GammaGlobulin

Understood, Sorry, I missed that when I first read your comment. Banning books is now impossible, and pointless. Here is a book that should not have been banned in China, in case you might enjoy it: Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 I have a copy in the original Chinese, in case you might like it. (As far as I know, the Chinese and the translated versions, might not be the same.)

Sometimes, white men feel the need to choose not among their own kind, on rare occasions. This is not something which happens frequently. Be thankful when it occurs. Forget the Nobel. And, instead, go with the Ig Nobel Prizes. Everybody knows that the Nobel is a Joke. (The science is real.) (The prizes are really taken from Cracker Jack boxes.

Tropic of Cancer? Really? (Sorry, I was thinking of Last Tango in Paris, and the Butterfingers Brando, which was not noteworthy.) Still, I forget Tropic of Cancer. Those were the days.

Sorry, but the real thing is.... That, after we reach a certain age, then it becomes almost impossible to read fiction, such as a novel, with a straight face. There is no escapism after one reaches a ripe enough age. And, when this happens, then...maybe YouTube.

The truism is that, the older one becomes, after the magic age of 59, one loses the ability to appreciate written fiction, ie, novels, in most cases. If this has happened to you, too, then read Nemesis by Roth. At least, you can still read this with quite a bit of pleasure. Roth writes beautiful paragraphs. Roth should have received the Nobel for Literature, except that, maybe, due to his "background", he was found wanting. Was Saul Bellow a Jew? Not sure. The only thing I know is that Philip could write rings around Saul. The Nobel has always been a joke. Awards, such as these are a joke, both in science and in literature. You got a small group of dirty old white men telling the world what is pure. I am white. But, I am not dirty, hopefully. I try not to be.

And, then what happened....?

The sad thing is: There is a whole flock of great books that most decent schools put on their reading lists, maybe about 500 books that students should read by grade 12. However, it should be obvious that most of these books should be read very close to the time the student passes through puberty, while his or her juices are flowing at MAX, in order to achieve the greatest Umph out of the reading of these books. Passing through puberty is a time when our brain is at a point like no other time in our life. Most of the high-school books should be read between age 11 and 14. Otherwise, this crucial time of amazement in the reading is missed, forever. Maybe you might not know what I mean. Once you miss this time in your life, this narrow window...then...this unique opportunity can never be recouped... it is gone, forever. Try reading Fanny Hill at age 40, for example. Try reading Fanny Hill at age 11.5, for example. Not the same experience. Same with so many books. Read while you are young, or be doomed to ignorance, for life.

Very, very nice. VERY.

Tom Jones is and was amazing. Madame Bovary. Fanny Hill. 200 more.... ("Back in the Day", maybe 60 years ago, our main entertainment was reading books which were written before 1800. We, as young boys, loved to read things like "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure". We used to lie in bed and read, all the livelong day. And, it was fun. And, it was very sexy, too.)

My Dear Friends, I could go on, and on, about my love-hate for YouTubers of Thailand, of all ilk. And, especially, the backpacker YouTubers, most of whom are absolutely beyond the pale, obviously. However, what I have found, and most truly this is ever more the case, particularly during this glorious two-year interruption of our previously uninterruptible tourist season, a period of time when some of us have breathed a sigh of relief from boorish backpacker baboons, is that….in fact…...Thailand YouTubers, the majority of them, are changing their ways enough to become, actually, quite likeable, amazingly so. Naturally, there still remain a few bad apples. However, it just seems to me that this virus has done wonders for the quality of what is being produced by the guys with Thailand-oriented YouTube channels, even though their English skills may not have improved much during this time. Learning English is not easy, and it takes more time than just one pandemic can offer in order to perfect decent writing skills. I am sure that you do not need me to call attention, here, to this fairly recent positive transformation among the Thailand YouTuber gang. Some of us have seen this same transformation on the Farang Pub, during recent months, a phenomenon otherwise unexpected before the advent of this new virus age. People here are becoming, quite unnaturally, both kinder and gentler. Such a blessing to us all. We also notice, during all of 2021 and in 2022, there are some rather kindly older guys YouTubing about Thailand, even those one might consider geriatric, or borderline forgetful, often sometimes perhaps not quite up to snuff, mostly due to age-related cognitive challenges, or downright mind decline, who are able to provide us with riveting content about nothingness, while talking about things they forgot about at the beginning of their Live Talk on YT. These older gentlemen YouTubers, occasionally from places like Pattaya, are interesting. Mostly, they speak about topics that most of us would consider taboo in polite company. These venerable and exhausted gray men are both engaging and thoughtful, and never confrontational nor edgy enough to be completely watchable. Strange, really, just how very engaging I find their work on YouTube. For example, there is one old Thailand YT geezer who spends two or more hours gassing about almost nothing, and, still, he has 800 viewers on his live YouTube channel from around the world, mostly from the UK. He and his followers spend over two hours, in just one session, debating nothing, other than when they discuss the perfect UK breakfast which always includes rashers. This is understandable, if one were to view the population pyramid of the UK, then what would one expect? As you can see from this above image, the largest cohort is the range from 50 to 54. Still, the UK is a rich country, so that everybody will be paid in their old age, in the end, and until the end. Unfortunately, some may never reach the end. Speaking of pyramids, what about the Cheops pyramid, which has lasted some time. (Age of Cheops: 4600 years) Every time I view this image, I cannot help but wonder what our atmospheric CO2 level will be 5000 years from today. And, what impact that might have on our world for our children’s children. In fact, the thought is so terrible that no one wants to contemplate it. Everything had been going along, swimmingly, during the reign of the Pharaohs, without a hitch, and then, all of a sudden, the atmospheric CO2 levels begin going through the roof. What a joke! The main point is that: 5000 years is a significantly long enough time for some real changes to take place, due to CO2 increase in the atmosphere, beginning in the year 1800. Surely, we will not stop at 300 PPM! CO2 molecules last in the atmosphere for a very long time, maybe 300 years, maybe more, maybe 500 years, or even more. Given the present situation, one might ask….is it even important that the human race exists beyond the year 2050? And...why? So solly! I didn't mean to veer off into the land of Egypt. My guess is that…. whatever I might think about almost any topic… the good guys on the Farang Pub have already thought about it, overly much. Why??? From anyone’s perspective, including mine….. The guys on the Farang Pub are the ones who possess most wisdom on TV. The Men and Women on the Farang Pub are the very ones on TV who are most likely to possess the real Truth. Farang Pub readers and posters are smarter, by nature. As Chomsky often said, “Everybody knows this.” Also…. E.O. Wilson is dead…..Amazing Scientist. Maybe E.O. Wilson is up there in the sky, right now, looking down on the destruction of the world that he predicted while he was alive? I do not know. Your guess is probably correct. So, was Timothy Leary actually dead? No. Only, outside, looking in. Same as E.O. Wilson, I do believe. Sorry for this stream of consciousness. Best regards to All….and…. 5000 years from now, our Earth will be back in equilibrium, with or without us. Thank you and regards, One More Thing: After several months, since this past summer time, I am beginning to miss the song of the DukGe. During the cold season, where do these lizards hide? Life is just too boring, at night, without them.

OK. But, I can't link Hong Lou Meng, here. I have the DVDs. I would need to upload them, and then provide you the link to the uploads. This can be done, if you are interested.

It sometimes feels good to be a throwback.

Why? Did he chicken out? There is really no excuse for ever leaving, once you are here.

Did somebody here mention language? (Language is innate, biological, and therefore learnable for us all, INCLUDING passa Thai.) This is what happens to you when you try to understand the origin and evolution of language in Humankind. You begin to sport strange hairdos. This is not a joke. Also, here is where the Great Noam Chomsky crossed the line, and became Nim Chimpsky: OK. Since Scopes, we all know that Chimps are far faster than we at playing banana checkers: Yes. Look it up, and you will agree. But, really, and I mean it.... I have always had a love affair with Chomsky, which has extended for decades. Just a matter of personal liking and loving, I guess. Maybe you do not understand my love for this man. Chomsky is about as old as humans can get without dying. If only Chomsky were a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree, rather than a chimp, then he could live for 5000 years, and then, ... I would say....Chomsky still should live longer. I am neither liberal nor conservative. I just love strange hair...... Also, that monkey stare. (Best to everybody here on the Farang Pub, be you liberal, conservative, neither, or nor.)

May I quote you? "oftentimes" Makes me think of the other two similar: oft-times and "often times" Personally, being the man I am, I prefer to utter oft-times, just for effect. As I mentioned in recent days, I believe you are a teacher, which is a devotion and calling for which to be exceedingly proud, even though teachers should still try to be humble, whenever possible, as has always been traditionally the case throughout history in China, but maybe not so much in Greece. AGAIN, I wish you.... Chok Dee! If you wish, I can tell you where you can download the complete original series, Hong Lou Meng, possibly for free, which involves a teacher in some parts of this amazing drama. CHOK DEE, my friend! (In my opinion, everybody on the Forum Pub are valued friends of mine. (Although, I can understand if the feeling is not always mutual.)) Chok Dee!!!!

Correct. Not different from many others. You are talking about the rejuvinating power of Thai culture. As you say, perhaps many of us would have been dead, without it. No other country has it. You are lucky to be among the chosen few..... 7.5 billion people on Earth, and only 75 million in Thailand. Count yourselves very fortunate, and never complain.

It takes real guts for a good woman, especially a reserved Thai woman, to ask a man to share a meal with her. Honestly, this is one of the more poignant paragraphs I have come across on TV, among many. I just hope that you treated her gently, and also tried to boost her ego a bit, in the process. For example, you might have referred to the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Due to Entropy, no two particles can remain together, for long. Maybe a maximum of 50 years. Sooner or later, everybody becomes a single particle, and each particle eventually decays into nothingness. Therefore, a missed dinner date means nothing in the grand scheme of Physics, in this universe. But, you never know, maybe this engineer enjoyed sharing a meal with you in another universe in our multiverse. At the moment, I am watching the Webb, day by day. The Webb is just about the most exciting thing that has happened to me in my life. I just hope that I can live long enough to see Webb reach its full potential. Compared to this, a missed meal with you, or anyone, is small potatoes. Within 6 months, we can begin to celebrate the success of the Webb. I will splurge on a cheese plate full of that expensive blue and white cheese that is not available here, called Stilton. I would be tempted to give up my dream of seeing the success of the Webb, almost, just for a kilo of Stilton, right now.

Yes, but has she read the entire published writings of Cheever? And, what do you think she might know about swimming and diving in pools not her own?

No. Long titles, apparently, are frowned upon. When composing your TV titles, might I suggest emulating composers of Haiku. Works for me,...anyway. Here is an example: old pond frog leaps in water's sound No more than seven words should be enough for any TV topic title, in most cases.

If one insists on disrespecting anyone, then it is far better to disrespect oneself, rather than the alternative. If one were to continually wrong others, by these barbs, then one might just wind up walled in a wine cellar, bricked up like Fortunato. Have you ever had a cask of Amontillado, in an evening? I believe that you are a teacher. If so, then it is better to teach than to do almost anything else. Chok Di

Yes, I agree. If you were less verbose... But that would be impossible. Still, thank you very much for your brief reply. I hope to hear more from you soon. Very soon. And, please stop worrying about planet Earth. Glob.

As you say, accurately, and so sorrowfully....The New Yorker has passed, may it rest in peace. You are completely correct. But, what about The Atlantic??? Has The Atlantic become just another Titanic? Great magazines are sinking all around us, and nobody cares. These days, one might think, there is really no point in reading anymore, since there is no more to read. Herman Wouk wrote his last novel, as far as I know, very close to age 101. That was a few years ago. Now, Wouk is dead. And, my interest in reading novels is definitely dead. Long live FACEBOOK! Note: Evan Osnos, who wrote and maybe still writes for The New Yorker, is a fairly gifted writer and thinker, particularly about China, yet he, and many more writers like him, are half the stature of a Cheever.

Would you mind if I mention one more thing concerning how I really feel when reading a beautiful poem composed 400 years ago? These days, when I read such beauty, utter beauty in fact, written 400 years ago, I feel such angst and sorrow. There seems no balm now sufficient to cool my worried brow, and no female form alluring enough to distract me from my worry. Of course, you realize that I am speaking of the impending melting of the Thwaites Glacier, and all the ice behind it, so soon to be added to our shores. Also, speaking of krill, have you seen one, just how beautiful they might be, enlarged by the lens of a professional photographer? I am worried, anytime I read books or poems written over 400 years ago, that 400 years in our future, it seems likely that nobody will be around to write anything. This is why I am unable to look at beautiful women, because, mostly, I am thinking of the tenuous future of Antarctic kill..... I wish I could just forget about the future, and concentrate more on near-term issues, mostly women. I am sure that I could have a woman, probably tomorrow, if only I could focus on women, rather than on the desperate future which seems to be almost upon us now. Krill are really beautiful, though....

Thank you for your reply. I notice that Thomas Overbury took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1598, just 106 years after Christopher Columbus discovered America. Yes!, you are right that Overbury's poem is beautiful, and long, maybe overly long for the Pub, but not too long for some of us here, I suppose. One thing, though, that I would like to mention, and this is that Factory Girls, quite a number of them, are most beautiful. Regarding the image you posted, it must be obvious, seems to show a beautiful factory girl sitting in a prestige car, with fine leather seats, maybe something like a Maserati, since no rear seats are to be seen. These kinds of girls are too beautiful for me. I would get antsy if I were to have tea and crumpets with one who looked even half as beautiful as she. Instead, I really do prefer factory girls, girls who can't read much, yet have great empathy and compassion for those they meet, and those they truly care about. Yes. I really DO love farm girls and factory girls. Maybe just a quirk of mine. Mick, I think, enjoyed the same quirk as I.

Keep your pretty girls, please: Better to be waiting for the right kind of girl.... Waiting for a girl who's got curlers in her hair Waiting for a girl she has no money anywhere We get buses everywhere Waiting for a factory girl Waiting for a girl and her knees are much too fat Waiting for a girl who wears scarves instead of hats Her zipper's broken down the back Waiting for a factory girl Waiting for a girl and she gets me into fights Waiting for a girl, we get drunk on Friday night She's a sight for sore eyes Waiting for a factory girl Waiting for a girl and she's got stains all down her dress Waiting for a girl and my feet are getting wet She ain't come out yet Waiting for a factory girl