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Chiang Mai favorite goes historical
Richie Castro producing children’s cd
By Shana Kongmun
Chiang Mai boasts a plethora of venues with live music; from Guitarman
with rock and roll to the Riva with acoustic and rock and roll. North Gate
Jazz Club is a popular place for jazz lovers and Chai’s Blues House is the
place to hear the blues. One popular musician in Chiang Mai started out at
Guitarman over 6 years ago. Richie Castro had been playing in Europe for 3
years, Spain, Germany, every country except Portugal and Finland, he
believes. He was on his way to Australia when he stopped over in Bangkok.,
finding Bangkok not his style, he gave Chiang Mai a try as it had been
suggested by so many people. “Go to Chiang Mai, you will love it there”. And
love it, he did. He stayed for 3 years before heading off for greener
pastures, or rather greener paying pastures. He has returned to record his
first CD of not just children’s music, but an interactive educational and
fun musical tour of history. Called The History Hunter, Richie returned to
Chiang Mai to record, not just because of the network of musicians he knew
here and the quality of recording studios available but, of course, the fact
that he had loved the place and the people since he first arrived.
Local favorite Richie Castro is
launching a children’s cd.
Richie is a bundle of energy on stage; a talented
musician and a fun and interesting performer who successfully engages his
audience. He said he learned how to perform from his years of busking and
performing throughout Europe.
Although he started out as an actor, even going so far as
to move from his native Colorado to Los Angeles to get into the field.
However, it was his time spent in Mexico, ostensibly to learn Spanish, that
made him change direction and turn to music. Performing in Cancun on the
party circuit wore him down, and that is when he headed for Europe.
But, the prospect of one more cold winter in Europe
inspired him to head towards warmer climes. And like so many other expats
living in Thailand it was the serendipitous coming together of fortuitous
events that resulted in Richie showing up in Chiang Mai.
It was his time spent travelling around the United States
working as a cultural story teller for schools that inspired him to create
his new CD, however. The History Hunter features educational and fun songs
about various historical figures, from woman pirate Anne Bonney to Mexican
revolutionary Pancho Villa, Australian folk hero and bank robber Ned Kelly
and Thailand’s very own Ya Mo, also known as Thao Suranaree,the heroine of
Korat.
Each song features the musical style of the country of
origin, from African percussion to mariachis, he hopes that the music,
combined with the accompanying comic book, much of it
His current return sees him performing live at the Riva
every Friday night, much to local and expats enjoyment while he has been
recording his new CD.
The launch party for the CD is March 27 at 9 PM and will
feature performance art, with performers dressed in the costumes reflecting
the songs on the CD. Sawan Music Pub on the Super Highway, opposite the CMU
Art museum. Kids Party starts at 3 PM.
Pop Ups
By The Computer Quack
You are browsing a web site and all of a sudden a window pops up. It
could be something innocuous, like an advert for cheap car loans, or it
could be something more sinister like a link to a pornographic site.
You’ve never asked for these sites, so how do they appear?
Normally it is spyware or adware that installs in your browser and routinely
loads an advert at a preset time.
Most spyware or adware comes from the more “illegal” web
sites, so there are plenty of reasons to avoid them. Whether it’s
pornography, free software or movie and music downloads, many sites that
offer these things are normally riddled with spyware and adware, and it’s so
often heavily disguised that you won’t even know you’ve downloaded and
installed it.
There are plenty of legitimate sites that launch pop-up
adverts as well; they are more of an annoyance than anything else, but they
also use up valuable bandwidth. The new version of Microsoft Internet
Explorer contains a built in Pop-Up Blocker which will suppress much of
this.
And a good spyware or adware scan will generally remove
any illegal program that’s causing these, although some of them are
notoriously difficult to remove. If you find something you can’t remove, try
searching Google for ways to remove it, or you may even need to take your
computer to your local PC shop and ask them for help.
Plans laid for
King Mengrai Day celebrations
Representatives from work agencies, both public and private sectors, and
the Foundation, attended the meeting in preparations for the upcoming day
and celebration.
Jedsadapong Wongkiew
Phaya Mengrai or King Mengrai‘s Day celebration will be held
on April 12 the Urban Development Foundation recently announced.
King Mengrai, who built Chiang Mai city 714 years ago,
will be commemorated at the grand celebration, and then followed by a “tod
pha pa” merit-making ceremony to raise funds for The Urban Development
Institute Foundation. The funds proceeding from the “tod pha pa” merit-making
ceremony will be used to help renovate the Chiang Mai City Creative Center,
a learning resources center.
Along with the Chiang Mai Municipality, the Foundation
and members of the private sector fund and manage the celebration to honor
King Mengrai and celebrate the 714th anniversary of
the city’s founding on April 12.
Dr. Duangchan Arphawatcharut, secretary of the Foundation
noted that April 12, 1296 has been determined by historical records to be
the day that King Mengrai built the city.
The Foundation annually organizes the anniversary
celebration, marking the foundation day celebration, and also to educate
about the foundation of Chiang Mai City and to understand more about the
lives of those who originally inhabited Chiang Mai City, from slaves to
aristocracy, shopkeepers to maids and about the King who played a vital role
in the future of the city.
The April 12 Phaya Mengrai celebration will be held at
the center on Ratchavithi Road, Tambon Sriphum from 6.30 p.m. – 12. 00 a.m.
On the day celebration, there will be a parade to honor
King Mengrai, with offerings, lessons on the history of the city, and then
the parade will move to the building where King Mengrai lived, near Wat
Duangdee on Ratchadamnoen road.
After that the parade will move to the Chiang Mai City
Creative Center for a Buddhist religious ceremony, offerings will be also
presented to the nine Buddhist monks who attended the ceremony, and then the
monks will be presented the meal for their luncheon on that day.
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