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How To Tell If Youre An Aussie


MooNoi

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Flash - I have a great book my mum lent me, "Teak Wallah" by somethign Campbell, you can google it on the internet, if you'd like to borrow it I'll lend it too you, great reading. Describes in detail the life of a teak wallah in 1920 Thailand. Was interesting to re read after driving throgh the area over the New Year Period.

 

My mother was sitting with me in the office this week, talking about me growing up in Brisbane and Gold Coast, saying I was probably the amongst the last Australian kids except for maybe some country kids who had the freedom we had then, as described by Bust.

 

I pointed out to her that's why I like my kids living on the farm here every chance they get, Thai villages and Isaan ironically remind me a lot of Australian old towns. Easy going and a close sense of family and community.

 

There where a number of Gold Rushes in Australia, Ballarat and Bendigo most likely.

 

 

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When I was a kid in southern New Mexico in the 1950s, we could walk downtown at lunch time. Completely open school campus. At 11 or 12, we could go anywhere. Nowadays, school campuses seem more like prisons.

 

My grandfather trusted me to carry a pistol in the woods by myself when I was 12. Oddly enough, nobody massacred their classmates in those days. Gotta love progress. :(

 

Ever read WAR Wood's "Counsel in Paradise"? He came to Siam in the 1890s at age 18 in Queen Victoria's diplomatic service. Spent almost all of his time in the North. Amazingly, I had a neighbour in the States who rented an old teak house in Chiang Mai from Wood in the 1960s. He used to rave about the guy and the stories he told.

 

I'll see if I can find "Teak Wallah".

 

 

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Flash if you ever make your way up to Mae Sot (I'm hoping to drag CTO up there in April), go to the First Hotel. It's in behind the Police Barracks.

 

It has the most amazing teak finishes I have ever seen. All hand carved from reclaimed teak. I remember the first time I stayed there. Beautiful chest of hand carved drawers. Only problem was they didn't open. The front was actually a single piece carved to look like three separate drawers.

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My Mrs grew up in an old style teak home that had belonged to her mother's family. Unfortunately, her father decided he needed money - and pulled the house down to sell the teak. She said to me that even as a child she was confused, since papa surely would have got more money if he'd sold the house intact. It must have been nearly a century old, with attap leaves for the roof covering. (Mama's grandma was a daughter of the Chao of Chiang Tung.)

 

:dunno:

 

Of course once the family home was gone, first thing papa had to do was use most of the money to build a new house!

 

:banghead:

 

 

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And with this I rest my case

 

Father may accept $1m from daughter's killer

 

February 1, 2008

Bound for Japan â?¦ Nigel Ridgway and Carita.

 

Bound for Japan â?¦ Nigel Ridgway and Carita.

Photo: Reuters

Advertisement

 

LONDON: An Australian has reportedly travelled to Japan, where he is considering taking a possible "condolence" payment from the businessman convicted of raping and killing his daughter.

 

Nigel Ridgway, whose daughter, Carita, died in Tokyo in 1992, was due to arrive in Tokyo today to meet representatives of the property developer Joji Obara, the Times of London reported.

 

He told the paper he had not decided whether to accept payment of about $1 million in "consolation and condolence" money from Obara, who was last year convicted of drugging, raping and accidentally killing his daughter.

 

Obara, 54, was sentenced to life in prison last April after being found guilty of the rape of eight women, as well as "rape resulting in death" in the case of Ms Ridgway, who was from Perth.

 

Her mother, Annette Foster, fears that if her ex-husband, who left Sydney last night, accepts money, it could result in a reduced sentence for Obara, who is due to appeal against the nine convictions this month. "I can't believe that Nigel is doing this," she said. "I hate the thought that he [Obara] might be out on the streets."

 

A Tokyo police source said Obara would "probably get a reduced sentence". Defendants in Japanese courts sometimes pay money to victims and their relatives. When accompanied by an admission of guilt and an apology, it is sometimes taken into account in sentencing.

 

Obara has always denied the charges against him.

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A Tokyo police source said Obara would "probably get a reduced sentence". Defendants in Japanese courts sometimes pay money to victims and their relatives. When accompanied by an admission of guilt and an apology, it is sometimes taken into account in sentencing.

 

Let's hope not..

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