xylophone

Fulfilling my own prediction, I met some friends at Blue Beach Restaurant on Monday evening and again had the delightful chicken cordon bleu, whilst a friend had the filet mignon and said it was great, so that is next on my list to try. The evening went on a little bit longer than I thought it would, and a few more glasses of red wine were consumed before we decided to head up to Bangla. At the beach end of Bangla, I stood and looked in amazement as I thought I had been transported into Bombay rather than Bangla, such with a number of Indian folk around and I just couldn't believe the numbers, so perhaps they'd been dropped off from a bus or something?? However it wasn't a great deal different in Bangla itself, as there were a huge number of Indians around, more than I'd ever seen in my previous years here. Having said that, whilst walking around Patong and also shopping in Big C here, I have encountered many small groups of them, so perhaps Patong is a popular destination for them these post Covid days?? Back to Bangla and although it wasn't as crowded as it was a few days ago, probably because of the rain, for an off-season day it was "fair to middling" with regards to numbers, although as in my previous comment many of the bars were nowhere near full, and that was certainly the case when we arrived at Red Hot – – something I wasn't keen on, but was persuaded to visit by friends. That venue was feeling the pinch with regard to customer numbers, although the band's music usually gets a few people up onto the small dance area, but it was different this time, mainly because there was an absolute nutcase taking up that space, running from side to side and lengthways, waving, shouting and gesticulating and generally annoying people, and because of this, hardly anyone wanted to get up for a dance. This man belonged in a mental institution IMO, because there was something very wrong with him (either that or he was on some serious mind altering drugs) and I was very surprised that security didn't drag him away, and because he was annoying some of the customers I heard someone say that he was going to "belt him" very shortly if he didn't stop, but luckily the guy left then, only to return about 30 minutes later, repeating the same performance. Unfortunately he was driving people away and that didn't bode well for the venue, because it wasn't as full as it usually was. Overall there are more visitors/farangs in Patong than for almost the last 2 years of Covid, and regulations as regards wearing a mask are "different", with some stores like Big C demanding that one wears a mask to enter, whereas in Bangla and many of the bars, masks were not a familiar sight. Go figure? Several new bars which have opened up (or in some cases reopened under new ownership) in Nanai Road are almost bereft of patrons for the majority of times that I have passed by, and I wonder just how long they will keep going, because although there are more visitors here than in the past 2 years, they rarely seem to venture into that part of Patong, having said that, it seems that a couple of the bars do have a few regulars, and Rock Bar would be one that seems to have a fairly regular clientele, perhaps because the food is good (or so I have heard). Just a quick mention about Beach Road when I was driving along there the other evening, because it seemed more alive than it has done for some time, with brightly lit shops and small restaurants advertising their "wares" and potential customers strolling along the road looking into what was on offer.

Oh, that doesn't happen when I use that torrent site, but then I do have an ad blocker running, so maybe that makes a difference?? Yes it is about the car drive, and I thought it was great, but there again we all have different tastes! I think one has to get into the "intricacies" and in-depth aspects of the conversations he's having to make it worthwhile.

IMO, it is an extremely good movie and well worth the effort to try and track it down, which should be quite easy as I found it again on 1337x.to Also another excellent movie of his (just in case you haven't seen it) is "The Drop" and it moves along at a slow pace, but the ending is a big surprise. I was also reminded of another excellent movie of his, "Lawless", so I may well download that again for another watch! Can't get enough of a good thing.............

The heading of this article states that it is a "virus" when it is not, it is a bacteria, and these types of bacteria usually become antibiotic resistant because of overuse of antibiotics or incorrect prescription for the antibiotic which should be administered for a particular type of bacteria. As it happens the antibiotic combination of amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (called Augmentin) cured it after a long period of administering it. Of course these types of STI's are becoming more commonplace, however there is a group of antibiotics called carbapenems which can work, until they are overprescribed/wrongly prescribed. As for those foolish enough not to use protection when having sex with a hooker or similar, then perhaps their "old fellas" should drop off, which will save it being spread around!!

Yes I did see it thank you SooKee.........have you seen "Locke"?

I was referring to health insurance.

You are confusing the budget deficits with the total US debt, which are different things. In addition Obama had to spend "bigly" to overcome the financial crisis, which in part was a result of the Bush administration handing power over to the Wall Street money men/banks to self regulate, which they didn't do, and it was a free for all, and the results were seen and experienced, and the movie, "The Big Short" captured it just about spot on. Anyway: – "The deficit is the difference between what the U.S. Government takes in from taxes and other revenues, called receipts, and the amount of money it spends, called outlays. The items included in the deficit are considered either on-budget or off-budget. You can think of the total debt as accumulated deficits plus accumulated off-budget surpluses. The on-budget deficits require the U.S. Treasury to borrow money to raise cash needed to keep the government operating. It borrows the money by selling securities to the public". As for Bush, well, spending large on the Iraq war looking for WOMD, which didn't exist, and the War on Terrorism, as well as implementing tax cuts, were the main reasons for an increase in US debt. As for the increase in debt under the orange one, well the pandemic didn't help, and neither did the fact that he was late to the game with regards to stopping the spread in the US. All this aside, the man is a proven crook and liar, and I wouldn't trust him with my auntie's donkey.

You seem to have conveniently missed the fact that the $7.8 trillion debt incurred during trump's tenure has anything to do with the current state of affairs with regards to inflation – – but of course it does, and poor Biden has to pick up the pieces. I can think of nothing which "prospered and grew" during the trump administration other than racial hatred, far right activism and gun killings, along with Covid deaths as a result of inaction/slow action. I am not an American and am not a Republican or Democrat supporter, but the political rift which has, and is, tearing the US apart, IMO is fuelled by the likes of trump and his cohorts. And do I really care; no, because the US will get what it deserves if it continues along its current lines and fosters organisations such as "Proud Boys" and "Oath Keepers" and corrupt, lying and dumb presidents.

Another poster who supports "the dumb one" trying to pin things on Biden over which he has no control whatsoever, and some of which was as a direct result of trumps spending in the government. Trumps endearing legacy could well be the historic rising national debt as it rose almost $7.8 trillion during his time in the White House, and is a major cause of the inflation being experienced these days. Gas/oil supplies are being affected by a war outside of any Western powers control, and someone has even tried to pin the infant food shortage on Biden – – it's amazing what some folk want to believe and will lie to themselves in the process. Of course they will want to forget that trump signed the agreement with the Taliban for the withdrawal of American troops, and the American military which made such a hash of the withdrawal under Biden were the same people in charge under trump! And of course there is NATO, which trump repeatedly slagged off and threatened to withdraw American support/aid to that organisation, and it's also been reported that he said he would not assist NATO allies in a fight against Russia. Overall he weakened that alliance and made the US look fools with regards to its alliances and broken promises. Now "sleepy Joe" may not be the right person to inject enthusiasm into the US public, however he is nowhere near the corrupt, lying and dumb previous president, and I can only hope that trump is found guilty on some of the charges which are currently being investigated and that he is moved out of mainstream politics ASAP and hopefully into jail. The overarching thing for me is the absolute stupidity that is rampant in the US, especially as far as the Republicans are concerned, and this really did alarm me, however luckily it was withdrawn by several media sites: – Greitens, a former Missouri governor who resigned in disgrace in 2018, in his video clip, enters an empty living room through the smoke, brandishing a shotgun, and says, "Join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO hunting permit. There's no bagging limit, no tagging limit and it doesn't expire until we save our country." (declaring that he was hunting RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only).

Agree with your comment, and as you probably know, one of the ways that drivers here try to convey to other road users that THEY have the right of way is to honk their horns or flash their lights, which according to a Thai friend basically says: – I'm coming through/get out of the way. No care and attention or consideration for others on the road, just blind, wilful ignorance. RIP the poor woman.

I can assure you that Phuket zoo was an absolute disgrace, and I have visited it twice, with the second time being at the behest of my daughter, although I wasn't keen on it, and it was just as disgusting as the last time, probably more so. It should have been closed years ago and how anybody could look at the animals living in those conditions and not be concerned, is quite beyond me.

After reading through this thread, one realises that the trumpies explore just about every avenue with regards to half-truths, untruths and deflections to ignore what is in plain sight, and still they are thwarted at every turn. According to these folk the insurrection at Capitol Hill was no more than a demonstration, despite many security guards and the like being injured and attacked, and one of the rioters being shot because she was breaking into the building itself through a smashed window, and of course eyewitness accounts and videos of the very attack. Guns were found stashed nearby and indeed the rioters had various instruments by which to cause injury and even death, and such was the fear that was struck in the hearts of both the Republicans and Democrats in the house, that they sought sanctuary in safe places, in fact anywhere to get away from the mob, who in some cases were baying for blood and threatening to take lives. There is no doubt about what happened because it is there for history, recorded on many mediums, as I said previously, BUT trump supporters refuse to see what the rest of the world can see, and that speaks volumes about the level of intelligence of these people, and the dumb crook that they worship, and the cult they follow.

????????? "An Indiana man who brought a loaded gun to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot — and then subsequently lost the revolver amid the chaos of the insurrection — pleaded guilty this week to carrying a weapon without a license and using a police baton to assault officers during the attack". Seems pretty simple to understand for those other than trumpism afflicted folk.

One poster in particular refused to believe it was anything other than a small demonstration, rather than a violent attack, and posted as such, much earlier on in the thread if you care to look.

I went out on Saturday night and had a great time, the best one for ages as far as I'm concerned. I met some friends in Blue Beach Restaurant and Bar and two of us had already decided that we would eat there, so I perused the menu and although another friend had said that he had the fillet mignon a few days ago and it was very good, I have sort of gone off steak for a while, so I ordered the chicken cordon bleu, and another friend ordered the chicken Kiev. Well, I have to say that my chicken cordon bleu was the best I have ever tasted anywhere, it was fantastic and so much so that I went over to the kitchen and congratulated the chef in person, as did my friend who had the chicken Kiev. So having a couple of lovely meals, accompanied by some nice wine was a great start to the evening, and after a few more wines, we were set to go and let loose on Bangla. We caught up with two others at Blue Lotus Café and bar and sat watching the world go by as is our wont. There was plenty to see because Bangla Road was busy in itself, but that didn't translate to full bars unfortunately, and quite a few of the bars at the beach end of Bangla had little to no customers. The more popular ones did have customers, but nowhere near what they had in recent times, Covid et al., and I felt sorry for the bar owners in Soi Freedom, because throughout the whole Soi, which was pretty full of attractive females, there were only four customers on one table and that was it!! I have to say that I felt terribly sorry for the poor woman standing in front of the "restaurant" halfway down the Soi, which was replete with fantastic wooden tables and chairs/furniture, but I doubt whether anybody had ever graced those since they appeared. Then again, whatever would possess somebody to open up a restaurant/cafe, halfway down a Soi, which was blasting out loud music and looked as out of place as a bull in an orchestra. I can't see anything good becoming of that and unfortunately the poor lady owner/renter will probably be out of pocket before too long – – hard way to learn a lesson, but then common sense is often needed, and that is in short supply in many situations here. We trundled off to Red Hot and were pleasantly surprised because they had changed their repertoire from my last two visits, and the new repertoire was vibrant and crowd-pleasing, whereas the last two visits I had made left me a little flat. So a good evening was had by all, sustained by Captain Morgan and his first mate Coke, and I really enjoyed getting up and singing a few songs as the whole atmosphere was different, and the guys I was sitting with were singing along and having a great time. I think it was about 1:15 AM when I decided to get a friendly motorbike taxi to take me home, and they always take care of me and seem very very attentive as to my welfare. I do think that Blue Beach Restaurant is going to see a lot more of me, as is the chef with his chicken cordon bleu!

There are at least four abandoned/derelict buildings in Patong (Phuket) alone that I can recall, and I will look out some details if I can find them, a little later on and post them

Somebody mentioned the movie, "Mystic River" a short while back and although I don't remember a lot about it, I do remember that at the time I felt it had a totally unsatisfactory ending for me, but I thought I would download it again anyway. I watched it again and then understood why I thought the ending was unsatisfactory, mainly because an innocent man, a friend of the killer, was killed for a murder he didn't commit. Even worse when the man (Shaun Penn) went back home to Laura Linney, his wife, and his wife was saying that she had told his daughters how big his heart was and that he would do anything for them, which included killing someone, referring to what he had just done, even though it was totally unjustified and a huge mistake. So again, the ending of the movie was totally unsatisfactory for me and I would put it down as one of those I would never watch again.

But this says otherwise??? Or are they first being sent to Rwanda and then their claims being investigated whilst they are there?? "Anyone entering the UK illegally" after 1 January could be sent, with no limit on numbers, UK prime minister Boris Johnson said. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-61782866

Or one could simply say that it comes in handy!!!!!

Discussions/arguments like these have been going on for years, but I've never seen anyone "tell it like it is", so here's my shot............ There are ways to legally enter the UK, so they exist for people who want to use them, and there are ways for people who have been persecuted in their own country to also apply for a life in the UK; BUT there are also the vast majority (IMO) who want to cash in on the UK government for their generosity in handing out money to anyone who wants to claim "asylum" or similar. Many of these immigrants come because they believe they can have an easy life in the UK with government handouts, and in my opinion that's the crux of the matter, and anyone entering the UK illegally should be sent home and instructed how to apply through the proper channels. If they have a strong case, then they will be accepted, if they don't, then "c'est la vie".

You make some good points in your post.

I knew what he meant though, because unfortunately I had to do Latin for the first three years at my grammar school, and I absolutely hated it! I think he makes a good point, and I know you were only joking with your comment!! Keep up the good work.........

That would be a great thing for those amongst us who love Indian curries, me being one of them, however probably not so good for the massage/beauty shop owners; let me explain........ A lady I know who owns two massage parlours was telling me how she shooed an Indian customer seeking a massage, out of her shop, because he wanted to pay 200 baht for a "special massage"! Other folk I know in that business often refuse to cater for Indian (and I use that term reservedly) men because their personal hygiene leaves a lot to be desired. Having said that, the type of tourist that TAT were hoping to attract to Thailand to boost the economy hasn't worked from what I've seen, and that was further backed up by the same massage parlour owner I mentioned above, when two Polish men came in the shop looking for a Thai massage, which was duly carried out, all above board, and one tipped his massage lady 10 baht, and the other tipped his massage lady 20 baht. It's possible that the two Polish guys didn't go much on the massage, however I know the two ladies concerned and they do give a good real massage, Thai or otherwise, so big spenders, they weren't. Will be going out on the town over the next few days, so I will have a look around and see what's going on.

It is widespread in the US unfortunately, and is alarming IMO....... Idaho police have received death threats after the members of a white supremacists group were arrested last week. (Associated Press). Last month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government. Another fundamentalist pastor in Texas gives similar sermons. And last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would consider sending child protective services to investigate parents who take their children to drag shows. And a poster has said that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would be a good candidate for President! Anyway, getting back on track.............. The House panel investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection systemically made the case in its second hearing that several of Trump's advisers warned him against making false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election that he lost. But the president would not listen. The nine-member panel is trying to make the case that Trump, and those allies who helped him, were deliberately lying as he pushed those election falsehoods in the weeks ahead of the violent insurrection. The rioters who broke into the Capitol that day and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory were echoing Trump's lies that he, not Biden, had rightfully won the election. TRUMP'S 'MIND WAS MADE UP' In a series of video clips from the committee's closed-door interviews, several of Trump's advisers testified that they told him repeatedly he should not declare that there was widespread election fraud — and that those claims were false. But Trump increasingly relied on wild theories that were pushed by Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, among others, according to the testimony.

Such a sad post for decent and intelligent people, and shows the mindset of many of the supporters of the crooked, dumb and right wing former president.