Friday, September 30, 2005

The World Is A Strainer



In a flood, the world becomes a strainer.

I've spent the morning bailing water. The bucket I have works like a sieve. The sandbags I've left in place are about the same.

I watch trash float by outside. It heads past our house toward what was an open field. Now it's a lake that engulfs our street. All the fences strain the garbage. Stopping the solid stuff and letting the brown tea filter thru. Everything does it. Bushes. Bicycles. A scooter chained up for the night.

The water's so high the bushes look like small strips of grass. A truck drives by. It's engine straining. He turns our corner and dips into the street. It rumbles and growls. You can see where the water must be seeping under the door. He makes it to the end of the block, almost out, but stalls. A huge plume of blue exhaust and steam pours from the underside and tailpipe.

The water is about 2 inches from breaking over the the front porch. With an extra 2-3 inches up to the front door. Our rear utility area is already about 4 inches deep. At least that's how it seemed around my ankles. I don't think I'll be making it to class today.

Another one of our bags of trash floats by. I recognize the grocery bag and the way it's tied. I'd walked it out yesterday to the cans at the end of our block. It's followed by a large blue bag. And now by lots of miscellaneous junk. Our landlord is outside pulling garbage out of peoples' bushes and sending it on it's way. The fleet heads downstream, makes a left at the gate, and is swept out into the lake.

Somewhere an indian is crying...

Brown Water Rafting



At night you can almost convince yourself it's Willy Wonka's river of chocolate. If you can ignore the slight stench and random debris floating swiftly past, that is. An upturned beer bottle. A pizza box. One of many random orphaned sandals, still right side up, cruises westward.

Yes, the floods have returned. Worst flooding in 40 years they say. This time it's actually raining locally while the rivers been filling up from the rains to the north as well. In the last flood, it took all day to rise to less than what it did tonight in about 2-3 hours. It's still climbing slowly.

I can hear the guy next store bucketing water from the utility area behind his house. Ours seems fine for the meantime. Maybe another inch to go.

We're so far behind, that we were a bit ahead tonight. They've been crying wolf for this flood for so long now that we never removed our sand bags from the last flood.

I've spent a good deal of the evening watching the Englishman across the street. He wades out into the muck. Mesmerized like a little boy. He can't seem to stay out of it for more than 10 minutes. Finding things that don't really need to be moved, but coming up with good enough reasons to futz with them at 11:00 pm in the knee high brown water. He takes his time, exploring our new neighborhood with his halogen flashlight. Big and yellow like something off a swamp boat.

All sorts of wildlife has found it's way onto and inside of our house. Large bugs cling to the outside walls of our place. Geckos cling to the inside ones. I found this frog on our front porch. I wonder what I'd see if I licked him. Would it be anything like the brown water at Duff Gardens?

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Back to School

This morning I start my Thai language course. After a strong start, and much pestering of my wife for pronunciations, I finally discovered that my text book contains 20 lessons, not the 10 that I'd thought. Actually it contains those 10 and an additional 10 more. So I'll need to start with the first course after all. Since the baby is due any day now, it works out well that I got thru so many lessons already.

The FUTURE IS semi-NOW!



John Choi is a friend of Steve's. I've heard Steve talk about him all the time. I've been kept up on his exploits, and his accomplishments. I've never met him. And now he and Team Bonzai are doing something really cool. They've entered the DARPA Grand Challenge.

They've taken a standard VW Toureg and modified it to run independently of any controls. No Driver. No remote. Just 4 Mac Minis and GPS system. Give it a destination. Road or no road, it has to accommodate for any obstacles itself. Today (well, still today in America) they're in Fontana, competing in the semi-finals.

He's been so busy and sleep deprived that all his brain can think about are GPS signals, actuator torque curves, and how to teach the car to steer by feel. This seems to have displaced any passwords usually retained in those parts of his brain, cause he's forgotten how to access his blog. Anyhow, here's what John had to say:

"It's been nine long months of late nights and long weekends, too many ideas and too little time. But as with all journeys, this one had lots of lessons and contributed to the "building" of much character in all who participated."

"We had a demo at Herman Cook VW a couple of weeks ago and noticed a few problems that we thought we could fix. So.... we ordered a bigger motor to be able to turn tighter and stop faster. The new motor broke the old coupler. The new coupler didn't fit the old actuator. All the moving and swapping out parts caused some wires to get lodged under the seat hinge. The slow current drain from the hinge pressure turned into a full scale short circuit. But before discovering the culprit, embarked on a complete re-wiring of the car system (just in case)."

"That was last week. Last night, we got (almost) everything back together and the car moving again. That was just to explain why Kenny's first task after arriving in our hotel room was to take a nap."

- John


Good luck guys! Can't wait to see you in the finals! Maybe if you pass today we'll make the baby's middle name Bonzai?

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Almost there...

Well, we saw the doctor yesterday. She took a look inside, did a couple things, and told us probably this week. Even money is he's a september baby. I'm keeping a bag packed and the motor on the bike warm. May have to scratch the bike idea, it's raining now...

Puppet Shadow Charades



I've been playing a game with the baby. It's like charades meets puppet shadows done in braille. I find the baby's little foot, usually pressed up against Sow's right ribcage, and I tickle him to get his feet moving.

Have you ever seen Alien?

I'd heard about being able to see the baby's arms and legs moving, but I guess I'd never really imagined it quite like this. If you look closely, sow's belly looks like it's doing an impression of The Scream. You can't see her face, but it's making a similar look.

The baby seems to be hungry about every 3 hours. That means Sow is hungry about every 3 hours. I'm constantly asking her if she wants something to eat. We can have just finished eating and I'll ask her. She usually responds with a nod and a sly grin.

If the baby's not awake, he'll awaken when Sow eats something. You can tell when he's eating, because her belly shakes like a Tickle Me Elmo.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

E.T.A

We go to see the doctor again today. We're just over 38 weeks. The doctor's going to measure Sow's belly again, measure the baby, pull out her slide-rule, and make some predictions. This could be our last normal office visit.

30 Min or Less

With Sow home bound, and my affinity for charring fried eggs, I tend to end up running out for lunch or dinner a lot. Usually I can pull a specific dish from a specific place out of her. She can tell me how to pronounce it and even to ask for it to go. But every now and then there's a craving for western food.

Usually I can satisfy this with Mad Dog. It's a little open pub type place that makes some great pizza. We've found that cheese isn't such a great choice for her right now, so I have to keep trying to remember what else they have on the menu. She'll pick something like tuna fish sandwich, but not be sure. So when I get there I'll end up ordering a couple extra things. Tonight was tuna fish sandwich, and the new smash hit, chicken cordon bleu. Oh, and don't forget french fries. Those always go over well.

Anyhow, got a great idea this time. While I waited for the food, I photographed the entire menu for her. She'll probably still want me to pick up two meals though...

Bug-zapper Badminton

At night the mosquitos like to feed on my blood, but by day they hide in the kitchen area behind our house, fattened and sleepy in the daylight. I step out back with my racket, shake things up, and play a little badminton.

I poke under the shelves. A pack of tired skeeters fly out, turned around, confused and flying into things. Swing and a wha-ZAP!!! Little crinkled bodies fall to the floor. Some of the larger ones sputter and stop moving. Others stopped moving the instant they met my racket. I kick the garbage can about. Spa-CRACK!!! More insects litter the floor. I shake the clothes hanging on the rack. Ka-POW!!! I send the rest of them sailing over the wall. Game and set.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Surgeon General's Warning



I don't smoke but I'm thinking about taking it up. Or at least buying a few of these packages. Doesn't matter what brand they all carry the same Surgeon General's Warning. Only in Thailand they use a photo. Not just one photo, but a whole set to collect! Each one depicting a different warning: A man smoking in front of a bunch of skulls, a woman smoking holding baby, a woman with old looking skin and grey hair smoking, one of crooked yellow teeth, a thin man on a respiration, and an autopsy photo of blackened lungs.

Reminds me of Bill Hicks. "I'm not planning on getting pregnant. Give me a pack of them low birth weights."

The D

Yesterday I stopped by Lai Thai Guest House for a little use of the pool. Only 50 baht. Swam for a good long time too. Surprised I didn't get a little burnt.

I was hanging out looking at the giant catfish next to the pool when one of the hotel guests walked up to do the same. Turned out he's from Stockholm, Sweden. Also turns out he's a huge D fan! Tenacious D that is, for all you shamefully uncool people who don't know The D. Who'd of thunk, I'd come all the way around the world and find a D fan? From Sweden?

Who'd of thunk he'd also like Liam Lynch, Andy kaufman, Ricky Gervais, The Big Lebowski, Futurama, candle lit dinners, and long walks on the beach. But that's neither here nor there. He and his girlfriend are circling the globe on one of the those continuous one way tickets. It's good for a year. All they have to do is keep heading east. His girlfriend was upstairs headed for nowhere but the toilet. She must have had what I'd had. I think they were headed next to Laos, Cambodia, New Zealand, Los Angeles, Las Vegas... to spread the good word of The D.

By the way, the baby's already a huge fan of The D. I play it for him non-stop.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Crazy Chicken™



Last night I witnessed the first commercial I'd ever seen for this Thai franchise I like to call "Crazy Chicken" (not to be confused with El Pollo Loco). The images kept cutting from Muay Thai Boxing, to cock fighting, to fried chicken. Muay Thai, cock fight, mmm.. mmm... fried chicken, cock fight, Muay Thai, cockfight, more finger lickin' fried chicken, some more cockfighting, and finally one boxer running up the front of the other boxer and knocking him down with a kick to the head. Now that's what I call fried chicken! Or as Sow says, "kitchen".

Into the woodwork

As the time draws closer to finally meeting my baby face to face, mano y mano, I've found myself tracking down old friends I haven't spoken too in ages. I have this weird feeling like this is my last chance to talk to them. If I don't tell them about the baby before he's born I can't ever talk to them again. Weird, I know.

I got ahold of and old friend of mine from my Sony Imageworks days. Lee F. Sullivan. I used to sing Lee by Tenacious D whenever I'd go to check out stuff at his desk. He didn't know them or the song, so it seemed pretty weird. Then I brought int he disc for him, and it was only weird that I was singing to a dude after that.

Anyhow, I heard from Lee, and he's doing well. He and his girlfriend Lorraine are getting married in Paris. In France, not Vegas. Congrats! He's also been very busy sitting in French cafes, sipping lattes and realizing his dream to be a famous French director. He's made two short film and is looking to breaking into directing commercials next, so if you know of any gigs? ...in France?

War Machine
The Dead Tree Hotel

Saturday, September 24, 2005

True Freak

Apparently Jerry's phone has been ringing off he hook. Newspaper interviews. Fans. His emailbox filled with shocked letters of support and condolences. Here's someone from the radio biz who had some nice things to say about him.

"Jerry Lentz is an entertaining Mofo. I don't think he ever really was allowed to reach his full potential. Jenn Lipp was still out on leave. She's a super funny lady. What's Brad gonna do? Jerry does his own webcast thing. If you wanna hear a TRUE FREAK...check out his website."

I laugh so hard, you try to kill me

Sow tells me I'm trying to kill her. I get her laughing so hard she has trouble breathing. I don't let that stop me. I just keep going. If it's making fart noises on the floor with my back, or imitating a character from the last thai movie we saw before the being home bound. Uh-huuu'iii...



www.yamyasothorn.com

That's Petchtai Wongkamlao on the left, also known as Mum Jokmok. If you saw Ong Bak he played the cousin that kept causing all the trouble. He's one of the best Thai actors out there. This was actually the second film he's directed. He's always entertaining to watch. I keep seeing him on thai talk shows promoting his films and on this thai comedy game show. I don't understand a word he says, but he always makes me laugh.

Pass the Mic



In the day time it's just a quiet half mile of street around the corner from our house. In the evening it's karaoke corner. 26 different karaoke bars, none of which seem to be able to carry a tune. 26 different versions of the Cranberries, Zombie to lull me off to sleep until about midnight or 1:00am.

Karaoke is extremely popular in this part of the world. In Phnom Phen, Cambodia, people have even been known to get shot over who gets the microphone next. Here they just unplug the machine if they don't like your song.

Upon further inspection, I found that if you turn left and go up the street the other way, there are another 8 karaoke bars!? Make that 34 versions of Zombie!

Smells like they cook up some good grub though...

Friday, September 23, 2005

The World Famous Jerry Lentz



I had a little bad news this morning. Jerry, along with his two co-hosts were fired from KRZR. The entire show is being replaced by the syndicated show ManCow's Morning Madhouse. No one seems quite sure where this decision came from. Since Jerry became a part of the show last december, their ratings have been getting more and more impressive, being one of the top rated shows in the Fresno area.

I've known Jerry for a long time, and he's always got a ton of ideas cooking in his head. Expect to see more from him soon. Radio. Books. TV. Movies. For now you can read his blog at:

www.jerrylentz.com

He's also posted his number, 559-449-7617, for anyone that wants to call and leave a message. Say something nice or interesting and he'll add you to his new podcast show. Keep an eye here or Jerry's site for a link to his new show.

I forgot, Steve has posted a reaction on his blog, and has some clips of Jerry from the Front Row Morning Show on his site too:

Steve's Blog
Funny Radio .mp3's

Maybe he'll have time to come visit me in Thailand after all...

Asian Boot Parade

Usually when I say "Asian Boot Parade", I'm referring to the long sleek black boots worn to the knee by some hot asian girl. Not 4 meters of rusty chain wrapped twice around my bike and thru both tires.



I swear when I pulled up, there were six other bikes there. I guess they all left about 5 min later, right as the cop pulled up with his rusty chains and twisted bits of rebar, leaving me a parking ticket and Thai style car boot. The parking ticket explanation being held to the seat by the weight of the chain.

I'm not sure what I did wrong. I couldn't read the ticket. No one that could read it knew english. After having it explained to me in thai by 4 different people, I finally grabbed a tuk-tuk and went to pay my ticket at the police station. The driver kind of explained that depending on the number of the day, you can only park on one side of the street. Even/odd I think, but he kept saying 1 / 2. Whatever, it all added up to 400 baht anyhow.

If it'd been the day before I'd have been in luck. The police station had been flooded and they certainly weren't giving out parking tickets. Sand bags were still all about, and I could see the river continuing to slip over it's edges at the end of their lot. So close, so close. I paid the ticket. Got back to my bike. Had the chain removed. And still found time to pick up something for lunch.
  • Two hours internet and two cha manao: 180 baht
  • Round trip tuk-tuk ride to police station: 80 baht
  • Parking Ticket - wrong side of the street: 400 baht
  • Getting food to my hungry wife before noon: Priceless

Hummingbird Moth

The other evening, while getting food for Sow at the walking street, I happened to spot the smallest hummingbird I'd ever seen. It was only about an inch and a quarter long, and it zipped around the various plants that a man was selling. Hovering from flower to flower, drinking nectar. I stared transfixed. It must be a baby hummingbird? But every time I started to get a close look, it would zip off to another plant. How tiny it was with hints of iridescent red and green. I could just make out it's tongue sipping from each flower. Then whisp! It'd shoot off again.

The guy saw me staring and started talking to me with excitement, in thai. He noticed the confused look on my face and stuck his hands to the sides of his head with each pointer finger sticking straight out. I looked back at the tiny bird and noticed two antenna. But birds don't have... wait, this must be some sort of butterfly or moth!? It's wings whipped at an amazing blur. And it's body hovered stealth-like. Not the kinds of things I'd expect from a clumsy moth. Moths to flutter wildly and bump into things, drawn to the nearest light bulb. This one drained every flower with precision.



I wasn't able to get a pic, but I dug around online and found some similar photos. Try and imagine it really blurry.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

I mean, I knew he was old...

...but now he's even older. My dear friend and co-conspirator Colin turns, well, older today.



Happy Birthday man!

Actor, Writer, Director, Musician, kick-ass VFX Artist Extraordinaire.

He was supposed be 32 today, but after all his hard work putting our film together, and being the point for us all to take our frustrations out on one by one, and sometimes all together, he's looking a bit more ragged. Pictured here as a young man arriving in Bangkok. Little did he know it would be the end of his youth.

Hey, You Awake?

Sow seems to feel that if the baby wakes her up at night that I should be awake too. This usually happens long after the baby has stopped kicking and after she's finished her midnight (2:13am) snack. She likes to come up with creative and cruel ways to rouse me. No, not arouse me (my mom might be reading this). Usually just annoying things like tickling my nose with the ends of her hair, or jamming a finger into my side or armpit and wriggling it without mercy. You ever wake up to see the cat, eyes wide open, staring you in the face? Ready to steal your breath? Pregnancy does crazy things to a woman. I hope it's the pregnancy!?

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

The Road Less Waded

Boy did I take the wrong way back from the store this morning. I left the house by way of the morning market, but thought that it might be flooded on my return. So I took the higher road behind that's actually more convenient.

I rounded the corner to the long stretch only to find the first half of it flooded. About 3 blocks worth. I guess it must be a slow grade? I finally approached the left turn for our street. There were lots of cars and scooters parked all around the mouth of the street. I slowed and made my turn. The flooding now ran twice as far down the street as when I'd left less than an hour before. Again I lifted my legs up and tight-roped my way down the yellow center line of the street. At least I think there was a yellow line under all that brown water, somewhere?

Ahhh... the entrance to our place. A bit higher and drier. But the entire lane was full of water. Our place was built later, so it's a little higher up. The homes across the street sat within the swamp. Luckily I'd taken a photo of it before I left so I could do a little time lapse thru the day.



Green? Why did the water go green?

Sow says that this time the flood is so much better. There's no garbage floating about! Last time the flotsam and jetsam included trash bags, beer bottles, and snakes. I never know, which is the flotsam, and which is the jetsam? I did see little minnows swimming about in our street though.

Yesterday, Sow really wanted to go to see the river. I told her, "I can't take you to the river, so I'll bring the river to you." I'd only meant to bring photos of the river. Not the river itself....

P.S. - We just saw on tv, that a place were Sow had recommended me to go swimming the other day, is under about 4 feet of water. They keep showing boats going around passing out hot meals to people stuck in their homes. I haven't had a chance to go swimming in three days. I'm about ready to start doing laps out in front of our place. If only I had a little chlorine...

Sand Baggin'

Well, got up this morning. And the rain water that collects in front of my neighbor's place seems a little higher than usual, I think as I walk to the market to get breakfast for me and Sow. I look down toward the entrance to our little community and there seems to be a lot of water there too. Better take the bike, I don't wanna be walking thru that.

Good choice. I get to the main street to find it's not there. Instead there's about a foot of water and a lot of people stannding at the edge looking perplexed. I look down the street and see dry land at either end so I go for it. As I pass over the little creek that runs from behind our place, I notice something strange. Isn't the water supposed to be flowing the other way!?

The market seems to be fine, so I grab just a little more food than I usually do and head back home. Same bunch of onlookers. With my feet up, I glide thru the pond and into our driveway. Hmmmm... water seems to be flowing from behind the house at the front. The street appears to have more water in it now too.

Sow and I ate a quick breakfast, and now I'm running out to the store to get some food incase we're stuck inside for a couple days. I'm just waiting for the store to open. There may be a gap in my posting for a bit...

Happy Birthday Evan!

Today's Evan's birthday!



He's a huge Star Wars fan. This is Evan trying to use his dark force powers to make the flames bigger. He hasn't actually seen any of the movies yet.

His parents don't feel he should see them until he's 6 years old. I think they should let him see Star Wars, Empire, and maybe, maybe Jedi, but for the others it's not so much when as don't bother. He's played the Lego's Star Wars video game. That's probably more than enough.

Today's his 5th birthday. I sent mail to his parents to find out what they're doing today. Saturday the took him to Legoland. No more of those stupid video Legos! They might let him see the first Star Wars today too, the real first one. No more of these stupid movie video games! I hope he appreciates the visual effects, the master story telling, and each of Mark Hamill's little whines.

I sure hope they give in and decided to let him see them now.

Happy Birthday Evan!

Please promise not to chop any limbs off. And take care of your sister Sammy.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The River She Is A'Rising



The rains are coming again. Somewhere else apparently, but they're coming down the Ping river right now. It's been a pretty nice day so far. Not sunny, but not raining either. And the river is beginning to swell.

So, of course I run down there. Crowds are gathered by the post boards. Standing in calf deep water and reading how high things are expected to get. Carts line the street selling a variety of foods. Pork buns. Boba tea. Chaing Mai sausage. They see the silver lining in all this.

I look at the river spilling over the banks. I see brown water with hunks of tree branches speeding their way south. More water gurgles up thru a man hole cover. Maybe I should get back home? I back track and find myself riding thru about a foot of water in places.

Our neighbors have a shop in the night bazaar. It's like owning a mobile home in a dry riverbed. It just seems to attract every storm. They got this down to a drill. They pull up in their truck and unload the entire contents of their in front of our place. He says it's only knee deep this time. Not so bad. At least they don't have a shop in the underground part of the plaza. Those places were half filled to the ceiling.

Our landlord has had a 7 foot heap of sand delivered. He hunches over the pile and fills various chicken feed bags and begins to help people cart them off to their doors. Last time, the water got high enough to make it into half the houses. I grab about eight bags and he shows me how to place them in the doorway. Then the little old man climb atop them and jumps around to help fill the gaps.

We're about to go to bed now. I don't know if the waters will make it this far again, but I feel more secure with our entrances fortified with sand.

"This is our Katrina.", says Thailand.

Less rind, more baby

We saw the doctor yesterday. She took one look at Sow's belly and frowned. Not as big as she was hoping. Maybe we'll have to induce labor next week after all. She got out her measuring tape. 33-34 cm. That's only about a centimeter and a half since last week. She should be getting much bigger by this point. Let's look at the ultrasound. Hmmmm... head's nice and big. Abdomen's nice and big. Organ's look good. Long Legs. Arms looking good. Weighing in around... 2700 grams!!!

That's 500 grams since we last measured him! He's fully on track! Guess we'll check again next week. Now if he can just keep from getting too big for Sow altogether...

Sushi On Tap



I spent about 4 days last week nursing my stomach. Actually, my stomach was only a problem for the first day. It was staying near some nice facilities that mattered for the other 3. I'm not quite sure what I ate, but I think maybe I drank from a glass that was still a little wet from being washed. Then there's always the possibility that the ice was made from unpurified water.

For the most part, that kinda thing really doesn't happen here anymore. They're very aware of keeping the drinking water clean. I'm not even sure that was the case. I'll never quite come to opening my eyes or mouth when I take a shower, but old habits die hard.

I get a little concerned when I think about bathing the baby for the first time. I can find Johnson's no tears baby shampoo here, but I don't think they make a Johnson's no shits baby shampoo.

I hate that feeling after you've been sick. Where you question everything you're about to eat. Even things you like. Is this going to set me off? In fact, I feel a Rumble in the Bronx coming on...

Monday, September 19, 2005

Stuck At Home

Last monday Sow and I went to see the doctor. The doctor was worried that Sow's belly wasn't getting big enough for the baby. That maybe this had something to do with me getting here and Sow wanting to spend time with me and go places all day. She'd been cooped up long enough and was glad to have someone to play with. Tuk-tuk ride? Sure. Walk around the mall for 3 hours? Sure. Walking Street? Night Bazaar? Sure. Sure.

So the doctor says, "No excersice. No walking. Stay in bed." And then she looks at me and says, "...and no sex."

I immediately take Sow home and put her in bed. I get her some fruit and one of her vitamin fortified milk boxes. With the thought of big belly burning into my brain, I run to the market and buy anything I think I can get her to eat. Various fruits. More milk. More eggs. Pineapple pastries. Ice cream. The works.

Well, it seems to have paid off. She's been a really good sport about being stuck here, but she finally broke down and made me take her with me to the morning market. Half way back she realized she was done with this whole walking thing. I almost got a cab for the remaining block or so, but she just needed a minute and we made it back. No more arguments about getting out and about.

Anyhow, we go to see the doctor again today, so we'll get some new belly measurements and see where things stand. We'll either be inducing the baby in a week and a half, or waiting for the baby to come naturally. Maybe 3 more weeks?

Jackass!

I know why I love my wife so much. Last night Sow and I sat down to eat and looked for something to watch. First we put on some Steve-O disc we got as part of a compilation, then seasons 2 & 3 of Jackass! I thought she'd must have had her fill when she asked if there were any more. I dug around and found we also had the disc for Jackass the Movie! I need to get ahold of Viva La Bam & Wild Boys for our next American culture appreciation night.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Hey Grandpa!

Sow talked to my dad for the first time yesterday. We called to wish him a happy birthday and get updates on the filming. He was really surprised to hear from us. Maybe that's because of the time difference. It was still friday night there for him.

When I finally put Sow on the phone they talked for a little. He's really excited about the baby so I thought maybe he was telling her about all the toys he want to buy for him. When she handed me the phone back, he told me he'd gotten nervous and didn't know what to say, so he just kept telling her what a great guy I was.

A few more minutes and I think he'd have read her a chapter from the book he's working on and given her a bit of family history. Maybe next time.

By the way, he made it up to Lake Berryessa to watch them film one of the scenes from the movie. He was really impressed with everything he saw and how great everybody was to him. Can't wait to see this one!

Lego's Strike Force



I found some more of those Korean knock-off lego's the other day. This is part of the Black Cops series. They have an assault helicopter and sniper rifles. There's even a set that includes a target shooting range. I'm sure these aren't fit for a small child. Not just because the tiny pieces are small enough to be swallowed, but a lot of parents don't like their children to even act out playing with guns.

I'm seriously thinking about picking up some of these sets for the baby. Not for him to play with right away, but we might want them to play with later, or heck, they're just wrong enough for dad to collect. And the chances of ever finding them again, let alone in the states... Wow, I think I just convinced myself to pick a few up next time I'm at the mall. I've looked for a website or any contact info, but everything is in Korean and in Thai.



Look how cute the little sniper illustrations are...

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. It's been a great year for him. He finished off is James Bond book collection. He's becoming a grandparent for the first time. He even gets those dicounted movie tickets. And this week they started filming the movie based on his first book:

It's being directed by David Fincher of Se7en & Fight Club Fame. I'm excited. He's excited. Even Ain't It Cool News is excited!

"...He’s in Zodiac too, which will obviously kick ass."

Have a great birthday pop! Wish I could be there with you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Did you just shush me!?

Yesterday I got a chance to talk to Jerry again using iChat. We've kept missing each other lately since he's been working late.

Anyhow, we were having a pretty good conversation when some old whore monger decided to sit down and read the paper. After about 15 minutes he started turning around and looking my way. Did he just make a noise? No, there's no way that old man could be listening to me. Wait, he's looking at me again. Did he just shush me?



Shush!!!

Hey, he just did it again!? Old bastard, what, you got your hearing aid cranked up to 11!?

As a test, I spoke about him at the same volume to Jerry. Maybe he heard me use the phrase "some old whore monger", I don't know, but he shut the hell up after that. I was talking to my laptop when he came in. The group behind me had been even louder at the time. Not quite sure where he thought he was, but I'm not even certain if they have libraries in Chiang Mai? Ok, I'm sure they have libraries in Chiang Mai, but you don't go trolling for whores in a library anyways. Don't you know I'm talking to The World Famous Jerry Lentz!? Don't you realize I could be live on the radio right now!?

Friday, September 16, 2005

Delivery dates...

Begin forwarded message:
On Sep 15, 2005, at 10:17 PM, COLIN DROBNIS wrote:

Congratulations again on the eminent arrival of Wel Hung Smith. There is some serious irony here in the fact that Sow and I may actually deliver on the same day. The due date for Slamdance is Oct. 17th I believe (at least that's what the sonogram indicates).

As for The Virgin, whose title has now become "Bangkok" (at least until the next time I change it), principal photography is done and it's in the can, which is actually the "case" which is actually 56 little plastic cases. It all turned out swell. I'm currently working six day weeks at work and trying to edit in the remaining hours of the day. This is taking it's toll, and I've aged ten years in the passed two months. I have lost all my grey hair and walk with a cane while wearing a monocle. For no good reason, I also have a parrot on my shoulder.

colin

Ants In My Pants...

Well, at least the lap portion of my pants. More specifically, the laptop part. There are these tiny little red ants. They're about half the size of normal black ants, but they seem to like certain types of electronics. I constantly find them crawling in and out of my laptop!?



They don't seem to be doing anything wrong, I think maybe they just like it because it's warm and dry. Or maybe they're just really intelligent. Every time I go to the internet cafe I find them crawling out to explore. Across the dark green tabletop. To the flower vase. The salt and pepper shakers. Eventually over the side of the table. They only have 1:45 min of battery life to return or be left behind. Do they know? Do they care? Are they aware that if I'm using my iSight it drastically reduces the point of no return? So many soldiers left behind. They knew the risk when they signed up for the mission.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Hey, can I borrow your pickup?



Here's the local paperboy. Dropping off today's edition. It looks pretty safe right? I mean, he is wearing a helmet after all.

Most people here don't have cars. Some have motorcycles, but most have scooters. For getting around, this is great since lots of streets can have some tight bottlenecks, and most drivers are actually looking out for you. But for having to haul something, it can be mean coming up with some creative engineering.

I really need to catch more of these photo ops. I've seen all sorts of things being hauled around. From a family of 6, to multiple livestock, to 30 ft of rebar being dragged from behind (ok, that was in Cambodia, and it was actually my fiend Colin, but still, the idea's the same). Honda even makes an add-on baby seat!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Floor Farts (TM)

We didn't watch much tv today. It was an entertain yourself day. It was rather quiet overall and reminded me of those summer days when you're looking for stuff to do.

After breakfast, I laid down on the floor. Our water was out again, so my back was nice an sticky, and stuck cleanly to the smooth tile floor. Wait what's that? A perfect fit? Like a suction-cup!

I found that if I arched just right, I could make the most fabulous farting noises with my back. I push up, and thwump! I settle back, and phlert! Wow! This could be hours of entertainment. Well, if I weren't married that is. As much as I had Sow laughing, she finally made me stop when she could hear our neighbor poking around and preparing food out back.

We'll see how it sounds in the afternoon...

Comments!

Hey all. I've enabled the comments for this blog. I also just set it to allow anyone to comment, you don't need to be a blogger member now.

Wake Up!

A usual day starts somewhere between 5:00am and 7:00am. At some point I whisper to Sow to see if she's hungry. Sometimes she just pokes me awake. I roughly get out of bed, throw on some of yesterday's clothes, maybe wet down my hair, and walk to the market. If it's raining I take an umbrella.

Depending what time you get there, there are different things to choose from. There's a rush starting about 5:00am. People getting a head start on the day, grabbing a bite to eat on the way to their 6:00am hotel job, or coming down early to feed the monks.



I'll usually grab some boiled rice soup, or steamed rice, but I always stop to get nam tao hoo & baa tong go. Sweet soy milk and little fried breakfast breads. Picking up steamed rice usually means attempting to fry some eggs to go with it. We have an electric wok that seems to go from 0 to deep fry only. There's a tiny bias at one end of the dial where things don't quite char. I obviously haven't mastered the fine art of the thai omelet yet.

The day often ends with another trip to the market, or just about any other corner if we're about town, to get a rotee. Yes, it's another fried dough, but it's full of banana and egg, so that's kinda healthy. Then we have them pour condensed milk and sugar all over it. Mmmmmm....

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Scary-Art



Every week they have a sunday walking street here. The night be for there's a smaller version close to our house. Last saturday I found these carvings at the market. I'm not sure if it's one guy working alone, or a crew that cranks these things out, but I dug 'em and they reminded me of my cousin Brian's art work that he does under the name Nicolas Caesar or Nik Seizure.



www.scary-art.com

I wish I had a photo, but back at home I have a mug he made me for Christmas the first year I moved to LA. These totally remind me of it, with jagged little teeth pointing every which way and goofy wandering eyes. They had one that was literally just an angry log.

Monday night dinner

Every monday night I get together with a bunch of friends for dinner, and if we have enough to drink, a really bad movie. Anyhow, this group of friends all got together to last night at Steve's place to have dinner there so we could all talk using the iSight.



For us that was this morning. 8:00pm there, 10:00am here. Everyone gathered around Steve's monitor to meet Sow, say hi, and ask her to show 'em her belly. Unfortunately, Sow was unable to come because she's really tired today. Not even the smell of breakfast would get her out of bed this morning. Maybe next time? But she may be even more immobile by then. Hopefully we'll get DSL at home soon so we don't have to go anywhere. Seems to be just as slow as in the States getting it hooked up.

Most of the guys were there: Steve, Rick, Scott, Chirs, Eric, & David. Thanks a lot guys! They ordered pizza and talked about life here and the power outage there. Then I'd answer the same questions as Eric showed up, and again later when David showed. Wouldn't have it any other way guys. Roll over image for late guest!

Monday, September 12, 2005

Congrats!



I just got mail from my friend Marc Ellis. He and his wife Nicole just got back from the hospital with their baby daughter, Ava Winter Ellis!

Marc,"Born on Sept. 6th at 3:43pm. She was 6lbs 2oz and was 19 inches long. Oh, and she's gorgeous, but that could just be me being biased."

Then he went on to tell me how much life's going to change once baby "Tuk-tuk" get's here. I'm glad we're in such good company with he and Nicole on one end and David and Denise Zweig on the other.

One up



Talked with Steve this morning on iChat AV. I finally got an onscreen pic of him. Looks like he found a way to improve the iChat experience. Isn't everything better in 3D?

Portrait



Sow asked me to draw her picture. She was amazed at how fast I am!

I think I got the belly button right though.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Plan 9 From Outer Chiang Mai

Last night, Sow and I went to a screening of Ed Wood at the Chiang Mai Univeristy Art Museum. They were going to show it on the roof of the building, but it was supposed to rain, so instead they held it in one of the class rooms with a digital projector and a DVD that paused whenever the machine needed a breather.



This is one of my favorite films. One of the few truly solid Tim Burton films at that. I couldn't wait to take Sow to see it. I did my best to prepare her for it, but we'd only read about the showing about an hour beforehand. When I asked her if she liked the movie she said, "I don't knows, I don't understand. I don't know what that guy be thinking about?" She did like Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi though.

Apparently the baby liked the soundtrack. He danced thru the whole movie. Especially the Korla Pandit scene in the meat factory, and the "Pull the strings" monologue by Lugosi. That kid's got taste. Can't wait to watch movies with him... on the outside of the womb that is.

By the way, the skys had the proper decency to wait until after the film to start raining, on our ride home.

They're supposed to be doing this all summer, every saturday at 6:30 pm. Next saturday is Gandhi, and the weekend after is The Last Emperor. Doubt we'll be able to make it again, but it was fun. Anyhow, looks like I found an independent film circle here in Chiang Mai.

Friday, September 09, 2005

On the air...

Tonight, Sow and I were on Jerry's morning radio show. We finally got iChat to work thru the firewall at the radio station. Of course the first thing out of my mouth had to be bleeped. Didn't realize we were on quite yet. Next time maybe we can hook up Jerry on a long distance radio blind date with Sow's friend, Mui.

FRONT ROW MORNING SHOW - on KRZR

My friend Steve may have recorded it. We'll see, I know the station recently changed the way they stream their broadcasts. If he get's it I'll add a link. ***unfortunatley, it looks like their stream is still whacked. Maybe next time?***

We talked the other morning with Steve and later with Jerry testing out the iSight video camera all my friends bought for me as a going away present. Thanks everyone! They're officially the first of my friends to meet Sow. Well, other than Colin, Daniel & Ilya, of course, who were all here when I first met her.



The beauty of wi-fi. Right across the street from the Chiang Mai Gate, we were able to sit outside on the patio of an internet cafe, sipping cha manao, and a watermelon shake. 11:00 am Chiang Mai, 9:00 pm Fresno.

Gonna need a lot of butter.

The other night we were watching a Thai tv show based on a magazine they have here. It's basically like the Enquirer, but focuses much more on the supernatural and the outrageous. Sow thinks the name translates to The Strange. We saw this wild segment about a guy who bakes bread to look like cadavers.

My first thought is, "Oh man, I gotta email Jerry about this! He's always sending me cool whacked out stuff like this. Here's my chance to send him something f'd up." So the next morning I run to the internet to tell him all about it. I turn on my laptop. There's an email from him already telling me all about it!? I can't top this guy on anything.

Anyhow, if you haven't already seen this it's pretty wild. This guy is an artist who grew up in a family of bakers (Kittiwat Unarrom, not Jerry). As a fine arts student, he began painting, then moved on to mixed media, and eventually sculpting with dough since it was a natural medium for him. He's putting a showing together for his final dissertation at the end of the year, but for now he's taking lots of orders. I looked for a place to order from, but all I could find were these associated press articles. Then my battery ran out.

Thai artist bakes edible 'body parts' - China Daily

Yahoo

Guess I'm going to have to make the drive out there. It's only about an hour outside of Bangkok. Bangkok's only about 6 hours outside of Chiang Mai. Maybe next time Sow tells me the baby's hungry...

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Nesting Instincts

When I got here a week and a half ago, I had two in laws and two full sized pillows. Now both my in laws are gone and I'm left with only one small blue pillow from the couch. In the interests of comfort Sow's side of the bed has grown considerably. She gained my two pillows, the ones her mom and dad were using, plus the others from the couch.



Sow seems to feel that if the baby wakes her up at night that I should be awake too. This usually happens long after the baby has stopped kicking and after she's finished her midnight (2:13am) snack. She likes to come up with creative and cruel ways to rouse me. No, not arouse me (my mom might be reading this). Usually just annoying things like tickling my nose with the ends of her hair, or jamming a finger into my side or armpit and wriggling it without mercy. You ever wake up to see the cat, eyes wide open, staring you in the face? Ready to steal your breath? Pregnancy does crazy things to a woman. I hope it's the pregnancy!?

By the way Nisha, I finally tracked down that tummy pillow you recommended. Thank you.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

SARS Action Pack!



Ok, that's SRS action pack, but whatever. It's still really weird. Toxic Cleanup and what looks like Tiennimen Square massacre or possibly North Korean checkpoint!? But the cool thing is they look like they're interchangeable with standard Lego sets.



Look at them go!! They clean up toxic waste and carry away the contaminated.

The really amazing thing is the price. At 1995 baht (about $49.95), they compare to US prices, which makes them relatively 10 times more expensive than regular legos.

Next week: Bird Flu Rangers!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Can you hear me?

I've been doing a lot of baby reading lately, and not just my thai children's books. One of the things that keep popping up is an unborn baby's ability to hear. How they can learn to like things they heard while in the womb. After they're born they can distinguish and be soothed by their mother's heartbeat. They've learned their mother's and father's voices, and will turn towards them as opposed to strangers. And it's been shown that the babies can learn music or the themes to common soap operas that the mother may have often watched. Later, that music can calm the baby.



Sometimes I whisper to him while Sow sleeps.

This morning I'm introducing Sow to The Big Lebowski. Well, I'm starting her on a daily regimen of The Big Lebowski actually. The boy's gotta start his education. I need to train him early so he'll get all the references I make. And I'll never have to ask him, "Hey, have you seen The Big Lebowski"? I'm not naming him "The Dude" or anything, but we gotta keep our priorities straight.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Ok, so I've decided to start a blog...

With my extended travel to Thailand, and the birth of baby "Rocket", "Tuk-tuk", "little Ricky",... quickly approaching, I've finally decided to start a blog. A place where I can keep all my deepest, darkest, ok, usually non-sequitor thoughts, and observations. Great stuff like from my pregnant wife.

"When I used to see pregnant women, I'd think, how come they walk like that!? Ooohhh... now I know"

Trust me, it was funnier coming out of her, but hey, if you're reading this then you already know me and you're probably willing to put up with it.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Klingon not just for Trekkies

Look who's learning Klingon! Looks like the Thais are much more technologically advanced than we ever expected.



The new classes don't start for another 4 weeks, but I bought the books and Sow's helping me thru them. I'm trying to get a head start to see if I can jump right into the 2nd level class at that time. That way I can take all 3 before we come back to the states.

We're at home right now. There's an amazing thunderstorm going on. Last night too. They're worried there might be another flood like a few weeks ago. We've got sandbags waiting out front. And I've unplugged my laptop incase of lightning. We're currently perched on the highest insulated point of the bedroom, a stack of thai language text books atop an inflated rubber raft.

The roof has nice long eaves and the rain is warm, so it's nice to sit inside with the windows open and listen to if come down.

Looking out the window, I see the water level rising across the street...



Last time it came all the way up and stopped just short of our door. About 2 feet of water. You can still see the stain on the sides of all the houses. We're actually a little higher up than the houses across the street, so it actually flooded into their homes.

And now it's dying down...

Probably be completely clear and sunny in about 10-20 min. I'll end up getting the worst sun burn of my life today.