BANISHING BOREDOM
Bloggery on music, books, films, travel, wildlife and dark matters.
Martin Amis and Time’s Arrow
Upon the passing of the noteworthy author, Martin Amis, Jim Algie recalls his favourite novel by him, Time’s Arrow, which unfolds in reverse and leads back to the Nazi death camps. We live in a world of hyperlinks which bespeaks the Buddhist belief in the...
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Bidding Adieu to Gordon Lightfoot, a True Troubadour
Jim Algie salutes Gordon Lightfoot, a true Canadian titan, who wrote some of the only good songs on AM radio when I was getting into music. In the early and mid-70s, Gordon Lightfoot was this lighthouse whose vision and voice were so powerful that they illuminated...
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Algie Bloodlines: From Italy to Mexico in Five Centuries and Back
Jim Algie looks back on some of his family history that dates back to Italy, where his distant ancestor worked as a scribe for the Vatican. Words and pics by Jim Algie. Many towns and villages in Mexico are named after Catholic saints. Our patron is Saint Catherine...
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Bangkok Prison Visit with a Convicted Killer
To get a glimpse of Thailand’s dark side and its Third World injustice system, no daytrip is more illuminating than a Bangkok prison visit, writes Jim Algie. Opening the back door of a pink taxi, I told the driver in Thai that I wanted to go to Klong Prem Prison. I...
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Celebrate Thai New Year in the Isaan Heartland
The Thai New Year, or Songkran, has become watered down in many urban centers, writes author and photographer Jim Algie, as you can see from all the malls where Buddha images are set up to be rinsed by patrons who go through the blessing motions with little heart and...
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Ode to All the Unsung Editors
Editors are the goalkeepers of the publishing world, saving many a writer from making heinous mistakes but most of the time they are overlooked. This ode sings their praises. It’s also a requiem for a veteran editor named Paul Dorsey. During late October and...
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