YimSiam

There's a "four in-laws expert in DNA" dirty joke in there somewhere, I just can't find it. Like print or DNA evidence that the Burmese guys touched the murder weapon, say - seems the obvious thing, right, but then look at all the grown-ups who weren't able to put it forward... Anyway, get back to being Aussie experts, we're all the better for it. An Aussie with an opinion and a beer is a wonder to behold.

My guess is that life used to be pretty fucking hard, beginning to end, with only occasional exceptions - and so the grand vision, the dream of dreams, is to go somewhere and do fucking nothing at all...

I think you're getting too fucking sensitive - or maybe you've just never known the joy of huddling together with your jihadi brothers in the late evening, studying Koranic verses by the flickering light of the day's human torch... Humor is key, I think, when faced by some of these unthinkables in the world: pillage, murder, ignorance, torture... As my colleagues and I used to joke: "If you can't laugh about torture, what CAN you laugh about?!" ... I've been living in Syria for a while, heart of Damascus, pretty safe but for the occasional mortar or rocket. One of the bar/restaurants in this pro-government, secure part of Damascus held a Daesh/ISIS night: all their staff came to work either in black guerrilla outfits with masks and AKs (easier to get a real one than a plastic one in Damascus these days...) and big shiny knives - or they dressed in the infamous orange jumpsuits. Funny, yes - but completely bizarre as well - and my worries about eventually ending up in an orange jumpsuit out in the desert someday kept me from getting my picture taken with ISIS and their hostages...

For a moment I thought this was a thread on those bridge players down in Pattaya. On the one hand, 'just wipe them out' does seem a little extreme for a room full of elderly card-players who don't even put money on the game - but on the other hand, it wouldn't be that inconsistent with some of the crazy stuff happens down there. And hey, maybe making an example of these rampant scofflaws is the right thing to do - just wipe them out, and you won't see too many people walking around with more than two decks of cards, except by accident, of course.

The custodian was one of the faster runners, I assume - they just caught the 32 slowest probably. Anyone with a decent motorized scooter, tuned-up wheelchair, or even functional zimmer frame was already out the door by the time the cops had counted the full 120 cards, necessary to establish the crime... Mayhem, it was.

120 is the limit - wonder what line is crossed after 119?

'Exterminate All The Brutes'...

This guy could give lessons to some other folks... maybe even head of forensics.

While I wouldn't want to have a Red Notice issued against me, and hope that is never the case, it's not such an unusual thing - here's the Interpol Red Notice page for Cambodian nationals: http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted Those interested can note that it's pretty small stuff gets you on there - just means there's arrest warrant, and someone thinks you've flown the country. Theft, possession of fake currency, breach of trust, death threats are all on there with Cambos - not so serious by Phnom Penh standards, I think! Also, there's even a case of a Khmer guy wanted for 'corruption by a public official' - is that even illegal there?! I thought that was kind of the point of joining that gov, but what do I know...

21st out of 60 - right below Brazil, above India, and a couple above Mexico and Russia. Some complicated situations, those countries.

Usually this 'bandit' business outside VTE could be associated with some type of Hmong activity, but I'm not sure that this location allows for that explanation - former Saisomboun Special Zone is a little south and east of Kasi, maybe? Anyway, can't trust anything that comes from either the LPDR gov, or RFA - at least have to take either with a grain of salt, given the political implications of anything relating to Laos, security and possibly the Hmong... Was a great comment from Laos this week, about the opening of their Five-Year Congress meeting, whatever it's called -- Foreign Ministry media division stated brazenly that "due to the limited time available for preparations", it was not possible to facilitate and foreign media coverage of the event... Five years, and you don't have time... Bold. (Also during the week: Putin notes that the British findings in the Litvinenko killing will in his words "poison" the UK-Russia relationship... File under: We don't give two fucks, about anything!

Billy Bob can even make a Christmas movie worth watching - see Bad Santa...

Poor tiger - wakes up for just another day in the jungle, looking for prey - and ends up spending the day doped up and hassled by tourists, the punch in the face by a handler.. Hey, good news on Best Country Showing, though.

And sounds like he went down in an unpleasant way indeed...

"Sisters" - while I do love me some slapstick drug-joke comedy, this one is just crap. No plot, limited humor, lots of dick jokes. Stumble by the otherwise can-do-no-wrong Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Spotlight - big cast of some very good actors - Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Mark Ruffalo, and perhaps most standout Michael Keeton, in a role better in my view than Birdman. Story of the pedophile priest scandal in Boston and newspaper coverage of same - script not much, kind of formulaic like All the President's Men or The Band Played On, but it's a decent story and everyone in it seems like their doing their best to make it interesting. Worth a watch if you're from Boston - although it's no Mystic River - or Catholic, or God forbid and pedophilic priest: judgment will come!

Also watched The Revenant this weekend - was not very impressed. Leo's alright (perhaps like certain demimondaines we may know, he does most of his work in this one while lying on his back, making faces and moaning as persuasively as he can...), but I didn't find much story to care about. Pretty pictures, beautiful countryside, but I'd recommend Black Robe or Dead Man for similar flicks on the same subject matter, period, locations.

Are they still teaching much faster?

Gotta love them Chinese - they take an opportunity when they see one! EU - 86 bil to 2 bil? That's insane. And Japan - when Japan says Thailand is the wrong place to put your investment, factory, whatever - you'd think Thailand would either start to listen (or just redouble their efforts to learn Chinese).

China can do no wrong. They fuck up, give 'em money. It's not a bad tourism strategy, really - just make sure they don't get scared off and keep on coming! The numbers, the numbers...

Well, that concludes our weekly check of "Is This Board Better Than Google?" Answer: no. Google finds it immediately - winner of a 2010 photo contest. It ain't Canberra, is all I'm sayin. This board has niche knowledge areas, and identifying photos of glacial lakes with mountainous backgrounds is not one of them.

Again - I'm glad to find my clothes perfectly dry and my memory of the days even fairly sound, proving to a reasonable degree once again that this was not me. For a moment there, I was worried...

If only I was able to discover the transformation before paying barfine and heading home...

Alright, I can amend: perhaps an entertaining alternative would be a short film-school-project kind of movie with less fist-pumping, leave-no-man-behind, flag-waving stuff - just: Man Left On Mars. Man Tries Valiantly To Science His Way Out of It, Makes Progress. Then Plans Go Awry, No One Comes to Save Him, and He Dies. Kind a "To Build A Fire", but with no, and on Mars. The message being - life is bleak and ends poorly, especially if you go to Mars and your friends leave you there.

I've checked my pockets and wallet, and I'm glad to report that once again, I was neither the victim nor the perpetrator of this vile act; indeed I was not even on that flight nor any other flight from China to Thailand on the day in question. Another bullet dodged, thank God.