This photo was taken at a local night club.   There are exactly 3 girls faces showing in this picture.  I have flirted with all 3 at one time or another in the past several years.   I think its very easy to become friends with the locals.  If you're friendly and polite and you treat them with respect, they will take you in like family (or they even make you family).

Is Dave The Rave the Replacement?

We'll we have been waiting for some signs from the Stickman (aka Paul Owen) about what direction he would take in regards to the naught night life weekly column.   Would he continue?  Or would he allow someone else to take over the challenge?

Stickman doesn't like to comment directly about anything on his own web site about these matters and of course that leaves us to analyze second hand comments and entertain our own speculations.

It wasn't until just a week or so ago that some indication of Stickman's direction may be coming apparent as one of my readers dropped me a note asking me to check out the MangoSquash site for an article pertaining to Stickman.

So, I moseyed over there, opened up the main page and started to scroll down....

... I see that MangoSquashDave, with his acute sense of shock journalism is yet again setting the high standard for web communication.

Of course the article is not about the visual queues that some of us have been joking about.   (imagine a Thai with very limit English skills seeing this page).

The article is about a manager of a go-go club at Nana Plaza who calls himself "Dave the Rave".   I believe this (can I say DTR for short?)... I believe this DTR guy has been working with Stickman on the weekly columns in the past.  Certainly, DTR had been receiving very gratuitous recommendations from Stickman in the weekly columns for some time.  

As a matter of fact, this single go-go bar was questioned by more of my readership than any other Stickman go-go recommendation.   I received comments about how people said that Stickman's recommendation of this place was over-rated.   So, I remember the "Angelwitch at Nana Plaza" name fairly well based on those comments.  Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying the place is bad.   What I am saying is that Stickman pumped it up to be something that a fair number of my readers did not agree with.   This may yet be another glaring example of what happens when you mix advertising money with commentary (or was Stickman getting comp bar fines from Anglewitch?) -- Anyhow, it doesn't matter.

The write up on MangoSquash is that DTR is going to take the place of the Stickman weekly column.   But, before I comment about that prospect, first let's examine a quote from MangoSquashDave.... 

The Stickman X-Files

Dave is proclaiming that the "Stickman Weekly" as a group effort was an "open secret".   "Open Secret"?  is that something like a "True Lie"?    I didn't know there was such a thing as an OPEN secret.    I had to Google that.   A definition is written up at Wikipedia stating, "An open secret is a concept or idea in government and military circles that is officially restricted in knowledge, but is actually widely known."  So, knowing that Stickman had a group of people helping him to produce the weekly column was like us knowing that alien space craft in the US might have been stored at Area51?

Some how I think MangoSquashDave got it wrong.   The truth is that Stickman (Paul Owen) had wanted to keep the group effort a "Closed Secret", but the I (Keith Summers) The Great Galt with my keen sense of BS, picked up on the ruse and made it an "Open Secret".     Do we get to reclassify this as a "Non-Secret" when Stickman openly confesses to his deeds?

Somehow, I don't think that Paul will ever utter a word of this on his own web site.

It also says here at MangoSquash that DTR has been ghost writing for Stickman, the Night Owl (Bernard Trink), Dean Barrett and Baron Bonk for almost a decade?

And yet, DTR has never really felt the need to step forward with his own column until now?  The timing seems a bit strange to me.   (by the way Stickman never gave DTR any credits for your contributions to his columns because -- well, you know it was an "open secret")

Rumour Has It

I enjoy the occasional Stick-ism.   Rumor has it that Paul Owen (aka Stickman) is not very happy about MangoSquashDave's Title "Dave the Rave fills Stickman's hole".    That wasn't very nice of him was it Paul?   Here, MangoSquashDave was just a few weeks ago helping you chastise me by publishing my name, phone number, and personal details, and open threats against my person, and today, he is writing innuendo about your posterior.

MangoSquashDave is kind of like that kid in junior high school who enjoyed sneaking up behind others, quickly reaching down, grabbing a hold of their underwear and giving it a quick yank.  They called that "getting a wedgy".   It's good for a laugh and it draw some attention, but in the end it's just a cheap joke.

BUT, Paul, you can't say anything about this, because you know that Dave might unleash negative comments about you.    And as you know full well, Dave likes to perpetuate slander.   MangoSquashDave has no limits to the falsehoods that he will publish in the effort to increase his readership.   You may end up with that "Feeling of Helplessness" again.

 

DTR Review

Ok, let's talk about Dave the Rave.   My knowledge of him is very limited so I'll keep this very short.   These are just my gut instincts on what we might be getting from his direction.

I've looked at all of his "Nite Fever" weekly columns, and somehow I doubt that Stickman would qualify them as a replacement.  They are a nice collection of quips and Nana Plaza news items.   There was also some difficulty distinguishing paid advertisement from genuine news items from around the Plaza.

Pros

Cons

 

Dave The Rave is Man of Humor

I had to laugh.   Dave wrote an article about tipping for gratuity.  Once of the first paragraphs was:

Dangers of Over Tipping

The value of a tip compared to US dollars is a 20 baht tip to a Thai is roughly the equivalent of $4.00 - $6.00 to someone living in the USA. It all depends how thrifty one is as how far they can make 20 baht go. Over tipping has caused the Thais to raise their prices thinking that they were pricing too low. There is already a significant double standard in prices in Thailand for Thais and non Thais. Over tipping simply causes that gap to widen. Tourist from Japan grossly over tip in bars and as a result the Thai entertainment venues and restaurants that cater to Japanese have compensated by raising some prices to be in line with Japanese incomes.

Yes, I guess is over-tipping thing can be pretty damn dangerous to those farangs that are here just hanging on by the skin of their teeth.  We don't want to price them out of a living in the land of smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

The Christmas Package Still has Wrapping on It

DTR was kind enough to offer up this picture on his Wednesday installment of -- What does he call it?   Bar Girl Fever?   Anyhow, I had a comment to make.

Dave: I know it is a little bit cold in the season for this girl, and perhaps you were in a rush, but Dave, please, before you take the next picture do you think you can yank the girl's tissues?  -- You know -- why build a cake if you are not going to put the icing on it?   Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cross-Back Scratching

I see that DTR is giving MangoSquash a generous link in his column.   So, is this how you make money in the web business?   Cross promotion?  Hum....   Dave, better be careful, the Google Adsense people don't like MangoSquashDave very well.  You might consider that his bad reputation might put your Google income as some risk.  Oh, what the hell, I'll give him a link too.

 

 

The Numbers for the Week

No surprises here.  We are coming up to the holidays and I think people are busy with other things.  Readership is down bit but still holding fairly well.  I remember my first several weeks, on many days I had only 100 visits each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a Snow Job in New York this Xmas Season

Did any of you hear that speech Tara Conner gave on camera about her being sorry about her New York party experiences?   First The Donald gave a nice heart worming speech about he believed in second chances and admitted that New York is a tough city to avoid getting caught up in the night life.

Tara got up and started crying -- and I have to admit I felt bad for her to start with but then the dumb broad wouldn't shut up.  She went on and on about how Trump had a great heart and how she more beneficial now to reach out to others now because she had suffered this little bump in the road.   I started laughing.  I just couldn't help it.  She just kept going on and on...   I thought -- the pageant is over honey and you won already.    Besides, she only had a few nights of partying, how could that possibly warrant some kind of "rehab"?

Perhaps if the Donald would be so kind to book her a flight, we could have her come out here to Pattaya and "reach out" to some of the girls out here.    I'm sure Tara would be a great example for the girls in Pattaya.

 

 

The Wrap Up...

Looks like Dave is a good addition to the Thailand Internet landscape.   I particularly like the fact that he is not trying to take advantage of inexperienced farang suckers by scaring them into spending money to check up on their girls.

I think the "senior" (I'm not there quite yet), more highly experienced battle hardened farangs should be preaching the right sermon to the newbies.   Way too many people come here and loose all their money.   And far too many back in their home country and being lied to by bar girls and sending money.

In Thailand, the Thai people take care of each other.   Farangs frequently don't have that same honorable nature.  Frequently we like to take advantage of others just because we can.   (Personally, I think Thais look down on us in secret because we screw each other.)

If Dave The Rave is in favor of educating the farang and helping them have a good experience here in Thailand then his work will certainly find favor with me.  And I'm looking forward to some of his articles on the bar girls (who by the way are not that much different than the girls who are still in the country.)

But the question is, should Dave The Rave be considered Stickman's replacement?   My answer is No.  Dave's scope is not as broad as Stickman's and Dave is more narrowly focussed than Stickman's was. 

I can't help but thinking that Stickman is still coming back at some point.  I think Stickman likes to push the envelope.   I don't see him walking away for good on the weekly column.

Merry Christmas everyone.

John Galt