GammaGlobulin

The strange thing about Beck is that he can play anything, in any way, and play it better than anyone. He can play Hendrix better than Hendrix, at the drop of a hat.

Great, but... IMVeryHO, Beck at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club was something special. Next favorite might be Tokyo. It's not so easy to just play nothing but a guitar, with no vocals, and still cream the Cream. Rostropovich owned the cello. Beck owned the guitar. Is Beck as great as Rostropovich? Absolutely!

16.506124212236895, 101.52976519111327

Best place to find a GF here is down on the farm. Just don't look your gift horse in the mouth.

Just out of idle curiosity, might there have been even one lucky soul, a member of ThaiVisa, who attended Beck's stellar performance at Ronnie Scott's? If so, I want to know if you were shaken to your root.

Beck makes me cream. I creamed twice at Ronnie Scott's, in fact, listening to Beck sweat over his guitar. Beck must have been born in a manger, half musician and half the son of God. Clapton should fall at Beck's feet, and kiss his footsteps, as Clapton crawls behind, just trying to keep up.

Clapton has always played second fiddle to Jeff Beck. Any takers willing to refute this obvious truth?

Conrad and Melville. I loved them both.

No, it's the sound of the jungle, with men beating on their logs. Reminds me of The Heart of Darkness; Joseph Conrad. The natives become more restless here in the winter months. Please never forget that, here in the Jungle, we live among young people dedicated to the pursuit of a more Dionysian existence, as opposed to the Apollonian existence with which we are more accustomed. Personally, I prefer it when Thai women go wild beating on logs. My favorite author of all time is still Joseph Conrad. Lord Jim;and all that. Yes, Dorothy, we are not in Kansas, anymore. Boom Boom Boom

You guys are all wrong. For many Mainland Chinese, Thailand is just a stopover on their way to Europe, UK, Canada, or, the ultimate prize, the USA. It's my fervent wish that, as the Marxist-Leninist government continues to founder and flounder, the USA will open its borders to welcome 100 million hardworking Chinese families. I started learning Mandarin in 1972. Chinese food, by the way, is second ony to Thai food.

Correct: No need, and no wish to depart. If fully vaccinated, then absolutely no need to worry. Correct?

Syncytial virus? I think that you are referring to a viral infection which can cause cell fusion. And in this case, you would expect multinucleated cells. Correct?

Groucho Marx began to smoke a brand of Cuban cigars called La Preferencias due to the fact they were advertised as offering '30 Minutes in Havana'. In a move that perfectly summarises Groucho's humour, he returned to the shop to complain after the cigar only smoked for 20 minutes! (Is this true?) And, which popular entertainer smoked the longest Cuban cigars, the 9.25-incher, called the 'A'?

Yes!, Charlie. Human beings seem to be capable of horrendous behavior. And, as you say, a 14-year-old girl living by herself in a rented room? Anytime I read a story such as this, thankfully seldom, I just wonder why I was even born into such a world as ours. There is great beauty in this world. But yet, there is also tremendous dastardlyness rife amongst us. One of my favorite authors is Fyodor Dostoevsky, a writer I began reading at age 12. Dostoevsky's C&P has been, fairly recently, re-translated into a more accurate English version. From the age of 7, I had no illusions about the goodness of mankind. These days, as old as I am, I mostly fear for the future of, and the wellbeing of, our children. Here is just one more example of the many reasons. I also remain thankful that, due to my particular nature and nurture, I did not end up as just another American Psycho. Loved the film, by the way... Take care. What a way to begin the New Year!

It's still OK, provided that this anxiety-producing conflict is resolved. Conflict resolution and resultant anxiety reduction is paramount to maintaining a beautiful mind. One must truly believe that one's actions and beliefs are righteous. It's all about anxiety reduction, at all cost, whether or not one might be logical or not. We are not, after all, logical beings. Improvisation, by its very nature, does not progress logically. Angular music is not rational. Dig?

The problem with not agreeing with oneself is that this disagreement causes what Festinger termed Cognitive Dissonance, a state which most of us find intolerable. Yes, I agree that Monk was/is AMAZING...

Religion is the drug of the Masses, by the way. JS Bach's drug was getting high working tirelessly to glorify his god. Timothy Leary was an idiot who just got high, and so I was always leery of Leary. But, yes, replying to your question, I am the SUPREME FAN of Jazz Music, you will ever hope to meet. I grew up in the Tri-state area of NYC, PHILLY, and NJ. From a tender age, I listened to Jazz way into the wee hours on FM radio. I had a dynamite FM receiver, an amazing Amp filled with vacuum tubes, and the best turntable I could afford. I had very decent speakers. I would binge on Jazz for six months, then take a hiatus and binge on classical, primarily chamber music, for a few months. In the wee hours, I'd turn off the lights and listen by the lights of my HiFi equipment. It was pure bliss, and no drugs. When I got older, around sweet sixteen, I first heard Hendrix, If Six Was 9. I And the worm turned. I began listening to WMMR when, in the early hours, they broadcast so-called underground music. I have listened to most of Miles Davis, and I witnessed Davis' transition in a really tough guy of Jazz, thumbing his nose at the world. Somebody criticized me, here, for uploading a Davis album that they thought not tough enough. But that's OK. Listening to serious music, at least for me, is difficult here in Thailand.... Not quiet enough in my neighborhood. Too many roosters, maybe Maybe I need to dig me a bunker, an underground music bunker...

Of course, Burns and Allen was a rather famous American comedy duo. But, did Gracie also smoke cigars? My guess is yes. Do you have any photos of such?

Dear Friends, Did they smoke cheap cigars? How did their women tolerate their cigar smoking? Did they always remain kissably sweet? Did cigar smoking enhance their personas? Burns survived his cigar smoking to become a centenarian, and almost nobody saw Burns without a cigar, unless it was on Sesame Street. Burns seemed to always need something in his hand as a prop. If not a cigar, then Kermit the Frog. Which entertainer had the biggest cigar? Burns must have had custom cigars rolled for him because who ever saw a bigger one? Did they break import laws when smoking Cuban cigars in the USA? Who is the greatest cigar smoker of them all? Did they smoke cigars in bed? I have never smoked a Cuban cigar, but the Jamaican cigars were not too bad. As a child, I hated the site of a half-eaten cigar in an ashtray. These days, smoking cigars on camera is frowned upon. Cigar-smoking days now seem like the good old days. Regards, Gamma

Miles Davis. Tough Guy.

Further, I would submit to you that Thelonious Monk and Michel Petrucciani are both cut from the same cloth: Monk is Brown and Tall. Michel is Less-brown and Short. Both are geniuses. But, Michel is more of a genius than Thelonious. You only need to listen to the two of them, side by side. They BOTH sound similar, but Michel is more equal than Thelonious, Just as some people are more "equal" than others, a la Orwell. Please don't take my word for it, and you should spend significant time listening to both before you make up your minds. Here is Michel: And, here is Thelonious' "LULU's Back in Town": These two guys are almost one in the same, like Schwarzenegger and Devito! Note: Personally, in my opinion, I like both equally. I love both.

"He was my neighbor" Your comment is the best I have read, or probably shall ever read, on ThaiVisa. During recent years, I had begun to think that I was alone in this wilderness, bereft of culture. Your comment is a cup of spring water to a man dying of thirst in this barren wasteland, called Asia. 40 years ago, I visited Asia, and the performing arts were nowhere to be seen. Western musical instruments, such as violins and pianos, were beaten into kindling to fire furnaces to make inferior fly-ridden steel for the Party. Nobody here knows nothing about what it's like to live in the Tri-State area with Jazz and Rodin statues all about one. I sacrificed my intellectual pursuits, as well as my interests in fine art and serious music, to come here. Gone are the days of my youth when amazing jazz was playing on my car radio. Back in the day, I would turn on the radio and fall asleep to the sounds of Miles Davis, such a tough guy. Most guys found it hard to fall asleep at night to the trumpet of Miles Davis, but his horn, for me, was like counting sheep. In my opinion, any farang who is able to peacefully fall asleep listening to Miles Davis must be a true jazz farang.

Dig the diminished chords, Man! Dig the dissonance! Michel is amazing. Such a great gift in such a small body. Somebody give him a telephone book so he can reach the keys! Very Dark. I first found one of his CDs 25 years ago in Taipei. Best CD I ever bought. Nobody can touch him. I just wish Steinway had provided him a cut-down piano suitable for his height. Genius. A true Monk!