You never know ....

Who you might bump into when out and about in Bangkok. I was getting a sandwich at Paragon near Siam Square where I work at the British Council.

As the Asia Cup, or at least part of it, was being held in Bangkok that week, there was some kind of event going on but the heavens had decided to open and give us one of those short, sharp showers of the tropics. So I legged it to find shelter and these guys had had the same idea. I therefore politely asked for a photo with them and here they are.

Yourskool.org

As this is my blog I thought it would be perfectly acceptable to plug my own website, www.yourskool.org

It is in its early stages but basically it is a website for sharing videos, like the ubiquitous YouTube and other copies, like my own. However, you won't find any sex or violence on www.yourskool.org as I am developing it as a resource for sharing learning experiences and cultures. I hope that people will be able to learn a little from watching a Yourskool video and will want to upload those that they have made themselves.

Here's one I made earlier:

What's a few days?

A few days could and probably should be construed as three or four but alas, I have not been here for probably over 14.

What did I say I would write about? Illness - ah yes, here is the abbreviated version as I feel good again and don't wish to dwell.

May 2007

1. I suffer discomfort
2. Discomfort becomes pain
3. Pain is bad so I visit doctor
4. Doctor detects 'mass' in lower colon and wants to take biopsy
5. Pain is too bad for doctor to take biobsy so prescribes antibiotics
6. Antibiotics work - pain improves and doctor can take biopsy of bad bit causing pain
7. Biopsy comes back - bad news - 'well differentiated' adenocarcinoma is detected
8. Doctor sends me for further tests including CT scan to check problem hasn't spread to other parts of body
9. I wait for results while pondering life and what or how much might be left of it
10. Test results are good - except for the original problem, that is.
11.Doctor recommends operation for removal of mass, or else!
12.I take doctor's advice though seek second and third opinions
13.Second opinion from top colorectal surgeon at Bamrungrad Hospital confers with doctor
14.Third opinion confers with others
June 2007
15.I decide to have operation at Bangrumrad - top surgeon, private en-suite room with cable TV
16.June 09 1800 2007 - I start counting to 20, get to 2 then wake up in recovery room
17.June 10-12 - morphine is my friend and makes pain and cable TV programmes bearable
18.June 13 - after 5 days of nil by mouth, rice water actually tastes good
19.June 14 - soft foods again
20.June 17 - I am discharged from hospital - I have a foot-long scar down my lower abdomen but the stitches are out
20.Doctor informs me that operation went well - mass removed with good 'margins' but was in quite an advanced stage, having spread to local lymph nodes. Will need six-months of intensive drug treatment to lower chances of recurrence elsewhere.

June 25 - I return to work. Normally I wouldn't have done this and I will no doubt talk about why later. However, I felt recovered and fit enough to work and really enjoy it, so why not?

It all happened very quickly and I have not really had time to suffer to many emotions or perhaprs it is that I remain extremely positive. I could have been (and still could be!) knocked down by a bus. I could have been blown up on the Tube. I could have not had medical insurance - the total cost of the stay in hospital and operation came to just over 4K. I could have not suffered any pain, as is generally the case in things that are this serious, and my disease could have remained undetected until too late.

All of these things allow me to have a positive attitude and outlook on life, despite the gravity of the situation I found myself in.

Time to move on to the next blog entry!

Samut Songkhram

I was going to Blog about today but I have decided to keep things in chronological order to here's what I was up to Sunday afternoon and most of yesterday.

It was work related but like so much of my job, it really does have a lot of very interesting moments. I drove down to the town of Samut Songkhram Samut Songkhram Province after meeting 5 teachers from England who are going to spend the week there as part of their schools' and Satthasamut School's linking activities that form part of the Dreams+Teams project.

Upon arrival, we were taken to our accommodation which turned out to be a very lovely wooden bungalow each set in lush surroundings in the 'Nam Yen' resort, about a kilometre from the school. Nam Yen means 'cold water', which is very apt as the shower was indeed very cold as we found out in the morning.

We were then taken out for an excellent meal of fresh local seafood, washed down with a few local beers and, after a quick discussion about the following day, we all retired for the night in our comfortable lodgings.

More about the next day in tomorrow, yes tomorrow's post so for now I've put up a photo and here's a link to a little tour of the path leading to my room, the room and back to breakfast!

Check out the video below:

2007 Part II

Well, I haven't posted since April 14th but not for the lack of things happening between then and now.

The end of May - beginning of June were particularly 'trying' times for me with a number of 'ups' and 'downs' to coin a cliche.

Saturday June 9th was a particularly significant day in my life as it was the day I underwent major surgery, courtesy of Bamrungrad International Hospital, a brilliant surgeon and his team, wonderful nursing staff and last but not least, comprehensive medical cover provided by my employers. Don't have good coverage? Get it now!

Anyway, I spent 9 days in my own private en-suite room which made things a little more comfortable although there is only so much cable TV one can watch and be entertained by once the morphine is no longer required!

So, for today I shall simple put up a picture of a typical scene at a Bangkok Hypermarket and come back over the next few days to Blog about my new job, a bit about my illness without dwelling there for too long, starting training for my 3rd Bangkok Marathon and whatever else I get up to and manage to take a picture or video clip of.

Here's a video with a very tentative connection with today's post, but it's great to go back there and see how truly, 'interesting' the 80's were!

A Bomb around the corner

Might be something you'd do as an 11 year-old on your new Eddie Mercks as you rush off to show off to your less well-off friend but this time, no.

There was actually a bomb placed in a telephone box around the corner from where I live in Bangkok and what's more, the thing went off! Scary times we live in these days, although I was 500 kms away in a Chumphon resort - blog to come - and the bomb was a rather piddling device that fortunately didn't hurt or kill anyone but, if I had been making a call in that box at that time, things could well have been different!

So here's a photo and a song (will be placed) below about a bomb to mark my return to this blog.

Hekis Tebal

A while ago a rare thing happened which was Dan Conitzer being online. Anyway, he reckoned he'd got a good idea for a song and suggested we both have a go at writing and producing one each.

Mine came out as a little number called, 'Hekis Tebal'.

It is the second of a series of releases from, 'The Gift of Yahweh' for the 'Combat the Flesh' project.

Hekis Tebal

Any comments, no matter how supercilious, are always welcome.

Dan's, 'The Tasmanians' to follow.

A month goes by

And I managed no blogs in herein that time - true to form but I guess I'm here at least so what's been happening?

Well, I am taking piano lessons and bought an electric piano so I could actually practise in between lessons. I've had five lessons in total and am truly rubbish, which is good as there's only one way to go - better.

Anyway, I can play a few chords now and rattle off a very poor rendition of 'The Saints Come Marching in' as well as 'Love me tender' and some French folk song.

What's the point? There is no point. It's a piano.

Might pop by and put a few pics up at the weekend, but then again it might be April 13th before I'm next here - time flies.

Best Before 2007

We used to have a website a few years back and I thought we had lost everything but thanks to the 'Way Back Machine', I am now recovering some of our lyrics. As Dan has just reworked this particular song and sent it to me I'm now working on the vocals and maybe add a baseline - I shall put it up, along with new tracks 'Hekis Tebal' and 'The Tasmaanians', in a day or two.

Best Before - the bushpilots

Man has survived for thousands of years without sell-by dates
Take the chance, no consequence, don't hesitate
You can't go on, forever checking the ingredients
Listen to us,take the chance,you know we're making sense

But don't come running to me
When you're wasting away with dysentery
And don't even call me up
When your brain is fried and your nerves are shot

Man has survived for thousands of years without sell-by dates
Take the chance, no consequence, don't hesitate
You can't go on, forever checking the ingredients
Listen to us, take the chance,you know we're making sense

And don't put the blame on me
When you suddenly develop epilepsy
You'll be turning in your grave, young fella
When the tag on your toe reads 'salmonella'

Man will survive for a thousands more years without sell-by dates
Take the chance, no consequence, don't hesitate
You can't go on, forever checking the ingredients
Listen to us,take the chance,you know we're making sense

And you won't find nothing amusing
When you wake up on a table with a blood transfusion
So don't ever turn my way
You knew the risks I've got nothing to say

New Year - a bit late!

I haven't got off to a very good start here but I shall try to better my pathetic 22 entries of last year and the dismal 5 entries of 2005.

We had a few bombs go off in Bangkok on New Years Eve but I was far from the action, so to speak, in a small town called Pak Chong near Khao Yai National Park.

This is a very strange little town that seems to have adopted a permanent theme of a cowboy town, due to the fact that Thailand's largest dairy farm, Chokchai Farm, is nearby.

Anyway, we'd been camping in Khao Yai National Park until New Years Eve but it suddenly got inundated by hundreds of Thais just off work and seeking some fun for their holidays so, being as unsocialable as I am and wanting to avoid lots of people armed with guitars, cheap whiskey and squeaking wives, we decided to head to Chokchai Farm for a visit and stay in Pak Chong that night.

We ended up finding a very nice camp site and later heard that they were having a New Year's party with food and beer, etc, with a cowboy theme of course! We therefore decided to see in 2007 Thai cowboy style!

It was so bad that it was good! I managed to win several bottles of Chang Beer in the little fair that they had organised which emboldened me to later murder a rendition of 'Love is all Around' by the Troggs.

Here are a few photos.

My recently-purchased second-hand Mazda that got us up there, a real cowboy breakfast, 'Chang'-ed up and Karaoke.

A bit more Oz

Thought I ought to put a few more photos up to do my trip more justice although it really was worth flying there just for the fish and chips. After all, there were pies, bacon rolls and decent coffee, too.










This was a superb bacon and egg roll and frothy coffee that I had for breakfast the morning after my adventures in the Blue Mountains.

I

And this masterpiece was a steak pie, pronounced, 'Poii', from a corner shop during my run from Double Bay to Bondai Beach. Less interesting photos to follow ...

Down under

I was fortunate enough to go to Sydney the other week to attend the Global ICT Summit. This in itself was a very interesting event which provoked a lot of thought and lead to my being able to create a number of new contacts in the education technology field, as well as pick up some useful information on what is 'in' at the moment and where I might save myself some reinvention of wheels through collobaration.

However, conference and Sydney Harbour boat cruise done (nice grub!), the Blue Mountains beckoned, as only mountains can do, ina kind of stern, rocky way.

So I hopped on a train and ended up scoffing an excellent plate of fish and chips on the guesthouse veranda upon arrival. When one lives in the tropics, small pleasures such as vinegar and a light drizzle don't come one's way too often so thanks to nature and the Asian chippy employee I was in fair Antipodean heaven.

Amari Watergate Midnight Charity Run

Well I didn't get to listen to my new Ska records because the damn earphones kept slipping out despite my taping them to my ears - must have been the iced water I was throwing over myself at every occasion. Shall have to get some new 'ear-hugging' over-the-lobe type ones, er .. this afternoon! Yes, I love shopping at weekends! It was rather hot last night even though the race started at midnight!

Anyway, I ran my race of 12km in what I think was a respectable under 70 minutes and that was with a really slow start getting through the starting gate as there were apparently over 3,000 people racing last night.

Not suffering too many aches or pains so this has given me a real incentive to step up the training for the big one on Novemeber 26th. I hope I can both beat my time and raise more money this year.

There was even a free beer thrown in last night so 'big-up' to the Amari Watergate and all their sponsors - I think about 3,000,000 THB was raised for the AIDS orphans in Lopburi so its all worthwhile.

Ska Pants

Was doing a bit of weekend shopping just now, as you do, at the weekend and it is also Saturday today so all is quite in order really.

Anyway, bought a few shirts and a pair of shoes and finally some Ska pants. That's pants in the British sense not the American sense as trousers were not on my shopping list for today.

Anyway, Ska is the name of the brand and it reminded me of that genre of music and the fact that I used to quite like it when I was a mere lad of 13-14 so I've looked some up and put it on the radio thingy for anyone who virtually stumbles over this Blog. Hadn't heard of all them and or listened for that matter so I shall stick them on my MP3 player and enjoy listening to them this evening when I am doing the Amari Watergate Midnight Charity run - that's another Blog for tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy it and if you have a favourite Ska tune then let me know and I'll add it to the radio thingy.

Dualbase :: Montreal webdesign :: the home of FLAM player
Flam Player :: Macromedia Flash mp3 player :: the home of FLAM player

Coffee anyone?

You can't deny there's a lot of it about and there are certainly numerous coffee shops in Phuket where 'The Gift' once enjoyed one of the daily specials around breakfast time.

It is also reported that he may have additionally indulged in a 'doppio'. Anyway, it was right there in that very coffee shop where this new song from the Gift's new experimental 'noughties' phase, 'Combat the Flesh' album, featuring possibly a new rendition of some timeless Alvin Stardust vinyls, 'Mocha' was born.

Love it or hate it, we think it'll cause a stir on the dance floors of RCA come Christmas.

A Statement from 'The Gift of Yahweh'

In a statemant made earlier today, Chairman of the CoB's Thai Fantasy Football wing , 'The Gift of Yahweh', gave his official blessing to the administrative reform group who recently ousted Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, erstwhile buddy of 'The Gift' yet now seemingly out of favour.

It appeared that the military had stressed that it had 'no intention of becoming the administrators of Thai Fantasy Football and would leave all of that to 'The Gift'.

The Gift maintained that, "Now the administrative reform group under the democratic system with 'The Gift' as the head of Thai Fantasy Football, comprising commanders of the armed forces and the national police bureau, has gained, without any resistance, full control of the situation in Bangkok metropolis and nearby provinces, everything will be just fine.

You can continue to go about your daily and fantasy lives as you wish and may tie yellow ribbons to soldiers guns or have your photo taken next to a tank. Up to you!"

Name that tune!

the bushpilots are back!

After four years of inactivity, we have decided to bring the band back together on a new website to be launched in early October. We will be attempting to re-master some of our old songs, produce videos for these and we will also be re-releasing our Christmas song, Yule Regret, which was made back in 2001 in downtown Tokyo, ready for Christmas 2006 with a tasteless video.

We will attempt to take ourselves too seriously, in true internet band website fashion so stay tuned for some awful shots of us in leather jackets leaning over expensive cars that aren’t our own or standing at the tops of multi-story car-parks in black and white.

We have not re-formed as we never disbanded. Check out our songs in the radio below.

Look out also for new music from 'The Gift of Yahweh' with his new 'Combat the Flesh' project. New single, 'Mocha' to be released online soon.

'A long time since 'Hursty' scored those three goals!

What with World Cup 2006 fever gripping the nation and also whipping us Ex Pats around the globe into a frenzy of ridiculously optimistic thoughts of getting past the group stages, I've been doing a bit of research for one of the websites I run as part of my 'job'.

I thought I'd have a dig for some of those really special World Cup 'songs' that come our way once every four years never to be seen or heard of again. Thankfully!

Here's a selection of the best of the worst from this year and years gone by.

Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Klinsman?

Hurry up England!

London to Berlin

That's England alright!

World in motion

This Time!

Back Home!

Is this the way to the World Cup?

World at your feet

Brand New Story

What's your name? England!

Sabah Malaysia

Well, I haven't been here for a while but thought I ought to write a bit seeing as I am now on holiday and have a bit of time.






Just came back from Kota Kinabalu, which is the capital city of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. I was there working (yes!) and had to run a three-day web communities workshop for students on a project called, 'Dreams+Teams', at a secondary school.






I was very well looked after by the school - Malaysian hospitality is second-to-none - and I was taken out to various dinners each evening and sampled a variety of great food.





Spent Sunday & Monday relaxing after my weeks work - I did have to get up at 6:00 every morning and missed all the hotel breakfasts! - went to a small island fifteen minutes by boat away from the mainland and did a couple of afternoons of snorkelling. There were ots of really beautiful fish which I fed with bread and was even able to touch them as they were busy gorging themselves on my sliced white.


There are some really good diving spots around Sabah, a very high mountain to climb, Urang Utangs and Proboscis monkeys to see plus the worlds largest flower - the Rafflesia - growing in the lush rain forests.

I'll be going back there September or October so I'll be doing all of the above and then some.

Lovely people, too.

Well done the Boro'!

Congratulations to the Boro in what has been an incredible week or two from them. Firstly coming back from a 0-3 deficit to put out the Swiss herbs and now booking a place in the Semi-finals of the FA Cup. Unprecedented!

You must be over the moon, Mr. Stonewall!