Stickman

I spent a couple of nights at the "Jugendherberge" (spelling?) in Dusseldorf in the early '90s. I don't remember a great deal about the city but I do remember Koenigstrasse as apparently being one of the swankiest shopping districts in all of Germany.

I would later learn from a German friend in Bangkok that there is something of a rivalry between Dusseldorf and Cologine, where he comes from.

Just to be clear, I did not take those photos. They were taken by probably the best Western glamour photographer in Thailand (he does work for Playboy, calendars etc.)

For sure, too many tattoos for me too....but hey, that's pretty much how things are in the bars these days, right?

Just curious.....did the ATM screen come up with a message saying that there was a 3.9% fee levied on the transaction?

8 hours ago, buffalo_bill said:

Soap is out all the time. 1 piece of soap in my home lasts for 2 weeks I believe. What do you want with 20?

Self-isolation for 40 weeks

43 minutes ago, Coss said:

Those countries with adequate food and water and 'lectricity, will fare OK, until the hordes begin to cross their borders.

I know, it sounds like I'm waving my end of the world flag, but if you think about all those "Zombie" movies and their ilk, and who the audience, for those pieces of drivel is, then you might wonder, if a significant proportion of the worlds less intelligent people, might be ready to believe in an armageddon-like reality.

As they say in the world of politics, Perception is Reality.

It's a pile of shit, it really is. I reckon most borders will be closed soon and sooner or later, most countries will go in to lockdown i.e. people will be house-bound, only allowed out to get essentials and go to work. It seems that is the only way to stop this thing, short of a vaccine being found - but word is that would be at least 12 months away.

The death toll is bad enough already but God knows where it will end up. And the economic carnage will be HORRIFIC!

Best to plant your ass where you want to be for the next several months because real soon it's going to get real hard to relocate....

Some of my favourites include Margarita Storm (mouth of Sukhumvit soi 13), Bad Burger (on Sukhumvit around soi 20) and Daniel Thaiger (deep down Sukhumvit soi 11 on the right-hand side).

18 hours ago, Coss said:

This photo is how White Island looks, almost all of the time, sometimes getting quiet, sometimes livening up. It's an active Volcano.

There is great fishing around it. The only way I'd go anywhere near it, is if my boat could get away quick and I was fishing upwind of the Island.

Hand's up anyone who wants to land on the Island and go and poke around the crater?

Bingo....it's an active volcano FFS! I'm quite happy that it's 50 km from land!

Trauma Center

Bruce Willis is a cop who is investigating the murder of his partner and protecting the one witness who was injured. Unfortunately this is not Bruce's finest hour and I would not bother. 1 star out of 5.

On 11/4/2019 at 10:26 AM, The_Munchmaster said:

I doubt it's all about gogo bars, seems to be more about the history of the place and a bit about the bars.

That's exactly right - it is much more about the history of the area and it really helps to fill in a lot of the background about the place. If someone is only interested in the bars, it should be of some interest but if you're interested in the history of the area then it's truly fascinating.

3 hours ago, Flashermac said:

Was that "Cigar Bob?" Or am I confusing him with someone else? "Cigar Bob" is long deceased. Or was it the guy who ran the bar in Soi Cowboy?

p.s. My avatar is back! I wondered what happened to it. 

Cigar Bob must have died several years ago. Heart attack if I remember right? He was always trying some new business venture but the poor guy seemed to be broke more often than not...

On 10/30/2019 at 1:43 AM, Flashermac said:

Anyone else remember Santos, who ran the Titty Twister bar in Nana? It was quite a successful go-go bar, so much so that Santos was able to sell a 50% share in it to 8 different people. 

Yeah, remember that episode.....very nasty business. Whatever happened to him? I seem to recall he fled to India, if my memory is right (and often it is not!).

7 hours ago, bust said:

All Black v Boks in the final. NZ will put 30 + on England and SA will dispose of the Welsh without too much trouble.

All Blacks to win final by 10 or more

I'd love to think you're right but I think England will provide a stern test this weekend....that match could be quite an arm wrestle. And I don't think South Africa will find Wales to be easy beats.

My prediction is two close semi-finals and a NZ vs Wales final.

For the earlier rounds of the Rugby World cup featuring the big teams, The Kiwi was booked out i.e. EVERY SEAT in the bar was booked....so if you want to watch the games there, you might want to give them a call and see if there is space...

18 hours ago, Nasiadai said:

Yes, Shibyao, you're right. The air in Bangkok is terribly bad and polluted.
Cars, trucks, mopeds and motorcycles pollute the air with their exhaust fumes. Dense clouds of exhaust gases consisting of fine dust, carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide - and what else do I know - drift through the street canyons of Bangkok.
This is a poisonous cocktail that is harmful to the lungs and health.

Traffic is obviously one cause of pollution, but traffic is generally constant year-round, and is not the main contributing factor when the pollution levels get really bad. I gather that the main cause is burning of crops.

The pollution was really bad early last week and I see that it's been even worse this week. The sad part is that there is no reason to think that the problem will be addressed any time soon.

1 hour ago, paul101 said:

Could have been the Thai visa before Thai visa as it was the first Thai board as sanuk fun in Thailand. Poorly run and moderated is the reason it died, blaming social media is just an excuse. Being involved in advertisers extorting posters and attempting to did not help of course, that sort of thing does tend to put people off!

No, that's complete nonsense that it is poorly run and moderated. I'd actually say it is far and away the best moderated board.

Social media changed things a lot, and the mix and profile of expats in Thailand has changed markedly too.

I think it works well enough as it is. Obviously, you might have some concerns as as perhaps it is costing you more money to run it than you want to spend / is causing you grief or worry etc. Unless there are any problems that perhaps we might not be aware of, it would be a shame to see it change and a real shame to see it close down.....perhaps it's nice just knowing that it's still here and if you want to go and say something then you can?

16 hours ago, Flashermac said:

Wow, less than 5 million Kiwis, but they still manage to hate each other?  Christchurch sounds a bit like New York City, in believing that they are superior to everyone else.

It's kind of a little different to that. Christchurch folk don't see themselves as superior, rather they just don't like rather a lot of people including many of their fellow countrymen.

17 hours ago, cavanami said:

Christchurch is all that bad? My Dutch friend had his daughter in an educational exchange program and she lived there a few years. I've never been there.
Care to explain in 20 words or less about your negativity?

Asking for a friend 555

Generally speaking in New Zealand, the further south you get, the friendlier the people are - and Christchurch is a long way south of Wellington (where I was born), Auckland (where I grew up . consider my hometown) and Napier (where I currently live), all of which are in the North Island. But Christchurch is a bit of an anomaly. It feels very provincial even though (by NZ standards) it's a big city. I find the people of Christchurch have a chip on their shoulder about people from Auckland and from the North Island generally, and many are anti non-white. This is not paranoia - a good friend from Christchurch who lived in Thailand for many years often tells me of the feelings of many in Christchurch which are anti-Maoris and anti-Asians. Ok, not everyone in Christchurch is like that of course and I am sure you will find non-white immigrants there who love it and feel welcome, but it is much less cosmopolitan than say Auckland and there is a feeling of anti-outsiders there.

I visited Christchurch for the first time in 1996 on business and made the mistake of saying I was from Auckland....big mistake. The anti-Aucklander sentiment was strong. I don't care for that sort of crap and hence I don't care for Christchurch.

13 hours ago, cavanami said:

Stick, did you go? just curious...

...and Vinny came off as a little strange but thanks for the boots on the ground imput!

No, I didn't go. I am not a fan of Christchurch at all and it's a city I'll be quite happy not to visit again.

12 hours ago, cavanami said:

He is an "interesting" person. He was one of the few journalists that went to Christchurch to interview and report on the shootings.

Errr, one of "the few" journalists that went to Chch? This was the biggest news event in the world at the time and pretty much every journalist in New Zealand who could get on a plane was there within hours of it happening!!

4 hours ago, panadolsandwich said:

If I were you, I'd be more worried about all the US billionaires that openly brag about  buying up New Zealand land and settling there when the US finally explodes.  NZ should tell them to fuck off and go and fix their own country.  They are the migrants you should fear.  Not the refugees who will literally be subject to genocide if they return to their homeland.  And btw are  just as smart as you and I.

I'm not in the least worried about these US billionaires. They are spending a lot of money and most will probably never relocate permanently. Like I say, migration is good if it done right - the most basic example is attracting people who have the skills to make up for where there is a shortfall locally. If there are a few American billionaires amongst them, I say "Welcome!"

2 hours ago, Coss said:

"Vinny Eastwood is one of the best known independent journalists in New Zealand. His coverage of the Christchurch shooting earned him international acclaim and an alarming number of visits from the Police. "

ahem - bull shit.

Never heard of him, another attention whore.

Ditto that. Who is this guy?!

20 hours ago, Nasiadai said:

One reason for this peculiar defeatist mood in our country is perhaps the demographic situation: too many old people and too few young people.

I'm pro Immigration BUT with the proviso that migration is managed. You want the right sort of people coming to your country. Opening the border up to all and sundry as seems to be happening in parts of the world seems like a recipe for disaster....and I guess that is one of the reasons why Germany has a few issues. Of course, Western countries need to acknowledge that birth rates are low and if they don't encourage migration then they face a similar situation to Japan, population-wise...and all of the economic issues that a stagnant or falling population brings with it.

15 hours ago, panadolsandwich said:

There is a lot to go over here.  Migration has made Australia a world power.  We currently have the 29th highest GDP per person in the world.  We are positioned nicely in Asia as a very powerful force.  At an Indonesian cabinet meeting the PM exclaimed that if Australia decided to they could drop a half tonne bomb on this very desk. 

Ever so minor correction made. Citation: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html

2 hours ago, Nasiadai said:

Sorry, maybe off-topic. But not for me.

Today was a very hot summer day. Temperatures well above 30 degrees. I was at the beach of the Baltic Sea in Eckernförde, lay in my beach chair
and had many hours time to think about our country.  --- It doesn't look good. The future is getting darker and darker.

The politics, the government including the opposition parties in the German Bundestag continue intensively to destroy our country.
1. a badly managed energy turnaround. We have electricity prices that are nearly twice as high as in other European countries.
2. the almost systematic destruction of the German car industry. This is a key industry for our country.
3. the continued unconditional adherence to the failed Euro.
4. an immigration of 250,000 to 300,000 Muslims into the German social systems every year.
5. the dismantling of school education through questionable pedagogical experiments. Lowering of the standard.
6. the infrastructure such as roads, bridges, Autobahnen, public buildings such as schools, etc. are becoming increasingly dilapidated.
7. Technologically we lose the connection to the digitization.
and much more .....

The voter, the sovereign of this country, does not defend himself. On the contrary, 80% of German voters continue to vote what I call
the "old-party cartel" Christian Democrats-Social Democrats-Greens-Lefts.
The only party that could fundamentally change something is the AfD;  Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany.
In 85% of the mass media, this party is hostiled and condemned as if it was the devil.
Only 15% of Germans elect this party. That is not enough.

My sad conclusion:
Germany destroys itself, it abolishes itself. The voters want it that way.
I despair of so much stupidity and ignorance.
Germany's relegation from the first league is unstoppable.
Culturally, scientifically-technically, economically and thus also politically.
The German sovereign wants it that way!

My courage to live is destroyed.

Many developed countries have governments that have moved strongly to the left....and many of the problems you outline are the consequences of that happening. I don't know much about the government in Germany but I gather it is somewhat left-leaning.