ChiFlyer

Back at ya EP. I always have enjoyed Easter. Growing up mainly in the Chicago area, Easter tended to represent the rebirth of Spring. I am not a religious person. Hell far from it. Still I think maintaining some degree of spirituality in one's life is a component to having some degree of self-worth. And the babes in the picture are stirring my spirituality.

Geez - more health food options. When will it end? 🙂

I watched "Poor Things" this afternoon IMDB 8.0 (2023) - length 2:21:36 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Things_(film) "Poor Things" was generally regarded as the # 3 movie in the running for this year's Oscar. It is critically acclaimed. I would describe it as an "artsy" Frankenstein-esque movie. It is interesting. The camera work is very well done. The movie moves between B&W and Color with some stunning effects at times. Did I like it? Pretty much, but I thought that it moved a little slowly at times. Available via IPT.

We disagree on the quality of the movie and that is fine. I was spellbound by it and yes it is long,

I am downloading Shogun through IPT. I have not started to watch it as of yet. I am probably a month away from that. It has an IMDB of 9.3, which is unusually high. The offer stands for an IPT invite.

Hi Tommy, I will be a good soldier and not politicize this thread. On the other hand, this is becoming a highly politicized topic. I will likely open a separate thread (or add to an existing one) over in US Politics.

Oppenheimer might be the best movie of the last 50 years. It won 13 Oscars. And yes it is a downer in many ways. Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) who won the best actor Oscar award was magnificent in the title role. The supporting cast (Robert Downey Jr. (Oscar Winner), Matt Damon, Gary Oldman (in a brief role as Harry Truman), and many others were excellent as well. Christopher Nolan (Oscar Winner for best director) did an incredible job of bringing this complex and societal changing story to the screen. I liked the flick. 🙂

Excellent flick IMO. If it had not been for Oppenheimer (a fantastic movie), "Killers of the Flower Moon" might have taken home some significant Oscars. I still have not watched "Poor Things" which was the 3rd highly rated movie of the year. I have it queued up to watch sometime this weekend. I thought that DiCaprio should have been nominated for an Oscar. He was great in "Killers of the Flower Moon". I suspect that his lack of a nomination was in part due to his playing an unlikable villainous character.

John Mayal - California

This is indeed a tragic event and my heart goes out to the affected families. On the other side of the coin, Jordan Klepper goes after the news reporting.

I got an unsolicited email ad from an Italian Restaurant called "Sicily". https://www.sicily.restaurant/?_gl=1*pegndu*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwh4-wBhB3EiwAeJsppIMSRB0uaEmNTVdShEY-D5xc0QcYQaeT6MI8dG9k8rqXOgnTNHicHRoCe14QAvD_BwE It is out on Maphrachan Lake. They have a huge menu and many of the pics look very inviting, Looks to be a little expensive for an Italian restaurant, probably close to Gian's for price comparison purposes. Anyone been out here? I am thinking about giving it a try.

The Mrs and I had not been to Rain Forest since my last post on 10/22/2022. We went the other night. I feel that they have gone downhill some and that their business looks to be a little off. Just saying.

Gary Clark Jr. - This Land - When My Train Pulls In

I had never heard of Gary Clark Jr. prior to tonight Jon Stewart had him on as a guest. I looked up some of his music. Jesus Christ the man can play the guitar. We are talking about Hendrix level talent here. IMO. Catfish Blues @Lirchenfeld you might like this one I think. "This is who we are".

The Iron Claw (2023) IMDB 7.8 - Run Time 2:12:03 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Claw_(film) Not a great movie by any means, but very watchable IMO. My understanding is that the movie is based on a true story. Available on IPT.

Well said. To talk a little to some of the previously mentioned nationalities. I found the Chinese people in HKG to be gracious and polite. The Chinese from the mainland, not so much. I worked in India for close to a year. I dislike the food. The locals treated me well, but they were a little intolerant of other beliefs and the men were very sexually biased especially against other cultures. I was told numerous times by educated co-workers that all Thai and Filipino women were whores. In case you have never worked in India, it is advised for a Westerner not to drive there. My company hired a driver for me, probably a good idea. We are going down a road one day and the driver notices that I am looking at a particular woman driving a bicycle. He asks if I think she is pretty. I say yes. He comes up along side of her, grabs her ass, and knocks her off her bicycle. I yell out "don't do that shit". He gives me a this guy is no fun look. I was married to a Filipino woman for close to 10 years and spent a considerable amount of time in the PI. Their culture at least toward foreigners (their word for Farang) is so passive aggressive it will drive one insane. It once took me one year to close a bank account. Japanese people have always been polite with me, but there certainly is a wall. Barbados (Bajans) - see Japan. I guess I hate grumpy old Farangs (including myself) the most. 🙂

Tortilla Pizza This is a no mess - no fuss quickie that is on the table in 1/2 hour and tastes surprisingly good. https://www.splashoftaste.com/tortilla-pizza/ The author wrote this to be veg. I declined to do so. The pizza sauce and pepperoni that are available on Lazada are both quite tasty. Pizza Sauce Pepperoni I bought Mission Tortillas and Pizza Cheese at Villa Market. I grated some Pecorino Romano to use instead of Parm. I baked the pizza in the oven for 6 minutes at 220 C. The longest part of the prep is waiting for the oven to come to temp. Do not use a heavy amount of the pizza sauce or you will have soggy pizzas. For a 10 inch tortilla a little over 2 TBSP of sauce works well. Make sure to let the pizza cool for a few minutes coming out of the oven, or you will burn your mouth with the molten cheese. This is harder to do than it sounds as the pizza smells really good. Both the Mrs and I got singed. Surprisingly, she really liked the pizza and she is normally not a fan.

Day 7 - Work Completed and Water Refilled The crew finished up the pool work today and I am overall happy with the net result. The wall was "painted" with an acetic solution. The result was not perfect, but overall a decided improvement. Will the improvement hold up? We shall see. About 1/2 hour after the wall was completed rain started up again. After a few hours the pool was refilled. This was a little costly as it required 8 larger water trucks at 800 per truck. Like I said I am happy enough with the job. Here is a night time shot of the finished product. The regular pool maintenance guy stops by tomorrow to check out the water and reset the various timers for the reflection wall flow. We have been advised to stay out of the pool water for 3 days due to chemicals having been added.

I have enjoyed the "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon" so far. S02E01 is scheduled to be released on June 17th, 2024 (Thailand Time). It will be an 8 episode season. I would assume that it will be immediately available on IPT as well as HBO. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-sizzles-with-2-dueling-trailers/

Day 6 - Continued Clean up from the grouting work The crew put in a half day today after things dried out somewhat from yesterday's rain. The grout work is cleaned up and all eyes are on tomorrow, when the wall cleanup will be done, weather permitting. I think my apprehension about the wall clean up was in part due to some Thaiglish problems between me and the Mrs. We shall see. She does attack at times to make sure that I know she is on my side. Forgot to take a pic today.

Day 5 - Rain - and some new considerations. Not much got done today due to the rain. Still the grouting is nearing completion and looking good. Next major item is the reflection wall, which requires a sunny day. The owner/manager seems to be backing off of his statement that the reflection wall can be made to look like new. The Mrs is giving him an earful about that. He has agreed to give said wall a vinegar treatment. https://aseannow.com/topic/876376-thai-lime-scale-remover/ His crew has done a little of this on one area and the results are good enough IMO. In the event that I am not happy with the end product, I will not refill the water and look for someone to try the @forcebwithu 's muriatic acid solution treatment. We shall see.

I have looked into this. One costs about 10 K in Thailand. We shall see. Nice looking pool lady. 🙂

Dear Lord -> the pussies of the Midway team's management strikes again. Da Bears traded Justin Fields to the Steelers for a 6th round draft choice. Fields was a starting QB1. Da Bears hold the #1 draft choice in the upcoming draft and will take the highly touted Caleb Williams out of USC. Williams is being touted as a generational talent, who has never taken an NFL snap. Fair chance he is a bust. The Bears saved a few short term nickles. They probably could have gotten much better value for Fields in October after the first wave of NFL QB injuries had occurred. Or also needed him desperately to fill in for the injured rookie. grumble, grumble

Day 4 - Late Morning - Grouting Continues Hmm - looks like they have added a new guy. See the green shirt near the top of the foto. Appears to be a supervisor type.

I watched a movie that I liked this afternoon. "In Bruges" 2008 IMDB 7.9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Bruges Excellent crime drama IMO. Colin Farrel and Brendan Gleason (Mr. Mercedes) are the leads. These two actors pair together in an excellent manner. They reunited in the 2022 movie "The Banshees of Inisherin" IMDB 7.7, which is also excellent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banshees_of_Inisherin Both movies are recommended.