Thailand Footprint: The People, Things, Literature, and Music of Thailand and the Region

Posts by Kevin Cummings

The Beat Goes On at Check Inn 99 … Bangkok Night of Noir 2014 …

James A. Newman - Master of Ceremonies for Bangkok Night of Noir

James A. Newman – The nattily attired Master of Ceremonies for Bangkok Night of Noir 2014

For the second time in less than 9 months author James A. Newman, artist Chris Coles and company decided it would be a good idea to hold a Bangkok Night of Noir. It was. The purpose was to have an evening of music, readings, art and photography depicting the numerous sources of noir found in Bangkok, Thailand. The Check Inn 99 is the perfect venue for such an event. A place where Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Raquel Welch relaxed after USO shows during the Viet Nam War. A colorful history understates the facts of the Check Inn 99 by a long shot. It’s a place where, for anyone who had forgotten, Christopher G. Moore reminded us in a finale reading that a  dwarf once worked as the doorman for years at the entrance to the Check Inn 99 tunnel leading toward the door. And then one day he disappears. How does a dwarf go missing? It’s Bangkok, that’s how. Just down that tunnel a previous owner of the establishment was beaten so badly, over creative financing rumors, he died the next day. It happened on the eve of one of Thailand’s many political coups, decades ago.

The entrance to Check Inn 99 located on Sukumvit Road in Bangkok, Thailand

The entrance to Check Inn 99 located on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, Thailand (Photo: Courtesy)

The very day of Bangkok Night of Noir, Sunday January 5th, 2014 there was a film crew shooting a Karaoke scene in the morning for an upcoming movie regarding Thailand’s infamous last executioner, Chaovaret Jaruboon, a drinking buddy of Bangkok author, Jim Algie and a living noir legend until he died in 2012. If you  were looking for a setting to read dark fiction and show the neon noir world of Bangkok’s nightlife, you were in the right place. The 2014 Night of Noir kicked off, reading wise, later than some guests had anticipated. There was a full house, much more crowded than the one held in April 2013.

Photo Courtesy Check Inn 99

Photo Courtesy Check Inn 99  – Two Hours Before Tip Off. Veteran Waiters Rest While They Can

Music of the Heart Band came to the rescue as people were still buying books and getting them signed. Highlights for me, before readings began, were talking with Cara Black about some of her SoHo Crime colleagues and meeting John Burdett, author of the Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, which started with Bangkok 8. Just when I was getting impatient, Music of the Heart Band broke out into a song in French, known for its dedication to the fighters of the French Foreign Legion: Non, je ne regrette rien, which caused out of town visiting, New York Times best selling author and Francophile, Cara Black to smile broadly and sing along.

IMG_1194The readings started shortly thereafter with screenwriter, actor and presentation coach John Marengo reading from James A. Newman’s latest, The White Flamingo. Marengo has decades of acting and voice over credits. Newman’s fictional Fun City, AKA Pattaya never sounded better or bleaker, depending on your perspective, coming from Marengo’s microphone. That was followed by his reading of the Charles Bukowski poem, Dinosauria, We. A dark Buk special about death, decay and pessimism for mankind.

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Tom Vater read next, publisher of Crime Wave Press, author of Devil’s Road to Kathmandu and The Cambodian Book of the Dead. The latter I have reviewed and recommend. When Tom Vater talks, I listen. He always has something interesting to say. He prefaced his reading with some fascinating history regarding the world’s busiest airport up until 1975, run by the CIA in Long Cheng in Laos. Tom is the co-author of the screenplay, The Most Secret Place on Earth – The CIA’s Covert War in Laos. That background will make his upcoming novel, The Man With The Golden Mind – a Detective Maier novel, which Tom read from, invaluable. It was a riveting read.

IMG_1222The Dean of Bangkok fiction was up next to read from a book I am proud to say is in my library: The Go Go Dancer Who Stole My Viagra and other Poetic Tragedies of Thailand. I am a fan of Dean Barrett’s writing and poetry. I am also a Dean Barrett fan. I’m going to go out on a limb here and make what could be misconstrued as a political statement, but what the hell: the world needs more Dean Barrett’s. A lot more. Always entertaining, gracious and humorous.  All of Dean’s readings are good but it’s tough to beat the classic, No One Wants to Boom Boom, Anymore.

IMG_1247John Burdett was in the house and that was a pleasure to see and to listen too as well. Mr. Burdett read from his latest Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, VULTURE PEAK about organ trafficking.  He starts off with these two quotations from the beginning of Vulture Peak, juxtaposing the two, which gets one thinking about morality and unintended consequences:

What you do to yourself, you do to the world.

What you do to the world, you do to yourself. – Buddhist proverb

If a living donor can do without an organ, why shouldn’t the donor profit and medical science benefit? – Janet Radcliffe-Richards, Lancet 352 (1998), p. 1951

John then read a wonderful passage regarding the murder investigation from Vulture Peak, which I have only included the very last part of the brilliant conclusion :

“Really? That will be helpful. By the way, what genders are the victims?”

“Two men and a woman.”

Now I notice something else. “No blood?”

“Somebody cleaned up meticulously. They even used some chemical that neutralizes our tests. I tell you, whoever did it were professionals. There were certainly more than one.” I nod.

“Any ideas?” the doctor asks when we have replaced the sheet.

“You mean whodunit? Only in the more general sense.” She raises her eyes. “Ronald Reagan, Milton Friedman, Margaret Thatcher, Adam Smith. Capitalism dunit. Those organs are being worn by somebody else right now.”

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Cara Black wearing her Crime Fiction Writer’s Reading Glasses

The out of town guest of honor for the evening was Cara Black. John Burdett handed Cara the copy of Vulture Peak from which he read, after he finished. Cara seemed genuinely thrilled to receive the copy. Likewise, Chris Coles presented Cara Black with a copy of his book, Navigating the Bangkok Noir.  I would learn later, the copy of The Marriage Tree, which Christopher G. Moore read from last, now resides with Cara in The City by the Bay. Charles Bukowski got it all wrong. This was a congenial, generous and optimistic group of noir scribes.

Cara Black, deemed Madam Noir by M.C. James A. Newman was next up. Her protagonist is Aimee Leduc, half-French; half-American. Aimee is an computer fraud expert, can dress fashionably in Paris or in disguise for the job. She can handle a Beretta when need be. Her partner is a 4’0″ dwarf and computer genius, named Rene. Together they could probably team up with Vincent Calvino and solve the mystery of the missing Check Inn 99 doorman in two weeks time. But that was not the task at hand. Cara Black read from her first of 13 Aimee Leduc Investigations, MURDER IN THE MARAIS, but she did need the assistance of Calvino’s creator as she wore Mr. Moore’s spectacles to get the job done. I find her writing style eloquent and tense where it needs to be. Cara lives in San Francisco with her husband and son. Paris, the City of Light, is always a central character in her novels. I got the feeling Cara likes a good adventure and she got one at Night of Noir. She seemed to appreciate every moment and be in the moment.

Bangkok Noir artist Chris Coles - Author of Navigating the Bangkok Noir

Bangkok Noir artist Chris Coles – Author of Navigating the Bangkok Noir speaks about: The Stuff  That Lies Beneath Bangkok and South East Asia – Click the Photo to take you to the Chris Coles Blog

A Night of Noir is incomplete without a Chris Coles presentation. Enthusiastic about the where and when of Bangkok and what lies beneath the city. The where being almost anywhere after dark and the when being, now. Please take the time to click the above picture to take you an excellent review of the presentation Chris put together, complete with copies of all the pictures flashed onto the screen at 4’x5′ size. You can also go to his blog by clickng here: CHRIS COLES NIGHT OF NOIR TALK AND PICTURES. Chris also had the honor of introducing the final author of the evening, Christopher G. Moore, well known for his over two dozen novels, including the Vincent Calvino Crime Series, The Thai Smile Trilogy and his cultural books of essays, among others.

Christopher G. More - Author of the Vincnt Calvino Crime Series

Christopher G. Moore – Author of the Vincent Calvino Crime Series

Christopher G. Moore read from his latest Calvino caper: The Marriage Tree, the 14th in the popular series, which has Calvino dealing with some cumulative trauma issues regarding the deaths of close friends in Rangoon and Bangkok. Christopher’s reading was appropriate as he chose a scene where the fictional Calvino walks down the real life tunnel of the Check Inn 99 to find Colonel Pratt playing the saxophone near some white flamingos. It was art imitating life and it was fun. Even the ancient waiters were smiling.

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Check Inn 99 owner Chris Catto-Smith

Chris Catto-Smith was coaxed onto the main floor one more time to recount the colorful history of the Cabaret Club. I never tire of listening to Chris speak about the history or seeing the old black and white photos of the club and Bangkok of an earlier time flashed onto the big screen. Among the things I learned, those white flamingos may like to hang-out around plastic flowers but they are made of cast iron and Chris even hammered the point home for the audience. Music of the Heart Band came back on to perform. Some stayed but it was late and many headed for home or wherever into the Bangkok night.

Could the readings have started a little earlier? I suppose they could have. But for one night some of the top noir stars from Bangkok and San Francisco aligned just as they were meant to align – perfectly.  James A. Newman, Chris Coles, Chris Catto-Smith and all the authors are to be commended, once again, for pulling it off. Anyone who plans to live or stay in Bangkok for any length of time would be well served by the words of Alan Watts: “Things are as they are.” Since the group picture was taken late some of the authors had already left due to commitments the next day. When asked to join in for the group photo, no one had to ask me twice. I’m not a noir writer or a noir artist, but the world still needs them. And as Chris Coles stated more than once, enthusiastically, during his presentation, this is a city with an almost infinite source of inspiration for noir.  It was a memorable evening. As I was headed up the elevator to my condo around 1:15 a.m. my telephone vibrated. It was one of the authors: “Back at the bar!” it read. I smiled as the doors opened to my floor. The beat goes on in Bangkok City.

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L to R John Marengo, Dean Barrett, Christopher G. Moore, Kevin Cummings, James A. Newman, Cara Black, Chris Coles

All Photographs shown, with the exception of Check Inn 99 Entrance and waiters, taken by Alasdair McLeod of Bangkok, Thailand. Permission for the reproduction of these photographs is needed from Thailand Footprint if used for commercial purposes.

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Ernest Hemingway’s 1954 Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature …

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Below is the full text of Ernest Hemingway’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, which was read for him by John C. Cabot, the then US Ambassador to Sweden. It is short, succinct and says all that needs to be said:

Members of the Swedish Academy, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Having no facility for speech-making and no command of oratory nor any domination of rhetoric, I wish to thank the administrators of the generosity of Alfred Nobel for this prize.

No writer who knows the great writers who did not receive the prize can accept it other than with humility. There is no need to list these writers. Everyone here may make his own list according to his knowledge and his conscience.

It would be impossible for me to ask the Ambassador of my country to read a speech in which a writer said all of the things which are in his heart. Things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes, and in this sometimes he is fortunate; but eventually they are quite clear and by these and the degree of alchemy that he possesses he will endure or be forgotten.

Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.

For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.

How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.

I have spoken too long for a writer. A writer should write what he has to say and not speak it. Again I thank you.

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Cara Black Interview … Welcome Back to Thailand …

Cara Black is one of a number of talented authors published by SoHo Crime, an imprint of SoHo Publishing. They include none other than Colin Cotterill creator of the Dr. Siri series set in Laos, Timothy Hallinan author of five and soon to be six Poke Rafferty novels set in Thailand and Lisa Brackmann author of the critically acclaimed ROCK PAPER TIGER and HOUR OF THE RAT set in China. Coincidentally or not all of the above authors have been extremely nice and cooperative to me. You can go to Cara Black’s author page at SoHo Crime by clicking the picture below.

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It is my pleasure to welcome Cara Black back to Thailand and to Thailand Footprint.

KC: Thank-you for agreeing to this interview on such short notice. I’m looking forward to being in the audience for the Night of Noir event to be held January 5th, 2014 at the Check Inn 99 in Bangkok. It should be fun. I found it interesting to learn that you spent some time in Thailand in the 1970s. What are your recollections of Thailand and Thai people from that time? How has the country changed and how have the people changed, if they have?

CB: I look forward to the Night of Noir and meeting you, too Kevin. To your question (and it really dates me) I lived in Bangkok for five months – way past my visa –  when the Viet Nam War was in full swing. After traveling from India and running short of cash a fellow traveler – also staying at the Atlanta Hotel – advised me to ‘Go to Patpong and look for a hostess job’. The second bar I tried, a large Chinese one, hired me on the spot as the only foreign hostess. Bangkok then had few high rises, no BTS and the tuk tuk’s were bicycle powered. Every morning on the Soi the monks came with their bowls for alms – that hasn’t changed – and I remember in the evening before work everyone putting offerings before the shrine at the next corner. Bangkok was such a quiet place – apart from the adrenalin charged GI’s on R+R  from battle duty in Viet Nam. One evening everyone on the Soi was excited – my Thai was very limited – something about a boat and offering. Finally the lady on the Soi from whom I bought my Som Tom and Sticky Rice every day explained with laughter and sign language to take a tuk tuk to Chao Praya. The river was full of lantern boats with candles for Loy Kratong. Amazing. People prayed before launching them into the water. I’ve never forgotten the glittering lighted lanterns floating by the thousands past the temples.  The warmth and gracefulness of the Thai people stayed with me and I’ve found it again.

KC: Those are wonderful recollections, Cara. They will help explain the attraction Thailand still holds today for many.  I’ve just finished reading my first Aimee Leduc Investigation novel – MURDER BELOW MONTPARNASEE. But it is your 13th in the series. And the 14th, MURDER IN PIGALLE is due to hit the book shops in March of 2014. Raymond Chandler wrote a total of 7 Philip Marlowe novels, I believe, back in another era and another time as far as publishing. Your goal is to write 20 Aimee Leduc Investigation novels. What do you like about writing a long series of novels involving Aimee. What difficulties, if any, does it pose writing a lengthy series?

CB: I never intended to write a series, much less set in Paris, I was thrilled to get published. That still feels incredible and I count myself lucky.  In Murder in the Marais, my first book, I was passionate to write about the story I’d heard from my friend’s mother who was a hidden Jewish girl during the German Occupation. Using that theme to explore the less known side of collaboration, the grey areas I needed a detective. She needed to be half-American because I couldn’t write as a French woman – I can’t even tie my scarf the right way – but Aimée in the detective mold made famous by Chandler is a lone wolf, neither fish nor fowl, an outsider yet part of a Paris I saw. Every book in the series – at its core – explores social issues, mores, traces of old colonialism and often the ethnic areas I stumble upon in Paris.  Paris has twenty arrondissements, each with a distinctive flavor and ambiance, which still excites me. I feel fortunate to have the chance to write stories of the places, the people who inhabit these particular slices of Paris and research the history that pervades the cobblestones. To keep a series fresh and yet familiar to readers who want to spend time again with the characters who must grow and change is a challenge I never envisioned but I love it.

KC: Your energy comes across in your writing and also here, today. A younger Aimee Leduc reminds me of the cool girl I would have been attracted to but afraid to ask to dance in High School. Aimee likes the bad boys and may have a tattoo or three. Tell me about Aimee’s romantic interests in the past and from which novel(s) readers can find them?

CB: In the first three books Aimée’s gotten involved in an on again off again affair with Yves, a French journalist who she keeps saying goodbye to on the boulevard Saint Germain or on Cairo street corners. She’s drawn to him like metal filings to a magnet – the traveling foreign correspondent, a bad boy and unavailable as her best friend Martine keeps telling her. In Murder on the Rue de Paradis, set in the tenth arrondissement their relationship takes a turn on the Canal St. Martin. I can’t reveal much but decisive and heart rending come to mind. In Murder in the Bastille, she’s treated by Guy, an eye surgeon with whom she develops a relationship in later books (Murder in Clichy, Murder in Montmartre). But he’s the type who wants her to settle down, become a doctor’s wife, give luncheons and live in Neuilly. Not Aimée’s style at all.  Aimée’s vowed never to become involved with a ‘Flic’ a French cop (she knows it’s a hard life and killer on relationships – her father was a former flic) but Melac, a detective in the elite Brigade Criminelle, homicide squad in Paris treats her as a suspect in Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (where she lives) becomes more than she bargained for. Things get complicated from there on.  She’s got an air of je ne sais quoi, handles a Beretta, finds haute couture at the flea market – all the things I’ve experienced and some I’d like to. And along with it Aimée’s personal life – her boyfriends, the sense of belonging she’s always looking for which reflects the young Parisiennes I know who even though chic, slim and with cheekbones that could slice paper have relationship trouble.

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KC: Can you tell me when your love of Paris began? What is the attraction for you, if you can explain it to me?

CB: My Father was a Francophile – loved good food and wine and Jacques Tati movies. He sent me to a French school in California with old French nuns back in the day when they wore headgear like the Flying Nun. We learned – what I later found out to be – an archaic form of French. I had so many expectations and ideas of what France would be like that the first time I arrived in Paris it felt familiar yet different. Hitting Paris with a backpack to find the wafting scents of butter from the boulangerie,  the apricot sunset painting the roof tiles, the quai’s with bookstalls lining  the Seine, the narrow cobbled streets with women clattering on high heels sealed it for me. I fell in love with the City of Light, which has turned into a long running affair. I love the Parisians – cynical one minute, caring the next, passionate over everything and full of contradictions. That keeps me coming back hoping someday I’ll understand them…but mystery and elusiveness like any good affair keeps it alive.

KC: When was the last time you smoked a cigar?

CB: Last October in Paris outside a cafe – a Cuban Cohibo.

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KC: That trumps my Wolf Brothers Crook after the 49ers Super Bowl XVI victory. And I doubt you’d be impressed that it was rum soaked, so let’s change the subject. Anais Nin has one of my favorite quotes on writing:  “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” She and Henry Miller get a mention in Murder Below Montparnasse.  I like many of the quotes Henry has on writing. Feel free to comment on either of those two writers, if you’d like, but I’d like to know how you would complete the sentence: We write …

CB: We write to give a voice to those who aren’t heard.

PS That’s funny, Kevin I have that saying above my computer!

KC: I like your sentence. It ties right in with the best advice I ever got from Henry Miller. “Forget yourself.” How long will you be in Thailand? Where have you been and where will you go?

CB: I’m in Thailand with my family and two others – ten of us in total! We’re visiting my husband’s old schoolfriend who’s stationed in Bangkok with the UN World Food Program. We stayed with him in Bangkok, visited Siam Reap and Angkor Wat and Beang Mealea temples in Cambodia – amazing – then on to Koh Lanta for beach time and where they film a French reality show. We’ll be back in Bangkok for the Night of Noir.

KC: Tell me the best reason I should go back and read #1 in the Aimee Leduc Series, where it all began for you, MURDER IN THE MARAIS?

CB: If you like to start at the beginning of a series and meet Aimée Leduc, her dog  Miles Davis, a bichon frise who live in a frayed around the edges 17th century townhouse on the Ile Saint-Louis and René Friant, a dwarf, her partner it’s a good place to launch. As I mentioned above this story was inspired by the experiences of my friend’s mother’s – a young hidden Jewish girl during WWII. Her experiences haunted me for years after I heard them. The book took me three and a half years to write – of course I was learning and discovering the process of writing. I think in writing, I tried to make sense of that past time, that world at war on everyday people, the dichotomies and the choices between right and wrong. But what if right and wrong weren’t clear when one’s trying to survive and live to the next day? And what if that choice to survive comes back to haunt you fifty years later in the City of Light?

KC: You’ve made a good case for me. And those Miles Davis references in MURDER BELOW MONTPARNASSE take on a whole new context. Thank-you Cara Black, again, for doing this interview during the holiday season. See you at the Night of Noir. 

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Night of Noir Jan 5th … Marriage Tree … Cara Black in Thailand …

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A few announcements today: The Night of Noir is coming this Sunday, January 5th, 2014 at Check Inn 99. An evening of Reading, Art, Film, and Music. The scheduled (but not 100% confirmed) lineup includes: Cara Black, Dean Barrett, John Burdett, Chris Coles, John Marengo, Christopher G. Moore, James A. Newman, Tom Vater and others to be announced. Photographs by Stickman will also be on display.

The-Marriage-Tree2coverAlso, I just noticed today that The Marriage Tree by Christopher G. Moore, which I reviewed on this blog, is now available on Kindle. You can click the image above to take you to Amazon USA. I am sure it is on Smashwords too. Anyone who knows Christopher knows he doesn’t buy book reviews. So if you are like me and have already read The Marriage Tree and like it, leave a review on Amazon.

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This just arrived today and seemed like a good addition to this post.

And if you haven’t read it, I recommend it for any crime fiction fan, in either paper or plastic. Christopher has a unique Rohingya angle to the novel, which has been in the news from a human rights standpoint and a freedom of the press point of view. Authors depend on genuine reviews, so think of the last couple of books you have read and write a review for Amazon or Smashwords or where ever. You might even enjoy it.

Cara BlackFinally, I’d like to give advance notice that I will be running an interview I did with Cara Black, tomorrow, author of the Aimee Leduc Investigation series. The fourteenth in the series, MURDER IN PIGALLE will available from SoHo Crime Press in March 2014. It’s a fun and interesting interview. Cara will be reading from her first is the series, MURDER IN THE MARAIS at the NIGHT OF THE NOIR event. Tune in tomorrow. You weren’t planning to go back to work anyway …

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Henry Miller Quote of the Month … January 2014 …

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“Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. there is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there.”
Henry Miller

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Footprint Makers of the Year … Looking Back at 2013 … Henry Miller Style …

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“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
― Henry Miller

Everything starts with an idea. I have long believed that. The thing is, it doesn’t even have to be an original idea. In the case of this blog the genesis came from the Henry Miller quote, above. I figured Henry was a lot smarter than me. Being around people smarter than I am has never bothered me. In my business I seek them out and hire them. With friendships it’s an added bonus.

Let’s take a look at Thailand Footprint’s first year, Miller style. You can click on most of the pictures to take you to the discussed post or do a search on the site, if you like.

PEOPLE:

malcolm-with-his-three-sonsHenry Miller would have liked Malcolm Gault-Williams, shown with his three sons. I am sure of that. Malcolm now lives up country near the Laos border, he is engaged in a life long project, LEGENDARY SURFERS. Malcolm was featured in the first ever interview at Thailand Footprint: EACH ONE HIS OWN DIRECTION EACH ONE HIS OWN WAY kon-lá tít kon-lá taang / คนละทิศคนละทาง

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Mook, the smiling waitress at the Soi 4 German restaurant in Pattaya whom I recounted the rather remarkable story of having my gold chain ripped off my neck by a 150 lb katoey as I drank a cup of coffee by the sea, only to get it back twenty minutes later, in the middle of a growing crowd, which included a few men in brown or Pattaya Policemen. A memorable evening where I explain why I love Thailand and learn that the word Mook in Thai means pearl.

milleronForgettingYourselfThere was the essay I wrote about Henry Miller called, Forget Yourself, What did Henry Miller mean? In that essay I pay tribute to an old friend, Dick, that passed away of a heart attack at age 76. I discuss that forgetting yourself is never easy but almost always worth it.

melissarayhotchilliTwo of the three most popular posts, traffic wise, had nothing to do with literature or music. It was all about Muay Thai. They both featured Muay Ying Champion Melissa Ray and the second one featured charismatic MAX Muay Thai Champion Hotchilli Ntg, who recently took home a $15,000 US purse in a four man tournament in which he finished second to a long time Champion.  A special thanks to Bangkok photographer, Eric Nelson for those two posts in particular.

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Author, T. (Thom) Hunt Locke

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Author, Matt Carrell

For me personally it was a great year as I was able to get to to know many of the Bangkok authors whose books I had read over the years. But equally rewarding was making contact with out of town authors face to face after I had featured them at Thailand Footprint. One thing we can be sure of, Henry Miller would have preferred face to face over Facebook every time. My author collection has grown and so has my friendship collection. There are a lot of benefits to following Henry’s advice. I have gotten to know American , Thom Hunt Locke, whom I did an interview called, Jim Thompson is Alive! A Sam Collins Mystery. Thom has a new novel out now, The Chiang Mai Chronicle, with a new protagonist, Declan Power. I was also able to meet British author, Matt Carrell author of Thai Kiss among others, whom I featured in an essay called, Nobody Loves Goliath, about Amazon.com. Both are interesting men with second careers other than authors and a passion for writing and living life to the fullest.

There are also three fellow bloggers who helped me out a lot in 2013 before I ever published a single post and have always been supportive. I thank Robert Carraher of The Dirty Lowdown,  a book and music review site, Voicu Minea Simamdan of http://www.Simandan.com – Writer, Archer, Travelor and Trevor Bide of http://www.engagingthailand.com ,  a site about Thailand culture, travel,  cooking and much more.

THINGS:

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Some of the memorable things in 2013 included the couch at The Living Room located at the Sheraton on Sukhumvit 12 in Bangkok. It was from a couch that we watched Steve Cannon play another thing, the trumpet. I wrote an essay about earning the couch. Henry Miller earned the couch most days, I reckon. It is always a worthy goal. One I will shoot for more often in 2014.

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Thai University uniforms are things. I didn’t write the popular satirical essay on the Thai University uniform, Kaewmala did. She of http://www.thaiwomantalks.com . She kindly allowed me to re-post it. Henry Miller would have been against University uniforms and in favor of short skirts, if I had to take a guess.

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Parks are some of my favorite things and I wrote about them in 2013 in The Parks of My Life. This is Suan Rot Fai, my favorite local park in Bangkok.

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The fountain at Hemingway’s restaurant on Sukhumvit 14 is a thing and a perfect meeting place for friends. Owner Craig Bianchini and General Manager Damian Mackay have always been helpful and friendly about the restaurant named after the famous American writer, which is modeled after his Key West, Florida home.

fertility-shrineShrines are things and no one finds more interesting things than Jim Algie, one of many Footprint Makers featured on this blog. His book, Bizarre Thailand, is filled with things Henry Miller or anyone would find interesting.

Joe-D's-ToilettA toilette is a thing of necessity. Who could forget a personal favorite of mine in 2013, Gop’s interview with that prickly protagonist, Joe Dylan when he decided to go tubing at Koh Samui Health Resort and Spa after taking a slide on Zone ice after solving the White Flamingo caper down in Fun City? Quite a few of you, apparently. That’s why I am here, to remind you. The White Flamingo novel by James A. Newman has been charting regularly in the noir rankings at Amazon, no doubt due to Gop’s probing questions and the piles of publicity it created.

Soi Cowboy w Flamingo by Chris Coles

Two more of my favorite things in 2013, speaking of famous plastic birds.  This one is at the Check Inn 99 alongside the painting, Soi Cowboy by Chris Coles.

LITERATURE & MUSIC:

We’ve covered literature already this month with my list of favorite fiction and non-fiction for 2013. A revue of musical venues will be done in April. So I now turn to the first annual Thailand Footprint Makers of the Year Award. To the persons who have promoted literature and the arts of Thailand above and beyond the call of duty for the betterment of anyone with a dram of common sense and sense of appreciation. Drum roll please …

FOOTPRINT MAKERS OF THE YEAR FOR 2013 at Thailand Footprint

Let me tell you what these two men share in common, before I discuss them individually. Neither of them could have predicted 15 years ago what they are doing today. They get up most every day and get to work. They also have time for fun. They both love Bangkok and do not get back to their home countries that often. They both capture moments at every opportunity. They appreciate what the other one does. They have the same first name. They are Check Inn 99 owner, Chris Catto-Smith and artist and author of Navigating the Bangkok Noir, Chris Coles.

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2013 Footprint Maker of the Year – Chris Catto-Smith

Just some of the highlights for the former Royal Air Force jet fighter-pilot from Australia, Chris Catto-Smith in 2013: hosting Night of Noir; bringing The Rocky Horror Show to Bangkok; The Blues Brothers Show featuring Keith Nolan and company; Casablanca Night; Dean Barrett China Night and of course, Music of the Heart Band pretty much 7 nights a week. If you’ve never been to Check Inn 99 when you get to Bangkok, go. If you’ve been, you know. He could not do it without his wife, Mook who runs the show while raising their two children. Two full time jobs, done well.

Chris Coles

2013 Footprint Maker of the Year , Chris Coles (Photo Credit  Aroon Thaewchaturat)

American, Chris Coles is a former Ivy League guy, a former Hollywood big budget movie production manager. He has now been making a documentary on the Bangkok Night for over a decade one painting at a time. Author of Navigating the Bangkok Noir, Chris has spoken at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Bangkok, had art gallery showings in several different countries and can always be counted on to give an entertaining presentation highlighted by his own art and commentary. Chris is as comfortable in front of a camera as he is in front of a canvas. Google some of his YouTube interviews. You will be entertained. Chris Coles expressionist art works are impressive in volume and content. More impressive to me is that I have seen Chris Coles be encouraging to people in the arts time and again and to me personally.

His Soi Cowboy painting at Check Inn 99 is already iconic. Chris Catto-Smith received a big bucks offer for it and to his credit refused to sell it. It’s hard to imagine the place without it now. Like the plastic flamingos they all found a perfect home. Likewise, I cannot think of two better Footprint Makers to be singled out in 2013 at Thailand Footprint. Thank-you, gentlemen. Your gift certificates for a foot massage and dinner at Hemingway’s restaurant await you. Congratulations.

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Thanks for reading Thailand Footprint in 2013. May 2014 be the beginning of a beautiful year for everyone. With no civil war in Thailand, for everyone’s sake.

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The Marriage Tree … A Vincent Calvino Novel … by Christopher G. Moore – Book Review

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Reading good crime fiction is like listening to good music. Some novels are like putting on an album. Others are the whole concert going experience for the true fan, which includes anticipation. Once there, you get: the musicians on stage; the loud speakers; the big screen; the characters in the crowd; the lyrics and the music. The songs include old favorites and new tunes that take time to appreciate. Reading, The Marriage Tree, (Heaven Lake Press 2014) a Vincent Calvino crime novel by Christopher G. Moore, #14 in the series, falls into the concert going category.

The Marriage Tree comes one year after the 13th in the series, Missing in Rangoon, which left Moore, if not Calvino, at the top of his game. I was pleased to learn The Marriage Tree begins with longtime fictional Bangkok private detective, Vincent Calvino haunted by a series of deaths that took place in Rangoon and Bangkok. Vincent is hurting as we have never seen him before. This is not the Calvino in SPIRIT HOUSE when he was left bleeding by a knife wielding katoey and a gun toting, lottery ticket seller. Nor the one in COLD HIT when Vincent got cold-cocked and wound up with a broken nose while delivering a birthday card. Or the many other times the pro problem solver has been shot at, punched at or threatened. This time the tough guys beating up on Vinny are the very ones his longtime friend, Royal Thai Police Colonel Pratt routinely diverted him from. Pratt is still Calvino’s friend but no longer his protector. And Calvino is beating himself up too. Just two reasons you know straight away, The Marriage Tree is different from any previous Calvino novel.

Despite his difficulties, Calvino stumbles upon a new murder to solve with ties to dangerous old foes. They lead to an underworld network of human slavery, corruption and abuse. The scene about the destruction of a Rohingya refugee camp near the Myanmar border is vivid in its description and inhumanity. Moore is a risk taker. It is one of many qualities I like about his writing. Christopher G. Moore has his critics. The more adamant ones might cite the Rohingya history lessons in the middle of the novel as unnecessarily long and not essential to a fictional crime story. I disagree. The benefits of reading Moore’s writing are varied and diverse. He gives the reader a murder mystery that is top notch. But Moore also provides a good story within a good story. And that story is on the front pages of the newspapers at times, even if some important people would like it buried forever, like so many bodies at sea. That’s harder to do than it sounds. Moore moves those dual stories forward with colorful settings, characters you care about and plot points difficult to guess correctly. Woven into the mix are Moore’s observations about humanity, power, corruption, illusions, culture, technology, wealth, the spirit world, rituals, privacy, individuality, relationships and the upside of being a farang in Thailand as well as the downside of being a Rohingya refugee caught in no man’s land. It’s all there, streaming on demand in The Marriage Tree.

One of the more interesting characters is Calvino’s love interest, a brilliant mathematician who made a fortune in the algorithm information gathering age, Dr. Marley Solberg. She helps Calvino in more ways than one all the way up to the believable, well written and satisfying ending. Longtime readers of the series will also enjoy the return to prominence of Calvino’s crude talking, hard drinking and chain smoking buddy, McPhail. The Marriage Tree stands up perfectly well as a stand-alone murder/mystery, mystical/thriller, but those who read Missing in Rangoon first will benefit. The Marriage Tree is a top tier crime novel set in a top tier city, Bangkok, to be enjoyed by crime fiction readers everywhere.

Christopher G. Moore is an accomplished novelist. If you like staying at home in your cozy chair, listening to your music on low, he may not be the read for you. If you don’t mind a live venue with the sound a bit loud, compound but satisfying with a slight risk you may get a drink spilled on you, then he may well join your list of favorite crime novelists for good, if he is not already among them.

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Mr. Moore is appearing in Chiang Mai on Saturday, December 28th, 2013 at Suriwong Book Center on Sridonchai Road, where he will be available to sign copies of The Marriage Tree from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Phone: 053 281 052 for more details. Paperbacks of The Marriage Tree are available now throughout Thailand. Ebooks will be available in January 2014.

This review ran previously at Chiang Mai City News and can  be read there by clicking the banner below:

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10 of the Greatest Essays on Writing Ever Written

By on December 17, 2013

Henry Miller, Robert Frost, Kurt Vonnegut and Susan Sontag are four reasons to Reblog this WordPress post by FlavorWire …

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Burmese Light the video by Hans Kemp … promoting the book Burmese Light by Hans Kemp and Tom Vater …

 

I rarely include videos at Thailand Footprint and the conventional wisdom is one should not include a lot of videos on a blog. But this is not a conventional video; it is an opportunity so conventional wisdom needs to go out the window. This is a wonderful three minute documentary filmed in a country that doesn’t get filmed a lot – Burma. Hans Kemp is an internationally acclaimed Dutch photographer and has traveled over South East Asia for close to thirty years. Together with German screen writer and novelist, Tom Vater they have collaborated on a photographing journey through Burma, also known as Myanmar. The book can be purchased or ordered at better book shops around the globe and of course online as well. I hope you enjoy the images captured in the 180 second video. I did.

Thanks to Hans Kemp for permission to post and for providing the code which enabled direct embedding to this blog. Permission should be sought from Hans Kemp to re-post elsewhere.

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Paris 1928 – Nexus II by Henry Miller … What if Henry had called an Audible to Siam?

paris-1928A few people have wondered why Henry Miller is included in this blog? A few others have been complimentary that he is. The reasons are numerous. Henry and I do have a few things in common. Both of us were born in America; both took to a beautiful place along California’s coastline at some point and both have been expats of sorts in foreign lands. Henry to France and European travels and me to Thailand and South East Asian travels. Fantasy leagues are popular in sports, although I never got into them. They could just as easily be applied to literature. What if Rocky Marciano had fought Cassius Clay? Fun for some. What if Henry Miller had come to Thailand? Fun to think about or not?

The truth of the matter is, in this literary fantasy, I think I would have blown Henry off, had I ever crossed paths with him. I think it is highly likely I would have created distance with myself and him ASAP. Whether the fantasy occurred in 1931 or 2013. My bad. It gets back to practicing, forgetting yourself. It is harder than it sounds. But it is worth practicing. The rewards do pay off.

I’ve just completed listening to, not reading, PARIS 1928 – NEXUS II by Henry Miller an abandoned writing project of his, which was only recently published in English in 2012. I’m really glad I listened to it, as one of my first choices on Audible.com, an Amazon company. I’m equally glad I did not read it. It is more for the Miller historians or Miller buffs. I’m more of a student or a fan. I’ve never found Miller’s stream of consciousness writing style particularly easy, for me, to read. Hence, I have not read a lot of Miller. I find the author and what he said about living and how he lived his life more interesting than his books. But that may change as I do plan to listen to more of his books on Audible.com in the future.

In Paris 1928, Miller recounts the events of sailing into Paris on a steamer ship with his second wife, Mona. His recollections of Paris at that time are vivid, along with the characters, cafes, conversations, literature, authors, money consciousness, food and wine along the way. I don’t like everything I have learned about Miller in the past year nor do I feel it is necessary to like everything about him. But I did like him a lot in Paris 1928. Little things like how he asks a friend not to use the word nigger when speaking about a black American living in Paris who had helped them when money became tight as they waited for an American Express transfer; I found that refreshing considering the time and place. Miller is not a passive guy. He’s an active guy. I like that. At one point he laments the need to find a male companion willing to explore the streets of Paris on foot or bicycle, not merely sit on one’s butt in a cafe and talk the day away, like so many.

At another point a Parisian friend suggests to Miller and his wife that perhaps they should consider other countries to live and visit, besides France and Siam is suggested. “I bet you never considered Siam?” the friend asks Miller and his wife.

What would Miller’s life have been like had he gone to Siam or Thailand in 1939 instead of returning to the USA or the air-conditioned nightmare as Miller famously referred to America in his book of the same name, published in 1945, six years after his return?

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We’ll never know, of course, just as we’ll never know how Marciano would have fared against Clay, but it is fun to think about. In Paris 1928 we certainly get glimpses into Miller’s thinking and psyche and I enjoyed what he revealed. He saves his risque, erotica for the last two chapters, recounting a flash back episode that takes place in New York’s Central Park and leads to a 36 hour sexual romp with not one but two wholesome neighborhood women, despite being flat broke. It seems every young man’s fantasy of the 1960s summer of love actually took place for Henry in the summer of 1928. Good for him. You’d think that might be cause to stick around Brooklyn. But the next day, a cablegram is received from Mona and Henry is soon on a steamer ship headed to Paris.

I enjoyed my first Audible.com listening experience and think Henry Miller is one of a few authors that I will be listening to, rather than reading, more of in the future. Progress, I think.

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Henry Miller –  The Paris Years 1931

 

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