Halloween in Thailand (or at least our neighborhood)
Click on photos to enlarge
Guys and…
Dolls…
Dude! Turn around…future wife is right there!!!!
Rumi, (and no… not the poet!)
Handsome + no effort + pout = Chicks dig him
Nice to see Emo is alive in Thailand
I went out past my bedtime, looking and feeling like a photographer. Night photography can be a challenge, but I persevered, and I was pleased with the results. Our neighborhood, after 10pm, transforms into a vibrant and youthful scene reminiscent of Bourbon Street, just smaller on scale and a lot less drunk. The focus more on music and people, with just a touch of booze to embolden the timid.
When you are a tall old guy with a camera and a massive lens, you are lent gravitas. Everyone likes their picture taken on Halloween. With the recent passing of Queen Mother Sirikit, this year’s celebration was toned down just a tad from last year. The massive downpour a couple hours earlier did not help either. But Thai people are sturdy and don’t let rain slow them down.
How do you..... do that?
In these current days of apocalyptic, dystopian life we live in, where the post-truth generation permeates everyday life, and where AI does everything… The answer to the question in the following paragraph is “I do it the old fashion way.” Because in the age of AI, I prefer to be the manual override. This is a silly and dramatic beginning, but the question of authenticity is sadly being asked of artists from music to photography, and film.
How do you make your videos? How do you write your songs? How do you paint your paintings? Do you just hit a button? Well, I made a video about making a video.
I took one of my simpler videos to use as an example to make this demonstration as easy as possible. In no way is this an instructional video about using Davinci Resolve software. This software has been used in a zillion Hollywood films, ranging from Oppenheimer to Mission Impossible. I use about 2% of its capability.
Sure, I’d like to say that no toast was harmed during the filming, but that would be untrue. A toast named Bob was stabbed, thrown across the kitchen, spread with peanut butter and eventually eaten alive. Then, if you are ok with that, go ahead and watch the film 🙂
This is .... Us
What have we become? That “mature” foreign couple who sits at their usual table at a neighborhood restaurant and order pretty much the same thing every time they come in. Yeah, and proud of it, bucko! Yes, Diane is always mistaken for being Thai. When we enter a business, the proprietor will just start taking to her. Diane replies in Thai “Sorry, I don’t understand” This now becomes comically confusing for everyone. Life is so fun here!
While sipping a beer on the swing set outside of Pizza My Heart, waiting for our ‘to-go’ order (yay, pizza night!), I struck up a conversation with a traveler from The Netherlands who had snuck outside to have a smoke. After a quick hello, he asked me if I was Australian. For a brief moment I wondered how long I could do an impression of Crocodile Dundee. That moment mercifully passed and I answered truthfully. “I’m Canadian.”
Will I ever buy clothing ‘off the rack’ again. I’m not sure why I ever would. We went to Jay’s Custom Tailor shop here in Chiang Mai. Wow! Was that George Clooney in the mirror? My stomach shrunk and my biceps grew. Let’s bring out the guns! Even my hair seemed thicker. These guys are magic. $90 out the door for 2 beautiful shirts. We will both be back soon, maybe later this week 🙂
Update: We returned and got more ‘stuff’…
… and by more stuff, I mean a suit for Diane and a total of 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants for Bill. I asked about having a jean jacket made for Diane, Jay said he’d have denim samples when we return in a few days to pick up a completed shirt. We may not make rent this month, but we are gonna look fab.
Two of my morning-walk regulars: Kit and Kaboodle
The Bright Future:
So, what does November and the future look like? Well, a trip to the land of Diane’s pamilya, The Philippines, is scheduled for late November. And a visit from good friends who now permanently live in Bangkok. It will be good to see people we have history with. That is November.
As of today, the weather changes from the rainy season (my close 2nd favorite season) to winter (my favorite season) which means lows in the mid 60’s for my morning walk to the low 80’s with blue skies pretty much every day. After that in March comes the hot and smokey season (no one’s favorite season).
In the distant future a trip is planned for a brief return to our homeland. We need to take care of a storage unit that is costing us $6400 a year to store $2000 worth of stuff. We should have just burned it, but we didn’t know what our future held. This will occur in April of ’26. Anyone want a free love seat, ottoman and an overstuffed chair? Really. Anyone want a free leather love seat, ottoman and a overstuffed chair?
Don’t forget to check out Diane’s YouTube channel at: Ate Diane Sings at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Thank you so much for reading/watching our Blog/Vlog! It means a lot to us!!!