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It was a very interesting trip for me to Thailand this year. I did not go for the bars, Clubs, massage parlors or anything of the sort very many times. I made this trip to Thailand and order to get into shape and to lose some weight. All in all, I spent slightly less than two months in Thailand. I stayed in three different hotels, visited three different fitness centers, and had approximately 15 Thai massages. When I first arrived in Thailand I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bangkok. I have stated this hotel many times over the last 10 years. It is one of my favorite hotels in Thailand. I like the convenience of being close to all the malls and easy access to the sky-train. From this hotel I am able to walk to at least four or five major malls. And I also enjoyed being able to recover in this hotel after a long flight to Thailand. The majority of my time I stayed at the Ascott Hotel near Chong Nosi. The boys and I got a two bedroom two bath apartment unit. It was an executive two bedroom apartment. It was approximately 2000 ft.². The hotel includes a fitness center called the Cascade Club. The Cascade Club is one of the best fitness centers in Bangkok. The cost for month for the apartment was 90,000 Thai baht per month and that included everything but there was a limit on electricity and we ended up paying about another 5k per month for that. I have stayed at The Ascott 4 times over the years and always loved it. This time was a bit different. A hotel has to live up to certain standards to get my business. The most important thing to me is the Internet. This hotel is a bit older but having stayed here in the past, I did not have any problem and thus, all my great past reviews of The Ascott. But, on this trip, the Internet was horrendous. The Internet was so bad that I called to the front desk to complain over 47 times in 2 months. I had to go downstairs and talk to them 16 times. In other words, the Internet was so horrible that often I could not even access websites or do any work. Skype was impossible and I could not get through one call without the call being dropped or the Internet freezing up. After 6 weeks, they sent a letter to all guests that they were upgrading the system and it would be down for a few hours while they did that. I was thrilled and saw this as a way for the hotel to redeem itself. It had the opposite effect. The "new fix" made it even worse than before. If I thought it was just me, I might be a bit more positive. But, I had conversations over the 2 months with over 15 other residents who said the exact same thing. They were all shocked at the hotel having the worst Internet they had seen. I will have to say, that I have stayed here in the past with no issue. The issue must reside in their current Internet provider as they changed companies. But, they went from something that worked to something that was totally useless. After one week, I was ready to go. If I had not paid for the 2nd month in advance, I would have just left. But, after 2 months staying at the hotel that I have praised in the past, I can say that I am more disappointed in the management of this hotel for failing to come up with a solution to a crisis that existed for at least 2 months. They may respond and say it is all better now, but the truth it, they told me that repeatedly over my trip there and I was deceived. As I have traveled across Thailand and stayed in very small hotels in the middle of no where, it is sad when a huge hotel in the capital of Thailand has worst Internet service than any other hotel I have stayed at in over 10 years of visiting the country. On all my other stays at The Ascott, I was wishing I had booked longer. On this stay, I could not wait to get away. The hotel was a major disappoint and the lack of action spoke a great deal of managements lack of having ears that listen to customers. The staff was apologetic and nice but they were helpless to do anything to fix this. One-Hundred percent of this blame goes to upper management and their inability to solve a crisis situation. They should have fired the company providing the Internet or came up with another way for residents to get a decent connection. Having said that, the owners of the hotel must either pay more attention to what is going on at their properties so that the great reputation they have build up is not destroyed based on incompetent management of one property and for my stay, the management not only underachieved but turned one of my favorite properties into one I doubt I'll ever visit again! I only went to Soi Twilight on three or four occasions. I went with a friend for him to see his boyfriend. And I went a couple more times on my own. This area is not as enjoyable to me as it once was. I tend to get bored in this area very easily and to stay in the area for a long period of time is not something I have enjoyed for many years. I want to Hero Massage about five times. All but one of those times I had a good time. On one occasion I didn't find what I was looking for and my regular massage boy was not there so I took a walk down to Banana Massage. At Banana Massage I found a very handsome Vietnamese boy that I had a very good time with. He was extremely sexy and he was also new to Bangkok. I enjoyed spending time with him. The massage was not great and the sex was not great but I still had a good time as he was so adorable. There was a three-week stretch that I did not even leave my hotel. The hotel has three different restaurants inside and I enjoy each of the restaurants. But the boys and I ended up cooking the vast majority of our meals as I was trying to eat in a more nutritious way than most restaurants will cook. We did our grocery shopping once a week at Siam Paragon Mall and we would stock up on all the fresh vegetables and meats that we needed for the week. I was also able to visit Chiva Som for a five day spa vacation. Chiva Som is one of the best spas and all of the world. It is extremely beautiful, extremely serene, and unfortunately is also extremely expensive. I booked a five day program that included several massage therapies per day as well as some personal training sessions. I also upgraded to one of there larger rooms. The cost was 265,000 baht for the 5 days. That is an extremely high rate to pay but I was doing research for a company and my expenses were covered. I visited 3 different fitness centers near Chong Nosi. My hotel has the Cascade Club inside so that is where we spent a great deal of time. But, Richard Branson opened up Virgin Fitness next door to us in Empire Building. One of my former trainers works there and invited me over for a week. It is very very nice and I'd really consider joining on my next trip. They also opened up a Fitness First right near the sky train entrance. It was also a great gym and great facility. So for me, there were 3 amazing fitness centers all within about 5 minutes walk of each other. I am not sure why they did this but I am glad they did. This area of Sathorn is filled with traffic and often hard to get a taxi but they keep building more and more condos and hotels. The Ascott is right across the street from the new W Hotel in Bangkok. The area has tons of great places to visit and eat. I did not venture out to many new restaurants but did eat at several that I had eaten at before. I spent most days at the pool at in the afternoon or evening and I really enjoyed the lack of tourists. I had the pool to myself for many days and I would swim a few laps and just swim around in the water for hours. Near the end of my stay, it started to get a bit rainy and windy and that drove even more people from the hotel. I was there during the coup but that did not affect me in the least other than the lack of foreign news, etc. that others experienced. I didn't post blow by blow of my trip as I have written about most places I visited on this trip in the past. Other than the disappointment with my 2 months stay at The Ascott, I had a great time. I have 2 amazing guys that take wonderful care of me. I ended up loosing a bit over 40 pounds in 2 months. I also was able to meet up with old friends from days gone by. I still love Thailand but I think over the years I have grown to love the slow pace of life much more than the high speed of the bars and clubs. I spent less than 4 hours total in all the bars on this trip. So, more time was spent just enjoying life. The biggest treat for me was Chiva Som. I have been there 2 times in the past and I love the place. I would live there if I could afford it but the cost is just over the top. I took Delta both ways. I like their service and I sat in Business Class. I always buy a cheap ticket and upgrade with miles to business class. My return cost 1700 USD plus 30k miles. Other than one day in Pattaya, 5 days in Hua Hin at Chiva Som, I spent the rest of my time in Bangkok in the Sathorn area. It was a fun 2 months!

And not just space fillers either but informative, funny, clever, thoughtful and some, dare I say, titillating ones too. You've made this Board a better place, AdamSmith, and we are all in your debt! (No doubt Wallace Stevens would have a few thoughts on this singular event and perhaps, with a little encouragement, we'll get to hear a few.)

Can anyone here with access to English TV give us a queer's eye view review of 'Vicious'? The series is scheduled to kick off this Sunday on PBS. Ian McKellum and Derek Jocobi play two old queens who've been together for 30 odd years. With those two in the central roles, it's hard for me to believe Vicious won't be worth a look but then you never know with the English and their odd sense of humor. Anyway, after I ran across the above linked article in the NYTimes, I thought it was worth a head's up post here in the forum. Assuming I don't get so addled in the next couple of days I forget to watch, I'll post my take on the show here afterwards.

I knew it was right around the corner and, here it is. Congrats. Best regards, RA1

Lost in translation?

10 cent bar story. Another version has the barkeep answering the question of how he can serve so cheaply with, I am just an employee but the boss is upstairs doing the same thing to my wife that I am doing to him down at the bar. Best regards, RA1

Four men are walking down a street in Yuma, Arizona. They turn a corner and see a sign that says, "Old Time Bar - ALL drinks 10 cents." They look at each other and then go in, thinking this is too good to be true. The old bartender says in a voice that carries across the room, "Come on in and let me pour one for you! What'll it be gentlemen?" There's a fully stocked bar, so each of the men orders a martini. In no time the bartender serves up four iced martinis shaken, not stirred and says, "That'll be 10 cents each, please." The four guys stare at the bartender for a moment, then at each other. They can't believe their good luck. They pay the 40 cents, finish their martinis, and order another round. Again, four excellent martinis are produced, with the bartender again saying, “That’s 40 cents, please." They pay the 40 cents, but their curiosity gets the better of them. They've each had two martinis and haven't even spent a dollar yet. Finally one of them says, "How can you afford to serve martinis as good as these for a dime apiece?" "I'm a retired tailor from Phoenix," the bartender says, "and I always wanted to own a bar. Last year I hit the Lottery Jackpot for $125 million and decided to open this place. Every drink costs a dime. Wine, liquor, beer it's all the same "Wow! That's some story!" one of the men says. As the four of them sip at their martinis, they can't help noticing seven other people at the end of the bar who don't have any drinks in front of them and haven't ordered anything the whole time they've been there. Nodding at the seven at the end of the bar, one of the men asks the Bartender, "What's with them?" The bartender says, “They’re retired people from Florida, They're waiting for Happy Hour when drinks are half-price, plus they all have coupons..."

No one told me not to drink it so my other choices were try it, observe someone else try it or read about trying it. Best regards, RA1

Have a look and let me know.

The Patent Office has run amuck!! I'm offended that the Patent Office can take it upon itself, or rather some bureaucrat sitting in the Patent Office, to determine that a long-existing trademark has become unacceptable. Whether it is or not can be up for discussion but government offices ought not chime in by fiat revoking a long existing trademark. Who made them the arbiters of political correctness. I think the only acceptable way to revoke this trademark is either by consent of the owner (possibly influenced by legal action or public pressure) or by statute passed by Congress and signed by the President. Else where will this stop. Personally, I don't feel the term is offensive but then I'm only 1/32 or 1/64 Native American depending on family lore. However, I guess others do and I don't want to be insensitive to them. Nevertheless, I would be disappointed to see the name changed. Realizing that change is probably in the works eventually and noting my disappointment in that change I would strongly consider changing the team name to the Washington Redskin Potatoes if that isn't infringing on someone else's trademark.

Can't wait for this. Thanks! One of my favorite Frasier episodes features Derek Jacobi as an unrepentant ham who managed to impress the Crane boys when they were in grade school. Here, to their chagrin, and only after they had booked a theater and sold all the tickets for his return to the stage, they learn how easily impressed they had been:

Yesterday's matches were really thrilling. Lionel Messi scoring with 3 minutes left in extra time and winning 1-0 against Iran. In Tehran, they were cheering with excitement at coming so close to a tie with one of the best sides in the world. Bosnia & Herzegovinia getting jobbed by the umpire on an offside and losing to Nigeria And who ever imagined Ghana and Germany ending tied in giving the US almost a free entry into the knockouts. And today, who or what do you prefer to eat. Creme fraiche Belgian truffles or Caviar Blinis? Dog-Ka-Bobs or Hummus? And finally, Mom's Apple Pie or Bacalhau?