I have to mention that I saw an HILARIOUS movie last night at Andrew and Barbara’s pad. Shaun of the Dead must be one of the funniest romantic zombie comedies ever. I don’t like scary films, so I don’t really know much about the genre. Nevertheless, I laughed out loud at this movie. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it even more if I’d have understood all of the inside jokes. Read a few reviews of this quirky British send-up of horror flicks everywhere, and then rent (or buy) the DVD. You’ll love it!

Click here to download the high-resolution trailer. (16 megabytes, Windows Media Player format.)

Our dear friend Chris has finally begun to receive the respect he deserves since the release of his most excellent weather book. Today you’ll find an interesting editorial by Chris in the L.A. Times!

Way to go, Mr. Burt!

Google seems to have done it again. This time, it’s their mapping software. Mapquest, Yahoo maps and their ilk will certainly see a serious challenge from Google’s beautiful maps.

(Unfortunately, this fabulous technology does not seem to work in my beloved Opera. Use Firefox instead.)

UPDATE: I tried Google maps again today with Opera – and it (mostly) works! Both on my pee see and Kelly’s Mac! Woo-hoo!

Here’s a funny thing about Thai people. A photographer friend told me that they’d all strike a certain pose whenever a camera is pointed at them – and sure enough – they do!

…I feel compelled to share with you what I just made for the office. I think it’s pretty dang neat. Click on the image to view a low resolution (1.2 megabyte) version of the final artwork. The printed piece will be 12 inches wide by 86 inches (just over 20,000 pixels) tall. I chose 240 DPI for a final file size of 299 megabytes – manageable on my lowly pee see. I’m having it printed by EZ Prints. They have one of the world’s worst web sites, but the best price for this kind of print. I’m getting the huge print done for just $39.70, delivered! An unbelievable bargain, if you ask me. (Tip: EZ Prints panoramic prints must be oriented landscape.)

The tall poster will hang on a square white column near my desk at work.

And now, since there’s too much white space below this entry right now, I’ll treat you to a few of my observations about Thailand, because well, I’m an expert you know – I mean, I’ve been there for almost TWO WEEKS!

• Cars in Thailand have funny names. (May favorite is the Mitsibishi Catalytic Champ.)
• It’s difficult to find a bad meal in Thailand.
• Napkins in most restaurants are about the size and absorbency of a single square of toilet tissue. (Can you spare a square?)
• Bangkok has some BIG-ASS billboards – half as big as a football field. Oh – and it’s hot – all the time. (Chris Burt ranks Bangkok as the world’s hottest city in his Extreme Weather Guide.)
• Thai people are, on average, w-a-y prettier than Germans or Americans. (Or Italians or Russians.)

Hope you find this useful. Stay tuned for my upcoming “Geeks Guide to Thailand”. :-)

I made an effort to photograph boys and men at this event – really, I did! Unfortunately, Thai men simply do not make particularly interesting subjects – certainly not when compared to Thai women of any age.

The orchids look exactly like sexy, happy angel bees, don’t they?

There are many, many examples of this. I’m not exactly sure why it happens so often in a country with so many English-speaking inhabitants and visitors. It must be a matter of pride. A situation where the boss speaks “perfect” English, and no one will challenge his or her interpretations. Maybe. I don’t know.

One of the funnier examples of this sort of mis-translation was seen by Richard Lair at the Elephant Conservatory. I was not able to obtain photographic proof, but Richard claimed that he saw a fresh-faced teenage Thai girl wearing a t-shirt that screamed “Fuck You, You Pricking Fuck!”

We arrived safely after our 20+ hours of flying from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Taipei to San Francisco. We’re happy to be back, but will certainly remember our first trip to Thailand fondly forever.

Now that I’m back at my trusty computer, I can do things that I could not do from an Internet cafe in Thailand. For example, I can create these panoramic shots. The first is the view from the 15th floor of the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok. (Just accross the river, behind the large white boat, you can just make out the remnants of a large billboard that collapsed moments before this shot was taken.)

The second panorama was shot on our drive from Chiang Mai to Pai. I’m glad I took this shot when I did, because it turned out to be by far the clearest day we experienced while in Thailand.

Seeing these makes me wish I had had the time and the equipment needed to shoot panoramas at some of the temples we visited. The landscape in those placecs was other-worldly, and really needs to be seen in a full 360 degrees to be fully appreciated. Oh well, guess we’ll just have to return to Thailand soon. :-)

Our three hour drive to Pai was beautiful – for most of us. It turns out that poor Ben is highly succeptible to car sickness. Luckily, we finished the drive without incident and were completely thrilled by what we found that the Muang Pai Resort. The place is beautiful – even in the middle of the dry season.

Soon after we arrived, we drove into Pai and really did surprise our friend Eric at his Happy Yim Restaurant. He claims that we are the first friends from the states to pay him a visit.

Well, I have much more to say, and many more images to post, but with just a few hours left in Thailand, I’d better get out of this internet cafe. I think I just saw Ben and Kelly take off with the last of our cash… :-)

See you all soon!

Last night’s dinner at the Flower Restaurant was definitely one of our favorite events so far. The food – almost all of which was either entirely made of or included flowers – was delicious, and the bill for our group of 20+ people was just under 100 bucks, but the best part was the company. Chris and Ben have a very interesting circle of friends here – each of whom has quite a story to tell.

After dinner, we strolled over to the set of a movie with a working title of Kingdom of Silence. The movie stars Christopher Walken, I think. Our friend Joe Cummings plays a drug dealer in one scene, and even has a line – “This shit will make you fl-y-y-y.”

We’ll be leaving for Pai in about an hour. Coincidentally, Joe and the members of a Colorado band whose name escapes me at the moment are also travelling to Pai today. We confirmed last night that our friend Eric is indeed there. We hope to give him quite a surprise.