Friday Funnies

Hi,

After looking like it was surely going to rain, it didn’t.  I guess this is how it’s going to be.  It was cool this morning and evening.

The ‘Zany Day’ tune was “Poison Ivy” by The Coasters.  That leads us to ‘Old School Friday’ and a classic:

“(Oh-oh-oh-oh, Wah-ah-ah-ah, Oh-oh-oh-oh) __ __, __ __ will you be mine? My darling dear, love you all the time.  I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you.  __ __, __ __ the one I adore.  Love you forever and ever more.  I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you.”  Hint:  The group is named after a bird in a tux, the song about a heavenly creature on the ground. 

This morning we took the van to Suzuki for service.  This was the 4 year check-up and we were told it would take about 2 hours.  We left in search of coffee and whatever else we might see along the way.  We ended up at Connect Cafe, a place we frequented when we first arrived in Chiang Rai.  They used to be very close to The Wangcom Hotel, where we stayed.  Now they are across the street from the Bus Station and their business is good.  We had our coffee/tea and decided to stroll a bit more.

Our tickets have been booked for our trip to Australia in March, but visas are required.  It was suggested on the Australian immigration page, that we could use a travel agent to help with this.  We have a friend who has an agency so we walked up to her office.  She was surprised that we needed a visa for Australia, but quickly started investigating how to get one.  The process was started and we will probably get it finished tomorrow.  While we were waiting in her office, we read about some of the day trips she offers.  There are a few that look pretty cool.  We just might take them ourselves.

We had an early dinner this afternoon so we could leave for the Jazz Festival and beat the traffic.  What we didn’t realize was, it wasn’t going to be as crowded as we thought.  It’s been a long time since we’ve been to Singha Park and there were changes and improvements to the roads leading to the festival area.  There was a crew that made sure all the cars were parked in an orderly fashion, so no one would get blocked.  We had a little wait at the ticket table, but things worked out.  While we were standing around we saw friends as they arrived.  Our friend Edwin arrived by himself so we invited him to sit with us.  As I suspected with events like this, it didn’t start on time.  That was fine for us, it meant we had time to find a good spot.   We were expecting to sit ‘festival style’, on the ground, and we even took some little camping chairs we found at Big C.  It turned out there were whole sections in the ‘yard’ with small tables and chairs.  It was great sitting in a chair for the time we were there. 

Our table was right behind the sound tower with all the controls, but on either side of the stage there were large monitors showing the artists up close.  We could see those just fine.  The stage was so far away that even if the tower wasn’t there, we would have used the monitors.  The first act was from La Salle School of Arts in Singapore.  They were a tight quintet plus a lead singer.  I really enjoyed them.  The next act was a big band that played American music that ranged from Dixieland to New Orleans style.  Some of it was OK, but it went on too long for our tastes.  There was one tune where one of the horn players sang, in Thai, and he really captured the crooner style from the 40s.  Then the air got cold and moist and it was time to leave.  

Today’s photos are from the Thailand Jazz Festival.  The second pic is the view from our table.  I hope we can get the same spot tomorrow.

Have a Wonderful WeekEnd.       Time for the ‘Funnies’.

                 Peace,

                           Danny