GammaGlobulin

Have you ever toyed with the option to donate your body to science, in order to help med students? Also, how do you sign up for this? Med students, here in Thailand, like everywhere else, need to practice on us old guys, when we stop breathing, for good. Now that I mention this, I realize that I need to make some provision in my living will, in order to provide some service to local med students, in my death. Not joking. However, one thing that I think might be a joke is to have med students dissect me and see that I have a small member, only about seven or eight inches, and you could say that it is one of my shortcomings. Still, anyway.... In fact, it is a wonderful thing to do,....to provide one's body for research purposes. I will definitely do this. The only question is: Which university will I choose, if I have a choice. Hope that you will donate yourself, too, because...doing this is helpful for young students, as you know. Regards, Globulin

Searching and Documenting the Internet costs much money. Also, in order to have search results pop up, immediately, requires servers around the world. Who will pay for this? Who will fund a completely unbiased search engine?

How can we get a search engine which is as capable as Google Search, but also one which is not driven or skewed by monetary interests? Who will pay for it? Will you?

But, of course, the problem is that we are only able to view the content which Google shows us. In other words, the content that Google does not show us is invisible to us. And, through Google Search, only a very fraction of the internet is seen by us, on any given Sunday. And so, we are missing much of what we should be seeing. Think of it like a walk in the park, looking for Brian. We will never find Brian by doing a Google search.

What.... Me stupid?

So, would you say that Orientalism is harmless, if it does not go too far East?

Agree. You are so right. Dumbing down is driven by ads and the basic lust of Human Nature for anything that both feels good and also does not cause angst. Therefore, we will get what we want. We will never see anything disturbing which might provoke us to think in creative ways.

As one who is a dyed-in-the-wool Orientalist, after over 40 years, then maybe I have gained some feeling for what is related to the Orient, and what is not. Have fun trying to decide how to read this bone fragment. And, let us not forget that....much of the culture here where you now live was heavily influenced by the culture written in this piece of bone. OK?

Let's not have any pretenders, here... We will all melt into the sea, eventually. Axis Bold as Love. Jimi should have come to Thailand. If he had, then maybe, he would still be among us.

Google = Walmart Everybody loves Walmart. Yet, like Walmart, which might be slightly invested in by China, eventually, you pay the price. Eventually. I'm talking 'bout.... Castles Made of Sand

Is it just me? Or, from Thailand, when searching, is Google Search now serving up pablum? Even when using a VPN application, still, the Google Searches are equally as dumb. It's all the same. Everything seems whitewashed. And, why? And so, I would imagine, we are now seeing the end of Google Search. Google never tells you what they are doing, nor what they intend to do. Google is the same as God, in this respect. At first, I thought this was due to the fact that I might be searching Google from Thailand. No. Not true. It has taken 25 years for Google to become another Walmart. Time to invent another, and a better, search engine. Otherwise, the world will suffer. Google was once great, when Google truly believed that they would never Do No Harm. Now, they are doing harm. Just because, Google has lost its core direction, whish was.... Innovation for the betterment of Humanity through unfettered spread of knowledge. Or, I think that the original founders of Google, when they were students, had this vision. Now, Google has morphed into a giant which needs to be cut off at the knees. Google is no longer this pure concept which was, 25 years ago, more admirable. Maybe you are not old enough to recall what Google was like, decades ago. Maybe you are like a frog in a slowly boiling pot, and everything is FINE, for you. OK. Then...FINE.

Who do you think is the real Isaac Barrow of SE Asia, for example? And, who does not love a nice portrait? Barrow looks like me. Rosy cheeks, and a wonderful brain. I could have, like Barrow, taught Newton a thing or two, I guess.

I'm not sure if you might realize the microbial risks of having one's nails clipped in a shop, no matter how clean the shop might appear to be. I, too, would be very willing to pay good money to have my toenails clipped. Still, I choose not to do so, based on what we know about potential problems associated and attributable to clipping nails in a salon, or even in the hospital setting. If you are unable to clip your own toenails, my suggestion is to find a friend who might be willing to help you, at home. Use your own toenail clippers. Wash your feet and hands before attempting this at home, of course. The risk of infection is low if you practice good hygiene. Otherwise, if you believe that you have a problem, then you should see a physician. Minor infections, potentially, can lead to major complications, and should be avoided.

Invariably, or almost invariably, when a farang talks to another farang, the conversation will quickly drift to several non-interesting topics, such as... "Thai people can't drive cars as well as we can." And, after this starter, one will hear a litany of similar complaints. Who needs it? And, they wonder why farang have such a difficult time assimilating. But, it is not just the farang. Some Chinese, too, complain about many things, here in Thailand. Pick and choose your farang friends, wisely, in order to avoid listening to neverending talk about so-called bad Thai drivers, I guess. (In fact, Thai drivers are quite good. Not joking, here.)

Here is Herodotus. Yet, who was he? He wore robes. He was an historian. Even after almost 2500 years, he is remembered. He wrote in the Ionian dialect. He was a traveler, similar to Marco Polo. He was an early novelist who wrote prose before anyone imagined doing so. Herodotus, the great story teller, would have done well here. We are Herodotus, one can say. Our postings are no more, nor any less, than the gifts of Herodotus who went before us. We all have our critics: "In 425 BC, which is about the time that Herodotus is thought by many scholars to have died, the Athenian comic dramatist Aristophanes created The Acharnians, in which he blames the Peloponnesian War on the abduction of some prostitutes – a mocking reference to Herodotus, who reported the Persians' account of their wars with Greece, beginning with the rapes of the mythical heroines Io, Europa, Medea, and Helen." Fast forwarding another 2500 years, whom among us does not doubt that our postings here will surely survive? If the Internet survives, than so shall we. There is always the Wayback Machine, which will be stored in ice, along with the seeds we plant, today, in Norway...

Have you ever heard of the two painters both with the name of Monet? There is really only one Monet, in fact. I mean that other clod, Monet, cannot compete with Claude Monet. His harbor paintings are second to none. Magnificent. Obviously, this one was not painted by a complete clod.

Maybe, during this autumnal part of the year, as Charlie stated, one is becoming nostalgic for something other than the endless expanse of banana leaves, as far as the eye can see, outside our windows. This tropical paradise in which we live, like any paradise, can, in due time, cause us to feel cloistered and caged. When we were young, we dreamed about eating a limitless supply of banana splits, with a cherry on top. And now that we are living in paradise, we realize that, eventually, one finally becomes satiated with the eyesore of banana leaves, everywhere one looks.

I am beginning to miss what I have always most loved.

The Unanticipated Problem with being in Thailand, a land of hot sunny days, without end, if one has lived here for years, is that one begins to miss dreary winters, sleet, slush, cold rain, cloudy days, while being frozen indoors, just waiting for the Spring. Too much of Heaven can become H*ll, after too many years of nothing but clear balmy skies and semi-naked swimsuit-clad women walking back and forth on a beach. I am getting tired of nothing but Heaven, here. Even Heaven can become monotonous. Plucking one's harp can become tiresome. Where is the snow? Where are the cold days, with a cognac, and a cigar by the hearth? Where is the fireside in Thailand? All is green, every day of the year. Is green our new monotony? Even Gauguin left paradise, eventually...

Don't listen to this if you do not wish.

Let's not be prudish. Sometimes, once every few years, there is nothing unholy about closing the blinds, cranking up the AC to lower the temperature to about 18 degrees, and letting it all just unwind.

Somedays, though not often, and maybe about every 10 years, I feel like downing an entire bottle of cognac. Sometimes, we all feel like this, maybe. When we feel like this, then this guy is our hero: A man who dresses on his left. Expensive cognac is nothing to be wasted, and should be savored, sip by sip. And, some days, on rare occasions, one can allow oneself to take sip, after sip, after sip. Who does not love cognac, when one chooses to splurge, once in a while? Now, if only one could paint.

When I first arrived in Thailand, I knew no one. I was alone, though not lonely. And then, I quickly found TV, and I was happy, though still not lonely. Let me please tell you guys something …. OK? TV is much more than your average forum. TV is a lifeline, and a friend, and even, maybe, a family. The thing that truly gives me the shivers is that TV might ever die, someday, leaving me, and so many others, adrift, out in the cold, like an old woman on an iceberg. Most of us are not spys, but maybe some of us live our lives like spys, out in the cold, or, probably, more like flies, flying around. And, we need TV to tie us down, in order to provide us with a tether, at least to tether our sanity. I realize that it is not much. It is not much. Yet, TV has become my only family, my family far from the place of my birth. Can you guys even comprehend just how important TV has recently become to me, and just how important TV has been to me, for years? We all share some commonality. There is no need to explain the basic knowledge that we all take for granted, which is the knowledge that no outsiders can ever appreciate. Might I also add that the guys who lurk here, and pretend to be part of our group, will never understand what we understand. The basic truths which derive from living, long time, in Asia. I figure that it really does not matter where you come from. As long as you have been in Asia for about 20 or 50 years, then you are a part of this good and dwindling group. In one of my recent posts, I mentioned the Chieftains. In my opinion, some of the Chieftains were miraculous musicians. Peerless musicians, they were. And then, you have guys like BB King, a man who is one of a kind. OK, let's forget about BB King. However, the thing that binds us together on this Great Forum is not our eclectic tastes in music, nor our love of dark-eyed beauties, but it is our shared experiences after living in East Asia, SE Asia, and even down-under, in some cases, always influenced by the South China Sea, which, in my opinion, is the most beautiful sea one could ever imagine. The South China Sea is ethereally beautiful in all its moods. One cannot even begin to describe it using mere words. Well, I could go on, and on, and on, about the South China Sea, as you might imagine. We all know about love in a junk in HK, which is not the same, almost, as love in a gondola in Venice. Whom among us would trade love in a junk for love in a gondola? No one! Clavel once told us about love in a junk, if you will only recall what you have read, years ago. You remember, Clavel was the one who was locked up in Changi Prison during the war. Clavell, who made a fortune by selling tasty rats to the guards, wrote a book which took HK by storm. Now that I am getting older, and after reading TV for a number of years, the only thing that I fear more than the death of my SELF, is the end of this great forum, TV. I am not worried that this might happen soon, in my lifetime, simply because it is people like you who maintain the vibrancy and pertinancence of this forum, year after year. I recently learned that there are volunteers who help this forum to endure, as it must, and I am grateful to these good volunteers who protect TV from losing its appeal to the tasteful reader. Surely, I must accept the idea of my own impermanence in this world, and I do so with equanimity. However, the very idea that TV will ever die, which is unthinkable to me, only provides me with angst, at times. I love TV Note: One of the many things that I love about TV is the fact that I can talk to TV about almost anything, and receive considered, meaningful and logical responses to my inquiries. Sort of like one of those eight-balls with answers floating to the top. Anytime I ask a question on TV, sometimes I receive replies like the Magic-8-Ball we once played with when we were three years old, in the 1950s. Note2: So, here is a question for you. How long has it been since you ate a beautiful Italian meatball? Or, have you not eaten, for many years, something else that you might normally like to eat, which you miss passionately? For me: Italian meatball: Over thirty years Stilton cheese: Since 1996, after the HK commie takeover Hungarian wine: The wine from Hungary is not bad. Real Cheese Steak from Philly: You can’t get it anywhere else. Soft pretzels with mustard: Not one's favorite thing to eat. Cheese, cheese, and more cheese: Cheese could be quite cheap here, if only there were no taxes on it. Milk: I have not had a glass of milk in about 20 years. And, I do not miss cow's milk, simply because I no longer trust the local udders. Suckling Lamb: I have never seen a suckling lamb in the local market. Swiss cheese: I love swiss cheese, any decent variety. Such a pity that I will never have another bite of it unless I leave Thailand. Still, although I am in a state of relative deprivation, the only thing which seems to get me through is my love of the greatest forum in Thailand, TV. I mean, it is one thing to be suffering alone. And, it is far better to be suffering together. Suffering together on TV makes Life tolerable. I love TV. Important Note: In Thailand, no matter what, no matter the circumstances of one’s existence, still, we are lucky to be in Thailand. And, guys here, on TV, the ones who are actually IN Thailand, are the envy of the world. This is, in fact, so true. We are living in a mystical harmonious valley, apart from most trials and tribulations, a unique place, separate from the world. We are living in the perfect place to fall in love. Thailand, in everybody's opinion, is the perfect place to fall in love.

Others may choose to pretend to understand.

Note: Just in case there might be some ESL guys reading this thread.... Please do not rely on anything stated above in order to inform you about the differences between Parody, Satire, Sarcasm, Irony, etc. Instead, if you want to know more about this important topic, then please read a good textbook. Or, you might also glean cursory knowledge about this topic through reading Wikipedia. However, what you, as ESL guys, should not do is to read anything stated above... without a grain of salt, to put it politely. ==== In most cases, for ESL students, learning how to distinguish parody from satire, or sarcasm from irony, is a daunting task that most non-native-English students will never master. But, please don't feel bad about this almost insurmountable challenge, because, understanding English at this level is really not easy for most non-native English speakers. Maybe Conrad could do it. But, Lin Yutang, ... not so sure. Parody is not so easy, and neither is satire. Or, if you want to read a satire in French, then you can try reading Candide, which you will absolutely love.