MeGoDanceNow

Actually people can tell immediately I'm Canadian. Happened just the other day at the store. I said to the shopkeeper, "hey, where do ya keep the back bacon, eh?" The shopkeeper said, "Oh, you must be Canadian!" I thought that was a bit cheeky and replied, "Oh, just because I ask for back bacon you figured I was Canadian, eh?" "No," he answered, "Because this is an optician's."

One thing I've noticed is that I recognize a Canadian accent (central Canadian) as an accent. Before it just seemed like "normal" English, and everyone else had an accent! I've also picked up some words used in the English-speaking parts of Europe, like "mate," "nick," "taking the piss" and so on. I've lived overseas half my life now, so I use international terms for a few things that were invented while I was away, or just before I left. For example, ATM. In Canada these are called bank machines but I use the word "ATM" even when I go back to Canuckistan.

Still busy, but not packed like it was in January. Shoulder season. Come on down!

It sounds like we have pretty similar perspectives on the history itself. The only difference is the matter of how words are used, or I miss my guess. In the media, terrorists are generally small-scale, "retail" troublemakers who kill civilians for political purposes. I prefer to ignore scale and simply call terrorism any act of political violence against a civilian population. (Though the bombing of the USS Cole is routinely called terrorism, even though the ship was clearly a military target!) On my definition the Bali bombings were terrorism, the massacre of a quarter of the majority Catholic population of East Timor another, much bigger act of terrorism.

I don't think you're going to win this one, CT. The fact of the matter is that we farang generally come over here to SPEND our money. The Nigerians come to MAKE money, and in ways that make honest people the loser. My opinion is that virtually all Nigerians who come to Thailand do so with some kind of graft in mind. They certainly don't come to see the sights -- nor do they come for the pussy, they have plenty of that at home, though they might sell their dicks to hi-so Bangkok girls. I think the numbers EP showed demonstrate the point convincingly.

Nonetheless the Bali bombers got far more publicity (what they wanted out of it, I guess) than the Indonesian military did in all its terror campaigns in West Papua, East Timor (now independent), Aceh... Makes you wonder about our navel-gazing media, doesn't it? ...or maybe it doesn't.

Most terrorist attacks in Indonesia are aimed at the local people. And carried out by the military.

You can check the "total bullshit" box for me too. Bali is beautiful and the people friendly -- and the Balinese don't have the coolee mentality you often encounter here. They talk to you like an equal and expect the same. Kuta Beach is a shithole, you do need to get away from it and see the rest of the island.

According to Evil's statistics, only 10% more Brits come to these shores than Ozzies. Not bad considering the difference in populations. There might be even more if the flights weren't so expensive. It's cheaper to fly to Heathrow from here than to Sydney, and I think it's cheaper to fly from London to Bangkok than from Sydney to Bangkok.

I don't know how many aussies visit Pattaya relative to other countries' citizens. Also no idea on how representative this board is of those populations. Don't know how representative the poll was of this board's membership, either. I would add, though, that Oz isn't really that close to Thailand. It looks like it on the map, but Sydney is a long way south of Bangkok. Much closer than New York, certainly, but only a few hours closer than London.

You're thinking of his little brother Charles It's an easy mistake to make. I always confuse Harpo Marx with Karl Marx, because neither of them talked in any of the movies.

"Short" is "san," and "long" is "yow." Not too long: Mai koy yow Not too short: Mai koy san

And the award for "most unreadable post in this thread" goes to...

Actually they do switch on the fans. For me anyway. Besides, there's no such thing as an ugly woman, only an insufficiency of beer. :gulp :gulp :gulp :gulp

I always have a good time there. As for attractive females, well, they might show up one of these days, you never know. But they'd probably jack up the beer prices on us so I'll just go fetch them from Misty's when I need them.

I can also vouch that I know a few New Plaza aficionados who are quite well to do. Better to do than I am, that's for damn sure

So anyway, another nice thing about New Plaza is that it is close to all the cheap massage parlors where you can get a massage for just 100 baht. A massage plus seven beers for 400 baht, with change for a tip! What's not to like?

When you say one country is bigger than another, you generally refer to the population, not the area. Clue: It depends on the context. What does area have to do with having a sufficient pool of talent to draw a decent team? Fuck all. What does population have to do with it? Everything. Okay, it's not an annual contest. That's one. Yes, it is possible to get two or more things wrong in a single sentence. I didn't, unless you don't accept -- naw, not gonna go there. Your nitpicking has not changed the truth of my argument: With a longer tradition in cricket, a head start in development and a much larger population to draw from, England has beaten Australia in the Ashes on an Australian pitch only once in 24 years. This is a stellar accomplishment?

England, Australia -- oh, are there other countries involved in the Ashes that I've left out? I understand cricket was invented in England. ("Cricket can definitely be traced back to Tudor times in early 16th-century England," says Wikipedia). According to the Times of India, last year's victory breaks a 24-year away drought in the Ashes for England. Population of England (2008): 51,446,000 Population of Australia (2006 census): 19,800,000 LDK = Lesson Delivered, Kids!

Canada just lost to Russia in the world ice hockey juniors Maybe it's just me, but if my country were in a two-country annual tournament in a sport we invented, with a country a third our size that we used to own, I would expect to win an away series more often than just once in a generation.

You wouldn't. Some of us live here. Pussy is like oxygen: When you can have it any time you want, you don't think about it all that much. (Really.) When you can't get it, you think about nothing else. I can get laid anytime I want, so sometimes it's nice to just chill with a few of my homies, solving the problems of the world as Damon says.

New Plaza is a nice place to hang out and have some CHEAP drinks with friends. I arrange to meet my friends there from time to time, and we have a cheap charlie night. We can talk without loud music or the distraction of pretty girls wanting lady drinks. I wouldn't go there on my own, but if I just want to catch up with some friends, or get shitfaced for 500 baht, it can't be beat.

So he never did give up the booze and the one-night stand?

Right Down the Line was another classic. He had a few hits, and every one was a gem. RIP.

I agree, but the Vientiane isn't coming back, not in that location anyway.