Documentary

This is a decent documentary worth watching if you have 48 minutes to spare. Pretty accurate.

Political Correctness

Today's song is: One Night in Bangkok  ... used before but different version

My personal favorite ...  some Thai girls having fun dancing ... they love to dance!

One reason I love Thailand so much is that Political Correctness has not yet made inroads into Thai society. They call it as they see it.

I came across this interesting comment on PC in Sports and added a bit to it. It is a good read.  In case you are a Thai reader beaver = pussy in farang land.

I think all sports fans will get a kick out of this letter written to the Chicago Tribune.... 
No matter which side you are on in the matter of renaming the Washington Redskins, this  is funny. This guy is hilarious…; 

Here is an e-mail sent to Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune after an article he  published concerning a name change for the Washington Redskins. 
                              -------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Page: I agree with our Native American population. I am highly insulted by the racially charged name of the Washington Redskins. One might argue that to name a professional football team after Native Americans would exalt them as  fine warriors, but nay, nay. We must be careful not to offend, and in  the spirit of political correctness and courtesy, we must move forward.
  
Let's ditch the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta   Braves and the Cleveland Indians.  If your shorts are in a wad because of the reference the name Redskins makes  to skin color, then we need to get rid of the Cleveland Browns.
   
The Carolina Panthers obviously were named to keep the memory of militant Blacks from the 60's alive. Gone. It's offensive to us white folk. 
   
The New York Yankees offend the Southern population. Do you see a team named for  the Confederacy?  No!  There is no room for any reference to that tragic war that  cost this country so many young men's lives. 
   
I am also offended by the blatant references to the Catholic religion among our sports team names.  Totally inappropriate to have the New Orleans Saints, the Los  Angeles Angels or the San Diego Padres. 
    
Then there are the team names that glorify criminals who raped and pillaged. We are talking about the horrible Oakland Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Pittsburgh Pirates! 

Now, let us address those teams that clearly send the wrong message to our children.  The San Diego Chargers promote irresponsible fighting or even spending habits.   Wrong message to our children. 
   
The New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants promote obesity, a growing childhood epidemic. Wrong message to our children.
   
The Cincinnati Reds promote downers/barbiturates. Wrong message to our children. 
   
The Milwaukee Brewers. Well that goes without saying. Wrong message to our children.

Added by Jim:

I would think the Edmonton Eskimos should be come the Edmonton Indigenous Peoples or perhaps the Edmonton Inuit.

The Montreal Canadiens should be the Montreal Multicultural Peoples.

The Toronto Blue Jays should be the Toronto Jays, or better yet, Birds as to not offend grey jays or crows, or other birds.

The Syracuse Orangment should perhaps be better named teh Syracuse Orange People not to offend the feminists. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
   
So, there you go.  We need to support any legislation that comes out to rectify this travesty, because the government will likely become involved with this issue, as they should.  Just the kind of thing the do-nothing  Congress or Parliament loves.. 
   
As a die hard Oregon State fan, my wife and I, with all of this in mind, suggest it might also make some sense to change the name of the Oregon State women's athletic teams to something other than "the Beavers  (especially when they play Southern California . Do we really want the Trojans sticking it to the Beavers???) 


  I always love your articles and I generally agree with them.  As for the Redskins name I would suggest they change the name to the “Foreskins” to better represent their community, paying tribute to the dick heads in Congress.

Friends

Today's song is: That's What Friends are for by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight

I am planning a get together at Big Rig in the Pinecrest Mall at 7 pm on Tuesday, September the 15th, my last night in Canada. I have sent out an eMail invite and I hope you can all make it.

I have made contact with many long lost friends during this trip. Everyone from basketball coaching buddies, to basketball parents and fellow bouncers from the Carleton pub. Many great trips down memory lane.

My only friend regret is that most of them are not adventuresome enough to travel halfway around the world to visit me.

I am seriously considering become a reverse snowbird by living in a Class C Motor home during the 5 summer months in Canada and then living the remaining 7 months of the year in a condo in Thailand. This would enable me to maintain my OHIP and RTO and introduce Jaidan and eventually Thavorn to Canada.

So if anyone is interested in borrowing a RV Home during the winter months I will have one available starting in the late fall of 2016 is things go well or 2017 if the visa's do not go well.

Sitting down with friends you have not seen for a long time is a great way to review where you have been and helps confirm your plans for the future.

Thavorn and Jaidan seem to be surviving quite well without me. I am halfway into my visit and they are doing well.

TTYL

Back to School

Today's song is: We Don't Need no Education by Roger Waters - Old Fart Edition Live

It is everywhere, back to schools sales, promotions, and newspaper articles. To an ex teacher it is music to my ears. Parents also rejoice at back to school, as once again, someone else is tasked with their entertainment and maintenance.

It is sad that schools have been affected by the politically correct leanings of the day. Gone are the: 'Red Rover, red rover, we call Jimmy over' and 2 up wrestling. Boys are not permitted to make contact in the schoolyard so no tackle football in the fall. Bullying now goes underground via text messages, Facebook postings, and comments uttered just barely audible to the bullied.

It is no wonder that boys no longer excel in schools. One just has to look at the gender stats for university enrollment to see the results of our current system. In many universities they are approaching 70% female enrollment. I like to point out there are 2 conclusions that one can reach about this gender gap at university. Either we males are dumb fucks, or we are being discriminated in the school system. You decide.

My son managed to get to grade 6 before he had a male teacher. He thought he died and gone to heaven. Thank you Glen, for making grade 6 the best year of Jordan's K-6 experience. I would think male role models would be important during the formative years but today's educators don't seem to get that.

Enough of the education rant and onto the weather. I was expecting to get some relief from Bangkok's heat but yesterday the temperature topped 30 degrees for the first day of September. What gives? Maybe there is something to this global warming stuff. Hopefully it will cool down during the next 2 weeks before I head back to Bangkok.

Today is a work day as Brent and I visit the public board of education. I must remember to be at my best PC :-) and not tilt at windmills.

TTYL

Friends

Today's song is: by Nickleback ... How you Remind Me. Only fitting to have a Canadian Band while I am in Canada.

Although I am enjoying Seeing Old friends and Family Miss Thavorn and Jaidan I do. I Video chat with them via LINE and they seem to be surviving quite Nicely Without me.I am toying with the Idea of spending the Summer months in Canada and the Winter. months in Thailand. I have always liked the outdoors and I could purchase a Class C motor home for the summer months in Canada and then rent for 7 months in Thailand. This kind of the opposite of what most snowbirds do as they use their motor homes in the wintertime.

However, I will not make that decision for at least a year as. quite content doing what I currently do, spending most of my time in Thailand.

I am having dinner with an old friend at 6:15 today and then tomorrow (Wednesday) I am at the public board and then Thursday I am having lunch with an old friend from Carleton University who used to work as a bouncer with me.

In between, I am programming for my company so I am quite busy.

On my way to dinner tonight I will stop and shop at the Guest warehouse outlet. My Russian friend is now a Guess model so she is on her way to a successful modelling career. I knew it was only a matter of time until someone discovered her.

I try to stay in touch with. overly fond of Facebook and its self-aggrandizing model of staying in touch. After all, what is a friend? Certainly no one has hundreds of friends, mostly passing acquaintances. Ditto for Linked-In.

At sometime I really should consider writing a book on the bar girls of Thailand as most books on the subject were written by jaded punters. They all have a story to tell and no one is telling it. It is a fascinating subculture.

The weird news of the day is the Thai police offered a reward for information related to the capture of the Bangkok bomber and then apparently they think they have found him themselves, so they are claiming the reward. Only Thai logic could make sense of that!

TTYL

Canada Eh!

Today's song is: Waking Up the Neighbors by Riot Child

I arrived in Canada on the 19th and today is the 28th and I have been quite remiss in posting to this blog. I have been busy with business and programming but have a break for the next couple of days.

I had been staying with my business partner but I am now with my sister. I also had a great visit up to my sisters house in the woods and saw my daughter Jaime who seems to be doing great.

I also connected with 2 recently divorced friends and their buddy Gerry who all live together in a big house which Gerry is trying to keep out of his divorce by renting out rooms to his divorced buddies who are both trying to downside to become footloose and fancy free, somewhat like me. We had a great time in Gerry's backyard, having a few beers and reminiscing about the turns our lives have taken. At one point we became quite loud and had to quiet down so we did not wake the neighbours  .. hence, today's song.

My initial impressions of Canada over this past week are:

• Canada is a beautiful clean country
• Canadians are predominantly overweight
• Canadians are old
• Canada is multicultural

The first point is obvious. There is very little pollution and Canadians do not litter. The air is fresh and the sky is blue. In Ottawa there has been lots of rain so grass is green and trees have yet to start changing colour and losing leaves.

The second point stems form the fact that Asians have slim builds where Canadians have bigger bones and indulge in a diet which is high in carbs and the result is chubby Canucks, despite the prolific availability of fitness activities. A diet of meat and potatoes (or burgers and fries) is not the same as rice, a bit of meat (predominantly white meat) and veggies.

The third point is a wow factor. Everywhere I look I see grey. I will check the net now for stats.

Above you can see the aging of Canada over the years.

Above you can see the age groupings by growth in those groupings.

• The country's median age edged closer to 40.
• A greater percentage of the population fell within the over-65 category.
• The under-15 category shrank.

I could not find similar graphs for Thailand but according to Wikipedia ...

Thailand Age structure

0–14 years: 21.2% (male 7,104,776/female 6,781,453)

15–64 years: 70.3% (male 22,763,274/female 23,304,793)

65 years and over: 8.5% (male 2,516,721/female 3,022,281) (2008 est.)

0–14 years: 19.9% (male 6,779,723/female 6,466,625)

15–64 years: 70.9% (male 23,410,091/female 23,913,499)

65 years and over: 9.2% (male 2,778,012/female 3,372,203) (2011 est.)

You can see the over 64 group is less than 10% whereas in Canada, that is the largest group.

The last observation of Canada being multicultural is a duh moment. Canada prides itself on being multicultural and it is evident everywhere you go. The media, and every aspect of Canadian society mirrors this policy. In Thailand, Thai-ness is very important, hence the term farang, which roughly translates as 'foreigner'. Two very different countries.

Tonight my sister and I will head out for dinner at a local brew pub for a beer and pizza.

TTYL

Homeward Bound

Today's song is: Homeward Bound by Paul Simon and Willie Nelson ... Sorry Mr. Garfunkel

I chose this version as I really like Willie Nelson.

My flight leaves at 12:40 am on Wednesday August 19th. I always get a little paranoid when I fly at that time as it is all too easy to read the time wrong and miss your flight. A friend of mine who tragically killed himself in Subang Jaya, Malaysia by hanging himself off his apartment balcony did unfortunately miss out on a week long vacation to Paris France by misreading his ticket. Michel, always the optimist handled it better than I would of. Unfortunately, there were some things in his life he could not handle.

Male suicide is an unfortunate part of today's society that is under reported for some reason. Death by suicide is more common in men than women but the PC do not deem it important.

I am looking forward to seeing my two children Jaime and Jordan and my two sisters Ann and Elaine while I am home. Unfortunately I have a couple of weeks work to do as well, but Brent and Jeanine are great hosts and look after me well. I also look forward to getting together with life long friends Larry (aka Coach), Don (aka little Dude), Billy, Liz (aka Dizzy Lizzy), Debbi (aka Wicked Wensley), Mike (aka Bainer), Rheal (aka Duke), Cindy, Francis and Matt.

It would be nice to see Steve, Linda, and Gabe as well. It is always good to reconnect with old friends you have not seen in a long time. Randy Fitton who now lives in Singapore will be hosting a luncheon for anyone who he worked with at the Secondary Program department. We are shooting for lunch on Wednesday Sept 9th. If you are interested in attending drop me an eMail at CoachJimDale@gmail.com. Please note this is a change of date from this week!

Maybe I am a little dense but I am slowly beginning to realize the debt you owe your friends as you progress through your life. Sure family is important but you get to choose your friends where you do not get to choose your family. People in life I admire and probably never told them include, in no particular order are Mike Revels, Derry Byrne, Vic D'Amico, Micheal Baine, Brent Wilson, Peter Lineger, Tom D'Amico, and last but not least, Larry Brown. Some of you may have noticed there are no women in that list and I would be remiss not to mention Liz, Debbi, and Deirdre who are all guys kinda gals.

I also admire my two children Jaime and Jordan who are great individuals who any parent would be proud to call his own. I also tend to take me two sisters for granted (probably due to sibling rivalry) as they are both extremely successful and supportive of yours truly.

Nuff said, time for another Scotch. Today's scotch is Seagrams 100 Piper's ... not my favorite but cheap.

TTYL

BTW

The bombing last night in Bangkok was 7 km from where I live so I am safe. Unfortunately 28 people died and well over a hundred were injured and sent to hospital. Unfortunately there are cowardly idiots in this world who look to injure innocent people for whatever reason. Thank you to all who enquired :-)