AWOL 2014 Issue 300 19th September | Page 17

Advertise here from only 40 baht per week to hull and back Mags Meanderings: From Som Tam To Mushy Peas getting a tiger by the tail Last week was one of those when nothing much happened. Nothing much happens quite often at this time of year, a bit like Bintabaht on a wet Monday night. There was of course a bit of world wide media rumpus over a woman who got pregnant. And the first sign of Christmas decorations in the shops over here. (Fortunately you HuaHinians will have to wait until at least the end of next month for your tinsel and baubles, although there was a glorious time not so long ago when the dreaded C word didn’t arrive in Hua Hin until the beginning of December.) We also had a bit of a stir when the owner of Hull City FC, Dr Allam, declared that the club is up for sale. Reported by some as having spat out his dummy, the announcement came following the FA’s rejection of Allams’ request for the clubs’ name to be changed back in April. At the time hard core supporters vehemently opposed the idea. Now of course they are begging Allam not to sell and praising him for the millions which he has invested in their club. But there are always two sides to a story, and there happens to be an ongoing feud between Hull Citys’ owner, who is after all trying to run a business, and the Hull equivalent of a Tessabahn over development of the Stadium site, which cannot be ignored as a major factor in Dr Allams’ decision. Still, the resulting press conference served as a mild diversion from the tedium of ripping my CD collection to a memory stick. (Don’t ask. It just seemed like a good idea at the time.) As some readers will know I have an ongoing battle with all things IT. It seems to develop at a much faster pace than any normal persons brain cells. Still - on reflection I probably cope with it quite well compared to many others of a certain age. Having abandoned the land line phone and mastered all that full wireless malarky, not to mention having no problem at all with the laptop mousepad, downloads, Googling, re-tuning the TV, and of course online shopping. Even predictive text has never been an issue. Cheap room for rent from just 350 baht 0915094729 Th/Eng 0805626735 Swe/Eng Soi 94 (1st left after 7-11) What does bug me - no pun intended - is how as consumers we are tempted to upgrade our various gadgets on an almost annual basis. And as queues for the latest iPhones show, many people do. Yes it is maybe handy to be able to carry your lifes’ essentials around with you at all times. The music collection, photos, downloads and apps. To have the means to Tweet, e mail, Google and text, take photographs and listen to Kasabian while comparing supermarket prices all with one small device, which can even be used to speak to people as well. But at risk of being labelled a dinosaur I’ll stick to the trusty old Nokia, digital camera and Walkman thank you very much. The thought of losing all that stuff in one go is not a happy one. The cost of the device needed to do it all on can be daunting. The very concept of built in obsolecense goes against the grain. But most importantly for us Silver Surfers, we struggle to see well enough to drive the damn things. And so to this weeks’ word. It was tempting to make it ‘saltire’ but by the time AWOL hits the sois that could be a bit contentious. Instead we have ‘chiaroscuro’. An overly tricky word to pronounce which simply describes the effect produced by the treatment of light and shade in drawings and paintings. As in ‘the chiaroscuro of cobbled streets.’ 17 Disclaimer All articles are published in good faith and based on information available to us at publication. Some articles are satire or ‘spoof’ stories intended as humour. No responsibility is accepted other than that stipulated by law. Although the information in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, AWOL cannot guarantee accuracy in all cases. Any opinions expressed are those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. All materials copyright. All rights reserved and no part of this Dream Guesthouse publication may be reproduced in part or in full without the previous written consent of the publisher. Neither can any part be stored in a retrieval situation, nor transmitted by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means. AWOL is printed by Petchpoom Printing, and we can be contacted on [email protected] or 081 614 8728. Please send any other communications to Mrs Chukamol James, Managing Director, AWOL Co. Ltd., 136/229 Emerald Hill, Soi 6, Mooban Borfai, Hua Hin, Prachuap Kiri Khan, 7110, THAILAND. Join the AWOL forum