Stanley's pictures

Straight On To Today's Post, As We Are Off To Immigration First Thing This Morning,

2012-02-15T02:13:00.000Z

and today is? St. Valentines Day!

so sneaking out of the house before Diana woke up it was to the St. Valentines Day flower shop,

to buy a bunch of red roses, excuse the coffee jar I put them in!

but later Diana found a proper vase,

then off fishing and late breakfast/early lunch for Diana,

soda for me,

there were a few people already here so we had to go to the end of the boardwalk, Nick is in the same spot he beat me 7 - 0 last time,

but first fish of the day to me,

but then it went a bit quiet,

the only action was watching the damselfly take off and land on my float,

then one more for the pot,

Diana had brought along some fairy cakes to get her through the afternoon,

then Nicks first fish,

followed by one from me,

in one of those strange twists of fate Diana had just mentioned that the ice cream man had not called by, not a minute later in the distance we heard his bell then he called into the park, as Diana said, delicious!

another for me,

followed by one more from Nick,

final score 7 - 2 to me, we took three home and returned the rest for another day,

Ta-Taa's eyes have been bad for the past month or so, two or three times a day Nick has to wash them and administer a antibiotic cream, the good news is that she is showing signs of recovery, but it will be a few weeks till she is 100%,

after a lovely roast meal that Maureen cooked we settled down for a game of Monopoly, as you may have already guessed Nick became the Peter Rachman of the Monopoly board, in the nicest possible way you understand!

when we arrived home after a lovely day and evening Diana wanted to take another picture of her flowers,

then feet up for Kelly's Heroes, I had watched this film many years ago, Ex-Lieutenant Kelly manages get drunk a captured German Colonel and learn that he is on a secret mission to ship $16,000,000 of gold to a base in France, Kelly is determined to get the gold and plans for himself and a few of his fellow soldiers to slip into enemy territory and steal the bullion, think the The Italian Job, in war time, great film and characters, then for us off to bed.

I Again Have Split This Into Two Parts,

2012-02-14T05:21:00.001Z

it makes the post easier to edit, so just scroll down to the older posts when you have looked at this one,

we parked opposite one of the temples at Wat Yansangwararam where the plant and flower show we were going to took place, Buddha mountain in the distance,

the first plants we looked at were the dragon fruit cactus,

the plants themselves are about four feet tall, but as yet I have not photographed one in fruit,

as we made our way into the showground this stall was giving away plants free to farmers and other people wanting to grow their own food,

also there were stalls showing what foods and produce were beneficial to your health and well being,

the stalls were arranged round a square of flowers and vegetables,

Diana outside the main administration building,

there were some home growing mushroom kits here, but more of those later,

bananas,

and coconuts were hanging up as you walk into the building, so I guess there was a competition going on between the various farms or growers,

cactus's were for sale,

but these Flamingo lilies were for show only,

to give them their Latin name, Anthurium andraeanum, in white,

or red,

there were lots of school children here an a day out,

with crayons and paints to complete a school project,

near by to here is a breeding station for these Silver Pheasants, Lophura nycthemera, the ones here I believe are L. n. jonesi (Oates, 1903), Jones's Pheasant, that range through Myanmar to southwestern China and central Thailand,

there are seemingly endless stalls selling different types of fruit tees,

if only we had a bigger garden,

we would have a couple of everything,

many succulents on sale as well,

not to mention bamboos,

we are going to see Slim Jim later in the afternoon so we bought a couple of fresh pineapples, one for him and one for us,

the cabbage patch, sans dolls,

the purchase is made,

also some broccoli,

we just had to have a look at one of the many orchids stalls,

two perfect flowers,

the next stall along with a different type,

smaller flowers but more of them,

next some bonsai,

this one in a really nice pot,

or I guess there is the modern look,

as opposed to traditional,

some of the kids interested in the insect eating plants,

there is water in the cups, insects fall into them, drown and are then consumed by the plant, this strategy used when there is not enough nutrients in the grown to grow normal plants,

well we had to have a look at some more orchids,

these are particularly nice,

pinks in the fore ground chrysanthums at the rear,

some of the school kids buying their first cactus,

a few years ago I saw a rare coconut tree, it had three trunks growing from the same seed,

this one is even rarer, it will have four trunks growing from the same seed,

in the distance we were approaching the section give over to bananas,

it always amazes me the number of different varieties there are,

just when you think you have seen them all,

some with different colours comes along,

or shapes,

like these totally flat ones on the right,

a huge string of toy bananas,

and one huge one,

Diana buys our first bag of brown rice,

next a look down another aisle,

I have not seen one of these before,

it seems to have foliage at the top of the plant,

then a semi leafless stem that hangs down, I think it is a type of euphorbia, but I could be wrong, hope you like the pictures, scroll down for some more.

There Were So Many Stalls,

2012-02-14T05:21:00.000Z

which is one of the reasons I took so many pictures,

every stall different,

like this one with native orchids,

although not the smallest orchid flowers the ones on this one are just a few millimetres across,

unlike these next door that are normal size,

next stall along and the girls strike the pose,

so many to chose from,

I liked this one in particular,

we had seen some of these before when we popped over to see Mr. Tony, they are orchids, he had some around one side of his pool,

plants and flowers almost as far as you could see,

this was interesting some more of the grow your own mushroom kits, along with some organic fertiliser,

I am guessing these were like the ones that I bought back in the 1970s, add water, put them in a warm cupboard and start harvesting mushrooms in a few weeks, sounds a bit strange but they did work and we cropped more than a few mushrooms, I must remember not to use a clothes cupboard next time,

depending on which pack you buy these are the mushrooms you will end up with,

and what should be right next door? a mushroom soup stall,

I was told that three types of mushrooms were used in the soup, it smelled delicious,

but for me an iced coffee,

and another bag of rice for Diana,

there were lots of things on sticks available to snack on,

some on ice as well to keep them fresh,

and speaking of ice, how could we go past an ice cream stall?

then down the next aisle,

Diana enjoying her ice cream on the way,

I am not sure what you call these, they look like potato crisps on a stick,

and fried quails eggs in a coconut surround,

a small rice mill, the arm is hit by a cam causing it to rise,

them gravity causes it to fall and remove the rice from the husks,

where would we be without garlic?

did I mention there were clothes stalls as well?

mind the boiling oil!

lots of local different types of sausages,

this was sort of neat, a wooden dragonfly, but weighted so that just the tip of the mouth was it's balance point, it just balanced on your finger tip,

so a many different hot spices on offer,

this store appears to sell home mixed medications,

and if you ever wanted one of those triangular pillows this is the place,

lots of wickerwork were also here,

it looks just a small display,

but think of the hundreds of hours that must have gone into producing the baskets here,

there was also a stage where local dancers and musicians put on a show,

and these were some of the dancers,

another chemist shop,

there was of course numerous stand selling hardware for farmers, like these watering containers to spray fertiliser or bug spray,

a few garden ornaments,

and children's garden toys,

another stall selling mushrooms,

meanwhile Diana was buying some salad for a prawn cocktail for this evenings starter,

this is how the mushrooms grow,

each pack growing a different type, some from the top of the pack,

and some from the side,

unfortunately as we made or way past it there were no performers on the stage,

some more of the carnivorous plants that were for sale,

it is strange how each specie has developed slightly different 'flowers' to catch their prey,

I suppose for different insects so they are not in direct competition to each other,

the last stall we saw before we left was this one selling water lilies,

and very nice they looked too,

a final look across the field of flowers,

the temple across from where we had parked the car and we were off,

to Makro to buy some of that delicious medicinal red wine Mount Claire, it was quiet popular, the gentleman in front of us had bought 7 boxes, we just bought 3 so we will have a good supply for the next couple of weeks!

before our evening meal I popped out to the fishing shop to buy some bait, then home feet up after our evening meal to watch a few DVDs,

the first for the evening was Philadelphia, based on a true story, Andrew Beckett, a gay lawyer infected with AIDS, is fired from his conservative law firm in fear that they might contract AIDS from him, at the time of its release 1993 it was considered by many to have come at just the right time to make the public aware of what AIDS was and how it affected people in real life,

as it happened in real life the man the story was primarily about, lawyer Geoffrey Bowers, had already died, but in 1984 his family launched a $10 million lawsuit against Hollywood producer Scott Rudin, TriStar Pictures and the creators of the movie "Philadelphia," charging that the film is substantially based on Bowers' story,

the family said they have received no acknowledgement or financial compensation for the information they provided, despite what they said was an oral agreement with Rudin to provide such recognition, "Philadelphia," the first mainstream Hollywood movie about AIDS, it had grossed $36.6 million so far at the time the lawsuit was instigated,

then for me another real treat, L. A. Law, the second DVD as good as the first, by now the characters are developing, the story lines getting better, each one with a surprising 'sting' in it, then after watching the whole second DVD it was for us off to bed.

It Looks Like The National Trust Have Changed Their View On Wind Power To Mine,

2012-02-14T05:19:00.000Z

the National Trust chairman, Sir Simon Jenkins,

dismissed wind as the ‘least efficient’ renewable power, ‘broadly speaking, the National Trust is deeply sceptical of this form of renewable energy', deeply sceptical? the understatement of the year! the money handed out to wind farm operators to produce the most expensive electricity in the world is obscene,

just last month it emerged that wind farms in Scotland were paid nearly £300,000 in the first five days of this year to close down because it was too windy, four turbine operators shared the controversial ‘constraint payments’ because they produced more energy than the National Grid could handle, last year 17 wind farm operators were paid £7m to shut down on 40 occasions between January and September, wind power, what a gigantic waste of public money.

We Have A Busy Day Planed,

2012-02-13T01:56:00.002Z

so up early and straight on with the post,

Mr. Tony called round at midday and kindly offered to give us a ride to the Robin's Nest, first stop Soi Lenkee to park his car, he used the hotel car park almost opposite the China Garden restaurant, for 40 baht it is a good idea as parking around here is a problem,

looking towards Soi Bukaow,

over the road to Soi Diana,

to the Robin's Nest,

like the last time we were here it was crowded, so we had to sit at the back of the seating area,

roast dinner for Diana,

and for myself, Mr. Tony decided on some chicken and ham pie with vegetables all of which was on the 249 baht carvery, 'Cheers!',

whilst there the rains came, but luckily it was getting lighter as we left,

then back to 388 feet up for the extended version of King Kong it stead of 187 min it runs for 201 min,

The Box of Delights is a family, fantasy adventure, Kay Harker, who finds himself drawn into a world of magic and danger when he encounters an old Punch and Judy man, we watched all 6 episodes,

then for me a real treat and no mistake, I have been trying to buy this television series since I do not know when, it has finally, well the first series, made it out on DVD, it is of course L. A. Law, first released in 1986 it does not seemed to have aged a bit, this drama depicts life in a large Los Angeles law firm, the plots are strongly character-based and deals with both the personal lives and professional activities of the partners, associates, and staff, most of the scenes are centred around the courtroom and the law offices, at the time and guess still now it was popular, winning 6 Emmy Awards, 5 Golden Globes and 7 People's Choice Awards, a bit expensive but it is a 6 disc set, it was nearly 02.00 before we were off to bed.

I Have Split Our Return To The Bike Show Into Two Posts,

2012-02-12T04:57:00.002Z

I took too many pictures!

what a difference a day makes, bikes everywhere,

and a couple of cars, we had seen the blue Dodge before at the rear of the Friday night market,

but this Lincoln Continental was new to us,

a work in progress I would guess,

the once empty stalls from yesterday doing a brisk trade today,

a different look for a Harley Davidson,

and a totally different look for this bike and sidecar!

there were a few more in the old bike section, like this Harley,

as I made my way for a closer look the ice bike came past, must not hold up the beers!

a nice clean Ariel with fish tail silencer,

keeping to the Americana influence a troupe of red Indians put on a show, it was their wigwams in the showground,

a winning combination, a BMW with a Steib sidecar,

many years ago I can still remember my good friend Chris, now in Brighton, thundering through Beckenham High Street with a Steib sidecar attached to his Vincent motor bike,

notice the plunger rear suspension on the BMW,

a natty little CZ,

I have to admit I do not know what this one is,

and here is another one!

the work that has gone into some of these machines is truly amazing,

a nice single seat racer,

a few more clothes stalls are here today,

this looked interesting, but unfortunately there were no details about the car,

one of the smaller Harley's,

there was one big stand here selling second hand bikes like this Ducati,

but they did have some new bikes like this Gorilla,

and sidecar, I have been told they are between 50 - 125 c.c.

at the other extreme, the Suzuki Hayabusa, it has 1340cc, in-line, DOHC liquid-cooled engine with 16-valves, although top speed has been reduced and is now electronically limited to 186 miles per hour, the bigger engine allows the latest Hayabusa to accelerate under 10 seconds within a quarter mile, crikey!

bikes, bikes and more bikes,

there was a rumour of Royal Enfields being brought over here from India, this is the Royal Enfield Bullet, about a year ago a delegation came here with a view to exporting them from India or maybe manufacturing them here, but so far nothing has been heard about the outcome,

now to the only manufacturer to show his fans some support, Ducati,

and what bikes too!

lean mean muscle machines,

my dream, the Ducati Monster 796,

I would dearly love to see this parked in my drive,

regrettably this is the only view I will have of one as it accelerates into the distance as I try to catch up on my Kawasaki 112c.c.!

when I see the number of bikes on the road out here I was amazed that not a single manufacturer apart from Ducati was here, I would have thought that people who import or manufacture bikes over here like Harley Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha or even Triumph would have had the decency to hire a tent, put one bike in it and hand out leaflets,

at least show their customers a little support, but what a slap in the face for people that have spent money on a bike and then for that manufacture not to be here for the one event in Pattaya of the year, but here's to Tony and Ducati, many thanks to you all for taking the time and trouble to put on a show of bikes, as to the other makes shame on you all,

moving on, another different Harley Davidson,

nicely finished in matt black and gold,

there had to be an Easy Rider,

nice,

a Ducati Diavel, 162 bhp on tap, that's more than my 3 litre turbo charged truck!

another custom HD, no spokes in the wheels,

a pair of Ducatis,

is this how it all began? a small engine in a bicycle frame,

and here we have the 50c.c. (I guess) Road Wing, complete with front disc brake, pedals and air operated horn, yours for 20,000 baht at today's rate £412,

another custom Harley,

the red Indians take a break from putting on their war paint and show.

The Second Part Of Our Day,

2012-02-12T04:56:00.001Z

Diana tries a new look,

for just 199 baht you too can have hair like this!

now this is a piece of real work, except for the engine itself everything has been built from scratch,

the engine and gearbox immaculate,

but what a great disc brake on the front of the machine,

ditto on the rear, almost like the Wal Phillips disc brake system on the 1960s although he was more well known for his fuel injection systems,

then who should walk past? none other than Johnny Depp!

another bike with lots of work gone into it, at first glance it may not look that different,

but look at the front wheel, see through!

having said a lot of work went into the previous few bikes, more than a few hours have been spent on this one,

and this one,

a nice tidy machine, back in the 1960's it would be called a cafe racer,

an old HD, I am not sure of the year,

I am guessing the 1930s,

can you imagine the look on the owners face of this bike when he comes back to find some one has stolen the engine?

we have seen this mobile stall more than a few times around town,

he sells bugs,

another reminder of how I guess it all began, a small engine fitted to a peddle cycle,

as we were leaving more riders kept appearing into the show ground, smiles from everone,

we made out way back past the smaller engined Harley Davidson's,

the red Indians putting on a war dance,

and still more riders were approaching,

we meet up with the girls at the entrance,

and bumped into Jack Levey who had a stand here,

a very early Honda that has had a complete make over,

then back to Juu's for a cool beer,

and a dip in the pool for Diana, well just her toes,

fresh bananas,

little Thomas called around,

along with Gung and son,

pose for the camera,

with his new boots,

the girls and Thomas,

with Dad Tony and mum,

then time to go,

and buy our supper,

at the food stalls on Third Road,

lots to chose from but we went with the chicken feet soup,

we settled down to watch Snow Queen, a film that owes some of the story line to a Hans Christian Andersen's story, the blurb says, 'The Snow Queen is a powerful story of friendship and the triumph of love over wickedness' but I have to say, both Diana and myself whilst saying how good the sets were, totally failed to grasp the story, well it was getting late so for us off to bed.

One Of My Favourite Shows

2012-02-12T04:55:00.000Z

is soon to be 500,

due to be aired on Feb. 19 the Simpsons will be 500 episodes old, a few facts lifted from the article, in every half hour of every day, an episode of The Simpsons is broadcasting somewhere around the globe, now in its 23rd season (and contracted to run through a 25th), the show is the world’s most-watched U.S. television series with an average weekly global viewership of over 150 million viewers, and also lures in an average of nearly 8 million viewers in its regular Sunday-night prime time slot in the U.S. on Fox,

all of this despite the fact that twenty years ago, Evangelists and politicians denounced The Simpsons as a televised toxin that weakened parental authority and coarsened the culture, they blasted the clan as a disgusting, dysfunctional unit that was unfit to anchor a prime-time cartoon, worse still, during his 1992 reelection campaign, President George H. W. Bush even pledged to help U.S. families be “a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons,” a great quote used in some of episodes openings, but they are still with us in series 23 with plans to go on to series 25, way to go Simpsons!

We Were Up Early And Off To The Bike Show,

2012-02-11T04:18:00.001Z

every year about this time,

there is a huge bike show at the Burapa stadium in Soi Chaiyapreuk 2, off Sukhumvit Road,

although called Pattaya Bike Week the bikes are only here for two days, Friday and Saturday, with other events held else where during the week,

there are so many bikes on show and like this one for sale, yours for 850,000 baht, today's rate £17,419

but for me the real interest was here, we were a bit early, hopefully more British bikes will be here tomorrow when we return,

although not British I remember these from the 1960's Mods and Rockers days,

also not British but nice neither the less, a BMW R27,

this is the first time I have seen this yellow Matchless motorbike here, I wonder how many more are still to be found out here?

an early Triumph with girder front forks,

and a later one with telescopic forks,

it also has a TLS (twin leading shoe) front brake, first brought out on Triumphs in I think 1968/9,

a A.J.S. just 55 years old and still going strong!

a Norton twin,

with plunger rear suspension,

another Triumph,

this time a Royal Enfield twin,

many associated stalls had been set up around the central stage,

with clothes and biker gear on display,

walking around the perimeter I noticed this stall exhibit being set up,

it was a collection of small and I guess less well known Harley Davidson's, more than a little interesting,

there were some modern customised German ones here as well,

then what a joy! considering that so many bikes are bought out here I was surprised that Tony from Ducati had brought some of his bikes along for the show, it really seems quiet pathetic that as far as I could see not a single other big name bike manufacture was represented here, I would have thought that at least Harley, Triumph, Honda, Kawasaki or Yamaha could have stumped up enough cash to hire one of the tents, hopefully they will have turned up later today, but full marks to Tony and Ducatu for making the effort to be here and be here early for their fans,

yep, that's the one for me 399,990 baht brand new, £8,225 at today's rate, the Ducati Monster 795,

it looks good from both sides,

as does the Multistrada 1200,

I am not sure what model this one is,

but the single sided rear suspension looks so high tech,

I pretty much like most bikes and can appreciate the amount of work that goes into some of the custom jobs, but I do have to say I do not think I would like to ride this one,

for some reason I had the idea that this 3 wheeler comes from France, but I am not sure,

great suicide doors by the way,

there were lines of clothes shops,

some selling crash hats,

this looked kind of cool if you like this sort of thing, the visor being painted to give the full skull effect,

as we were getting ready to leave the Honda Goldwing club had lined their bikes up near the entrance,

nice they looked too, but not quiet my taste in bikes,

naturally Diana wanted the pretty in pink one,

there was a distinct American Indian theme about the place with wigwams

and cowboy boots being sold,

with lots of other Americana,

the stage for the evenings show was huge,

as we left I noticed this Honda F6C Valkyrie, OK for some but I prefer something a bit more sporty,

then home, a bite to eat, shower and change and off to the Friday night market,

clouds in the skies, but no rain,

just a couple of clothes stalls behind the bar today,

for some reason a lot of interest in the pet section this evening,

the sun starts to set,

back to the bar,

Diana has been shopping again!

also Tony and his better half was here this evening,

along with Thomas,

no chairs again at the bar so I picked up Diana from another seating area on our way home,

in the afternoon we watched a part of Waterloo, I guess the last of the great epics, the costumes and extras has to be seen to be believed, now all on computer, but not in 1970 when this was made, two meet at Waterloo where the fate of Europe will be decided, thoroughly enjoyable movie,

as an aside it appeared that airguns held a fear for Napoleon, during their heyday, they were preferred over black powder guns because they were smokeless (black powder created clouds of smoke that both blinded the shooter and gave away his position), they could be loaded faster than black powder guns, they could be used in damp weather, they never burned the shooter, and they were quiet and did not scare away the game, this silence, however, led them to be a chosen weapon of snipers throughout their history,

the Austrian Army used air guns against Napoleon in the late 1700's, though Napoleon was ultimately victorious, the silent killers demoralised his troops and became so feared that he decreed any enemy soldier captured with an air gun was executed as an assassin,

it is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an abrupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race, so the scene is set for Planet of the Apes, after watching that it was late so we were off to bed.

I Guess Not Many Of Us Have Heard Of Yanko Tsvetkov,

2012-02-11T04:17:00.001Z

he is a freelance graphic designer and a visual artist,

although these maps he has drawn are so politically incorrect, (which I guess is why I like them), they may give an insight into what our neighbours think of each other, I hope no one takes offence!

he describes himself as 'a freelance graphic designer and a visual artist, I am known as alphadesigner, a pseudonym that usually makes people think what I do is really important, that’s why I chose it',

it seems us Enigma code hackers and slayers of virgins are not too well liked abroad!

What A Lucky Escape!

2012-02-11T04:17:00.000Z

for Ludovic Masciave who was driving this 4X4 when a 20 ton rock fell on it,

firstly let me say that although Ludovic was injured, with a range of injuries including flattened lungs and broken ribs, he has made a remarkable recovery, he was driving through the Arly Gorge in the French Alps, the road leading to a route that many people use daily to go to Albertville when the accident happened, the 36-year-old sales manager awoke to find himself ‘completely compressed, I was stuck between the rock and the bottom of the door but also against the dashboard,’ he said, ‘the space was very restricted, it could be measured in centimetres', lucky indeed, but I suppose you could say the driver of the car infront was luckier still!

I Had Seen A Mention Of A New Weekly Auction In The Pattaya Mail,

2012-02-10T02:48:00.000Z

once a week in Naklua,

it is every Thursday evening upstairs at World of Sport restaurant, so we popped over to take a look, the restaurant is located about 200 meters on the right hand side of the road to Naklua if you are coming from the Dolphin roundabout,

viewing is on the same day from 12.00 noon, the sale starting at 8.30 in the evening, there were lots of lots, some second hand, some new, nothing that we really wanted, but as with all auctions you never know what you want till you get there!

home for a cup of tea then off to the 3BB office to pay the Internet bill,

the area looks so different without the night market,

late in the afternoon we settled down for Jabberwocky, after the death of his father the young cooper 'Dennis Cooper' goes to town where he has to pass several adventures, the town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called 'Jabberwocky', great to see Michael Palin play the part of Dennis, he looked so young it the film, also one of his lines was 'I wonder if I will ever travel?' no Travels with Palin in the works then, also Max Wall as King Bruno the Questionable was first class,

a child eleven year old Marnie McBride, is given a shoebox with some mystical creatures that come to life, they tell of a book that must be found, the adventures starts then as she travels on her quest, Shoebox Zoo, great fun,

late at night we watched a film I had never seen before, The Professionals, A rich Texan, J.W. Grant, hires three then a fourth man to bring back from Mexico his kidnapped wife, but when they find her all is not as it seems,

another couple of episodes from that great series Band of Brothers and yes Alf you were correct it is a great series! with that we were off to bed.

I Guess By Now Most Of Our Friends Know We Like To Look At DVDs,

2012-02-10T02:47:00.000Z

in the afternoons and evenings,

so for me I was a quite interested in reading about films where the original director was replaced in them, also what if any effect it had on the film, chosen from the article at random, in Superman II (1980) Richard Donner clashed with the movie's producers over the soaring budget and issues like whether to pay millions for a brief cameo by Marlon Brando, apparently the stuff Lester shot is much goofier and more comedic than Donner's version (which is now available, more or less),

and Waterworld, original director Kevin Reynolds wasn't actually fired; he simply left the project before the final cut, leaving star/divo Kevin Costner to finish shooting and cutting, he told Entertainment Weekly: 'in the future Costner should only appear in pictures he directs himself, that way he can always be working with his favourite actor and favourite director,' ouch!

Reynolds had shot a scene at the very end of the film in which the new inhabitants of Dryland stumble upon a plaque which reads, 'here, near this spot, 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary first set foot on the summit of Everest,' Reynolds loved that scene and would have kept it in, the article is an interesting quick read of if, like us, you watch more than a few movies and want to see a little of the background to them.

During The Day We Popped Over To See Slim Jim,

2012-02-09T04:18:00.001Z

who returned home yesterday,

the operation a complete success, feet up in the afternoon to watch a DVD, then in the evening into the Secrets taxi for a meal out,

to Ali Baba which is in Pattaya Central near Beach Road,

poppadoms and a slushy for starters.

followed by prawn puri, butterfly prawns and chicken chat, we were joined by Mr. Tony as well,

'Cheers!' from all of us,

then the main courses arrived, lamb madras, chicken tikka massala, chicken jalfrezi, aloo gobi, rice and naan bread, it was all so delicious,

we were also given a business card,

the good news is that is has a calender on the back, the even better news is that it shows public holidays on it,

during the day we watched 1941 again, for me a funny and great film, but unfortunately in America it never took off, it deals with true paranoia in the States that a Japanese invasion was imminent, the film takes a slice of real events and crafts them into the movie, like the Zoot suit riots for one, (although they took place in 1942), or the plane that never was, for me a really enjoyable movie,

we then watched some more of the excellent series Blue Planet,

but I have to say without Sir David Attenbrough it was nowhere near the standard set by the other 3 DVDs, Amazon Abyss, should have been renamed Amazon Abysmal, it was truly terrible! a complete mis match of non science, the so called rare fish you could have seen in literally almost any shop selling tropical fish in the UK, some clown also forgot that the Amazon river is not exactly well known for its clarity and was surprised after diving in that there was zero visibility! eventually a deep water submersible was sent down to view a dora catfish, we were rewarded with a brief glimpse of what I believe to be a Oxydoras niger, a very common catfish, one of 90 or so species in the group, it is available at many aquatic stores for about £10 - 15 what on earth was all the fuss about? even more staggering was the fact that the team used 3 huge boats to conduct this total nonsense,

the dolphins were fed at at what appeared to be a tourist feeding station, the shame was the fish they were feeding to the dolphins that were already cut into mouth sized portions, were Semaprochilodus taeniurus, the flagtail characin again common in many aquatic stores, but a lot more interesting than the catfish we saw, (the flagtail characin like salmon are migratory spawners, but do so twice a year covering several hundred miles), what a waste of money and resources and a shame to include Amazon Abyss into a serious documentary series, after that we were off to bed.

Do Not Mess With Fish 155,

2012-02-09T04:18:00.000Z

and you thought fish were fun!

father and son Marc and dad Des Hemsley, 65, did when they were on a fishing trip off Shoreham, West Sussex, when the 41-year-old son Marc snared the 36lbs 8oz fish, in a twist of fate he broke his own fathers record for a Shoreham boat caught cod which was caught by dad Des, 12 years ago at 34.8lb. now bring on the chips!

After Breakfast,

2012-02-08T03:04:00.000Z

we drove along to the skin clinic next to the TOT building on Pattaya Tai,

we were both happy with the effects of the cream and tablets that we picked up last week for some spots on Diana's face, they had almost disappeared, so in for another two weeks supply,

next stop the bank, after that into the truck to pick up a couple of 5 litre boxes of Mont Clair red wine from Makro, slight problem they had sold out, it was a victim of it's own success as almost every restaurant we go to uses it as it's house wine, so instead of buying two 5 litre boxes I decided to buy a couple of 2 litre bottles although hugely more expensive than buying it by the box, the boxes I was told would be in some time next week, but of course I could not buy 2 bottles, I had to buy 5 bottles as the law states that between the hours of 02.00 till 05.00 in the afternoon it is illegal to sell alcohol unless you buy 10 litres, so off to Friendship where I bought a single 4 litre box of Franzia,

for the past three days we had lost a fish a day in one of the aquariums, so I decided to do a partial water change, it was hot work,

then a real treat for me, I had bought the soundtrack of Pink Floyd The Wall, many years ago, also I had seen various clips, but I never had a DVD of the whole film, well I bought one at last, and I was so glad that I did, Diana, found it all very strange and played on the computer, but for me to put visuals to so many well known tunes was a delight,

we decided on a family adventure next, The Spiderwick Chronicles, film makers with the aid of computers can make almost any being they wish, but here again was the Griffin from the Harry Potter series, apart from that all of the creatures were unique to Spiderwick, good it was too, especially Arthur Spiderwick's laboratory and his Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You,

Uncle Buck is a bachelor and all round slob, (sounds like me!), so it is with some doubts by his sister-in-law that he is asked to look after her kids as she has to go away to visit her sick father, good fun all round,

we watched another two episodes of the Band of Brothers mini series, good all round action and acting, keeping to events that did really happen, then for us we were off to bed.

With More Ice And Snow Forecast For The United Kingdom,

2012-02-08T03:03:00.001Z

how about an ice festival?

the Yanqing Ice Festival in Beijing, China started on Monday, February 6, 2012, and traditionally marks the end of the Lunar New Year celebrations, well it was just a thought as to what to do when the UK grinds to a halt next time it snows!

Is This The Unluckiest Or Perhaps Luckiest Man In The World?

2012-02-08T03:03:00.000Z

or a staged hoax?

what appears to be a family video turns into a video of a mans horrific fall from a roof top in the background and subsequent tumble down some steps, which ever it is this guys is just so lucky not to have been injured.

I Guess Most Of My Friends Do Know I like The Occasional Drink,

2012-02-08T03:02:00.000Z

but I have never been a fan of whisky or brandy,

but for anyone that does like a whisky here is a special one for you, as Her Majesty celebrated 60 years of her reign, the final touches were put on a whisky especially produced to mark the anniversary, the blended malt and grain 'Diamond Jubilee' whisky, which was distilled in 1952, was finally bottled at the Royal Lochnagar distiller, only 60 bottles were made at the distillery on the Balmoral Estate in Ballater, Aberdeenshire,

one will be gifted to the Queen and the others will be sold around the world for £100,000 each, is it worth it? well I suppose it depends on how much you have in the bank, the good news is that all of the profits from the sale of the remaining 59 bottles will go to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (Qest), a charity which provides grants and training to craftspeople in the UK.

I Had A SMS From Steve In The Morning,

2012-02-07T03:09:00.001Z

so I was out for lunch,

leaving Diana to cook her own breakfast/lunch,

for me it was to meet Steve in the Punch & Judy,

outside I spotted one of these PCX's

a new one as it still had black on red plates, these have to be changed before 90 days, dealers plates I suppose you would call them, that allow the bike to be on the road until the paperwork is completed,

also there was a professional diver from South Africa, Ruan, he was completing a course with Steve, chicken and ham pies for them, a pint and a burger for myself,

I had just arrived home when Mike and Riza called round to pick us up, we were off to visit Slim Jim in hospital, I have forgotten the name of it, but it is one of the three hospitals in Sriracha, I had thought there was only one, but this is the one furthest away from Pattaya in the town,

we arrived just as the doctor was having a chat with Slim Jim,

then there he was, he had a operation of a personal nature, in yesterday out tomorrow,

great views of the bay form his room,

with I am guessing fish pens or mussel growing nets in the bay,

lots of them!

we stayed with Slim Jim for a couple of hours then back to Mike and Riza's for a coffee,

and of course we had to say hello to the cat that took the change of home in her stride,

Sally was staying with Mike and Riza on her holiday from the Philippines,

we then made the decision to have a meal at a local Thai restaurant, Baan Suan seafood restaurant,it was on the road that goes to the Million Year Stone Park if that is of any help,

it was nicely laid out, in a huge plot of land,

with a musician playing background music which was a nice touch,

we were only the second group of diners there,

the waitress gave us nonstop service,

this was a new one on me, I have seen many charcoal burners made of metal to heat the soup, but never one made of ceramic, I would have thought the temperature differences would have cracked it, but not so,

the girls all ready to tuck in,

I had a beer so I was alright then!

apart from mushroom soup, which incidentally was so nice I had more than a few helpings of, we had prawn cakes along with chicken and cashew nuts,

followed by a yellow chicken curry, beef and mushrooms,

fish cakes, and accompanied with fried and boiled rice,

'Cheers!',

the girls went off for a wander around after the meal,

they had seen some of these huge jackfruits growing on the tress,

then it was time to go, so Diana made a contribution to the musician, next home to 388,

some time ago Mike had watched a DVD we had of Animusic, which he wanted to watch again, no sooner said than done,

both DVDs are a mixture of original and classical music played by futuristic musicians or instruments, my favourite Starship Grove, we chatted the rest of the evening away with both DVDs on in the background, by the time we said our goodbyes it was late, so for us off to bed.

Have You Ever Seen Someone Without A Heart?

2012-02-07T03:08:00.000Z

well if not here is one below,

this heartless, cold, unfeeling traffic warden pounced at St Andrew's and St George's in Edinburgh just as undertakers were about to go inside to bring out the coffin, John Purves, of William Purves funeral directors, said: 'it was fairly obvious that the black limousines were part of a funeral cortege and the hearse's back door was open', but that made no difference,

the shocked funeral firm workers then had to plead with the official to remove the ticket before grief-stricken relatives filed out of the church, John added, 'we were quite surprised he booked a funeral car, it doesn't seem as if a lot of common sense was involved',

OK so the hearse driver broke the law, but sometimes it is human to turn a blind eye, I think this was one of those times where a little sympathy for a family's loss should be above the law,

Edinburgh Council last night blamed the tram works for the wrangle and have now cancelled the parking ticket, there is no mention of the warden being asked to show more compassion in the future.

If Only I Had Known,

2012-02-07T03:07:00.000Z

I could have put in a bid for it,

it being a Ferrari 250 GTO which is is arguably the world’s most sought-after car, especially as there were only 39 models built between 1962 and 1964, for the technical it has a 3-litre V12 engine developing 300bhp - meaning a 0-60mph time of 6.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 174mph, price on the dealers forecourt when new was around the £6,000 mark, but they have gone up just a tad over the years,

British Ferrari fans Chris Evans and Nick Mason both own 250 GTOs with Evans paying £12 million for his Series II model in 2010, and the one above? it has become the most expensive car ever sold in Britain after it changed hands for £20.2 million, still not knowing about the sale saved me a trip to see my friendly bank manger and having my usual conversation with him,
me 'give me the money!'
him 'don't be a fool Stan, put the gun down!'.

Sunday Seems To Come Round So Fast,

2012-02-06T02:48:00.001Z

it does not seem that a week ago we were eating Sunday lunch,

but we were, so this week to The Punch & Judy, beer and steak pie for Diana,

shepard's pie for Mr. Tony,

roast lamb and Yorkshire puddings for me,

for some reason the flash did not go off, I suspect the light from outside fooled it,

when we called back home Jake was out and about,

he is still at the lick every one to death stage,

in case you are wondering why he is wearing a blue coat it is not to keep him warm, it appears he sleeps on his back giving every mosquito in the area a free meal as they bite his stomach, the coat hopefully will stop them biting in the future,

I had to say Hi as well,

he is still not barking just an occasional yap, but he has certainly put on a few pounds since he arrived,

in the afternoon Mr. Tony stayed with us for a couple of hours then we watched another of the DVDs from The Blue Planet series, today the blue planet, the deep, open ocean and frozen sea, so much incredible footage makes this series a must have if you like wildlife DVDs,

Band of Brothers was a television mini series that was aired in 1981, it is the story of "E" Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division from their initial training starting in 1942 to the end of World War II, as the storyline says, 'a tale of ordinary men who did extraordinary things', we watched the first three episodes back to back,

I have mentioned Kettles crisps before on our blog, at the bottom of this post, they are just so nice I had to mention them again as now our favourite ones are back in stock at Friendship, salt & fresh ground pepper, after eating a few of these in the evening it was for us after Band of Brothers time for us to be off to bed.

We Always Think We Can Improve Upon Nature,

2012-02-06T02:48:00.000Z

well this product seems to,

it is an ultra violet spray that you can spray onto flowers so that they will 'glow' under a ultra violet light source, is being marketed in Australia, this from their web page, 'Galassia Flowers are cut flowers and ornamental plants that emit light, exotic and different, Galassia Flowers are flowers treated with a fluorescent formulation', "Galassia Flowers" is the trademarked name for the first products released by the R&D company, Bioconst,

it appears it will be available in florist’s bottles (150 mL) which will treat at least 200 flower stems also a smaller (50 mL) bottle of formulation will also be marketed, so far only available in Australia I wonder when and if it will appear in the UK? it certainly gives the blooms a different look, I guess it will make you stand out from the crowd at the ultra violet lit disco as well!

Mob Rules,

2012-02-05T03:06:00.001Z

is the title of a new book by Nick Bartlett,

Nick Delay is a successful businessman, who also happens to be a career criminal with a natural flair for planning and executing jobs, D.C.I. Roger King is a copper's copper, rough around the edges, he is an old-fashioned thief taker, like Delay, he is also good at his job and his goal in life is to get Delay behind bars, the stage is set, enter Fergal O'Dowd who is a hit-man, a paid assassin, he is an ex-I.R.A. man who found himself in the wilderness after peace was declared, not wishing to waste his training, he now has a new job, working for Nick Delay, if you like a modern look at the underworld of London and like a good read give this one a try and yes I have read it myself and no I am not on commission!

We Had A Bit Of Shopping To Do Today,

2012-02-05T02:51:00.000Z

first a visit to a watch shop to have a couple of links removed from my watch strap,

I asked one of the stalls in the market to shorten it, but was told no, so on Marks recommendation we went to the watch shop, just down from the TukCom Centre going towards the market on Pattaya Tai, great shop, all watches are original, and for just 40 baht the strap now fits,

next stop the TukCom Centre itself, the two air pumps we have on the aquariums are nearly I guess about a year old, they are giving a fraction of the air they once did so two new ones at 210 baht each and we were good to go,

in the afternoon we watched a couple of DVDs, Mark called round for a tea and a chat, then it was time to hit the town, this is Soi Marine Plaza looking towards Second Road,

and towards Soi Blues Factory, work is still continuing on what was Coyote's but still no sign of what the new bar will be called,

first port of call Champions to meet up with Juu,

as we left Champions we bumped into Marcel who we both have not seen for more than 6 months or so, after catching up with what has been happening we took a stroll along to Soi Diamond for a couple in Super Girl, then into The Sea, (the bar not the ocean), and bumped into John and his wife Apple along with some of their friends,

we walked along a very crowded Walking Street, past the big tree which has become a shrine, many people making offerings there every day,

we also went past the Turkish ice cream seller who had a huge crowd watching the show, the picture shows a few people looking but there must have been 30 or more laughing at the act that was being put on, next stop Roxy's to say Hi to Grieg, there we bumped into Jim from Pittsburgh,

as it was getting late we made a move back to Champions where we met up with Patrick of TQ2 fame who we had not seen for years, I was starting to think it was my night for meeting friends when the other Patrick of Heavens Above walked in and said Hi, just after chatting to him Chris walked past to say hello as well, his injury now healing up nicely, then it was home to 388,

in the afternoon we watched Sink the Bismarck! the film chronicles the breakout of the Bismarck during the early days of World War Two, based on a true story the career of the vessel is here, for me a great film, but obviously showing its age as it is black and white,

I decided to watch another old black and white favourite, Quatermass and the Pit, I do not know why, but dated though it is I still find it a scary movie, when a skull is found during building works at Knightsbridge, London, the work is halted in order that a full archaeological dig can proceed, but then something strange is found along side the skull, first thoughts are that it is an unexploded bomb, but is it? originally it was broadcast on British television as six 30 minute episodes, so at 3 hours running time it took up most of the afternoon, by the time I arrived back from Champions it was late, so for us we were off to bed.

First Thing And We Were Off,

2012-02-04T06:15:00.000Z

to the FedEx Centre,

it is at the far end of a courtyard, with a pool in the centre of it,

I know I have mentioned this before, but if you want to send something important this is the place send it from, all of the other FedEx places you can drop things off in Pattaya eventually comes through here then on to Laem Chabang, the collection is normally 3.00 in the afternoon after that it will be sent the next day, the office is about 300 meters on the right hand side as you go towards Nagklua from the dolphin roundabout,

we are thinking about a trip to Burma in a few months time, the agent we used for our Cambodian trip does not do tours to Burma but in the next set of buildings to the FedEx courtyard we were told there was an agent that did do trips to Burma, BlonyAir Travel, but although they can supply flights and book hotels there are as yet still no tour guides they can recommend, so if we go we will go it alone, well with Jeff and Da,

the BlonyAir card if you need to call them,

on our way back we called into a shop that sells real motorbikes, (think Superbike World Championship), the Ducati dealership on Third Road,

boy was I in for a treat!

bikes were on display inside and outside the shop,

I do not for one moment profess to know the differences between a Monster, Hypermotard,

Multistada, EVO or Panigale,

but I do know that the 795 Monster is the one for me and at just 399,990 baht, (£8,190 at to days rate) brand spanking new it is a bargain!

we were shown round the shop by Don, who was most helpful even though we told him we had no intention of buying one,

for real wind cheating some come with fairings, it is surprising how many more MPH can be squeezed out of a bike fitted with one,

now this is the fast one, well the others are not exactly slow, a race bike but for use on the road,

the heart of the beast, I want one, I want one! please!

prices start at 399,990 baht up to 1,898,000 baht but as I mentioned for me the basic 795 Monster will do me just fine, if you are interested in Ducati history look here,

dreaming over we are at the back of the market on Pattaya Tai,

fresh limes for this evening at Thepprisit market,

and a bag of mixed vegetables for the rest of the week,

next stop the fish shop on Third Road, we needed some food for the blue lobsters we bought in Bangkok,

I had a brief look around but we had filled our aquariums with fish when we went to Bangkok,

still it is good fun for me to look around, just in case there is some thing I had not seen before,

then to Thepprisit night market,

we had a few spots of rain on the way in, but luckily it held off for the rest of the evening,

rain covers going up just in case,

opposite the bar the clothes stall was back,

I even spotted some bonsai today,

I mentioned to Diana to but some strawberries for the evening,

they look so nice but do not have the flavour of ones that we have eaten in the UK,

the market was still fairly empty,

fruit shakes anyone?

at this time the bar last week was packed, not so today,

Diana thought the strawberries looked so nice she bought a kilo of them!

I am not sure what this group of lady's were selling,

there is a new barmaid at the bar for tonight,

the girls back from a shopping fest,

by now the bar had filled up, so the girls had to sit round the corner,

so home to 388 for our evening meal. then feet up to watch some DVDs,

Assassinations That Changed The World Vol. 2 was first up for tonight, I had no idea that so many attempts had been made on so many US presidents and presidential hopefuls,

Richard Ramirez AKA The Night Stalker was pure evil personified, Ramirez has been convicted on 43 counts, including 13 murders, and the authorities have good reason to believe that he had committed several others, a graphic example of why the death penalty should be used, showing the same remorse the killer showed his victims, none,

Onibaba is one of the few black and white films that Diana likes, after being forcefully inducted as a soldier into war in 14th century Japan, his wife and mother remain living in a swamp, they eke out their living by ambushing worn-out warriors, killing them and selling their belongings to a greedy merchant, a very atmospheric film with lots of hidden meanings, with that we were off to bed.

I Do Enjoy Looking At '3D' Pavement Art,

2012-02-04T06:14:00.000Z

today there is a chap I have not heard of before with some of his work,

his name is Joe Hill, who lives in Camden, North London, the work above is to publicise a upcoming film, Man On A Ledge in which a New York police psychologist has to attempt to talk down a former policeman who has threatened to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop, well the picture certainly succeeded in doing that!

although that really is St. Paul's Cathedral in the background the street below is not, as the film is based in New York notice the yellow cab,

if you like looking at this type of work as I do have a look here at some more of Joe's work.

We Had Originally Decided To Go To FedEx,

2012-02-03T02:28:00.001Z

first thing in the morning after breakfast,

but the weather out here had other ideas, after breakfast there was a huge and long lasting thunderstorm,

after what seemed like an age the rain was still crashing down,

another hour or so passed, the rain easing up slightly,

thoughts of the previous downpour and floods were beginning to surface in our thoughts, but the drains seemed to cope with the water, we by now had decided not to go to FedEx,

so in the afternoon it was feet up for a few DVDs, what better film to watch on a wet rainy afternoon? The Day the Earth Caught Fire, the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously detonate nuclear devices and have caused the orbit of the Earth to alter, sending it hurtling towards the sun, unlike many other 1950/60s si-fi films this one has not spawned a remake, having said that perhaps it is for the best,

Who Killed Martin Luther King Jr, was our next DVD, like others in this series more questions than answers, my expert is more expert than your expert, just about sums it up, interesting viewing, but like JFK will we ever know the truth?

now a real treat, I was going to wait till they brought this title out in BluRay, but bought it anyway as a normal DVD, well at £6.49 it was too good to miss!, also if it does come out on BluRay to good reviews, that is the transfer gives a better, crisper picture, I may well buy it again,

we watched all of disc 2, absolutely stunning! whilst watching it the rain had finally stopped and Mark called round for a cup of tea and a chat,

this for us was a terrible film, Tideland, if graphic scenes of an 8 year boiling drugs in a spoon then helping prepare syringes for her drug addict father is your kettle of fish, you will be at home here, but for us a unsettling series of images including mentally retarded people makes this, well I have to say it, the worse film I have ever sat through,

I was hoping this to be a lot better, Yellowbeard, released in 1983, was at least funny, but having seen it and Roman Polanski's 1986 film Pirates, then Yellowbeard is left scrambling in the dust, go for Pirates and forget Yellowbeard!

we then watched the last half hour of To the Ends of the Earth, a very enjoyable series, I would never have thought that a series ship board could keep our interest going but it did, well worth watching, but one thing puzzles me, why is the DVD nearly £17 in the UK but in America it is only £4.00, both brand new DVDs? both available on Amazon,

Who's Harry Crumb? rounded off our evening with slapstick and one line jokes, I guess Americas answer to Jacque Clouseau, Harry was of course a one man disaster area, always making the wrong conclusions but always getting his man, or woman, as the case may be, with that we were off to bed.

It Could Have Been Me!

2012-02-03T02:27:00.000Z

another one of those 'good luck' stories I like so much,

the painting, Seeufer mit Birken (Lakeshore with Birches) has been missing since it was bought in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1902 by the collectors Richard and Klara Koenigs-Bunge, the following year they gave the work to their daughter Martha as a wedding present and it has remained in the family ever since, lucky her and husband and their descendants!

in 1901, Gustav Klimt worked on a series of landscapes including one of a group of trees in a sun-lit field beside a lake, but this is the first time it has been up for auction, if only I was a descendant I could be in line for some of the estimated £6million to £8million it is expected to fetch, I think the estimate may be a little low, but what do I know!

First Thing,

2012-02-02T03:16:00.003Z

and we are on our way to Bangkok,

sunrise through the windshield as we hit the new road to Bangkok from Pattaya,

and this is our first stop, the Embassy of the Philippines, later this year we are inviting Diana's Mum and three of her younger brothers and sisters over to Thailand for a holiday,

but we needed one of these before they would be allowed to board a plane in the Philippines, it is an Affidavit of Support, I guess to make sure that they would not become a burden on the Thai government in case they became ill whilst here on holiday, so we will send the affidavit tomorrow by Fed-Ex to make sure it will arrive safe and sound,

our next stop? you guessed it, the live fish market at the Chatuchak Weekend Market, the pet section opens every day except Mondays,

we also needed to buy some more fish food, the type our fish seem to like is not available locally, I guess I do spoil them!

there is so much to see here, if you like keeping fish that is,

some shops selling just aquatic plants,

others like these selling koi carp kept in these blue pools,

out on the street we noticed this chaps stall,

he was selling small freshwater lobsters/crayfish, we had kept one once before but did not replace it when it died as they were very expensive,

but here they were 50 baht each, so we bought one, the trouble is we should have looked around first, just 10 meters or so away another stall was selling slightly smaller ones at 5 for 100 baht, D'Oh!,

along the front of the street side stalls there was a selection of mobile food stalls,

also restaurants where you could sit down,

Diana said this shop gave her goose bumps,

huge mealworms, food for fish, frogs and birds,

this lady has set up her shop on the street,

as it happens the fish she had looked quiet nice,

a cool drink for me, cold coffee in a tin,

another stall that Diana rushed by, more mealworms,

time to buy another few fish,

I know there is some money in there!

deal done smiles all round,

we will have that one and that one please,

and these are how much?

half way through the market there are another couple of food stalls,

then to my favourite shop, All Fish, having said that they also have a good selection of plants and shrimps,

they always seem to have a good selection of some of the more unobtainable elsewhere fish, also a new puppy to look after them,

home at last, now to put our fish into their new homes,

easy does it,

I add a bit of aquarium water to the bags the new arrivals are in to get them use to any changes in temperature, p.h., hardness etc,

also when purchasing the fish a anti fungus chemical is added to the bag, notice the slight green colour of the water in the bag, so I net the fish out of the bag then discard the water which the fish have been travelling in for the past few hours,

no sooner had I completed this when it was time for glad rags on,

as were off to Cherry's restaurant,

it was Wednesday, so we went for the International buffet,

we had arranged to meet Mr. Tony there, also we had decided to arrive early, god job we did as it was fully booked, people were being turned away all night, we were lucky as the table we had was not needed till 9.00 in the evening,

starters for Mr. Tony and myself, but Diana went straight in with the spare ribs, she figured that she might be too full to eat them later!

'Cheers!', from us,

a few more starters for Diana and myself,

more smoked salmon as well as prawns,

then to the main courses,

fish for Mr. Tony, kebabs of prawns and chicken satay for myself,

then the desserts,

then a few more!

next an unexpected guest, Patrick called by to say Hi,

and had his picture taken next to Diana, well we had a full day, Mr. Tony very kindly gave us a ride home where we watched some of Sailor as he had not seen it before and found it very entertaining, after he left even though it was only midnight we both came over a bit tired so for us it was off to bed.

Whilst Reading Some Thing Totally Different,

2012-02-02T03:16:00.000Z

I noticed that a dream boat of mine had made it to Phuket,

the 394 foot, US$300 million mega-yacht belongs to Russian billionaire Andrei Melnichenko, a source told The Phuket News that Mr Melnichenko and his wife Aleksandra left the boat last weekend for a visit to The Naka Island, a Luxury Collection Resort & Camp; Spa, Phuket,

would I like one? you bet! could I afford the fuel? sailing from Europe, the boat had to refuel only once in Langkawi before she arrived in Phuket, the cost of that refuel, though, was more than US$1 million, take that as a no then!

the megayacht was designed by Philippe Starck, and was built to be intentionally bigger and more expensive than Pelorus, the former pride of Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich (owner of the Chelsea Football Club).

Do Not Mess With Fish 154,

2012-02-02T03:14:00.000Z

and you thought fish were fun!

they can be fun, but not if an estimated 20 tons of them land in your field! although now nearly 5 days old this story is being seen in the daily's, Northern Ireland farmer Gordon Flinn found this sight after a lorry overturned into his field, the ‘fish farm’ accident caused an overnight Internet sensation this week, as this photo taken by Mr Flinn’s daughter Louise went viral,

the 27-year-old — who doesn’t like fish — said that the family was taking it all in their stride, as a bit of fun — although it could have been a very different situation had the driver been hurt, but he was unhurt and returned after a hospital check up to the scene of the accident, as the fish were on Gordon's land I wonder if he could claim salvage rights?

A Very Brief Post This Morning,

2012-01-31T23:56:00.000Z

as we are waiting for a taxi to take us to Bangkok,

first thing as the printer repair shop had not called we decided to pop inti TukCom just in case it had been repaired, the good news was that it had, just that they forgot to call, even better news was that I wanted to buy some new ink, I was told as usual 490 baht, when I asked for the bill for the ink and repair 500 baht! you could have knocked me down with a feather, just 10 baht for the repair, to be fair the last time it failed I now remember the same thing happened I bought the ink and was not charger for the repair that time either, well done Inkman! their main shop is here, but I used the stall between the elevators on the third floor of TukCom,

but onto the aquarium, as we are going to Bangkok tomorrow I decided to do a 25% water change as if we have time we will call into Chatuchak Weekend Market, although it is a week day the animal and fish stalls are open every day except Mondays, we plan to buy a few fish and some food for them, during the day Mark called round for a tea and a chat, we nattered on about stamps issued for the Queen of England's Royal Tour of 1953/4 and the stamps that were issued to commemorate it, in the evening feet up to watch a few DVDs,

Atlantis was first, a beautifully photographed under water film, the only soundtrack was music so you could put your own on if the supplied music was not to your taste,

the History Channel St. Valentine's Day Massacre was next on our list seven men are brutally mown down, some almost cut in half by the hail of bullets, with the exception of Dr. Reinhardt H. Schwimmer these men were mobsters working under the leadership of gangster and bootlegger, "Bugs" Moran, within a few seconds, while staring at a bare brick wall, these seven men had become a part of Valentine's Day history: the St. Valentine's Day Massacre,

another family adventure, City of Ember, when mankind is about to come to an end, a group of scientists decide to create and populate a city deep underground, the city of Ember is to last for 200 years after which its inhabitants are to retrieve from a strong box instructions to return to the surface, great special effects, I remember watching a BBC series about the same theme, but the population was on a spacecraft which eventually landed ion a new world, I forget what it was called but it was back in the1950/60s,

to round off the evening Supernova, a watchable si-fi movie, Supernova chronicles the search and rescue patrol of a medical ship in deep space in the early 22nd century and its six-member crew which includes a Captain and Pilot, a co-pilot, a medical officer, a medical technician, a search and rescue paramedic, and a computer technician, they find something in space but is it friend or foe? then for us off to bed.

Just When We Needed To Print A few Things,

2012-01-31T03:22:00.000Z

my printer decided to become hysterical and not print firstly red,

then as I cleaned it using the clean programme the yellow and blue went on strike in sympathy, only the black was now working and even that was a bit poor, the strange thing is we wanted about six things printed, the first two 100% OK, the next copy, 'the computer says no!', so off to TukCom we went,

I also called into the bank,

then to the other bank,

the guy in the shop where we bought the printer said he would call when it was ready, we hoped about an hour or so, the same as last time, so we decided to cross the road from the bank on Beach Road,

and have breakfast in the Pattaya Beer Garden, hoping that the call would come before we went home,

grey skies over Pattaya bay,

the good news was that the rain held off,

the bad news was that we finished the meal, stir fried chicken and vegetables for Diana, chicken korma curry for me but the phone did not ring, so home we went,

in fact the phone did not ring at all, so it must have been a bigger job than last time or there were more printers in front of ours to be repaired, so feet up and watch a few DVDs,

I remember exactly where I was when we heard the JFK had been shot, subsequently over the years I had heard many theories, so I was looking forward to watching the History channel DVD, the problem is it raised more questions than it answered, for instance I did not know a motorcycle policeman's radio was stuck in the 'on' position, so all of the shooting was recorded,

when analysed by an expert there were five distinct shots shown on the sound recording graph, but then another expert said four shots, one echo, another expert stated three shots, two echoes, and so it goes on, crime scene evidence lost, procedures for forensics ignored, original documents and pictures replaced with Xerox copies, will we ever know what really happened? but I have to say a riveting DVD to watch,

another family adventure was next, The Water Horse, the filming of the village was spot on, beautiful scenery and Nessie was quiet realistic, a boy finds an egg and hatches it, eventually releasing back into the loch where it grows,

love him or hate him Mel Brooks for me has made some memorable movies, this is one of them, High Anxiety, playing Dr. Richard Thorndyke, he arrives as new administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, a parody of many of Hithcocks' works, the film works well on many levels,

over the past few days we have been also watching To the Ends of the Earth, a television mini-series released in 2005, in the early 1800s young Edmund Talbot travels to New South Wales to take up a post with its governor, he keeps a journal, recording his impressions of crew and passengers, all of the film so far has been based on board the ship,

we are about three quarters of the way through the series, running time about four and a half hours, the sets are superb, the interior of the ship leaning off of the vertical but with water and clothing showing that the set rather than the camera is being tilted, it is going to be a bit of a shame when the voyage is over! with that we were off to bed.

Do You Ever See Photographs That You Know Do Not Look 'Right'

2012-01-31T03:21:00.000Z

but have not been edited in Photoshop?

like this one taken by French artist Philippe Ramette, no messing with computers, just a click of the camera,

there is of course a slight trick, before taking the shot he builds metal support structures that allow him to stand or sit at impossible angles, now that is what I call thinking out of the box!

also unlike other 'anti gravity' pictures I have seen there are no wires being taken out of the shot after the photo shoot, I must admit for me the work of Philippe looks really neat.

Madness, Or Lack Of Common Sense,

2012-01-31T03:20:00.000Z

still stalks our stores,

when Elinor Zuke, 25, was told by the self-service checkout at Sainsbury's that she needed age verification as she tried to buy a £1.19 pack of spoons she was naturally somewhat taken aback, in a blinding lack of common sense a shop worker claimed they could be used as drug paraphernalia,

after recovering from the shock that the worker had virtualy called her a user of a illegal Class A drug - so it is irrelevant whether someone is over 18 - the spoon should not be used for that purpose anyway, she waited to see what would happen next, a call to the drug squad perhaps, maybe a raid on her home?

but it was a mistake, a spokeswoman, (person, please be PC!) said: 'the self-scan system recognised the spoon's SKU as one for a knife, this had now been rectified', but what a lack of common sense in the first place, still it all ended well, 'we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused, our Think 25 policy is designed to ensure age-related products are sold safely,'

age related products at 25 years old? I did not think there were any products you have to be 25 years old to buy, I always thought the legal age for buying alcohol is 18, but not living in the UK I must have missed the change of law.

Sunday Again,

2012-01-30T03:42:00.002Z

so off to Sunday lunch,

for today we decided on the Robin's Nest on Soi Diana,

first the good news, lamb was back on the menu,

then the bad news, they had run out of red wine, so a glass of white had to do,

the price had stayed the same at 249 baht including ice cream and a fresh fruit cocktail,

in the afternoon we watched a DVD, then glad rags on,

we were off to watch the International Bed Race, a yearly event to raise money for charities in the area,

as we walked to the motorbike taxi our next door neighbour said instead of the guard dog looking after her, she was spending more time looking after it,

Jake's street cred took a bit of a bashing yesterday when he got mugged by the local cat, also if the rumour mill is to be believed one of the gang of tree squirrels is up for a rumble,

but one day Jake will grow up to be one of these, a Boxer, this is a picture of one of his parents,

as we made our way into town, work had started on what was Coyote ago-go in Soi Marine Plaza, it has remained empty for a couple of years now, but it seems like it has now received a new lease of life,

also as you walk into Soi Blues Factory the first bar on the left has been demolished, so a new beer bar will rise Phoenix like from the ashes in the weeks to come,

the television at the entrance to the street is still working, as we made our walk along Breach Road,

just as we were doing so, Mr Glitterman came into view,

I am not sure what the story is, but he is a regular sight on the streets of Pattaya,

we decided to take a seat and wait for the race to begin,

naturally it was thirsty work all of this walking,

so Diana popped onto the beach to buy me a beer,

'Cheers!',

the sea and sky were both looking grey, then the rain started,

so it was to a restaurant on the other side of the road to wait out the rain,

Diana finished the chips in no time at all!

the rain finally came to a halt,

then the procession began, first a patrol car,

followed by a marching band,

then various clubs or bars efforts came past,

many of which I have not seen before,

the pool party looked popular,

as did the Champagne ago-go bed,

I had always thought that beds had to be of the same size,

but it appears anything with 4 wheel would past muster,

this is the Rotary Club of Pattaya, every year they hold a cross Pattaya Bay swim, last year donating over 200,000 baht,

and of course The Mercy Centre that we all try to help,

the centres bed,

the Central Festival bed,

and Perfume House,

the show girls from Alcazar made a visit,

The Pattaya People newspaper put on a show,

though I am not sure who these people represent,

or these,

I think this is the Pattaya Floating Market bed, at least that is what is embroidered on their shirts,

no mistaking the Hardrock Cafe and restaurant,

and bringing up the rear, Murphy's Law,

great fun was had by all, also hopefully some funds will have been raised by the evenings end for some charities, we made our way back along a quiet Walking Street, well it was still before 7.00 in the evening so there were only a few beer bars open,

the presentation stand was being prepared for the contestants, as we went past,

Diana was hungry,

so we bought a few things on sticks, we next made our way to the motorbike taxi stand, only to find no one was there so we sat on a couple of plastic chairs,

in doing so one of the local cats woke up,

it could smell Diana's food, the cat stalked her down the road when she came back terrified of the cat Diana of course gave me the food bag,

so I was trying to keep it out of reach of the cat,

much to the amusement of several tourist who were waiting to cross the road,

at last a taxi bike appeared so we made our way home, feet up and watched a DVD with a medicinal red wine,

in The Secret of Moonacre, Maria Merryweather must unearth the secrets of the past before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre disappears into the sea forever, Maria discovers that she is the last Moon Princess and guided by an unlikely mix of allies, she must overcome her family's pride, it is a fantasy adventure, it could have been so much better, but it just seemed to plod along,

Coming to America on the other hand was by contrast a riot, I had watched the film before, many years ago, but this was the first time Diana had seen it, also she picked up on the previous Murphy film when Prince Akeem gives two down and outs a wad of money, they were of course the brothers Mortimer and Randolph Duke from Trading Places,

for anyone in Pattaya with some time on their hands there are a couple of things to do which might interest you, firstly Pattaya Baywatch Bikini contest,

also Pattaya's top Coyote dance contest, first prize 20,000 baht, crikey I might have a go myself! leaving you with that thought, me in a Bikini we were of to bed!

I Am Always Amazed,

2012-01-30T03:42:00.001Z

when I see street or pavement art,

like this Lego styled Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang, the 3D Over-sized Street Painting designed by Leon Keer from the Netherlands for the 4th Sarasota Chalk Festival,

Leon Keer took 2nd place at the 2010 Sarasota Chalk Festival, this was his and his teams effort for the 2011 event, although this masterpiece was finished some time ago I have only just seen it featured in Sarasota Chalk Festival release for 2012, Sarasota Chalk Festival theme will bring us back to the 1920′s when the serene seaside shores of Sarasota became Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey’s Circus winter home and became known as “Circus City, USA”, so if you have any free time on your hands the show will run Oct. 30 – Nov. 11 in 2012 but best to check first!

Keeping To An Arts Theme,

2012-01-30T03:42:00.000Z

take a 20 ton block of snow and without power tools turn it into a ice sculpture,

that was the challenge for artists from around the world when they converged on Breckenridge, Colorado for the 18th annual International Snow Sculpture Championships, teams comprised of four artists each then have a total of 65 hours to transform the snow blocks which are formed within wooden frames packed with snow into intricately carved works of art using tools such as carrot peelers, chicken wire and hand saws,

The International Snow Sculpture Championships are held outside the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center, located on South Park Avenue, there is no fee to attend this week long event and sculptures are scheduled to remain on display through February 5th, nighttime viewing is always a favourite, as many of the sculptors play with light and shadows in elements of their designs,

a $1 donation, benefiting the International Snow Sculpture Championships, is requested from each voter, at 3:00pm on Sunday, January 29th, a panel of artists will award the top three teams based on their use of theme, style and technique, additional categories include Kids’ Choice, Artists’ Choice and Peoples’ Choice awards, so much talent, from street painting to ice sculptures, and there is me who can barely finish a painting by numbers!

Our Next Door Neighbours Guard Dog Has Arrived,

2012-01-29T03:15:00.002Z

it looks kind of cute,

I guess it is still quiet young as it seems to spend most of its time asleep,

also I have a feeling it is deaf in one ear, a couple of times I have called it, (I have named it Jake as I could not remember it's Thai name and I only know one Jake and that is a Thackary), it looks up, knowing some one is calling it, but has to do a 360 degree look around to see where the sound is coming from, so I just hope it's good ear holds up, a deaf guard dog I guess is not the way to go, the other strange thing is that it does not bark, I wonder if it is dumb as well?

Mr. Tony called round for a chat and a few cups of coffee, then I spent a couple of hours playing with some of my stamps, I had purchased a set of 1935 Victory stamps for a snip on E-Bay so I had to put them in one of my albums, there are some for sale here, most are reasonably priced, but if you want to collect the whole issue there are 164 stamps to collect,

these from the Falklands are typical,

but some countries had their own design like these from India,

or these from Hong Kong,

Mark later called round as did Mike and Riza along with her cousin Sally,

next stop the market, the skies looked like they were filled with rain,

and for Mahendra, Sunda and Jay they were as it poured down when they were playing golf near Laem Chabang, luckily they had just made it to the club house before the hour long downpour started,

back to shopping, we needed some chicken for this evening,

as soon as our evening meal was finished it was for me a shower and a change as I made my way into town, to meet up with the gang,

Walking Street was not as crowded as I thought it would be,

we meet up at 8.30 and made our way through town, stopping every now and then for liquid refreshments at from memory,

Lollipop, The Cavern and Living Dolls to name a few,

great signs,

it must have cost a fortune to make these seafood ones,

the Lobster Pot is still here, I still remember it from nearly 30 years ago on my first trip here, back then there were still fishermen living in some of their houses built over the water, all now bars, restaurants, jewellers and tailors,

we were of course heading for Roxy's to see Grieg, who was delighted to see us all, making us more than welcome, many thanks Grieg,

then our next and final stop, Champions,

just make sure you do not get run over by the police, this buggy is so quiet it is easy to walk into its path, but back to Champions, Juu was there along with Brian, we also bumped into Chris and Gordan, a splendid evening was had by all, then home to 388 and off to bed.