Listener comments!

Fri. 9/7/07 3:07pm From: jonathan

yeah!!!!! the madness is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

Fri. 9/7/07 3:11pm From: north guinea hills

that "bolinas blues" track sounded like an entertaining kenny g tune

Fri. 9/7/07 3:19pm From: Dave

That's my favorite David Cross joke!

(It's so wrong!)

Fri. 9/7/07 3:19pm From: billyjam

this week WFMU'er IKE HULL on the road traveling in Asia - has sent emails and they are included here (COMMENTS) read on....First one was from a week ago with the subject heading "Monkeys Stole My Breakfast"

Fri. 9/7/07 3:21pm From: Ike Hull

EMAIL #1 part 1: I'm now in Luang Prabang, Laos.

So a few weeks ago, I arrived in the town of Lopburi, Thailand. Lonely
Planet warns that this is a town "besieged by monkeys" who hang off of
storefronts and "smear excrement on car windows." Well, I was keeping an
eye out for the buggers as I wandered around eyeing the produce and food
vendors, and heading for a cheap hotel, but I didn't see a single simian.

I found my hotel, confusingly called both the Asia Lopburi and the Lopburi
Asia as well as just the Asia Hotel. No monkeys there either. So that was
good. It was institutional-looking and reminded me of Russia, but for about
250 baht (roughly $7.50), I got a room with my own bathroom and shower, and
a good ceiling fan. I figured I wouldn't splurge on A/C on that particular
night. Often it gets reasonably cool at night in Thailand. At $7.50, with
no monkeys in the room, who can complain? Heck, I even had a TV, which I
didn't ask for, and didn't really want, since a TV distracts me from going
out and wandering around. But the selection of channels solved that
problem. Who really wants to watch the Chinese government's
English-language slant on the news on CCTV International, or the Russian
government's English-language slant on the news on the Russia Today channel,
or the U.S. government's slant on the news on Fox News Channel? (Seriously,
those were the three English-language news channels available. The other
English-language channels were Style TV India, and a sports channel with
polo and other very British sports.)

Fri. 9/7/07 3:22pm From: ike hull

EMAIL cont. >>After all that government propaganda, forgetting about sinister macaques and
letting down your guard is easy. But hey, after checking in to the hotel, I
went out, wandered around, and got some snapshots of various ruins in the
dusk. Still no monkeys. I ate a dinner of prawns and squid from a popular
street food hawker. Still no monkeys.

So the next morning, I wandered a food market filled with vendors of
everything from curries (breakfast, lunch, dinner... people eat curry all
the time here) to raw fish, and finally decided to try some of the renowned
local fruit. I got a kilo of mangosteens, a strange-looking purple fruit
about the size of an apple. It has a very thick skin; you crack it open
from the bottom and the flesh on the inside is white, translucent, and
sweet, in small tangerine-slice-shaped pieces. Describing the taste is
difficult; it's not strong, like the famed stinky durian fruit. It's a mild
citrusy flavor, like a toned-down tangerine with a hint of dulled lime.
It's fantastic! You can't get it in the U.S., except maybe in L.A., where
you'll pay $50 a pound for it!

Fri. 9/7/07 3:23pm From: Ike Hull

pt 3>>>
So I was just walking down the street with a bag of mangosteens hanging off
my arm (looped around my wrist in such a way that they were difficult to
drop), minding my own business, taking pictures of wats in Lopburi, and a
bunch of the simian twerps suddenly appeared out of nowhere and one jumped
right onto the bag of fruit. I couldn't drop it right away, so I swung the
bag around 360 degrees trying to fling the bastard off. But he tore it
open in an instant, and they gobbled up the mangosteens as the fruit tumbled
across the sidewalk.

I'm lucky they didn't take my camera too, which was in my left hand. And
that they didn't bite me or pick my pocket. Others have had those
experiences, reportedly.

I wasn't fast enough to snap a shot of the monkeys approaching or actually
in the act of theft, but I got a few shots of them scarfing down the stolen
goods. The little assmunches! I'd love to go back there with a bag of
wooden cucumbers and watch their jerky faces as they break their frackin'
little teeth trying to eat 'em, but that would probably WOULD get me
bitten. Better never to go to Lopburi again, ever, even though a lot of the
town was monkey-free and had some amazing ruins.

Fri. 9/7/07 3:24pm From: Ike Hull

LAST PART OF EMAIL # 1 >>Earlier today I took a long, long, amazingly beautiful but tiring bus ride
from Vang Viang, Laos, to Luang Prabang, Laos. And at one of the rest
stops, there was a monkey. But he was chained to a tree, eating some rice,
and didn't look too unhappy. Now, the quality of almost everything in Laos
may be behind Thailand, but at least they keep their damned monkeys securely
fastened. Although admittedly, Sukhothai, Thailand, also kept their monkeys
locked up, though they used wooden cages.

If you're curious about anything, send me your questions. These e-mails are
the only records I'm keeping of this trip (besides photos), and my memory is
awful, so the more e-mails I write, the more will be remembered.

Fri. 9/7/07 3:26pm From: north guinea hills

wow, this supermeyer is ugly sick!!!!!

Fri. 9/7/07 3:29pm From: Jamie

This Supermayer.....is awesome. I've already hunted it down.

Fri. 9/7/07 3:32pm From: kris

whats up Billy! emails from Asia are tops. thnx mang.

Fri. 9/7/07 3:32pm From: Markie Mark

Billy, Waz UP, its been a while Bro..Take me up... Austin, Texas neeeds it. I am in and ready to Blast off, get ready fo rtyeh weekend, Oh Oh here we Go!

Fri. 9/7/07 3:42pm From: north guinea hills

my homeboy! OCDJ!!!

Fri. 9/7/07 3:45pm From: Ike Hull

Email from Tuesday: Sept. 4::: Pt 1>>I will return to the U.S. on Sept. 18 or 19. Can't remember which.
Gotta check the ticket print-out. Not sure if I'll be in New Joisey
on the first
Friday after that, though, but I'm definitely in town on the Friday
following.

I crossed the border from Laos into China today. I am in Jinghong, which
is pretty cool except that everybody smokes here... on the buses, in the
internet cafes, in all the restaurants... I'm not used to that. They didn't
do
that in Thailand or Laos (except in the very Chinese parts of northern
Laos).
Ick.

Fri. 9/7/07 3:46pm From: Ike Hull

second half of Tuesday's email:::On another note, I haven't found any cool music to bring back... I will have
to
keep an ear out for something to bring back for your show but it's difficult
to
identify pieces of music in languages that don't use Romanized lettering.
(There's
one Thai band I'm pretty sure is called Clash... how the hell did they
manage
to use that name? Didn't anybody tell them it's already taken?) And
lots of the music around here is insipid anyway. I started getting used to
the Thai pop after a while, but not necessarily loving it, just getting
accustomed
to it... have to see if I can figure out the art of music hunting while I'm
also food
hunting.

Maybe I should've come in the dry season... it basically rained all day
today.
Thought the bus might get stuck in some giant mud puddles we went
through. Fortunately it did not. I'm sure glad we didn't all have to get
out
and push!

Fri. 9/7/07 3:56pm From: Ike Hull

MOST RECENT EMAIL: from yesterday:>>THURS
Ahhhh CRAP... things just got a lot more interesting... my credit cards and
virtually all of my cash were stolen by a pickpocket. That's never happened
to me before. This dude must've been really, really good at pickpocketing.
Oh well... trying to call the Visa company, even with their 800 number for
southern China, has been a real adventure. Funny how the local telephone
lines don't work too well, and you can't make collect calls without paying
something yourself, but e-mail is just fine (if a little slow at times).
Son of a bitch!

Fri. 9/7/07 4:45pm From: Mathhew Monk-E

monkeys ate my rekkids and now they're climbing up a tree and laughing at me" -said Mother in a dream's dream - dreamy huh

Fri. 9/7/07 5:09pm From: cobra

great tunes

Fri. 9/7/07 5:11pm From: cobra

kanye west is a goon. get him off my radio!

Fri. 9/7/07 5:12pm From: north guinea hills

thanks for the tunes. it's making hard to leave work on a friday afternoon. peace.

Sat. 9/8/07 10:28am From: Lisa Michelle

Hey Billy Jam!! Didnt get to listen live, but listening now. Hope all is well!! See you at the Cake Shop.

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