In Bangkok I watched 2012 with P. I enjoyed it, and I think what a lot of the commenters who panned it missed about it actually is that the times we’re in (2000 and after) have shown us that anything is possible. I mean, there can be global meltdowns and civilizational breakdowns. So the movie does not seem as unreal and as escapist (in a negative way) as it might have in the 1990’s when the world seemed stable. This is how I saw it, at least.
I have actually seen this movie. And this one is a favorite of mine.

Oh yeah. The saga continues, and in a couple of days I will be checking in at the Citrus. The reviews are mixed (“tired hotel”, “dirty sheets”) but the photos are cool.

Map here.

Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve encountered some British originals. Somehow I think the guy I saw at the Soi 7 Beergarden was a French dude – he had the Asterix moustache after all. But who knows?

…vinii? Or is it, vines?

“in wine, the wines”

I have mentioned before how useless I find the ‘news feed’ in MS Live Messenger – that, when it’s not downright stupid, or unintendedly hilarious, as below:

How about 'announced'?

Not to be nitpicky, but the primary meaning of unveil is to remove a covering. Thoughts of Page3 flashing through my mind…

Just finished reading “Spook Country” by William Gibson. A definite departure from his usual topics, and a writing style that is his usual but taken to an extreme sparseness; to the point where the book is incomprehensible until the last 3rd. Interesting premise, but ultimately unfulfilling; too much effort spent for a gimmick, and a couple of potentially interesting subplots and characters (Bigend) that go nowhere. Same feeling I had with Le Carré’s “Mission Song” – great writer somehow misspent.

However, I can’t believe I waited until now to read Natsuo Kirino. “Grotesque” is such a great book. Categorizing it as Japanese or crime fiction only diminishes its universaility – bullying, trying to fit in, trying to be attractive and dealing with not being, all these aren’t solely a Japanese phenomenon. It’s the first book written by a woman that I can relate to as a guy (ok maybe not the first; one of the few though).

There are several kinds of cool places. Tokyo, New York, London are arguably beehives of global creativity, places where things start. Then you have the Singapores, LAs, maybe Barcelonas – places which take in things that originate elswhere, or perhaps originate things on their own, but without the global reach of the first tier global cities. Hong Kong and Seoul would be trapped somewhere between the two categories, creative enough to be influential but without the power to extend their influence globally.

And then you have everything else, the local, non cosmopolitan, cities – perhaps tuned-in consumers (Bangkok), or perhaps untuned, uncreative locals such as most of the US (disturbing parochialism).

Do you create, do you imitate, do you consume, do you ignore?

Not sure how this fits in Richard Florida’s work – it does on some level I’m sure

So this time around I stayed far from the epicenter of Bangkok’s nightlife, and most definitely in a non-posh hotel. I wonder how would things have been had my first trip there been similar? In fact, I did stay for the first 3-4 nights at the not so hip and not so clean City Lodge on Soi 19, but when I completed the initial booked stay I moved just across the street to the shiny and luxurious Sheraton Sukhumvit Grande.

Hard Rock Cafe, the nightly walks on the “miracle mile”, Narcissus, everything started from there an created the image of Thailand (and Asia) that I still carry in my mind. Wonder if it would have been any different had my initial surroundings been On Nut and the (otherwise, nice) local Thai eatery S. took me to a week ago.

• missing Dt… just found the pics from 6 years ago
• going to Sunrise Tacos, I found myself missing K. Crazy as a bat, but gorgeous, and kind hearted in her own unique way
• listening to Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto
• walking in knee deep water just outside Hard Rock Cafe. Where was the Telefon Band?
• met M and was more moved than I thought I would be, and I think she was too. 2 1/2 years since the wild days with C and the first encounter with her
• first time ever in Thailand that I don’t get any kinds of stomach ailments from street foods
• only one trip to the Mango and none known there
• Singapore: comfy. Bangkok: has a soul

Photos, soon.