Why unpack?

From Bangkok to the Catskills before I had time to unpack... I brought my computer and external harddrive and worked my way through the weekend while the boys worked their skis through muddy snow. I went for the fireplace (success!) and they went for the slopes (drudging across manufactured snow through pouring rain)... somehow I think I still won out. Couldn't get the camera operating at the cabin, but I did download a few of the b-roll shots we took for the documentary in Bangkok...

After leaving New York and traveling for hour after hour, day after day, to reach the exotic and exciting foreign country of THAILAND... I throw open the curtains in my hotel room to see:










Looking out the hotel from the other side you can see the newly constructed convention center, which was built in the honor of the Queen. Hidden speakers pump "soothing" music across a man-made lake... as I watch the sunset over the lake and the imposing buildings beyond, I begin to suspect that the music is there to cover the incessant honking and braking of Bangkok taxis and tuk-tuks rather than to provide harmony to the joggers circling the lake...










You'll see images like this everywhere in Thailand. I don't believe this is a Buddh - if anyone does know what it is, please enlighten me. The clasped hands, non-committal facial expression, and floral background seem to reflect the Thai mentality...












Street signs take on a whole new meaning. Bold colors, just like ours, but it's more difficult to understand exactly what they stand for. Example below: what is this "X" telling us not to do??












This image is full of striking contrasts when animated: the silver fish whip through muddy water that luscious velvet blooms rest peacefully above...