Blogs from District Two, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 3

When my friend, Mike, saw my HCMC bedroom for the first time, he described it as my “shrine”. A fitting epithet. The Cambridge dictionary defines ‘shrine’ as ‘a place for worship that is holy because of a connection with a holy person or object’. Well, my bedroom is festooned with photos of holy people – my parents, my friends and myself! I marginally prefer ‘sanctum sanctorum’ (holy of holies) to ‘shrine’ because it has an alliterative ring and sounds grander. But the idea is the same – my bedroom is an extension of my most private self, reflecting my personality and my life. Wherever I’ve lived, I have always surrounded myself with photos and pictures. I know that some people prefer plain unadorned walls, but I find that boring; I want my walls to be visually ... read more

I regard Donald Trump as an abomination - a self-serving, narcissistic, ignorant, corrupt, racist, misogynistic, mendacious, divisive, foul-mouthed President. Much has been written about him, so I do not intend to repeat the obvious here, just mention a few things that have caught my attention or crossed my mind of late. In Vietnam there is a brand of cigarette called ‘Trump’. On the packet is an image of the Statue of Liberty and the word ‘TRUMP’ in golden capitals. Presumably the creators of this cigarette had Donald Trump in mind. I am not a smoker; I came across Trump cigarettes by chance and bought two packets to show my friends. The vendor told me that Trump is an unpopular brand because it has a nasty taste. How fitting, I thought: cheap and nasty just like Trump ... read more

I’ve just watched ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ for the third or fourth time. It is a magnificent western, which I rate just behind ‘High Noon’. The unifying factor between ‘Liberty Valance’ (1962) and ‘High Noon’ (1952) is Lee Van Cleef, who plays a minor bad-man role in both. 'Liberty Valance' has all the ingredients of a great movie – a compelling storyline, a hero (two actually), a villain, good dialogue, great direction, memorable scenes, strong acting and a central theme holding everything together. The movie boasts three great actors: James Stewart (playing Ransom Stoddard), John Wayne (Tom Doniphon) and Lee Marvin (Liberty Valance). The contrast between them is striking. Marvin is the embodiment of sadistic violence, his face and body language radiating menace. Nobody could have played the part better. Wayne is his... read more

This morning I read Thomas Hardy’s second volume of poems, published in 1901: ‘Poems of the Past and the Present’. It contains 98 poems divided into five sections: War Poems, Poems of Pilgrimage, Miscellaneous Poems, Imitations and Retrospect. 98 is a huge number for a single volume of poems, especially when compared with the slim volumes published nowadays. Philip Larkin’s ‘High Windows' contains 24 poems, Seamus Heaney’s ‘Death of a Naturalist’ 34, Ted Hughes’ ‘The Hawk in the Rain’ 40. Moreover, some of Hardy’s poems are very long, for example ‘The Lost Pyx’ which consists of 19 four-line stanzas. In terms of sheer quantity, Hardy’s volume represents excellent value for money. However, the quality of the poems is variable. I picked out around 30 poems that are worth rereading, including ‘The Darkling Thrush�... read more

In my coronavirus self-quarantine, I’ve been busy reading, writing, listening to music, watching old movies and playing online chess. Today I decided to listen to a H. P. Lovecraft short story, ‘The Call of Cthulhu’, read on Youtube by Ian Gordon. This was the first time in almost 50 years years I’d read/listened to Lovecraft, and it was an interesting experience. I chose this story not because it is my favourite – that accolade goes to ‘The Dreams in the Witch House’ – but because it is quintessential Lovecraft, embracing all his strengths and weaknesses and featuring the central figure of the Lovecraftian mythos: Cthulhu. After the reading, I happened to glance at other listeners’ comments, two of which are: “Jesus, how did we let our language slip to such a bland state? I ... read more