blazes

slightly off topic, but still about the "sound" we hear thrust at us. I am thinking in particular of BBC drama and its insistent itch to lecture us in desirable wokedom. I was watching in 2022 an episode of "Silent Witness" (with subs natch). I have watched this quite good series since its beginning in 1995 or 6. As the years roll by you can see how BBC (but not necessarily the audience) has just got more and more woke, so that now it is almost a requirement of the script that the police senior person be a woman, preferably a black woman. I do of course believe that "minorities" of various kinds should get a look-in, but not to the point where credulity is strained. For example, this 2022 episode introduced a young woman who was deaf and dumb (as we used to say). So, inevitably, BBC demonstrates how we all need to behave when faced with a d & d person in the workplace, and that means having to "listen" to grown actors "talking" in sign language for all of two minutes. I'm glad I'm old.

When a scene is filmed in the dark, I frequently assume that this is a budgetary matter (or , as someone implied above, actors who need the cover of darkness to save themselves and us from embarrassment (e.g. sex scenes these days are better if we are spared two people going at it with all the grunts and athletics that we are perfectly capable of imagining.)

The way the sound engineers manipulate crowd sound at footy games was laid bare for all to see during the pandemic when football games were played in empty stadiums. At least there was a choice: you could, if you preferred, listen to the commentary without crowd sound - so that goals were scored to no greater sound than at the average school game! But when you listened WITH crowd sound, you could hear/see how ludicrous was the manipulated sound when goals were met with huge roars. It is quite clear, post-pandemic, that the manipulation is as evident as back then. Suspension of disbelief, I guess.

24-hour flight ops???? has anyone experienced the noise over Niman Road as the jets take off, practically overhead. Bad enough eating out, but think of all the condo residents trying to get a good night's sleep.

Don't understand, why is his "history" unusual? Seems more or less in line with most people's experience of getting an extension and counting up the days.

LoL...a good one. Brilliant summation, in a single sentence, of the complete essence of Thai "drama". Sad in a way, but another reflection of an education system that has produced this kind of dreck.

But also the land of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky.

Sorry i failed to entertain you? I will try harder next time. Perapse a song and a bit of dancing might be more agreeable with you? oooo, a bit sensitive we are today. Why would you show to the world that you can't take a bit of AN ribbing?

ah The Times, my good man. But the Dirty Digger from Australia put an end to the broadsheet version in the early 70's. Fake news!

It's all about "face" -- loss of (if kids not looking spic & span).

My second wife used to refer to this sort of stuff as "unpaid labour in the home". (Needless to say, a classic Western feminist.) My third wife does an excellent job on my t-shirts.

Well, cows' lips would be "pure beef", right?

I thought Mac burgers were made of cows' lips, imported (to USA) from Brazil or Argentina or some such cow pasture.

Why? I don't make money in English or interested in your mom. Edited 14 hours ago by AndyAndyAndy But you do manage to put the meaningless word "like" in your message on two occasions. It's bad enough hearing people (usually North Americans) uttering "like" every two seconds in their speech, but seeing "like" in written language is a real horror-show.

The Biden regime will engineer a coup against Zelensky and force Ukraine to negotiate a peace with Russia.

Thanks for quick replies. Much appreciated. Intention is to stay for about 4/5 months, no more. In the "old days" before Covid, I used to obtain a "retirement" visa, and since I wanted more than 5/6 months, a 12-month visa did the trick and was good for the 8 months that I actually stayed. And if you timed things properly, you could (with a re-entry stamp obtained at the airport on departure) return to LoS before the original visa ran out, and return in time to be stamped in for a one-year extension of stay. That was ideal. Thanks again.

It's also worth remembering that two totally innocent Canadians were snatched off Beijing streets and held prisoner for two years (because the Canadians -aka Trudeau - stupidly carried out the orders of Washington to arrest the Huawei heiress when she changed planes in Vancouver). The incident did have the value of demonstrating without doubt that your country will never protect you in political disputes between countries (other than sending an embassy staffer to see if you have enough noodles to eat).

Please forgive my muscling in on this topic, but my query is in the same general area as that of the OP. My Thai wife (we married in LoS 10 years ago) and I live together (obvs) and she works in and is by now a citizen of my country. She also owns a house (rented out) in Thailand. So when we visit Thailand, she obviously, being a citizen, has her Thai passport and does not have to worry about things like visas. Question: how can we satisfy the demand in the link (in OJAS's reply) to have photos etc in our Thai house when we don't live in it. In other words, I would prefer to apply for an O-A marriage visa to avoid all the extension stuff that is involved in coming on a Tourist Visa (extended). I have no Thai bank at present. Many thanks for any opinions offered.

Sorry, yes, I was thinking it was LAX to BKK. But I was for some reason also thinking YVR to BKK, which is (or was) definitely under $1000 CAD on Eva Air before Covid.

If that's Economy, it seems a bit steep. Economy "in years past" was under a thousand.

For some reason, Ottawa Thai Embassy has always been glacially slow. May have something to do with the weather, or maybe they just send staff who are even less educated than the norm. Or maybe the only staff are the ambassador and his wife.... On the other hand, the Vancouver consulate does at least direct you to the online application process. http://www.thaiconsulatevancouver.ca/consular-services/

Air Canada fly non-stop YVR-BKK.

We'll take your Trump for our Trudeau any day.....

Anyone know of an efficient and reputable agent in Hua Hin? PM ?

When i was a subscriber to Netflix, it would block my access if they encountered a VPN. (Incidentally i cancelled my sub in 2022 cos the new offerings were becoming more and more juvenile.) Now i subscribe to FUBO TV for access to footy leagues around Europe, the EPL in particular ($25 per m), BUT if it spots my VPN on, it will prevent access. Not a big deal for me, but....