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Blog
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Written by Jason Brink
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 03:06 |
 In the beginning there was the song, and it burst from the stars and ravaged the earth with its melodies. Some of the notes struck the the stones in the form of stars hurled from the sky to crash down to earth. Others became waves, churned by the melody and tempo to beat upon the shores. Still others became wind, reedy and lilting as a piper’s pipe, winnowing from the scattered chafe of the earth the seeds of life before casting them upon the earthquake-tilled ground. The song grew and grew, weaving together to form the blades of grass, the trunks of trees, the majestic arc of river paths and the deep cacophonous boom of the earth. The music twisted, crashed together, burst apart, and then finally lay still.
It is always remarkable, the way you learn new things. New pictures of reality given to you by those you meet, new ways to tie the world together. As we were walking down the street to go meet a couple friends at Moka, a local place near the water that serves a reasonable facsimile of western pizza, I noticed she was humming a little song and very quietly voicing our surroundings...giving name to them in song. Generally speaking, she is a very sing-song type of person to begin with, and it is amusing to listen to her sing whatever it is that may have come to her mind. I asked what the significance of the singing was, and she explained to me that it was tied to aboriginal spirituality in Australia, and that at the beginning of the world before time, everything that exists in our world was sung into being. That these songs were called song-lines, and when traveling the aborigines would sing the story of their journey, which would allow other to make the same journey by following the signs from within the song.
She went on to say that the Aborigines believe that the world is held together by these songs, and that were the songs to cease to be sung, the objects in them would cease to exist. With these songs acting as a sort of collective memory, it is a perfect example of the belief that “if I don’t remember/see/think about/acknowledge it, it doesn’t exist. The belief that we in our remembering, control what happens in the world around us.
I do not believe that the world can be made or unmade by a song, but I do believe that there is a very important lesson here...that we can through our remembering of truths, and forgetting of slights and offenses. How much could we possibly make things better if we, as a race, let ourselves remember our human relation, and forget the walls that divide us. How much would the world change if everyone just forgot the dividing lines of their religions? How much more peaceful would the world be if we let ourselves move past the theological barriers that have held us apart for so long and recognized the common aspects of our humanity.
 I laugh a bit when I write thing, because it really makes it sound like I should be wearing patchouli oil and sitting up in the top of a big tree somewhere trying to keep the evil lumber company from destroying Gaia, but that's not really my thing and everyone who knows me knows that very well. I am not a hippy, but when you look at causes of loss of life globally it almost always comes down to a REALLY REALLY REALLY stupid reason behind the conflict. Christians v. Muslims, Muslims v. Christians, Pagans v. Christians, Christians v. Pagans, Christians v. Christians, Muslims v. Muslims... I don’t understand why everyone can’t give it a rest. There is no need for us to fight one another, even from a religious standpoint. Every single religion without question has within it the basics of the concept of peace and goodwill. There are certainly outliers which twist the meanings of their religion to match the most terrible and violent interpretation of their religion; radical Islam, the Westboro Baptist nutjobs, and others like them...but by and large most people desire nothing more than to be left alone. The average Muslim bears no ill will towards the average Christian, nor does the average Christian bear any ill will towards the average Muslim...I think deep down everyone recognizes that they are all just human beings. If we could just for a moment stop singing the songs of destruction, stop chanting the rhythms to unmake the world, perhaps we could learn a new song.
Personally, I know there are many things that I have seen done over the years....many slights and offenses both perceived and real. I have made a choice to let them go...to let them fall by the wayside my mind, it is of no profit to hold things against people, its done, its over...moving forward from here.
That's my rant for the day. In other news I spent some time at the hospital in Rayong getting another dose of the TwinRix Hep A+B vaccine. Incredibly beautiful hospital, giant, clean, and shining. I was VERY impressed. The language barrier was something of an issue, but at least I am already in the Thai system now in case something happens. I even have a little hospital ID card and everything.
I am headed to Bangkok today for some shopping and paperwork purposes, and to help a friend with her baggage at the airport. Should be back in Ban Phe by later tonight, but I might end up staying over there somewhere. Always a big adventure.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 29 July 2010 03:29 |
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The View from Saikaew Beach |
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Written by Jason Brink
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Sunday, 25 July 2010 02:33 |
 There are many benefits to living within a merit based society...people are not quite so quick to be total asses to one another, while you will get cheated occasionally, its not nearly as frequent as if you were in a place that is NOT merit based. For example, most foreigners will get roughly the same price for cab fares and ferry tickets as the local Thai populace will. Some drivers will try to cheat you, but overall its pretty even.
People are often kinder to one another, smiling and thinking that its better to live in a society in which everything seems happy than one which they don’t. The Thai people are often very helpful and if it looks like you are in a spot that you can’t quite communicate your needs to someone, another who can help will intervene and help arrange things without being asked, and will often not ask anything for it.
However, there are points at which a Buddhist merit based mentality is something of a roadblock, and this is in the department of animal control. It is against Buddhist morality to kill needlessly...a belief that I often hold as well, i.e. don’t shoot a bluejay for the sake of shooting a bluejay. However, when there are so many dogs that they are actually a credible danger to all passers by, something should be done about it.
The first few days I didn’t notice the dogs, you would see them here and there, but it wasn’t a huge deal. 99% of them are just fine, doing whatever it is that they feel they should be doing and living side by side with their human neighbors. One, Scout as he has been named, sits on the first step of the market in Ban Phe, but doesn’t bother anyone. Sometimes he will look balefully at you, but he never bothers you. Other dogs however, do not have the same good behaviour as Scout does. Riding my bike in the morning I often get scampered after half-heartedly by one dog or another...I have been outright chased once...but its not a big deal...I can see them on the side of the road and avoid them by crossing in another area.
On the island of Koh Samet though, it is a different story.
Perhaps I should explain Koh Samet and the situation surrounding it before I continue with the dogs.
Koh Samet is an island on the eastern seaboard of the Gulf of Thailand...it is a beautiful mass of trees, rocks, and white sand dropped into the ocean. It is possible to take a ferry from Ban Phe to Koh Samet for just over a dollar...a good price for a 40 minute ferry ride. To get to the ferry you must walk far out on this long pier that seems to have been assembled by the rejected toothpicks from the toothpick factory. The two girls I was with, both travelers from the states, didn’t feel quite secure on the pier...I was reasonably sure I was going to end up swimming in the harbor.
 We made it to Koh Samet, walked through the national part security checkpoint like we belonged on the island and without looking around and gawking like a tourist, and thus avoided the 200 baht entry fee (about $6.50). They are used to having teachers around, so if you don’t LOOK like a tourist, they will usually just assume you are a teacher and living in the city...they were too busy dealing with the three boatloads of Chinese tourists who REALLY looked like tourists...I think the sign that indicates whether a Chinese citizen is a tourist or not is a fanny pack...there were plenty of those to go around. We walked through the line of beach bars and dinner houses to the far end of Silver Sands Beach to a beach called Saikaew, where we met up with a few other people and began absorbing sunlight and drinking the impossibly large bottles of thai beer that can be had for about a dollar.
Scattered about in the sand, either flopped out on one side or dragging their asses through the side like they were trying to excavate a channel, are dogs....dogs of every shape and size. There was no portion of the canine family was neglected in this gathering. There was not much commonality between each of them other than the fact that they were all manged to the point they had no hair...just weird wrinkled skin.
Most of them were not a nuisance, they would just sit in the sand or follow you around, not looking the least bit interested or threatening. They were simply EVERYWHERE. As the day began to wind down, and people moved from the beach to the bars, they dogs began to congregate nearer to those of us who were still on the beach...namely my group. By the time we got off the beach, there was a good 30 dogs following us around...they, as all dogs do, decided it was time to start fighting. Nothing like a dog fight going on around your legs. Makes me wish I had gotten my rabies course before I left.
We had spent the entire day on the island, and were just getting ready to return when one of the girl’s Thai boyfriend arrived...on a sailboard. Tony Ja here had sailed all the way from the mainland to the island, then around the island to where we were and would not be able to return until the next day when the wind reversed direction. During the contemplation of this event, we managed to miss the last ferry returning to the mainland. Unfortunately, as this weekend is a Thai holiday, there were no rooms whatsoever to be had on the island for any sort of reasonable price. There was one room that I could have shared with one of the girls, but we both didn’t really feel like staying on the island overnight and we both had rooms we had already paid for on the mainland. It was only a $15 added cost, but still... So, we went and stood on the pier to see if we could hop a speedboat back to the mainland.
The other thing that plays into this is that it is storm season in Thailand, and we had been watching a storm brewing out in the gulf all day. As we arrived at the pier is began to rain...first a sprinkle, then a full on tropical deluge. We hopped in a convenient speedboat and were bound for the mainland, cutting arcs storm chop, being drenched by sea spray and rain, and generally having a bad time of it. I wasn't too worried about it until the speedboat driver started grunting and feeling around for his life vest under the seat... we made it without incident, but it was a journey.
So exhausted was I upon returning, that I collapsed into bed after rinsing the sand off me, had a very brief moment to wish my very good friend a happy birthday (HAPPY STILL BIRTHDAY!!! I wish I was there to share it!), and then literally passed out. Today should be a bit more low key...I want to get some writing done.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 25 July 2010 02:52 |
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Written by Jason Brink
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Friday, 23 July 2010 01:59 |
 Every time I have gone anywhere globally, I have always noticed that everywhere in the world manages to lag behind the US in popular culture by about a decade...which is not a bad thing. I don’t say this attempting to flaunt the cultural superiority of the US, only to point out that its odd sometimes to hop in a taxi cab with a thai driver, and speed down their immaculate expressways while he croons very very very badly to Britney Spears “Hit Me Baby, One More Time!”
To take a trip on the Thai expressways made me realize a couple things. :)
First, good lord Californian roads suck...think back for a bit to a decade ago and think about the roads. We don’t really notice how bad they have become because its a gradual process, but the Thai roads are without exception in fantastic shape. I am on the south-eastern side of Thailand, and every single road I was on, both in Bangkok and outside, were fantastic.
Secondly...well...first I should qualify this. As most of you know, I got back from Haiti not too terribly long ago, and spending time in Port-au-Prince gave a new meaning to the concept of litter. I am also from an area that is very dry, so things do not break down...ever...so if there is a paper tossed into the grass on the side of the road, its pretty much there until the sun breaks it down, or someone picks it up. However, one thing I have noticed is that most of the roads here in Thailand are very clean. Not immaculate, but very clean. From where I am, I think I can see maybe one or two pieces of litter blowing around in the 100 meters of road I can see.
Anyways, yesterday consisted of a journey from Bangkok to the small town of Ban Phe on the South Eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand. I am currently staying at a small place called the Bedrock Guesthouse and Grill...neat place, its a little on the hot side, but then again I am staying in one of the fan rooms for $6/night...instead of bucking for the $18/night room with the AC. My room even came with a free lizard...I have named him Bob...seemed like a good name for a lizard.
 This morning, I went for a ride along Road 3145 (wonderful name, isn’t it?) which runs along the beach here. It was beautiful, in the pre dawn light. The road is long and straight, with tall pine trees on both sides, a few businesses here and there, but pine trees in front of jungle for the rest of it. It really is a remarkable thing. I didn’t have my camera with me for the ride, but I will be bringing it along tomorrow.
Socially, I have fallen in with a group of expats from all over the world, there are two Aussies, two Brits, and a South African...good group of guys, spent time talking to them last night about all sorts of things...very interesting group. They all spend time doing various things in the area...one owns the guesthouse here, others do various odd sounding jobs are various locals around the region.
I am off to brave a bit more of the world today...I am going to catch a ferry out to Koh Samet later today I believe, just wander around a bit, see some things. It will be good to get out on the water.
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Last Updated on Friday, 23 July 2010 05:44 |
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Written by Jason Brink
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 23:42 |
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Many people live their lives just waiting to live...just waiting for everything to line up just perfectly so that they can take that vacation, go on that cruise, have that child, buy that house, live that dream. So many people hurry from cradle to grave in a motionless quest for what they know not. We, in the US, have lost that pioneer spirit, that drive to crash headlong into the unknown, to step out into what Whitman called the “Brink of Danger,” which I find apropos in this regard.
So, here I am...8101 miles from home as the crow flies, sitting in a little hotel called the “Valentine Resort.” Now, as one would expect from a name like this, it was inexpensive, but it is clean and well kept. The only real downside is that I had to run the hooker “heysexy-you-want-good-time?” gauntlet on my way in the front door. It is interesting being in a place where prostitution is widely accepted by pretty much all members of a society. Last night, recovered for the most part from my day of being totally dead to the world due to jetlag and what Anthony Bourdain calls “Asia Helmet” (where for the first couple days, everything you do feels like you are doing it from within a giant plastic bubble, nothing really makes sense, and everything is wrong...thats the first day and a half for me) I headed down the street to the ubiquitous 7/11 store to get some simple nourishment that I don't have to really focus on...bought some yogurt (thank you Dave for that advice), some green tea, and some “biscuit sticks”. As I walked, I passed another hotel patron, drunk, stumbling hand in hand with a woman who he was taking back to his hotel for the night. She seemed just fine with the arrangement, as the man seemed to have more money than sense, but its just...I don't know...odd.
The trip over was good, as far as international trans-oceanic flights are concerned...I got here in any case. Those long flights are always a bit odd though, with the majority of the flight being spent stuck in an odd non-linear timeline. You sleep...and then you wake up...and nothing has changed...you don't know if you fell asleep watching the movie in front of you and woke up 30 seconds later, or you slept through the entire movie and it restarted and you just happened to wake up at the same point. You skip along at 40k feet above a featureless ocean, the only time I saw anything is when I got close enough to see the lights of Sapporo and Tokyo through the clouds, the people around you caught in the same dismal reality of seat belt signs and the ever-present roar of the wind racing over the wings.
I do have a couple things to say about the flight over, and the service provided by China Airlines. They get a five star rating from me for their trans-oceanic flights...incredible service, support, and comfort on the flight. I was flying economy, but I didn't have a hard time getting a decent seat, the seats were comfortable and while most airline seats are generally just too small for my frame no matter what I do, this one was just fine. I was kinda terrified of the concept of riding on a plane built for a country who has a average height of 5'5”...leaving me outstripping them by almost a foot, but it was no problem at all.
My hero for the day was Grace Chang, who was a manager at the LAX counter for China Airlines. Despite her misgivings, she helped me get my bike onto the plane, as well as orchestrate things so that I got a bulkhead seat on both flights...which was awesome. Kudos to her, Ms. Grace Chang China Airlines Super Woman. You helped a ton.
I am still somewhat lost as to how long I was on the plane...I know its Thursday morning, and I left Monday afternoon...I think I lost a day in there somewhere...I suppose I will have to pick it up later. :P
The weather is warm and humid...I would say its about 85 outside right now in the pre-dawn light, should ramp up to around 100 in the heat of the day. After Haiti though, I find I almost like it. You sweat like there is no tomorrow, but the heat is purifying to me. I remember in Haiti, I noticed that almost all of the people there had INCREDIBLE skin...there was no problems with acne anywhere, and by the end of the trip those who had arrived with acne were pretty clear-skinned. It doesn't feel bad either once you get used to it.
I spent most of yesterday trying to account for the lost time, lost sleep, and general yuckiness of long distance travel. This morning though, I woke up when I wanted to at 0500, did some stretching, and have sat down to write...I feel exactly like I should for it being early morning...and I like that. I think I will have mostly adjusted to this by tonight, when I crash into whatever bed or cot I will be staying in in Ban Phe.
So...that kinda brings you up to date with what is going on here. I am off to explore today...should be fun! Once I get down to Ban Phe, it should only take me $4 or so to take the bus back to Bangkok each time...so I will be able to come back unencumbered by luggage, which will be nice. Forth I go!
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Written by Jason Brink
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Tuesday, 06 July 2010 03:02 |
 You dive behind the filing cabinet...a hail of bullets pinging off the sturdy steel surface. It sure is a good thing you bought this incredibly awesome filing cabinet that you saw listed on Craiglist one day. The ad said it was a "Super Heavy Duty" filing cabinet, and you bought it just needing office furniture, but you didn't know the back story.
You poke your head out a bit, just in time to see the 70's era baddie with a grease gun slam another clip home and stand there, silk tie around his head Rambo-style, as he squeezes the trigger to send another fusillade of hot lead your direction.
See, this cabinet had been manufactured in the 70s or 80s, back when they actually made filing cabinets in the US out of Detroit steel. It lived its life as a filing cabinet, serving admirably. However, its ugly battleship grey surface became un-stylish, and it was soon to be replaced by some new-fangled particle board furniture with shining brass knobs and plastic tracks. Nobody wanted the old grey cabinet, it had no place in this world. One man however saw a future in this chipped and ugly cabinet. Why should he spent $200 to buy a crummy Chinese filing cabinet expertly made out of used BBQ tinfoil when he could have this behemoth steel monster grace his office? The answer...he shouldn't! He showed up with a buddy, loaded up the filing cabinet into the back of a truck and off it went to his garage. Here, he painstakingly disassembled the filing cabinet, removing the rails and bearings, locking mechanism, and reduced it to its base components. He then took the pieces of this ungodly heavy cabinet to a powder-coating outfit in Paso Robles, where they powder coated it with a shiny black finish. The man picked up all the pieces, reassembled the cabinet, and used it for three years as his trusty "dump stuff in it and worry about it later" cabinet.
However, he decided to move to Thailand to pursue a career in English Teaching, and really needed the money to help fund his trip. Seeing as how airlines are charging far too much for baggage these days, he didn't think he could get the massive 4-drawer monster in the overhead compartment, so he decided to sell it.
You breathe a sigh of relief as this awesome cabinet you so insightfully purchased saves you from the baddies. Thank god for that guy on Craigslist!
The A-team arrives to deal with the baddie problem... Mr. T takes one look at the cabinet..."Dayyum...thats a nice cabinet."
Specs: 18" Wide 28.5" Deep 52" Tall Color: Black Drawers: 4 Awesomely Cool Drawers Price: $125...you can also pay more for it if you want, because its that awesome, and I need the cash.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 July 2010 03:10 |
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Crimson Cannonball: The Non-Blog of Jason Brink
