Olympic madness - Bangkok Facebook marathon ends.

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"I'll be watching more hours of Justin Bieber videos than Olympic events"..  I wrote!!

Who would have believed that this old cynic would have been caught up in the recent spectacle that was the Olympic games 2012 in London.   An event I had ignored totally and then only acknowledged with the above comment,  has now finished and left a gaping hole in my lives....  Thats the real life, my character the Pie Mans life (pieman?) and the recent life I seem to have acquired on facebook.

Biker, Career Local Government Officer and then my two travelling lives in France and Thailand have provided me with lots of good friends and chattereres.   I am lucky that I have been able to keep in touch more with these friends through the power of Facebook. A few participants from each life chat and cajole with me on a daily basis and it does ensure a broad subject base.

So, the Olympics started for me on facebook as I was not interested in any of the events.  I initially gravitated to negative comments about it, then once it was on, I swung entirely the other way and became it's biggest fan.  Friends from "The lak" helped it along, as they were in the UK (and Ireland!) for the event and one of them went armed with the latest I-Pad type device.  From humble beginnings we grew to an almost frantic series of "like", "share" and "follow" with the facebook globe button constantly flashing red with numbers well into double figures most mornings.   Mouse malfunctions and new equipment resulting in stray posts attached to wrong threads only added to the fun.  Some of these stray posts even picking up "Like"s in the frenzy.

I even had a spare oven timer next to my PC (the one with the working mouse) in the office upstairs.  I managed a bit of exercise running up and down the stairs to turn pies in the oven every 12 minutes.   Singed a sausage roll or two during hectic events like the arrival of Phyls Ploughmans lunch, but by and large... we got the posts and likes in with little serious collateral damage.

I experienced the Olympics rather than watched it and enjoyed the event as it gave me the opportunity to do what I enjoy most... talking and having a laugh with friends.  It did remind me a bit of Euro 96 and the world cup in 1998 where it was enjoyed far more in the fanzines and pubs than on the pitch.  The BBC later brought out "My Summer with Des" (Desmond Lynam) and it is now on top of my watch list.  It's on youtube in 10 minute segments.... best I can find so far.

The Olympics was pure fun, happened soley on facebook for me as I was in Bangkok alone for most of it and despite having a television, it was only ever on in the background. What I saw of it was also mostly mirror image as my lap top is on the dressing table and the television is behind me. I watched the Thai guys fight and it's only my first law of this blog "No negativity or knocking" that stops me commenting more on that.

We had great fun and most of it was spontaneous "had to be there" humour and in jokes, but none-the-less it was fantastic fun and I was sad to see it pass into history last night.  There were quite a few reminders there amongst the icons of the music world that we are not getting any younger.  Nice to see them all though and whilst a lot of it was not to my musical taste, I do tend to use music to evoke memories and to re-live happy times.  Sometimes this may mean resorting to to Abba, Saturday Night Fever and Percy Sledge.... Songs you do not hum outloud at Custom Motorbike Shows when you're a biker.

But... It's over now, the red globe has barely winked at me all morning.   The Olympic Facebook Marathon is past and today just a few stragglers catching up last night Facebook action and some of us trying to keep it going for a bit longer.   Like the real Marathon, it passed a lot of interesting places and beautiful areas and was as great to watch as to participate in....  Might need to change that last bit to reflect my current shape size and activity level!

I think a few of us will continue with this and will be honing our skills for any future events that crop up.  What I learned it that we can enjoy any event if we approach it from a positive and fun angle.  I'll really breath life into the blog, even if I have to make less pork pies every week.  Writing is becoming more and more important to me these days and a big all round thanks to everybody that participated.  It really was a Team GB (and Ireland) effort. Golds all round.

Justin Beiber.... who's he!

Alex Sayle saved my blog.

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Quiet day in the pie shop yesterday, hence the re-launch of the blog.  It's been a hard 4 months but not much to report other than the production and demolition of a few thousand pies.

During a particularly boring conversation the other day, I realised that not only was I not listening anymore, but that my responses were not proper words... merely noises intended to sound like I was listening.  In order to alleviate my boredom further I decided to see how few real words I could use for the rest of the day and resorted to grunts, hmms, aaahs and aye appens.

My love of comedy and music then combined to remind be of Alexie Sayles appearance on "The Young Ones" with the immortal track "Stupid Noises".  Of course I could not remember the lyrics and had to find the track on Youtube and that was it.  Been singing it ever since.

Sooooo, the blog.  This all made me realise that I had maybe given up the blog a bit too lightly and could get away with a few short posts to keep the interest going.   I had noticed that my facebook post count was going through the roof as I experienced (can't say watched as I didn't) the Olympics with my friends on-line.  I'd made a mental note to re-start the blog once I felt I was overdoing the FB anyway, as that amount of posts must surely mean a return of some creativity.

A lot of my postings on there were very raw ideas, set down in order to store them for later editing or re-working into other posts.  I note the blog is still getting plenty of hits and the other day I googled for "Wigan Kebab"  and my previous post came up number one, so it must be getting some attention, if only from the bots.  There are 53 partial post saved as drafts and I aim to release some of them soon.

Problem has been that I am unable to work enough comedy or interesting links into them due to being exhausted.  The idea now, let em go and hope the flow of creative juices increases.

So, thanks again to The Balowski family for all the laughs... sing along if you like.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Songkran

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I always feel like breaking into song when Songkran comes around.  This year is number 12 for me and I have never ever failed to be impressed with the total anarchy that prevails here.  Not for everyone and there are some hate the whole experience and shut themselves away for the week, head north or just get wet and complain about it.

Love it or hate it, it does not look like going away anytime soon and there are people book special holidays to be here at this time of the year.  Me and young Tony "The Pielet" have been practicing and he really has his eye in now.  Got him with a snide one this morning just as he woke up as I know he is going to be hitting me all day... even when I am grumpy and on the phone, toilet or just baking bread.

Small as Bang Niang is, there are enough of us and enough bars and eateries to make a real go of it. There is a sizable roadblock planned and the shop opposite has set up a tent selling water guns, buckets and other Songkran paraphernalia.

Usual place for Songkran down the years for me, has been Pattaya.  But age has tempered my ability to drink party and waterfight for 4-6 days.  The one day suffices now and we enjoy this condensed version of in non-the-less.

Pics to follow.

Tsunami . True faith in human nature....

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I've always liked people and can't think of anybody that I dislike or couldn't say something positive about.  It's the old Yorkshire adage "if you can't say owt nice, don't say owt at all" coming in.

Yesterday my abiding faith in the human race was rewarded with a fantastic display by the locals and  visitors in Bang Niang, Khao Lak... and I am sure this is true of all affected areas.

15:50 yesterday and Duang disturbs my afternoons "Only Fools and Horses".."Yuppy Love" as it happens, which is the episode where Rodney meets Casandra and Del boy falls through the bar in what is arguably the funniest moment from the entire series.  Pie tag here is that Trigger is only in the bar with Del as he has been barred from the Nags Head on suspicion of stealing a pork pie.

Quick click round twitter, I tend to follow Richard Barrow https://twitter.com/#!/RichardBarrow as he manages to find news articles and links that would pass me right by.  Seems the word from the massage shop was right (it usually is) and there has been an earthquake with a possible Tsunami on the way...... again!  I say again as we were here during the 2004 one and we really did not want to see another one close up.  So... on the instructions of my wife, we packed and left... orderly.

What I first noticed was how all the neighbours were checking on the elderly and making sure they could get clear.  Offers of lifts abounded, all car spaces were filled, motorcycles returned from "The Hill" time and time again.  Orderly and very considerately making sure everybody who wanted to get away, got away.   So it was, We drove from the shop, picking up two of the massage girls from across the street, few bottles of water, couple of fresh Chicken and Mushroom pies that had just come out, and we were off.

It's only 100 meters to the small road that leads to the back of Bang Niang, but traffic was building slowly and everybody was checking that the old lady had got out of the corner shop... She had, but people still checked. Onwards and upwards past the rear of the Patrol Boat that the previous Tsunami had deposited back in 2004, the sirens around it were wailing and messages were being imparted, but passing that point we were all pretty much assured of surival.   Few checks around, met up with friends and settled in for the evening.

So many people had climbed that hill, but what really struck home was the owners of the houses all had their doors open, drinks, ice, shelter from the torrential rain that hit us and televisions to catch the news.  There were no closed doors, just great friendly, concerned welcomes and offers of beds for the babies and toddlers... of which I have one.  Tony loves playing out in the rain as he is half falang and like me, loves the rain so we toughed it out.  Acutally enjoyed being cool for a change.

My brother in law had fled even further up the hill to really great height and it took some considerable puffing and panting to catch up with the 200-300 people who had gone to very high ground with him.  Turns out, this hill, offers views of the sea that were not available further down.  So, most had gone to watch for the event rather than in fear of a 200 meter high wave... which is what it would have taken to reach them.  

Just a few workmen's huts up there and rubber tappers..... Tin shacks... little more, but all with doors open, welcome smiles, water and ice buckets outside and the odd bottle of beer and whiskey.  All shared gladly and all full of children when the rains returned.  What people.

Thankfully, no wave materialised this time, and 4 hours later, be got the all clear and returned to our homes.  I have to say, the Police and Rescue services had done a fantastic job of guiding traffic and people to higher ground and it was all done calmly.  Flashing lights and sirens marked the small roads that led to the hill and they were manned in a very professional manner.

Can't say enough about people and I hope the mainstream media catch onto this rather than the handful of moaners that tend to hog the limelight at times like these.  They certainly keep a welcome in the hillside for us.

No pictures again.  I didn't even realise I had my camera with me.!!!!

Biggest Pie ever Colonel John Blashford Snell OBE

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One of my early Heroes was Colonel John Blashford  Snell OBE .  This may surprise him as most of his contact with this 12-15 year old pieman was shouting at him to get back in line.

He was famous as an explorer and had recently completed his crossing of the Darian Gap in Panama...( Isn't wiki great).  But the role I most remember him in was as head of the Hunts that took place around my home town of Ripon, North Yorkshire.  It was organised with military precision and a great childhood friend's father, Ken Mason was the head gamekeeper and organiser of us... a motley crew of beaters with white tatty flags tied to bits of tree.

Somewhat less motley (and older) collection of beaters.

We all knew of his exploits through the local media and it had really captured my imagination early in life and led to a lifetime of travelling (whenever possible) or dreaming of travelling (usually during lesson times or whilst at work).  My joy of travelling and just moving from place to place stays with me even today on the bus trip  up to Bangkok.  I put it down to never expecting to have the opportunity... I think.

Back then, our French lessons had been cut with the following (true) explanation from a teacher.  You won't need French as none of you will be going that far unless there is another war!  My Careers interview lasted about 2 minutes and I was informed the only options were the Paint factory warehouse or Buxted Chicken factory.  So compared to an expected adult hood counting paint tins and poking around chickens innards, even the crappy bus I was on the other night becomes exciting.

Must point out at this stage that I have one of the worlds biggest chips on my shoulder and this will show itself more once I have an editor in place. 

Back to the beating.  What I loved about this was the remoteness, cold and isolation, especially in the fog, that went with the job.  The rather non politically correct shooting that went on was not much of a concern as we didn't see much of it and were never allowed near anyone posh enough to own a gun.   On occasions when some of the guns would be taking shots at rabbits that were heading in our direction we copped for a bit of lead shot and had to duck and cover, pathetically I remember, behind our plastic flags!  We then learnt that sometimes, even figures of authority, even my friends father were more that capable of projecting the F word  at a bunch of Toffs, 100 or 200 meters away across a field.... under fire...

This was very hard going underfoot.  No footpaths or tracks, just mile after mile of moor, field, thicket, wood and forest.  I got my love of walking and the great outdoors from these days and probably a fair degree of fitness from it.

Perfect day .  Never experienced silence like the moors in fog and snow before or since

Pie time.  For lunch we had the most enormous pie ever imaginable to a youngster.  Game pie.  It feed at least 20 of us, along with a few sandwiches and the odd swig of beer.  All the years I went beating (and I went well into my twenties)  beer never tasted so good as it did from an old can, tipped out of an old hessian sack onto the freezing ground.  I remember standing completely in the middle of nowhere, with the next person to me almost out of sight and, if it was foggy, completely out of sight, in which case we had to listen for a whistle.

I used to Keep warm by pouring hot tomato soup into a cup and huddling over it, sometimes dipping my egg sandwiches into it if they were frozen.

For the anoraks:  A raised, hot crust pastry affair full of whatever they had shot last week.

 
My abiding memory of  the great man (he was) is his "assisting" a friend of mine in his passage through some thick brambles with the words "If I can get a Landrover  through the Amazon, you can get yourself through that".

It was along time before any of us told him that a thicket had been too dense for us to beat.  Happy days!

Phuket to Kok Kloy motorbike dash

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What a day that was.

5:00am start is normal for us, but the day just got wilder and wilder. Al fresco BBQ's always take some planning and managing, but with an incoming storm system and two nests of Red Ants to contend with, it took even more managing.

Great start to the set up was when we put the leg of one table directly on top of an Ants nest... this pleased them not one jot.  Got sillier stirring a pot of curry as we gave up the "run in and quick stir and run out again" ploy in favour of walking round and round the pot.  Eventually they got the better of us and we moved it.  Never win against ants.

Lovely well managed event (not by me I add) on a lagoon with beautiful views of the Andaman Sea and a not so beautiful view of a massive black cloud homing in on us.   The flames on the BBQ's were not troubling the food on top as they spent most of the time blown either horizontal or blown right out.

Job got done and apart from a few blown fuses, couple of near electrocutions and me walking into a spot light (that was switched on!  can't believe I managed that even when that tired) it passed of peacefully.  Then came the rains.

The storms had been the of the usual short, exceptionally intense tropical  variety that we know and love so well.  This was now  medium/hard rain set in for the night and I had a 45km motorbike ride to the bus stop just off Phuket Island in Khok Kloy.  An hour would have been plenty of time but for having no petrol in the bike and having sent my wallet off in the car along with my phone and other belongings to keep them dry.

Luckily I caught them at the second set of lights, grabbed some money, filled the bike up and the chase was on.  By now, I knew I would be lucky to make it for 8:00pm.  This was driven home to me near the check point when the bus I was meant to catch actually overtook me.  I overtook him on the inside again as he was stuck in a bit of traffic going through the Check Point, but he caught me again going over the bridge.

Despite the pouring rain and only wearing my chefs jacket, I gunned the bike and got in the slip stream.  He beat me by about 30 seconds and was surprised when I swung my mighty steed (Honda wave 125) in his path to stop him leaving.

Somehow we had all overtaken the car but the bus driver and Station Staff knew it was me and told me I could get on.   However, my luggage, passport, work permit, money and phone were in the car and I couldn't even ring them to ask where they were.  Five minutes later, they showed up, I got on the bus and changed in the minuscule toilet and was happily, but soggily once again, Bangkok bound.

Got a few strange looks from the western tourists and backpackers as I boarded the bus, as Khok Kloy Station really is a remote and desolate place for a westerner to be.... at night.... after chasing it down ... but hey, I get that all the time!

Photographers - No pleasing some folk.

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Quick rant today.

This past year, I have had FOUR professional photographers... with websites and followings etc. coming in as customers.

One is a long standing friend of some 6 years, another I have known now for 2 years and the others have stayed here on extended holidays.  Great pics on their websites and they all specialise in different areas, namely Press photographer, sports & extreme trekking, wildlife and scenery.  A pic from each site once I have cleared it with them.

What they all have in common is that not one of them has EVER!!!! wanted to take a pic of me.  Are they telling me something?