The Nongkhai Narrative

Part 18

being Tall Tales from Thailand

  Published 10 May 2005

At the end of part 16 I expressed some doubts that there would be a part 17. I didn't realise how many positive messages of support I would receive. To each and every one who spoke or wrote to me, I say a sincere thank you. This episode 18 is dedicated (somewhat belatedly) to Anzac Day April 25th, and the men and women of Australia & New Zealand who fell in Two World Wars. Anzac Day commemorates the landing at Gallipoli exactly 90 years ago on April 25th 1915. It is a fact little noted outside Australia, that no other nation lost more men as a proportion of population in World War 1. Out of a population under 5 million, Australia suffered 210,000 casualties. That represents 65% of its soldiers dead or injured, all of whom were volunteers.

The Outback Bar and Grill (Ouverture)

Naturally the Outback Bar & Grill was the centre of memorial activities for Anzac Day. Glen told me that the traditional start of the day is known as the gunner's breakfast, and consists of a coffee with a shot of Bundaberg. A Bundaberg is an Australian white rum with a fierce reputation. Dott and I declined a gunner's breakfast and instead enjoyed a delicious complementary breakfast of tomato, sausage and egg on toast generously provided by Glen.

Mark

Greg

Peter

Franz

Joel

Right, some finger wagging from Kelvin, Paul & Eileen. Now you might wonder why there is an electric drill on the table. The answer is that Eileen brought it with her, explaining that she wanted to use it to drill some holes in the wall at home, but while the drill appeared to work, it wouldn't make any holes in the wall. So it was on her way to the repair shop! The person sitting opposite, I think it was Glen or Mark, picked it up and spotted immediately that it was in reverse. He switched it over to forward and was about to make a witty comment about women using power tools, but was stopped by Eileen's finger!

Left, Dott sandwiched between Greg and Peter, both of whom were at pains to tell me that they had known Dott longer than me, and that I am a very lucky man to have won her heart. Right, Paul gets into the Australian spirit with his Outback T-shirt while his sausage roll sports the Oz flag!

Brendan's Quiz Afternoon

It was back in that I reported Brendan's first quiz afternoon. Since then Brendan has moved to new airy premises with a commanding view over the Mekhong. The quiz continues every Friday afternoon and remains great entertainment. Regular attendees have a distinct advantage over occasional visitors such as myself, because many of the questions are recycled. So it is an opportunity to learn as well as be entertained. Part of the day's fun comes from Brendan's willingness to combine the rôles of chairman and clown. So for example, the question should have been "In which year did the Queen speak of Her Annus Horribilis?" I think you can guess the question asked by Brendan to the amusement of the assembled company. The answer btw is 1992.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921

Albert Einstein

Brendan asked a trick question "For what was Einstein awarded the Nobel prize in 1921?"  tempting the wrong answer "special relativity". The answer I lifted from the Nobel website is "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". I have dragged this in here because 1905, exactly 100 years ago, is generally considered to be Albert Einstein's miracle year more usually termed "Annus Mirabilis".

Einstein’s was just 26 with only an undergraduate degree in physics to his name, when he published a series of papers. He would later say of this time that it was as if “a storm broke loose in my mind.”

The first of these papers gave a new account of the nature of light, now called the photoelectric effect, and explained a tricky physical puzzle that had been troubling physicists for years. Einstein proposed that light was not a wave as thought hitherto, but instead consisted of tiny, discrete packets of energy called photons. This paper forms the basis of quantum mechanics. 

The second paper explained the phenomenon known as Brownian motion. (The random and jerky movement of smoke particles in air, or pollen grains in water.) Einstein showed that this motion was due to the particles being constantly bombarded from all sides by other moving particles, and in doing so convinced many scientists of the existence of atoms and molecules.

The third paper was perhaps the most revolutionary of all, containing the theory of special relativity. Relativity as a concept originated with Galileo, who recognised that all motion is relative and cannot be detected without reference to an outside point. (For example, we are all unaware of the movement of the Earth.) Einstein showed that the laws of physics and the speed of light are universal constants, and thus that space and time are not absolute.

While reading a delightful book by Michael Dobbs, I inferred that I had made a mistake in the last episode, so I visited the beautiful site of www.tibet.com I quote from the site "His Holiness the Dalai Lama was born in a peasant family on July 6th, 1935, in a small village called Taktser in north eastern Tibet. His Holiness was recognised at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama."

The picture right is of His Holiness the Dalai Lama receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1989. His acceptance speech is worth reading.

You can find it at   http://www.tibet.com/DL/nobelaccept.html

The Outback Bar and Grill (Part Deux)

This fetching photo of José and Billy was taken chez Glen. I owe Billy an apology from when I referred to him as an Australian, when he is in fact from the USA.

I don't remember a great deal of the evening, for the simple reason that significant quantities of alcohol were consumed, as they often are when I am in José's company. But one thing that I took care to memorise was some medical advice dispensed by José.

Pictured left is Dr José in his surgery dispensing shots of Tequila.

During the evening with Glen, Billy and myself, Dr José was warning us of the dangers of prostate cancer. He went to some lengths to explain that it is caused by a lack of sex. So his advice for men of all ages is very simple. If you don't want to get prostate cancer, MAKE SURE YOU GET PLENTY OF SEX!

Dr José didn't define what constitutes "plenty of sex", but if any one cares to write to the doctor telling him how much sex they are currently getting, he will be happy to advise you based on your age and medical history, whether or not it is plenty. His replies will be published in the next episode.

Song Kran in Nongkhai

At this time of year the Mekhong is at its lowest, so a large area of beach appears. You cross 150/250 metres of sand to get to the river, and if it wasn't for Laos on the opposite bank, you could quite believe that you were at the seaside. A large part of the beach has temporary shading erected where restaurants are established (see picture below right). This facility exists for several months of the year while the river is low, but is at its most crowded at Song Kran. In the middle picture below left those 'mini-monks' from the last episode are enjoying a dip in the river. Note that everyone goes swimming fully clothed, so below left Dott has just emerged from the river and is dripping water everywhere.

Dott

Mini-Monks

Dott's niece Manao & nephew Khao Farng

Song Kran is the celebration of the Thai New Year, and most people know that it is a water festival. Many people with pick-ups load up with large containers of water. They then drive around town liberally dispensing water over other all and sundry. While many businesses close for the holiday, a few stay open, and there is even opportunity for new enterprises to make a temporary appearance.  Pictured right is Maew (in pink) and her daughter who for the four days of Song Kran sets up with a hose and sells water to those who have run out.

Grandma Ginny's Advice

As well as Dr José's Counselling Corner, we have free advice from Grandma Ginny.

This episode's free advice from Grandma Ginny given with a twinkle in her eye is :-

If you want a smooth ride, don't put burrs under the saddle.

George Dubyaland

http://foi.missouri.edu/evolvingissues/fallhouseofsaud.html

My thanks to the reader who sent me this link. It is a very long, absorbing article written by an honoured officer of the CIA. Here is a small except from the concluding paragraphs.

Not all the wishing in the world will change the basic reality of the situation.

* Saudi Arabia controls the largest share of the world's oil and serves as the market regulator for the global petroleum industry.

* No country consumes more oil, and is more dependent on Saudi oil, than the United States.

* Saudi oil is controlled by an increasingly bankrupt, criminal, dysfunctional, and out-of-touch royal family that is hated by the people it rules and by the nations that surround its kingdom.

* If the Saudi oil spigot is shut off, by terrorism or by political revolution, the effect on the global economy, and particularly on the economy of the United States, will be devastating.

Saudi Arabia today is a mess, and it is our mess. We made it the private storage tank for our oil reserves. We reaped the benefits of a steady petroleum supply at a discounted price, and we grabbed at every available Saudi petrodollar. We taught the Saudis exactly what was expected of them. We cannot walk away morally from the consequences of this behaviour--and we really can't walk away economically. So we crow about democracy and talk about someday weaning ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil, despite the fact that as long as America has been dependent on foreign oil there has never been an honest, sustained effort at the senior governmental level to reduce long-term U.S. petroleum consumption.

If an election were held in Saudi Arabia today, (that is, if anyone who wanted to could run for the office of president, and if people could vote their hearts without fear of having their heads cut off afterward in Chop-Chop Square), Osama bin Laden would be elected in a landslide--not because the Saudi people want to wash their hands in the blood of the dead of September 11, but simply because bin Laden has dared to do what even the mighty United States of America won't do: stand up to the thieves who rule the country.

Whether or not you agree with this conclusion is not an issue. You should take the time to read it all the article, and then decide for yourself.

The Outback Bar & Grill (Finale)

During Anzac Day there was apparently some need for Paul & Glen to display themselves (below left), but I have no idea what that reason was. While below right Glen points and Yai waves. As I write, Glen is away in Norway visiting a friend, so the Outback Bar & Grill is closed. It is not clear when or even whether it will re-open, which I personally find very sad. In the centre picture I am standing under the Bundaberg 'cool white bear with shades', wearing my new Outback T-shirt, poised to "ring the bell".