Monthly Archives: August 2021

Ganden Sky Burial

August 26, 2021 – 12:53 am

A mango tree shaded our old house in Sri Racha. Birds roosted on the branches. Our next-door neighbor hated the tree. Its leaves fell into their yard, even though the tree’s spread of shade cooled down both houses. My neighbor only saw the leaves and the other week she called up the electricity office to […]

By Peter | Posted in semi-fiction, Thailand, Traditions | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Gerard Depardieu GOING PLACES

August 24, 2021 – 1:40 pm

In 1978 I saw the French road film LES VALSEUSES or GOING PLACES at the St. Mark’s Cinema. The Bernard Blier movie about two thugs blissfully wandering through France was a Gallic counterbalance to the other feature on the double bill EASY RIDER. Gerard Depardieu’s comic talent complimented the late Patrick Dewaeare and I kept […]

By Peter | Posted in 70s, france, Movies / TV | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

A Red Line In The Afghan Sand

August 23, 2021 – 8:00 pm

Throughout April 1975 the NVA and Viet Cong drove the ARVN from every province. Troops threw away their uniforms. Artillery was abandoned on the road. M16s were tossed into rice paddies. It was Thân ai nấy lo or ‘Every man for himself’ and all combatants and civilians fled the countryside for Saigon hoping that the […]

By Peter | Posted in peace, War | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

THE ROAD TO KABUL by Peter Nolan Smith

August 23, 2021 – 5:12 pm

Afghanistan was a two-day drive from Italy in the summer of 1972. At the end of the school year my future friend Gianni bought a school bus in Milano and told his parents that he was going on vacation. Kabul was his destination. His parents offered to pay the gas, viewing the venture as a […]

By Peter | Posted in 19th Century, 70s, Crime, War | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

AUGUST 12, 1978 – JOURNAL ENTRY – EAST VILLAGE

August 23, 2021 – 9:59 am

ON WHITE VERSUS BLACK: Walking down 8th Avenue under a light rain I ignore the passers-by other than to side aside for old women and children. The rest of the people on the sidewalks have had their humanity stolen from their souls by the TV, ads, schools, churches, and work. A pocketbook smashes into me, […]

By Peter | Posted in class warfare, East Village, race, revolution, Rich | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)