Sharky Bar (11pm-2am):
Dead. It was DiverTX's birthday, and I can't remember much except that the women were gone by the time we got there. Fine. Saved some money. We settled down and started shootin' the shit. Can't remember much.
- Chill Larry painted Nancy Pelosi's mansion when he was contractor in SF. Husband's a developer. Loaded.
- The head of security at the Casa Hotel's casino says they catch about 140 cheaters per month. (!!) I guess they aren't yet that sophisticated and are sort of easy to get.
- Thinking about WiMax? The service is getting good reports. CDNlee reports, "You get what you pay for." A ringing endorsement when it comes to net connections in Cambodia. (ps:thanks for the drink.)
- Good video available of the Water Festival brawl in front of Pon Luk Restaurant. 20 or so raging (90lb) Khmers. Reviews say: Tom and Jerry meets bad kung-fu movie.
Martini Bar: (2am-3am)
Disco was dead. The bar was mostly dead. The best part was the accident we saw on the way. Drunk-ass dude with a pile-on rider bombing down Moniving swerved to avoid an imaginary deer and slammed into the divider. They skidded hard - sparks and all - for 200+ feet. The passenger managed to get up, but the driver was down for the count. More sobriety and less speed would have saved them a world of hurt.
Like I said - the place was dead by 2am. DJ started playing slow songs at 2:20....I made my way to the outside bar and was lucky enough to meet a tweaked-out Russian trumpet player. He looks like a methed-up cupie-doll and was recently featured in a Cambodia Daily article.
The Story: Member of British royal family* throws insane Russian's laptop into Boeungkok Lake.
The Brit: "...I did it because he's nuts."
Russian: "...I demand $50,000 in compensation for the lost intellectual property stored on the laptop."
The Cops: "They are both mischievous....The Englishman is difficult..... The Soviet is also difficult."
The (very drunk and tweaking) Russian explained his position: Because he is a highly respected trumpet player in Russia, the Russian Embassy and a number of wealthy Russian NGOs (the city is crawling with them) contracted him to compose trumpet anthems and ad jingles. The contracts were worth thousands of dollars and he couldn't possibly recreate the music from memory. Great trumpet anthems are creatures of the moment.
Besides, a girl broke his trumpet in 2...for no reason at all. He also received several beatings from various people and plans to pursue justice in a Cambodian court. The voices in his head say he has a case.
He's willing to settle for as low as $20K. The police contacted him with an offer of $50. Insulting. He's preparing documents and depositions from witnesses in Moscow - none of whom have been to Cambodia. Not important. What's important is that he feels good about the future. I told him I didn't have a dollar to give him for a moto and backed away slowly.
You've heard his side of it. To Howies.
Howies Bar (3am-5am):
Apparently FatTerry was plying FatLensman with booze all night. FatLensman was pinballing around the room, banging on the bar, and singing and dancing. Howie needs to put pepper-spray on the menu. I settled in. Met up with a fellow American...I call him, Annoying MutherFucker, and true to form, he annoyed the shit out of me. I also vaguely remember:
- Refusing to buy FatLensmen more drinks or beef jerky and constantly telling him (politely) to, "Go away..." He did. He's ok like that.
- Refusing to allow FatLensmen to invest in my snake company. I don't have one. He didn't believe me.
- Yelling at a Frenchman to, "Stop looking at me!" He wasn't. He was eyeing the dude next to me.
- Vowing to go home and ending up at the Walkabout.
Walkabout (5:30-7:ish):
$2 chicken nuggets won out over sex. Maybe I am just a bit older and wiser.
Happy Independence Day.
(*44th in line to the GB Royal Crown)
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