Month: April 2010

Thai Red Shirts

The Big Picture covers the red shirts clashing with police and military. This is the unrest I referred to when we visited the US embassy two weeks ago. And yes, the consulate was again chosen as a protest site after we left, so… Baby luck was on our side.
UPDATE: Some people have asked me if the reds are paid to gather. Yes, we know of people from around here who went to Bangkok to make money demonstrating both this time and the last time when the yellow shirts overran the airport.
(thx Mark)

Khon Kaen Passport Office

We spent this morning getting Max and Mina’s Thai passports. The only reason this is remarkable is that the passport office, located at city hall in Khon Kaen was the most clean and efficient government office I have seen in a long time. There was ample staff, and they were friendly and helpful. The offices were well-equipped and modern, and they completely obliterate the usual Thai bureaucratic need for duplicate signed copies and other such nonsense – it’s a totally paper-free operation (well, except for the end product, of course)! The passports take about a week to get to you by mail and cost a thousand baht ($30 US).

Tool’s 9-8-7 on the Koto


This is Tool’s song Lateralus (originally titled 9-8-7) played on kotos and bass kotos. It’s also surely the ultimate traditional Japanese music/Fibonacci sequence nerd jam of all time.
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I’d like to mention here that the new YouTube layout is absolute crap and apparently I’m not alone in thinking so. And changing the five-star system to a like/dislike one is pretty much the worst user feedback decision I’ve seen in recent times. I guess the user testing groups were firmly set in the Keewl It’s Just Like Facebook demographic.