I think Bill Bryson may have written about this town in "Neither Here nor There," a lovely book, even if it turns out that I am completely making up the fact that he wrote about the town in this post.

Like I said, I try to avoid politics and will continue to do so.

That being said, I think this one was pretty tame. I would think that even Mitt himself might appreciate the humor behind this one.

I've been to Bangkok almost every year since 1988. It is amazing how quickly and robustly the city recovered from the economic downturn that produced these "ghost towers."

Also of great interest are the hundreds of various developments that were started outside of Bangkok across the country in rural locations. Most of them have been almost entirely swallowed up and "disappeared" by the humid concrete-destroying climate and the aggressive, super-healthy vegetation.

If you're interested in Thailand, I invite you to check out some of my Thailand photos on Flickr:

http://flickr.com/photos/astanhope/collections/72157601927205189/

and my daughter's:

http://flickr.com/photos/taksapon/sets/72157600837301090/

Really beautiful! I love them!

I wonder if the RV is armored against IED attacks.

Grinnell?

Why do they still play The Carpenters at dentists' offices?

Come on, Dodgyd!

Don't you get the joke? Mortein is a pesticide. The rats are eating pesticide as their last supper. HA HA HA

It's for moving hot coals. The end of it holds the coals securely and covered. The round piece of metal on the handle is a shield to keep the radiant heat away from your hands.

Great post, Misc!

I have been to a number of these temples. Asia is so wonderful for this sort of thing.

I have a few that I'd add to the list:

Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong Island
Wat Pho, Bangkok
Wat U-Mon, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Panom Rung, Buriram, Thai/Cambodian border
Phyang and Spituk Monasteries, Ladakh, India

Hi, Miss C.

I am guilty of not being a CAREFUL READER.

Yes - I see NOW that the emoticon is what was being discussed, not the yellow smiley face in a circle.

I promise to be more careful in the future. hehe

;-)

Oh - they're great! They have a TON of videos... I can't really post most of them here because they are mostly very political and I don't want to upset too many of Neatorama's ignoramus Republican readers.

Here's where to find them on YouTube - more than 200 videos!

http://www.youtube.com/user/travisandjonathan

Enjoy.

Color me skeptical about this one.

I can't be the only person here who was a teen in the early 80s who can remember smilies being around prior to 1982.

Anyone?

He ruined that groovy mustache style for all men forever!