In the newest issue of Mojo magazine there is an interview with fabled guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds fame. There is also a supplementary piece that shows Jimmy at home, talking about some of his favorite records. On one page there is a photo of Jimmy standing next to his old jukebox, with an interesting photo hanging above it: Elvis Presley with the King and Queen of Thailand. I wonder if Page obtained that photo during one of his trips to Thailand. And yes, he is a frequent visitor to the kingdom.  

I love having plants in my apartment but I’m not blessed with a green thumb. Inevitably, whatever I own ends up succumbing to some sort of plant ailment. Green is good, but brown is not. So when my plants wither and die, I go out and buy new ones. Last week I went on a mini-binge, buying five plants of various sizes for my small apartment. Having more greenery in my place not only makes the room look better, but it also helps to improve my mood.

Lunar New Year, commonly known to most westerners as Chinese New Year, won’t officially start until next week, but I’m already seeing a steady stream of travelers passing through Bangkok. Many of these people get long holiday breaks and travel during the Lunar New Year celebrations in countries where they live and work, such as China, Taiwan, and Singapore. One woman, fleeing the frigid confines of Beijing, explained her visit to Thailand: “I just wanted to go somewhere where it was warm!”  Well, she’ll certainly get her wish, and then some: it’s been pretty hot and humid in Bangkok this past week. One of our customers is now teaching in Turkey (where it’s also been cold), but she too has a holiday break this month and returned to visit friends in Thailand.

I keep reading about the death of retail music stores, and the fact that declining CD sales signal the end of the format. But I can’t help thinking that such pessimistic pronouncements are a bit premature. There is no denying the effect that pervasive illegal downloading has had on music sales, and I’m certainly aware there has been a shift in the buying habits of consumers, coupled with how people make use of their leisure time (let us count the many ways that you can waste time and money in this digital age; on second thought, that in itself would be a waste of time). Yes, the times they are a-changing, but for those who truly love music, and like to collect albums, there is no substitute for having the “real thing” and not some sterile digital file. As a veteran of music retail, with friends who are musicians or remain in the industry, all this free downloading bothers me. People can try to justify it for whatever reasons they like, but basically I think it’s just wrong. Of course the greedy and oblivious record companies (music distributors) contributed to this problem by overcharging consumers for CDs the past two decades, thus making it more attractive to download music and swap files. So now you have a new generation of music fans who take it for granted that they can get whatever they want for free by going online and downloading it. Nevertheless, I think most diehard music fans — the ones that actively listen to lots of music — are willing to pay for their addiction. They want reasonably priced CDs with good sound quality and attractive packaging (booklets with liner notes, lyrics, photos, etc.). Of course the younger generation that has grown up with downloads will continue to obtain much of their music this way; you can’t stop the downloading flood at this point. The proverbial barn door has been opened and there no way to shut it. The glory days of the music business are pretty much over, but I think with a bit of imagination and versatility, and a lot less greed, savvy music companies — most likely small creative ones — can still succeed.

Sustaining this musical thread, here are the CDs (all purchased legally from stores in Bangkok or online via Amazon) that I’m hooked on lately:

Tinariwen – Aman Iman: Water is Life

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Broom

Mulatu Astatke & Heliocentrics – Inspiration Information

Cross Canadian Ragweed – Happiness and All the Other Things

Parliament – Osmium

Ramones – Anthology

Rodriguez – Coming from Reality

Bruce Hornsby – Here Come the Noisemakers

Cheap Trick – The Latest

Sam Cooke – Live at the Harlem Square Club

Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Too-Rye-Ay (Deluxe Edition)

Elvis Costello – Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Bonnie Raitt – Streetlights

Steve Earle – Townes

Dan Fogelberg – Love in Time

Toumani Diabate – The Mande Variations

Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Deluxe Edition)

The Church – Untitled #23

Vampire Weekend – Contra

The Mendoza Line – Lost in Revelry

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Chris Spedding – The Very Best of

Lyle Lovett – Natural Forces

Slaid Cleaves – Broke Down

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Television – Adventure

Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs

Amazing Rhythm Aces – Chock Full of Country Goodness

The Apples in Stereo – #1 Hits Explosion

The Horrors – Primary Colours

Grant Green – Live at the Lighthouse

Brendan Benson – My Old Familiar Friend

Emitt Rhodes – Recordings 1969-1973

Bob Dylan – Together Through Time

I got an e-mail last week from my old Florida buddy Bob Morris. The author of the most excellent Zack Chasteen mystery series, Bob has a new novel, Baha Florida, in the stores now. And yes, it’s another Zack tale. This year Bob is also teaching a crime fiction class at Rollins College, back in [...]

Now occupying the space where my bookshop used to be, just down the block from our current location on Sukhumvit Road, is some sort of Japanese “Self Help” center. It’s devoted to one of those motivational gurus who gives seminars and writes books every other month. In the window they are plugging the newest book [...]

I’ve bought many CDs from Amazon’s online site over the years. My allegiance is to traditional brick and mortar retail stores, but the selection found in Bangkok is somewhat limited, thus my need to shop online sometimes. One service I like at Amazon is the recommendations, based on your buying history (or what you tell [...]

Singer Teddy Pendergrass died at the age of 59 this week. I was saddened because I was a fan of both his solo albums and his work as lead vocalist with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Songs such as “The Love I Lost”, “If You Don’t Know me by Now”, “Wake up Everybody”, “Bad [...]

I had dinner at the Thonglor branch of Sizzler on Thursday night and was “treated” to a non-stop medley of Christmas music the entire time I was there. Arrrgghh!!! Enough of that crap already, it’s the middle of January! Of course, this being Bangkok, it won’t be unusual to hear Christmas music being played in [...]

It may officially be “cool season” here in Thailand but the weather has been quite warm, peppered with frequent rain showers. “I can’t figure out which season it is now” one confused fruit vendor told me this week. But no matter what you call it, it’s been a busy season so far. The month is [...]

It’s finally come to end! Here is the last batch of photos from my recent trip to Myanmar, a hodge-podge of memorable people, places, and things I saw around this amazing country.

In addition to taking the crew of kids — and two fathers — from 90th Street in Mandalay to U Bein’s Bridge in Amarapura, I hired a boat to take us up the river (it takes about an hour upstream and 45 minutes back downstream) to Mingun. While in this touristy little village (home to [...]

There is at least one morning market in every Myanmar town. The markets are lively meeting places for locals to chat and shop, and perhaps grab a quick meal or hot tea.

I am particularly fond of the market in Nyaungshwe. It’s packed with locals from various ethnics groups in the area, particularly Pa-O and Shan. [...]