xylophone

I can see that now, however what confused me is that when I looked that term up on Google, one explanation was that it was used in the southern states of the USA to describe a "shirt lifter" (hope that's not against the rules), however using the term "Bin Dipper" to mean exactly that, explains it more clearly – – thank you for your efforts, all the same.

Still non the wiser!!!

How did they get that name??

I have seen the term, "Bin Dippers" used a few times on this thread, and I've no idea what it means, so would someone please enlighten me!

In amongst the doom and gloom of the rain over the past week or so, and the complete mayhem caused by heavy machinery digging up the huge 2 m² drain-like concrete thingies/drains which were put in place in Nanai, just after the junction with Soi Banzaan, supposedly to stop the road flooding – – but which had to be cleaned out of mud and sand by huge diggers (no not Australians) every so often, there was something to brighten up my week, and for that matter anyone else's week, should they have heard about this event!!?? I refer to the birthday shindig at Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, as it was the owners birthday on Saturday, so I and a few friends went down there to celebrate, and to meet up with other friends from around the place, many from bars and establishments in the Patong area, especially Bangla, where this lovely lady already owns a couple of bars (and works very hard at making them profitable and customer friendly) and it was a delightful evening. The saxophone player kicked off the evening, and although I find it a little too loud, others seemed to like it, but it does make one have to shout across a table in order to have a conversation! Next up was "Moody" a songster and guitar player par extraordinaire, who entertained the guests, and there were fair few, and it was good listening to his songs whilst munching down the delightful food off the menu, as well as far too many glasses of red wine, which later on were topped up with a few other drinks at Red Hot. Travelling along the Beach Road in order to get to the Blue Beach, the motorbike taxi driver encountered a couple of large convoys of jetskis being towed off the beach and back to their place of rest, so I suppose there is a market for these things these days, even if they are, in the main, operated by louts. Bangla itself was busy again and although some of the bars were sparsely populated, just a few of them were showing signs of a recovery, and this especially Bar Funk, which was about three-quarters full, and that's saying something for a bar that size. The folks walking up and down Bangla, as before, were a mixture of races, even though I would guess that the number of Indians has decreased, however I have noticed some well-dressed folks from Arabic countries (Saudi etc) around Patong and hopefully they are helping the economy here, although not spending in bars by the looks of things. I was pleased to see Red Hot busier than last Saturday, and also with a decent few young foreign "girls" (including a couple of delightful ones from Israel) having a good time on the small dancefloor in front of the band, which made very pleasant viewing for this old Kiwi, and especially when I got some hugs and a few kisses from these very same girls after I did my stint with the band, and I still say that this has to be the best band in Patong by a long shot. So all in all it was one of the best nights I've had in years, with the entertainment at Blue Beach, not to mention the excellent food and camaraderie there, and Red Hot, so there is life in the old dog yet – – both Patong and yours truly!

"Now for something completely different", although related in some aspects to the thread.......... I have occasionally posted that it looks like Patong is in a sort of recovery mode, although somewhat patchy, and the more I look and learn, the more this keeps coming back to me. For example there are many small businesses and small buildings which are up for sale, some being repossessed by the bank by all accounts, and I personally know of a few small businesses which are struggling big time, although this seems to be contradicted, at times, by new openings of bars etc and also by the reopening of a few "roller blind shops", so it's "all over the place as the saying goes". Related to this, are a couple of events which happened just recently, with farangs asking to borrow money from me. Actually one of them started asking about two years ago, just before Covid, and although it wasn't a great deal of money (3000 baht) and it was almost paid back on time as promised, it became a repeat performance, so it became quite obvious that this particular person couldn't live on what meagre pension he was getting, and I was financing his stay, so I told him it had to stop, and it did. Now two years later on he approached me again and this time wanted to borrow only 500 baht, and out of stupidity and a jai dee, I gave it to him, but said it was the last time and hopefully I will get it back next week. A couple of months back, I guy I had known for a few years here, and only caught up with him occasionally at Starbucks, asked to borrow 8000 baht and said it was because money owed to him hadn't been paid and that I would get it back within two weeks. Well, about a month later I eventually received it, however just a short while ago I got another telephone call from him asking for the same thing, so I politely refused. Where is all this leading – – well it struck me that there would be quite a few farangs in this situation living here, this especially as exchange rates in the likes of the UK and other parts of Europe were not good versus the baht, so these guys must be struggling, and probably struggling big time. So IMO these guys are caught between a rock and a hard place, as the saying goes, because not only are exchange rates against them, prices of just about everything, even in Thailand, are rising quite substantially. On the one hand I feel sorry for them and their plight, but on the other hand cannot help wondering why they didn't plan for something like this, or indeed put some sort of savings plan in place to help complement their pension when they got it? One thing I do know, is that I am not prepared to become a "lender of last resort" to farangs here, even though I do help a few Thais out with occasional nonrepayable small loans (I say this because I know I will never get it back) and in just about all of the cases these poor folks never had the opportunity to save money for the future, so it is something I do quite willingly. Back to the thread..........as long as there are the usual "two-week millionaires" coming from overseas, then the local economy can be bolstered somewhat, however the plight of some of the farangs living here full-time will mean that they aren't able to do that, so are we in for many more months/years of "Patong – The Wake", or will it be back to the full on party mode of yesteryear?

Sounds like an ideal evening a nice wine and a good movie – – enjoy. Your point about the French vineyards is not quite right but the actual events are as follows: – a vine louse called phylloxera devastated French vines/vineyards starting from about the 1860s and it got gradually worse with around 50% of the French vines being affected, and these vines died off, including some of the most famous. The phylloxera vine louse was identified as the culprit, having come from America in one of many vine cuttings that were being exchanged between countries at that time, and whereas the American vines were resistant to this louse, having been used to it over the years, the French vines, and many others in Europe were not, and so were wiped out. The grafting of vines had been known for some time, and it was suggested that the American rootstock be used to enable the French vines to be grafted to that rootstock, and this was done over a few decades, with some resistance from the French, but without that, it's quite possible that the French vines and wine industry would have been decimated even further. So one could argue that French wines and vines owe their existence to American vine rootstock, whereas on the other hand it could be argued that had the American vines not been imported into France and Europe, then this would never have happened. No point in arguing anything like this with a Frenchman because in their eyes the French make the best wines in the world, and no-one else can match them, whereas we know that superb wines are made in many other countries, and wines which can easily match the best of the French. The movie you're about to watch deals with this, and furthermore in a winetasting in France in around 1978 (or thereabouts) a Spanish wine made by Miguel Torres, called Gran Coronas, beat the best of the French Reds in another wine tasting and caused further palpitations amongst the French. Have a great evening.

A few comic books and Playboy magazines, along with a secondary school book: – "How to spell, even if you are dumb". That should keep his followers happy!

Hopefully you saw my post regarding the movie, "Bottle Shock" which covered the now famous, "Judgement of Paris" winetasting between Californian wines and the best that France could offer. I won't spoil the movie for you, because it is very good and stars Bill Pullman as well as the late, great, Alan Rickman, and is essential viewing for wine lovers I think!

They took to Russell Crowe, Jane Champion and the group Split Enz......so stretches do happen!!

Forgot to mention two other movies that I have just watched again: – – "As good as it Gets" with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, along with Greg Kinnear, which is an enjoyable movie but certainly wouldn't get past the censors these days. – "State of Play", with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, which I don't remember seeing the first time round, so was glad that I decided to watch it.

A good Kiwi comedian who was well liked by both Kiwis and Aussies.

I was thinking exactly the same thing giddyup, so have taken to hunting out movies from long ago, which I can't remember anything about, and over the past few weeks I've watched the following: – – The Conversation, with Gene Hackman, and I remember seeing it in the 70s when it was released and not fully understanding what it was all about, so I thought I would watch it again just the other day, and nothing's changed, I'm still not fully sure what it's all about! – The Marathon Man, with Dustin Hoffman, and I couldn't remember anything about that from an earlier viewing, but it was an entertaining movie, although difficult to follow in the early stages. – The French Connection, again with Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, and I must have seen it all those years ago, but enjoyed it this time round. – Blade Runner, the original with Harrison Ford as the star, and I did like it although I have seen it more than once. I also watched the later version with Ryan Gosling and thought that was good too. – The Three Days of the Condor, great movie with Robert Redford. May well get "The Big Short" out of my "library" and watch that again because it's a damn good movie, also a short while ago I watched the movie "Live by Night" with Ben Affleck again, and that is one of my favourite movies at the moment. Still hunting round for some more oldies which I either haven't seen or can't remember, so the hunt goes on..............

Just remembered what that wine was, and it was "Ravenswood Zinfandel" and I think it was reduced because it had a few years on it, although for me the slight bottle ageing actually added to the appeal. As for the Brunello di Montalcino, that also had a few years on it, but was still very, very drinkable and I was so pleased to be able to pick those wines up for a mere pittance.

Thanks, and I came to that conclusion after clicking on a few other links, however, strange that one particular wine at 14% ABV comes from the farm/winery in the Riverina, whereas the other one bearing almost the same label is 13% ABV from Victoria..............having said that, the Riverina wine is palatable!!

if it goes ahead. Is there a problem with the match being played??

Thanks TR, however I've already seen and explored that link and it is not the same label as the bottle from the Riverina, nor the same description as it describes the wine as coming from Victoria?? @Lacessit came up with a possible answer and it seems plausible although on the back of the bottle that I have, it mentions CV Wines?? Research of that shows that it has an address in the Riverina, but also notes that, "this winery might not be operating" or words to that effect? Never mind, it is a fair wine for the price and I would certainly drink it with Thai food and the occasional spicy pizza.

Back on topic and something which @Lacessit might be able to throw some light on....... I have discovered an everyday swigger here, which actually turns out not to be too bad at all, and it is called, "Riddle Creek Shiraz Reserve, 2020", so I thought I would try and find out a bit about its history, however that has become complicated, and where someone from that part of the world might be able to help? You see some Google searches point to the fact that it is a wine from Victoria (Australia) and that it is made by de Bortoli, whereas another Google search points to it coming from a farm/vineyard in the Riverina with no connection to de Bortoli? The two wines coming from those locations show different ABV percentage, so it would appear that this wine is being "made" in two locations, which doesn't seem right. Anyway, hopefully someone can throw some light on it, because I can't find any meaningful leads on it, other than to say that there are couple of feedback comments which suggest that it is a better wine than it would seem, given that the price range here is anywhere between 370 and 399 baht a bottle and IMO it is well worth a try.

Central in Phuket town has two Tops stores split between two separate aspects of this huge conglomerate. On the one hand there is a Tops supermarket side of things which also sells wine, and the other Tops store which is located in the new huge building, along with many other stores, has a small supermarket side of things and a well-stocked wine section, which has a temperature controlled room, in which they have the really top end wines from France, Italy and other countries. Don't know why Tops say they don't have a licence to sell alcohol, because both of the Tops stores here have a great selection.

Agree with all of the above, and some irrigation does allow for a certainty of outcome without diminishing the quality of the end product, provided as I said previously, it is regulated. As regards the Riverina, where irrigation is de rigueur, I have found that even amongst the wineries in that area, some wines really stand out, whereas others are just plain average and good for the everyday swigging wine. On a separate note, and as some of the posts have been about good Australian wines and those available at the cellar door, I remember visiting relatives in Melbourne and going to the winery of Dr Bailey Carrodus who produced some excellent wine called Yarra Yering, and buying a few bottles of it (Dry Red number 1 and number 2 as I recall) to take home to NZ, and this was in 1987 or 1988, and I held onto it for a few years and thought it was a very good wine indeed, and I should have bought a lot more at the time!

And they are a producer of fruit wines and the last time I looked at a bottle of the Laughing Bird dry red, it did have that notation on the back label. And as for "irrigated wines", well, provided the irrigation is controlled/regulated, then there is no problem with it, this especially as many countries do allow controlled irrigation (even Chile) and whereas at one time it was frowned upon in France, it is now an accepted part, especially in the south where the hot summers can really bite.

That is more likely the reason that the exorbitant taxes are put on imported wines, to protect the producers of Thai wines, as the powerful in the Thai hierarchy hold great sway/influence on the way things are – – especially in protecting their wealth.

I thought about trying that a while ago, but then discovered it was a Fruit Wine, although it had some grape content, so didn't bother as the fruit wines for whatever reason, give me a headache!!

Amongst other issues. Lol.

For a short while anyway!!