Sawadee Khrap

Yesterday, Friday night 3/6/09, we went to our friend Jim’s Birthday Party

And we had a wonderful time.  Great folks there and really great food at “Billy’s” place.

see the  ——— Slideshow ——-

And if you looking for excellent Italian food in Chiang Mai – Billy’s is a must visit.

This coming Friday we will attend the gay night rooftop-bar party at St. Germain Rest.

I’m told   Mixed crowd: stylish, funky, artistic and gay

straights are also welcome — let you know how it turns out  – pictures I hope.

Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

Just got back from a short trip to Bhubing Palace – just up the next mountain Doi Buak Ha, next to Doi Suthep.  About 20 Km from our house. 

This is the Royal family’s winter residence while they are in Chiang Mai. First built in 1961 and then enlarged to present size, it has homes for State visitors and each of the Royals.

Nu went to get some footage  (video) so he could use it for backgrounds and to use as a learning tool.  I got some good shots that I can turn into some great title and other backgrounds.  I love this shot of a gold sign with a great reflection – so I just put it here – the rest are shots of flowers – the palace is in full bloom now.

Please enjoy the

 ——– SlideShow ——-

Each year since I have been here I have made trips to the palace and have a good collection of shots – I will try to make a slide show or video using photos from each time and show what the place looks like – maybe a video walk through. 

 The “Celestial Waters” reservoir has a magnificent water fountain display – especially at night – I’ll try to get this done soon but I can make no promisses – after all I am retired –

Here’s the brochure they give for your visit – we did a walk

Need to explain this, Today we went to shoot the “Fancy Condom Contest” at the Shopping Center – A Pride Event – but could not find it – walked throughout the Center  – no where to be found.  The Information desk says it’s being held on the 5th floor, the announcement says the 3rd floor – we didn’t find it on any floor.  Bummer !!!

So we headed out and settled for a massage ;  Damn there goes our budget.

Afterwards, we went to a great small restaurant at Huay Tung Tao Reservoir – a local lake – for a quick dinner and relaxing time

before we went to the Payap University Campus close to our house

for a Musical Concert by the students.  “Jazz in the Park”    Every Sunday they have a performance (for practice in front of a live audience) – wonderful — and free, what could be better?

Check out the       —— SlideShow ——-

That’s Nu with the video camera and friends Jim, Paul and “O” in front of him.  Paul and O run a local Dining Out Group which we will also join in the near future – but that’s another post.

First we listened to “A.J’s Jazz Group – wow – very, very good – (sounded like when I used to go to

Sawadee Khrap

Yesterday, Friday 16th, we went to the afternoon kickoff announcement show for Pride 2009 at Tawan Trendy Mall.   Here are some shots of the affair.

—— KickOff Slideshow ——-

     Group scene first then the main organizers:

Bruce from Long Yang Club, several from M+ and Bird (see later in post) were the kickoff speakers – sorry I didn’t get everyone’s names. Then a question and answer forum was opened – but as usual there is always a spoil sport in the crowd – this time as several reps from “the city” – not really sure who they were, but They were concerned about nudity in the parade – ???  apparently they had heard about other Pride events around the world and wanted to make sure Thai culture was observed and that does not allow nudity in public.  Thank God for critics – Heaven only knows what would happen if we were allowed to lead ourselves - typical politicians.

The next shot is Nu and his friend – former Teacher – Nickie – (LadyBoy) – she invited him to be with her on the float in the parade and it appears he will – so I should have a lot of shots on parade day – backstage as well.

And I mentioned

Sawadee Khrap

On Friday, a school holiday, we went to see and take pictures at Doi Pui.   Doi Pui is right behind Doi Suthep and has the Queen’s palace and flower gardens – and about 3Km past is a public campground. There is also several Tribal villages but that we will leave for another post.  

 If you can read in Thai here is the that version too.    Looks like a great place to camp – they have tents you can rent and a eating facility with a small restaurant.  There are a lot of great orchids and other flowers in the main campgrounds.

---- VIEW SIDESHOW ----

We didn’t have time to visit a Tribal village nor to stop by the Queen’s Palace this time but we are planning another trip soon and will have many pictures – there is a GREAT flower garden there. Maybe next weekend.

On Saturday, 10th, we went to the Expats meeting to hear a presentation by the hiking club – great photos and very entertaining.  We are planning on joining the group to go on some walks – hopefully better photographic material – no cars, motor bikes or people to scare away the animals, so we are really looking forward to

Sawadee Khrap

Just found a new Sideshow template – TiltViewer by The Turning Gate – it’s a add-on for Adobe Lightroom and really makes neat sideshows.  I grabbed several images and just put them into a test gallery.

*** Sideshow ***

Check it out – sorry I didn’t take a lot of time setting up the Titles and Descriptions for each shot – I just wanted to see what the finished show would look like on the blog.  Look for other gallery templates in the future – it’s great to have plug-ins for Lightroom.  If you use Adobe Lightroom try these out, this is using the free version but the pay-fro Pro version is even better.

Sawadee Khrap

Friday night we went to see “A History of Piano Music” by Jonas Dept and Laurent Chiarelly at the AUA Auditorium in Chiang Mai.

Laurent narrated the history and Jonas performed selections from 1732 to 1937.

Here is the program:

and    *** SLIDESHOW ***

What a great evening of music – afterwards we went with Jonas & Laurent and their extended family to “The Writers Club and Wine Bar” up the street for late conservations and drinks.

Jonas and Laurent are planning on many more future presentations at different locations around Chiang Mai and we will definitely go and gather more pictures for the blog.  Great entertainment – make sure to catch these shows when you visit Chiang Mai.  I’ll try to post their calendar of up-comming events.

Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

Saturday night, 28th, we had the pleasure of going to “The Gate Theater Group’s” presentation of “The Gin Game” at the Kad Suan Kaew Shopping Center – Kad Studio Theater.  We were invited by the Matchett’s to video tape the show and make a DVD for them.

“The Gate Theater Group is a not-for-profit volunteer network established for the purpose of bringing the performing arts to Chiang Mai.  Among their goals are the  development and recruitment of local talent, the encouragement of young people’s interest in theater arts, and above all the delivery of an enjoyable theatrical experience to our audiences”

Here is the program sheet:

We missed the previous presentation “The Dodo Bird” because we were out of town, glad we made this one – very, very well done.  Superb sets, acting and of course the play itself.  What a neat little theater and I didn’t even know it was there.  Not sure what a Dodo Bird is?

We took about 1.5 hours of tape and produced a DVD for them – We also took many photos – or I should say Nu took a bunch – I did the video this time.   Tried out several new procedures in making the cover and DVD itself and really pleased with the outcome, here’s what the DVD looked like:

And here are some of the images:

    *** SLIDESHOW ***

I’ll post