In Defense of Bangkok’s Malls…Mostly

It's hard to escape the hubbub around ICONSIAM, Bangkok's newest mall. For those who aren't too familiar with Bangkok and may be laughing at the fact that a shopping mall is worthy of hubbub, well...you need to live in Bangkok a bit longer. Shopping malls are a big business here, to chagrin of many who think Bangkok has way too many malls as it is; to those people, opening a new one is just a needless waste of money and space. Well, in my opinion, those people are not wrong...but they're not right either. I think ICONSIAM is a great addition to the area that it's in (with some caveats that I'll discuss below). I also think that the "mall question" is much more nuanced than simply saying "too many malls", so let's look at some of the issues at play:

2018-11-21T12:28:33+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Pop Culture, Shopping, Thailand|4 Comments
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How Expat Life Forces You to Open Your Eyes

Fair warning: This post is sort of a rage-filled rant against elements of western media, Asian governments, and the apathy that people show towards what’s really important in life. Why? Because I saw something today that broke my heart and got me mad. Cuss words may appear.

So, forgive me folks, I’m kind of pissed off now. I’ve written before about how a person changes when they become an expat; how living in a strange culture and being constantly exposed to new and different viewpoints can alter how one thinks about the world. It’s one of the great benefits of being […]

2017-09-19T17:00:46+00:00Asia, Bangkok, Culture, Current Events, Pop Culture, Thailand|11 Comments
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Dealing With Cultural Differences – Example 1: The Two Ronnies

Obviously when you try to fit in to a new culture, there are some obstacles that will just not be overcome no matter how hard you try. This is one of the reasons that it’s so important to have friends from similar backgrounds, because completely severing the connection to your own culture can, I imagine, have some ugly fallout. This little bit of expatriate source code came up for me tonight when, feeling sad about the death of Ronnie Corbett, I pulled up of one my all-time favorite sketches from his legendary show The Two Ronnies and […]

2016-11-20T14:52:16+00:00Comedy, Culture, Pop Culture|0 Comments
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Dungeons & Dragons & Bangkok: An Alignment Cheat Sheet for the Whole City

Alert: This post is ultra-geeky. In my younger years, I used to play a bit of Dungeons & Dragons, the iconic role playing game with wizards and orcs and warriors and trolls and all that jazz. In the game, players can decide the ethical and moral makeup of their created characters, which guides their actions throughout the game. This is called a character alignment. These can be very good, very evil, or something in between. In fact, there are nine official alignments in the D&D universe, and I got to wondering – how would Bangkok’s disparate elements […]

2021-10-11T09:30:42+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Pop Culture|9 Comments
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A Cultural Wall at Toys R Us

I find it really interesting that even after all these years in Bangkok, I can still be completely caught off guard when it comes to the nuances and differences between Thai culture and my own. After 12 years I like to think that I understand at least a good chunk of how Thailand works, and if not, at least be experienced enough to anticipate a change here and there, but everyone once in a while, I’ll have the wool pulled over my eyes and end up thinking, “Of course it’s like that, you idiot!” This recently happened to me when […]

2016-11-17T15:47:56+00:00Asia, Culture, History, Pop Culture|0 Comments
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Can Thais Laugh at Themselves?

Want to hear my favorite Canadian joke? Here it is: Two Canadians, let's call them Bob and Doug, are snowed in and bored. Bob says, "I'm bored, eh. Want to play a game?" "Doug says, "Sure, why not - how about 20 questions? I'll go first." So Doug thinks of something that Bob couldn't possible guess - moose cock. Bob says, "Okay, animal, vegetable or mineral...is it animal?" Ummm, yes it is." "Is it bigger than a bread box?" "No, smaller than a bread box." "Is it something you can eat?" "Hahaha, well, yes, I guess you could eat it if you had no other choice." "Is it moose cock?" (Pause for laughter) Okay, maybe it's not a great joke, but I like it for its pure stupidity, and it goes to show something interesting: us Canadians love making fun of ourselves. I was thinking about this over the past few days when a story a friend wrote blew up online, showing that Thais most definitely do not like people - even Thais - poking fun at Thailand.

2016-11-17T15:48:02+00:00Comedy, Culture, Pop Culture, Video, Web Media|0 Comments
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In Defense of Titanic

A bit of a departure from Bangkok-specific things, but Titanic opened here this week, and since I'm a movie nerd, I have a few things to say. The term ‘backlash’ has been the subject of many sociology studies. Wikipedia defines it as “a popular negative reaction to something which has gained popularity, prominence, or influence, [usually] a reflection of a collective resentment of that thing's ubiquity in culture and media.” You see it a lot in popular culture – when a band ‘sells out’ or someone becomes famous overnight. You see it in movies too, and none more than Titanic, which has had an undue amount of scorn directed at it since its release 15 years ago. I was there on December 19, 1997, opening night at Westhills Cinemas in Calgary. When the lights came up, the only thing you could hear was sniffing and snorting as women dabbed their eyes and men pretended they weren’t verklempt. But I’m here to say it publicly and out loud and I don’t care what anyone thinks: Titanic is a stunning, emotionally wrenching, technically masterful film that deserves every dollar it made and every award it won, and I got a fistfull of baht ready to see it again in 3D.

2016-11-17T15:48:11+00:00Movies, Pop Culture|0 Comments
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Louis C.K. & the Success of Digital Distribution

As I often do, let me start this post with a disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer or a copyright specialist and probably couldn't argue with any reasonably talented devil's advocate on this topic for more than 15 minutes before they out-debated me. But - I'm really fascinated by watching how technology is redefining and even destroying traditional models of production, distribution and consumption. It'll suck for a few old-school organizations for a while, but I really think we're on the cusp of a digital verison of the industrial revolution, and we've only scratched the surface. One particular aspect that fascinates me is how digital distribution is cutting out the middle man and letting entertainers connect with their audiences directly. There have been a few notable events in this slow-but-sure transition, but the one that really connected with me was the release of Louis C.K's new standup special, Live at the Beacon Theater, which he did wrote, hosted, produced and edited entirely on his own and made available online for $5 (150 baht).

2016-11-17T15:48:13+00:00Comedy, Pop Culture, Technology, Web Media|0 Comments
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A Bit of Comedy in a Grim Time

Whenever I’m feeling depressed or bored, or simply haven’t laughed in a while, I always turn to standup comedy to cheer me up. Despite the message I got from a clueless guy tonight who thought the goofy SCUBA mask on my header meant I didn't care about any of the flood victims, I think now is a perfect time to have a bit of a laugh - after all, the ability to laugh in even the most dire of situations is one thing the Thais are known for, right? Anyway, with a kabazillion cubic meters of water bearing down on Bangkok and the mood of the city best described as ‘moribund’, I thought it would be a good time to start a series of posts I’ve been thinking about for a while in which I profile a certain comedian that I like. A bit more of my thoughts on comedy and my first comedian below. 

2016-11-17T15:48:14+00:00Comedy, Fun Stuff, Pop Culture, Video|0 Comments
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