Thai of the Week: Jadd

Full Name : Saijai "Jadd" Chaiyasate
Occupation: Producer (Television Program)
Family members: 5
Favorite Food: Phad Thai, Yellow curry
Favorite Sport or Team: Dancing, swimming, walking
Favorite TV Show or Movie: Kids Only (CH 11), One Cubed(UBC 20), CSI, “Out of Africa” and “Legend of the Fall” "Chronicles of Narnia"
Favorite Book or Magazine: Books about travel (cause I haven't gone anywhere yet), home decor magazines how to books
Favorite Band or Song: Latin music and classical music
What do you like to do in your free time?: Read, see movies
What do you like most about Chiang Mai or Thailand?:
Coffee places (Chiang Mai), Beaches South of Thailand
What would you like to know about America?: I would like to know a nice place to visit that's not too expensive.

Just like Tony Dorsett..

I'm 33.

BONO-factor

At the risk of sounding political, I'm gonna jump into a little propaganda.

I have to give props to Bono.
I mean, who else is doing what he is doing?
The guy leads one of the best and most known rock bands in the world. After a slump in the 90s, U2 is as good as they ever were.
Oh, and he also gets more done in the world (specifically Africa) than "W" or Kofi. His organization DATA is trying to fight AIDS, poverty and many of the ills of Africa. He has now rallied several major corporations to join in the cause. (Heck, he even color-coordinated his sunglasses for the occasion).
I know Bono has said some not so great stuff, but let's face it, who really deserves the mic... Bono or Kayne West? At least Bono actually knows who Jesus Christ is, instead of just dressing up.

Sure, he's not perfect, but I do appreciate his leadership in trying to help millions of people.

Thai of the Week: Aoy

Name: Mayuree "Aoy" Tesintachote
Occupation: Business Services Manager's Assistant
Religion: Buddhist
Family Members: 4, husband and 2 sons, Ray and Guy (see picture)
Favorite Food: Tom Yum Talae (spicy seafood soup)
Favorite Band: Bird Thongchai, Elton John
Favorite TV Show/Movie: Song Roa Niran, Notting Hill
Favorite Book: Any book about cooking
What do you like to do in your free time? Cooking, shopping, reading and doing things with my family, like a picnic
Favorite thing about Chiang Mai or Thailand: Songkran festival because it is a long holiday and because family members get together and spend time with each other
What would you like to know about America? Why do American people like to come to Chiang Mai or Thailand?

Ultimate!

Making the grab, flashing the knees

Eddie reels one in.
This was my pain all day long, trying to cover a guy that was at least 6 inches taller than me. Of course, my 8" vertical didn't help much either.
Sen and Emily. Sen is really fast and chases everything down.

Feel free to join us Saturday at 4pm at Payap University.

(By the way, if you want to know why I'm sporting the knee-high-Reemas, you can check out this post from November.)

Great Day!

Worship this morning at church was so amazing today!

We were singing a song and this was the chorus:
"So I sing Holy, Amazing
Glorious Almighty God
Grace reaches down
Spills all around
I can't believe it, as you call my name"

It really spoke to me as I recalled a Sunday about 5 1/2 years ago in Greenville when I reluctantly let go of a chair in front of me and went to the altar and prayed to Jesus. He called my name that day. God spoke to my heart in a way that I had never heard Him before. By grace He reached down to me that day. Jesus drenched me in grace, so much so that it did spill all around me. And that is why I will sing about God's Holiness and how utterly amazing and glorious Our Almighty God truly is.
I still fight with Him. I struggle in disobedience everyday, but by His grace and mercy and the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is working in me and through me. He is making me into what I am called to be- what He created me to be.
I can't believe how faithful my Heavenly Father has been to me. There is none like Him!

If you don't know Jesus- know Him personally and intimately, I beg you, take the time to do so. I promise it will be the best thing to ever happen to you.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good." ~Psalm 34:8

In theaters now...

The End of the Spear

I recently saw a documentary about the true story that this film is about; it was pretty incredible. 5 men and their families moved to the Ecudorian jungle to be missionaries. They kept hearing about this tribe that was very violent. In fact, anthropologist have recorded them as the most violent tribe ever. The men decided that they needed to try and make contact with the tribe and teach them about Jesus. After what looked like a promising start, the 5 men unknowingly got caught up in some family matters within the tribe. That meant one thing to the tribe... someone must get speared.
And that's only the beginning of the story.

I doubt it will make the theaters here, but I know it's an interesting true story and would probably be worth seeing. Also, I'd like to here you comments about the film.

Of course, you could go watch another stupid movie about vampires and werewolves... how original!

Thai of the Week: Jui

Name: Somporn "Jui" Moolsan
Occupation: TV Producer
Religion: Christianity
Family Members: 3 others (sister - Chantra, brothers - Arom and Boonlert)
Favorite Food: Pasta and Khaow Phad Kra Phao Gai (Basil leaf chicken and rice)
Favorite Bands: Jamie Cullum, Michael Bubble & all Christian bands
Favorite TV Shows: 1 cubed and Kids Only (the shows he works on)
Favorite Book or Magazine: Love novels and The People Mag
Favorite Sport: Basketball
What do you like to do in your free time? reading and writing (especially poetry)
Favorite thing about Chiang Mai or Thailand: The city and the people. You always feel at home in Chiang Mai- good air, nice blend between modern city and cultural village setting. And I love all the coffee shops in Chiang Mai.
American you would most like to meet: Julia Roberts
What would you like to know about America? How to make an American pie?

Pre-Wedding Congrats!

Special Congratulations and Blessings are in order for Jeremy and Crystal as they unite in holy matrimony this weekend. I met them last Spring in Virginia and they were so wonderful to welcome me into their circle of friends and church. I wish y'all the best (wherever the Lord takes you).

Sorry, I can be there in person, but I'm there in Spirit.

Jeremy, throw that garter as far as you can, cause Thailand is a long way away.

Special Thai of the Week: Garrin

Name: Garrin (or Ultraman)

Occupation: Full-time kid (but with a promising career in wrestling or muay Thai boxing)

Family: none known except the workers at the orphanage

This little guy was the highlight of my trip to Chiang Rai. We met at the orphanage where a friend of mine is working. He was wearing an Ultraman shirt, so I started talking to him about the superhero. He proceeded to fly into me like his hero and then karate chop me like I was a villain in a bad dragon suit.

Later we went to church. I saw Garrin tackling a little girl, so I went over and told him not to do that and if he wanted to play rough, he could play with me. So he proceeded to jump on me, tackle me, karate chop me and use me as a punching bag. I would pick him up and flip him, play dead and go along with him. He seemed to love beating me to a pulp. The ladies at the orphanage said he was the roughest kid there and he certainly lived up to that billing. But it was fun and we had a good time while waiting for church to start.

Once church started, I told him he had to be quiet and sit still; I lifted him into my lap and he sat there. I kept my arm around him to keep him from running off and causing a ruckus. He was really good; he just sat there and didn't say a word. I tried to get him to sing with me when the worship started, but he just sat quietly, looking around.

We also prayed together... kinda. I turned him toward me and put his little hands in my hands and I prayed for him. At first, he didn't like it, but then he put his hands back in mine.

I gave him 10 baht (about 25 cents) to put in the offering and he chased down the girl with the offering bag to give her the money. I was proud of him for obeying.

Once the sermon started, all the kids left to go to another room to do their lesson, so we parted ways. It was very cool being an "uncle".

Please pray for Garrin; he has HIV. The northern part of Thailand has a pretty bad AIDS/HIV problem. Garrin is one of the victims. Please pray for the staff that looks after Garrin and a dozen or so orphans that either have one of the diseases or lost their parents to one of the diseases.

Roughing it?

This is the bungalow resort we stayed at. It's called Naga Hill.

Here's my report card on it:
Atmosphere: A
Price: A (for the room)
Food: C (kind of expensive and nothing to shout about)
Bedroom: B (a little small, but nice)
Bathroom: A- (shower was great, had to flush with bucket)

This was my place: #6

My bed and mosquito net. Acutally they weren't bad and I didn't need it.

Resting on my bed looking out the screen door.

My outdoor shower. It was actually really nice and it had hot water.

To give you a bird's eye view of the bathroom; That's the shower head on the left. See the rocks that acted as the drain and the flora for atmosphere. And finally the toilet in the top right. (Dumb guy not included)

Weekend at Burmese

I made a trip up to Chiang Rai, Mae Sai and Myanmar last weekend to take care of some Visa issues and drop off a friend that moved to Chiang Rai. Here are some pics from the trip.

On the border

To the left is Myanmar, to the right Thailand.

City of the Golden Triangle (Opium capital of SE Asia)

A market in Myanmar

Burmese style tuk tuk.

My Final 25

I know you are all sad to see the football talk come to an end, but I guess it must, so here's my final Top 25:

1. Texas - the greatest team in the hworld (said like Celine Dion)
2. USC - formerly the greatest team in history (said like ESPN)
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State - wanted to put OSU higher than Penn St based on bowls, but PSU had better record and head-to-head victory
5. LSU - barely
6. West Virginia
7. Alabama
8. Virginia Tech
9. TCU
10. UGA -4 points from being #3. 8 points from being #2.
11. Notre Dame
12. Florida
13. Oregon
14. Wisconsin
15. UCLA
16. Auburn - crappy bowl performance dropped them farther in my mind
17. Miami
17. Boston College
17. Louisville
20. Texas Tech
21. Clemson
22. Oklahoma
23. Florida State - showed some moxy at the end, but never could maintain it during the season
24. Nebraska - I don't know if they're good or if Michigan was bad, but has some fluke wins
25. Toledo

Longhorns Win, USC Loses Game, ESPN Loses Credibility

Do you think Kirk Herbstreit and Mark May are waking up sore today?








Why?

Because they both had their heads so far up USC's butt, it had to hurt when Texas kicked USC's hind-ends!
While I usually enjoy ESPN and I do actually like Herbstreit's performance most of the time, I have to say it was good to see Texas win, just to feed the Bristol boys some crow. You see, ESPN was doing an online survey to see where the 2005 Trojans fit into history. Kirk and Mark were steady as a metronome: "No way ______ beats USC. They couldn't stop this offense. USC is the best team ever. No contest." And even if they did give the other teams props they would predict scores like USC 31-17 over ______. Unfortunately, online voters sided with the duo on every game as ESPN paired USC and 11 of the greatest teams of all-time. Only Miami's last championship team won. Oddly enough, according to ESPN, that Hurricane team was the 2nd best team, behind a Nebraska team led by Tommie Frazier.
Like many people, especially Longhorns, I thought it was a big slap in the face to start pitting the Trojans against legendary teams before they even beat Texas for the National Championship. Apparently, Vince Young and the Horns took note of it too and decided to take matters into their own hands.

While USC proved that they do have a great, star-studded offense, they were unable to stop the night's brightest star... Vince Young. He rushed 20 times for 200 yards and threw for another 267. He scored 3 TDs and made a mockery of this year's Heisman balloting. The Texas defense made some key stops, especially on 4th down; USC didn't. I guess defense is important. That's why Chris Fowler's statement was so profound, "I don't know if this 2005 team is better than the 2004 USC team. It had a better defense."

Congrats to the Texas Longhorns!

(Do they get to have their own poll to see where they fit into college football history? Tomorrow, we finish the season with my final top 25.)

Thai of the Week: Jiap

Name: Thitima "Jiap" Srisupamat (Jiap means "chick", like a baby chicken)
Occupation: Secretary
Religion: Buddhism
Family Members: Mother and sister
Favorite Food: Phad Si Ew (wide noodle stir fry) and all spicy foods
Favorite Band: Silly Fools
Favorite Movie: My Sassy Girl (Korean)
Favorite Book: Judge Judy's book and comics
What do you like to do in your free time? Watch movies, read books, wash my car, sleep
Favorite thing about Chiang Mai or Thailand: Songkran festival
American you would most like to meet: Condoleezza Rice, Judge Judy, Brad Pitt
What would you like to know about America? Why is it called "America"? What is the origin of the name?

How Not to Win a Bowl Game

1. Fumble 3 times
2. Allow the other team to score TDs after 2 of your turnovers.
3. Spot the other team a 28-0 lead.
4. Come out flat on defense and don't block on offense.
5. Allow the other teams running back to set a bowl record for rushing yards.
6. Fail to stop a fake punt on a key 4th and 6 play.

I don't want to take anything away from West Virginia; I think they are a great team and were underrated much of the year. They have a great offense that is tailored to their talent and they came out ready to play and win. The played much better and deserved to win.
I am disappointed that UGA showed they had the ability to win, but made to many costly mistakes.

Mountaineers 38-35 over the Dogs.


At least Bama won (13-10) and ND (34-20) lost. Serious props to the Tide's defense for shutting down an explosive offense.

Speaking Truth

Football fans and fans of logic should read this article.

And then comment.