PeterRS

I have heard of it but living in Asia at the time of its release, it was never going to get a showing. I particularly love the work of the actors Tilda Swinton and Robbie Coltraine and will look out for the DVD or on streaming. Jarman was a fascinating, outrageous character. I only saw productions with his designs. Ken Russell's TV The Devils about a sexually repressed nun with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave allied to Ken Russell's direction I thought stunning. Unfortunately I also saw what I considered a dreadful design of Mozart's Don Giovanni at London's Coliseum Opera House. The great actor John Gielgud directed it - abysmally, I thought!!

Having spent a week in Hua Hin at the end of November last year, the city desperately needs tourists. But then, so does the entire country. Hua Hin was dead. Even in our large chain hotel, it felt dead, the only other visitors being Thai families. I wished we had opted instead for a small guest house on or close to the beach.

I have seen quite a few. Although I love much in the larger paintings,I think my favourites are The Fortune Teller in the Louvre and The Lute Player in The Hermitage.

I thought moving the Best Actress and Best Actor above Best Picture was crazy. Besides, I don't recall seeing Joaquin Phoenix accepting Anthony Hopkins Award. Was I asleep at that point? I heard that Olivia Coleman was supposed to accept the award but that for some reason (technical?) she could not appear. Hopkins himself has been in isolation in Wales for some time and so his absence must have been expected. I thought the whole thing was a near disaster.

People can argue - successfully - that the world has much more important things to attend to than hundreds of millions visiting a cinema act year. But they do. Masses could do more important things than watching mlndless television shows round the world. But they do. It is, like it or not, a part of 21st century living. I see no problem with an Academy Awards Ceremony as such. You could say - again successfully - that movies bring a touch of joy, magic, glitz, glamour, call it what you will, to the lives of vast numbers. And if the Academy Awards are to continue, they really have to mirror that sense of joy and magic. From the little I watched this morning, the show has descended to new lows of sheer boredom. Unless the Academy can get its act together, I would also get rid of it.

Since the South China Morning Post is owned by Jack Ma, former Chairman of the Alibaba Group, it is perhaps understandable that the article makes only a brief reference to Taiwan. Yet while Thailand and Vietnam have been taking baby steps on LGBT rights, Taiwan has marched forward at considerable speed. It's extraordinary to realise that until 1987 Taiwan had been under martial law for close to 40 years. Since then, it has become a rare beacon of true democracy in Asia. It has also become the regional leader in LGBT rights. I don't know enough about the history but I do think it is partly a result of a group of committed LGBT activists who decided they would not use aggressive tactics. Instead, they emphasised co-operation with local and national governments and aimed at winning over what was regarded as a very socially conservative population. The end result is that almost two years ago, Taiwan enacted laws permitting gay marriage, the first country in Asia. Discrimination within the island is virtually a thing of the past. I believe the annual Gay Pride Parade in Taiwan had more than a little to do with this. The first formal Parade was held in 2003. Instead of being financed by commercial gay venues and associated gay products and attended only by sex workers and lardyboys (as was the case in Bangkok around the turn of the millennium - one reason why that Parade died very quickly), Taipei was organised solely by individuals. They wanted the Parades to be fun for both participants and those watching from the pavements. Each Parade also promoted a social message. The emphasis was co-operation. Over the years the numbers attending increased. Originally it was only gay guys and gals from Taipei. Quickly they were joined by members of the LGBT community in other cities on the island. Within ten years, there were regular attenders from other Asian countries. By that time the attendance was 65,000. Now it is a truly international fun weekend with around 200,000 participants. So large has it become that the Parade route has had to be split into 3. All start and end close to City Hall where a number of gay singers and other stars entertain the crowd. Presently Taiwan is closed to foreigners. Hopefully this will change later in the year. The 2021 Parade is on Saturday 30 October.

I think it will be useful to explain for those who do not know Singapore about Pink Dot. For years the LGBT community in Singapore had been trying to organise a Gay Pride Parade. Several other cities in the region had been holding one for some years - Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and by far and away the largest and best organised of them all in Taipei. Close to 200,000 attended the 2019 Taipei Parade which was part of a week-end of parties and other events. Taipei is not the only city in Taiwan to hold a Gay Parade. Most of the major cities have their own Parades. By comparison, attendance in the other cities around Asia is usually only a few thousand, rarely more than 10,000. Singapore gays, like their counterparts in Malaysia, suffer from the notorious British colonial law, Section 377A. This punishes gay sex with terms in jail and sometimes a few lashes of the cane. The government of Singapore has consistently refused to remove this law (as Hong Kong did in 1990) because, it believes, it will upset the ethnic balance in a city with major Chinese, Malay Muslim and Indian communities. It also panders to the several large Christian evangelical churches that have sprung up in recent decades who are extremely vocal in condemning gay life and behaviour. Although the present Prime Minister has said he will not repeal Section 377A, he added it will not be enacted. So entrapment by cute young police officers will no longer take place. Gays can live their lives without harassment as long as they do not upset the apple cart, as it were. Without a Pride Parade, the local gay community (which by all accounts is quite large) decided to hold an annual gathering in a local park. They encouraged everyone to wear pink and called it Pink Dot. After a few years, this became extremely popular. As the Asian base for many international companies, an increasing number sponsored Pink Dot. These included J P Morgan, Godman Sachs, Google, Visa and General Electric. But this had become too much for the authorities. In 2017 they banned non-Singaporean companies from sponsorship. The organisers had very little time to replace it with sponsorship by local companies but they succeeded. For an even longer time, they have also banned foreigners from taking part. For the government, Pink Dot is just an embarrassment. Yet, if anyone is embarrassed it should be the Prime Minister. Not only is his nephew gay, he married his partner two years ago in South Africa. Months later the couple attended the Pink Dot event accompanied by the Prime Minister's brother and his wife. The happy couple with their parents at the 2019 Pink Dot. Photo: Singapore Pink Dot In the dark of the evening, all the attendees, many of whom come with family members and just people from the community who believe the law should be changed, light up the park with pink torches. These images go around the world and are a further embarrassment to the Singapore government. Photo: Singapore Pink Dot

The Oscars will be on television this weekend - and few of my friends even know about it. No doubt the lack of new movies and the closure of movie theatres during the pandemic have much to do with it. But viewership of the Oscars ceremony in the USA has been in a steep decline for years. From 45 million in 2014 to a paltry 24 million last year. I don't know the worldwide figures, but China and Hong Kong have banned the telecast this year, due to the nomination of a short documentary on the Hong Kong protests in 2019. Over the years I have watched various attempts to spice up the ceremony. None worked for me - apart from one brief moment when Ellen took a selfie with the pizza delivery man. So how would you change the format to make it more palatable for an increased viewing audience? I'll start the ball rolling with a few. 1. Reduce the length. It is far too long. 2. Get rid of some of the categories. How many are really interested in the two documentary sections (no matter how good they may be)? Do we really need to see the Awards for Best Song and Best Music? Whilst we're at it, jettison the Short Film (Animated) and Short Film (Live Action). I would also be tempted to jettison the technical categories but I know that these tend to be the few that include extremely popular movies (unlike the Best Picture and Best Director categories) and so I would give them a reprieve. 3. Why the need for two often incredibly boring Presenters for each Award? We know they are reading equally boring lines from a screen. They have not even had the courtesy to the audience to learn them by heart. One Presenter with a brief that their short introductions must be pertinent, descriptive and witty would be infinitely preferable. 4. Why have a slew of separate sections to show excerpts from the nominated best movies? This can surely be shortened and done as the Presenter announces the movies in that category. 5. What is the point of Best Foreign Film any more? Foreign films often appear in the other categories - Foreign films have even won Best Picture. The Oscars should be open to more than just western-made/western-financed movies. 6. Too many awardees make speeches that could have been written by 6-year olds. Either that or "Oh, my gosh! I never expected this and I don't know what to say!" Nominees should be 'instructed' at the time of nomination that they must prepare an acceptance speech of not more than 45 seconds or so. This can not thank husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, dead ancestors and others who have nothing to do with the movie. Thanks to agents and managers are also banned. Who watching worldwide will have any clue who they are? Thanks to a movie's producers and crew must be limited to a fixed number - say, six. Finally, their acceptance speech should either be witty, promote social change or both - and that's it! 7. The entertainment between the presentations is frequently just plain dull. it is surely not outwith the imagination of producers to take a tip or two from Broadway where stage ensemble numbers are often spell-binding. Even if there are no musical-type movies one year, there is absolutely nothing to prevent the producers going back in time to create exciting numbers from movies of earlier years. 8. And then the crux - the awful show hosts. Yes, I know that is an exaggeration but so many have verged on the awful. When you have a Presenter or Presenters for each category, why do you also need a host? Just to give a boring monologue with a host of usually lame 'in' jokes? The Oscar show has become the antithesis of the 'Magic of the Movies'. Movies ARE magic. Whatever format the Academy eventually adopts, it absolutely must get the magic back into the ceremony - or become totally insignificant.

Why would anyone in a time of extreme financial distress be so careless as to invite into his home or hotel room a total stranger just because he wants sex? How does he know what might happen? Even in a high end hotel, if he gets past security what is going to happen if he pulls out a gun or a knife and demands your cash and other valuables? Or drugs your drink when you are in the shower? In cheaper hotels there might be little or no security when he arrives. If he departs when you are in a drugged stupor, the chances are he will never be caught and you can say goodbye to what he has stolen.

He should come to Bangkok. There are enough potholes to fix to keep him employed for at least 50 years.

I am not sure if there really is any justice when a member of a family has been murdered, especially by a cop. The cop can serve his prison term and still have a semblance of a life. George Floyd can never see his loved ones again. But I know what you mean. What I find extraordinary about policing in the United States is that when police fire a gun in trying to apprehend a person they believe to have committed some level of criminal activity or even just have a broken tail light or an out of date licence on the car, they always seem to fire and that almost always seems to result in death of the suspect. Why on earth are they not trained first to incapacitate? A shot in the shoulder or a leg would surely be as effective in stunning the alleged perpetrator in the first instance. A belief that a 13-year old child who has obeyed instructions to stop running, turn around and raise his hands might have a gun is no excuse in my view for murder of that youth. Similarly a long-term officer just happening to confuse a gun with a taser and then murders a 20-year old beggars belief.

Thanks @spoon I had not realised that in 2009 the government passed a law permitting tourists to stay on some of the non-resort islands where the local inhabitants stay. These are a great deal cheaper. The only drawback seems to be the ban on alcohol and an adherence to "Muslim values".

Having visited Thailand for many years before I came to live here, I used to love going to massage spas. I had my regular masseurs who always gave me great service. But seeing the photos above, I'd be put off having any massage in future! There is not one I would select, no matter how good the massage. Come back Albury! Come back Aqua!

Has anyone been to the Maldives recently? That article sounds great but it fails to make any mention of price. A long stay would only be possible for the very rich and mega rich. The Maldives is one of the most expensive vacation spots anywhere. Discount the relatively few airbnb homes and the handful of cheaper islands (relatively speaking again) each of which accommodates only a tiny number of tourists, the remainder of the 100 or so resort islands cost from around US$250 to US$2,000 per night and upwards. That's just for starters. Food and drink are are also far more expensive. That's not only because it all has to be imported. Many of the staff are also imported. Unless the policy has changed since I was there, the Maldives government does not permit most of its people to work in the resorts. It does not want their strict adherence to Islam to be corrupted by hedonistic holidaymakers. Many staff came from Sri Lanka. The website budgetyourtrip.com estimates that the average cost of two people spending a month in the Maldives would be US$14,366 before air travel. Eliminate the cheaper islands and you can think of starting closer to $25,000. One person alone will obviously be a lot less expensive, but who would want to spend a month on a beautiful tropical island alone? Forget meeting some nice cute guys on the beach. Sex with staff is a definite no-no.

Sadly I agree. The world can do little for a country that has been fucked over by so many greater powers with yet another tyrannical regime tied to a fierce interpretation of a religion about to take over. The future is bleak for gays. Some would argue that this has been true for centuries - and they are probably correct. The real sadness, though, is that, as in their other war follies, when western powers have invaded countries of whose history, culture, customs, aspirations etc. they know precious little, they have done so spouting the goodies their invasions will bring - democracy, freedoms, rights for women, proper education, protection for minorities. Tell that to the Iraqis! It's a load of crap! No invading country should be given the authority to open a door promising a brighter future unless it is actually prepared to hunker down and deliver that future. Slamming the door in its citizens' faces as you depart with your tail between your legs just because you screwed up and got bogged down in an unwinnable war should be total humiliation. "Oh I'm really sorry you gays and women of Afghanistan" but it now no longer serves US interests to try and protect you. You are on your own again . Fuck you!

Staying on this topic before Afghanistan disappears again into the sea of fog left after a long and pointless war, there is an interesting article in today's Guardian in the UK about Britain's involvement. It points out that in 2001/2 the US neo-cons had decided on a short war not just to wipe out bin Laden in his mountain lair but then to extend it to topple the entire Afghan regime. Britain and some other countries tagged along. When the US wanted to get out and concentrate on "nation building" in Iraq, it was the Brits who wanted to stay. The objective? "To wipe out terror, build a new democracy, liberate women and create a 'friend in the region'. I had an eerie sense of Britain in 1839 embarking on the First Afghan War," notes the journalist. British PM Tony Blair even sent a Minister to help eliminate the poppy crop. The result? "It increased production from six provinces to 28, and raised poppy revenue to a record $2.3bn." In 2005 the Brits marched toward Helmand. The commanding British General "in imperial mode" was "adamant that it would be just a matter of winning hearts and minds in friendly 'inkspot' towns. His defence secretary, John Reid, hoped this would be achieved 'without firing one shot'”. It was such a disaster the US had to send 10,000 marines to rescue them minus the 454 British troops who had been killed. Four years later PM Brown defended Britain's involvement as being "to make British streets safe!" Of the $2 trillion spent on the war and aid by the USA, "billions" are said to have left Afghanistan, much of it to the Dubai property market. The article asks what the US and UK intervention actually achieved. "The military theorist Gen Sir Rupert Smith, in his book The Utility of Force*, has pointed out that modern armies are almost useless in counter-insurgency wars. They have roamed the Middle East from Afghanistan to Libya, 'creating one ruined nation after another.'" In the meantime the Taliban need only sit and wait. Thereafter the country will be theirs and their hard-line ideology will have won. May the good Lord of every faith look after the women and the LGBTQ community thereafter. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/16/20-years-western-intervention-afghanistan-terro *The Utility of Force by General Sir Rupert Smith published by Vintage is available on amazon kindle. "He brilliantly lays bare the newfound limits of Western military power.” —The New York Times Book Review

As important, as of mid-December Thailand had had only 4,200 cases and 60 deaths. The government basked in its early success in controlling the pandemic and took its eye right off the ball.

So President Biden has announced the ending of the USA's 20 year war in the blighted country of Afghanistan. Whether this is a good or a bad decision only time will tell. But there are plenty of pointers to what is likely to happen - and this is not a good omen for both women and members of the fragile LGBTQ community. Factually, to call Afghanistan a 20 year war is a misnomer. The USA has been fighting in Afghanistan virtually since a massive Soviet airlift dropped troops into the country in 1979. Not officially of course. That's not the US way. Clandestinely as it had in Vietnam and Laos, it used the CIA. So pissed off was the rest of the civilized world at the Soviet Union's attempt to maintain a friendly regime in Kabul that, led by the CIA, it started fuelling masses of cash and arms to a coalition of Muslim guerrilla groups. As often in war, the result on the surface might have been so ineffective for the Soviets that after 10 years they finally left having achieved nothing. Underneath the surface, however, the CIA had created the breeding ground that was to result in the rise of an expansionist militant Islam led by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. bin Laden did not fight, but he attracted Islamic militants from all over the region and the Middle East to join his movement in helping to make life misery for the Soviets. The development of Al Qaeda was to result in an American disaster in Sudan and ultimately to 9/11. Unwittingly, the USA had created the conditions that gave rise to that terrible event. But then, if its State Department officials had bothered to look back through history, they would surely have realised that while CIA actions had frequently had short term benefits, they had led to long-term disasters. Getting rid of the democratically elected government in Iran in the early 1950s and putting its weight behind the increasingly hated Shah, led directly to the development of that country as an aggressive Islamic State. Paying no attention to Ho Chi Minh's written entreaties to keep the French from returning to their colonies in Indo-China after 1945, the strongly anti-colonialist governments of Roosevelt and Truman remarkably paid no attention, instead sowing the seeds of America's worst War leading to over 50,000 casualties and humiliation after the fall of Saigon. Afghanistan looks like it will become a similar disaster. Radical Islam and Shariah law will continue and spread its tentacles. Different tribes will continue fighting each other. Women, for 20 years liberated to a certain extent through being able to attend school and university, will be confined to the home and again forced to wear the full black burqa when outside. Forced marriages and honour killings will again become more common. The American presence in Afghanistan may not have had a major effect on easing restrictions on the LGBTQ community. "To be openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in Afghanistan is to risk abuse, even death," said Patricia Gossman, Associate Director of Human Right Watch. "In Afghanistan, same-sex relations are punishible by five to 15-years in prison under a law that bans all sex between individuals not married to each other, Afghan law specifies that marriage is between man and a women," she added. But like everywhere in the world, there are Afghan gay men and women. The Telegraph article below highlights the problem of one 39-year old gay man and his relationship of 3 years with a government employee younger than him. They share an apartment but both have to hide their sexuality when outside. He was forced into a marriage. His wife and two children fled the war-torn country some years ago. He tried to leave but was repatriated back. He met his boyfriend through Facebook. Many of Kabul's 6 million inhabitants are in the same situation, although they must live with their families and face the constant fear of being found out. Kabul has one gay pub down a backstreet. Yet, as a result of the prohibition about sex between men and women before marriage, sex between men has a long tradition in Afghanistan. A professor who wrote of a conversation with a mullah in 2002 stated the mullah told her that between 20% to 50% of males engage in sex with another man prior to marriage. This translates to between 18% and 45% of men in the country. It is highly unlikely this was the case when the Taliban rules the country in the 1990s. Those accused of sodomy or homosexual rape were crushed to death by a brick wall. Yet many accused the Taliban of hypocrisy since not a few kept secret young male lovers. When they grew up, some also married them off to their daughters. But such behaviour is generally not regarded as gay. More, it is the prohibition about sex with a woman who is not your wife. Whatever, once the Taliban are back in control after the Americans depart, to think they will have changed is surely cloud cuckoo land. This sad country which has been fought over and dominated by other powers for the better part of 2,500 years will be left to fend for itself. For the LGBTQ community that must be a dreaded prospect. Facebook and even one gay bar are unlikely to be tolerated. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/life-hiding-kabuls-gay-community-driven-underground/ https://www.globalgayz.com/gay-afghanistan-after-the-taliban-homosexuality-as-tradition/336/

With Bangkok reporting its highest ever daily number of covid19 cases at 1,335 yesterday, the government will consider tomorrow partial lockdowns in parts of Bangkok, in Chiang Mai, Chonburi and Prachuap Kiri Khan. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2099787/partial-lockdown-on-the-table

Have we not reached a time when labels don't mean so much any more? Around 40 years ago I remember being rather shocked that my boss was bisexual. He was married with five children but paid an escort for a session once a week. When he travelled overseas, he would return with some gay magazines. I found out when he once left one on his desk by mistake. Decades later I was equally surprised to learn from his widow, a nurse before they married, that she knew he was bisexual before they tied the knot! Then one of my very good friends revealed that he attended gay saunas regularly and purchased gay DVDs. He had been married to his childhood sweetheart since he was around 23 and had four children. He doted on them all. When his wife suddenly died, I thought he might come out. But no, he remarried very happily. Then there are several men I have known quite well who divorced their wives and left their children to spend their lives with another man. One was so full of guilt that he almost killed himself. Thankfully he chose instead to sit down with his wife and tell her. Immediately it was his turn to be surprised when she told him she knew. So amicably he left his wife and two young daughters to move to Thailand. I recall one dinner we enjoyed with his boyfriend and his two university age daughters. It was all very natural with much love around that table.

Naturally other countries have similar research facilities to the US CDC. I mentioned the USA only because HIV first appeared in clusters of men in the New York and the Southern California areas. As numbers increased, it was inevitable that the CDC should have become heavily involved. Even so, it was the Pasteur Institute in Paris that first isolated the virus. Another difference between HIV and covid19 is that HIV has - or certainly had at that time - a very long incubation period that could be up to well over two years before symptoms of AIDS became apparent. It therefore took around 2 years before the first cases started appearing in other western countries. Although the first cases had appeared in 1981, by the end of 1984 there were ten times more cases diagnosed in the USA than in Europe. It was the denial of the Reagan Administration to persistent appeals from the CDC and many dedicated members of the medical profession in general for urgent funding to determine the cause of HIV and then to analyse the make up of the virus. Had funding been thrown at research in those first two years, it is hard to find experts today who do not agree that the anti-viral medications would have been discovered much earlier. Perhaps there would also be a vaccine now, although that is much more debatable. Another crucial difference between HIV and covid19 is that after HIV had been discovered it was soon known to be a death sentence. There was therefore a massive amount of fear within first the gay community and soon thereafter the population at large. Tracking and tracing became hugely difficult as many who might have caught it were terrified about knowing their HIV status and would not be tested. I remember. I lived through those years. The doctors and researchers who worked on the early HIV cases and their desperate race to find Patient Zero are magnificently chronicled in Randy Shilts' book "And The Band Played On." Although Patient Zero was first thought to be a Canadian airline steward, this was subsequently disproved. Even for those who have seen the much less effective TV programme based on the book, I think everyone - and especially every gay man - should read it. It is available in a kindle edition. "The most thorough, comprehensive exploration of the AIDS epidemic to date . . . It is fascinating, frightening, and essential reading." -San Francisco Sentinel https://www.amazon.com/Band-Played-Politics-Epidemic-20th-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B000V761ZA

Sorry - I have reposted it in the correct thread.

Although I have not been to Phuket for some years, I used to go to the island almost annually. By far my favourite restaurant is Baan Rim Pa. It is nestled on top of a small cliff close to the north end of Patong. The setting is exceptional with great views over the sea to the sunsets. There are no windows as such and so it is open to the evening breeze. In at least a dozen visits I have never once had any dish I did not love. Baan Rim Pa should have been wiped out by the tsunami because the waves crashed over the waterfront road just 30 meters away and into the apartments across the road. But it was just high enough off to escape any damage. Getting there is easy. Just take the coast road north at Patong Beach. Turn left at the end as if going towards Kamala Beach. Immediately there is a small incline. The restaurant is on the left at the top. Across the road is the original Novotel on Phuket. https://www.baanrimpa.com/thai-restaurant-kalim/

Perspective? There is no perspective when much of the world has had to shut down not once, but twice and more. It is merely a comparison - a comparison of two different types of dying and countries which do something or little about it. That's all. Show me any country which has had to shut down virtually its entire tourism industry because thousands of people happen to die in traffic accidents, many a result of the folly of the deceased themselves? There are none!

You have consistently made this point - and you are correct. But neither do they shut down airports and almost an entire tourism industry just because of road deaths. Honestly, I cannot see how there can be any comparison.