Farewell, Red Arrowhead

…In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We’ve lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky

…Oh they say that it’s over
And it just had to be
Ooh they say that it’s over
We’re lost children of the sea

…Black Sabbath, “Children of the Sea” (1980)

On Monday, April 27th, 2009, General Motors announced the discontinuation of Pontiac Motor Division. CEO Fritz Henderson made the move to scrap Pontiac and eliminate 21,000 jobs as part of a desperate last-ditch attempt to keep GM from bankruptcy. Reportedly, it was a decision made under tremendous pressure from the U.S. government — which itself stands to become the majority stakeholder in General Motors if Henderson’s final turnaround plan is carried out.

For me, a lifelong fan of Pontiac and someone whose very existence is spiritually tied to that storied brand, it was a sad, disappointing day. Sad because, for all of our pie-in-the-sky hopes that Pontiac might again live up to its history of interesting and exciting cars — perhaps with a new Firebird or Trans Am — we now know with certainty that those dreams will never come true. Disappointing because GM let Pontiac wither away and die when the clock ran out, at a time when they have neither the money nor manpower to give it the dignity of a celebrated sendoff. There will be no pomp and circumstance when Pontiac fades away in 2010, because GM can’t afford any.

Long ago, on a website far, far away, I lamented the death of my favorite Pontiac, the Firebird, when that model met its end in 2002. Back then, I could never have imagined that the entire Pontiac brand would disappear before my eyes less than a decade later. (Ironically, Chevy fans have since regained their Camaro, the Firebird’s one-time platform-sharing sister.) But now here we are, and the jig really is up.

Pontiac was a brand with an identity, one that said you went your own way, marched to a different drummer, refused to settle for the mundane. In the 1960s and ’70s, that identity lived in almost every product Pontiac sold — and they sold a lot of them. Its products were at the heart of pop culture sensations like Smokey and the Bandit and Knight Rider. Unfortunately, since the 1980s, Pontiac’s identity has mostly lacked the corporate support and product portfolio needed to make its storied image work. The once-proud brand’s slide into obscurity was, as a result, inevitable.

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Ten Things

In my last post I promised that this was coming, so now here it is.

Ten things I miss about the U.S.:

1. Family. Since my parents have a habit of visiting Florida once every couple of months or so, going for half a year without seeing them has been different. I’m looking forward to seeing them again, as well as my grandmother and my good friends up north when I next travel to Michigan sometime this summer.
2. Driving, American cars, and the freedom that comes with. You probably can’t really appreciate the importance of being able to choose your own destination, and thereby your own destiny, until it’s taken away from you. Because otherwise, really, you’re beholden to somebody else, whether it’s a family member, a roommate or the local bus driver, any time you need or want just about anything. Think about that the next time anyone wants to make it harder for you to choose your own method of transportation. Plus, I really miss seeing the kind of cars on the road that we have in the U.S. They’re far more…interesting.
3. Western food. I like many different kinds of cuisine. But when you get right down to it, I have to give the nod to culinary creations from the western world as being my favorite. Exposure of this kind of food in southern Thailand is limited mostly to club sandwiches (seriously, almost every place has one), cream of mushroom soup and pizza. I recognize the health benefits of Asian food, but you know what? Right now, I can’t wait to get home and eat a burger.
4. Internet technology. Thailand still has a little ways to go when it comes to Internet connectivity, and the seriousness with which said technology is taken by Americans. In the U.S. today, the Internet is on its way to becoming a full-fledged utility, like water and electricity. Surveys show that people are ready to drop cable TV like a hot potato in this economy, but not their Internet connection. Here in Thailand, when your Internet services flakes out — and it does often — the technicians at the ISP consider it with about as much importance as you would the complaints of a three-year-old who didn’t get as much ice cream as he wanted. I can’t tell you how good it’s going to feel to get back home and have web pages instantly appear and downloads complete in mere minutes instead of an hour.
5. Peace and quiet. This is all a function of where you live, naturally. But I’m a big fan of serenity, and I’ll say one thing for our stodgy gated community in Florida: We get a lot of serenity there. Between our housemates, the all-night dogfights outside and the thumping music that went on until just before 3 a.m. this morning, urban Thailand is a whole different ballgame. When we get home it’s going to feel like we stepped into the Cone of Silence. Except that ours actually works. In fact, it may just be too quiet to sleep. That might be, ah, a problem.
6. English-language media. It’s going to be refreshing to hear the English language spoken regularly again, on TV, in movies and by people around us. It’s been easy to fall into my own little world here when I can’t understand the conversation around me. Although I’m starting to pick out words now — at dinner tonight, for example, I knew when my brother-in-law ordered a guava juice and that he asked the waitress for the small size fried chicken and shaomai appetizers. Hey, it’s a start.
7. Cooler temperatures. It gets hot and humid in Florida, sure. Not this hot and humid.
8. Domestic travel. Apple and I want to go more places and see more things in the U.S. and Canada, while we’re able. Our first order of business will be to take a few days’ vacation on a beach somewhere on Florida’s east coast, where there’s nothing to do and not even any mobile phone signal to be had. Further down the road, I hear the Disney Vacation Club is building a resort on Oahu, Hawaii that should be done in 2011…
9. Outdoor exercise. My workout sessions in Thailand are limited to an indoor exercise machine. I’ve been itching to get back on my bike and feel the wind on my face while I’m getting a workout at the same time. (But first, I need to take that goddamned broken hub protector off.)
10. Online gaming. I want to get back to my legit Xbox and reliable Internet connection so my friends and I can play against each other online again. What with the ISP instability, it just got to be impossible here.

Ten things I’ll miss about Thailand:

1. Family. It’s a foreign concept to an only child who was born to two only children, but Apple’s big, traditional Chinese-style family is like a big, warm, friendly unit, and it’s pretty cool. Sure, it’s also full of drama and craziness that can occasionally send Apple over the edge, but I’m sure she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
2. Crazy freedom. “Sometimes I think there’s too much freedom here,” Apple sighed at one point during our stay in Thailand, which seems like an odd concept to a Libertarian. I can see what she means, though — sometimes the lack of laws, regulations or active oversight on just about anything makes it seem a little more like anarchy than monarchy. But in a way, it’s refreshing and freeing knowing that you don’t have to worry about getting sued if someone falls in a hole in the street outside your place of business, or that if you make a simple mistake, it’s not likely to cost you everything you have.
3. Beautiful beaches. I speak particularly of Koh Samui, which is bar-none the most beautiful place I have ever been on this earth. But there are other great beaches all over Thailand, as well. If you like beach destinations, you couldn’t go wrong by coming here.
4. Fresh fruit, natural ingredients, et al. Thailand is filled with exotic fruits like the Phuket pineapple (much tastier than the ones we get at home), Thai guava and mango — and that’s just for starters. Just about everything you eat was cooked with fresh ingredients, including fish that was caught the morning you ate it. Best of all, there’s been relatively little introduction of preservatives, pesticides or crap like the Great Satan itself, high fructose corn syrup, unlike back in the U.S. I mean, they still make soft drinks with sugar — and they taste great!
5. Cheap stuff. Sometimes inexpensive merchandise costs what it does because it’s garbage that will fall apart on you three days after you get it home. But most of the stuff in Thailand is a bargain for someone making an American salary, yet the quality is excellent. Clothing is the best example; it’s the same damn stuff you buy off the rack for $60 at home, except it costs $3 here because the place where they make it is next door. Even the high-end stuff is affordable; we never went to the Fuji Japanese restaurant because everyone always warned us that it was way too expensive, but when we tried it, we found it to be a great value considering the quality of the food, and still cheaper than an equivalent meal in the U.S. All in your perspective, I guess.
6. Working in a different time zone than everyone else. It’s quite freeing indeed when 99% of your coworkers are busy working while you’re asleep — and more importantly, while you’re busy working, they’re not available to interrupt you. It’s also much easier to set your own hours; I’ve been getting up at 10 a.m. and working until 7 in the evening these days. It just works for me. I supposedly have that freedom at home, too, but I know my boss prefers it if I match hours with his people at HQ, so I essentially live on Central Time. It’s a bit more grounding.
7. Corporations that don’t suck. I don’t know whether American corporations just like to take advantage of people, or whether they need to because the American government is taking advantage of them. Either way, the consumer usually gets the shaft. Compare this to Thailand, where in many industries, there are still lots of perks to be had just for patronizing a particular business. Banks hand out free swag like it’s going out of style, families build up entire catalogs of free dishes and glasses just from sending in proofs of purchase to vendors, and mobile phone companies — get this — just sell you a SIM that you can put in any cutting-edge phone you want, no contract needed. Is that cool or what?
8. Thai massage. I just finished having perhaps the best massage I’ve had yet. And at the cost of about $10 per hour, there’s no way you’re getting anything like this in the U.S. for a similar price.
9. Medical care. If you’re a Thai national, you can get medical care for a couple of bucks if you’re willing to put up with a grungy ward and undesirable conditions, or a few hundred bucks if you want something better. You can take your child to the doctor as many times as you want, even if you just have a question — if the doctor finds nothing wrong, you pay nothing. When you go to the dentist, it doesn’t suck. I mean, it’s amazing.
10. Simpler lifestyle. People here, by and large, live the kind of life I wistfully alluded to in my previous post. Most of them work hard, do their jobs, and spend their off hours with family and friends. There seems to be a lot less frenetic rushing around and inability to leave work at work, if you know what I mean. Family is still a very important concept in Asian culture, and one that we Americans should want to rediscover.

One more week to go.

Escapism as a Lifestyle

Originally, this post was going to discuss the official launch of our final week here in Thailand. It was going to feature details of the fun stuff we’ve got planned for our last weekend, our trip prep activities over the coming week, and even a list of “10 things I miss about the U.S.” juxtaposed with a list of “10 things I’ll miss about Thailand.”

I’m not so sure, however, that I want to write that post anymore. Not just now. I’m feeling a bit more philosophical at the moment.

When exactly was it that my day went down the crapper and into the proverbial sewer system? I was having such a good day, you see, until late this evening. During breakfast today, I started things off with a glowing email from my friend Pooch, who apparently really liked the sneak preview I sent him of the story I’ve been working on. During the day I worked on my various tasks, encountered some work-related problems and found their solutions. This evening we bought our last week’s worth of groceries and treated Apple’s brother and his family to a little dinner at Hachiban Ramen. They’re leaving on a weeklong vacation on Sunday, after which we may not see them again this trip.

I was riding high on good feelings throughout all of it, which is why it was a bit of a downer to come home and read the news that, according to a company insider, General Motors is going to officially announce the closure of the Pontiac brand on Monday. It’s still unofficial at this point, but would anybody honestly be surprised if it were true? And furthermore, even as an utter and complete Pontiac fanboy extraordinaire, would I be lying if I said it wasn’t a good move for the cash-strapped GM to make? By my reckoning, a smaller GM is better than no GM. For instance, I’d rather be able to buy a Holden Commodore badged as a Chevy Impala, as they are in most of the world, as opposed to not having the car at all.

Still, as a man who’s been a literally lifelong fan of Pontiac’s style, history and legacy, and who has never parked anything other than a red arrowhead in his garage, this is like watching a friend die. A friend who was terminally ill, and whom you knew couldn’t last much longer, and whose every remaining day was torturous and agonizing. None of that makes it any easier when the end comes.

Back in 2001, when I eulogized the Pontiac Firebird — my favorite car, and one whose permanent discontinuation had just been announced by GM — I could never have imagined that, less than a decade later, I might be prepared to eulogize Pontiac as a brand. But, come what may, we all have little choice but to accept the reality that’s handed to us by forces beyond our control.

My mood didn’t improve again today, not since reading this news. Speaking of which, since I previously announced that I was removing myself from any and all news consumption, you’re probably wondering how I even came across Pontiac’s death warrant. Sadly, I read it on my favorite video game blog, Joystiq. Joystiq also owns Autoblog. And at the bottom of every Joystiq page are links to the latest articles on all of their affiliate sites, sooooo…you can imagine what happened. Sigh. Sometimes you can’t win for losing, y’know?

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Random Hoo-Ha

I couldn’t think of an appropriately witty title for this entry, nor could I decide on a particular subject — so what you get is, indeed, a bunch of random hoo-ha.

Hard to believe that yet another weekend is already two-thirds gone. Normally that would be a bad thing, but right now it just signifies the march of time bringing us ever closer to our return trip — an event for which Apple and I are both very anxious. This week we’re going to start packing, just to make sure everything we want to take with us actually fits in our luggage. I’m going to leave almost all of my clothes here, I think, and get some new ones when I get home. I need more stuff that fits; almost everything I brought is so big on me now that it makes me look like a partially-deflated balloon.

Yesterday was a good day. Apple and I both went to the family dentist for check-ups. It was a walk in the park — I was in there for about 10 minutes, and that was that. Sure, my mouth was a bit sore for the rest of the day, but that’s all. I think the visit cost about 10 bucks. Why can’t dental care in the U.S. be like this?

I had another one of those relaxing and energizing Thai massages in the afternoon, then we went to “Taste At” for dinner. Yeah, that’s actually the name of the restaurant. It’s a cozy little steakhouse that serves up the best Italian cuisine that we’ve had in Thailand. They have great lasagna, but the problem is they rarely have any available. Such was the case last night, so I ordered a steak. Imported New Zealand sirloin in mushroom sauce. It was pretty good, but honestly not as good as Sizzler (another western restaurant, which has a higher quality presentation in Asia than it does in the U.S.). Taste At’s spaghetti is much more highly recommended. We also had excellent tomato soup and a salad with grilled herb sea bass. Tasty.

After dinner, we tried to watch the ever-popular film Slumdog Millionaire last night, but I gotta be honest with you…I just wasn’t feeling it. Apparently Apple wasn’t either, because about halfway through she said, “Okay…I think I’m done with this movie.” So was I. Not sure what happened; I mean, it didn’t seem like a bad film, but we just weren’t in the mood I guess.

So today we had a light lunch at Hachiban Ramen, then went over to what Apple calls the “healthy market” to stock up on some natural juices, supplements and remedies. Now it looks like we’ll (thankfully) be relaxing for the rest of the evening. I have some new ideas for my story kicking around in my head — I already have most of the remainder of the tale planned out in notes on my iPhone, which I jotted down during the last long car trip we took — and I want to put them to paper. Well, virtual paper, you understand. Part of the hurry is that my friend Pooch is really wanting to see what I’ve written so far, but I keep putting off sending him an update, because every time I think about what I want to write next, I’m afraid I might have to change parts of the last scene to make them “gel” together. It’s a challenge. But this is one of the most personally fulfilling stories I’ve written since…I dunno, 2001?

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Three Weekends Left

It’s Saturday tomorrow, and the beginning of the first of our final three weekends here in Thailand. We’ve already got them all planned out, too, although you would expect as much from us by now. After spending the entirety of every weekday within the same four walls, working 80% of the day and mostly losing myself in daydreams and fantasy for the remaining 20%, when the weekend comes we like to get out of the house and do something.

So tomorrow morning I’m going to get another Thai massage in the afternoon. I sometimes wind up doing a little work on Saturdays (since our Friday night is Friday during business hours back home, and sometimes new stuff comes in). But my boss is out of town until Monday, so hopefully nothing new will show up.

On Sunday, Apple and I are going on what’s become our traditional “Sunday outing.” This time we’re going to the grocery store / big box mall down the street and picking up the weekly foodstuffs, but more importantly we’re having sushi, ramen noodles and takoyaki at the restaurants there. (And then maybe we’ll get some hot pretzel sticks from Auntie Anne’s…yes, that Auntie Anne’s.)

Next weekend we’re going to see the dentist on Saturday. The weekend after that, I’m getting my hair cut one more time, then we’ll walk to Lee Garden Plaza for dinner (Pizza Hut, I think) and some shopping.

Most exciting of all, the weekend after that is when we fly home! We reserved our choice of seats on the various flights yesterday, so that’s done. I imagine trying to pack all of the stuff we want to drag home with us is going to prove more challenging than we think, but I’m sure we’ll manage. I personally won’t mind leaving some clothes here — hell, most of the attire I brought looks like freakin’ clown clothes on me now, since I’ve lost over 30 pounds!

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So Say We All

Over the weekend, one of the entertainment mainstays in my life came to an end as I finally watched the series finale of Battlestar Galactica. It was, simply put, the bittersweet moment to end all bittersweet moments. I already have a big problem finishing things that I really like — TV series, books, video games, etc. — because once I’ve watched, read or played them all the way through, that’s it. They will never be “new” again. It’s an admittedly stupid quirk, but it kept me from watching the last episode of Knight Rider until 1998, finishing System Shock 2 until the mid 2000s, and enjoying the series finale of Star Trek: TNG until just six months ago. No, really.

Ron Moore and David Eick’s reimagined BSG, however, was epic from start to finish. With a story that unfolded in a serial fashion over the course of six long years, it was like a high-speed joyride to destinations unknown that you couldn’t bear to stop. And so after a delay of only a couple of weeks, I finally put “watch the end of Battlestar” on my to-do list. On Saturday night, I turned down the lights, prepared a late-night snack and settled in for the last two episodes I had yet to see: “Daybreak, Part 1″ and the two-hour wrap-up, “Daybreak, Part 2.”

To use the Battlestar lexicon, holy frakking shit.

It hasn’t left my mind since — neither the amazing images, the satisfying yet still mystifying story, nor the incredible musical score. This was, quite simply, the end of one of television’s best series. And rather than dwindle away into cancellation, spin itself off into a shadow of its former self or jump the shark and drag us through the mud for the last few years, I personally feel it ended on the same high note as it began. Not only was it a near-perfect series for sci-fi lovers, in my opinion it concluded with a near-perfect finale.

There’s a lot of debate about this, of course; in fact, I was pretty surprised at the wide range of opinions on the finale that I found posted on message boards all across the Internet. Many people liked the finale, and yet, many people also hated it. Others seemed consumed by unanswered questions. But I think a show does a large part of its job if it gets people talking, and from my own personal viewpoints, the wrap-up was exactly what I wanted to see. I’ll explain my perspective after the jump. (No, not the FTL jump.) But first, a little recap of the finale’s events.

Warning: Lots of spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t watched the last episode yet, get out of here and don’t come back until you have. Y’hear?

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