TotallyOz

When I first started hearing about this, I was excited. I thought perhaps some airline was going to take the gogo bars to a new mainstream level but, no, that is not the case. It is only a matter of time when all flights will start using WiFi to access the net on your flight over to Thailand. Some airlines use this now and I have friends that were able to use this from LAX to JFK recently and enjoyed it. Personally, I dread the day when airlines will offer Internet to all users. I love using it myself but I turn my volume off so not to disturb anyone. Can you imagine how many times you are in the airline excited about your trip to LOS and you hear someone's computer say "You've Got Mail" or the AIM sound. It will really be a hard job to keep the plane as peaceful as it once was IMHO. http://www.gogoinflight.com/

When overseas, I love to watch some American movies, tv shows, etc and listen to my music. I download quite a bit when I travel. I have always used Itunes as it is legal and the easiest way to download music I have found. The new version of Itunes has a Genius bar which has to be activated on your computer. It reads your music, sends it to Apple and makes lists based on similar songs. This morning when I went to the gym, I wanted to take my Ipod so I picked one upbeat song I like to run to and had my Genius Bar make a play list of 100 songs that are similar. I simply then hit Make New Playllst and it was done. I synced it with my Ipod and I was good to go. The results were great and as I didn't make the list myself it was nice to be surprised from one song to the next. Itunes 8 has some great new features but the Genius Bar is pretty damm enjoyable.

After much thought, I have decided that I think the next President will get the majority of electoral college votes but NOT the popular vote count.

Read this article yesterday and it had many interesting statistics. The one that stood out the most was sex workers making over 20,000 bath a month. I can see from my visits to the girl bars that average 2500 up for a short time how these numbers are pretty accurate and that is in Pattaya. I have heard even higher prices in Bangkok. I spoke to the BF and he said that most of his friends that work in the gay bars do NOT make that kind of money. What do you think the average for a guy is in this industry? Drug abuse, prostitution still the country's woes By The Nation Published on September 9, 2008 The country is suffering from widespread drug abuse and a rising number of young male prostitutes, the youngest being 13, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board's deputy secretary-general, Kittisak Sinthuwanich, said. These facts were revealed in the agency's second quarterly report, for which a focus group was monitored from April to June on five dimensions, namely the quality of human resources, health and social security, the behaviour and well-being of citizens, the sexual behaviour of young people and the environment. With regards to human resources, the report found that unemployment had dropped to 1.4 per cent both within and outside the agricultural sector. Employment in the handicrafts industry, however, had risen to 1.5 per cent due to a dwindling in the labour-intensive industry. In reference to health, the report showed that Thais needed to watch out for 11 types of infections and diseases. Also, according to data collected by the Public Health Ministry over the past decade, people aged between 15 and 24 were suffering from sexually transmitted diseases - a number that continues to rise. However, in terms of social security, people's lives and property were more secure though drug abuse was becoming a severe problem. He said, even prisoners had easy access to drugs. On the other hand, injuries and deaths caused by road accidents had reduced due to the strict enforcement of traffic law. However, people were still breaking speed limits. With regards to social behaviour and well being, the report showed that households were spending less on alcohol but more on cigarettes. However, alcoholism and consumption of cigarettes among young people was still on the rise. In addition, more and more teenagers were living together outside marriage. The report also found that there are 48,000 people working in the sex industry, including students, of which 44.4 per cent were aged between 13 and 16. About 60 per cent of the sex workers earned about Bt20,000 a month. With regards to the environment, the report said the quality of air in many areas had improved but people in Bangkok, Saraburi and Chiang Mai were still breathing in small particles. In addition, some areas in Bangkok had high levels of ozone gas, while almost every area in the capital was affected by noise pollution. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/09/09...al_30082906.php

The newly done Copa (formally Throb/Splash) is simply beautiful. The owners really are putting a great deal of money and effort into making this place a showcase for Boyztown and Pattaya. Hopefully, those of you visiting Pattaya will drop in and take a look at this place and support a great local group of guys! Keep up the great work Copa!

Stef is a yoga guy and I promised him I would try it with him as we are working on a survey of all the gyms in Pattaya. We went to California Wow a few days back and tried the Hot Yoga. It is done by a Master instructor from India. I have done Yoga a great deal in the USA but this was my first Hot Yoga class done in this style. The room is heated to 37 degrees Celsius. I think it is much hotter in USA. The place was packed and mostly with Thais. The Instructor spoke English and was very thorough. The class was a great deal of fun although it was a bit difficult for me and the boy specials I took with me. It was fun to watch Stef (who is even taller than I am grab his toe and life it over his head). I was able to touch my toe and that was a good enough start for me. California Wow has great group classes and Yoga is just one aspect of the place. There are several different kinds of yoga done daily and the yoga studio is beautiful. For anyone looking for a good workout, California Wow can give that to you and then a nice relaxing stretch with a yoga master.

Yesterday, a friend and I went to Bangkok to see the Mama Mia production as we had waited for it to come to Pattaya but still has not come to the little place by the sea. The movie was great and the performances were excellent IMHO. Having seen the Broadway musical at least 10 times and being a big fan of ABBA, I had to see the movie on big screen before I saw it on the DVD. We went to Siam and were told the theater was only VIP seats. They were 500 baht which we both thought was nuts but having driven from Pattaya to Bangkok to see it, we weren't going home without a show. We paid the money and walked into the place. HOLY SHIT! This place was amazing. The seats were the same telescopic electronic seats you get on a first class airplane and they recline all the way to lay down position. I was impressed. The seats came with a pillow and a very comfortable full size blanket. I have not experienced such a comfortable seating at a movie in any place I have ever been. It was simply delightful. For those of you who don't mind paying the price of a New York movie ticket in Thailand for a fantastic experience, give Siam Paragon a try!

Well, for me I like them average but: We are remaking the MER site and we want to know what screen size most of you want. It was suggested that we make it larger but any suggestions? This is the first step in the site design as the entire site will be based on this. Your advice and comments are appreciated.

I am not much of a stander. Do they have a private cabana available? Seriously, this is great. Broadway bares is an amazing night. I am glad LA is giving this a try! Is this the first year for it? Any more details?

Stef is back in Thailand for a visit. As always it is great to see him. He has charm and wit and a very sweet man! Welcome back Stef. You were missed greatly!

This ruling thrills me and I am sure that NY will become one of the states that gay marriage is allowed eventually. It is nice to see progress is being made on many fronts and that gays are slowly but gradually becoming accepted into mainstream America. Being a New Yorker, I am happy my friends can marry and have them recognized in the state. However, this marriage thing is NOT for me. Kudos to anyone who it is for.

I will say as a former madam in NYC, my biggest grossing week was the Republican Convention in Philly. These guys really do know how to PARTY!

I really must meet this boy!

My boyfriend is 23 and we have been together for 4 years. His mother is 40 and very beautiful. She recently finished a massage class and is doing legit massages in her hometown. She is not a sex worker. She is a mother and a grandmother. The owner of the school offered her a job in Czech Republic for would make her over 40k baht a month. She is going to do this for one year. She had to pay 30k baht for the plane ticket. The trip has been postponed 3 times. I have been unable to get any information on where she will work or stay in Czech. I am also worried that this is not a legit thing and if she goes she will be put into a position that will make her choices limited. The boyfriend and I have both tried to talk her out of this but she is confident she wants to go as she thinks she will save enough money to buy a home. I am extremely worried as I adore her and she is a good mother and grandmother. She looks about 20 btw. Has anyone heard of Thai ladies doing this? Anyone heard any horror stories on this? I have about 10 days before she is supposed to leave and I would like to get as much information as I possibly can. Thanks.

One of my boy specials went to see his friend in the hospital yesterday but she was released. He was pregnant and had a baby that was 2 months premature. The baby needed to stay in the hospital for at least 3 weeks to get strength. However, the family did not have the money so the mother and baby were sent home after a few days. The father is a boy that works in the Plaza. It is sad that a hospital would release a new baby that needs treatment and a dinner conversation focused on why they were sent home and they were all adamant that if no money, you cannot stay at hospital no matter what. Sad that this is the law here as it would seem in the best interest of the country for those that really need urgent medical care receive it.

I have a hell of a time with mosquitoes and they seem to love me. In order to get rid of them, I bought a few bug killer contraptions. I thought they might work but they didn't and were useless. I asked the boyfriend about them and he said, "well, the mosquito catcher is written in English and Thai mosquitoes have a hard time understanding they are supposed to go inside and die. Do you want me to put a Thai translation on it for you?" he said with a smile.

I saw this last night with the boyfriend and really enjoyed it. It is a great action movie and has lots of scenes from Bangkok we knew. The part Thai language spoken is also interesting and made it even more enjoyable. It is not an academy award winner but it is worth seeing!

It is rumored here that the Prime Minister will resign tomorrow and thus perhaps bring the conflict to a halt. Basically, the demonstrators were upset the Prime Minister was elected and they think that the people here are not smart enough to elect the right person and want a 70/30 split with 70 percent of Parliament being appointed (by who I can't figure out) and 30 percent elected. They think this will keep the poor uneducated folks from electing someone the elite of the country does not want elected. There is a saying here called TiT. That is Thailand and it is not to be understood. It just is.

Here in Thailand, the Internet sucks. It is slow and often has issues. They do offer a very fast Satellite service here but they limit the bandwidth and thus, I avoid it. My slow Internet cost me more than most of my friends spend on their apartment each month and it is not as fast as your Comcast. The world has a long way to go to catch up to USA and the USA has a log way to go to catch up to Europe and Japan.

Stef Lacoste converted me to Mac a few years back and have never strayed again. I love my Mac and I do like Safari. Try the new Firefox on your Mac. It took over my spot for number 1.

Rumours had it throughout the day that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was granted an audience with His Majesty the King to inform His Majesty of his intention to resign. The rumours said Samak had booked time slot of Radio Thailand at 7:30 am to announce his resignation. The Nation http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30082501

It is already out. I have been using it on my computer and like it so far. It is faster but HARD for me to get use to.

Daniel who has been getting more controversial roles said the dream role for him is a Drag Queen. Yummy. Has anyone been lucky enough to snag any of his Broadway tickets for the production of Equus? Do I smell a hint of gayness in him? http://www.usmagazine.com/news/daniel-radc...ay-a-drag-queen

I am just loving the new version of Firefox for the Mac. It is faster and easier and makes the web so much more enjoyable. With Googles new browser, things will heat up even more I am sure. How many IE guys do we still have out there?

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine. The Mountain View, California-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser's arrival. The free browser, called "Chrome," is supposed to be available for downloading Tuesday in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft's Windows operating system. Google said it's still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.'s Mac computer and the Linux operating system. Google's browser is expected to hit the market a week after Microsoft's unveiling of a test version of its latest browser update, Internet Explorer 8. The tweaks include more tools for Web surfers to cloak their on-line preferences, creating a shield that could make it more difficult for Google and other marketing networks to figure out which ads are most likely to appeal to which individuals. Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google's rivalry with Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer is used by about 75 percent of Web surfers. Google's lead in the lucrative Internet search market is nearly as commanding, with its engine processing nearly two-thirds of the Web's queries. For the past few years, Google has been trying to take advantage of its search engine's popularity to loosen Microsoft's grip on how most people interact with personal computers. The assault so far has been focused on a bundle of computer programs, including word processing and spreadsheet applications, that Google offers as an alternative to one of Microsoft's biggest money makers, its Office suite of products. Google has tried to make its alternatives more appealing and accessible by hosting them for free over Internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers, as Microsoft typically does. Meanwhile, Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing billions in the development of its own search engine and making an unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo Inc. for $47.5 billion. The tensions between Microsoft and Google now seem likely to escalate with Google's foray into Web browsing. Until now, Google had been trying to undermine Internet Explorer by supporting Firefox, a Web browser developed by the open-source Mozilla Foundation. Bolstered by an advertising partnership with Google's search engine, Firefox ranks as the second most popular browser, with a market share of more than 10 percent. Google recently extended its advertising alliance with Firefox through 2011. Bearing the stamp of Google's renowned brand, Chrome could be an even more formidable rival to Explorer. Still, Google's name is no guarantee of success. For instance, Google's instant messaging service has not come close to catching up to the market-leading products made by Yahoo, Microsoft and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL. In a blog post Monday, Google touted Chrome as a more sophisticated Web browser better suited for displaying the dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the Web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers. "The Web gets better with more options and innovation," Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, Google's engineering director, wrote in the posting. "Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the Web even better." Microsoft brushed aside the threat posed by Google in a statement Monday from Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer's general manager. "The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips ... and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data on-line," Hachamovitch said. Even as it has backed Firefox, Google has openly fretted about the possible ramifications of Microsoft's huge lead in Web browsing. Google is worried that Microsoft could abuse its power by manipulating Internet Explorer's default settings in a way that might diminish traffic to Google's search engine, which serves as the hub of the largest on-line ad network. In 2006, Google contacted the Justice Department to raise alarms about changes to Internet Explorer that Google believed made it more difficult to install search toolbars made by Microsoft's rivals. Although regulators decided not to intervene, Microsoft subsequently modified the way Explorer handled the selection of search toolbars. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/01/goo...r.ap/index.html