Grafton, Vermont.
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: The White Church, Grafton (panormio)
Grafton, Vermont, plays a significant role in my novel, BACK.
Recently I was asked why I chose this town out of all the settlements, hamlets, villages and towns of New England, and here’s the answer.
-
‘A giant napalm explosion’ – Fall in Grafton (graftonvermont.org)
I needed somewhere within striking distance of Albany, New York, but it had to be rural, close to good hunting country and to be in New England. The reasons for all of these requirements are explained or apparent in the plot of BACK.
New York and approximate location of Grafton circled in blue
I also needed there to be Civil War graves in the local cemetery, and I wanted a small, pleasant, quiet, close-knit town, with a strong sense of community and tradition, in which to set some of the action and base some of the characters in the book.
Article and photos continue here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/back-part-1/back-locations-grafton-vermont/
Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
Tanzanian Diamonds Stolen In South African Flight Raid
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: Rough diamonds of a similar quality to Mwadui’s best stones (debeersgroup.com)
Recently I wrote an article about the theft of $50,000,000 worth of diamonds at Brussels airport, and mentioned another little-known theft of a substantial quantity of Tanzanian diamonds from another airport, which my informant believed to be in Europe. (http://peteralanlloyd.com/other-writing-projects/tanzanian-diamonds/diamonds-robberies-and-painful-memories/ )
The enormous Mwadui kimberlite diamond pit (jvanne, Flikrivr)
Having done some, er, digging, I have now discovered that this latter hushed-up theft of a consignment of Tanzanian diamonds didn’t occur in Europe, but at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo airport in South Africa, while the uncut diamonds were in transit to Antwerp, and that they came from the former De Beers-owned Mwadui diamond mine in the Shinyanga region of Tanzania, which is now owned by Petra Diamonds Ltd.
Article and photos continue here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/other-writing-projects/tanzanian-diamonds/tanzanian-diamonds-stolen-in-south-african-flight-raid/
©Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
Iggy Pop, Punk and the Vietnam War
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: A Search and Destroy raid on a Vietnamese hamlet
Since the mid-1970s I have been a massive Iggy Pop fan, and the only time I saw him, at Eric’s Club in Liverpool in 1979, I managed to come away with a haul of swag including silk buttons he’d ripped off his shirt when he came onstage, plectrums dropped by the guitarists and the set list I took off one of the PA monitors, which I still possess today.
Incoming; Iggy Pop
What fascinates me about Iggy, as I shall call him, is that he has been in business since the time of the Vietnam War and he’s still going strong, spanning three generations – those who fought in the war, those who were too young and those who weren’t even born when the war finally ended.
His album Raw Power contained a track called Search and Destroy, which he named after he saw an article in Time about such operations during the Vietnam War. This is it:
Article and Videos continue here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/general-news/iggy-pop-punk-and-the-vietnam-war/
©Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
British Backpacker Dies in Indonesian Jungle
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: Cheznye Emmons
Asian jungles claimed another backpacking victim recently, when a British backpacker died after drinking poisoned gin during a trip around south-east Asia.
Cheznye Emmons, 23, suffered methanol poisoning after reportedly drinking from a bottle labelled gin, during a trek in the Indonesian jungle.
She was apparently on her way to a full-moon party but her health deteriorated quickly and she reportedly complained she had lost her sight.
Miss Emmons, from Great Wakering, Essex, went through the jungle to the nearest eye clinic and was referred to a hospital in Sumatra, where she was put in an induced coma. Her parents then flew to her bedside and a few days later made the decision to turn off her life support machine.
Story continues here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/back-part-2/related-regional-articles/british-backpacker-dies-in-indonesian-jungle/
Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
The Jim Bolen SOG Interviews: Part 2 – Into the Jungle
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: RT Auger after a mission into Cambodia
Jim Bolen is a former Special Forces operative, who went into Laos and Cambodia on dangerous and top secret SOG operations to the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk Trails during the Vietnam War. He was a recon team leader and went on over 40 SOG missions, being extracted under fire from over 30 of them. A highly decorated soldier, Jim has also written a remarkable account of his life, before, during and after his time in Vietnam. Amazon: No Guts, No Glory.
The link to part 1 of this interview is here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/general-news/the-jim-bolen-sog-interviews-part-1-across-the-fence/
Jim was interviewed by Peter Alan Lloyd.
Helicopter over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos (Fred Thompson 174ahc.org)
PAL: What were your immediate actions once your team hit the ground after being inserted by helicopter, far behind enemy lines?
JB: When you leave the chopper you are prepared for the worst and ready for it, anticipating enemy contact. If it does not happen then that is the first positive thing on your mission. Once on the ground you and your team head to the cover of the jungle. You, your team and the insertion pilots all know what your direction of movement will be. This is gone over prior to the mission, in briefings.
The only time this would change is if contact with the enemy was made right after insertion. This could also change if you were inserted next to an enemy compound, even though it might be empty, which was not visible from the air due to the heavy canopy cover.
PAL: Roughly how far from your target would you be dropped by the helicopter?
JB: Normally I would like to be at least a 2 day walk away from my target. If you are inserted too close to your prime target it does nothing but stir up the enemy.
-
Huey at an LZ (Major Derald Smith 174ahc.org
Interview and photos continue here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/back-part-1/the-jim-bolen-sog-interviews-part-2-into-the-jungle/
©Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
Something new to lose your money in
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
The site of the defunct Tahitian Queen 2 go-go (Soi BJ, off Walking Street) is undergoing major renovations, and looks as though it’s going to be turned into something unusual in Fun Town: a bar.
The former TQ 2 opened in 1991, so to survive 20 years in business in Pattaya is to be commended. It had its moments in the sun as far as popularity was concerned, at one stage being a real late-night venue. TQ 2 rarely had much in the way of chrome pole huggers of quality, but that’s not why people used to visit the joint. This was an air-conditioned bar, which, like its older sibling on Beach Road, played pretty good rock n roll music, not the head banging techno crap spewing forth from the speakers of most dens. It was a locals’ hangout in many ways.
The key to the joint was one of the American co-owners, Steve Blumenthal. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at just 41 years of age, in late 2006. Steve used to write a column called ‘Out For A Beer’ in one of Pattaya’s monthly tourist publications, sensibly giving TQ2 a mention in most of his pieces. I didn’t know him very well but he struck me as a nice person, and I never heard anyone talk of him in anything but the kindest terms. Steve, despite his relative youth, had been in Pattaya for a long time and once he was gone I guess it was no surprise to see TQ 2 struggle along. What it probably needed was a complete makeover and name change.
©Duncan Stearn
Crosby Street, New York
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: An almost post-apocalyptic view of a deserted Crosby Street, Soho, New York 1978 (Thomas Struth)
Modern-day Crosby Street (Harris Graber, Flikr)
Big Difference: The above two photographs are taken from a similar location on Crosby Street, separated in time by thirty years.
I have student characters in BACK, who attend New York University, and I set them up in a large apartment on Crosby Street New York, close to the Broome Street intersection.
I wanted somewhere quiet, easily commutable from NYU, and also a place with a rich sense of New York History, and Crosby Street certainly has that, some incidents of which I refer to in the novel.
Crosby is also one of the few streets in New York that still has Belgian blocks (‘cobblestones’ to Brits).
Crosby Street: Belgian blocks at the intersection of Broome and Crosby (ekonon flikr)
In the 1970s Crosby was virtually derelict as some of the photos on this page show.
Article and photos of Crosby Street continue here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/back-part-1/back-locations-crosby-street-new-york/
©Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
Stumped: Ladyboys of Bangkok Bowl A Maiden Over
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
I was recently alerted to an article in Metro.co.uk about the entertainers Ladyboys of Bangkok taking cricket lessons in England, where, dressed like that, they no doubt inspired a few full tosses from the Gin and Tonic Brigade.
The article is here: http://metro.co.uk/2010/07/20/thai-ladyboys-try-out-cricket-in-high-heels-mini-skirts-and-bikini-tops-453131/
The Ladyboys of Bangkok – More traditionally dressed
There has been a suggestion from a longtime expat to scare up a cricket team of Beach Road Ladyboys, to be called “I Stealing Wallet You” to go up against the Bangkok side.
Elsewhere in the city a team of pre-op ladyboys, called The Middle Stump, is being put together, while a crack team of post-ops, to be called “At the Crease” is also being formed.
A Ladyboy of Bangkok checks a mirror – or online bank balance
We understand the winners of the Pattaya Ladyboy Cricket Competition will get to play at the Oval, should they so desire.
A Brazen $100 Million Diamond Theft
Read Pattaya News which is updated from Pattaya daily news story –
Above Photo: Rough Diamonds. In Tanzania we recovered some diamonds of a similar size and shape to these, just not nearly so many or of such high quality. These look South African. (debeersgroup.com)
I recently read about an almost unbelievable $100,000,000 theft which took place in the Antwerp Diamond Centre a few years ago. This is the same place where we sold the uncut diamonds recovered from our Nyangwale mine in Tanzania.
Antwerp is one of the two diamond capitals in the world. The other one is Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Eighty percent of the world’s uncut gems go through Antwerp, and many of them are stored for various periods in the underground vault of the Antwerp Diamond Center building.
From here: Kimberlite Pit number 3, on our Nyangwale Mine, Tanzania………
Article and photos continue here: http://peteralanlloyd.com/other-writing-projects/tanzanian-diamonds/a-brazen-100-million-diamond-theft-from-the-antwerp-diamond-centre/
©Peter Alan Lloyd
Smashwords: Back Parts 1 and 2
Website: www.peteralanlloyd.com
Twitter: @PeterAlanLloyd
