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Harry Connick Jr. releases pandemic-produced album, 'Alone With My Faith'

 

FILE PHOTO: Entertainer Harry Connick Jr. speaks during his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Jazz musician Harry Connick Jr. is showcasing a spiritual side with his new album, "Alone With My Faith."

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211637-harry-connick-jr-releases-pandemic-produced-album-alone-with-my-faith/

 

FILE PHOTO: Entertainer Harry Connick Jr. speaks during his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Jazz musician Harry Connick Jr. is showcasing a spiritual side with his new album, "Alone With My Faith."

 

Connick Jr. created the album in his home studio during the pandemic, playing all the instruments, recording all background vocals and doing the engineering. The singer said the process acted as therapy during uncertain times.

 

"This was a case where the music itself was actually helping me get through this time, and that's really rare," he said.

 

The New Orleans native described the 13-track project as a mix of Christian and faith-based songs intended for those who need help accessing their faith to get them through the last year.

 

Connick said the album, released earlier this month, is an honest look at how most people navigated life during quarantine.

 

"This is a really truthful look at what I, and I think a lot of other people who might listen to it, are going through and just, just went through," he said.

 

(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

 

U.S. novelist Larry McMurtry, who wrote 'Lonesome Dove,' dead at 84

By Cynthia Osterman

 

FILE PHOTO: Writers Diana Ossana (L) and Larry McMurtry accept the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain" at the 78th annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, March 5, 2006. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

 

(Reuters) - Larry McMurtry, who wrote of complex relationships in novels such as "The Last Picture Show" and "Terms of Endearment," and then helped redefine the American Old West with the epic "Lonesome Dove," has died at 84, his publicist said on Friday.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211636-us-novelist-larry-mcmurtry-who-wrote-lonesome-dove-dead-at-84/

 

 

By Cynthia Osterman

 

FILE PHOTO: Writers Diana Ossana (L) and Larry McMurtry accept the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain" at the 78th annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, March 5, 2006. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

 

(Reuters) - Larry McMurtry, who wrote of complex relationships in novels such as "The Last Picture Show" and "Terms of Endearment," and then helped redefine the American Old West with the epic "Lonesome Dove," has died at 84, his publicist said on Friday.

 

The cause was heart failure, according to publicist Amanda Lundberg, who said by email the author was surrounded by loved ones, including his wife Norma Faye and long-time writing partner, Diana Ossana, when he died on Thursday night.

 

In addition to his Pulitzer Prize for "Lonesome Dove" in 1986, McMurtry won an Academy Award in 2006 with Ossana for the screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain" about the relationship between two gay cowboys. He also was nominated in 1972 for his adaptation of his novel "The Last Picture Show."

 

McMurtry wrote nearly 50 books - collections of essays and criticism and memoirs in addition to his novels - but "Lonesome Dove" had the most impact. It was a sweeping tale of two aging former Texas Rangers - the amiable Gus and cantankerous Call - on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

 

"If anybody had any sense, they'd throw out 'Moby-Dick' and put 'Lonesome Dove' in the center as the great American epic novel," Carolyn See, a literature professor at the University of California Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times in 2003.

 

"No question about it. His heroes in that book are just terrific. His women are just terrific. And he sustains it for 800 pages."

 

McMurtry was remembered for being as unassuming as he was accomplished.

 

James L. Brooks, who directed "Terms of Endearment," recalled on Twitter how McMurtry had him adapt the novel into a screenplay, refusing "to let me hold him in awe" and was "working the cash register of his rare book store as he did so."

 

Fellow novelist Stephen King called him a great storyteller.

 

"I learned from him, which was important," King said on Twitter. "I was entertained by him, which was ALL important."

 

McMurtry developed lasting affection for many of his characters and quite often brought them back for sequels. The principles from "Lonesome Dove" would eventually be in four books and the characters from "The Last Picture Show" generated five novels.

 

Critics praised McMurtry for his skill in fashioning nuanced and compelling characters and the way he brought them together - whether they were coming-of-age teenagers fighting small-town ennui in "The Last Picture Show" or a self-absorbed woman and her needy, dying daughter in "Terms of Endearment."

 

McMurtry had a contrarian streak - he wore jeans over his tuxedo jacket to pick up his Oscar - and took a simple approach to his writing.

 

"I like making stuff up," he told Texas Monthly in 2016. "I just write."

 

McMurtry, the son and grandson of ranchers, was born on June 3, 1936, on a book-less cattle ranch near the West Texas plains town of Archer City. The town would be the model for Thalia, the setting for "The Last Picture Show" and its sequels.

 

He told interviewers late in his career that he thought his work peaked with "Lonesome Dove" in 1985.

 

"Constructing a long novel is a really demanding business," he once said. "I don't think there have been many novelists whose best work has been written after they were 60."

 

McMurtry's novels had contemporary settings until "Lonesome Dove." That book, along with the successful television mini-series that followed and his other Western books, did not hew to the romantic myth of the Old West.

 

Instead of noble cowboys performing heroic deeds and taking part in dramatic gunfights, his characters endured endless hardships and lives of desperation.

 

When not writing books, McMurtry was selling them. After living in various places including Washington, D.C., where he owned a rare book store, in 1988 he moved back to Archer City, which had no bookstores or libraries in his youth, and built up a used book store complex that some collectors considered the biggest of its kind in the country.

 

In 2012 he reduced the Archer City operation by half but still maintained a personal collection of more than 28,000 books.

 

A disciplined author with a regular routine that called for composing five pages every morning at his manual typewriter, McMurtry loved movies almost as much as books.

 

In addition to "The Last Picture Show" and "Terms of Endearment," his first novel, published in 1961, "Horseman, Pass By" was turned into the movie "Hud," starring Paul Newman. He also wrote several screenplays and teleplays.

 

McMurtry underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 1991 and fell into a deep depression, inspiring what he said was one of his favorite books - his 1999 novel "Duane's Depressed," which revisited one of the main characters from "The Last Picture Show."

 

McMurtry's son from his first marriage is singer-songwriter James McMurtry. In 2011 he married Faye Kesey, widow of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" author Ken Kesey, who had been McMurtry's classmate in a writing program at Stanford University in the late 1950s.

 

The couple split their time living with Ossana in Tucson, Arizona, and in Archer City.

 

(Writing and reporting by Cynthia Osterman; Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine and Peter Szekely; Editing by Franklin Paul, Bill Trott and Alistair Bell)

 

Thailand reports 80 new COVID-19 cases, 1 more death

 

 

Thailand reported 80 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211603-thailand-reports-80-new-covid-19-cases-1-more-death/

 

 

Thailand reported 80 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday.

 

Of the new cases, 73 were local transmissions, while 7 were imported from people entering quarantine.

 

A further 104 people were discharged from hospital having made a full recovery.

 

1,428 people remain in hospital or held in a migrant worker quarantine centre.

 

One more death was also reported.

 

Saturday’s cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 28,657 with 96 deaths. 
 

Aides to New York Governor Cuomo subpoenaed in sexual harassment probe - WSJ

 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at an event amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Pool

 

(Reuters) - The New York state attorney general’s office has subpoenaed dozens of officials in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration as part of a probe into sexual harassment accusations, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday. https://on.wsj.com/3lUDiZE

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211602-aides-to-new-york-governor-cuomo-subpoenaed-in-sexual-harassment-probe-wsj/

 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at an event amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Pool

 

(Reuters) - The New York state attorney general’s office has subpoenaed dozens of officials in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration as part of a probe into sexual harassment accusations, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday. https://on.wsj.com/3lUDiZE

 

Cuomo's aide Melissa DeRosa, whose title is secretary to the governor, was among the officials to receive a subpoena earlier this month, the newspaper reported citing people familiar with the matter.

 

Reuters was unable to confirm the report immediately. Spokespersons for Cuomo did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comments.

 

Cuomo, 63, is resisting pressure to resign following the flurry of accusations of sexual harassment or misconduct and revelations that his administration under-reported nursing home deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The governor has denied any wrongdoing, though he has acknowledged it had been a "custom" for him to kiss and hug people when greeting them. He has said he was sorry if his behavior had made "people feel uncomfortable."

 

(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

 

Britain nearing vaccine deal with European Union: The Times

 

FILE PHOTO: A dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is prepared in a vaccination centre at Newmarket Racecourse, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Newmarket, Britain March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

 

(Reuters) - Britain is close to striking a vaccine deal with the European Union as soon as this weekend that will remove the threat of the bloc cutting off supplies, The Times reported on Saturday.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211601-britain-nearing-vaccine-deal-with-european-union-the-times/

 

FILE PHOTO: A dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is prepared in a vaccination centre at Newmarket Racecourse, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Newmarket, Britain March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

 

(Reuters) - Britain is close to striking a vaccine deal with the European Union as soon as this weekend that will remove the threat of the bloc cutting off supplies, The Times reported on Saturday.

 

Under the agreement the EU will remove its threat to ban the export of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Britain, it added.

 

In return, the UK government will agree to forgo some long-term supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that had been due to be exported from Holland, the newspaper reported.

 

On Friday, the European Medicines Agency approved Halix production site in the Netherlands that makes the AstraZeneca vaccine and a facility in Marburg in Germany producing BioNTech/Pfizer shots.

 

The EU's clearing of the vaccine site comes as the union is banking on them to boost deliveries in the second quarter and accelerate the slow pace of inoculations in the bloc.

 

Europe's troubled vaccine rollout has led to a quarrel with Britain, which has imported 21 million doses made in the EU, according to an EU official. Britain says it did a better job negotiating with manufacturers and arranging supply chains.

 

The EU says that Britain should share more, notably to help make up the shortfall in contracted deliveries of AstraZeneca shots.

 

Brussels and London sought to cool tensions on Wednesday, declaring they were working "to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens".

 

The UK government, Pfizer-BioNTech, and AstraZeneca were not immediately available for comment after office hours.

 

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma and Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

 

Pattaya: Beggars and homeless people cleared off the streets after image problem

 

Image: Sophon Cable TV

 

Sophon Cable TV reported that on Thursday night Sasikamol Liamrak from a homeless persons home run by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security led other officials to the streets of Pattaya.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211600-pattaya-beggars-and-homeless-people-cleared-off-the-streets-after-image-problem/

 

Image: Sophon Cable TV

 

Sophon Cable TV reported that on Thursday night Sasikamol Liamrak from a homeless persons home run by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security led other officials to the streets of Pattaya.

 

Their target was homeless people, migrant beggars and those with mental deficiences who had been causing annoyance and damage to property affecting Pattaya's image as a tourist destination. 

 

Fifteen people were picked up before a sweep of Beach Road, Walking Street, Soi Bua Khao and Sai 2 as checks continued. 

 

The people were assembled at City Hall. Those with mental problems were taken to Bang Lamung Hospital while the details of the homeless were taken and appropriate help for them was sought. 

 

Complaints had been received. 

 

Thai policeman dies after surgery for a broken leg he got a week earlier in a football match

 

Image: Sanook

 

A grieving Thai wife has gone to the media for help after her husband - a policeman in the north east - died after surgery on a broken leg he sustained in a football match.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211599-thai-policeman-dies-after-surgery-for-a-broken-leg-he-got-a-week-earlier-in-a-football-match/

 

Image: Sanook

 

A grieving Thai wife has gone to the media for help after her husband - a policeman in the north east - died after surgery on a broken leg he sustained in a football match.

 

Sanook reporters found a sad scene at a house in Ban Sing sub-district of Buriram where the body of Sen Sgt Maj Sirawut Lotthong, 44, of the Chamni police station was laid out. 

 

His wife Suwannee, 43, and distraught police friends wanted answers how a healthy man could die after breaking his leg.

 

Suwanee explained that her husband was in goal playing with police friends on Thursday 18th March when there was an accidental collision and he broke his left leg.

 

He was immediately taken to Nang Rong Hospital where he seemed to be fine and was scheduled for surgery the following day.

 

This was then delayed as a more serious case came in but after the break area began swelling up continually doctors further delayed surgery. 

 

Suwanee said she had no reason to disbelieve the doctors.

 

Surgery then went ahead on 24th March with Sirawut opting for a general anasthetic. 

 

Moments after he went into surgery his wife was told to "Prepare yourself". He was set to be transferred to Soon Buriram Hospital but died. 

 

Doctors told the wife that he had suffered a blood clot limiting blood to heart and lungs.

 

Now she wants an investigation into why he had to wait so long for surgery and how a healthy man can die after getting a broken leg.

 

Nang Rong Hospital would not give a cause of death and were waiting on the results of an autopsy, reported Sanook who published a video of the aftermath of the original footballing accident. 

 

"You tricked us" - motorcycle food and parcel delivery firm under fire as employees claim 19% rate reduction

 

Image: Sanook

 

Sanook reported that motorcycle delivery personnel of a well known application claim they have been stripped of 19% of their income after the firm changed their rates.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211598-you-tricked-us-motorcycle-food-and-parcel-delivery-firm-under-fire-as-employees-claim-19-rate-reduction/

 

Image: Sanook

 

Sanook reported that motorcycle delivery personnel of a well known application claim they have been stripped of 19% of their income after the firm changed their rates.

 

More than 100 riders - some with paper alleging they had been tricked by the firm - gathered near the end of Sukhumvit Soi 40 in Bangkok.

 

Traffic jams built up inbound as the road was reduced to one lane. Outbound was not affected. 

 

They claim their rates have been hit after the firm - who Sanook did not name though it was clearly visible on jackets in their video - were giving riders 50 baht instead of 62 baht for the first three kilometers. 

 

After various deductions their fees were now reduced from 51 baht to just 41 baht. 

 

Not only that Sanook were told that changes to the way distances over 3 kms were calculated meant further losses.

They used to be assessed on GPS by vehicle movement, now it was the distance a pedestrian would travel. 

 

Protests began last week and followed a boast by the company that the employees and the company would "Get Bigger Together".

 

It appears that the company is getting bigger while the employees cut is getting smaller, notes Thaivisa. 

 

No executives of the firm bothered to come down to hear the employees demands to reinstate their previous deal. 

 

TCEB launches “MICE WINNOVATION”

Sirakij Pornbanggird

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has launched the “MICE WINNOVATION” project to promote the utilization of innovation and technology in organizing MICE events for the new normal.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211597-tceb-launches-“mice-winnovation”/

 

Sirakij Pornbanggird

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has launched the “MICE WINNOVATION” project to promote the utilization of innovation and technology in organizing MICE events for the new normal.

 

Presiding over the event, President of TCEB Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya stated that TCEB has focused on technology and innovation development for the MICE industry, as TCEB has been running many projects and business matching seminars to raise the competitiveness of Thai MICE.

 

However, MICE entrepreneurs reflected they have been facing a lack of support factors to help them grow in the industry. To address such pain points, TCEB has launched “MICE Winnovation” to provide all-round support for MICE entrepreneurs. The “MICE Winnovation” will help develop factors including an online catalogue offering tech providers for MICE activities, an online market to showcase products and services, a platform to exchange experience between entrepreneurs and financial support from TCEB.

 

Mr. Chiruit added that TCEB strongly hopes that the project will strengthen Thai MICE entrepreneurs and tech entrepreneurs to be able not only to strengthen the Thai economy but also benefit the global community.

 

Bangkok begins vaccinations in Phasi Charoen

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Bangkok City Hall has opened a vaccination center in Phasi Charoen district, bordering Samut Sakhon province, with 908 people requesting to be vaccinated at the time of this report.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211596-bangkok-begins-vaccinations-in-phasi-charoen/

 

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Bangkok City Hall has opened a vaccination center in Phasi Charoen district, bordering Samut Sakhon province, with 908 people requesting to be vaccinated at the time of this report.

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has commenced a vaccination program in Phasi Charoen district, which is one of the 6 Bangkok districts bordering Samut Sakhon province, where the majority of COVID-19 cases have been reported in the new wave since December last year.

 

Deputy Governor of Bangkok Pol Lt Gen Sophon Phisutthiwong today inspected a temporary vaccination center, located at Wat Nimmanoradee, where he urged health workers to consider the safety of vaccine recipients and themselves as top priority.

 

The temporary vaccination center will be open until Saturday, with a target of inoculating 1,700-2,000 people. So far, 908 people in Phasi Charoen have signed up for the vaccine, while city hall is targeting vendors in 17 markets in the province.

 

Deputy Governor Pol Lt Gen Sophon said vaccine recipients should continue to practice personal protective measures, by wearing a mask in public, keeping their distance, washing hands frequently, having their temperature taken, as well as checking in and out at public venues on Thai Chana platform.

 

NBTC eyes policy change to meet evolving broadcast tech

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is evaluating its performance as a regulator, in order to update its policies to meet the digital disruption of the media landscape, allowing broadcasters to implement new technology that best benefits their businesses.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211595-nbtc-eyes-policy-change-to-meet-evolving-broadcast-tech/

 

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is evaluating its performance as a regulator, in order to update its policies to meet the digital disruption of the media landscape, allowing broadcasters to implement new technology that best benefits their businesses.

 

The NBTC’s operations evaluation committee has hired consultants to track and evaluate the work of the NBTC as a broadcast regulator, in order to provide insights to NBTC’s planned policy update, to meet the technological disruption in the media industry.

 

Sitting as a member of the consultant panel, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University’s Communication Arts lecturer Monwipa Wongrujira said radio broadcasters in Thailand have started shifting to online broadcasting instead, which is something with which the NBTC, as a regulator, must catch up.

 

From her focus group interviews, Ms. Monwipa said most radio broadcasters are aware of their roles to help reduce broadcast offenses, such as running illegal advertisements for medicines and supplements. However, their shift to online platforms has caused more issues related to licenses, as these broadcasters don’t have an in-depth knowledge of computer-related laws.

 

The NBTC’s evaluation committee chair Napat Winitchaikul said modern technology has enabled a single radio frequency to be used for multiple services, which is significant for the broadcasting industry.

 

He said the NBTC’s policy as a regulator in the future will mimic those of foreign countries, while adapting to the needs of broadcast operators and the customs, traditions and behavior of Thai audiences.

 

The suggestions on policy changes made by this evaluation committee will be used to create an action plan for the new NBTC members.

 

TAT launches places of worship tourism campaign

Tanakorn Sangiam

 

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched a new tourism campaign highlighting temples and other places of worship, offering tourism products for specific tourists while promoting the preservation of Thai traditions.

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211594-tat-launches-places-of-worship-tourism-campaign/

 

Beating the summer heat

 

(photo by Sasin Tipchai)
 

Experts offer some tips on how people can avoid the dangers associated with a sweaty summer day

 

Full story: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1211592-beating-the-summer-heat/