09:32 – It’s difficult not to dedicate this first paragraph and even this entire post to a man I’ve know my entire life. As many of us possibly feel this way I was surprised and surprised by my sadness at hearing the news of his departure. Upon reflection, as I heard last night on the dance floor I am even happy for him. It’s difficult not to imagine that life off Earth must be better for him; obviously a very rich and well known man he clearly never truly grew up and was in ill health for many years.
I remember so well receiving the Bad cassette as a gift from my mother. I listened to it continually as youths do with their favourite albums. It always surprised and pleased me how England never quite gave up on him in the way his birth country did. On many a dance floor in London many a popular DJ would not hesitate to do a rendition of Beat It or Thriller or any number of his hits always to the crowds enjoyment. In America I always felt there was more of a stigma after his unfortunate trials that perhaps confused and upset this boy/man more than anything. While, eating my breakfast and thinking about The King of Pop I fondly remembered a recent incident that struck me at the time but quickly passed from memory till now. Recently I lived and worked in New York as a Census Employee and at one point was dispatched to one of the many Brooklyn projects (Council Flats) where a white man like myself was not only a minority but unwelcome. Standing outside of one building counting doorbells, as I did for weeks on end, I heard from a first floor apartment the stereo blasting some classic MJ. I believe it was off the Thriller album but I can’t be certain. Upon hearing this I smiled as it pleased me to know that some people still appreciated this man that somehow touched so many of us so deeply.
To be completely honest it’s been years since I actively listened to Michael Jackson and if I had an internet connection I would most certainly be downloading and listening to one of those classic albums right now. I will leave this segment with some quotes that were reported in the New India Express:
“The world has lost an icon; he has given the world a treasure with his songs. I hope he finds the peace he deserves after so much suffering” Sofia Loren
“It’s clear that the criminals in this affair are the doctors who treated him throughout his career, who destroyed his face, who gave him medicine to ease his pain” Tarak Ben Ammar
“Just as there will never be another Fred Astaire or Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley there will never be anyone comparable to Michael Jackson” Steven Spielberg
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Last night we finally went out to discover Bubaneshwar nightlife! I managed to get a four hour nap in the afternoon which was not expected but it was so cool in our room with the fan running that I just couldn’t get myself out of bed! Today I can’t complain about the weather; despite my sitting here sweating its overcast out and the temperature has dropped considerable. It was decided in the afternoon when I picked up Jeanie that we would go out with her teacher and some other people around 20:00. For us this seemed slightly late as dinner would probably not proceed until an hour later and then going dancing, I can’t say we were all that excited, but knowing that it’s important to be social and meet new people we went along.
Our first stop after being picked up by two very nice Indian men was a Chinese restaurant connected with a hotel. I didn’t even want to look at the menu for fear of the prices but was ultimately forced to, however I refused to make any decisions on what we would eat and with the exception of Jeanie choosing Veg Spring Rolls we left the ordering up to the others. The food was very mediocre, certainly given the price, but somehow I expected little else. Maybe as far as Indian Chinese goes it was good, I really don’t know!
When the bill arrived we never saw it as one of the Indian men quickly grabbed it and paid which was very kind and unnecessary. I’d already managed to take my belt off, take 500 rupees from the inside lining and put my belt back on without anyone noticing, perhaps for this reason alone I wanted to spend some of my retrieved bills! Both men spoke good English and were massive. They clearly spent a good amount of time in the gym or caring very heavy objects for although they were skinny their arms were easily double the side of mine, and I weight in at 95kilo’s with 180 meters tall, so I’m not a small guy by most standards. (Perhaps I’m thin in America, and maybe an increasingly obese Thailand, but otherwise as they would say in India I’m healthy)!
Vientiane, Laos is not considered a great place to party yet after last night I believe it has more options than Bubaneshwar. Firstly we went to a hotel with a basement disco that was reserved for a birthday party; however they were willing to let us in if we kept to the bar. Jeanie, one of the Indian’s and myself stood in silent disbelief with our chests inadvertently pounding due to the loudness of the music only made greater due to the scarcity of people. Upon entry was a dance floor with lighting in the floor clearly visible as nobody was dancing. Once entering the room on the left was an elevated seating area, the DJ booth and to the right the bar; long enough that if seated at the other end one would not be able to see the dance floor at all. There were perhaps thirty people in the place, which could easily fit a hundred and fifty packed partying people. Of the clientele there were only three women, plus Jeanie. All of the women were with the “party” taking place on the raised area, two of them dressed identically awful in white stilettos, black trousers, a white top with a black leather vest covering only their shoulders and breasts. One got the feeling they were hired to attend but I wouldn’t want to make any presumptions on their character.
Eventually the others showed and didn’t make it past the doorway before summoning us to leave and try another place. Ten Downing Street was our next location, also in a hotel, but this time in THE hotel of Bubaneshwar. This bar/disco it seems brought the entire catalogue of Classic British Paraphernalia for an authentic style British Pub Feel. I will admit it was somehow nice, in the way those places always are to one who’s spent so much time in real pubs. This pub had a capacity for a few hundred yet there were at best twenty people mulling about. A pool table and two lane ten pin bowling also adored the pub, as so many of their English counterparts also encompasses!
We arrived at eleven unsure of when closing was. Four of us (Jeanie not included) headed to the dance floor and got in all of two dances before the music was turned off along with the air-conditioning. This is where I discovered of Michael Jacksons death. By midnight Jeanie and I were in bed not looking forward to yet another seven am wake-up call. It’s now a quarter past ten and time for some Mario Cart before my mile walk….
