Toy Boy

XE is quoting 38.20 at the moment, so the pound should just be keeping its head above the 38 mark at the likes of TT. Surprising given that the government seems to have gone into full no-deal ahead mode.

.....but where are the tinned salmon sandwiches? Impossible to have a real buffet back then without them, lol!

I watched Captain Marvel last week. I enjoy most of the Marvel films, not so much the TV series though. Anyway, this was decent enough, lots of action, an attractive star, and amazing effects, I enjoyed it. I checked up the review sites and saw that it had many negative reviews. I couldn't figure this out as I thought it was a good movie, but digging a bit deeper it seems that Brie Larsen is a bit of a feminist headcase who'd said something along the lines of she didn't want men to go and see her new film. Kind of childish really, I don't suppose Marvel were over the moon with her for that one. There's some explanation here if you're interested: https://www.looper.com/145793/captain-marvel-already-getting-flooded-with-negative-reviews-on-rotten-tomatoes/

Dinner last night with the GF. I brought back a Tesco turkey crown from the UK and roasted it. I made peas, baby carrots, roast potatoes, stuffing, home-made Yorkshires and gravy to accompany it. Mint sauce and cranberry jelly as optional condiments. Very nice too, we both cleared our plates. Washed down with a large glass of Australian red followed by coffee and Remy Martin XO. It's a hard life.

My first trip there was 15 years ago and I loved the place, but even back then there were signs that things were changing for the worse. Blue Mountain only had a couple of houses left on it by then, the rest were being closed down by the cops. I don't suppose there's a single house of pleasure left up there now. I had friends who'd been visiting there for longer and they said it was a pale shadow of what once was, and this is in 2004. On my last visit, I think it was 2007, the Chinese invasion had already started. There was a massive new hotel (and casino I guess) that had been given one of the beaches as its own private property. The most expensive hotel had recently opened up on a small island catering to Chinese tourists (and businessmen, I guess), the most expensive room ran to a cool $2000 a night. And this in a country utterly mired in poverty. My first visit coincided with a serious crackdown on armed crime, I was only near one incident involving a gun on that trip at the Fisherman's Den rooftop bar run by Kiwi Brian. The other trips there were no gun incidents, and I appreciated the improved safety. I guess they already knew the Chinese were coming and they would be scared off if there was any untoward shooting so they must have decided to stop it altogether.

The Chinese are trying to get access to the Cambodian naval base at Ream, just down the coast from Snooky, which is worrying the Americans.

Yellow and soft, definitely a Europhile, lol.

Not tonight, Josephine.

Finally got around to Conn Iggulden's Emperor series. A great read so far.

So much for the Thai government saying last week that they were concerned over the negative effects of the strong Baht and would do something about it. All forgotten and they're evidently back to planning the next coup, got to get their priorities right after all.

Another couple of weeks of this and they'll be hanging themselves next to the TT booths, not just crying.

Something a bit more recent...

Yeah, it's true, I just spent a month back there and, after Thailand, so much stuff in Britain seems quite reasonably priced, if not downright cheap, and it's usually better quality. A complete reversal from, say, 10 years ago when I'd go back to the UK and think how dreadfully expensive it was after Pattaya. I'm working on a fallback plan for the coming 18 months. I don't want to have to over-winter in the UK so come hell or high water I'll be in Pattaya until next April or May, but if things haven't improved by then I'll probably put up the shutters on my house here and spend six months during the summer and early autumn of 2020 back in Britain. I'm lucky as I kept my place back there and haven't rented it out so I can return any time. I borrow my brother's car when I need to go anywhere so it's a low cost escape from high-cost Thailand, plus it'll save me one of the two business class air fares that I'd usually buy. Hell, I might even get some minor medical stuff sorted out free on the NHS instead of paying the inflated prices at Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya.

Here's a couple I recently watched and enjoyed, one old and one new. Fighting with my Family is the new one, based on a true story it's both gritty and funny, with great acting all around. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean is the old one, dating back to 1972. It's also a very amusing, if somewhat unlikely, story, but apparently Roy Bean was a real judge and saloon keeper in Texas who became known as the Hanging Judge so there's at least an element of truth in there. A great piece by Paul Newman anyway, and an immortal film.

Thanks, I hadn't heard of that one, but it's on the Yify website so I've just downloaded a copy.