The first few weeks of November are the last few weeks of rainy season here in Khrungthep, the weather cools and the monsoon rains come one storm after another. It is pleasant to see the end of this season as it is followed by three or four months of relatively cool weather.
Meeting Markus for lunch the other day at Central Chidlom department store, another storm arrived, stranding everyone indoors. The mid-day traffic, usually very heavy around here, was notably absent.
A montage of monsoon scenes with some nice music.
After the rains ended, I noticed this billboard atop the Metropolitan Electric Authority building, next to the Chidlom BTS Skytrain station.
The message: “Dedicated every minute for the good life of every person.” I’ve never seen MEA employees look so happy.
christao408 
The rain looked so soothing although I’m sure I would feel differently if I was walking in the sidewalk. I remember our teacher in Grade 8 teaching us Kennedy’s inaugural address. I wonder if there will be a resurgence in civic pride and duty.
First – lovely montage and the music couldn’t have been more appropriate. Second – I’m so relieved that McCain lost. For the first time since 1964 Indiana was a blue state. Glad the campaigning is over , now it is time to go to work. Lastly – I’m old and I believe everyone should be able to marry and receive the benefits that marriage affords – taxes, health care and pensions/social security.. I don’t think it is a factor of age as much as stunted moral conscience. Maybe prop8 will be overturned by a court and marriage will become a universal right sooner rather than later. At least I hope so.
“The majority doesn’t have a vested interest in giving (or preserving) the rights of minorities.” Truer words were never spoken. I agree 20 months is too long it should be much shorter. I’m glad Obama won. I must admit I was kind of surprised. Ohio went Blue for the first time in many years. I didn’t expect it too. http://www.change.gov looks interesting. “When you choose to serve — whether it’s your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood — you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That’s why it’s called the American dream.”The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
I loved the song choice for the video.Chris, despite the fact that Prop 8 passed- I would love to see you both go ahead with you marriage plans when you visit California.
I agree with Val above. I felt so bad for you, because I know how much you and Tawn wanted to get married in California.
I didn’t think I could miss Monsoon so much. Your video made me so homesick…. and the song was so hauntingly beautiful.
Ah, so relaxing to hear the background music while watching the rain…I suppose it blanks out the thunder as well!! Regarding Prop.8, just about a few hours ago, there was this massive crowd (against Prop.8) marching down Santa Monica Blvd where that Mormon Church is located (remember? That’s across from the Century City Shopping Mall), causing road closures.
That’s not how true Christians feel.”God desires none to be destroyed but desires all to attain to everlasting life.”That’s how we all should feel about everyone.
The picture at the top looks very cool and gentle. It almost makes want to live in a city. Almost.I am so happy that we chose Obama, but I am very disappointed with all of the states that passed laws or amendments prohibiting gay marriage. I’m almost certain that the gay marriage issues is going to end up in the US Supreme Court; I hope the justices make the right decision.
Yep too bad for prop 8…Happy the election’s over too although now some interesting stuff’s surfacing if you know what I mean hehe…
Sorry about CA. What about other states…or Canada?
Great photo montage!
Here in AZ we had a similar proposition pass. I voted against it, of course, but sadly my state is a wee too red. I keep fighting the good fight, and eventually, others will listen.
Tyrannies of the majority are repugnant to me.
for the prop 8….what a pity!!
You wrote the representation of prop 8 was “disingenuous.” Hmmm… interesting how you represented the teachings of Jesus. What did the pot call the kettle?
Yeah, I would be all for limiting the election season. It seems to get longer and longer each cycle!
I’m sorry about Prop 8. I dont live in CA, but I was rooting for you.
@ElusiveWords – Well, we can certainly hope that there is an increased civic spirit. That’s something I think is very much needed.
@templestream – Actually, not at all a case of the pot calling the kettle black, and here’s why: Anyone who knows me – or even someone who has read my blog for the long run – would recognize that my representation of the teachings of Jesus (and their “supporters”) was sarcasm. It was not a reflection of reality nor was it presented as being representative of all Christians.
The proponents of proposition 8 used factually untrue statements – “schools will be forced to teach gay marriage”, “churches will be forced to perform gay weddings” – as scare tactics, knowing full well the emotional weight they would carry. That is disingenuous.
While you may not know me well enough to recognize the difference between my sarcasm and my sincerety, please know that from my own personal experience, the people pictured decidedly do not represent the teachings of Jesus Christ.
@murisopsis – Very good point and I certainly don’t want to paint various age groups with too broad a brush. There were plenty of young people out in Southern California waving their “Yes on 8” signs.
@Sapphire_Rain – Thanks for the direction to http://www.change.gov. I went and checked it out and was impressed. Is this a sign of how well the new administration will communicate with the people? I hope so…
@Dezinerdreams – Well, sadly, we cannot get married in California now since prop 8 passed. We could do a “civil union” but separate is not equal. We could go to the states of Connecticut of Massachusetts, but California is where we lived and is home to us. So, no marriage this December I’m afraid.
@curry69curry – I heard about that protest. As frustrated as no on 8 people are, they need to keep a lid on the violence.
@reallifedemo – You’re right, and I hope that my sarcasm was recognized in my choice of pictures and statements about those people being disciples of Christ. Certainly, it was not meant literally.
@moptoplop – Which is why Obama’s victory is all the more important: an opportunity to keep the court relatively balanced.
@Shahrazad1973 – Yeah, it is a matter of just hanging in there. The time will come when we look back and wonder what all the fuss was about.
@ZSA_MD – @bookwormchic09 – @agmhkg – Thanks for the kind words. We’ll keep fighting on.
@christao408 – I understand. It just gets me that some people are actually like that… -_-
@LostSock21 – We have considered it. I lived for about 34 of my years in California and that’s where Tawn and I lived together in the US. It is home to us, and being able to get married there in particular means a lot. We’ll continue to look at CT or MA (or even Canada) as an option, but the timing for our December trip probably won’t allow for a side trip just to get married. Maybe next year.
@christao408 – I was actually talking more about ceremony rather than the legal aspects, but am sure you must have already had one before?
“Please know that from my own personal experience, the people pictured decidedly do not represent the teachings of Jesus Christ.” So, as I understand your perspective, if you use sarcasm then misrepresentation is ok. Personally, I disagree. Because you know the people “decidedly do not represent the teachings of Jesus Christ” and you choose to use them anyway as your primary example of Christianity, it is de-facto disingenuous. You desire to paint prop 8 and homosexuality in a good light and Christianity in a bad light but where is the representation of true, real Christianity from your “own personal experience?” I must have missed it somewhere between the sarcasm.
“The proponents of proposition 8 used factually untrue statements – “schools will be forced to teach gay marriage”…The fact is that gay teachers have already been teaching gay marriage in public schools all based on the legalization of gay marriage, see link: (http://www.massresistance.org/docs/issues/king_and_king/book.html) This is known as “precedence.” It is not at all untrue to say schools will eventually be forced to teach gay marriage. This is how precedence and the legal system of the US works and has always worked. Each step of change is built upon previous legalised steps of change.
@Dezinerdreams – Correct, we did a commit ceremony in front of my family in September 04, a few weeks before Tawn moved back to Thailand. I joined him 14 months later.
@templestream – Don’t think you understand my perspective, but I’m not going to go around in circles with you. Regards.
@christao408 – You are quite right. But being candid has it’s own kind of virtue nonetheless. Gays I have known who have been candid with me have always 100% of the time attributed their lifestyle not to a genetic make-up but rather to very unique circumstances. One friend was molested in the woods by a male relative. Another was exposed to pornography and fondled by an older boy at a very young age. The latter admitted to me that he knew his lifestyle was wrong even though he continued to defend it. I believe his bitterness towards his father and his unforgiveness has allowed this stronghold to remain in his mind and soul. When there are wounds and deep bitterness at young ages, sex with any gender won’t ultimately heal the wounds. This is a rhelm that only God can work in. I hope you realize this before it’s too late. Regards.
@templestream – Well, no doubt those candid gays have made up a very representative cross-section of the population and their responses probably accurately reflect the root causes of homosexuality. (That’s my sarcasm there, in case you didn’t recognize it.) I grew up unmolested, unexposed to pornography, in an All-American nuclear family with midwestern parents who are still active in the church and brought me there every Sunday and usually a few other days in the week. I’m being candid with you here: I was born gay.
with the elections, i too think that itgoes on much too long and also involves too much money.
i like some things about the british system, that there isonly about a month between the announcement of an election and the vote. also, there are no boughtpolitical ads/infomercials, each party gets 5 minutes each before certain bbc broadcasts.
on the whole though, i don’t think that systemwould fly in america.
x
@christao408 –
Have you really done genuine soul searching? From our exchanges on 11/08/08 it seems we have different perceptions of what genuineness and candor mean: “Candor: 1. The state or quality of being frank, open, and sincere in speech or expression; candidness: The candor of the speech impressed the audience.2. freedom from bias; fairness; impartiality: to consider an issue with candor.” To really consider such an issue objectively, not just in a knee jerk of self defense, takes time and personal honesty. True root causes are buried deeply. True exploration is resisted to avoid pain. You don’t know me and I doubt you would actually reveal any kind of vulnerable secrets on the internet. My friends opened up their hearts to me only after there was some water under the bridge. When a person basis their whole identity on homosexuality, there is a strong self defense mechanism. My friend confessed he knew root causes, he believed his behavior was wrong, and yet he was unwilling to accept these truths because of his fear of losing his identity. And so he lives in denial adamantly defending his lifestyle all with an underlying sense of insecurity. The sense of insecurity is a giveaway. No other person today has such a strong need for validation and affirmation as the homosexual. If there was true peace and contentment in the lifestyle, there simply wouldn’t be this desperate need. Compare this with the testimonies of real Christians who were willing to be martyred for their faith through all history (http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html ) and you will find the opposite is true, incredible peace and love in the face of opposition, persecution and even torture.
@templestream – My sexual orientation is hardly my entire identity. It is just one part of who I am. But I demand equal rights nonetheless.
@christao408 –
I wasn’t referring to legal validation but rather personal validation. Feelings of shame or insecurity are to be “overcome” by this process as one gay website explained. The Bible rather shows the conscience as a good indicator of right and wrong, not something to be overcome. However, there is a point when the conscience becomes hardened to the point where it no longer serves its purpose.
“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1Ti 4:2
This process, as relates to homosexuality, is described in Romans in the first chapter:
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”
(Rom 1.21-28)