Book Review: The Righteous Men, Sam Bourne September 27, 2007
Posted by Martin in : Book Reviews , add a comment
I tend to treat comparisons with "The Da Vinci Code" as a red flag when reading book reviews but I'm trying to clear out all the books people have left me.
The reviews on the back come from such credible sources as the "Sunday Express" and the book has a "Richard and Judy Recommends" sticker on the front. Regrettably I decided to give the book a chance nonetheless.
The plot starts off ok, it's pretty simplistic, no big words, no clever analogies and it's a pleasant and relaxing read. It follows a journalist who investigates a few murders, has his wife kidnapped and then enters the world of Hassidic Jews in New York in an attempt at rescuing her. All the crime is related to a reasoning within the bible that becomes apparent towards the end.
The riddles are a little dull and, unlike the Da Vinci Code, I didn't feel obligated to give them any more than a fleeting read.
The secret hidden within the bible was a huge letdown. It turned the book into a farce and once this wonderful secret was revealed, the book just plummeted.
To me a good book is one where I feel disappointed when I finish it. With The Righteous Men though it came as a relief.
My rating 3/10
A Pain in the Asset September 24, 2007
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentIt's been a long journey securing a mortgage in Thailand but we've had 2 offers now and all being well we'll get a good offer from another bank this week. Our mistake was putting all our faith in just one bank and letting them dictate their terms to us.
The Thai credit system is probably no more screwy than any other country but as I've got no experience to compare it with it's been a frustrating few months.
- We got rejected for a mortgage from one bank because Tik's credit card spending exceeded her quoted income. It was irrelevant that often she put her business expenses on the card and was reimbursed in cash, nor that she paid off my card and hers in full every month.
- We were made an offer by one bank of 1/2 the mortgage value, on the concession that if we paid of Tik's car loan (300,000 baht) we'd be offered a further 2,000,000 baht mortgage.
- My income wasn't of interest to one bank, the others merely verified it with a short email to my business partners in America.
That said, it looks like things are now moving. We had a busy few days applying to every other bank and now we've been made some offers we are now in the nice position of being able to play one lender off against the other.
We were expecting to move in September 1st however it'll probably be mid-November for us to have the letters signed, the money paid and the refurbishments made.
We're both quite excited about having a place of our own and Tik's awake until late mentally rearranging the layout.
I’ve Just Started Yoga September 24, 2007
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a comment
I've not been so concerned about it but I've certainly noticed this last month that I've lost a lot of flexibility since I stopped Aikido last year.
We had a lazy weekend and yesterday Tik and I decided to get back to playing squash again. I remember mentioning to Tik mid-game that I think i really should take up Yoga to improve my health and to perhaps help me to sleep in a more regular pattern (the last few weeks I've been sleeping past 5am!).
After squash and some mexican food we went for a 2 hour massage at our regular spa. Just across the road was a really modern-looking Thai bookshop. I'm a fan of stores like this and went for a quick look. Aside from Language courses, the 8 storey shop had no English language material so we weren't there too long. As Tik went to pay for her books, I spied a joint CD and DVD yoga course for 500 baht. It was one of the only things in the sotre that came in English. On the back it explained especially that it included daily stretching routines (no big suprose there) and exercises to do at night.
I gave it a try this morning, and, although I've got a long way to go before I feel comfortable with it, I'm motivated to give it a try to see how it affects me.
Why Do Noisy Farts Not Smell? September 24, 2007
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentAgreed, this might not be the best article to re-launch the blog but if you've got an inquisitive brain then you probably will appreciate some facts that I hunted down a few weeks ago from Facts on Farts by Brenna Lorenz.
Most fart gas comes from swallowed air and consists largely of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, the oxygen having been absorbed by the time it reaches the anal opening. These gases are odorless, although they often pick up other (and more odiferous) components on the way through the bowel. They emerge from the anus in fairly large bubbles at body temperature. A person can often achieve a good sound with these voluminous farts, but they are commonly (but not always!) mundane with respect to odor, and don't feel particularly warm.
Another major source of fart gas is bacterial action. Bacterial fermentation and digestion processes produce heat as a byproduct as well as various pungent gases. The resulting bubbles of gas tend to be small, hot, and concentrated with stinky bacterial metabolic products. These emerge as the notorious, warm, SBD (Silent-But-Deadly), often in amounts too small to produce a good sound, but excelling in stench.
Visit Facts on Farts to read more facts that you'll be proud to know.
500 Photos Online … 5,000 to go! September 22, 2007
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a comment
Wow, we've got way more photo's than we though! I've finally tagged and edited most of them and I've begun uploading them all to Flickr right now. In a few days when I'm a bit more familiar with everything I'll link to my Flickr page and you'll be able to see them all.