OakMonster's Den

It’s Thai New Year.

Only a few days after the bloody result of the protest. I don’t think there’s enough water to wash the blood off our hands.

(My family is safe, just FYI.  As a matter of fact, my dad has developed an unhealthy habit of taking an after-dinner evening stroll out to see the Reds’ activities in Radjprasong.  /headhand)

Laws should be enforced. I said the same thing when the Yellow Shirts took over the airport. I say it here too for the Reds.

I also believe that police and military have all the rights to protect themselves if their lives are in danger.

Take a look at last footage shot by slain photographer Hiro Muramoto. The soldiers didn’t throw the bomb at themselves, I can tell you that much.

Having said that, don’t be too quick to blame either the soldiers/police or the Reds.

There are words on the street that his full footage also included a shot of a masked gunman in black clothing.  I haven’t been able to find that footage, however, thanks to the digital world, images and videos of the mythical “third party” emerged.

Like this one.

Not Red? Not military? Who the fuck are you guys and why do you have big guns on you?

And these faceless anarchists in black sporting big guns and a few molotovs:

I can only pray for my country on this supposedly happy holiday season.

And I hope you do too.

Undeniably, especially with my involvement with Thrill the World this past year, Michael Jackson has somehow ALWAYS been a part of my life.

My knowledge of MJ is backward than from most people.  I was growing up in an era in Thailand where trends and pop cultures arrived months, if not years, later than in America/UK.

It was my brothers who introduced me to MJ after his famous moonwalk on MTV.  I remembered the MTV video we bought and watched, and watched and watched.  At some point, I remember my brother Onk had learned the theory of the moonwalk from somewhere and was teaching me.  We quickly realized that we couldn’t moonwalk on carpet.  And/or barefooted.

I never quite connected Billy Jean video with MJ back in the days. All I knew was either the song by itself, or that video where the sidewalk lit up.

Then came Thriller video.  My mom bought us the special video with the making off documentary.  After having seen it through the first time, the many times that followed, I would stop the video after the dancing was done.  The zombies attacking the house scared the beejesus out of me.  And I didn’t even know what that Vincent Price–obviously didn’t know who he was either–was saying but his voice scared me.

And of course, just like anyone else, I tried to learn the dance.

Then it was time of Bad. Back then, I absolutely adored MJ’s new face.  He was beautiful to me.  And Smooth Criminal video, and subsequently, Moonwalker became my favorite movie.  I even remembered playing Moonwalker Nintendo game at my friend’s’ house.

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to visit Neverland when I was growing up, and wanted to HAVE my own Neverland when I grow up.

I haven’t followed MJ much after that until my brothers came home one summer with Dangerous CD and all the buzz about Black or White video.  Again, watched bajillion times on video.   I coudln’t stop listening to that CD or stop going over all the tiniest little details on that cover art.  The obsession bled into my choice of performance for a talent show at school.  Me being an environmental nut at the moment,  choreographed and rehearsed over a weekend with another friend to Heal the World. It was a message piece nobody got and obviously written off as boring.  Probably my worse school performance ever.  LOL.

It wasn’t until I got to the U.S., I found out about MJ as a part of the Jackson 5.

After Dangerous, I haven’t gone back to Michael for musical inpiration.  Okay, maybe for a moment there with Scream. He seemed to going off the rail right about then and I stopped paying attention. Until he announced a performance in Bangkok.

I wasn’t home in time that summer to go to the concert with a huge gaggle of my school friends.  But dammit, I WANTED TO GO!  (Consolation prize? My dad took me to see Whitney Houston later on.)  As we all know, that was his last before THE trial.

As much as I wanted to not pay attention, I still gravitated toward MJ somehow.  My first trip to the U.S. and visit to Disneyland, I wanted to keep going back to Captain EO.  As a matter of fact, until it was closed down, two things I never missed were the Captain and Star Tour.

My freshman year in the dorm, I dug around my closet for a Halloween costume and turned up as Michael Jackson circa Black or White video.  I had a white tank top underneath a white button down, black pants, white socks and black loafers. I wrapped one arm with gauze for that one glove/bracer thing he had going.  My suite mates helped  braided my hair the night before to get that lovely MJ curls.  And, the final touch, our Caucasian suite mate loaned me her foundation to make me “white”. My friend Katie probably has a picture of us around somewhere still…

Not until Thrill the World was I reconnected with Michael again as an adult.

He might have been a total wack job and an alleged pedophile.  But there’s no denying his musical genius and dance prowess.  There’s also no denying he has always been a part of my life.

Good night, Michael. You finally have your Neverland.

Bye, Michael.  Thanks for the memory.  This year’s Thrill the World will be a tribute to your greatness.

Diversity dance group beat out Susan Boyle at Britain Got Talent finale. Deservedly so too, me think.

A shocker? Nah. I think Susan approached burn out right before the finale.  And she already has all the publicity one would need to succeed.  These boys NEED BGT win to make it out there.

Poor Shaheen.  I was rooting for you, kid!

As long as there are military men and women out there fighting for our freedom in a war or just doing their jobs somewhere peaceful, everyday should be Memorial Day.

As LA Times reports, with the current war, it is such at Camp Pendleton.

And just to shine another light on Memorial Day, we should all be thanking and remembering the FAMILIES of those out there VOLUNTEERING to fight for all of us.

The wives and husbands holding down the fort while they are gone, not knowing if they would be coming back.

The mothers and fathers watching their children bravely shipped off, far beyond the reach they could imagine.

Past or present, it’s all the same.

It’s a sacrifice the rest of us would never understand.

For that, we should have uttermost respect for those who serve and their families who, in my mind, are serving along side them.

I am going to invoke my husband’s military relations here as I am not personally one.

SEMPER FI. And God bless all of you.

I want to post about my Kogi BBQ experience on Saturday but y’all will just have to read my old twitter feed for now.  I promise to tell y’all all about it!

Because Thailand is going to hell in a hand basket.

And I’m constantly monitoring the situation. And praying for some kind of a resolution.

My family is safe as far as I know. My oldest brother’s condo is close to PM Abhisit’s residence and that’s the closest to any action we’re going to get with my family, I hope.

Thaksin, you lying, scheming, selfish, power hungry, son of a bitch, shut the fuck up for God’s sake.  You’re not doing anyone any good.

Recommended places to follow the news because U.S. news sources don’t cover of this.

Bangkok Pundit

BBC News

Maps of the Danger Zones in Bangkok (courtesy of Thai-Blogs — also providing some good insights here and here.)

Twitter search monitoring can only do so much because of the time difference but you can search #thailand and #bangkok to read what people are saying.

I’m sure the chatter was lively while I was having all sorts of dreams (Anthony Bourdain is my best dude friend…wow, yeah…) and a nightmare (a bat bit my hand in my dream so I screamed in my sleep and smacked Brandon with the “bat” hand and of course, startled the fuck out of him).

Nothing I can do from here by sending good mojo home. And secretly wishing that we could borrow that Navy SEAL sniper from that Somalia pirate takeover for some “negotiation”…

Yep. I need coffee…and a hug.

St. Patty’s was a hit both at work and at home.  A great turn out at the office with everything from cookies to green deviled eggs.  9 people showed up at my doors for the Guinness Stew and a little bit of drinking.  The old gang hung out well with my new friends from Tweet Up, Annette @dananner and Wyatt @phraktyl.

A lesson we learned?  Don’t ever give Phraklet, Phraktyl’s son, a Mountain Dew. Ever. Again.  LOL.

I didn’t drink all that much at St. Patty’s.  Just an Irish Car Bomb I did with Annette and Wyatt and a couple more sips of Limoncello with Lee.  Everyone respectfully headed out at 10 p.m. sharp and since we were cleaning up as we go, we went to bed soon after that.

So, when I rolled out of bed at 5 a.m. the next day, it wasn’t that painful.  However, the Car Bomb and Limoncello still lingered in my system when I got to the meeting.  At 10 a.m., the hangover hit and I was dying for something nice and greasy for lunch.

I found that in the fresh cut fries at Rowdy Red in Downtown LA.  The black & blue burger was pale compared to that.  And it was that the lovely greasiness held me over for the next couple of hours before heading home.

As it turned out, the OC Register tweet led me to an article about President Obama’s arrival in Long Beach and how it might affect traffic that afternoon.  So I left work at 2 p.m. as to avoid any kind of traffic mayhem down there at 3 p.m.

By the time I settled in at home and got to open the windows, it was a few minutes before 3.  I spotted an airliner flying over Seal Beach.  How odd, I thought, I’ve never seen a jet going…WAIT A SECOND!

I ran and grab Brandon’s camera with super zoom lense.  It was really hard to focus past the screen, but I did caught a full glimpse of the Air Force One coming in to land.

Wow.  WOW!

Once AF1 was out of sight, I turned on the TV to confirm that it was what I just saw.  A few minutes later,  footage of the plane “parking” on TV.  Then the President stepping off…and whisked away into…Marine One.

Marine One?!?  Not a motorcade?!?

LOL.  I’m sure my boss is happy about that news.

Finally, I got to my nap.  A couple of hours I woke up to greet Brandon and headed out to yoga.

Good gosh. It’s been a crazy couple of days.

P.S. I’m going to start tagging the blog now.  Just FYI.

Work is crazy busy, yo.  However, I picked up few things that is worth posting.

**

My mom called me in my dream.  She asked how I was doing.  Funny, I really wished I could talk to her just a few days ago.  Brandon asked if she told me to hurry up and talk because phone calls from heaven are expensive.  LOL.

**

There are a few of the elevators for our floors that act funny quite a bit. A few of us were on the elevator already when it picked up one more person.  Once she got in, the door was about to close but then sprung open and then finally closed.

Girl 1: You know I really hate these elevators sometime.

Girl 2: And this one always makes this clunking noises too. Like a cable is loose or something.

Girl 1: I so don’t want to die in the elevator. Haha.

Lady: You know that there are 6 steel cables holding up this elevator that can handle XX [she gave a number but I don't remember] lbs. per cable.  There’s no chance you will fall to your death in here.

Girl 1+2: [Pause]

Lady: I worked for 15 years in the steel industry. I know my cables.

**

At dinner, Brandon was telling me about a character in his game that had no friends so she found a way to open up a portal to hell, befriended a demon dog, and eventually sold her soul.

B: But man, does she love that dog.

Me: Could she really love if she has no soul?

B: [pause]

Me: I’m sorry. Were you not ready for an existencial question?

**

Tweet of the Day by @adbert: (Thanks @dananner!)

Programming is like sex: One mistake and U have to support it for the rest of your life.

**

On a side note, everyone now recognizes my little town of Los Alamitos. However, how we’ve become a household name across this great nation is very embarrassing.  Here’s the quote from the LA Times:

In Los Alamitos, an upscale, mostly white community known for its good schools and tidy neighborhoods, [Dean] Grose [now ex-Mayor and ex-councilman] apologized to city officials, saying in a written statement that the e-mail was a “mistake” and in “poor taste.” He told the Associated Press he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelon, a claim some said was unbelievable.

how could you think that White House with watermelons in the lawn be funny if you didn’t know about black people and watermelon? I mean, I can see Thai people completely miss the cultural reference right there.  But being a middle age white man in America and to not know that?  If you would’ve stopped at “mistake” and “poor taste”, that would be fine.  Going so far as denying that you didn’t know about the stereotype when you sent that? How stupid do you think we are?

**

Ooh! Earthquake!

ETA March 4, 8 a.m.

The Great OC (Non-)Earthquake last night is still a mystery.  OC Tweeps felt it all over the place in the same way we did: the grounds didn’t move but our windows were rattling.  I kept watch from the moment it hit at USGS website for a good half hour but there was nothing but a 1.2 out in Idylwild half an hour later was on the only thing on the map.  According to the OC Register’s article, a seismologist didn’t there was any quake last night that would affect us all the way in the OC.

As OC Tweeps later dissed, “OC Earthquake. Fail!”, more questions were raised.  Could it be a UFO buzzing through the area?  (Et tu, SG-1?)  Or a secret government spy plane?  Or an experimental bomb gone off in some secret bunker somewhere?  First thing that Brandon said was that it felt like an explosion shock wave.

And even if the Marines come out to confirmed that they set off something in Pendleton at that precise moment, how could we in the northernmost tip of OC feel THAT?

The mystery deepens. Any conspiracy theorists stopping by, have at it!

My week came at me fast and left just as quickly.

It seems like yesterday when I was just here, happily typing away, telling you guys about our hike at Holy Jim trail.

Here we are, a week after.  Went by me in a blink.

Inauguration Day was also our 7th wedding anniversary.  It was a new beginning for the country I live in and quite a momentous moment in my marriage.

Last year, people said that America would rather elect a woman than a black man as president.  Here stands Barrack Obama in front of millions, the day after MLK Day, swearing on Lincoln’s bible to serve this country.

Last years, some people we knew said that Brandon and I might just be better off without each other.  Here we are, sharing our special anniversary dinner and having come to enjoy our married life more than before.

The president and we were out that night, celebrating our success.  And in a way, savoring this moment when we throw it back at the non-believers.

The morning after, life is back to normal for everyone.  Mine was the early morning meeting day, under new management by the Executive Assistant.  The impending 3-4 days of rain triggered major allergies for me and I spent the entire day, through the morning meeting AND lunch time staff meeting sneezing my head off.  An afternoon nap when I got home helped hold me together enough to go to my first yoga class.

And the yoga class was just what I needed.  It was a beginner’s Hatha yoga class, all poses and breathing.  Quite meditative to begin with and the instructor ended the session with deep relaxation.  Lights dimmed and everyone was cozy under a blanket–or my case, my towel and sweatshirt.  Breath and relax, the instructor said softly.

After a while, my nose decided to start running.  As I raised my hand to touch my nose, I suddenly realized that I cannot feel my body.  I mean, the entire body was so still and so relaxed that I panicked a little and jerked my legs just to make sure they’re still there.  So much for deep relaxation because after that point my heart raced so I couldn’t quite get back into it.

Thursday at the office came and went so fast I didn’t even remember what I did all day.  The evening, however, was on interesting experience: my first Flamenco lesson.

Problem #1, I showed up with sneakers and soft jazz shoes when I should’ve brought heels.  I couldn’t hear myself and the feet movement without heels definitely wasn’t working out in my favor and therefore Problem #2 of me messing up the footwork the entire hour.  But then, that’s not counting #3 issue of my previous ballet training kept my arms not quite in the Flamenco formation.  It was instintive reaction as I concentrated so hard on getting the footwork right.  #4 is the beat which apparently started at 12 instead of at 1 and I can’t quite pick it out of the music just yet.  (I tried to employ the Strictly Ballroom strategy of listening with my “heart” and not my ears, but closing my eyes mean I can’t see the instructor and therefore have absolutely no clue what I was doing.)

And finally, Problem #5, Flemenco is fucking hard.  LOL.  It’s not just the feet, it’s the arm movements AND the hands too.  Not to mention the exagerrated posture, chest and chin high, shoulders back.

Suffice to say, the next morning, I really couldn’t quite slouch.  My muscles just wouldn’t allow me to.

Friday work day also flew by.  The surprise of the evening was that my carpool/bus buddies decided to go for a quick drink before dropping us all off.  I had a few glasses of wine and pieces of sushi with the gang and quickly dashed off afterward to see “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” with Brandon.

Saturday was half spent sleeping in and a little bit of errands before I settled in to cook for the potluck with my bus buddies.  The rest of the evening was laced with wine, lots of food, and fantastic company.  The potluck was much better than the party right after we got off the bus!

And now it’s Sunday again.

Tomorrow we start all over at the office.

WTF. Seriously.

Where is my first month of the new year running off to?

We’ll talk about Inauguration and my 7th wedding anniversary in a separate post.  But for now, the most important thing at the moment.

BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Marttin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, “WALL-E”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Baader-Meinhof Complex” (Germany)
“The Class” (France)
“Departures” (Japan)
“Revanche” (Austria)
“Waltz with Bashir” (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“WALL-E”

BEST ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button”
“Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling” Tom Stern
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Anthony Dod Mantle
“The Reader,” Chris Menges
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight,” Wally Pfister,

BEST FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight,” Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon,” Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
“Milk,” Elliot Graham
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia,” Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Jacqueline West
“The Duchess,” Michael O’Conner
“Milk”, Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road,” Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Jai Ho,” A.R. Rahman
“Slumdog Millionaire,” “O Saya,” A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.
“WALL-E,” “Down To Earth,” Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance,” James Newton Howard
“Milk,” Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E,” Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush
“The Dark Knight,” Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight,” Richard King
“Iron Man,” Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Tom Sayers
“WALL-E,” Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
“Wanted,” Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce
“The Dark Knight,” Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
“WALL-E,” Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick
“Wanted,” Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Eric Barba
“The Dark Knight,” Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
“Iron Man,” John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)”

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory – Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306″