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"The Rounds" Monday, August
26, 2002
Mekhong Kurt * * * * * * * * * * A reminder that we're helping sponsor the following: Painting Exhibition An
Original Oil Painting By Our Richard K. Diran Saturday,
September 7, 2002 The talented Richard K. Diran, painter, author, photographer, gemologist, and adventurer extraordinaire has turned his attention back to one of his first occupations, painting in oils. Already frenziedly working on the 2nd of an intended 7 paintings, one representing each day of the week, the first is ready for its public debut. This first is titled "City of Dreadful Night" and represents Sunday. Richard began painting in oils when he was just 13 under the Italian master Carmello de Simon. He later wanted to continue studying painting in a formal setting, so submitted examples of his youthful work to the then-new California Institute of Art for review, to which he won a full scholarship; the institute's first president was Roy Disney, brother of the world-famous Walt Disney. Richard graduated in the institute's first graduating class in 1972. The unusual vision we see in Richard's philosophical essays is in abundant evidence in this first in the series. Richard spoke of it in this way: "It has a little something to offend just about everybody!" That's rather too harsh, in my view, but it is true there is something in the painting to interest and intrigue any viewer. Richard will be on hand with 8" X 10" photographs of the painting which he will autograph, if requested. Of course, he will be happy to discuss his original work of art with you. We have a tentative plan to have a second showing, but that's far from certain to come off, so be sure to drop by and have your imagination stirred by this stunning work. * * * * * * * * * * As long as I'm talking about Richard anyway, I'll mention that he showed me a couple of photographs of his 2nd work, which is still in its earliest stages but already is promising for its complex intrigue -- if anything, even of greater interest than his first, which is saying quite a lot. Of course, even Richard himself hasn't the slightest idea when this latest creation will be complete, particularly since one part of the canvas he painted, thought about overnight, then wiped out to do anew. * * * * * * * * * * The Doll House on Soi Cowboy will -- presumably -- re-open sometime in the next few days. A friend pointed out something I hadn't noticed: a sign on the place says its closed for renovation. * * * * * * * * * * Meanwhile, the former a-go-go between The Doll House and Pam's Bar is in fact undergoing major renovation -- gutted right down to the bare walls. Don't know what the new establishment will be, but will write about it when I do. * * * * * * * * * * Don't forget that I've added a place for you to sign up to be notified via e-mail whenever we add something to the site -- that way, you don't even have to visit the Updates Page to see if there's anything new -- we'll let you know by e-mail. If you want to sign up, just go to the sign-up page. * * * * * * * * * * Got an interesting e-mail from A U.S.-based visitor to this site who said he had read about Suzie Wong in Soi Cowboy here, and that he happens to know the lady who starred as that (in)famous(?) lady in the movie of over 40 years ago. The gentleman is long married to a Thai lady and has offered to bring an autographed picture of the actress when he and his wife visit the Kingdom later this year, if the owners of the bar are interested. Heck, *I'm* interested, even if they aren't! [Haven't had a chance to ask them yet, though I do know them.] In any case, it's a nice gesture on the gentleman's part, and nice of the actress to agree. * * * * * * * * * * Have had several e-mails inquiring about the status of "Big" George, the American proprietor of the Texas Lone Staar Bar in Washington Square. Some of you may not know that George hurt his back rather badly in a fall last year nor that he underwent a variety of treatments here to try to get relief for the continual pain resulting from the injury, with little by way of positive results. Reports conflict, but apparently he underwent the first stage of a two-stage series of treatment back in the U.S., to which he returned a few months ago, initially improving, though a late report claims he has since had some back-sliding, medically speaking. In other words, I don't really know anything but am only reporting what I have heard. Since writing the above I've just heard that George intends to return to The City of Angels come October 18th. * * * * * * * * * * Writing about George reminds me to plug his establishment, which has what I feel is absolutely the best weekday lunch deal in town, a blue plate special that includes a salad and soup (usually, though not invariably) plus an entree and vegetable(s) -- for an astounding 60 baht. And the moderately extensive menu offers a number of reasonably-priced dishes; especially good is his chicken-fried steak, which is huge and costs a reasonable 200 baht. * * * * * * * * * * If anyone reading this has a website and would like to place a link there for BangkokAtoZ.com, you can just copy-and-paste the banner below into your site; it's a live link to this site's homepage --
-- or, if you prefer a simple text link, use this hyperlink: BangkokAtoZ.com. I'll appreciate an e-mail telling me the URL of where you placed it. If you want me to put a link on BangkokAtoZ.com for your site, do tell me where you have placed our link, and I'll give you a link in a comparable position, of the same nature (i.e., banner-for-banner, text-for-text). * * * * * * * * * * Still haven't had a chance to check out the budding area on the southern reaches of Sukhumvit Soi 22, but I did pass by it again the other day and took a closer look as the my friend's car sailed along. It appears there will be a mixture of business there; I noticed, for instance, a car wash nearing completion and an apparently operational restaurant. * * * * * * * * * * The bar I mentioned that's up for sale remains unsold; direct any serious enquiries to me at MekhongKurt@BangkokAtoZ.com. It's worth adding that the landlord of the venue is finally doing something to actually promote it, so this could be an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in going into a nice enclosed, air-conditioned bar-restaurant. Drop me a line. * * * * * * * * * * New Square One Pub in Washington Square now sports a huge 55-inch digital television; Taffy had been getting a lot of enquires from his European football friends whether he intended to get one, given the glowing success the one he rented for the month of the World Cup. And don't forget that Silver Dollar Bar, located in the opposite corner of Washington Square from New Square One Pub, now has its own large-screen television. A bit smaller at 44 inches, it nonetheless dominates the bar and provides excellent viewing from any point in the place, which is somewhat smaller than New Square New Pub anyway. * * * * * * * * * * Incidentally, of the bars in Washington Square, it appears to me that those two -- The Silver Dollar Bar and New Square One -- are doing far and away better than all the other bars in the Square, though The Wild Country seems to be holding its own. Part of the general malaise, I guess. * * * * * * * * * * Paid a visit to The Office Bar & Grill just off Sukhumvit Soi 33 the other night for the first time in 6-8 weeks, and was unsurprised to see it's doing a healthy business. I've recommended it before, and stand by the recommendation. Pay them a visit -- and tell them you read about them here. And check out their website at http://theofficebarinbangkok.com -- Cowboy Jon and I did it, so naturally we recommend it! Bob, one of the owners, told me on my recent visit that he and his partner want to make a few changes to the site, but I don't yet know what changes they want, so check back on it occasionally -- I assume they'll be letting me know soon just what they want done. * * * * * * * * * * Had an unexpected occasion to visit the massive Coliseum entertainment complex on the south side of Sukhumvit Road just east of the Sukhumvit Road-Soi Thonglor intersection one night a few nights ago when a friend, a young lady studying in university, called me and invited me to join her, a girlfriend of hers, and her cousin at the place. I can't remember what the name was before, but I did visit it in its old incarnation maybe seven years ago, and now it's even grander, if anything, than before. I personally am not fond of very loud music, so found it a bit hard to enjoy the CD (or tape) music blaring out from the sound system, but the live band that plays some of the time was excellent -- and not as loud as the canned music. We had a bottle of Thai scotch whiskey with mixers and several plates of food -- all for the astonishingly low price of 850 baht. And the scotch was surprisingly good. If you either are into very loud music or can at least put up with it, the Coliseum is well worth a visit. The band's lead singer is especially entertaining, and he speaks some English -- he made the most of my presence, as I was the only foreigner in the place, in the nicest of ways. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. * * * * * * * * * * The criminal justice system worked surprisingly quickly in the trial of Major Chalermchai, an officer in the Supreme Command accused of murdering the governor in Yasothon, the late Khun Preena, on March 5, 2001. While the Major is thought to have been merely the gunman, not the brains behind the hit, the court sentenced him to death. Perhaps this will send a signal to other assassins -- unfortunately for the Kingdom, intimidation and assassination remain very much a part of political life. * * * * * * * * * * Until next time -- Mekhong Kurt
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Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 by Kurt T. Francis, except as noted otherwise. Materials by Christopher G. Moore, Dean Barrett, Richard K. Diran, Sonia Pressman Fuentes, and Hardy Stockmann are copyrighted © by those respective authors. All rights reserved. Please see the Copyright Notice for further information. Click here for our Privacy Statement Please direct all inquiries to mekhongkurt at bangkokatoz.com |
