The Definition Of Marriage

"Marriage is a union between a man and a woman with the aim of procreation." That's the way I learned it at law school, twenty years ago.

People bitching and moaning about gay marriage leave out the last part, the procreation part, which is a problem they don't even know that they have. The financial benefits accruing to marriage exist to assist families with children. So the procreation part is important.

Why should we let homosexuals get married? I mean, beyond the simple fact that it makes sense and seems fair? If they want families, which many of them do, that's another great reason to let them get married.

And if you are a social reactionary who is against homosexual marriage, according to the above definition, shouldn't you also be against people over the age of procreation getting married? Why should two sixty-somethings get married and get the societal perks? Or is companionship, or love, enough for them but not for homosexuals?

If some people would forget about what manipulative so-called social conservatives and self-serving values politicians are shouting in their ears, and think for themselves, this wouldn't even be an issue.

Lucio Battisti - Ma è un Canto Brasileiro

Driving through the fog on San Vicente in Santa Monica, with the headlights behind the Brazilian Pepper Trees, partaking of the sacrament, listening to this on a cassette on the Alpine, I was pretty sure that I had arrived, but little did I know, I was only half-way to nowhere.

Party Girls, Teacher's Retirement Party, Pitsanalok, Thailand

This was a nice party for a friend of mine, a grade school art teacher out in the woods in Pitsanalok. The band was these two girls and the keyboard player seen here, plus another guy singer.

The food was good too, and it was a drinking crowd, there was a bottle of Hong Thong Thai whiskey on every table, with more to back that up. (I can't drink the stuff, it's made from rice, very sweet. Luckily, I B'd my own B.)

I Love The Smell Of Spam In The Morning

Evidently, the videos connected with YouTube generate spam comments. Interesting.

Long Boat Race In Pitsanalok, Thailand

Unless you have experienced it, you have no idea how LOUD Thailand is. The announcers in this video will give you some idea. In the malls; markets; the ubiquitous festivals; schools; parties; loud, loud, loud. It's no surprise at all that hearing loss is epidemic in Thailand. It's like living in the first row of a Who concert.

The teams in these races represent provinces in the big Central Valley of Thailand: Singburi; Sakon Nakorn; Sukothai; Pichit; Pitsanalok (the host). Different regions have their own meets. I saw coverage of the Isan meet in Sisaket on the TV news.

Another Honda Dash In Bangkok

Mine was red, but this one is just like it. I've probably seen them before without knowing it, they look a lot like the later, four-stroke model Honda Nova (technically, the Dash is a "Nova Dash.")

It's a 100 cc, water-cooled two-stroke, with a six speed close-ratio gearbox.

Notice the nice, after-market rear-set pegs with the extended shifter pedal. The narrow gauge tires are a hipster add-on in Thailand, they lower the whole thing. Believe me when I tell you, this little bike, which you could pick up and throw into the back of your car with little trouble, is fast, fast, fast. Up to about sixty MPH, that is, but till then you're keeping up with almost anything.

The Old Man Store

It's in a neighborhood mall on the southern fringe of Bangkok. I have no idea why they named it "Old Man." It's more of a cowboy clothes place, great selection of bandannas, which are important accessories (i.e., sweat mops)in this tropical paradise.

The owner is a nice woman who speaks English very well. After a while I found out that her husband runs the guitar store two spaces down, where I had just passed a good time talking to him (his English was almost as good as hers).