Evil Penevil

A couple of things to note. Frankie Laine didn't sing the theme to the TV series Champion the Wonder Horse (called The Adventures of Champion in the U.S.). He was supposed to record it, but missed a flight and the production company used a studio singer named Mike Stewart who had a similar voice to Laine but was uncredited. Laine later released a recording of the theme song that became popular in the U.K. Many people assumed Laine had sung the title song of the series, which is exactly what the studio wanted. Laine was much more popular in the U.K. than the U.S. and still holds some records f

Cucumber has three sections for seating: an al fresco balcony that's great for people watching on Pattaya Tai; an indoor "fan room;" and an enclosed air-conditioned room. I haven't eaten breakfast there,but Cucumber has a lot of breakfast variations (American, English, German, French, Italian, Thai/Chinese and even Vietnamese) as well as specialty dishes like eggs Benedict and creamed mushrooms on toast. I plan on trying the creamed mushrooms soon.

Cucumber is located on Pattaya Tai between 2nd Road and Soi Bukhao. It's about 100 meters before Tukcom (diagonally across the street) when walking from 2nd Road. When I first moved to Pattaya, I lived very close to Cucumber and ate there quite a bit. I never had a bad meal and Thai girls loved it, but after I moved to another part of town, I seldom found my way back. Until this week, I hadn't there for over a year. On Monday, I tried the grilled sea bass at 230 baht. Cucumber offers "international dishes" s well as Thai food, including Isaan specialities It cam

National Velvet was the movie that made Taylor a star at age 12. The name of the horse in the film was The Pie, short for Pirate. My Friend Flicka (flicka is the Swedish word for girl) was another popular horse movie that starred a young Roddy McDowall, who also starred with Taylor in the first Lassie film. In the 1950s, a TV show based on the My Friend Flicka film was aired in the same time slot as Rin Tin Tin. That prompted a huge argument between my sister and myself over which show to watch. She wanted the horse series, I wanted Rinty. The situation was resolved by my sister watching h

When the Academy Awards began in 1929, Rin Tin Tin got the most votes as best male actor. However, the Academy wanted the awards to be taken seriously and said the winner had to be human. Rin Tin Tin silent films were hugely successful and saved the Warner Brothers studio from bankruptcy. The great grandson of the first Rin Tin Tin was supposed to play the role, but performed poorly in a screen test and was replaced with a more cooperative dog. Evil : Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I watched Rin Tin Tin every week as a kid until the Alcoa company took over as the sponsor and changed the name of the show to Rin Aluminum Aluminum. Evil

Late night supper at Secrets he other night: bacon, brie and cranberry sandwich. Good combination of flavors, sort of like brie en croute except on a baguette. I wish the cranberry component had been more pronounced. It cost 229 baht, which isn't cheap, but the brie and bacon were high quality.

The decision in the federal court doesn't bar the Washington team from using the name Redskins. Even if the case goes all the way to the Supreme Court and the team loses at every level (which would probably take 10 more years), it can still call itself the Washington Redskins and continue to use its existing logos. What's at stake is federal trademark protection, not the use of the word "redskin." Ironically, if the team loses in the end, it would mean that everybody is allowed to use the Washington Redskins name and logo, not that anyone is forbidden from using them. Should the team

My answer would be "Fine," but of course opinions about physical attractiveness will always vary. Best way to get an idea is to visit the bar. Evil

Some pics from the July 4th BBQ at Chik N Coop. It was a great spread with all the dishes you'd expect at an American Independence Day picnic-style BBQ. In addition to the grilled burgers, hot dogs and chicken, Coop served up homemade cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, bean dip and chili con carne, plus all the fixings. There were several Thai dishes for those not so keen on U.S.. fare. The party was well-attended and everyone seemed to joy the food and companionship. Thanks Coop! Evil

I don't know any details about this year, but Coop at Chik N Coop (Smile Avenue beer bar complex across from Mike's Mall) and Skeeter at Sky Bar on Soi 6 usually have something special planned for the Glorious Fourth. (graphic and photo from the Net) Evil

"Deplane" has been part of the English language for nearly 100 years. It began as airline jargon in the 1920s and is still pretty much limited to describe getting off an airplane. It's even included in the Oxford Dictionary, albeit with the notation it is a North American term. "Deplane" was clearly patterned on "detrain" (also in the OED, dates from the 1880s). The development of new technology often leads to word usage that isn't always logical. No one thinks it strange that we "board" an aircraft, but that use of "board" has its origin in naval language, in the days when passengers go

I visited Aroi Pub and Resto on the Darkside for the first time on Sunday, June 21. I went with six other friends to try the all-you-can-eat chicken and ribs buffet for 259 baht. Aroi is a a spacious and comfortable restaurant, bright and very clean. It is indeed a pleasant setting for a meal. Unfortunately, the food was disappointing, very disappointing. That was the unanimous opinion of all the people in our group. The selection of food was limited, not particularly tasty and worst of all, cold or lukewarm. For some reason, the flames hadn't

Fast Track via the Premium Lane is a bit like insurance; you don't always need it but you're glad you have it when you do. I use the Premium Lane on nearly every trip for arrival and departure, but that's because I get the vouchers for free, either from the airline or through the company for which I used to work. From what I've observed, Immigration Control goes much faster nowadays at Swampy than a few years ago when lines on occasion could stretch outside the Immigration area. Whether or not you encounter a long queue depends on many factors, some of which are impossible to predict. The

Just to clarify one point: What was new in my experience was the passport-visa-ticket check at the departure gate that targeted passengers with a connecting flight to Thailand. There have been checks at the landside check-in counter since about 2010, but on a more sporadic basis. Sometimes the check-in agents would ask me to show proof of a return flight, other times not. In the past five years, I have been asked about a return ticket or visa when checking in for flights to Thailand on United, Delta, EVA, Tiger, ANA, Japan Air, KLM,Cebu. Air Asia and Swiss Air. The one airline that NEVER

On today's Delta flight from JFK to Narita, all passengers with an onward flight to Bangkok had their passports and return flights checked very carefully. Non-Thai passports had to have six months validity left or the passenger was denied boarding. Three passengers I saw were in trouble on that account. I don't know how it ended for them, but I didn't see them in the passenger cabin. If you had a visa for Thailand, you had to show it and those without visas had to prove they had a flight out of Thailand within a month. The gate agent told me the Thai authorities had gotten very serious a

Posting pics of the girls who work in a gogo bar is a double-edged sword. If the pics aren't professionally done so the girls are presented in the best possible light, the comments will only be negative. But if the pics are professionally shot, some of the comments will nevertheless be negative (the pics were Photoshopped heavily; in real life, the girls don't look like their pics; the girls in the pics no longer work in the bar, etc). Damned if the bar owner does, damned if he doesn't. Best idea is simply to walk into the bar and look around for a few seconds. If you like what you see, s

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I won't be rushing back to try the other food at Two Lions, but I may at some point try one of the Swedish dishes. Evil

I read on another board that Two Lions Pub & Restaurant served the best pizza in Pattaya. As I'd never even heard of Two Lions, I thought I check it out in case I was missing a "hidden gem." It's located on Soi 9 off Pattaya Klang (Central Road). If you are walking east on Klang, past Soi Bukhao, it is the first perpendicular soi on the right-hand side of the street. Two Lions is situated about 100 meters down Soi 9. It turns out Two Lions is a Swedish restaurant that serves Swedish "husmanskost" (roughly translates as "home-style cooking") as well as pizzas, doner kebab a

Yes, it is pretty good. On the whole, the Mercure buffets offer a good choice of tasty dishes, even if each and every one of them doesn't exactly scale culinary heights. q The problem with most of the 199-baht (or cheaper) buffets in Pattaya is that the food is terrible. A lot of inedible food isn't at a buffet isn't value for money but quite the opposite. It's better to pay a bit more and get food you're happy to be eating. Evil

Along with some friends, I tried the Friday night "traditional" BB Q buffet at the Mercure.. The Saturday seafood buffet had ranged from OK to excellent and I was curious how the Friday buffet would stack up in comparison. The seafood buffet costs 599 baht (only Saturdays) and the Friday BBQ went for 300 baht, which turned out to be good value for money. There was an impressive salad and "antipasto" table. The outdoor BBQ section was set up in the same fashion as the Saturday seafood buffet, so i didn't take too many pics. You had a

There's more than roast duck that's good at Leng Kee. On Saturday afternoon, I stopped by for a quick meal. The dishes themselves were pretty much Thai standards, but excellently done. I had an order of the deep-fried crab cakes with dipping sauces (150 baht): and the stir-fried rice noodles with chicken and vegetables (80 baht): I was happy to get a large bottle of SML, fairly rare in Pattaya. It had been recently brewed, too. ... There was nothing elaborate about the two dishes I ordered, but they tasted delicious. They had been expe

I hadn't been back to Steak & Co since my initial visit nine months ago (time sure flies!), so I decided to make a return visit. A friend and I ate there Tuesday night. Since Ill be on a trip to the U.S. in 10 days, I decided to hold off with my monthly steak until then and went with the Moroccan lamb tagine. A tagine (named for the conical clay cooking pot) ... ... is a North African specialty, a slow-cooked stew of meat and vegetables with a savory-sweet taste. The distinct flavor comes from dried apricots, dates,figs, raisins or sultanas, prunes, etc. Sometimes honey a