MangoZeen

My great-grand aunt Bert traveled to Siam in the 1870s on her father’s clipper ship. Elephant tusks from Laos and opium for China were the Flying Sky’s cargo. I met her a few times in the 1960s. Her house was a boy’s delight.
Whale teeth shark jaws, harpoons, hookahs, and oddities from the Orient. She lived to 103 and […]

John Guare in his play SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION contends that everyone in the world is no more than six people away from each other.

GW Bush to George Bush to his father to Hitler.
Me to my sister-in-law to George Bush Senior to GW Bush to his father and then Hitler
Me to Carrie Carey to Ahmed […]

unpublished novel by Peter Nolan Smith
After the two waiters served the final dish of Cali’s 27-course birthday dinner, the orange sorbet  melted untouched by the satiated guests. 26 hours into the marathon feast at an Alstersee restaurant none dared check their watches, because they weren’t going anywhere, until the birthday boy finished his dessert.

Their host fondled the naked Valkerie […]

This weekend Bangkok’s Dome restaurant atop State Tower will be the setting for one of the most luxurious dinners in recent history. Places for the 11-course banquet can be had for a million baht or $29,000 and so far 15 guests have reserved a seat at the table. Six international chefs from around the world will be preparing […]

Some bad ideas won’t go away as evidenced by Pattaya’s City Council announcing further consideration about opening a new mall on Beach Road. This pet project was forwarded by the out-going mayor, who promises to obey the same environmental constraints as Suvannabhumi Airport.

In other words none at all.
Plans call for high voltage lines to be draped over neighborhoods […]

The Thai Prime Minister announced Bangkok will have two international airports with the re-opening of Don Muang aka Don Ho. Suvannabhumi or Cobra Swamp International will continue operations, while investigators try and unwind the tangle of corruption which has lead to too few toilets for passengers and Thai Air officials alike. Repairs to the new […]

Last night I slept without a heavy cover and the morning air was a sultry miasma. The mango tree in my yard is heavy with fruit. I lost a kilo yesterday from biking and a vow of temperance. No more drinking my weight in beer.

Is winter over?
The cold snap has been hard on the north […]

BORAT surprised movie critics and executives alike with its astounding US box office sales in 2006. The sarcastic film about a Kazakhi TV newscaster on a road trip across America somehow appealed to the public mostly because there weren’t many subtitles and they chose to think that Baron Sacha Cohen aka Ali G was ridiculing […]

Two weeks ago the Colts eliminated The Patriots from the NFL Playoffs. It was a close game. My 9-1 bet on New England winning it all was 86′ed. The 9000 baht would have come in handy. I had a car payment next week. The money would have to come from someplace else.

I didn’t care much […]

Two days ago the Old Roue telephoned from Bangkok. Sirens were in the background. His voice was stressed. “You hear that?”

“What’s happened?” I thought his building might be on fire.
“I don’t know but there’s a large plume of smoke coming from beyond Silom.” His voice was stressed like he’d breathed too much helium.
It was lunch […]