People have been giving me little gifts lately -- and I ain't complaining! Thanks to fashion consultant Tara for the batik, which conveniently allows me to sleep in. And cheers to Emiko for the Tim Burton book, which is very Roald Dahl / Edward Gorey influenced. Also on the comic front, parked my butt at Jars of Clay coffee shop (a secret refuge around the corner from the Russian Market) and discovered they had a copy of "Lots of Lat". Lat is Malaysia's premier comic export - he writes in English and Malay and is funny and poignant. Everybody likes Lat, trust me on this one. (Have I ever steered you wrong yet?) And believe it or not, he's actually got an animated series based on his books, which you can buy bootlegged in most Phnom Penh markets. Friday at Sovanna Phum was great - new shadow puppet story, and lots of familiar faces. Finally caught up with Juana, a classmate from the Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute. This is a cram school where you can learn Southeast Asian languages (Lao, Burmese, Tagalog, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Javanese, etc.) - one year in ten weeks. Hadn't seen Juana in seven years! She is doing some difficult and important work with children and AIDS patients here in Phnom Penh. Viva Juana! Maybe I can have a small reunion of my old SEASSI class while I am here.

Fascinating. Should the Khmer Rouge have been bombed? Probably. But I’m not enamored of the strategy of carpet bombing, which killed a lot of noncombatants. I wonder if the database lists flight crews, and armaments manufacturers? - J ========================================================= U.S. firm provides Cambodia detailed list of 1970s U.S. bombing runs Monday, July 8, 2002 (07-08) 06:21 PDT PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- A U.S. defense contractor provided the Cambodian government with computerized information Monday detailing the hundreds of bombing runs that American planes made on Cambodian territory during the Vietnam War. The information is intended to help Cambodian demining groups clear land for settlers and agricultural development, officials said. The information came from the U.S. national archive, originally supplied by pilots after completing their missions. U.S. bombing runs against suspected Viet Cong supply lines on Cambodian soil began in 1969 and bombing of suspected communists in Cambodia continued sporadically until 1973. Tens of thousands of Cambodians were killed and injured in the raids, many of which were orchestrated secretly by the Nixon administration and later declared illegal by Congress. Many of the bombs remain unexploded and scattered about the Cambodian countryside in addition to the thousands of more unexploded ordnance from more than 30 years of civil strife in the country, one of the poorest in the world. In a ceremony at the government's Cabinet office, Cambodia's de-mining authorities accepted the information, contained in a CD-ROM, from Michael Sheinkman, a private analyst with ties to the U.S. Defense Department. The donation has the blessing of the U.S. government. "We look forward to this database helping us do our work," said the director general of Cambodia's national authority on demining, Sam Sotha, a Cambodian-American citizen. Sheinkman, a geographer for the Federal Resources Corporation of Fairfax, Va., described the information as the most complete database of a U.S. bombing campaign ever collected. "If they were dropping leaflets, that's in the database," Sheinkman said. "If they were shooting bullets, that's in the database. Large bombs. Cluster bombs -- anything that was in the air at the time it was recorded." U.S. Embassy Defense Attache Col. Mike Norton, who attended the ceremony, said the information may not be of "pinpoint" accuracy. "But it's better to know, 'OK, this is the general area something may have happened.' It will assist the deminers in their planning of demining operations," Norton said. Cambodia, funded by international donors, spends millions of dollars each year clearing land mines from its pockmarked countryside.

Will be down in Phnom Penh this Friday. Sovanna Phum's shadow puppets/theatre/dance happens every Friday at 7:30, that's where you'll find me.

SOVANNA PHUM presents Shadow theatre- Dom Larng Bram Pi Sandarn The comedy misunderstanding story Friday 26th July 2002 at 7.30 P.M. Entrance fee 4 U$ No. 111a Street 360 (corner St 105) Boeung Kang Kong III, Phnom Penh - HP 012 84 60 20 or 023 987 564 - e-mail: art@sovannaphum.com

Some virus problems today. Looking for a shareware antivirus program that is a small file (fits on a floppy), and has all the latest protection? Bach Koa AntiVirus. Does pretty well for what I need. http://www.vnn.vn/vnn1/bkav/

If you're local in Siem Reap, try this: =================================================== CE SOIR 18H30 / TONIGHT 6:30 Vous êtes cordialement invités à la présentation informelle : You are cordially invited to attend the following informal presentation: RECHERCHE ET SAUVEGARDE DU PATRIMOINE IMMATERIEL Georges Condominas Ethnologue - Cultural Anthropologist Docteur ès lettres, Membre correspondant de l¹Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient, élu à une chaire d¹ethnologie et de sociologie de l¹Asie du Sud-Est et du monde insulindien à l¹Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE, France), VIe section, Georges Condominas a été également visiting professor aux Universités de Yale et Columbia. Spécialiste de l¹oralité, il a longtemps été professeur à l¹Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales et il est notamment l¹auteur du célèbre livre Nous avons mangé la forêt de la Pierre-Génie Gôo. Chronique de Sar-luk, village mnong gar. Il a aussi été vice-président de l¹Union des Anthropologues et Membre du Jury international pour la proclamation par l¹UNESCO des chefs-d¹¦uvre du patrimoine oral et immatériel de l¹humanité. À l¹occasion de son passage à Siem Reap, le Professeur Georges Condominas évoquera la richesse et la diversité du patrimoine intangible des sociétés d'Asie du Sud-Est. Il exposera les moyens disponibles pour préserver ce patrimoine ethnologique particulièrement menacé par le développement actuel et soulignera l¹urgence de la situation. Georges Condominas is a French cultural anthropologist and a specialist of oral culture. After completing his Ph.D., he was elected to a Chair of ethnology and sociology of South-East Asia at the Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE, France), VIth section, and was a visiting professor at Yale and Columbia (USA). He has been a professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales for many years. He is the author of the renowned book, We have Eaten the Forest. The story of a Montagnard Village in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. He has also been Vice-president of the Union of Anthropologists, and a Member of the International Jury for proclamation by UNESCO of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. On the occasion of his visit to Siem Reap, Professor Georges Condominas will recall the wealth and diversity of the non-material heritage of Southeast Asian societies. This ethnological heritage being severely threatened by the current economic development, he will outline some of the means available to preserve it, and emphasize the urgency of doing something about it. La présentation se tiendra à 18 h 30, vendredi 19 juillet, dans la bibliothèque de l'EFEO. The presentation will take place July 19th, at 6:30 pm in the EFEO library. Presentation will be in French ; English and Khmer translation will be available. En vue de développer les échanges scientifiques, tant formels qu'informels, nous envisageons de poursuivre la tenue de telles présentations relatives à des sujets intéressant la communauté scientifique de Siem Reap. Nous vous tiendrons informés par courrier électronique des prochaines présentations, au fur et à mesure de leur confirmation. Nous vous invitons bien sûr à transmettre cette invitation à toute personne qui vous semblerait pouvoir être intéressé. In order to encourage scientific exchange, formally as well as informally, we are planning to follow up with other presentations by speakers working on subjects of interest to the Siem Reap scholarly community. You will be noticed by e-mail of these developments as they occur. Please do not hesitate to forward this invitation to whoever you feel would be interested. Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) Siem Reap Phum Beng Don Pa, Khum Slâ Kram Tel: (885) (15) 635 037 / (63) 380 163 Tel/Fax: (855) (63) 964 226 Email: efeo.angkor@camintel.com EFEO Web Site: http://www.efeo.fr

Back in Siem Reap! Australia was great, and met up with my Khmer teacher from when I was studying there. Also, the Cambodian Association where I used to teach seems to be doing well.

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