Tuesday
Corona news often seems weird, as this snippet from an article at newsmax.com attests: “A study to be released next month found that ivermectin, an inexpensive drug used to treat head lice, could be a potentially effective tool in the COVID-19 battle… Patients who received it had a mortality rate of 15% compared to 25% who did not.” (Edited by yours truly)
Snippet from an article at foxnews.com: “The Trump administration on Tuesday announced that the number of miles of wall at the southern border had topped 450, a key election promise set by President Trump — with a top official saying that about 350 miles more is already funded.” Will it be completed or abandoned?
I stumbled into a mystery that is significantly different than most of the genre. Bangkok Haunts by John Burdette is the story of detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep tracking the makers of a snuff film that stars a woman with whom he had a mad ten-day affair. It has an unconventional resolution. Ghosts and reincarnation have as much to do with it as sex. The author portrays Thailand as an advanced society in these regards, tolerant of what many in the west would deem extremes. As for its policing, it is portrayed as highly corrupt, justice bought and sold. The narrative also contains deeper, non-professional psychoanalysis than most mysteries. The novel is as much about the dark side of human nature as about the specific crime. At one point a female FBI agent asks the protagonist, whose mother was a prostitute and now runs a bar/brothel, about the difference between him and her, baffled as to why she feels dirty and he seems pure. “We don’t have original sin,” he replies. In a conversation with a lawyer who has proclivities, he states: “… in the future when we’re all androgenous again…” And in a later conversation with the man: “What is it about Asians that makes us feel apologetic toward the west, as if we knew in our heart of hearts the catastrophe toward which it is headed?” I wonder if this is what the author believes. There are at least two instances that cite the dire consequences of manmade global warming. Perhaps Burdett thinks the west’s example is responsible for the world’s two biggest polluters, China and India. Whatever. The story is compelling despite the condescending attitude toward America. As a proud Yank, I begrudge the points. But let’s not forget how popular porn has become in the USA, although it can be argued that many who indulge do so secretly, as I do basically. Anyway, the author has eleven books listed at Amazon. His dad was a London cop. Burdett is a former lawyer who practiced in Hong Kong. He lives part time in Thailand. The novel in question, published in 2007, is the third in a series of six. The writing is adequate. The 290 pages of the hardcover edition seem like a lot less given the chapter and part breaks. My main quibble is that many paragraphs contain two points of view. 176 users at Amazon have rated Bangkok Haunts, forging to a consensus of 4.4 on a scale of five.
RIP Jerry Marsden, 78, frontman for the British invasion group Gerry and the Pacemakers, the second band out of Liverpool managed by Brian Epstein. They appeared on Ed Sullivan and Shindig back in the day. Although their UK chart history is superior to its American, they had two hits that still receive a lot of airplay on oldies streams: Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying, which hit #4 in the USA on the Billboard Hot 100, and Ferry Cross the Mersey, which reached #6. Their first three singles, How Do You Do It?, I Like It and You’ll Never Walk Alone were all #1 on the other side of the pond. Their fourth, I’m the One, hit #2. The group broke up in 1966. Marsden began working in TV. He did 41 episodes of The Sooty Show, which was geared to children and ran from ‘68-’76. There are five other titles under his name as Actor at IMDb. He also did a little stage work. My favorite of the band’s canon is Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying, which Marsden wrote. It’s a great song to play on guitar, as it includes a major seventh and seventh among the standard chords. Well done, sir. Thank you.
I had to retreat to the car to warm up a number of times during today’s session of the floating book shop, as there was little sunshine. My thanks to the two women who combined to buy four works in Russian, and to Gary, who donated nine kids books and a huge anatomy-physiology textbook.
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