I saw this guy while eating dinner with the VietnamWorks Tech Team in Vung Tau in April. He and his buddy were traveling from restaurant to restaurant singing romantic songs and selling trinkets. His enthusiasm and passion were contagious. I got the feeling that he didn't care a whit if they sold anything, he was just thrilled to have an audience.
Another reason I like this pic is because it shows well the Vietnamese love affair with massive, over-the-top audio amplification.
I was walking in Soi 8 Sukhumvit in Bangkok and did a double-take of the cab on this truck. "Wait, is that Al Pacino? Holy cow, it *is* Al Pacino!" It was so weird I just had to take a pic. Any of My Public know which film this is from? My guess is "Carlito's Way." Pacino didn't have a beard in "Scarface."
This article is from the Associated Press. The facts speak for themselves. You can read the original here. No comment from charvey.
Vietnam has approved new regulations banning bloggers from discussing subjects the government deems sensitive or inappropriate and requiring them to limit their writings to personal issues.
The rules ban any posts that undermine national security, incite violence or crime, disclose state secrets, or include inaccurate information that could damage the reputation of individuals and organizations, according to a copy of the regulations obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
The rules, which were approved Dec. 18, attempt to rein in Vietnam's booming blogosphere. It has become an alternative source of news for many in the communist country, where the media is state-controlled.
The new rules require Internet companies that provide blogging platforms to report to the government every six months and provide information about bloggers on request.
The companies are also required to prevent and remove content the government deems harmful.
The regulations, written by the Ministry of Information and Communications, encourage bloggers to use "clean, healthy Vietnamese language." They clarify earlier Internet regulations that were introduced in August.
Ministry official Luu Vu Hai would not say whether the new regulations will apply to international companies like Google Inc. or Yahoo Inc. or would only restrict the operation of Vietnamese firms.
Currently, the vast majority of Vietnamese bloggers post their writings on Yahoo! 360.
In this Nov. 19, 2008 file photo, a blogger who doesn't want to be identified, poses for photos with her blog on her computer screen at her home in Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam has approved new regulations on Dec. 18, 2008, banning bloggers from discussing subjects the government deems sensitive or inappropriate and requiring them to limit their writings to personal issues. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)
Tôi học tiếng việt 2 năm rồi. Cô giáo tôi tền là Cô Cúc. Cô ấy rất dẽ thương và vui tính. Cô ấy luôn luôn nhớ nhiều từ tôi quên và cô ấy nhác tôi. Thường chúng tôi nói chuyền về cuộc sống tôi ở Việt Nam, and tôi học từ mới như vay.
Dào nay, Cô Cúc và tôi mặc áo mầu tím. Vui quá, tôi phải chục hình!
Một ngày khách Cô Cúc mặc áo với từ nay: "I [shamrock] Irish boys." Vui quá nữa! Tôi phải chục lại - đây là phòng cách khách của cô ấy.
I saw this "Harvey Fresh" milk at the grocery store today and had to buy it. The Harvey Fresh company is located in the town of Harvey, in Western Australia. A long lost cousin?
I'm totally going there when I get to Aussie next year. Maybe they can hook me up with a lifetime's supply on the Harvey clan plan.
I just read in The New York Times that Mickey Spillane, author of hard boiled detective thrillers, passed away last week at the age of 88. May you rest in peace, ya mensch. I've never read any of Spillane's books, but I've read several by three other titans of the genre, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet and James Cain. One of my favorites is "Love's Lovely Counterfeit" by Cain. Another contemporary author I've read is Michael Connelly. I read his novel "Angel's Flight," based in today's racially charged Los Angeles. It also is excellent.
Their work explores the base, dark sides of human nature -- fear, greed, lust for power, jealousy, violence -- that lurk inside all of us. But they brilliantly contrast the darkness with more noble facets of human nature such as loyalty, courage, love, integrity and perseverance. Reading each book is the emotional equivalent of eating a magnificent 10 course meal. I love it.
Check out some of these fantastic quotes from Spillane:
It was Monday again, a rainy, dreary Monday that was a huge wet muffler draped over the land. I watched it through the window and felt the taste of it in my mouth. “Kiss Me, Deadly,” 1952
His tux was the latest style, but on him it was all eyewash because he was still the dock-type hood and no tailor was ever going to change him. “Survival ... Zero!,” 1970
You would want to kiss the lusciousness of those full lips until the thought occurred that it might be like putting your tongue on a cold sled runner and never being able to get it off. “The Killing Man,” 1989
(By the way, the picture above is the cover art for Spillane's novel "The Long Wait," 1952. I've a hunch that's a femme fatale.)
English is everywhere here in Viet Nam. I just noticed the English on this wastebasket in my 1950s-vintage pink bathroom.
I think this is a character from the US comic strip "Pearls Before Swine" (Btam?). Happiness to Everybody, indeed.
I've seen these posters all over town. It looks like a live-action, Vietnamese version of "Snow White." I wonder if they've translated the Seven Dwarves' "Heigh-Ho" into Vietnamese?
I was walking downtown yesterday when I ran into a gaggle of young American sailors on shore leave. It turns about that there there are two American ships with about 150 sailors paying a courtesy call to Saigon this week. One is the USS Salvor, a ship that specializes in salvage and diving operations. The other is the USS Patriot, a mine countermeasures ship.
I talked to them for a few minutes and gave them directions to an ATM. "Check out your account balance in Vietnamese dong -- you're all millionaires!" (Always a good gag for newcomers.)
I had a few errands to run so I couldn't stay long. But seeing American sailors walking around downtown Saigon was a sight that stirred my patriot heart, especially given that this is July 4 weekend. So I resolved to go out last night, find some sailors, and buy them a drink.
I caught up with Dive Master Mike, Raul, Liaison Bob, Dave from Massachussets and Bosun Mark at Saigon Saigon. They were decked out in dress whites and looking every bit as dapper as Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman." Pictured at right are Bosun Mark and me in my camo civvies. These are the guys that recently confirmed the final resting place of the USS Largarto, a US submarine that went missing in the closing months of WWII. You can read the story and see the pictures here. There's a picture of Mike Moser, the Dive Master on the USS Salvor who visited the wreck. For a while Dive Master Mike reminded me of someone but I just couldnt put my finger on. Then it occured to me -- Vin Diesel! Raul was making paper roses from napkins and using them to break the ice with cute girls. He taught me too -- it was surprisingly easy, um I mean hard.
Anyway, it was an honor and a lot of fun to buy the men of the USS Salvor a round and hang out with America's finest.
Since I arrived in Viet Nam I've been staying at the Mogambo Hotel. It's a mini-hotel with about 10 rooms run by an American guy and his Vietnamese-American wife. There's a bar and restaurant downstairs. It's theme gives real meaning to the word "eclectic." First, think bamboo. Then imagine lots and lots of glazed bamboo covering every square inch of the walls and ceiling. Add stuffed animals (and I don't mean the cuddly kind, but real, stuffed, dead animals like tigers and such), pictures of the owners hanging out with Tom Selleck, and lots of expat guys drinking beer, socializing and watching "footie" on the "telly" you just might begin to get a sense for the place. It's great.
Mogambo changes the sheets and washes the floor in my room every day. They also do my laundry and ironing. I've never had it so good.
The thing that makes it especially great is the people. Miss Thuy, the manager, and the girls that staff the restaurant and bar are certified, card-carrying characters. They're also extraordinarily helpful. Need a car to tour the Cu Chi tunnels or find an optometrist? Thuy will take care of it with a big smile. The girls have taken a vested interest in teaching me Vietnamese. I'm not sure who's more entertained....me, as they tease each other mercilessly, or them, as I make mistakes like saying "I'm going to my boyfriend" instead of "I'm going walking" because I use a falling instead of rising tone. To them, my learning Vietnamese is a gas.
Mike and Lanni, the owners, are cool too. It's great to walk into the Mogambo after a long day and be greeted by name, "Hi Chris." Lanni is truly a larger than life character. Spouting salty language that would make a sailor blush, she runs the place with panache and verve. Get a crappy haircut? Belch just a bit too loud? She'll tell you as bluntly as can be. She's also as connected as they come here and is a good person to know. She was giving me advice today: "You listen to Mamma Lanni. She knows!" Words to live by.
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