and wounded 29 people, including a seven-month-old baby.
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Tensions have increased in the region since 87 Muslim protesters died on Oct 25 after security forces broke up a riot at Tak Bai in Narathiwat.

Also...

Growing threats suggest Islamic terrorism spreading in Asia

Within the last two months, Muslims extremists have repeatedly attacked Thai government offices, police stations, security forces, homes of local officials and village chiefs, and markets. Since the beginning of the year, the insurgents are reported that have killed 360 people.

Saturday, November 13, 2004: Repaired Repairing Repairs

This is supposed to be "cool" season. It is not cool. It is really really hot. Which I am not complaining about. I will be moaning about the cold soon enough I suppose. I will also be moaning about having to pay 3 bucks for a freshly squeezed orange juice. Opposed to paying 20 baht.

I finished reassembling "The Crying Man" and have posted it up in The Music Room. I am about 90 percent happy with how it sounds. This isn’t to say it’s any good. (That will certainly provoke a response from Ms. Read-Along!)

I want to try and post up ALL the songs with vocals that I have done since 2001 before Christmas. This will involve repairing a few more though.

Hmmmm. Swim or repair song? Swim or repair song?

I looked at new phones as my phone is still being repaired from being repaired. I have been looking at phones with Sandy (who has just replaced hers) for what seems like two months. I am now officially sick of looking at phones. Especially since I don't like any of the phones I see. They all seem to fall in the following categories;

A) Ugly
B) Big
C) Expensive
D) All of the above

The advent of the colour screen seems to have forced the manufacturers to make the hand sets bigger. I am of the belief that as things become more advanced they should become SMALLER not bigger.

I like my phone. The one that's broken.
I don't want to buy a new one.
Besides mine is tri-band. I won't buy a phone unless it's tri-band.

Meanwhile there where a few bombs in the South yesterday....

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed a Buddhist martial arts teacher and two bombs wounded at least 10 people in Thailand's restive south on Friday in apparent revenge for the deaths of 85 Muslims, police said.

At least 27 people, almost all of them Buddhists, have been killed since the Oct. 25 Tak Bai deaths, which prompted warnings from Muslim clerics and analysts that the "massacre" could trigger reprisal attacks.

Again... this is no different from what has gone on since January. To suggest that if the rioters hadn't been killed these "revenge" attacks would also have not occurred is to ignore the facts of what has gone on all year. As long as the militants were killing a few Buddhists a week it wasn't news outside of Thailand. Now that these are "revenge" killings it IS news.

Friday, November 12, 2004: Our Top Story

For about a week various news agencies have been talking about how Arafat was on life support. That means DEAD. The only thing keeping the organs going was the machines. During this period though the BBC carried the PA party line that he was still alive. No questioning it and none of the skepticism they are so very good at throwing around at anyone who doesn't share their particular world view. Now that he's been officially pronounced dead you would think that the Queen of England herself had died.

"Our top story..."

How about "Our only story..."

It has been continual unending Arafat since last night. Arafat's coffin goes to the helicopter live, Arafat's coffin is put on the jet, and Arafat’s coffin arrives in Egypt, and so on. All inter-cut with their reporters in Gaza, the West Bank and where ever else someone sheds a tear rambling on about the legacy blah blah blah.

I don't dispute that this isn't news. But please.

Sandy often asks why I watch the BBC at all as "it makes you grumpy".

I like shows like Top Gear, Click-online and Talking Movies but increasingly I find myself watching the Chinese CCTV2 English news. It is actually less biased in its reporting than BBC or ABCAsia. This is amazing considering its coming out of the Peoples Republic of China. Perhaps they lack the language skills to be as snivelly and petulant as the Chicken-Little BBC reporters.

Thursday, November 11, 2004: Remembrance Day

My Father took me to the Remembrance Day every year from when I was young. I always associated it with him, and it seemed fitting that he was buried at that time of year in 1990.

Many of his friends died in Dieppe. His Brothers fought in Sicily and Italy. When one of his Brothers returned my Father was sent to Kentucky to train for the invasion of Japan. The War ended before he was deployed.

In Flanders Fields

- John McCrae

Wednesday, November 10, 2004: Phone Troubles

Of all the annoying things!

About a month ago I dropped my mobile on its head, rendering the lights not as bright and the speaker not as listenable. In fact anyone who spoke to me over it sounded like they'd had throat cancer and were using one of those voice box things. I took it in to get repaired and as it was under warranty still I was pleased that it wouldn't cost me anything. Two weeks have passed since I took it in and I finally get it back today. I quickly discovered that now it is even more screwed up. The phone switches itself off if it is answered or if you call out on it. So now it goes back to the repair shop. I will be shopping for a new phone this weekend. In the meantime I am forced to use my ancient Ericsson that went to the bottom of Brooke's pool.

The worst part is that I really liked the other phone. It is the last of the small monochrome screened ones from SonyEricsson. It is the perfect size and shape and I am not interested in any of their new models as they are butt-ugly and involve too many moving parts. I am highly suspect of phones that involve flipping and so forth. Apparently the color screens are difficult to read in the sunlight.

Tuesday, November 9, 2004: Running Man Blues

The gym has sort of sucked this week, or at least the running aspect of it. On Monday I was joined on the tread-mill next to me by Captain Combat: America's Fighting 45 Year Old Jogger - Last Line of Defense. While I struggled to complete my penance of 4 kms, huffing and puffing along as best I could, Captain Combat Leather Neck Marine ran twice my speed without breaking a sweat or even changing his facial expression. He just ran like on of those weird robots from the Herbie Hancock "Rockit" video. Mind you this guy has probably been running 3 miles a day since his first day in the boot camp 25 years ago. I've only been running for a year.

Japanese tourists took over the gym this morning or more specifically the tread-mill zone. This wasn't such a terrible thing, but I had to wait for them to finish their 35 minute brisk walk which seemed to take longer than 35 minutes. Then there is the issue of temperature. The gym staff seems to think leaving the doors open and shutting off the fan in the running room is a great idea when it's 35 degrees out. I am from the Cold North so I think it is a really bad idea. I hope that some day they have to run in the snow.

Meanwhile in the south...

BANGKOK, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Three civilians were killed by separatists on Tuesday morning in Thailand's violence-plagued deep south, while village security guards were robbed of weapons.

During the past 10 months, the insurgents attacked government places, ambushed security forces, shot civilians of both Muslim and Buddhism and vandalized schools

Monday, November 8, 2004: Reprisal or More of the Same

BANGKOK: Reprisal attacks mount in Thailand

A Buddhist man, in his sixties, was hit by two bullets and died at the scene.

Okay... again. These are in "reprisal". And what was the excuse for them doing this before October? Back when it wasn't news and no one outside Thailand gave a damn.

Saturday, November 6, 2004: The Spin Cycle of Violence

The weather is amazing, and the security is tight. There are LOTS of special coppers on the BTS now. What can you do? Just go about your day and hope nothing bad happens.

Last night we watched footage of the Thai cops wheeling one of their own into a hospital in the south. Too late for him though. Ironically he was Muslim. He was shot when the nutters attacked a Buddhist Monastery.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Suspected Muslim insurgents attacked an army unit protecting Buddhist monks at a monastery early Friday, killing one of the soldiers as sectarian violence continued in southern Thailand, police said.

A Buddhist monk was among nine people gunned down in a 24-hour period beginning Wednesday night as fears of escalating violence spread across the deep south.

And this is chilling...

Most of the southern region's 1,120 schools were expected to remain shut until Monday following a mid-week alert that the insurgents were planning to take teachers and students as hostages.

Also...

In the latest attacks, a man dismounted from the back of a motorcycle, walked up to Dam Thongmuang, 72, and fatally shot him in the head Saturday morning, said police Lt. Boonserm Klaewwathree of Narathiwat's Chanae district. Dam was a former district volunteer, helping out during natural disasters and accidents.

On Friday evening, two men on a motorcycle shot and killed 17-year-old vocational school student Nattapong Wangmaetakul as he rode his motorcycle home from school in yet another part of Narathiwat, said police Lt. Sukhum Sawadichart.

Of course now this is all in revenge for the rioters who were killed...

And they were rioting because the Police arrested some security people...

Who had either given or sold their weapons...

To the people who have been going around killing Buddhists since January...

So this justifies killing Monks and students...

How??

Friday, November 5, 2004: Safety First

Perhaps my old neighbourhood isn't any safer than here after all...

Toronto - Knives, crossbow, rifles seized in raid

Reza Mohamad Shily faces 42 charges. He turned himself into police Monday and has been remanded in custody.

As much as some family and friends seem to think I am walking on the brink of doom by being over here I feel no fear of violent crime in Bangkok. It's hard to explain the difference. Even with 14 million people I feel safe here. The last time I felt fear for my personal safety was walking back to Brenguns along Hastings Ave in Vancouver in 2002. THAT was scary.

Like I've said before, the biggest danger here is bad driving or a dodgy mango salad.

Thursday, November 4, 2004: No Surprises

I'm in no way surprised that Bush won. The reason is the Australian election. It was reported, polled and predicted in way that mirrored the US election. If you watched the Beeb or any of the regional news channels, especially the Australian ABCAsia, you would swear Mark Latham would have won. The polls all said he would, and he of course he had the Iraq = quagmire card to play. So when John Howard won I figured it would be the same with the US.

Does Bush make my life any more "at risk"? I don't know. The randomness of a terror act is the same whether Bush or Kerry or Donald Duck are in the White House. It's all about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am still more at risk from the way people drive here. Besides, this particular breed of religious based-terrorism has been going on around the world for years. No one in the West really gave a shit until September 11, 2001. So as long as these guys were burning churches in Indonesia, killing Hindu goat-herders in Kashmir or bombing Catholics in the Philippines it didn't matter. I think that many people in the West still don't really believe these clowns are a problem.

Guess what. They are. Ask that Dutch Film maker.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004: In the South

I was watching the news last night and it was showing the carnage after a car-bomb (in Baghdad).

Sandy asked "where is that?"

I replied "where do they have bombs everyday?"

You would think she'd say either Iraq or Israel.

Sandy said "in the south."

BANGKOK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Suspected Muslim militants beheaded a Buddhist village leader in southern Thailand in revenge for the deaths of 85 protesters last week and left the head and trunk two km (mile) apart, officials said on Tuesday.

"A revenge for the innocents of Tak Bai district," an official quoted the note as saying in reference to the place where seven protesters were killed and 78 suffocated or were crushed in army trucks after their arrest.

Okay they kill some old guy who works tapping rubber from trees in "revenge" for something he had nothing to do with. And what exactly was the motive for the other 300 people these nutters have killed since January? Revenge for Siam taking over the region in the 16th century? This is what bothers me about the way this is reported. 8 months of daily violence against Buddhists unreported, but now that the "militants" have an excuse for revenge the press picks up on the story.

I watched some of the BBC coverage of the US Elections this morning at the gym. It reminded me of watching American network coverage of the 1994 World Cup Soccer series. (All the English readers have just shouted "FOOTBALL" in unison) TV pundits trying to explain a process have little understanding of, and even less enthusiasm for.

The Beeb also had these bizarre computer generated maps with some guy walking around on them in front of a back drop of the White House and head shots of Bush and Kerry. It sort of reminded me of the many absolutely confusing Japanese game shows they have here.

Tuesday, November 2, 2004: Back to the Crying Man

I have gone back to the drawing board on "The Crying Man". I had rendered it, and even converted to MP3 with the intent of posting it, but repeated listening has convinced me otherwise. I am usually unhappy with any "finished" version of a song (with the exception of "Buggered Eyeball") but this one deserves to be as good as "Purring".

Job one last night was to try and find a way to sonically glue the song together. I programmed two new drum loops on the ER-1 for it, those being the fourth and fifth drum loops to be recorded (and possibly discarded later). Then I managed to find the secret ingredient that may rescue the opening section of the song.

A Mellotron flute pad.

I already had a reasonable psuedo-Mellotron string pad on the bridge and chorus created on the Roland MC-303. I think my tweaked psuedo-Mellotron pad actually sounds more like a Mellotron than the sampled Mellotron strings on my EMU Vintage Keys. I am not sure why I hadn't thought of the flute sound before.

Will this rescue the song?

Possibly. But I now have to go through all my MRS-4 back-ups and pull up the original tracks, restore them to the card-manager, then re-convert them to .Wav files, clean them up in Sound Forge and re-assemble it all.

Again.

I don't need to re-record anything but even with out that this process is the reason I have resisted going back to the drawing board.