Monthly Archives: February 2009

The Nana Hotel

February 26, 2009 – 2:23 pm

Directly across from Bangkok’s Nana Plaza is the eternal Nana Hotel. This caravansary has been servicing the happy ending needs of travelers since the 60s. I first stayed there in 1991. Nothing much has changed in that time. Men check in with women half their age. The desk clerks smiled without asking for IDs. They [...]

By Peter | Posted in Bangkok, Travel | Comments (0)

No More Free Food at the Oak Room

February 26, 2009 – 2:09 pm

The Oak Room has been a venerable dining destination for New Yorkers and travelers since its opening in 1905. Despite the baronial setting the food never achieved notice for epicurean splendor and the new owners of the Plaza decided to challenge this old New York tradition by hiring Joël Antunes as chef. The Frenchman had [...]

By Peter | Posted in Food, NEW YORK | Comments (0)

The Sacrifice of Lent

February 26, 2009 – 1:50 pm

In 1962 the pope convened his cardinals for an ecumenical council aimed at modernizing the Catholic Church. The most noticeable change came with the abandonment of Latin for the litany of the Mass. No more ‘mea culpas’ or ‘sanctus sactus sanctus’. The priests intoned the ancient texts in English slowly stripping stripping the mystery from [...]

By Peter | Posted in religion | Comments (0)

The Best Of Days

February 24, 2009 – 11:55 am

Every Tuesday morning Earl flew into New York from Boston for meetings at his investment firm’s main office. Traffic on the highway from the airport was lighter than the previous month. A telling sign of the failing economy. No wait at the Midtown Tunnel’s tollbooths was another. The drive to 57th Street and Madison Avenue [...]

By Peter | Posted in NEW YORK, economy | Comments (0)

New Missile Threat

February 24, 2009 – 9:11 am

For decades Americans have been concerned about a missile attack from a hostile country. Mushroom clouds rising over Topeka, Kansas. Our people annihilated by a first strike from the USSR, Red China, or France. These attacks never occurred throughout the Cold War, but the fear never faded from our consciousness either. In recent years GW [...]

By Peter | Posted in Thailand, War | Comments (0)