Rogie

Sir Alex Ferguson (Fergie) can never be written off. I think I am right in saying he must be the longest serving football manager of all time; if not, then it certainly seems like it! It was quite an achievement not long ago to pass the much-loved Matt Busby's record tenure as manager. You have to know when to gamble and you have to know when to play it safe. He gambled on Wednesday and won, but he'll be sure to field his strongest team in the final. Be interesting to see if he favours experience over youth. For example, Paul Scholes has the experience but his tired legs are a liability as the match progresses. It may go into extra time of course. United would hope that to be the case as they are a strong team who often score very late in the match. I would hate it to go to penalties (the penalty shoot out if scores are level after 120 minutes).

Atsuto Uchida Born 27/03/1988 - Kannami Height 5'9" Weight 10.6st Honours Asian Cup : 2011 (Japan) Clubs Kashima Antlers, Japan, Schalke 04 Cute he may be, but lucky for him he was on the losing side. . . As a defender he'd be up against Messi in the final at Wembley. Now that would have been sending this tender young lamb into the lion's den! Note to non-soccer / football fans. Messi plays for the Spanish team Barcelona and is generally regarded as the world's best player in what is often regarded the best team in the world, but Manchester United fans might dispute that! But in their last meeting, in the Champions League final 2 years ago, United were outclassed by Barcelona.

I think you are quite entitled to be cynical. I'm all ears for an explanation myself. I'll make one prediction (which I hope I am wrong about): computers were taken from his hideout supposedly. Hundreds of boffins are beavering away with the hope Al Quaida will effectively be castrated. My prediction is it will all come to nought. Every so often a journalist will ask "how's it going?" only to be fobbed off. We'll never know.

My experiences are in line with most of you here. Thai people are very good at getting around in places they are familiar with, but if I am in a car and we are lost and I get my Thai companion to ask for directions (from a Thai bystander) I know we are in for a dose of frustration. I hadn't noticed that Thai tendency to back their cars into parking spots. Rather like Mr Spock I try to be logical when parking my own car. I have a small hatchback saloon and if I need to use the boot (trunk), for example when I go shopping I go in head first so I can easily access the tailgate. Otherwise I must admit to preferring to back into a spot - maybe I just like the challenge! Can anyone corroborate my opinion Thais can be very stubborn? On my visit just after all the rains and ensuing floods in October last year I was staying at my hotel in central Bangkok awaiting the visit of a lady I knew. She was coming from Isan (a tedious 7 hour journey even in normal conditions) but I fully expected her to phone and say she'd had to cancel, or at least postpone her journey. I knew the trains weren't running and reckoned nobody in their right mind would attempt to get through by car. How wrong I was. She phoned as she was nearing Bangkok to apologise she'd be slightly delayed - she duly arrived totally unflustered an hour later . . . talk about determination.

Thank you for that most excellent suggestion. I like Chiang Mai very much but I've only ever stayed a few days at most so nowhere enough time to do it, and it's more laid-back citizens, justice. This thread's about Blogs, so I don't want to go farther off-topic, but it would be interesting to know what criteria ex-pat farangs use to decide where in Thailand to settle.

Too risky, z! It might focus a few fingers on the nuclear button, unless the USAF can be sure to shoot down any nuclear missiles.

It is always a pleasure to be 'put right' by Fountainhall. In my feeble defence I must point out I used the term cities in the sky, rather than streets, to refer to those featuring in the Aussie programme. I fully admit to a large element of sarcasm, quite expecting that even if the cities were as you write above (here quoted again) "So in high-rise developments, Hong Kong planners deliberately aimed to create real communities, with plenty of shopping within the development, restaurants of all types, plenty of recreational facilities, cultural centres, bus and subway stations etc." that they would be awful places to live. Your second quote based on the Hong Kong experience shows my cynicism to have been entirely misplaced. Perhaps I may conclude by agreeing that I fell into the trap (quoted above and here again) “Britons should be extremely cautious about reading situations abroad, especially in Asia, through an overly British filter” Notwithstanding my admission, nothing would convince me that living in a 'city in the sky' along with a million other people would be remotely appealing. It all sound rather space-age to me, like you might imagine a long time in the future when Earth is doomed and mankind has to establish a new life on a hostile planet millions of miles away with no oxygen so to survive we have to adapt. Maybe that's the key word: adapt. From my vantage point that's what these millions in Hong Kong's housing developments have had to do - adapt in order to survive.

A quite remarkable glimpse into modern China. Quite sobering really. Should we be saddened to know China, previously assumed to be an unstoppable juggernaut, is making so many mistakes or should we take heart that it makes the shortcomings in many western countries look a little less awful. It makes me think that these analysts who decide what countries have the largest economy. who has the second highest and so on are all barking up the wrong tree. Yes, maybe in money terms China is the second largest economy but what price responsibility? A large economy being run by incompetents isn't any honour is it? As that rather smug analyst said in the Australian You Tube clip (something along these lines): "Central government sets a GDP target, and the best way to realise that target is to build". There presumably are many instances in China where they got it right, but that makes it all the more astonishing they cocked up here. Are they going to put a moratorium on any more projects like the ones seen in that clip? If so, and they learn from those mistakes, they'll be forgotten as China powers forward. But if they keep speculatively building the wrong sort of tower blocks (cities in the sky for the rich? **) in the wrong places just to keep to some GDP target then China had better have plenty more aces up its sleeve if it's going to continue to fool us. ** (sorry couldn't resist - that remark paraphrases the 'streets in the sky' that hark back to the days in Britain when architects and builders tried to convince families cleared from their back-to-back slums they were going to a better life - in many cases they weren't and the tower blocks as a panacea for the housing crisis has been discredited).

Many thanks for taking the trouble to reply in detail KhorTose. I am guilty, as I often am, of rabbiting on in my own sweet way and losing my audience - I wouldn't make a very good Pied Piper! What I was trying to do was weigh up blogs versus Message Boards as a general resource for the gay or gay oriented traveller and ex-pat. Although I tried to keep it general I was obviously influenced by my own set of circumstances. . .I've been coming to Thailand as a visitor since 1995, now I seldom go to the bars and very rarely off a boy - so for me NOW, I am more interested in taking part in interesting Forum discussions or reading the odd in-depth Blog article or personal reflection on Thai ways; their lifestyles and quirks, culture, history, politics etc. I read Baht Stop to keep up with the political scene as I am based in the UK. I read this board because it has interesting and wide-ranging topics that are not confined to Thailand - (believe it or not there are times when I feel I've had Thailand up to here!) and like contributing in an atmosphere where posters respect one another. I also selectively read Gaybutton's Board but seldom post because, sorry to say this, I do not feel the quality of the average poster there is conducive to my doing so - I don't feel that comfortable. That might sound snobbish, and if that is the way that comes across, maybe I am. Every Board, every Blog, has its strengths and weaknesses.

Thanks KhorTose, I've had a peek at Bao-Bao's Blog and I'm very impressed. Not looked at Shameless Mack - may do that another time. Anonone posted as I was composing my reply so looks like another good recommendation there. I thought I'd take another look at the Articles in Thailand section. There are 18 topics listed, covering such things as Thai toilets, Ladyboys, food, massage etc. Bao Bao himself has contributed to the toilet thread. All but one is authored by Gay Thailand, as was, now known as Michael. Very useful for new visitors, or those of us who've been to Thailand many times but just need to check up on some aspect or to see what others have had to say. One concern is they were originally written in 2006 and whilst I am sure most of the articles are still very relevant, there is always the chance they may have dated (I don't know without reading them all and I haven't done that). There is also the City Guides section accessed via the main page. Comparing Gay Thailand with a Blog written from a gay perspective, such as Bao Bao's, leads to to wonder which may be the better resource, or do they complement one another so as to be both indispensable? And what about the Forum? Personally I am inclined to avoid many of the threads started on the various message board forums, this one and others. Very often the 'facts' posted are personal experiences which maybe subjective or they are just another poster's opinions. Nothing wrong with that but if you want hard facts best not to rely on them. Topics can also easily be led astray or hi-jacked, although a lot depends on the particular board's moderating skills. Having weighed up Message Board / Articles versus Blog as gay resource for visitors and ex-pats, I think my preference would be the blog. Provided it is well-written and updated on a regular basis the blog has a lot more appeal. Part of that is the inclusion of photos, in fact I would go so far as to say a blog without them would be a mere shadow. In fairness I should point out that many of the Boards attract wonderful photographic travel reports from their members from time to time and the best of these would easily rival anything a blogger could accomplish. I agree that blogs are, by definition, intensely personal, so you really do have to trust the blogger! I have yet to do so but I would guess once you've tuned in to your favourite blog on a regular basis, he'll have you eating out of his hand.

Nice. Two thoughts occur to me: If I had to choose whether to join Facebook or start a Blog, I'd choose the latter. I skimmed through SimonLover's Blog in a matter of a few minutes. That has to be wrong, doesn't it. He's clearly put a hell of a lot of time and effort into it, a real labour of love, only for me to zip through it almost certainly never to return (unless I see a future link to it on another Message Board thread). Trouble is, for most of us non-bloggers there are so many of them. The best ones need the reader to invest time navigating the site to get the best out of them. That's something I for one am unwilling to do - there isn't a single Blog I read on a regular basis. More fool me perhaps. So, back to that hypothetical choice above. If I choose to set up my own Blog it'd be heartbreaking in those moments of reflection to realise hardly anybody was reading it and all my hard work was unappreciated! Maybe I should opt for Facebook after all - lots of people clammouring to be your friends and oh so keen to know all about you. Except, what I leant today, courtesy of Fountainhall, is that everything you say about yourself (see the Facebook Games thread) is an open book as far as those nasty invasive spammers are concerned. Maybe they'll invade my Blog too, but so what, I'm sure I can find a way to outwit them!

I had no idea; I don't follow the lives of actors closely at all. Usually when I am writing about something I am not 100% sure about I'll say 'as far as I know' or something similar, but in this case I just assumed. Silly me! assumptions can result in egg on your face. I had a premonition (too late to edit my post) that would happen! That's undoubtedly a great photo of Sir Ian. I don't know if he's bearded ordinarily? Not having seen him with one before, I assume it was taken around the time he was Gandalf. Fountainhall will no doubt tell me otherwise! ______________________________________________________________________________________ Returning if I may to the era of Francis Bacon and London's lively and interesting Soho inhabitants. . . Britain's Telegraph newspaper had an item on Bill Clinton the other day. Headed "Bill Clinton's fond memories of the Times Square hookers". Clinton nostalgically recalls his visit there for the first time in 1964 - he was 18 at the time. He clearly enjoyed the experience, referring to it as "romantic, fascinating". He goes on to say "I saw a hooker approach a man in a grey flannel suit. . ." That Clinton heterosexual memory from nearly 50 years ago reminds us what it must have been like for homosexual men in those times - men like Bacon. They were poles apart. No hookers in Soho or Times Square for them. Extrovert men like Bacon, the playwright Joe Orton and the Labour politician Tom Driberg may have flourished whatever the sexual climate but it must have been hell for the average suburban gay (or gay curious) guy.

Great anecdotes! One of my favourite British theatrical knights is Derek Jacobi and although he is not gay he's played a few characters who were gay in real life. I really enjoyed Love is the Devil, a made for television film shown on BBC TV in 1998. In it he plays Francis Bacon, the artist. A lot of the film takes place in a bar with Bacon surrounded by various cronies and assorted ne'er-do-wells. I laughed out loud when, in the bar, he uttered the lines: "Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends." Jacobi also played Alan Turing in another excellent television play Breaking the Code, shown in 1997. It had started life as a stage play, with Jacobi in the lead role, in London in 1986 and later in New York. Back to the quote about the difficulty of actors coming out, I would imagine it must be a fair bit easier for other 'artists', such as painters, musicians (composers rather than performers) novelists and playwrights. They can just do their own thing (let their creative juices flow!) behind the scenes away from prying eyes and inquisitive journalists as well as not having to fend off homophobia from your peers, which must be an on-going hazard in acting circles. Film producers being very cautious about who they pick for the starring roles - he has to ensure the success of the production from start to finish - it's a money-making venture after all, that caution would usually win out and an openly gay actor may find himself sidelined more often than one who kept his sexuality private.

Always interesting to read of others' experiences, I've never seen McKellan on stage, let alone met him, so I've clearly missed something. My reason for quoting Fountainhall is I am wondering what is the American equivalent of the Brit's 'theatrical knights'? And which of them are or were gay?

That's very funny! I haven't been following this thread but tonight I thought I'd better catch up and see what's cooking with a view to tapping the best minds Gay Thailand has to offer. In a way I am relieved to have an excuse not to go back and read all 46 earlier posts!

Wow Fountainhall! . . . if I ever write a 'whodunnit' crime novel I'll ask you to be so good as to read it first before I even think about looking for a publisher! Having said that I am prepared to believe the story, it was written several years after the events to which it relates so a little licence regarding some aspects is deemed acceptable in my book. The rather tame ending is also believable - if he was making it up (or were he to become a crime novelist himself) he'd most likely be sure to exact a truly grisly vengeance. Incorporating ladyboys into a tale like this is almost de rigeur. They are such an enigma, and although not unique to Thailand, they seem to be larger than life in that country to a greater extent than anywhere else. That some of them are extremely nasty, coldly calculating schemers should not tar all with the same brush. I suspect for every ladyboy who works Nana Plaza or performs in cabaret, there are a hundred living quiet lives in small villages or doing a fair day's work for little pay in some humdrum job in an urban backwater somewhere, their dreams of saving up enough money for a silicon breast implant almost certain to be denied them.

Thanks for posting about this Fountainhall. Here is another snippet taken from that page on Yahoo: Soon after my 60th birthday last year I received the bowel cancer screening programme in the post. I don't know how reliable the test is but it is certainly very easy to participate. Just three samples needed on 3 different days, then you post it back. So it would seem to be an efficient, high-turnover, cheap, reasonably reliable (I assume) test. I agree the flexible sigmoidoscopy is likely to be "an important addition" but I wonder how many people are going to skip it because of the 'inconvenience' coupled to it being a part of the body makes some people feel queasy. I'll definitely be participating as bowel cancer is something I definitely do not wish to contract. I have reservations regarding just how quickly this additional test will become established as it will represent a very big committment, far in excess of the existing very simple, low-cost screening programme.

Later: I've re-read what I wrote earlier and it's a bit vague in places. In my 3rd para I hasten to add when you reach 50 (just a convenient age, could be anywhere from 40 - 60, but not much after 60 I would suggest), get the test done (perhaps in a regular screening programme such as Fountainhall mentions) and assuming it is within normal limits the first time then any significant increase on future testing needs further examination, by which I mean a thorough discussion with your doctor about your health, digital rectal examination and possibly a biopsy to check for malignancy. PS. I started to edit my original post as the 'edit' button was still operative. However, blow me if when I came to post the edited version I was told I had timed out and couldn't edit it. A bit annoying to say the least. My fault maybe for editing near the cut-off point but it would be better if once you start editing you are allowed time to finish the job. As Magnus Magnusson might have said, "I've started - I'm damn well going to finish!"

The confusion continues! It's a pity the PSA test hasn't lived up to its early hopes. I used to work in a lab and I well recall those hopes at the time (late 80's) when the PSA test replaced the older acid phosphatase blood test. It doesn't mention this in the quote above, but almost always when we read a PSA article it says what is really needed is a way to be able to reliably distinguish between slow and fast growing prostate cancers. The slow-growing ones are often best left in peace, whereas the fast-growing need prompt treatment. I still believe the PSA test is worth doing for men over 50. If you get it checked every few years then (assuming it is within normal limits) any significant increase over time is an indication for further testing. I don't think any responsible medical person would be able to interpret a one-off (random) result with much accuracy - if they tried it'd just be a guess, and guesses aren't good enough.

If a normal travel agent is taken to mean premises on a high street you can walk into, then no, I don't use those. I usually use a company who charge an annual fee, about UK£70 or US$110. Booking is by phone or by email. Here is what a customer had to say, earlier last year following the volcano eruption in Iceland: Luckily I have never experienced any such disruption to my travel plans, but it is good to know were that sort of thing to occur I'd have someone to at least try and help me. If you book on the internet, who is going to help you? Maybe if you fly first class or business there might be a real person at the end of the website, but I certainly don't think there's anybody for us economy flyers! For similar reasons I've stuck to buying my household and motor insurance using a traditional family insurance brokers. Maybe they can't shave every last penny off the premiums but what matters to me is similar to what the person in the quote above is saying, personal service. All those fliers that come in unsolicited through my letterbox advertising rock bottom rates go straight into the wpb.

No.3 (third from the left) wins hands down for me too! I have a lovely pair of speedos I flaunt myself in and am fully aware I look a prize chump, but I dislike the ultra long trunks that extend halfway down to the ankles so much I feel I have to fly the flag for 'proper' swimming trunks. So I am over the moon to see these four happy guys sporting a delightful variant on my costume of choice. Hence my suggestion is The Micro

The final option applies to me. As a visitor I hire a car as and when I need it. Being a Brit and driving on the left (or right hand drive to put it another way) makes a lot of difference for a visitor. Gaybutton pointed out he'd got used to that aspect easily enough but I'd've thought a visitor, as distinct from an ex-pat, from a country where they drive on the right would find it harder. No sooner had he got used to one set of rules, he's back home, then on his next visit etc etc...

Thanks for going to the trouble to dig out those quotes FH. Looking back, the reason why in my previous post I mentioned that programme on UK TV, is it seemed a natural follow-on from FH's earlier comment. He had said the UN workers had 'introduced child prostitution and HIV-AIDS'. There is no specific mention of that in any of the sources quoted, but I guess it makes a kind of grisly sense. So many adults were killed in the Pol Pot years the numbers of young women (18 - 30) surviving must have been badly impacted. I've no idea, it's simply conjecture on my part, that younger girls (17 and under) became involved for this reason.

Is that true? (well, if you say it is, it must be but I find it hard to believe/stomach). I am aware UN workers have attracted a bad press in many cases, but to go so far as to lay the blame (in this instance) at their feet. . .? There was an interesting This World documentary on Uk TV recently called The Paedophile Hunters. Based in Cambodia, it showed American ICE agents, (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on the trail of suspected child sex abusers. Apparently ICE agants have arrested 85 Americans operating overseas (so not just Cambodia) & returned them for trial in the US. I was fascinated to see a lab, somewhere in America (sorry, do not recall where exactly)where they can examine a camera suspected of harbouring digital photos. Even though in one case the suspect had erased hundreds of photos of his victims, this lab was able not only to recover them, but could also determine the exact date they were taken!