Regular features from March 2005 111st Issue

Should you hedge your bets?

Right now seems an appropriate time to think about how we can refresh our investment portfolios and add some zest to assist their growth. We can all take time out from watching UBC to consider some alternatives.

Many of us have sustained heavy losses in the markets in recent years and we really need to look at how best to recover quickly.

Hedge funds have been touted as investments that offer a positive return whether the markets go up, down or sideways and will perform come rain or shine.

So should we consider adding them to our portfolio?

Since 1994 hedge fund assets under management have climbed from $100bn to over $1 Trillion.

The bulk of that growth has come from the most sophisticated institutional investors in the world. There has to be good reason to satisfy this savvy lot, especially as charges are much higher than traditional investments.

A long only equity manager can expect clients to pay 1.5 percent in management fees with no performance charge.

In hedge funds the same client can expect fees of 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent for a top manager as well as a performance fee of between 15 to 20 percent

MAN, the world's biggest alternative investment provider are until 21 st . of this month offering a new guaranteed hedge fund the “MAN AP Enhanced Series 2 “ and are charging the high fees I just mentioned.

Would you pay these charges and add a hedge fund to your portfolio?

This offer targets growth of 16 percent to 18 percent per annum...The shrewd investor would have to ask if this level of growth is really possible and sustainable.

So for an answer let's look at performed over the good and bad times of the last ten years.

The “AHL Institutional programme”, forms the cornerstone of Man's investment strategy. Compare this with the MSCI world stock index and world bonds over the same period.

From October 1995 to June 2004 AHL returned 325.9 percent in total with an annualized growth rate of 18 percent.

That compares with 76.5 percent for world stocks and 74.6 percent for world bonds with annualized growth for stocks at 6.7 percent and bonds 6.6 percent.

In October 1999 Man launched the first of their AP series called the MAN AP Stratum (now closed to new premium}. From its launch its cumulative return has been 79.2 percent annualized 13.1 percent world stock returns again over the same period have been -5 percent, annualized -1.1 percent.

These figures make a compelling argument to include hedge funds in your portfolio but I don't want to be accused of wearing blinkers and ignoring the downside so let me explain.

Equity managers criticise them for their investment strategies saying they carry too much risk and charge excessively. As part of the investment mainstream they are unsustainable, they maintain.

I agree with some of their criticism but take the opposite view on their core argument. Hedge funds are here to stay.

They do however have a point being wary of hedge fund operators.

There are around 8,000 providers masquerading as safe havens for the investor who wants to make a killing and live the early retirement dream in a luxury apartment in Thailand .

Because of this it makes sense to adopt some of the caution of equity managers and be wary of an industry, open for subscription to retail investors for just over ten years

The truth is I would not entrust one penny to any company offering hedge funds who did not have an investment track record of more than a hundred years, whose offers are not guaranteed by an independent AAA rated bank and who do not have at least 20 billion dollars under management.

That sure narrows the field!

For these reason there are only a handful of hedge fund operators I would recommend.

Remember the world's must sophisticated investors did not become rich by being stupid. With an open mind they investigated every new offer and jumped in where they saw quality with potential. Why don't you give your portfolio a boost and do the same?

For further information on this article please contact Jerry at info@swissinvestcenter.net or visit his website www.swissinvestcenter.net

MAG'S PAGE THE PINK PERSPECTIVE

Home Thoughts from Abroad? The UK Perspective?

Here goes...........

Landing at Gatwick Airport at 8 am on a January day to blazing sun and clear blue skies was quite a surprise.The Phuket Air flight had been pleasant and uneventful, marred only by scenes of the constant stream of tsunami victims arriving at Don Muang in ambulances for their flights home.

Great British Culture Shock number one came when leaving the aircraft, to be confronted by four very large English policemen. I kid you not girls, those guys must have been 7 feet tall and built like the proverbial Outhouses. It transpired that they and their diminutive female companion had been assigned to board the plane and interview the 70 passengers who had lost their passports. It did seem unecessarily callous to make those poor folks wait on the plane after all they had been through - and my first glimpse of British Beaurocracy at its' best in over 5 years.

More was to follow very quickly, in the form of the Habitual Residence Test. or HRT. This ‘test' was introduced some 12 years ago in the UK as part of Social Security Law. The aim being to make life as difficult as possible for UK Nationals who had been abroad continuously for 7 years or more. Quite simply, upon returning to the UK these people were required to prove that they had not gone abroad with the intention of setting up a permanent domicile overseas, i.e. wife, kids, house, job, goldfish etc.

Unfortunately while my back had been turned for 5 years and 4 months some faceless Whitehall mandarin had moved the goalposts. The HRT now applies to any UK citizen who has spent 5 years or more continuously abroad. Quite simply I was treated as ‘persona non grata' in my own country.

At one Municipal Office my passport was examined in detail and every page of it copied. The main concerns of the staff seemed to be that the passport was issued in Bangkok , and that I had exited Thailand to Burma almost every month. My valid explanations were greeted with those kind of sneering looks reserved for something the cat dragged in. Welcome home.

Had it not been for my extensive background in Welfare Benefits and Social Security Law it would have been sorely tempting to hop on the next flight back to the Land of Smiles . Fortunately the ‘fight' instinct won, and over 5 weeks later the Powers That Be officially recognised me as a genuine UK citizen with a right to reside in my country of birth. Just as well really as by then I had started work!

This might all sound exagerated. Believe me it is not. Anyone in a similar situation planning to return to the UK from Thailand , or any other non - EU country is welcome to E mail me on mags118@hotmail.com for advice. The same goes for anyone planning the move from the UK to Thailand . Be prepared.

So, having dealt with the serious stuff, time to reflect on the more mundane aspects of Coping With The Change, (and that doesn't mean the other sort of HRT)

For a start, that essential and once pleasurable pastime - shopping - has become a mindboggling minefield of consumer choice and ‘own brand' price wars in the supermarket chains. I mean, how many brands of fabric conditioner does a girl need? Then there are all those things you forget about, like Fray Bentos meat pies in a tin, cheese spread in a tube, and good old Woolworths Pick'n Mix sweeties.

Catching up with the sheer choice of things to eat is a full time job in itself, and believe me shopping ain't easy.

First you have to compare prices, which can involve complex calculations based on price per gram. Then convert the price to Baht and ponder on the cost of a similar item in Thailand . Repeat this process with displays of toothpaste, shampoos, cheeses, bread etc. and the resulting glazed expression causes shop assistants to enquire if you need any help. What they really mean is should they call an ambulance equipped with a straight jacket.

The massive growth of so called ‘healthy eating' doesn't help either. Everything is Low Fat, Low Carb, Low Cal , Additive Free, light this and light that. It is almost impossible to find a simple yoghurt as nature intended, with all its' nasty little microbes intact. You want full cream milk? Forget it.

Of course all this food with bits taken out costs more as well, as does simple healthy fresh fruit.

No doubt as a result of the nations inability to afford healthy food, the Health Service has set up one of the best value for money gimmicks ever. Free cholesterol tests at many Pharmacies.

To be fair these tests ARE quick, efficient, almost painless, and a very good idea. The sad thing is that their universal appeal is BECAUSE they are free, and provide an opportunity to sit for a while in a nice warm pharmacy with lots of well stocked shelves to gaze at.

Next month - seriously positive report on the much maligned Health Service plus more consumer minefields. Meanwhile the highlight of 2005 so far must be the announcement of yet another Royal wedding.

Well no - in fact the highlight was the reaction of the Deputy PM. “If two people want to get married let them get on with it. Now, what about this fox hunting bill.....”

Betel Nuts and Bullock Carts

More travels in the Union of Myanmar to Yangon

Mandalay and Bagan by Mary Rogers

After our last visit to Yangon (‘Chilly Sauce, Clay Pots and Coconuts', reported in the September 2004 edition of The Observer) my husband and I had such a wonderful time we decided to combine another trip there for visa renewal with our Christmas celebrations.

Landing at the airport was a slight disappointment as computers have now taken the place of notebooks, but the greeting ‘Mingalabah' (Hello) was just as friendly. We stayed again at the Summit Parkview Hotel, conveniently situated near the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Our guides, Derek and Eddie, helped us to plan a tour of Mandalay and Bagan, but first we wanted to enjoy a few days in Yangon . We revisited some of our old haunts, notably the Inya Lake Hotel for afternoon tea, the Kandawgyi hotel for the Evening Show of indigenous music and dancing, Bogyoke Market and of course, Shwedagon Pagoda, but we also discovered some new attractions.

One morning we took the ferry boat from the Pansodan Jetty across the Yangon river to the village of Dala . The return fare is $2 US and it's a delightful way to get a taste of life on the river. Try to get on the upper deck where you can sit at a wooden table and drink tea or have a cool Pepsi, otherwise you will have to squat on a tiny stool on the lower deck, easy for the locals who all appear to be double-joined, not so good for six-foot falangs with seized-up muscles.

The joy of having guides is that they can take you to places totally unknown to tourists, and Derek and Eddie came up trumps with Mr Nagarr's Glass Factory. This unique workshop was so interesting we visited it on two consecutive days. Piles of glassware of every conceivable shape and size are heaped along paths leading to the kilns, and some of the bottom layers are over a hundred years old. You can select any piece that takes your fancy or have your own design made. Blowers demonstrate their skill as Mr Nagarr explains the process with good humour and impeccable English. The whole place is captivating, set only a few miles from the centre of the city, but in a leafy, dusty haven that could be a little village in the middle of the countryside.

Our guides, Derek and Eddie

The preferred currency in the Union is the American dollar, but Derek changed our spending money into the local currency, the kyat (pronounced ‘chat'), 935 to the dollar at the time of writing. We were rather dismayed to discover that no credit card payments at all are now accepted in any part of the Union due to sanctions enforced by overseas banks, so do make sure you carry enough cash to cover the whole of your stay.

Our few days passed only too quickly and it was soon time to start the next part of our itinerary, travelling to Mandalay . It is possible to fly direct from Yangon, but internal flights can only be booked once you are actually in the Union . Overland travel is definitely not for the faint-hearted. There are buses but the roads are in such a state of disrepair it's an even more uncomfortable journey than going by train. We booked first-class sleepers on the overnight train, a journey of some 14 hours. The rolling stock is ancient, the sleeping compartment is just a metal box tacked on to the back of the last carriage, it has to be shared between four people, you are locked in with no access to the rest of the train, and it is absolutely freezing during the night. Another time, I would take a second class reclining seat which is only marginally less comfortable but has access to a dining car. We had several hours of daylight to enjoy the views of the countryside, but it was hysterical getting ready for bed at eight o'clock – it was too dark to do anything else by this time, as there was only one dim light. We shared the cabin with two other travellers - first one man put on a thick padded jacket and a baseball cap before crawling up into the top bunk on his side of the box. Then the other man put on a thick, fur-lined leather jacket and a knitted balaclava! We soon wished we had more warm clothing though as we hadn't thought it could possibly be so cold. We were very glad when dawn broke over the central plain and the long journey came to an end.

Our efficient guides had come up with some great ideas for our three-day stay in the city. It's a dusty, provincial capital, crowded, noisy, full of cyclists and at first glance doesn't have much going for it, but there are some very interesting places to visit and it's ideally placed to explore the surrounding area. It's less than 150 years old, and was founded by King Mindon to fulfill a prophecy by Guatama Buddha that a great city dedicated to Buddhist teaching would be built at the foot of the hill. The previous capital was at Amarapura, but King Mindon was a devout Buddhist who thought he would become a Buddha himself if he did enough holy works to gain sufficient merit. He didn't get off to the best possible start, as he had killed his half-brother to gain the throne.

After Mindon's death, Thibaw took the throne which is the most interesting period of Burmese history to me. His wife Supayalat is notorious for being responsible for executing eighty of Thibaw's relatives to prevent any other claims to the throne, but I feel this queen has been much maligned and the truth could actually be quite different. There was an outbreak of smallpox and seers blamed foreigners saying they should all be killed, which gave the British an excuse to take over Upper Burma by force. They exiled Thibaw and Supayalat to India , and it was the end of the Burmese monarchy.

Our first trip was to the top of Mandalay Hill from where we could admire breathtaking views over the extensive plain. Devout pilgrims climb thousands of steps to the topmost temple, but we drove most of the way up steep hairpin bends then took an escalator. Like all temples, there were stalls selling locally-made products and here sandalwood was a specialty. Delicately carved fans waft a scented cooling breeze or blocks of the wood can be ground to make a face clay like thanaka, the yellow paste Burmese women use to protect their cheeks and keep cool.

After enjoying the views from terraces surrounding the temple, we descended to the plain and continued our tour at the Kuthodaw Pagoda, home to the world's largest book. Monks carved 729 ‘pages' of the Tripitaka scriptures on marble slabs and each one is housed in a little chedi, creating a forest of spires between avenues of Starflower trees.

After this peaceful place we toured the only remaining building of the original Golden City . Sadly, most of the buildings of the royal palace were destroyed during the war but this one had been moved by Thibaw to become a monastery, so is intact. It is covered in carvings with superb panels of the Jataka, scenes from the life of Buddha. There are still traces of gold in the carvings, but inside the ceiling is glorious, covered in gold to give an idea of how wonderful the palace would have been in its heyday.

From this venerable old building, we visited the central island fortress of the city, home to an army barracks so security is tight, but it's also the site of the old royal palace that has been rebuilt by the present government. An accompanying booklet makes uncomfortable reading as it details the destruction done by ‘imperialist forces' but the reconstruction is meticulous and impressive. It's a vast palace of nearly a hundred buildings, with copies of the royal regalia and Lion Throne in the Seven-tiered Spire, and the Treasury houses a collection of costumes for visitors to dress in for photos. For a few brief moments, I was Chief Queen, with a Crown Prince consort. We attracted quite a crowd and felt quite regal with all the attention!

We were staying in the Nadi Myanmar Hotel, which was adequate for a few days but we can't recommend their restaurant. Most of the time we ate with Derek and Eddie in places serving delicious Shan foods, mainly noodles and soups. A meal for four was about 4,000 kyats.

On our second day, we toured around Amarapura, Sagaing and U-Bein. The roads are very rutted and bumpy, to such an extent I do recommend ladies should wear a sports bra. It goes without saying that all toilet facilities in the rural areas are basic in the extreme, eastern ‘squats' with no paper, but they are usually fairly clean.

We drove through small villages to Amarapura's famous Mahagandhayon monastery. At eleven o'clock every morning up to two thousand monks take their single daily meal, donated by a person seeking merit. The rice is cooked in huge metal pots, stirred with giant wooden paddles and served by members of the donor's family, all hoping to have a share in the good deed. Monks in red and saffron robes, nuns in pretty pink and white, of all ages and sizes queue with their alms bowls and then eat in silence in an old wooden refectory. The temple regulations are displayed in English and I particularly like the ninth rule which is to obey the rules! To see so many holy people in one place enforces the role the area plays as the spiritual centre of the Union .

Mandalay is also famous for its many handicrafts and during the course of the day we visited a pottery, where a woman balanced four heavy pots on her head, took two under each arm and sauntered along a lane although I could hardly pick one up; a silver workshop with giant bellows blowing red-hot coals to melt pitch used inside bowls to keep the shape before they are hammered, and old men crouched on little stools picking out fantastic patterns of demons, dancers and elephants; a weaving village where the most gorgeous silks were produced with incredibly intricate patterns woven by hand; a bronze foundry where huge images of Buddha and various Chinese gods were being made, cast in moulds, the pieces welded together, then burnished; lastly a workshop for carving, tapestries and puppet-making. I really enjoyed seeing ‘my friends' (as Derek called them) coming to life under the skilful hands of the makers, baskets of carved limbs being strung together, then needlewomen stitching wonderful costumes using silver and gold threads. In all these factories, methods were being used that appeared unchanged for centuries.

We had to cross the Inwa bridge to reach Sagaing, an old capital of Upper Burma . This bridge had been built by the British in 1934 with sixteen steel spans with a central rail line and a single-lane road either side We stopped and climbed up onto the rail track to take some photos and a guard shouted at us not to – a military convoy was on its way and the police are very touchy about things like that. Good job they didn't know we had already captured the bridge on film. It's one of only two bridges spanning the Ayeyarwaddy, but a new bridge is being built by the Chinese just upriver at Sagaing.

Sagaing is lovely old town, very peaceful and quiet, permeated by an aura of holiness, home to many meditation retreats, about six hundred monasteries plus numerous temples and chedi, and about five thousand monks, nuns and novices. It was the capital of the ancient Shan kingdom after the fall of Bagan in about 1315. The capital was moved to Inwa (Ava) in 1364 and most of the buildings date from this time. We drove through the sleepy streets to the hill and climbed another twisting, hairpin-bend road to the topmost Sun U Ponya Shin pagoda. The chedi is in the process of being recovered in gold leaf and had a full cage of bamboo scaffolding built around it. The hti (the golden umbrella) from the top had been ceremoniously lowered on thick ropes and brought into the temple, where groups of young women kept up a never-ending chant of prayer in rotation. Every so often you could hear, ‘Da doo, da doo, da doo' - ‘well done', the Buddhist ‘amen'. Mats will be erected over the scaffolding to prevent the gold leaf from blowing away while the chedi is recovered, and once the work is finished there will be a huge festival to remount the hti. Batches of 200 kyat notes will be flung into the air for fortunate pilgrims to catch to bring them good luck.

Magic alms, ‘seun', are said to appear in front of the main Buddha image in the temple. The alms table is empty at night, and no matter how early the first pilgrim arrives with an offering, there is always one already in place.

The views from this temple surpassed even those from Mandalay , including as they did the splendour of the Ayeyarwaddy and we walked around the precinct admiring them from every angle. Stalls were selling bags and necklaces made from seeds of the Bozagai tree growing in the grounds and there were many pilgrims, including a group of Shan women wearing cloth turbans. There was a lively buzz to the temple and people were very friendly although tourists do get pestered in all the popular spots by extremely persistent children selling strips of postcards for a dollar. As these are quite good value, it's worth buying a few. 

Read more about our Burmese adventure in the April edition of Observer magazine

IN THE CAN

A return to music this month, with another famous song going under the microscope, so we can uncover some of it's meaning. The song in question is “American Pie', originally written and performed by American singer/songwriter Don McLean, and released in 1971. In 2000 Madonna recorded a new version of the song, which younger readers will probably be more familiar with, and also may not realise how old the song is now!

Before we delve into the song lyrics it must be said that although the general meaning of the song is known and acknowledged by McLean , some of the lines have been left unexplained by him despite having been asked hundreds of times. He admits that the song is partly about Buddy Holly, the bespectacled, almost geek-like singer/songwriter from the rock ‘n' roll era, most famous for songs such as ‘That'll Be The Day', ‘Peggy Sue' and countless other hits. His status in the music world, although thoroughly deserved because of his talent, became legendary when he was killed in a plane crash in February 1959 at the age of 22, along with two other rock ‘n' roll stars, Ritchie Valens ( famous for ‘La Bamba') and The Big Bopper (‘Chantilly Lace').

So the starting point of looking at the McLean song is the line ‘But February made me shiver, with every paper I delivered' and also in the chorus, ‘the day the music died', which was apparently a newspaper headline he saw, reporting the tragic death of the three rockers. Some reports say that McLean really was working as a newspaper delivery boy when this happened. The confirmed part of interpreting the song is that he was inspired to write it in the late 1960's, partly based on his own life up to that time, as well as his memories of not only the death of Holly but also how he saw the turn from the innocence of the ‘50s to the darker, more volatile times of the ‘60s - both in music and politics. Another direct reference to Holly comes in the line ‘Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing “This'll be the day that I die”:' Holly's hit “That'll Be the Day” had a similar line.

Many people believe that several lines in the song refer to other musicians that either inspired him, or whom he felt were important figures during that time. The line ‘Sergeants played a marching tune' is very likely a reference to The Beatles' ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album which was apparently a huge influence on him. ‘Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above' is probably a reference to the 1958 doo-wop hit ‘Book of Love' by the Monotones. The chorus for that song is “Who wrote the book of love? Tell me, tell me... I wonder, wonder who' and one of the lines asks, ‘Was it someone from above?' Another line refers to ‘The Jester sang for the King and Queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean' and being ‘On the sidelines in a cast.', and many think this is a reference to Bob Dylan – on the cover of Dylan's album ‘The Freewheeling Bob Dylan' he is wearing a red jacket almost identical to that worn by James Dean in his movie ‘Rebel Without A Cause', and Dylan freely admits that Dean influenced him. In 1966 Dylan was in a serious motorbike accident which put him out of action for nine months, hence the cast. The King referred to could easily be a direct reference to Elvis Presley, but no theories are put forward for who the Queen is, and it could just as easily be there for the rhyme!

Another very obvious musical reference is the line ‘Eight miles high and falling fast' – the Byrds recorded a very famous song called ‘Eight Miles High'. The same band are probably also being referred to in the previous line ‘the birds flew off from a fallout shelter' – a fallout shelter was a '60's expression for a drug rehabilitation centre and at least one of the Byrds was caught with drugs and sent to one.

The lyric “And while Lenin read a book on Marx” has been interpreted in a couple of different ways. Some view it as a reference to Vladimir Lenin, the communist dictator who led the Russian Revolution in 1917 and who built the USSR , which was later ruled by Josef Stalin. The “Marx” referred to here would be the socialist philosopher Karl Marx. Others believe it is about John Lennon, whose songs often reflected a very communistic theology (particularly “Imagine”). Some have even suggested that in the latter case, “Marx” is actually Groucho Marx, another cynical entertainer who was suspected of being a socialist, and whose wordplay was often similar to Lennon's lyrics. Another possible reference to the Beatles is the line ‘Helter Skelter in a summer swelter', after their song ‘Helter Skelter' from ‘The White Album' released in 1968.

‘And as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage, No angel born in hell, Could break that Satan's spell, And as the flames climbed high into the night, to light the sacrificial rite' is widely regarded as referring to the infamous Altamont Speedway concert in 1969 by the Rolling Stones, where a fan was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell's Angels who had been hired as security.

The line “I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away” is probably about Janis Joplin. She died of a drug overdose in 1970. Don McLean was a practicing Catholic, and believed in the depravity of sixties music, hence the closing lyric: ‘The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, they caught the last train for the coast, the day the music died..' Some, however, have postulated that in this line, the Trinity represents Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.

Before I get to some direct quotes from Don McLean about the song, there are a couple of interesting offshoots. Most interesting is that in 1971, a singer named Lori Lieberman saw McLean perform ‘American Pie' at the Troubadour theatre in Los Angeles . She was so moved that she wrote a poem that became the basis for her song “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” which was a huge hit for Roberta Flack in 1973, and again for The Fugees in the 1990's. Another little known fact is that when the song was originally released as a single, the A side was only one half of the song and you had to flip it over to hear the other half, as the full version is 8 minutes and 38 seconds long! Chevrolet, the car manufacturers, have made great play of the fact that their name is mentioned in the song, in the line ‘drove my Chevy to the levee' – one billboard campaign ran with this byline ‘They don't write songs about Volvos'!

And finally, on to the man himself, and what he has said about the song. In reply to a letter written to him requesting a definitive explanation, this is what he wrote:

“As you can imagine, over the years I have been asked many times to discuss and explain my song “American Pie.” I have never discussed the lyrics, but have admitted to the Holly reference in the opening stanzas. I dedicated the album American Pie to Buddy Holly as well in order to connect the entire statement to Holly in hopes of bringing about an interest in him, which subsequently did occur.

This brings me to my point. Casey Kasem (a famous American DJ) never spoke to me and none of the references he confirms my making were made by me. You will find many “interpretations” of my lyrics but none of them by me. Isn't this fun?

Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence”. --Don McLean, Castine , Maine

But I believe the best quote from Don McLean was when he was being interviewed in the 1980's, and he was asked (again) ‘What does the song American Pie mean to you?'. His reply was simple and to the point – he said ‘It means never having to work again for the rest of my life.'

Full lyrics

A long, long time ago... I can still remember how

That music used to make me smile.

And I knew if I had my chance,

That I could make those people dance,

And maybe they'd be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver,

With every paper I'd deliver,

Bad news on the doorstep...

I couldn't take one more step.

I can't remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside,

The day the music died.

Soo..Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

this will be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love

And do you have faith in God above

If the Bible tells you so

Do you believe in rock ‘n roll

Can music save your mortal soul

And can you teach me how to dance real slow

Well I know that you're in love with him

‘Cause I saw you dancing in the gym

You both kicked off your shoes

Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck

With a pink carnation and a pickup truck

but I knew that I was out of luck

The day the music died

I started singin'...

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

this will be the day that I die

Now for 10 years we've been on our own

And moss grows flat on a rolling stone

But that's not how it used to be

When the Jester sang for the King and Queen

In a coat he borrowed from James Dean

In a voice that came from you and me

And while the King was looking down

The Jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned

No verdict was returned

And while Lennon read a book on Marx

The quartet practiced in the park

And we sang dirges in the dark

The day the music died

We were singin'

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

this will be the day that I die

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter

The birds flew off the fallout shelter

Eight miles high and falling fast

It landed foul on the grass

The players tried for a forward pass

With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume

While sergeants played a marching tune

We all got up to dance

Oh, but we never got the chance

‘Cause the players tried to take the field,

The marching band refused to yield.

Do you recall what was revealed,

The day the music died?

We started singing

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

this will be the day that I die

There we were all in one place

A generation lost in space With no time left to start again

So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick

Jack Flash sat on a candlestick

‘Cause fire is the devil's only friend.

As I watched him on the stage

My hands were clenched in fists of rage

No angel born in hell

Could break that Satan's spell

And as flames climbed high into the night

To light the sacrificial rite

I saw Satan laughing with delight

the day the music died.

I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some happy news

But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store

Where I'd heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets the children screamed

The lovers cried and the poets dreamed

But not a word was spoken

The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most

The Father Son and Holy Ghost

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died

They were singin'

Bye, bye miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singing this will be the day that I die

this will be the day that I die

Bye Bye Miss American Pie!

THANTAWAN'S KITCHEN

Learn how to make genuine Thai dishes with our very own Thai cook.

This month's offering is Spicy Jungle Curry with Chicken, or Gaeng Par Gai as the Thais say it!

Ingredients:

100g sliced chicken

200g Chilli paste

100g Aromatic ginger root sliced

Unripe tomato

Baby corn

Pepper corn

Kaffir lime leaves

balsam leaves

seasoning powder 1/2 teaspoon

salt 1/2 teaspoon

1 teaspoon fish sauce

4 cups of water

Method: Add chilli paste, ginger root, kaffir lime leaves, a pinch of salt and the seasoning powder to boiling water. After the seasoning begins to produce a wonderful aroma add the chicken and leave to boil for five minutes.

Serve with boiled rice.

Pon and Porn in pink celebrate the first anniversary of their P & P Bar in Poolsuk Road

This group of students, among the sixty from Rattanakosin College Wangklikangwan campus, go on a day trip to study in Nakhonratchasima Province at the Sri-Thai Super Ware Co., Ltd

Enjoy a pint of Guinness at the Road Hole, where it has been recently added to their menu you may be lucky enough to meet these guys

Khun Lek (third left) with guests and some of the team in charge of the beautiful Baan Hua Hin project whose sales office is at Casa Tropicana near Sasi Restaurant. The picture was taken at the launch party of the project

Useful Telephone Numbers for Hua Hin

Railway station
032-512 770, 032-511 073

Bus station of Hua Hin
032-511 654, 032-512 543

Bus station of Prachuabkirikhan
032-601 901

Bus station of Pranburi
032-621 443

Hua Hin Hospital
032-520 401

Dog Rescue Center
0-1981 4406

Wild life Rescue Center (Tayang)
032-458 135

Department of Land Cha-am office:
032- 430 846-7

Department of Land Hua Hin office:
032-536 164, 032-512 407

Department of Land Prachuabkirikhan:
032-611 211

Department of Land Pranburi
032-622 199

Local Government (Hua Hin)
032-521 340, 532 471

Local water supply
032-511 677

The Power Board of Hua Hin
032-512 215, 032 513 165

Observer office:
032-531 078

Red Cross.
032-512 567

San Paolo Hospital
032-532 576-85

Polyclinic International
032-516 424, 032-516 425

Shell Cooking Gas
032-511 144, 032- 515 620

The Communication Authority of Thailand
(Hua Hin)
032-511 351

Rotary Club of Hua Hin
0-1916 6637
Meeting every Thursday 8.pm
at Hua Hin Grand Hotel & Plaza

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