tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-107113662011-04-21T15:25:21.043-05:00Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.comBlogger811100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1133331894615318702005-11-30T00:18:00.000-06:002005-11-30T00:24:54.636-06:00

This Blog is DEAD!This Blog is ALIVE!(translation: I will no longer post to this Blog. Instead, visit a shiny new Blog that Paca and I are sharing)Pls visit Goat Skin Pants for all your camelid needs.Thank you,THUPT

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1133240562428307622005-11-28T22:50:00.000-06:002005-11-28T23:04:30.803-06:00

Yesterday I attended my final Thai lesson. I think I'll sign up for some more lessons, but first I really need to force myself to practice what I've already learned. This coincides quite well with my financial situation as it happens that this month (for reasons not worth getting into) I'll receieve less money from TASC than normal. So I'll use this month to review everything I've learned up

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1133148259779185702005-11-27T21:23:00.000-06:002005-11-27T21:24:19.830-06:00

... has been updated. Check it out :)

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1132822324872495002005-11-24T02:48:00.000-06:002005-11-24T02:52:04.900-06:00

Excellent (though lengthy) article about intelligence and the Bush White House. Apparently Cheney, Rummy, et al weren't happy with CIA reports that Iraq and Al Quaeda had nothing to do with each other, so they set up a top secret intelligence analysis team to act as an alternative to the CIA.Fascinating read...http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1122nj1.htm#

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1132803379173291572005-11-23T21:09:00.000-06:002005-11-23T21:36:19.223-06:00

I know I've been quiet lately... I've been working quite diligently on this program while at work, studying Thai at night, and just not making any time to write.Thai lessons are going well enough; my teacher is this gorgeous actress that has some serious attitude. I had a big crush on her for a while until I learned 1) she has a boyfriend and 2) she fairly routinely gets possessed by ghosts and

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1132111002296770822005-11-15T20:43:00.000-06:002005-11-15T21:16:42.333-06:00

Here's a couple of links to check out if you want to understand the facts behind Bush's claims that Congress saw the same intelligence as the White House and that two separate committees have exonerated the administration from claims that they misused the the available intelligence.A lengthy and thorough Media Matters artical is here.A shorter piece from the Washington Post is here.Bush said

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1131937995377634962005-11-13T20:45:00.000-06:002005-11-13T21:13:15.443-06:00

So I come into work this morning and see one of the top headlines on Google is about an interview that the current National Security Advisor gave to Tim Russert on Meet the Press. The headline on ABC news is "Bush Didn't Mislead on War, Adviser Says."Is this news? Worthy of appearing in 1,229 (the number of related links from the Google News front page) separate stories? No, of course not.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1131512486209054852005-11-08T22:49:00.000-06:002005-11-08T23:01:26.293-06:00

There are many beggars that populate the streets of Bangkok. Unlike American cities, in which the typical beggar is unwashed and homeless, here there a range of beggars for your donating pleasure. For sure there are the underfed, wasted old men that have lost of their teeth already, that you see sleeping on the same sidewalk spot that they beg from. But you also see young men that should have

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1131074630704854502005-11-03T21:15:00.000-06:002005-11-03T21:23:50.730-06:00

Paca's latest blog post made me wonder... how did he get to be the third highest ranked site when one Googles for "rhythm and musical devices in The Ballot or the Bullet Malcolm X"?So I did a Google search myself on how one can determine what pages are linking to his, and I came up with this:http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/It's a neat little tool that shows you the number of links in each

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1130924755496292842005-11-02T03:13:00.000-06:002005-11-02T03:45:55.536-06:00

Things are cooling off a little here in Thailand. The walk to work this morning was quite pleasant, although by noon it was well into the 90's again.Jah and I are over, I am very sad to report. She was definately one of the motivating factors for me to come back here for another year, but it didn't take long after my return for things to turn sour. We had a repeat performance from some of the

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1130307470157363832005-10-26T01:11:00.000-05:002005-10-26T01:18:38.740-05:00

This image is rated R for language... scroll down to see it..............................

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1130209652723086522005-10-24T21:51:00.000-05:002005-10-24T22:07:32.736-05:00

I have a completely different mindset when living in BKK than living in BR. Living alone in a busy urban environment makes it more difficult to remain true to myself. What do I mean... without being surrounded by those people and things that have shaped my life thus far, I have to rely entirely upon the memory of those things to guide my decisions. When I am by myself for a while it is easy

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1129801544462436032005-10-20T04:43:00.000-05:002005-10-20T04:45:44.470-05:00

I saw this on a bulletin board as someone's sig - thought I'd share it with you.Parental Advisory: This is ever so slightly naughtyThe sig was:Men have only two emotions, horny and hungry. If you see one without an erection, make him a sandwich.:)

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1129796416921545032005-10-20T03:00:00.000-05:002005-10-20T03:20:16.933-05:00

I made it back to Thailand!The flight over was much better this time then my flight to the US. I think alot of it was my strategy. When I flew from BKK to the US I purposely slept as little as possible. I whiled away the hours reading and watching movies. The idea was to be dog tired when I arrived so that I could easily sleep that night (the plane touched down about 6 PM); one good night's

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1125979906120794772005-09-05T22:44:00.000-05:002005-09-05T23:11:46.130-05:00

Yesterday evening I returned from my first visit to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is part of the Indian sub-continent. It used to be part of India before splitting off as a muslim country after WWII. At that time it was part of Pakistan - called East Pakistan, which didn't work too well because the central government was located in West Pakistan, a land physically separated from East Pakistan by

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1125297205192296462005-08-29T01:29:00.000-05:002005-08-29T01:33:25.200-05:00

To all in the path of Katrina, God be with you and watch over you, and give you peace.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1124882121821301812005-08-24T05:39:00.000-05:002005-08-24T06:15:21.833-05:00

Here's an image from the Queen's Imperial Park, just a few blocks from where I live. I have no idea what the pyramid represents. In the background you can see a little boat house that has paddle boats and such to take out. It's such a tiny lake, however, that boating is really impractical.Here's where I work... the TASC office. It's an on old residential building that has been converted into our

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1124361931907239222005-08-18T05:14:00.000-05:002005-08-18T05:45:31.916-05:00

Next week is the annual "World Congress of Epidemiology" sponsored by the International Epidemiological Association (IEA). As luck would have it, this year the even takes place in Bangkok. TASC purchased admittance tickets for all of the staff; we are also using the opportunity to set up meetings between the different country representatives that are involved in Child Injury prevention programs

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1124276148795607472005-08-17T05:52:00.001-05:002005-08-17T05:58:18.623-05:00

Sorry guys, but I've put on a registration requirement to post comments. I hope everyone will take the time register so that normal activity can resume.I chose to do this because some schmuck has started spamming my blog comment space with advertising. I've been manually deleting them up till now. To stop this guy from misusing the comments in the future, however I've taken this step.Sorry for

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1124246525470122932005-08-16T21:25:00.000-05:002005-08-16T21:51:45.616-05:00

Yesterday we had a minor tragedy here at the TASC office.As I may have mentioned previously, a couple of months ago one of the many stray cats that hang out around here had a litter of kittens. I don't know how many were originally in the litter, because the momma cat chose a secret spot hidden in another building. About a month ago, though, during a particularly heavy rain, momma cat decided to

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1124073416602138212005-08-14T21:25:00.000-05:002005-08-14T21:36:56.610-05:00

I, apparently, am a mouse. According to my sister, most women are the men.Now there's a thousand different directions to take that statement, but I'm referring to colds. I developed one on Friday, and on Saturday I was completely wiped out. I could feel the sinus pressure building inside my head, pressing against parts of my face I didn't know I had. I had a throbbing headache, a faucet for a

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1123839114440769652005-08-12T04:12:00.000-05:002005-08-12T04:34:12.773-05:00

Talked with Mike today about the future, and I spoke with Ross earlier in the week.Looks like this will be the deal:1) I'll delay my trip to the US about a week, which means I'll leave about September 15. I'll stay in the US for about 3 weeks. Given that time frame,I'll probably take about 4 days in Blowing Rock before heading to Baton Rouge.2) I will continue to be a fellow, not an employee. My

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1123639718897236942005-08-09T21:07:00.000-05:002005-08-09T21:08:38.903-05:00

For those who don't have my email address (I'm looking at you, Paca!), it is:thomas840@gmail.comFor those that don't want my email address, just travel back in time about 10 seconds and choose not to click on this link.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1123584641125617882005-08-09T05:34:00.000-05:002005-08-09T05:52:30.853-05:00

This morning I woke up just elated. I felt like I was a truly blessed individual... and for the most part I still feel that way today at 5:35. I know it's cheesy and all, but part of that is the response from you guys... knowing that, even though I haven't written in a while, you still check in... it makes me feel warm and fuzzy :) So thanks!When will I be coming home? Well, I believe my flight

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1123492532981981412005-08-08T03:45:00.000-05:002005-08-08T04:15:32.986-05:00

Hey, I'm alive!If a blogger posts a message and no one is there to read it, does it make a difference? I suspect I'll find out soon enough, because chances are that noone's checking this site any more. Hm... perhaps that means I can post freely, without censorship! That's a liberating thought, actually.Well, let's see. Two weeks ago was one of the busiest, most stressful weeks of my time here

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1121686534527630702005-07-18T06:20:00.000-05:002005-07-18T06:35:34.533-05:00

Shannon's gone, and with her, my meal ticket :)J/k... she did buy me a couple of meals that I'm too poor (*sob*) to afford on my own, which was nice. I consider it fair payment for the bed ;)Overall it was a nice time... I think everyone had fun. The beach was beee-yooo-ti-full. Always hard to come back to a hot urban environment after laying under a palm tree for a few days. The kids did

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1120188339276551962005-06-30T21:39:00.000-05:002005-06-30T22:25:39.283-05:00

Paca has asked me a couple of very different questions recently. I'll post my replies here.First, he asked for more details on the database design. "What DB backend will they be using, and what sort of front-end. Are these web services of some sort, or are you talking about building something in Access?"We will be designing both the structure and the interface using an Access-like product called

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1119941215955253312005-06-28T01:25:00.000-05:002005-06-28T02:36:08.470-05:00

This will be an off-the-cuff political post filled (I'm sure) with factual inaccuracies and hypocrisy. Sorry about that, I just need to vent.Once again the Dems are getting outplayed by the Republicans. Over the weekend Carl Rove said something about liberals wanting to understand the terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 and put them into counseling. The Dems got up and denounced that statement

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1119840329911248232005-06-26T21:30:00.000-05:002005-06-26T21:45:29.933-05:00

Not the last throes, mind you. Still very much in the beginning throes. But throes they are.What throes? The throes of report writing. Oh, the joy, the happiness, the pure pleasure of writing down in words what is plainly in front of you in graph form.I complain to much, it's really not bad. And it's nice to be doing something different than what I've spent the last month on. That's one

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1118976817048836972005-06-16T21:21:00.000-05:002005-06-16T21:53:37.053-05:00

One of the things that drives me batty is when the right-wing talking heads call anyone with a viewpoint to the left of their own "wackos", "crazies", "extremists", etc. I consder myself very reasonable and thoughtful in my opinions, many of which these guys deride as a matter of course.However, I've just realized that there really are some wacko lefties out there. I was just reading a post on

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1118716905638449502005-06-13T20:57:00.000-05:002005-06-13T21:41:45.653-05:00

What's going on in Bangkok?Well... I'm all by myself here in the office, for one. Mike has left for a month-long trip to the U.S. and Ross has also gone back to the U.S. to be with his wife, whose sister just died. Pete is off doing Pete things... in Australia, most likely, which means it's just me and the secretary, Gail. Does that mean I can relax for a while? No, not really. I've got a

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1117764160898522642005-06-02T20:53:00.000-05:002005-06-02T21:02:40.903-05:00

The world just got a little bigger today... well, the blogging world, anyway. Ms. Courtney Hatfield has joined the ranks of "those-who-deluded-themselves-into-thinking-people-give-a-sh**". It's getting to be a crowded club ;). A link to her blog is in the links section, so click on down if you want to peep into the life of a Louisiana/Oregon/Mississippi/Texan/Martian transplant.Speaking of

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1117447456533433232005-05-30T04:48:00.000-05:002005-05-30T05:07:23.860-05:00

Well, things are slowly moving forward here as far as career stuff goes.I talked again with Mike today about what will happen in the future, and I gave him the go ahead to talk to the head of Payson about a position for me here. If all goes well, the final arrangement will look something like this:I'll join TASC as a full-time employee in September. They'll pay me a real wage, how much exactly

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1117159999317211632005-05-26T21:05:00.000-05:002005-05-26T21:16:49.706-05:00

Hello again,I am here working on what my friend calls the "magic table"... an Excel spreadsheet that does just about everything you could want an spreadsheet to do. Well, everything within reason. I'm working from Chulalongkorn University, or, "Chula" for short. I'm with a doctoral student who will be travelling to the U.S. for 6 months to study with the "Wetern Institutional Review Board" in

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1116828363701743672005-05-23T01:03:00.000-05:002005-05-23T01:06:03.706-05:00

Babies, babies, everywhere. No, E didn't have twins (that would make P the dark lord of the Sith, right?).But, in case others don't know, as I didn't, Julie and Benjamin also recently had a child. I don't know exactly when, but it was very recently. The newborn's name is Thomas Benjamin (same as dad).Congratulations.First I watched as all my friends were married, now I watch as they all have

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1116813160507782762005-05-22T20:45:00.000-05:002005-05-22T20:52:40.520-05:00

Congratulations, E & P!E has yet to post her thoughts... probably because she's got more important things to do. But Kristy has posted some brief news and everyone is happy and healthy.Elsewhere around the blogosphere, Alan is taking a Llama-like hiatus from blogging, and Hunter has gone on a political rampage. Look out, Bill Frist...Here in BKK the Bossman #1 is gone again. He'll be back in

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1116555590253444102005-05-19T21:19:00.000-05:002005-05-19T21:19:50.256-05:00

Thank you, George Lucas.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1116555142881358822005-05-19T20:57:00.000-05:002005-05-19T21:12:22.886-05:00

First of all, thanks to everyone that offered their thoughts about whether I should stay here or come back to Louisiana. It was very useful in helping me to sort things out. Sometimes a point seems obvious, but doesn't actually crystalize until someone states it in the open. I haven't yet decided which road to take, but I'm leaning pretty heavily towards staying here. I wrote an email to

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1116313820057560432005-05-17T01:56:00.000-05:002005-05-17T02:12:08.893-05:00

Well, opportunity is knocking.I've said all along that there was a chance I could stay here in Thailand for longer than 6 months, if the work was rewarding and if I proved my worth as an asset to the organization. Well, at least one of those questions has now been answered, at least partly.As you may or may not know, I've been accepted into Payson's phd program. This is good news, of course,

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1115863640964315612005-05-11T20:51:00.000-05:002005-05-11T21:07:21.053-05:00

Who's Mac, anyway? Not I, that's for sure. I might be a mic... maybe a muc. Definately not a mac.I have to say the appearance of Bang Bang Boogie brings happiness to my heart. So glad to hear from you, man.Ok, so what's up? Bangkok is... well, not quite as hot as it once was, but still hot enough to boil a monkee's bum. We don't quite get all the hype about everything over here at near the

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1115709487672515322005-05-10T02:00:00.000-05:002005-05-10T02:21:49.720-05:00

Greetings, Earthlings.The human that used to write in these spaces has been unable to post due to an unforseen (on his part) abduction (on our part). The human was less than thrilled with the various tests to which he was subjected, but I am happy to report that he has come through all in one piece (mostly). He sends his deepest regards to those friends and family that were thinking well of him,

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1113876627940204782005-04-18T20:52:00.000-05:002005-04-18T21:12:03.326-05:00

There's not that much to tell about Songkran, but I'll share what I can.The festival started on Wednesday. It's a New Year celebration. The Thais don't need much of an excuse to have a party, and they celebrate three different New Years. The Western one, the Chinese one, and Songkran.The water pitols started coming out Tuesday evening and they continued on through till Friday evening. The whole

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1113558791478439022005-04-15T04:37:00.000-05:002005-04-15T04:55:59.900-05:00

Hm, ok, well maybe a few hours old by the time you read this. But I can swear that as I am writing this I am live! Wooohoo!Ok, I guess I'm a little giddy because I finally completed the descriptive analysis for the Thai data. I've been working on it all week trying to meet the deadline of today, and I did. About 400,000 records, about 400 fields per record. It shows that Thailand fits right

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112926183848157372005-04-07T20:54:00.000-05:002005-04-07T21:11:20.736-05:00

I get in these moods where I am so self-reflective that I can't see outside through the fog in my head. It happens occasionally, and luckily for the world I now have a convenient place to share those thoughts with the whole world. But, that's OK, I'm trying to become less guarded, anyway. And what does it really matter?Thank you, Sammy, for the unexpected words of support... although I expect it

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112785299502895312005-04-06T06:01:00.000-05:002005-04-06T06:04:25.910-05:00

Yay, I've build a website. It's pretty simple, but more effective at communicating our mission that the previous one.Bossman#2 wrote the copy in Publisher, I cleaned it up in Dreamweaver.Check it out:www.tasc-gcipf.org

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112759120502181672005-04-05T22:10:00.000-05:002005-04-06T00:14:09.710-05:00

Anyone expecting details will be sorely disappointed...So life in Baton Rouge was pretty good. I must say I was happy. Family and friends, little stress, freedom to geek out on games or movies. But there was one key element missing: true love. My grandmother keeps asking me "if I've found that little girl yet." I tell her (for example) "No, grandmom, not yet! I've been looking everywhere, too!

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112583473285115932005-04-03T21:43:00.000-05:002005-04-03T21:57:53.286-05:00

32. That puts me halfway to 64. 1/3 of the way to 96. So that means that, if I'm particularly long-lived then I'm only 1/3 of the way through with my life. If you figure that grown up life began at 18 (with college) then I've only lived 14 adult years, with about 40-55 more to go.I guess I'm not dead yet :)Thank you to all that wished me a happy birthday. Kristy, you have to come visit.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112235835520863182005-03-30T20:23:00.000-06:002005-03-30T20:25:28.026-06:00

This is Wanda Rouge.Wanda Rouge Wanda, despite the girly name, is actually a boy fish. We know this, of course, because all of the pretty Beta fish are boys; the girls are much more plain. Wanda use to have a brother, a Beta colored rich indigo and named, appropriately, Wanda Bleu.Rouge and Bleu belong(ed) to my mother, who likes to display them in unusual and highly effective ways. She'll put

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112173524686216482005-03-30T03:02:00.000-06:002005-03-30T03:06:46.066-06:00

It's called Songkran, and Google Answers has a great explanation of it here:http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=431355For those of you that want instant gratification, some pictures of what I'm in for can be found here:http://www.pbase.com/jamieashley/songkranand here:http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/songkran/index2004.shtmlShould be crazy.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1112171402593869962005-03-30T02:30:00.000-06:002005-03-30T02:56:54.173-06:00

I've decided to post a few pictures of my journey out of the country. I realize that this will be exceedingly boring for most of you, but I think it will be nice to have a little photo log of the trip.It's 3:30 in the afternoon and I have lots of work still to do, but I've been neglecting my blog and have to do something to keep you all interested, right? So, without further ado, I present:

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1111543453745270152005-03-22T19:57:00.000-06:002005-03-22T20:04:13.746-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted... there's not much going on to blog about. My life is settling into a routine now, and some of the adventure is subsiding.Things here are hot, as usual, and apparently April is one of the hottest months. Sometime around the middle of April there's a holiday in which, among other things, your "sins" are symbollically and literally washed away by random acts

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1111045954548905782005-03-17T01:49:00.000-06:002005-03-17T01:52:34.550-06:00

This guy put together a nice collection of post-election electoral maps. Particularly soothing for bitter democrats (like me), but also just enlightening (some of the middle maps, that is). It turns political around map 6 or so, and map 10 is not appropriate for younger readers (vulgarity).http://www.lukecole.com/Electoral%20Maps/Maps1.htm

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1111040560393284902005-03-17T00:11:00.000-06:002005-03-17T00:22:40.396-06:00

Finally, tomorrow, I get to move. Thank Buddha :)Today I'm feeling some better. Still a little scratchy in the throat, but my energy level has picked up dramatically. Despite the fact that I had numerous nightmares last night, thus limitting my productive sleep. At least twice, maybe three times I lept out of bed. The first time I swore I could here a voice in my head whispering "get out!

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1111023591502532982005-03-16T19:16:00.000-06:002005-03-16T19:39:51.506-06:00

How to choose the Phrase of the Day? So many options. But, I'll write about what I've most recently learned. Not exactly a phrase, but a series of phrases: how the Thai tell time.The Thai have a rather unusual way of counting the hours. First of all, to ask what time it is you say"Kii mong lao (khrap/kah)?" The answer depends not only on what the clock face reads but also what portion of

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1110944171236071772005-03-15T21:21:00.000-06:002005-03-15T21:36:11.240-06:00

So this morning it rained here in Bangkok. Not the kind of hard, thunder and lightning, big winds type of rain that can hit Louisiana, but rather a moderate, consistent rain fall without much accompanying hullaballu. This rain, however, was enough to cause some kind of short in the electrical grid, as the lights have been flickering on and off (mostly off) all morning. It's 10:25 now and the

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1110868750995513262005-03-15T00:36:00.000-06:002005-03-15T00:39:10.996-06:00

Wierd, wild, wacky stuff.Bossman has to go to the university this afternoon. On his way out of the office he, very considerately, drops off a copy of Popular Mechanics for me to peruse while he's gone.I'm kind of scared to touch it... it's a trap, right?

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1110775976834483682005-03-13T22:39:00.000-06:002005-03-13T22:52:56.836-06:00

I have no idea what they are... but I must be in phase 2 now.I'm feeling decidedly melancholy... waiting for the other shoe to drop. Don't even feel much like blogging, though I'm sure there's lots I could write about.I received Ofoto pictures, thank you, pc, they are great. And I received emails from sr, thank you as well. I've decided to go with the more expensive apartment... it has a bit

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1110502222266567622005-03-10T18:41:00.000-06:002005-03-10T18:50:22.266-06:00

Sawat di (kah, krahp)This is the ubiquitous greeting that is used here in Thailand. It pretty much just means hello, but is more respectful than that. It is typically accompanied by a wai, which is a physical gesture in which the speaker places his hands together, palm-to-palm, as if in prayer, and gives a little bow. The depts of the bow and the position of the hands in relation to the face

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1110501690258582712005-03-10T18:23:00.000-06:002005-03-10T18:41:42.430-06:00

Well, here I am. Thailand... Bankok... for six months, at least! I must say I'm already missing alot of my friends and family. I've gotten used to just having other people around. That may sound trivial, but it used to not be the case. I use to spend almost all my time by myself. The last few years in BR, however, has changed that.I touched down in BKK about an hour behind schedule, at 12:

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1110125738955873082005-03-06T10:04:00.000-06:002005-03-06T10:15:38.956-06:00

I've left Baton Rouge. The flight was not delayed (suprisingly), but less than pleasant. There was a great deal of wind at about 5000 to 10000 feet both around the Atlanta and Charlotte airports, and the plane was tossed around as if it were a mere Cesna. I'm usually pretty stout when it comes to motion sickness, but it was definately touch and go there for a while. I felt my face go white as

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1109350724079984452005-02-25T10:55:00.000-06:002005-02-25T10:58:44.080-06:00

One of the funniest things I've ever read.Warning to my conservative friends: this is intensely satirical with a pro-left bias... If William Faulkner were writing on the Bush White House.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1109254657461912212005-02-24T07:55:00.000-06:002005-02-24T08:17:37.463-06:00

I received the official offer from TASC. They increased their offer to 400 USD per month, which is a more acceptable amount for a stipend, but still very low when you consider car and debt payment obligations.The will also provide the plane ticket, transportation costs (train and taxi fares), health insurance, lodging, a cell phone, phone calls to the US via VOIP, and some international travel

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1109189530474181962005-02-23T14:11:00.000-06:002005-02-23T14:25:04.673-06:00

You scored as Around The World In A Day Prince. You're the Around The World In A Day Prince.I think you may need to see a shrink.Obviously not skilled in fashion, but you are creative and innovative.Which Prince ERA are you?created with QuizFarm.com

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1109129423727436372005-02-22T21:26:00.000-06:002005-02-22T21:30:23.730-06:00

Just got off the phone with Mike and Ross, of Thailand fame. The good news: they want me over there, and they are planning on the possibility of me joining them full time (in a professional capacity). The bad news: they offered a stipend 25% less than what I estimated. The good news: that amount could increase in their final offer, to arrive via email within 2 days time.I'm am both excited

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1109091252997510622005-02-22T10:38:00.000-06:002005-02-22T10:54:13.000-06:00

Last night I introduced my niece and nephew to Monty Python. I don't actually have any of the movies, but I do own four old cassettes of their skits. When I was young I use to listen to these (with many of you) , have them all memorized, and just crack up. It was "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" all over again last night as I was playing some of the old skits for them. I just kept cracking up.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108997596568812662005-02-21T08:45:00.000-06:002005-02-21T08:53:16.570-06:00

A transcript of his blistering expose: http://www.unitedseniors.org/full_story.cfm?article_id=100&category_id=5O'Reilly presents such incontrovertible evidence of the AARP's coercive liberal agenda as:"Guess who’s on the cover of the latest magazine. Our pal Richard Gere."I f'ing hate Richard Gere, that gerbil loving hippy.The Times' take:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/politics/21social.html?

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108995402064623522005-02-21T08:04:00.000-06:002005-02-21T08:21:43.763-06:00

So, Toni and I saw Constatine over the weekend. We all liked it... may post a real review a bit later, but probably not. Rottentomatoes has it just below 50%... even Ebert didn't like it, and he's a sucker for a Hollywood action movie. I think there's a cynicism and unforgiving attituded towards Keanu Reeves these days... he has to make a really exceptional movie for people to give it a good

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108737692878063232005-02-18T08:37:00.000-06:002005-02-18T08:41:32.880-06:00

Added site feeds, both RSS and Atomic. If you use Firefox, you can simply click on the little feed button located in the bottom right of your browser window to add feeds from this website to your Bookmarks. It's pretty cool, really.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108677901199202402005-02-17T16:02:00.000-06:002005-02-17T16:05:56.036-06:00

These are emotionally devasting to watch...http://roel.net/movies/tsunami/

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108652459329732332005-02-17T08:26:00.000-06:002005-02-17T09:00:59.336-06:00

This is both interesting and frustrating to listen to. It's an interview with Bill O'Reilly by Terry Gross. Terry asks him some really tough questions - asking him about statements he's made in the past - and Bill spends most of the time on the defensive. The guy is so full of it. Pick just about any topic they discuss and do a modicrum of research and you'll find that he is dead wrong.For

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108589745239591642005-02-16T15:24:00.000-06:002005-02-16T15:36:59.680-06:00

You may remember a little movie franchise called "The Terminator", starring a semi-famous actor who is currently the governor of California. That movie was based upon the premise that humans had created a line of killer robots that they sent into battle to fight their wars. In Terminator 3, we see how these robots come to be controlled by a central artificial intelligence and then turn on their

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108567356032055102005-02-16T09:21:00.000-06:002005-02-16T09:22:36.036-06:00

Rober Deniro lends heft to any movie that he is in. Dakota Fanning, who many admire for her work in Taken, but who I had never seen before, plays her role well. But she's not given a great deal to do for the first 80% of the movie. She pretty much spends her time not talking to people, staring straight ahead with those big eyes in an onimous, creepy way; and generally just acting as a point of

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108412747452959422005-02-14T14:25:00.000-06:002005-02-14T14:28:14.936-06:00

The New York Times > Technology > Resignation at CNN Shows the Growing Influence of BlogsWhat have we come to? Is being partisan a worse crime than, at the least, manslaughter due to negligence and, at the most, outright murder? I feel like a stranger in my own country.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108408045381677652005-02-14T12:50:00.000-06:002005-02-14T13:07:25.383-06:00

When I started this silly blog, I had a fit of honesty and wrote more than I should have. At the time, I assumed it would just be for me, and I'd be anonymous, and any poor sap that happened to stumble into the page would get a whole saga of one man's hopes and fears. But then, in a moment of impulse, I sent the link to three others, and my little secret coffessional all of a sudden wasn't so

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108400498438617842005-02-14T10:48:00.000-06:002005-02-14T11:01:48.433-06:00

Yesterday, Sunday, I had grown frustrated enough at the lack of a response from this fella in Bangkok that I decided to send another email. I wrote a message to my teacher, asking her if she had heard from this NGO and if they were still considering me.I did not receive a reply from her, but this morning I did have a message from the head guy at the NGO. His name is Mike. He asked me a couple of

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1108048800340654392005-02-10T09:00:00.000-06:002005-02-10T09:20:00.340-06:00

I woke up this morning and, as I do every morning, hurry over to my computer to see if I have a response from the guy that is supposed to grant me an internship. And, as I do everymorning, I walk away disappointed. It has now been 6 days since my teacher sent an "electronic introduction" to the two of us. I wrote him the very next day, and have not heard a peep from him in return. My teacher

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1107989532307742322005-02-09T16:34:00.000-06:002005-02-09T16:52:12.306-06:00

Just to illustrate how far adrift I've gone from my god-fearing ways... As I was walking down the corridor here at the illustrious Louisana Tech Park, on my way to quench my thirst with a cool, refreshing sip of water, I passed by this woman that works down at the far end of the hall. This woman is... oh, about 50... and usually very properly dressed in business attire. We will frequently say

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1107978442960586302005-02-09T13:47:00.000-06:002005-02-09T14:06:53.360-06:00

Rummy's Got a Secret - He's hiding up to $40 billion in defense spending. Let's find it. By Fred Kaplan

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1107976643442456232005-02-09T13:00:00.000-06:002005-02-09T13:22:57.766-06:00

In the absence of anything remotely interesting to say, I'll use this space as a diary. I am currently waiting for two events to occur. One has to do with love, the other with a career. As I have just recently graduated with my masters in International Development, I am now looking to make the 40K of debt that I accrued obtaining that degree serve some use. So, I will either take a job or get a

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1107975475107892772005-02-09T12:55:00.000-06:002005-02-09T12:57:55.106-06:00

So I've had a number of ideas about what to do with this little corner of the web. I think the only way that I'll make it last is if I write for me, not for anyone else. So should I write essays? I'd like to do a little research on those ribbon-magnets that people put on their cars. Pictures? Should it be personal or more topical? Ah, the possibilities are endless.

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10711366.post-1107903333062560092005-02-08T16:54:00.000-06:002005-02-08T16:55:33.063-06:00

...but will it be my last? Or will this be yet another abandoned product of my wandering curiosity?

Llamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01918646682425410045noreply@blogger.com1