And there was me thinking I wasn’t going to get any presents. How wrong I was. From my Mum I received GBP50 and from my Gran GBP60. But it didn’t stop there.

What every boy wants: A diary with a padlock.

And this: A pencil with an aeroplane on top.

It was my lucky year.

Techno’ tags: No Presents This Christmas

I can’t believe it. It’s one of those moments when someone great dies and you’re not sure how to react. I didn’t know him, I only saw him once (at Glastonbury), and I can’t say I was obsessed with him, but it’s so sad when something like this happens. In spite of all his problems, all his arrests, all his misdemeanors, he was a fantastic performer and he made a number of seminal soul classics. I don’t like the word “classics” as such, but in this case it fits aptly.

He was still on stage into his seventies. He epitomised the word “performer”. What a tragic loss.

Techno’ tags: James Brown Dies

As much as I hate Abba, I think they were right when they sang those five words. This doesn't mean I'd ever listen to the song intentionally, but it's reassuring to know that if I ever feel alone I can at least look to Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha, and Frida for solace.

I woke up at noon and remembered it was Christmas Day. I think it’s been even more anti-climatic than last year. I spent Christmas Eve at Café De Moc. The party was OK and it was good to see a few faces. I wasn’t particularly in the mood for a party for one reason or another, but it was great to have a few drinks and take my mind of things.

After the party I went to Astra. Barry Ashworth from the Dub Pistols was DJing and I wanted to check it out because I had already taken unpaid leave for today. To put it lightly, Barry was really, really drunk. When I got there he was so drunk that he wasn’t even DJing, and when he did finally get on the decks he stopped the record dead, waited a few minutes, and then started it again. His mixing was awful, but it was pretty funny seeing him try and DJ. After massacring the end of his set he jumped on a speaker and started rapping, or something… it sounded like rapping anyway. He was completely off his face.

I saw a friend there at the end who had been there all night and he told me it had actually been a really good party. More one for the comedy than the DJ skills, but fun nonetheless. I guess you had to be there. You’d think that coming all the way to Bangkok, a DJ might make an effort to stay at least half sober.

I really have no idea what to do today. I didn’t make any plans to have Christmas dinner or anything, but I might go somewhere and read a book or something. I ought to e-mail my mum too.

What better way to celebrate Christmas in Bangkok than by luring young children to Central World Plaza and surprising them with a series of Christmas terrors? The real spirit of Christmas comes to life when you scare all the children in the city to death.

“Welcome to Christmas town. Enjoy it… or I’ll eat you.”

This gigantic gingerbread man will kill again. You can see it in his eyes.

But wait… there’s more.

Read the rest of this entry »