History

A Tragedy in Bangkok, and the Opportunities it Brings

As I mentioned in my previous post about the red shirts, I usually avoid writing about politics for two reasons: 1) the situations often evolve too quickly for my sporadic man-child comments to be of any use, and 2), I'll be the first to admit it - I'm not so smrt in the politics department. However, I am affected by what's going on, and it has serious implications for the future of Thailand. So, instead of adding to the flood of theories of what happened and opinions on what will happen next, I thought I'd just put out a few thoughts on how a regular dude feels all caught up in what's going on.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:33+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, History, Politics|0 Comments

IMAX is Awesome – Except When They Lie

(This post might get a bit technical and nerdy, but I'm technically a nerd, so no apologies).

There are many things that make me proud to be Canadian, such as our diverse cultural heritage, our laid-back nature and the fact that our cases of beer have handles big enough to allow mittens to fit through them. Another thing is that IMAX is actually a Canadian company, which not a lot of people know. But the way that the famous giant film screen company has been behaving lately has made me wonder what they're thinking. Indeed, their current expansion efforts are progressing in such a way that will likely piss people off, and may even kill the once-rad name.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:35+00:00History, Movies, Pop Culture, Technology|3 Comments

A Trip to Amphawa by Train, Boat and Bike

thumb The good thing about having ambitious friends is that you often get dragged along on trips you wouldn’t ordinarily take on your own. This was the case last week, when my good friend Scott arranged a bike/train/boat weekend out of the city and into Amphawa, a few hours southwest of Bangkok and a hundred years behind. While I do like staying in Bangkok for the sheer, joyous laziness of it all, it’s great to get out and remind myself that there’s more to Thailand than bad traffic, tourist traps and concrete love.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:43+00:00Biking, History, Thailand, Travel|0 Comments

A Beginner’s Guide to Greg’s DNA

As I get older, I start to wonder about my past. Not because I forget what I did yesterday (although that's a bit hazy thanks to tequila); I mean my PAST - my genetic history going back thousands of years. Ever since DNA (more commonly known as deoxyribonucleic acid... or is it the other way around?) was isolated in 1953, it's given us an incredible tool to do everything from trace lineage to clone steak. My curiosity might have been piqued because I live in such a racial melting pot, where discussions of nationality, race and ethnicity come up all the time. So, I decided to head over to the National Geographic Genographic Project to see what they could tell me about me.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:43+00:00Education, Fun Stuff, History, Technology|0 Comments

Some Amusing Reading – “A Description of Siam in 1829”

thumb4 If only I was as interested in history in high school as I am now, I may even have passed a class or two, instead of getting stared at by teachers bewildered as to how I made all the way to 16 without killing myself in a tragic fruit accident. At any rate, it's a topic that sure interests me now, and one that I occasionally give a boost by doing some reading. I thought it would be neat to put up some snippets of a letter that I just finished titled A Description of Siam in 1829 by Frenchman Barthélemy Bruguière. I normally stick to more 'accessible' fare (coughArchiecough). but had some time to kill, and ended up really getting into it. It's an interesting - and slightly funny - read.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:46+00:00Asia, Culture, Education, History, Religion, Thailand|0 Comments

The Changing Face of Bangkok – 1970 vs 2009

thumb1 I've talked about the subject before, but for some reason I have a strange fascination with comparing Bangkok today to Bangkok of old (of yore?). In such a dynamic, crazy, haphazard city that rushes forward while dragging giant piles of the past, it's endlessy interesting to juxtapose what is with what once was. In other words - dude, things change fast. While browsing the excellent site 2Bangkok.com, I found a link to another excellent site, ThaiVisa.com, which had a discussion going on in one of its forums about pictures of Bangkok throughout the decades. Two caught my eye - firstly, because I know this particular area so well, and secondly, because the change is so severe.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:47+00:00Bangkok, History|0 Comments

Black and White Bangkok

face Over the past year or so, I've developed a fascination with 'old' Bangkok. The history of the city, the buildings and the roads, why and when they were built and what significance they played in the growth of this huge, awful, awesome city. It started when I moved to Chinatown, a pretty wild area, and read Edward Van Roy's book "Sampheng Inside Out" (links to Thai only) which gives a great history of the area from when it was just a mosquito-infested swamp. I was happy when Time magazine a while ago began a project that would see several million unreleased photos from its archive scanned and hosted by Google, which provides hours of fun. Below are some of my favourites found after running a search for 'Bangkok':

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:50+00:00Bangkok, History|0 Comments