MY NEW NOVEL: SMOKO

Blurb: One day the postal services will turn a buck by using drones to deliver fake Rolexes to citizen slackers on a universal income. But for now, the mail team continues busting arse delivering gym membership promotions to retirement villages. Adopting an attitude of resignation offers comfort to some, but one worker, inspired by Ned MY NEW NOVEL: SMOKO

Cambodia 2023 Trip Report

1 Siem Reap  The City Once out of the airport, your first glimpses of a new country are precious. Hopefully, the sense of novelty causes a dopamine release. As you visit more countries more regularly, the buzz lessens. My first new country in years, I could feel the dopamine buzz in Siem Reap, Cambodia. According Cambodia 2023 Trip Report

2003 Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, NZ

Phongsaly In 2003, I trekked in the highlands of Phongsaly, the Northernmost province of Laos. The leather work shoes I’d bought in Hong Kong for my six-month stint working in Shanghai didn’t serve me well. Greatly amusing my fellow trekkers, I slipped and fell on my arse multiple times while descending muddy jungle paths. Referring 2003 Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, NZ

Hua Hin

I enjoyed the slow train to Hua Hin, the seaside town 200 km south of Bangkok. Scheduled to get there in five hours, the train made it in six. I bought 2nd class sleeper fan tickets and got two wide seats facing each other. Travelling by day, we didn’t fold them out to create a Hua Hin

More Bangkok Observations

The Grand Palace is a tourist attraction living up to the hype – as in yes, it’s worth visiting. Although other temples around Bangkok Old Town have equally impressive golden buddhas and multi-tiered roofs, not to mention fewer Chinese tour groups, their (cheaper) entrance tickets don’t include entry to two museums and a dance show. More Bangkok Observations

Bangkok Observations

We flew back to Bangkok from Danang in Vietnam. Prices at Danang Airport are in dollars. No surprise then that, apart from a family of Chinese tourists enjoying 18 USD dollar combos, Burger King was empty. I felt guilty buying a small bottle of warm Sprite for $3.80. What a waste of money. An odd Bangkok Observations

Interview with Radio Qué Onda

I was interviewed by Wellington’s Spanish language radio program Qué Onda. I talked about China, including my time in Wuhan, Argentina, and my book Buenos Aires Triad.

Sexual Fascism

In ‘Civilization and its Discontents,’ Freud tells us that civilisation necessitates the curbing of the natural expression of the libido, and this repression leads to neurosis. The answer is to redirect the libido into work or artistic expression. For author Isham Cook, the state keeps us in fear of our libido as a mechanism of Sexual Fascism