RhinoTusk

Being There

I was living in Madison, Wisconsin when they filmed "Back To School" on campus. Robert Downey Jr

"It's a cookbook." Still looks like an alien spaceship.

Thanks for the comments. Here are a few more, mostly from this afternoon

Pics from the farang ghetto, the 'Hood. Ideally situated half way between Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, an oasis in lower Sukhumvit. Upscale restaruants (17% added to your bill is the norm), trendy discos, but you can still find bar girls (Hillary 3 Bar) and Climax Disco in the basement of the Ambassador Hotel is one of the best places in town for freelancers. For the budget-minded traveler, there's the Soi 11 Guesthouse and Cheap Charlies, a Bangkok institution for 30 years. Bed supper club has closed and the Federal Hotel will soon be replaced by expensive condos, the neighborhood is changing. But there's something for everyone on Soi 11, I call it home. VW minibuses take over the parking lanes and every night is like a block party A quiet and tranquil Sunday morning What's left of the Bed Even the Thai restaurants add 17% surcharges But not off the street Where you can have your sox mended Here's a self-portrait, and there are spas and lots of tug shops Climax Disco, in the basement of the Ambassador Hotel, has live bands and 250 baht cover (includes 1 drink), gets started after midnight Hillary 3 has bar girls Angel City Diner is in the ground floor of The Prime, rent for a one bedroom condo starts at 40,000/month. The sign says 24 hours, but they close at 4:30 AM. The Cheap Charlie cul de sac I've never eaten at this Indian restaurant, just assumed they were trying to warn me. Chez Pape has among the most reasonable prices in town for french cuisine. Weekend lunch specials feature 3 courses with a glass of wine for just 650. (that's 550++) Farang women can have a difficult time attracting attention in this neck of the woods, but I've been in LOS for a decade and can't recall what it means to be sexually frustrated. Q Bar Apotheke features live blues bands, starting around 9:30. No cover, but a Jack & Coke will set you back 250. The open-air bar with the huge brick wall reminds me a bit of Bourbon Street in N'Orleans. Oskar Bistro: Is it a bar or restaurant? Soi 11, it's a nice place to live, sure better than farangland.

Gene Wilder

I had some Snapple Rasberry Tea from Topps but still much prefer Long Island Iced Tea. Who serves the best? The staff in M*A*S*H AGogo used to call me 'Long Island'.

What have Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, and Huey Newton been brewing?

Jerry Maguire

This show ends tomorrow. Next one is March, I think.

With over 5,000 facebook followers, this is ChingChing Absolutelove https://www.facebook.com/chingching.loveless

This is the last time I'll go on the King's birthday. Huge crowd today.

Sleepy Hollow

Bo Derek

It's easy to tell. They go with the new hybrid cars.

Now at Impact Arena. No Harleys at this show, WTF?

Back To The Future

I'll get better with more practice. It's not easy to get candid shots without the telephoto, then I can't get sharp images because a slower shutter speed is needed to emit enough light. Also, I'm thinking of upgrading to a full frame, which would be much better for night shots. I pointed at some of the Welcome 'Girls' at Cockatoo and I think they were ready to kick my ass, so I don't have any Cockatoo shots (not exactly my cup of tea, anyway). The best spot is in front of Crazy House, the girls come out on the street half naked without panties. I saw one guy lifting up their skirts, wish I had my camera. I'm surprised it didn't cause a traffic accident on Soi 23.

Soi Cowboy GoGos are expensive for drinking, some places now charging 180-200 baht, but there are happy hours for Suzy Wongs, Dollhouse, Tilac, and Sharks. Bar fines and short time are in line with the better Pattaya GoGos.

Bought a new camera strap yesterday, the sling type. Was out in the field testing it.

Quo Vadis

James Mason

Ten years ago I met an old timer who claimed he bar fined Noi, the Mississippi Queen dancer in the movie. He said she was one crazy fuck. Her bio on imdb is rather incomplete http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0863813/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t33

Thanks for the comments gents, much appreciated Here's an interesting discussion of the Patpong of the 1970's and 1980's http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2013/Patpong-Bangkok-history.htm

Flashback: October 1992. Arrive from SFO, first time in Thailand, freshen up at the Tower Inn on Silom Road and I'm ready for action. A 15 minute walk to Patpong, I have no problem finding it, but there's nothing happening. It's too early! Here's how the scene looks like today Order some dinner and a few margaritas at Patty's Fiesta and snapped this one standing in front of the restaurant at the mouth of Patpong 1. The food was awful, but Patty's is still around, and so is the MacDonalds across the street When beer bars opened I ordered a bottle of Kloster, which I preferred over Singha, the only other option. There were a couple girls sitting at the bar, so thought I'd 'test the water' and buy one a drink. Anxious about what would happen, her English skills left much to be desired so conversation was difficult, but I was truly amazed when she reached down, grabbed by crotch and started rubbing my dick. "You like?", she asked. I had heard the stories but I couldn't believe it, this never happened at home. I visited some GoGos and eventually King's Castle I. It looked exactly as it does today, less some cigarette burns in the upholstery. There were some very attractive girls and I was ready for my first bar fine. One of the best lookers just happened to sit next to me, maybe not so coincidently, so I bought her a drink. Her name was Yu, she was 24, from up north "near Lao". The bar fine was 335 baht. I'd done research and knew I had to pay the girl separately, but had no idea how much to offer. There were no online forums like this in 1992, I was in the dark. Frommes and Lonely Planet didn't have this kind of information. "How much you gib me?", she asked. I thought I would start with a low initial offer and let her bargain me up, so I said 500 baht, less than I'd offer a crack whore in The Mission. She was so pretty, I feared she might slap my face for insulting her, but all she said was "OK", and we were off in a taxi. Fare had to be negotiated because there were no meters. The next day I did some touristy stuff, visited the Royal Palace, Chinatown, and took a boat up River City. With no roads, suddenly I could breathe again. It's difficult to describe just how bad the air quality was back then. In the evening, I went back to Patpong and met Nuen. The next day I visited Wat Sasket since I'd read about it in some guide book. Climbing to the top was quite exhausting, and suddenly I realized there weren't other farangs around. On the way back down, I encountered a twelve year old kid. I looked down at him through my Jake & Elwood sunglasses and I'll never forget how his eyes lit up. He turned to his friends and said "Arnold Swartzenag", and they were all very excited. My Tuk-Tuk driver laughed, "He think you movie star." I had the driver drop me at Soi Cowboy. Nana Plaza was just restaurants then, but I had read about how Soi Cowboy was named after a black ex-serviceman from Wyoming, the late T.G. "Cowboy" Edwards. Bars weren't open in the late afternoon, and as I was walking through the soi, I noticed a sign on one of the bars that read: WARNING Crazy Perverts Party Here If you're easily shocked or offended KEEP THE FUCK OUT!!! Took this shot near soi 23. Note Moonshine Joint and Suzy Wongs (girl in red dress). This is today. I had dinner at a fast food restaurant called Tikkiburger, an extremely spicy potato patty, like nothing I'd ever tasted, and I was blowing fire like a dragon. I took this snap of the Asoke Intersection, down Sukhumvit towards Nana. You can see Times Square of the left and the Westin on the right. The Sheraton Grade would be built 4 years later and the Seafood Market ("If it swims we have it") has since moved to soi 24. Can't see much from that same pedestrian overpass today. I hadn't expected Halloween would be observed, the King's Group was having a big shindig back on Patpong. I returned to Kings Castle I. Yu had called my hotel just a half-hour after she left, inviting me back to her bar. Guess I overpaid, ruining it for all punters henceforth. But Yu wasn't there and I met another girl that had lived in Germany a year and could speak very good English. She asked me where I was from. "San Francisco", I said. "Aren't there a lot of faggots there?", she asked. You travel half way around the world just to discover The City isn't famous for Rice A-Roni. The next day I picked up the silk suits I'd ordered from the tailor at the Siam Shopping Center and wore one to Patpong. I had girls crawling all over me, just as I wanted. There were more girls but I've lost the film, was lucky to find this. I bought a cheap film scanner last week and this is the first time I've had these in digital form. Here are some shots from Silom Road, and from the roof of the Tower Inn. And that's the way it was, 21 years ago. Hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed reminiscing. Cheers.