Yes. Welcome to the second issue of the Bangkok Gazette. The photo above (web version only) was taken on thanksgiving day in a workshop that makes these amazing hand pounded brass and copper bowls (part of a tour that we went on with other Fullbrighters)...this was a "decoration" on the wall. The image second from the left is the King of Thailand. We had a Thanksgiving dinner at an Embassy officer's house with the Fullbright crew. It was weird to have of all things pumpkin pie. Onward! Som Tom Som Tom is a delicacy of the Northeast of Thailand. It is make of unripe papaya or mango (green mango green papaya) that is pounded in a wooden motar and pestle environment with a variety of stuff (usually including tomato, fish sauce, hot hot peppers, etc). There is a roadside stand with 4 very large (could hold 25 gallons) som tom motar pestles lined up. We decided to eat there the other night...the menu had an amazing 45+ varieties (several pages of the menu) of just som tom. We had the spicy green mango with shrimp. We also had (geng om) a spicy dill clear soup with cabbage and chicken...tasted a bit russian (oh, long for Brighton beach and the summer). Muay Thai is Kickboxing Noodles Went to get some noodles from the noodle shop - fish ball dumplings w/ thin noodles (sen lek) in spicy broth with peanuts and bean sprouts on top + a bottle of Coke (my usual). Things are going pretty well, with my lunch and all. But then there is this guy. He has a pretty nice gym bag with stripes on it and he seems to be talking to something inside of it. He is talking loudly (I think I heard him say (drunk? / high on bad speed) that he was from Roi-Et (which is like saying you are from Arkansas in the middle of NYC). A som tom lady passes by and he stops her, she's got to make som tom for him now (chop green papaya, pound it with shrimp paste and chili, e.g. takes a while). I'm sitting pretty close to the street and I think he starts saying "You" "You" I don't look up. "You" You" No eye contact. Som Tom lady moves on. Noodle shop girls look worried. He tries some one-handed push ups. Rolls around on the ground. Chugs 2 bottles of an "energy drink" aka M-150. Talks to his bag some more. Then he starts shadow kickboxing. I nurse those noodles for sometime. I look worried. More kickboxing...bob and weave and kick. He chirps like a prairie dog. He sits down to get into his som tom. I pay my 34 Baht and move on quickly, before I find out what's in his bag, before I'm witness to anything more. Ganstah Auntie? Have I told you about my favorite Thai Auntie? I pass her shop/house everyday as I go out to Rang Nam (the big street). When I buy beer or ice or "energy drinks" or ice coffee in a can, she's always super nice and laughs as I almost hit my head on the low awning. Anyway, was there the other day and she was "helping" a young man who was holding a half consumed energy drink...he gave her some money and she gave him a series of small (sugar packet sized) pouches and shuttled him off...what is going on? Drugs? Gambling? Worse? Drunk Elephant Driving: Yes there are laws here against drunk driving (a car). So I was surprised to see as we rounded the corner of the Esso station (which has a good makeshift restaurant in it at night) an elephant and 4 guys with bags of bananas wobbling-they wanted us to buy the bananas and feed the elephant. The driver steered the elephant towards us-whoa the trunk is coming at me. We got past (barely) and watched them head for the Esso Station restaurant which upon our return seemed to have survived the attack. Movie Review: King Kong Lives (1985?) In 1976 they did a remake of King Kong, final scene atop the twin towers. Jeff Bridges was in it. Well this film takes off where the 1976 film left off -there is a brief clip of the 1976 film as an opening...an "adventurer" finds and captures a female Kong-which is great because they've been keeping Kong alive and need to put in an artificial heart but they need Big Ape Blood for a transfusion. Linda Hamilton performs the operation with a team of scientists and the largest medical instruments you've ever seen. Ape hormones take over and Kong escapes with Ms. Kong. A Big Ape Baby is born. Kong escapes! "Kong needs 1,000 pounds of protein a day to survive." Guess what he eats? Very fake looking crocodiles! Rednecks try to capture Kong. Their plan doesn't work out. You can guess the rest. Radical Punks Never Die! I'd been holding onto this flyer for about a month. Hungarian Punks in Bangkok! on a Sunday afternoon. I had to check this one out. Got there around the 3pm start time. Not much going on (not sure re: rock show start time etiquette). Met Mark Chia the one man punk show from Singapore (really nice) bought some Singapore Punk Zines. So Martin and Nick show up and we sit on the steps waiting for the show to start drink some Leo beer, etc. It is pretty unbelievable when all of the punks start showing up (see photos) real old school punks studded jackets and big punky hair. There is even a punk baby! The first band is pretty good...kinda punky poppy but the songs are longer and they really get the energy up. Next band is pretty serious with fast fast screaming and then the mosh pit starts up...they are doing a modified punk thing with some Thai kick boxing kicks and punches. Martin and Nick sloop off, but I'm determined to see the Hungarians....I finally get into the mix in the pit and it's pretty fun (though I'm 15-20 years older than a lot of the punks) my size makes for a pretty good human bumper. By time the Hungarians are up, I'm in a big punk shoulder to shoulder high stepping chorus line. Whew. Bruises still almost healed. Danger Ice! As you might guess, in Thailand there is a large variety of ice for you to pee on in the "gentlemen's." Suppose you are at a very fancy place called "The Face Complex." Suppose that in the urinals there is a new kind of ice that you've never seen before. It is VERY concave kinda like a shot glass. This kind of ice has the ability to REDIRECT THE URINE STREAM OUT OF THE URINAL AND TOWARDS THE URINATOR. Be very careful or wear dark pants.