YimSiam

A few of the Slow Horses/Slough House books, Mick Herron. Not exactly Le Carre level read but not bad at all, funny throughout, and for a guy like me who's stalling out in the middle ranks of a big bureaucracy, right on the nose.

Remarkable to see so many names from the old days. Never met up with the board members - at least not knowingly - but retain fond memories of the peak board days. The sheer profundity! And those were good days in LOS, though of course we bitched about whatever the complaint of the day was, end of the world nigh - in retrospect I'd love those days back, 98 to around 05, good times. Been moving around alot but for the first time in well over a decade I'm back in (northeast) Asia. Hope to make regular LOS trips, though the magic is not what it was (nor am I what i was) these days - still work reconnecting my batteries to the Thai charge for sure.

Fare Thee Well, Joel Selvin - story of the Grateful Dead post-Jerry Garcia death through to the farewell concerts done by the remaining band members 20 years later. Spoiler alert: if you're looking for the villains, it's Phil and Jill Lesh...

The Men Who Stare At Goats, Jon Ronson. This one has been around for well over a decade now I think, a hardly believable account of the author's research - mainly interviews - into the military's efforts to engage in psychic warfare, remote viewing, and the title's killing of goats with the mind... It is so out there that you can hardly believe it's true, and I haven't bothered to look into how true and accurate the book may be, or how relaible the interviewees, but there are some interesting storylines albeit by this point perhaps well-trodden paths (MK-Ultra in particular). Links to Heaven's Gate and Branch Davidians quite amazing. Thought I'd throw an entry into this thread, and there it is. Saw the movie of this book, but that was in the midst of my drinking days and the memories are scant indeed - I believe George Clooney was involved, but perhaps that was just... a creation of my mind.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler, middleweight boxing champ from my youth...

Hank Aaron, unlikely home run champion of American baseball... For the Yanks among us, it's been a bad year for great ballplayers, they are going down one after the other!

John le Carre deserves a mention - since every other bar patron in LOS claims to have been the inspiration for one or another of his characters over the years: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/14/john-le-carre-obituary

He lived a full life, I'm sure, in his 65 years: Eddie Van Halen is gone https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eddie-van-halen-dead-200051/

I suppose asking if the hotels on the list are guest-friendly might raise red flags, eh?

It's an odd exception to permit, this long-stay allegedly-touristic visit mode - but hey, any opening is a good opening, even if it's one that I can hardly avail myself of now or in the foreseeable future... How I missed "accidentally" getting trapped-in-Thailand for the lockdown duration, I can only wonder - I really have lost my touch, not to have foreseen that and been able to find myself mid-adenoidectomy medical visit or long-weekend-holiday visit back in March or whenever when the silk curtain first went down... Instead it was stuck in North Africa for me, and while sure the Mediterranean coast is fine, I would have much rather done my waiting and telecommuting from Thailand. Looking forward to the day when I can sign on to whatever program the RTG puts forward, and come do my best to revive the tourism economy one lady drink at a time... YimSiam

Tom Sizemore is still alive, and acting? I'm impressed. He seems like he was scheduled for the Global RIP list a long time ago... Last thing I saw him in, and assumed it would be his last thing, was Celebrity Rehab...

Don't worry, Coss - I'm not buyin' and I'm not sure there's more on the thread than Cavanami, me and you!

Can't help but appreciate that Fedex is the force behind the eventually change of name, as they are shocked - just shocked!- to have such a racist name and symbol affiliated with their organization and its principled views... Dude, you're 20 years into a 27 year sponsorship arrangement with the team - NOW you're suddenly shocked and offended!? Day late and a dollar short, Fedex - and when you're in express shipping, timing is everything! OK, I hand this thread back over to the recently departed - and just to keep on track, I give you: Benjamin Keough, gunshot suicide. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-07-12/grandson-of-elvis-presley-has-died-at-age-27-agent-says

Survived a life-threatening broken leg in 1985, only to succumb many years later to the threat of not having as much money as possible...

If I Had Your Face - Frances Cha Korean or Korean American author writes about a handful of Korean young women who grew up in an orphanage and are now living in Seoul, working in 'salon rooms' which sound basically like a karaoke type setup without the karaoke - insight into the Korean version of Thai girl life. Bit confusing structure with different stories entwined, lots about the plastic surgery business in Korea, mostly interesting to me for the Thai girl nightlife parallels... YimSiam