Today

Hi,

Chiang Rai finally got the rain it had been waiting for. We had a dinner for some friends, returned to the Night Bazaar, got a visit from an art lover, and went out for a 'goodbye' lunch today with more friends. It's been busy.

Our 'Old School Friday' song was "Moody's Mood for Love", as performed by King Pleasure. The 'song' was originally a saxophone solo by James Moody, for "I'm In the Mood for Love". That was in 1949. In 1952 Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to the solo, in a form known as vocalese. King Pleasure popularized Jefferson's work in 1954, and the rest is history. James Moody died on the 9th of this month. There have been many versions of the tune and there's a lot more info available about the whole style.

Now it's time for 'Easy Monday'. "__ if you will, please send a little girl for me to thrill. A girl who will want my kisses and my arms, a girl with all the charms of you." Clue: This song came out in 1959, and there's a reference to a goddess of something. Hmm. It's easy.

In the afternoon on Saturday we heard a sound we haven't heard in over a month. It was rain. At first it was light, but then it turned into a downpour. What a treat. The lawns and trees are very happy.

That evening we had dinner at the house with Atom and her sister Ting. Ting is in town from New Zealand where she's in her first year at university. We had a great time, hearing about life in NZ and learning things we didn't know. For instance, I was curious as to how one types in Thai, since the Thai alphabet is so complex compared to English. The key is in the 'shift key'. There was a lot of laughing and sharing. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Sunday we did the usual morning thing at Big C. Since we were still in the midst of a three-day holiday weekend, the place was packed. As we left we noticed that big progress has been made on the new Central shopping center structure. There has been lots of speculation as to when it will be completed, but we think they have a long way to go.

Sunday we got a call from our friend Pui. He had a friend who he wanted to bring over to see Lisa's artwork. It turns out that Bit had seen some of Lisa's work in the Le Meridien show. He's building a house and wants some art. We were quite surprised. He also saw the magazine article about Lisa in "Traversing the Orient." Unfortunately, most of the work is at the framers, but she showed him photos on the computer. It was nice to see his reaction to the art.

We had our Sunday dinner at the Night Bazaar and finished off the gift list. On our way home we drove down Clock Tower street to see the lights that have been hung on either side of the street. They're vertical strings of lights that create a corridor of lights leading to the Clock Tower. It's very magical.

Today I took the car to Toyota for a routine check-up. I had made the appointment on Saturday and they were in the middle of a giant sales campaign. There must have been 100 people there, with loud music blaring and tables set up for deal making. Today the place was very calm. I hung out in the lounge and watched the Thai version of The View.

Two of our friends, Michael and Heather, from The Sold Project are leaving for America on Wednesday so we took them to lunch at World Class Hamburgers. We sat in a sala out in the garden and had a wonderful time. We talked about the funny things that happen when one returns to the States after being here for an extended period of time. Like responding to people in Thai, or the shock at the cost of certain items. They'll be going to the Philadelphia area so the weather change will also be a bit of a shock. We'll stay in touch and hope to see them again someday when they visit.

Tonight we have clear skies and we plan to go outside and sit in the driveway in hopes of seeing the annual meteor shower. Last year we actually saw some and it was amazing.

Have a Great Week.

Peace,
Danny

"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."
~Unknown

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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