Author, music historian and music journalist Joseph Clement Pereira is a Singaporean gem, if not a little known national treasure. In his masterpiece, Legends of the Golden Venus, Joseph documented the history of Singaporean popular music in the 1960’s. Joseph plans to follow up this tome on the Singaporean music scene with another in the near future. Joseph has also been busy compiling CD collections of popular local Singaporean acts of years gone by so that this part of musical history with be available for posterity. He also has been the go to guy for big name interviews in Singapore of major international stars such as Eric Clapton, John Mayall, B.B. King, former members of The Tubes, Procol Harem and others. Joseph also is an international “vinyl collector” who has a taste for old Vietnamese pop music, to which I can personally attest.

I have known and been friends with Joseph since 1994 when we met in Vietnam. He and I are great friends and have visited one another in four cities in three different countries. I think what we find mutually appreciative is that we have varied interests and love to share these interests through long, leisurely conversations.

Look soon for an interview I conducted with Joseph Pereirra about his writing and research!

By the way, if you are on Facebook why don’t you become a fan of Legends of the Golden Venus?

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It was with great sadness but also a bit of relief that last week I resigned from the Bangkok Writers Guild. I left because the group had recently seemed to have taken a sharp turn from being an opportunity for writers of various backgrounds to meet, socialize and help one another along. To me it seemed to have turned into something else. A writers’ seminar.

It was never my intention for the group to become a “writers’ seminar”, nor was it the intention of any of the other long time members of the group. It was only meant to be a time for writers to meet and share the joys and frustrations of writing as well as to help writers on an informal basis when people needed advice and expertise about getting writing work, editing, publishing, self-publishing, make friends with other writers, etc. I never, ever envisioned that this group would become some kind of workshop, doling out assignments to the members.

I was amazed at how fast this transformation took place. I missed one meeting last October when I was on a business trip to the Middle East and Europe. After I returned I attended the November meeting to see that this format was faît accompli, seemingly being “run” by a new member of the group I’d never even seen before.

 Anyway, I’m not in for it and I never was. If I wanted “assignments” I’d enrol in a course. When I need someone’s editorial advice, as I often do, then I seek it out. I have my own stable of contacts who help me as I help them when they ask.

 Had I known that the group would so quickly have morphed into this shape I would have never taken over the organization of it.

Part of the reason that I am of two minds about leaving the group is because writing is a big part of my life. I am a monthly columnist in a major business magazine. I publish two professional newsletters. Over the past years I have written features for magazines in Europe, Asia and North America. I maintain ten (yes, ten) blogs, both professionally and personally. And I have published two non-fiction books. On top of all of this I travel a substantial amount of time. The very last thing I want or need is for a new comers in the writers’ group to be giving me a reading and critique assignments. The whole point of the group has been missed. And to be quite honest I have too much on my slate to get into any kind of political struggle over the nature of the group. I chose to expend my energy on more positive activities.

My good friend, C.Y. Gopinath, who is an excellent writer, has taken over the helm of the group in the meantime. He volunteered himself right away. To me that is a very good thing because it was Gopi who founded the group in the first place.

It is sad that people would want to turn an opportunity for writers to network into a seminar – whether they want to run it or whether they want to be part of the critiquing. I don’t say this because a seminar is a bad thing. I say it because I recommend that anyone who would like to make such a group into a classroom for getting free critiquing will most likely not go anywhere with the craft anyway. I recommend them to actually start their own seminar or enroll in a school for that. I was involved because I believed that we writers all had something to offer one another and could work on building a support network. I guess with writers it wasn’t meant to be. And I also feel that this is why so many of them, including many of the better writers, remain unread!

In the meantime, I received one very nasty mail from a member who chose to use illogic and foul language because I resigned. The guy is a real winner in life for sure. He would epitomize what we call back home a “nine month abortion”. Over the few years I was involved in the group we had many people come and go. In fact, Gopi himself was originally running the group and resigned. Nobody used foul language or chased up after him. D.F. Thompson was the second person to run the group before I took over and he also resigned. I am sure no one came at him with foul language either. And I have a right to resign if I feel that the group has moved in different directions or if I do not have enough time to carry out my responsibilities. So this complaint will remain to me like water off a duck’s back.

I do have a message for any of the writers who feel like I do concerning the direction of the Bangkok Writers Guild: Any of you who would like to meet socially in the format that I originally proposed let me know. I am still keen for this. But a seminar format with reading assignments? Not interested in the very least.




Bright nights in Bangkok

Originally uploaded by B℮n

I have been guilty of not spending enough time soaking in the city. Basically doing “things” as opposed to taking life in and living it. I have been working on conversation skills all around for the past several years. I would even say that this is one of my greatest joys in life now.

Those of you who have been keeping up with my blogs in the past may have noticed that I have been going through a reading crisis recently. I think this stems from a bit of burn out. I need to get away for a while and never seem to. Last night I turned in early only to wake up late today (it’s a Saturday). I got in my reading chair and fell asleep reading until I was woken up for lunch. Then after lunch I feel asleep yet again until 1900 hrs and have been groggy ever since. To me that is a major sign that I am needing time off. Unfortunately, I have no idea when this time off will come.

Sometimes inspiration comes with a clear head. I think that is what I need right now. A clear head.

I don’t know about the rest of you but the year 2010 will be the best one yet for me.   I know it because I plan to make it that way!

This year look for a flurry of activity. Look for systems and not micromanagement. Look for enjoyment in life.

All of this comes from knowing what you want and preparing. It also means to know when to focus and when to multitask. These are things that I am having to constantly work on myself and I am sure that I am not the only one out there. I guess this means that I will have to meditate a bit more as well as getting more sleep and exercise. But it will be worth it, paying immediate dividends.

Anyway, without rambling too much more I wish everyone who reads this will have an excellent 2010 and an excellent rest of your lives while you are at it!

I just saw that I am on a list of books that someone read this year. That someone was actually someone I know: Mihnea Voicu Simandan

Even though I know Mihnea it still was a bit of a charge to unexpectedly see my book on his list – and to see that he rated it four stars out of five. The book that Mihnea read was my first publication, Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness: The Truth about the Vatican and the Birth of Islam. These unexpected plugs can definitely give you a charge. At least you know you are getting read and that people are mentioning you. Sometimes we all need a charge like this. Word of mouth publicity I have found to be the very best form of publicity simply because it is the most sincere. Mihnea himself is a writer so I also sincerely hope that mentioning him here will also help him to get a little more light shined on his work.

Another thing I liked about Mihnea’s list is that other authors who I know personally also made the list. Maclean J Storer’s Forward O Peasant was there as well as A.D. Thompson’s Diner Dharma, for which I even wrote a blurb that appears on the book. (If you are keeping score, Mihnea seemed to like my book better than Diner Dharma and not as much as Forward O Peasant. Where would we be without keeping score?)

Anyway, this kind of gives me a charge to go out and write some more this weekend.

I have always loved to read. As a child I read books, magazines, encyclopaedias and even catalogues. And as I grow older I find that I still love to read as much as ever – if not more. But I have been noticing a disturbing trend. My attention span is waning.

This is an especially disturbing trend to me because I find that it is disrupting on of the most positive activities in my life. The hours and hours that I spent in rapt pleasure leisurely reading my way to slumber has given way to hours and hours in front of a computer screen only to go to bed unable to sleep and leave bed in the morning with a headache (which I refer to as “cyberburnout”). I never felt time was wasted with a book but I often feel guiltily uneasy about my time on the internet.

I have a theory that this is down to the amount of time I spent at the computer. There are so many interesting and compelling pages on the internet that I find myself skimming from page to page to page. I get lost surfing.

In the past when reading books my mind would wander as well but the meandering was stimulated by the information laid out or the story being told in the book. My imagination would get a work out. Now though when I read books I am feeling a disturbing trend. My mind wanders to other things often related to the book only as a starting point.

My feeling is that web surfing is having a negative impact on my attention span.

Or could this be from something else?

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When a man is asleep he should be left alone. Period!

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This will give you an idea just how big that river is!


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On the one hand I thoroughly enjoyed this book but on the other hand I kept feeling a bit of forced guilt on the behalf of the author. Frank Beacham was anything but a Southern apologist, which he shouldn’t be anyway, I felt the story was written to attach himself and distance himself at the same time.

That being said Frank Beacham has done a wonderful job at telling the stories. There were three stories covered in the book: The origin of the shag – the official dance of South Carolina, the Orangeburg police massacre of non-violent students at South Carolina State University in the late 1960’s and the tale of a bloody crackdown in Beacham’s hometown during the Great Depression which has repurcussions to this day. (The author discovered via friends that the aggression was started by none other than his own grandfather!)

The stories are interesting and compelling. I’m glad I read it.

8790636307ab8e33589102eb6cbb5165

WHITEWASH: A Southern Journey Through Music, Mayhem & Murder by Frank Beacham

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The maid cleaned today then hurricane Caia rolled through! The “terribles” don’t necessarily end at two…

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Gary Dale Cearley – Author & Columnist

Gary Dale Cearley is an expatriate author and columnist who is based currently in Bangkok, Thailand, after having lived many years in Vietnam, Korea and many cities in the United States. He is the author of two books and was born and raised in rural Arkansas.

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