#2973, Sunday, December 18, 2022: Getting some rhythm in Chiang Mai

Post 2973

- 12 years and 353 days since I started this blog -

December 16, 2022, having coffee in my garden-spot coffee nook at UN-Irish Cafe.

Journal

(written Dec 18, 2022)

Read this once (it won't change for the rest of the trip(s): I'll be linking this post to Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: About 12 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical situation and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for food shots when I've eaten something interesting or pretty. And that's where we find ourselves now.

The first guitarists I played with in Chiang Mai were Boy, owner, host, and house guitarist at Boy Blues Bar, and Oliver Benjamin, author, humorist, founder of Dudism, also a regular guitarist at Boy's.

Boy Blues Bar was ground zero for my music-making in Chiang Mai. I met almost all my Chiang Mai friends there, or was introduced by someone I met there. I am sorry to report that Boy is very ill, and those Monday night jams are... on hiatus.

But this trip, my very first chance to play was again with Ollie. Our friendship has transcended Chiang Mai, we keep up with each other on FB.

I mention this because I know Ollie will read it, and I have to make up for not mentioning him (by name) in the last post, in which I only referred to him as "another friend" (who) "texted  me to come play bass at a favorite hangout." Only a good friend does that, and I publicly apologize for the slight, Ollie. 

We got a chance to play together for a good long time at that same place the other night. It was the most playing I've gotten to do this trip. 

Here I am at C. U. Corner, a favorite hangout of mine, playing with Ollie, who is not in this picture (which I didn't take). That's John on lap-cajon. It's always fun to play with Ollie - I've probably played more with him than any other guitarist in my travels. Also: He's a good friend, a good hang and one of the most interesting people I know. I mean, the guy founded a religion!

I am enjoying the neighborhood I am staying in this trip. It has a lot going on, and is the neighborhood I spent most of my time in on my previous visits, when it was a cab ride away.

Of course, every neighborhood has its assortment of wots (Buddhist temples).

These two wots are less than fifty yards from my guest house.

The musicians I've been hanging with are really making a big impression on me. It seems like in the almost-three years since I was last here, everyone has upped their game. Musicians I played with back then seem markedly better now than they were. No exceptions.

The musicians I thought were good to very good are now great. My friend Oo is one of the best drummers I know of. And he can do it on a full kit, a three-piece cocktail set (the typical set up in clubs), or a single snare drum. He is so good, no matter what he's playing, you never think about how he's doing it. If you're me, you just marvel at his talent.

He's a busy working musician, and also my best friend Dave's best friend, so I've been seeing a lot of him, having meals together and in the audience, as well as occasionally getting a chance to play next to him, which is a joy. 

He and Dave are in a trio led by Delta blues guitarist Willie Salomon, The Legendary Taco Bells. Dave came up with the name. This group is so awesome, I called my friend Frank back in NY to try and get him to hear what was going on. Didn't work very well. Too bad. I might have better luck making a video next time. I've already seen them twice, and will be seeing them at least once more this week. 

Willie Salomon (left), David Williams (center) and Chatmatee Ketsuvan (aka Oo - right), are The Legendary Taco Bells. Yes, I'm a fanboy.

I got to play a few numbers with Ollie and Oo at the Legendary Taco Bells' pre-concert jam. Dave's imitation Mustang short-scale bass looks child-like on me, but plays and sounds just fine.

Yesterday I had my Steinberger bass's gig bag repaired. The extraordinarily good job was accomplished on what appears to be a mid-20th Century treadle-powered sewing machine. The poor tailor doing the work had apparently smashed her thumb and was complaining and demonstrating (I speak no Thai) how she hammered it and how painful it was. Still, she did an extraordinary job, at a cost of about $3.50, including tip for excellent service (under duress).

It feels like I'm finally getting my rhythm in Chiang Mai, pun intentional. When I travel, I often feel that adjusting means just that: getting into a comfortable daily rhythm. I don't have a plan when I get to a place. There may be some things I want to do (usually involving restaurants or music), but they aren't scheduled. I rarely include touristy items on my to-do list (although some are inevitable. I am a tourist, not an expat or businessman).

Getting comfortable just living in a place is my goal for every place I visit. I am lucky and grateful for that luck to be able to do these things. The only reason I can is that I am independent and fairly self-contained. With no dependents, no partners, I only take my self-interest into account when I decide what to do and when to do it. 

I've been traveling internationally for more than fifty-three years. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've had a traveling partner for any long trip. I'm good alone, always have been - for better or worse. 

Yet, I don't seek solitude, ever (I don't have to, it finds me enough of the time). And, although I might travel alone, I don't stay alone. I make friends. And I have the best friends. 

Food Comment

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, and mixed fruit with muesli and yogurt, beautifully presented at Chiang Mai Breakfast World.

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