This rap (embedded above) summarizes all five seasons of The Wire. Spoiler alert, naturally, if you haven’t yet seen the best television show ever created. (And why haven’t you?)
Related: The “Re-elect Clay Davis” T-shirt.
(Via Kottke.)
Even in January, Bangkok is typically warm.
Not so this year.
For the last few days, the city has been unseasonably cool. There’s no need for fans, much less air conditioning. I’ve even dug out a light windbreaker from the far reaches of my closet, as it’s been genuinely chilly in the mornings and the evenings. In Bangkok, low temperatures have dipped down to the low 60s Fahrenheit (the high teens, Celsius). ((I am well aware that these are not exactly frigid temperatures. But I ask my dear readers who are currently freezing in the northeast of the US and in Europe to consider that it’s typically balmy here year-round, and one does get used to tropical temps over time.))
In Thailand’s hilly north, some districts around Chiang Rai have been declared a “cold spell disaster zone.” And a monk in Ayutthaya has died of hypothermia.
A “high pressure ridge from China” is the culprit, according to Thailand’s meteorological department. The cold snap should last until Thursday.
At this rate, I just might have to break out my ear muffs.
I asked my little brother C, who’s a serious foodie, to list his five favorite restaurants in our home town of Beaufort, South Carolina ((Beaufort, SC is my adopted home town; I moved around a lot growing up, but I spent more time in Beaufort than anywhere else. C, on the other hand, was raised in Beaufort and went to college in nearby Charleston, SC. So he knows what he’s talking about. Trust me.)) Here’s what he wrote:
Beaufort, South Carolina isn’t known for gourmet dinner options or haute luncheons. This coastal town does provide options a-plenty for those seeking local comfort food and a healthy dose of southern charm. Here are my picks for must have Beaufort fare.
Blackstone’s Deli
205 Scott St.
Beaufort, SC
(843) 524-4330
Alvin Ord’s
1415 Ribaut Rd
Port Royal, SC
(843) 524-8222
The Shrimp Shack
1925 Sea Island Pkwy
Saint Helena Island, SC
(843) 838-2962
Taqueria by Berto
Shell Point Plaza on Parris Island Gateway
Duke’s Barbeque
3533 Trask Pkwy
Beaufort, SC
843 524 1128
Got any restaurants to add to the list? Add ’em to the comments. Thanks, C, for the write-up. Happy eating, all.
Thanks to my pal Ben P. for sending along this snap shot he took recently in Canberra, Australia. Purnell Citywide appears to be a real estate firm there. ((Ben’s previous contribution to this blog is the excellent “On Guns and America,” which I asked him to write in the wake of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.))
My understanding is that many Purnells came from England to the mid-Atlantic of the US in the 17th century. But perhaps there were others who made their way down under? ((A Google search for “Purnells” reveals many things, perhaps most interestingly — given my interest in amusing foodstuffs — this.))
If this video (embedded above) doesn’t make you smile, nothing will.
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:
The city has always been an engine of intellectual life, from the 18th-century coffeehouses of London, where citizens gathered to discuss chemistry and radical politics, to the Left Bank bars of modern Paris, where Pablo Picasso held forth on modern art. Without the metropolis, we might not have had the great art of Shakespeare or James Joyce; even Einstein was inspired by commuter trains.
And yet, city life isn’t easy. The same London cafes that stimulated Ben Franklin also helped spread cholera; Picasso eventually bought an estate in quiet Provence. While the modern city might be a haven for playwrights, poets, and physicists, it’s also a deeply unnatural and overwhelming place.
Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening.
Thai authorities have blocked 2,300 websites for allegedly insulting the country’s revered monarchy and are waiting for court approval to restrict another 400, the government said Tuesday.
The blocking of the websites under harsh lese majeste laws which protect King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been criticised by rights groups and media organisations in recent months.
If I only had two career resolutions for 2009, it would be these:
1) Become invaluable, and
2) Network like mad.
…The US has had a high volatility, but flat 13 years, with the near and medium term outlook decidedly gloomy. Will we have 20 years of flat, but high vol, equity prices?
“There’s always a new Luddism whenever there’s change.”
It’s time for our annual predictions post, in which the ReadWriteWeb authors look forward to what 2009 might bring in the world of Web technology and new media.
Looking back at our 2008 Web predictions, we got some of them right! “The big Internet companies will [embrace] open standards” (Google, Yahoo and others did this); “Mobile web usage will be a big story in 2008” (check!); “Web Services platforms will be a fierce battleground” (Microsoft Azure and Google App Engine were released and AWS grew). We also got some wrong, including most of our acquisition picks! Digg, Twitter, Zoho, Tumblr – all remain independent. Not to be deterred, we’ve made new acquisition predictions for ’09… although the names will be familiar 😉
This story came out nearly two weeks ago, but I thought it would be of interest to readers here in Thailand.
Reuters: “True Move to unveil iPhone 3G on January 16”
BANGKOK, Dec 24 (Reuters) – True Move PCL, Thailand’s third largest mobile phone firm, said on Wednesday it planned to sell Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) 3G iPhone in Thailand from Jan. 16, a key driver which should boost revenue next year.
The deal will make True Move, a subsidiary of True Corp TRUE.BK, the first operator to sell the new phone in the fast-growing Thai market.
Shares in True Corp TRUE.BK, which owns 75.26 percent of True Move, surged 17 percent to close at a near two-month high of 1.65 baht. The overall Thai market .SETI was down 0.3 percent.
True Move will sell the 8GB model for an upfront payment of 6,999 baht ($202) and monthly fees of 1,199 baht. Customers are required to use True Move services for at least 24 months, it said in a statement.
(Thanks to BL for the tip.)
Some updates on the new year’s eve Bangkok nightclub fire:
Here are some recent media reports:
More than 59 people were killed last night when a fire tore through a popular nightclub here in Bangkok. Approximately 1,000 people had gathered there to celebrate the new year.
Here’s a round-up of media coverage:
For video of the incident, there’s this, from BBC News: “Eyewitness films Thai club fire”
NY Times: “At Least 59 Die in Bangkok Club Fire”
A fire at a high-end Bangkok nightclub killed at least 59 people and injured more than 200 shortly after midnight Thursday as revelers were celebrating the new year, the police said.
Nightclub workers said fireworks had been set off around the midnight countdown, but the cause of the fire has not been determined, according to Lt. Sutin Pongkhamphan, the police officer in charge of the case.
He said 54 people died at the scene at the popular club, the Santika, and that five more died at hospitals. An additional 212 people were injured, 21 severely.
AFP: “New Year inferno at Bangkok nightclub kills at least 58”
Police forensic investigators sifted through the charred remains of an upscale Bangkok nightclub Thursday, seeking clues to a blaze that killed 58 revellers ringing in the New Year and injured 243.
Relatives and friends gathered at Bangkok hospitals and outside the popular nightspot desperate for news of loved ones lost or injured in the inferno that gutted the two-storey building.
Police said a Singaporean national was killed and scores of other foreigners — some from Australia, France, Japan and Britain — were hospitalised.
The blaze apparently broke out after a firework display at the Santika club in the Thai capital’s Ekkamai district, a thronging entertainment hub which is frequented by locals and tourists.
AP: “Fire at Bangkok nightclub kills 61, injures 200”
It was billed as a New Year’s Eve blowout and a last-night celebration of the wildly popular, classy nightclub before it moved to a new location. “Goodbye Santika,” the promotion poster read. Before the revelry was over, at least 61 people were dead and more than 200 injured after they tried to flee what swiftly became a charred, gutted ruin in a glitzy Bangkok entertainment area.
Among the casualties was a Singaporean who died and at least 35 foreigners who were injured, including citizens of Australia, Belgium, Britain, France, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, according to officials and reporters.
A full accounting was not expected for about a week since nearly 30 of the corpses were charred beyond recognition.
BBC: “Hazy safety in Bangkok party zone”
Bangkok is a party town, and spectacular New Year celebrations are held in many of the clubs which have made the city’s nightlife renowned around the world.
The Santika was a spacious, two-storey club, stylishly decorated like a mock gothic cathedral, complete with fake arches and a large cross hung from the ceiling.
A natural magnet for partygoers, it had become one of Bangkok’s most popular entertainment venues, packed out with young Thais and foreigners at weekends.
A friend of mine was on the dance floor shortly after midnight, when he first noticed the fire.
He told me he had seen small fireworks being tossed from the stage to celebrate the New Year – then noticed flames around the stage and creeping up to the ceiling.
Suddenly, he said, the flames seemed to be everywhere, and the lights went out.
He described people stumbling towards the single entrance, trying to light their way with their mobile phones.
Mis amigos: May this holiday season make you as stoked as this surfer in Huntington Beach, California. Killer, bra. (RSS readers may need to, like, totally click through to see the vid on YouTube.)
(Via BoingBoing.)