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there was supposed to be a hotel in the building when it first opened a few years ago, but those plans got put on hold. Not the greatest time to be opening a hotel, but I guess by the end of the year somebody might be able to stay in it

As far as anyone knows he died without a will or next of kin. If he didn't want the site to continue on when he was gone he certainly could have made a will stipulating that. I have no reason to disbelieve that those who saved the data when they say that they were his friends for decades. Certainly it's a lesson for everyone to make sure they have an estate plan in place. For most people it's a pretty simple process. You can even do it for free with a site like freewill.com if you are in the USA.

I don't know about a hotel. I believe he's been living in Myanmar for several years https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/sean-turnell-aung-san-suu-kyi-myanmar-charged-official-secrets/100046216

The site is now back. They managed to copy the whole thing to a new server. You may need to update your bookmarks https://www.m4m-forum.org/threads/read-me-message-forum-moved-to-new-server.164510/

could be any number of issues. I did read a thread there that some old friends of his were trying to get control of the website but I think it's a complicated process.

OK. I just finished ep 3. The main character is a total brat, but it's funny and almost sickeningly adorable.

There are lots and lots of expats in Thailand channels on YT. I recently came across this channel by this nellie but apparently straight British guy who picked a terrible time to try and tour the country by motorscooter. He's been in the far south lately which has been interesting. For those of us missing Thailand it's fun to see the country and his videos are pretty good quality. He also has a couple of good videos on real estate in Chiang Mai.

I wish that were true. It's going to take a year or more for people to get the vaccine in much of the world. Look at how difficult Thailand is finding it to get the vaccine and get it distributed. Even Japan has only vaccinated 1% of their population. Australia struggling to get the vaccine out. Mainland Europe not doing great at this point either

I Told Sunset About You part 2 will be called I Promised You the Moon and will debut on May 27 https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/04/19/21/new-title-poster-of-thai-series-i-told-sunset-about-you-part-2-revealed

album photoshoot

At this point there doesn't seem to be any easy answer. The US can't stay there forever. The GLBT community and women are treated very badly in many places around the world. Groups like Rainbow Railroad offer some hope and help for getting GLBT people out of those countries, but it's difficult work that is expensive with a huge backlog of people seeking help.

this looks adorable and I am only as far as the opening credits

do you not have the option of stopping your mail at the post office? at my condo the boxes are small, but once they jam it full they just collect it in the mailroom or at the front desk of my building. Having a 24 hour staffed front desk is one of the nice things about my building

Good for you. If you don't have a financial planner I might recommend getting one who specializes in the kind of retirement you're contemplating to help you navigate the issues.

here's a behind the scenes video. The English subtitles in CC work

I recently read "The Hidden History of Burma" by Thant Myint-U who is the grandson of former UN Sec Gen U Thant. It really gives a lot of great background of what happened from the time of British colonization to the present. And the author has spent quite a lot of time in the country the last several years running an NGO and advising some government ministers in the original post dictatorship (ish) government. The current state of affairs is so sad and hopeless. The current military dictator doesn't seem to have had much of a plan or any goals beyond ousting ASSK and the NLD. And certainly they were surprised by the strong rejection on the part of everyday people to what they're doing. It's on it's way to becoming a failed state. I wonder what they're really trying to accomplish. People expecting ASEAN to do something constructive seem to have forgotten that much of the alliance is run by military strongmen and dictators who aren't going to do anything lest their own situations get a brighter spotlight.

are you not familiar with k-pop?

yeah, I hear ya. I've been doing a little research since I am fascinated by their "concept". Apparently this group ranges in age from 21-30 - so they're a bit more mature than a lot of these groups. And they've been around for a couple of years. They've been positioned from the start as mysterious and artsy. And I've read that they have a lot of input into the choreo and music. I did read an article that has some quotes that they were surprised by the backlash and pearl clutching in reaction to the video and their TV appearances. I watched a behind the scenes of the video filming and it looks like it was miserably cold for most of it. Some of them seem to have been more into the whole thing than the others but I suppose that's to be expected. Given how many of these groups there are, they have to find some sort of hook to differentiate themselves. It's interesting that there is a cottage industry of "reaction videos" on YT where people film themselves reacting to music videos. There are a lot of reaction videos to this. I agree that the whole k-pop machine is generally terrible, but I think that's been slowly changing after all of the high profile suicides. SK has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.

Got the J&J/Jansen one shot vaccine this morning. Very well organized vaccination center operated by my county. Really feeling the effects now 14 hours later. Body aches, slight fever, fatigue. I see that as a good sign.

pretty much every guy in the Korean music industry wears makeup. This group has been making the rounds of all the k-pop weekly TV shows. On the Mnet show they did the same choreography as in the video which surprised a lot of people. They were on KBS Music Bank today and changed the choreo slightly so the guy on his knees doesn't run his hand down the standing guy's crotch but puts it on his thigh instead. I'm guessing the network required that. SK society is still quite conservative.

I've not heard of this boyband before called OnlyOneOf. Their new song and video is creating a little buzz. I don't know if this is just good "fan service" or something else.

I recently started watching The Thaiger on YT. It's English language news and info about Thailand. They do a daily newscast that is 10-15 minutes. It's run by an Australian guy and the other main reporter is a young guy who appears to be part Thai/part farang. It's fun to see news from over there on a regular basis. They also have their own news website. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfyWB_cTvCBWau8mFcMnJkQ

it means I want to get there before the PRC does

Getting my vaccination at the end of this week. A lot will depend on travel rules. I am guessing masks will still be required on flights for a long time. Frankly flying 24-ish hours with a mask on doesn't sound like much fun to me. I'm guessing next year at the earliest for me for get to Asia. I'll probably go back to Taiwan first before China invades (hopefully).