PB#18 Tale of Six Cities

This blog entry gives a quick glimpse of my last four months, including visits to Rangoon, New York, DC, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Kalamazoo. It’s been a busy but, in many ways, wonderful period. The protests in Rangoon have resulted in a brutal crackdown, but I’m still hopeful that some line has been crossed and a genuine transition away from military rule will soon be underway. I had a charmed week in New York, including a little romance and a settling into the next stage of my career as I prepare to work with my new gig. (I will still be based in Chiang Mai but will be in New York more often.) Then I got to see friends in DC and am now in Indianapolis for an extended stint. As I write this, I’ve just returned from a quick road trip with my brother Mark to Chicago and southern Michigan to see friends and family. I’m wrapping up some work that has lingered from earlier this year and getting a head start on some of the work that will start in January, but I’m also getting in some time with family and with friends whom it seems I never have enough time with.

Here are the pics ...

RANGOON















Burma hit the news in September, with dramatic images of maroon-robed monks winding their way through the streets of Rangoon to protest the screwy policies of the ruling junta. I was able to go to Rangoon and I witnessed the last day of major protests by the monks. This photo catches a demonstration I walked alongside for five hours. The mood was euphoric, despite the very real possibility of a crackdown by the military.















After five hours, the monks gathered together to chant at one of the temples. The authorities had locked the gates, but one of the Buddha statues was visible from the street. The night after this photo was taken, soldiers raided monasteries and detained over a thousand monks.















The next day I was watching CNN in my hotel room and knew a crackdown was underway. There had been rumors that the Internet and satellite TV was getting cut off, but nothing had happened in my hotel yet. Suddenly, the screen on my TV split and this “parental lock” image came up, just as news from an exile news source was reporting a story on the detention of the monks. As the menu started scrolling, I suspected that someone who had access to the cable master control was cutting off our access, so I called the hotel front desk in a fit demanding that my cable access not be interrupted. They claimed to not know anything about it. About five minutes later the screen went back to normal, and the “parental lock” screen didn’t return the rest of the time. The next day, a colleague came by and I told him what happened. He looked at my remote control and laughed. He has the same system at home and frequently the “parental lock” screen comes up because the button for it is right next to the volume button and it is very easy to enter that mode, then inexplicably difficult to get out of. So we suspect that someone in the hotel’s tv control room was simply trying to turn up the volume.

NEW YORK
I arrived in New York in early October, and promptly went out with Gab and James to their local pub. The waitress realized I was in town from abroad and wanted to give me a little welcome to the city, so she performed her spoken-word jam from the Nuyorican Poets Café - a raunchy ode to New York that she wrote after returning the city after living in the Midwest for a year. That got me off to a good start and I spent the week falling in love with the city, much more than I had on any previous visits.




















I did some work-related events, hung out with friends and found a little romance on the dance floor. I think it was my Janet Jackson moves.















Four o'clock AM in the B to the R, the O, the OK ... LYN is the place where I stay, baybee.



















The best tip jar ever.

WASHINGTON, DC















And the best tip ever … or at least a very good one: I charmed my way into the hearts of my 3- and 1-year old hosts in DC with … (count all the appealing aspects of this with me) … (1) chocolate chip cookies (2) covered in icing (3) and chocolate sprinkles (4) and M&M’s, (5) in the shape of a bunny rabbit. Thanks, Katy!















Laura’s thinking, “ah, sugar before bed. Thanks Uncle Patrick.” Kyle’s thinking Patch is the best visitor ever.

INDIANAPOLIS
















I got to Indianapolis in time for Halloween. Marching behind that little devil is a fantastic Dorothy costume.















Kim, Beth, and I practiced the Thai celebrity pose.















I took a trip to Bloomington, and on the way to Brown County I came across this “Dance with Billy” sign, which is right up there with the sign for my favorite neighborhood bar in Houston: “Jimmy’s: Just Beer.”

CHICAGO
















My brother Mark and I went up to Chicago to see our brother, Bob. The three of us went out for cocktails – I had the chocolate martini.

KALAMAZOO
















From there we went to Kalamazoo, where my sister Lauralee and I tore it up with some Cajun two-step.

Some middle-aged, sweaty, dead-head, balding guy, who’s been known to be kicked away from the stage for bringing his chicken-man dance moves too close to the band, was also tearing it up. I tried to do an imitation of him, but slammed my elbow on the wall so ended up with this spot-on version of Jai Rodriguez’ head-whack move instead.