O-Negative (after much blubbering Foon leaves O Group's chat)

Foon ups the ante

Episode 17 of the Thai TV show O-Negative (Episode 16) starts where episode 16 left off. Peun had arranged for an appointment for Prim's mom with Dr. Ben, the psychologist. He had told Prim he would go to it with her and her mom. In the meanwhile he and Foon had gone out to shop and eat. When Prim called Peun to remind him about the appointment, Foon turned on her sad, puppy dog eyes and asked him to stay with her instead.

Peun puts up a feeble resistance, but soon caves and calls Prim to cancel going with her. He comes up with some BS excuse of something suddenly coming up. Prim, as an excuse to get her mom to the appointment, had told her mother they were going to go for dinner. After Peun's call she cancels that, and then calls Art.

Prim must have noticed Peun's lips were moving

Prim meets Art at the college. She asks him about Peun's behavior. She explains how he cancelled the appointment and she bluntly says she thinks Peun is lying about the reason. Art is trying to duck her questions about Peun and sort of cover for him when she points out that, while she knows he's Peun's friend, Art is also her friend.

It is an effective tactic. Art doesn't like lying, and he has told Peun he doesn't want to cover for him. Art suggests they just go to Peun's house, where he is supposed to be having a family dinner, and see if he is lying or not. Art tells Prim he'll go with her.

We jump to a montage of Peun and Foon at a park. They're on a bike, paddling a goofy looking, foot powered swan boat, laying in the grass taking selfies and in general having a lovey-dovey time. Little does happy-go-lucky Peun realize that Art and Prim are in a taxi headed to his house as he frolics with Foon.

Luckily for him Prim changes her mind about going to Peun's house. She reasons that if she goes there and he's at a family dinner she'll feel bad for doubting him, and if he isn't there she'll feel bad because he lied to her. She decides she just wants to avoid it all and spend time alone to think.

We cut to later that night when Peun is getting out of a taxi at his home. Out of the shadows pops Prim. Ro-oh, she decided to check on him after all. Naturally, Peun being Peun, he starts to try to lie his way out of this situation. She cuts him off and tells him that she had liked him and was starting to have feelings for him, but that's all over now.

He tries to grovel his way out of his predicament, but she's having none of it. He then confesses to her that he likes her, but she tells him it is too late, that her feelings towards him have changed. She leaves him standing at his gate.

Peun at the start of a bender

We jump to later that night. Peun is in a bar sadly knocking back a mixed drink. We notice that even in his sorrow he remembers to have pack of Dentyne on the bar in front of him for product placement purposes. He gets a call from Foon but doesn't answer. Sorry Peun, but it is a little late to keep your zipper zipped.

Art arrives and Peun tells him he ruined it with Prim. That she was waiting at his house when he came home and caught him in his lie. Art is surprised that she actually went there, but he doesn't let on that he suggested to Prim that she do that. When asked, Peun tells Art that he was with Foon. Curiously, there are a couple of lines of dialog dropped. Not only is there no captioning, but there is also no sound. I wonder what it was that made the producers cut it?

He then tells Art, as he's wailing that it is all ruined, that she said she had liked Peun, and that he had confessed to her that he liked her. Art is shocked when he hears that. In fact, he hardly gives any of his usual 'just wait' advice. Instead, has asks Peun "what about Foon?" Peun just weakly replies that she treats him well and that completely disgusts Art. He lays into Peun over how thoughtless he's been.

That night Peun can't sleep. At 3:00 am he messages Foon. Kind of an obnoxious thing to do to say the least. He tells her he feels uneasy and wants to meet with her. They meet at a café. She's feeling frisky, but he shuts her down quickly. He tells her they should stop seeing each other. She protests, but he tells her they were never really in a relationship. She counters by pointing out they had been honking each other, which is the kind of thing people in relationships do. He doesn't answer that, so she directly asks him if he is choosing Prim over her. Further burnishing his dick credentials, he tells her that he doesn't know. He then plays the 'can we still be friends' card.

Foon nukes O Groups chat

She puts on a brave face, but is in tears as she leaves with a sad song blaring in the sound track. She blubbers the rest of the night away in her parked car. She only makes it home at dawn. She sits in her driveway for a while and then tearfully deletes O Group's chat from her phone.

Bare feet and broken glass again

We cut to Prim's house where she hears a glass shattering in the other room. Gah, not glass shards around bare feet again. She runs into the room and finds her mom standing and looking at the broken glass. She tells Prim she intentionally broke it. That she decided she didn't want to drink anymore. Needless to say Prim is delighted by the news.

Their celebration is interrupted by the door bell. It is Peun, standing in front of her gate looking stupid as always. He's going to try to weasel his way back into Prim's good graces, but before he can get far Prim gets a call from Chompoo who tells her about Foon leaving the O Group chat.

Chompoo, Prim and Peun meet to try to contact Foon. Chompoo wonders if either of them did something to upset Foon. Naturally Peun lies through his teeth and says he has no idea what could be bothering her.

Later they get together with Art who had gone to Foon's house and discovered she left quickly to go on a trip to the United States. Chompoo is still puzzling over what upset Foon so much that she quit the group chat. Peun continues to fake that he has no idea what it may have been which disgusts Art.

Chompoo then raises the idea of them going to Art's house during the break. Peun is ready to go, but Prim is still angry with him and clearly doesn't want to spend any time with him. Art reads the situation and says they should all just go their separate ways during the break. Chompoo can sense that Art, Prim and Peun are having some sort of an issue, but she doesn't know what it is.

Chompoo and her family communing with their ancestors

We cut to Chompoo and her family out side of their store (I think it is a Chinese style pharmacy). They have a table of offerings to their ancestors and they are burning incense sticks. Chompoo tries to hurry through the ceremony so she can leave, but her father makes her stay until they burn joss paper for their ancestors' well being in the afterlife.

The family heads inside the shop where some other relatives drop by for a visit. Chompoo looks bored to tears. They ask what grades Chompoo and her sister Som O are in, and then ask if the girls have boyfriends. Chompoo's dad says no, because he wants them to study. Chompoo wisely stays silent.

Prim ghosts Peun

Meanwhile Peun has shown up at Prim's house. He tries calling her, but she doesn't answer, so he rings the doorbell. Her mom answers and says that Prim is out. She doesn't know where Prim went nor when she'll be back. Peun asks if he can wait for her. Prim's mom says sure and leads him to the back deck.

Later she comes out and says she has to run an errand. When Peun leaves she goes into the house where Prim has been hiding from Peun. She asks Prim if Peun likes her. Prim says she doesn't know and, when asked if she likes Peun, she tells her mom she thinks he's nice to her, but can't be sure.

Prim's mom thinks back to when she caught Foon and Peun together and choses her words carefully. As subtly as she can she warns Prim to be careful not to get hurt. That perhaps staying friends would be better.

Art has return to his mom's house at Kanchanaburi for the break. She wonders where his friends are and he tells her they're too busy to come. At dinner she's made a lot of dishes that Peun and Prim liked and tells him to take them back to give to them. He, unhappy at the thought of Prim and Peun being together, isn't too enthused by that idea.

Later we see him at his mom's school. She's advising parents while he is in his goody-two-shoes mode and is lettering signs for the classrooms. Beyond that. he doesn't do much on his trip.

Finally the new school year starts again. Art, Peun, Chompoo and Prim gather in front of the school. The coldness between Prim and Peun continues and Chompoo notices it. As they're wondering where Foon is a car, which is obnoxiously beeping its horn, pulls up. To the amazement of the four, Ong-art gets out, opens the passenger door and out steps Foon.

[Episode 18]

Once again Foon demonstrates her impeccable taste in men

The mystery of flirtation

Private Conversation - Félix Vallotton
(click image to enlarge)

Was Mrs. Wilcox one of the unsatisfactory people- there are many of them- who dangle intimacy and then withdraw it? They evoke our interests and affections, and keep the life of the spirit dawdling around them. Then they withdraw. When physical passion is involved, there is a definite name for such behavior- flirting- and if carried far enough, it is punishable by law. But no law- not public opinion, even- punishes those who coquette with friendship, though the dull ache that they inflict, the sense of misdirected effort and exhaustion, may be as intolerable. Was she one of these? ― E.M. Forster 

 

Shake Rattle And Roll

Get ready for an energetic weekend with Jerry Lee Lewis.

O-Negative (Foon tries to corner the Peun market)

Ong-art is not one to give up easily

Episode 16 of the Thai TV show O-Negative (Episode 15) returns to Foon's birthday party at the moment when Ong-art has arrived. Ong-art calls Peun a beanpole one too many times and Art and Peun start moving towards him. Foon has to restrain them. She tells them to go inside and that she'll handle Ong-art.

She tells Ong-art that she didn't invite him to her party and doesn't want him there. He's puzzled, wondering if she's still mad at him. She tells him she has broke up with him. He's still puzzled how she could reject somebody as wonderful as him. She points out the list of reasons is endless, that he is obnoxious, rude and annoying just to name a few. She reminds him again that she broke up with him and tells him to grow up and accept it. She turns and leaves him.

When the party breaks up Peun takes Prim home. As soon as he drops her off he gets a message from Foon asking him to meet her. He tells Prim he is going home and will message her when he gets there, but of course the immediately zips off to meet Foon.

While Prim is in her bed with a happy little smile on her face as she thinks about Peun, he's in Foon's car driving around. Foon is making it very clear to him that she's broken up with Ong-art. Peun says he knows that because they all listened to her comments to Ong-art at the party. She then reminds him that she was going to tell him what present she wanted him to give her. He asks what it was, and she says she wants him.

Foon comes prepared

They go to his house where they start kissing and pawing each other. Peun stops her and asks her if she's taken the pill. She pulls a condom out of her back pocket, so they tear their clothes off and land in bed for another naked anatomy lesson.

The next morning Art sees Foon dropping Peun off at the college. Later that same day Peun comes across the three girls sitting in a commons area. After some brief small talk he tells them he has to go to class. Prim tells him she'll see him after class. Foon gives her the side eye while Chompoo just files that fact away.

We cut to later in the day where Prim is in the same commons area waiting for Peun. While she's doing that we have scenes of Peun and Foon happily eating in a sushi restaurant. Prim waits until it is dark and then goes home. As she is sadly sitting at home wondering what became of Peun, Foon and Peun hopping into the sack at his place.

Prim must have an inkling what is going on, because as she waits for word from Peun she gets more and more upset and starts to try to scratch off the temporary Tattoo she got at Foon's party (they both got the same star shaped tattoo). Poor Prim, could this day get any worse for her?

I'm guessing Prim's mom has had one too many

Well, of course it could. This is a soap opera after all. She hears a crash in the other room and runs out to find her mom laying on the floor with an empty wine bottle and a broken glass laying next to her.

Prim is frantic. First she tries to call Foon to get help. I've got to say Foon wouldn't be my first choice, but whatever. Unfortunately for Prim, Foon is in Peun's bed and has just discovered the picture of Prim that Art drew. When she gets the call from Prim she ignores it.

We cut to a shot of the Foundation ambulance racing down a road. In the back is Prim's mom, as well as Art and Prim. They rush Prim's mom to a hospital. Later, as Prim and Art are in the hospital waiting to hear news of Prim's mom's condition, Art tries to call Peun. Foon and Peun are sleeping. Foon rolls over, sees the call is from Art and ignores it.

Eventually Prim's mom gets rolled out in a wheelchair. She is physically alright, except for an injured ankle. She does seem to be embarrassed that Art, Tum and Bo have seen her in this state, but she invites them back to her house to thank them.

Bare feet and broken glass

As an aside, Asians take their shoes off when entering a house. Chinese and Koreans then usually wear house slippers, but O-Negative has shown Thais to either wear only their socks, or more commonly, they go barefooted. I mention that because, as anybody who has cleaned up after a broken glass can imagine, the scenes of Prim and Art sweeping up the glass shards in their bare feet are a bit nerve wracking.

At any rate, back at her home Prim's mom is a gracious hostess. She thanks them and talks about the ambulance ride. She has Prim serve them water as they give her advice about tending to her injured ankle. Art, rather than bossing Prim around, helps with her cleanup of the broken glass. There is also a scene where he drinks the same type of flavored water from a bowl as he did at his mother's house, they even flashback to make the connection obvious for the viewers.

I think the writer's intent is to contrast Prim and Art's more natural friendship and its evolution with Foon and Peun's far more venal relationship. However, I could be just over-thinking the hijinks of a soap opera's overwrought plot.

When Art leaves he tells Prim to call him if she ever has problems. They message each other when he gets home to make sure each other are OK. Meanwhile, Peun is saying goodbye to Foon as she gets into her car to leave his place. He checks his phone and notices Art has called him several times.

Peun calls Art and claims he missed his earlier calls because he was sleeping. I suppose that is technically, sort of, kind of, somewhat accurate. Art tells him about Prim's mom's fall, Peun is mortified when he finds out Prim had tried to call him for help, but didn't get an answer, because he was busy banging Foon at the time.

Flowers for Prim

The next morning Peun shows up early at Prim's house. He brings Prim an offering of flowers as an apology for not answering her calls last night. If only she knew why he was apologizing so profusely. He also brings a couple of bags of food and milk for Prim's mom.

Peun joins Prim's mom and really lays it on thick. He gives her the food he brought and dispenses all sorts of advice to her as to how to tend to her ankle. Prim joins them and tells her mom she's to have no coffee, no smoking and no alcohol until she recovers. She tells her mom that it is lucky Art came, because she doesn't know how she would have gotten her to the hospital otherwise. Needless to say Peun feels like a heel when he hears that.

Prim and Peun go to school. They're late for their art appreciation class and Foon is not pleased when she sees Peun entering late with Prim. After the class the girls decide to visit Prim's mom. When Peun is asked if he wants to also go he's a bit panic struck because Prim and Foon will be there together, but he agrees to go. Foon suggests stopping to buy some food for her, but Prim says that is unnecessary because Peun brought so much in the morning. Foon looks even more distressed over that news.

Foon and Prim's mom pondering the dishwashers

O Group and Prim's mom eat dinner. After the dinner Peun and Prim horse around as they wash the dishes. First Foon observes the pair, then Prim's mom takes in all three of them. We know what Foon thinks about the couple, but Prim's mom has kept her opinions to herself. Throughout the show she has silently observed Art and Peun orbiting her daughter, she also saw Foon pouncing on Peun earlier. However, it is still not clear what she thinks about it all.

Chompoo has to leave before it gets too late so Foon drives her home. Of all things Art has brought a couple of six packs of beer. Prim's mom, not wanting to be tempted by alcohol, excuses herself and goes upstairs. Art decides he doesn't want to be a third wheel around Peun and Prim so he leaves as well. Finally, when Peun leaves Prim asks him to set up an appointment for her mom with Dr. Ben, the psychologist. They decide to have the appointment after sophomore projects and Peun says he'll go with them.

We now have a montage of them working on and then presenting their final projects. Chompoo makes some sort of wild looking dress, Foon drapes fabric on a portrait, Prim does a model house layout and Art designs a logo. Peun also does a logo, but it is the world's most cliché looking restaurant logo. Entertainingly they show the class looking bored during his presentation with shots of Professor Buddy yawning while he's looking at it.

Dinner at Go's Bar & Grill

When their final projects are done they all gather at Go's place. Art is going back to his mom's home in Kanchanaburi during the break. Chompoo, who missed the trip last year would like to go there this year. However, because of the goofy secret Foon/Peun liaison it is less likely that those two will go this time. Prim says she can't go until she takes her mom to see the psychologist Peun's parents recommended. Further, she says that Peun offered to go with Prim ands her mom to that appointment. As you might expect, Foon looks distraught at that news.

The next morning Peun calls Prim to tell her he has set up an appointment that night with Dr. Ben. His parents must have pretty good pull with her to get night office hours with a psychologist. Prim is thrilled. As a ruse she tells her mom that she's taking her to dinner that night. I can't imagine her mom is going to like that trick.

Two crazy kids being cute

Soon afterwards Foon calls Peun and asks him if he is free. This leads to a montage of the two of them having fun trying on different hats, yukking it up as they eating lunch and eventually shopping in an art supply store.

Their fun is interrupted when Prim calls to remind him he was going to go to the appointment with her and her mom. Peun tells her he'll pick them up at their house. When he hangs up the episode ends with Foon turning on her puppy dog eyes and asking him to stay with her.

[Episode 17]

Starting a WWI tank

A 1917 Renault FT. In its day it was probably the best tank built. The video give a good look at its details. I love the hand crank to start it.

In remembrance this Memorial Day

Buttermilk Hill

Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill
Who can blame me, cryin' my fill
And ev'ry tear would turn a mill,
Johnny has gone for a soldier.

Me, oh my, I loved him so,
Broke my heart to see him go,
And only time will heal my woe,
Johnny has gone for a soldier.

I'll sell my rod, I'll sell my reel,
Likewise I'll sell my spinning wheel,
And buy my love a sword of steel,
Johnny has gone for a soldier.

I'll dye my dress, I'll dye it red,
And through the streets I'll beg for bread,
For the lad that I love from me has fled,
Johnny has gone for a soldier.

1940s war movie posters

Click any image to enlarge

As WWII raged, war movies that were made captured the zeitgeist of the era. This is a small sampling of the posters made for those films. The style of the posters is striking -- they are full of angles, angry or determined faces, explosions and the color red.

They are from 100 Years of Movie Posters article War Movies 1930-1949. There are more examples at that link.

O-Negative (Ong-art makes a grand entrance at Foon's birthday party)

That depends on whether you consider the beach a bed or not

Episode 15 of the Thai TV show O-Negative (Episode 14) starts with Foon and Peun on the beach, back in their clothes and holding hands. Apparently their love making occurred between episodes 14 and 15. She tells him it was her first time, and he says it was his first time as well. Considering the amount of lies these two have told so far I wouldn't bet the farm on that.

Foon tries to act lovey-dovey with him, but Peun, in his usual dickish manner, starts waffling. Foon guesses it is because of Prim and assures him she'll keep their tryst secret. Yea Foon, secrecy has worked so well for you so far, hasn't it?

At this point Prim shows up looking for them. A few minutes earlier and she would have gotten an eyeful, instead the two are lucky and she doesn't suspect anything. They decide to head out and get some food to eat. They get to a street lined with shops and when Prim goes to buy some corn Foon asks Peun to buy her the pill. Since Peun's a dunce he wonders what pill she's talking about. She has to whisper in his ear that it's the morning after contraceptive pill.  

The pharmacist has to explain to Peun that men don't get pregnant

The pharmacist on duty is a woman. Peun is embarrassed and nervous as he deals with her. He hems and haws a bit before asking her for the emergency contraceptive pill. She asks him "pregnant?" Hilariously he tells her that no, he isn't pregnant. She's professional enough not to break out laughing as she tells him she's asking about the girl. That she can't be pregnant and use this type of pill. She then explains that the dosage is two pills, and that Foon needs to take them 12 hours apart.

Peun sneaks the pills to Foon. Foon and Prim return to their room. While there Chompoo joins them. Chompoo catches Foon taking the first pill, but Foon claims it is just pill for acne.

Meanwhile Peun joins Art on the beach where he initiates one of his annoying man-to-man chats with Art. He asks Art if he should go for the girl he likes, or the girl who likes him. Art knows exactly what Peun is talking about so he tells him to go for the one he likes, because he thinks both girls like Peun.

Peun, being Peun, naturally equivocates and says he feels sorry for Prim. This disgusts Art who asks him, "what the hell is wrong with you?" We all want to know the answer to that one. He reminds Peun he had  tried to tell him to slow down. Peun says he knows that, but then tries to make himself out to be a sensitive hero by saying he doesn't want to break anybody's heart. Art looks like he is considering clocking Peun, but sadly he doesn't.

The next morning Art, Prim and Chompoo are at breakfast. Peun supposedly slept in and Foon is feeling dizzy. Foon is actually throwing up as a side effect of the pill and Peun is with her. Prim brings some apples for Foon to eat and catches the two of them together. For the first time the perpetually oblivious Prim has a glimmer that something odd is going on.

Apparently Peun and Foon had an audience

Eventually they all gather for breakfast. As they are sitting at the table talking Pakwan runs up and tells them there is a scandal brewing. The night before some Freshman saw a couple on the beach. From his hand gestures the couple was engaged in some horizontal hula action. The kids are already running around trying to figure out who the couple was.

Needless to say, Peun and Foon look horrified. Surprisingly, oblivious Prim picks up on their reaction. You can see the wheels turning in her head as she watches their reactions and remembers that she met them together on the beach last night. She asks Peun, who looks like he is about to faint, if he is alright. She doesn't look convinced when he says that he is fine.

At the last second Peun and Foon are saved from disgrace by Chompoo. She blurts out that the couple must have been her and Go, who were doing a bit of necking on the beach the night before.

On the bus home Peun has boarded first. Prim joins him, wondering why he didn't wait for her. Art and Foon sit elsewhere while Chompoo, as is her wont, is doing some wild Chompoo dancing in the aisle. Foon goes to take her second pill and manages to drop it on the floor. I think we can all take a wild guess where that storyline is going.

That night Peun calls Foon. He's worried about the pill she missed because she dropped it. She's worried about it as well. However, the two of them try to convince themselves that, even though they're living in a soap opera universe, nothing bad can possibly come of it.

Isn't young love grand?

The next day they have a photography class. Foon skips it because she is sick. They get an assignment to take 10 pictures with different shutter speeds and F-stop settings. Art, Peun and Prim head out to field to take pictures of wild flowers. Well, Art takes pictures, Prim and Peun fool around with Prim drawing a picture that starts on his arm and moves to hers.

Having drawn it, she gets around to taking a picture of it which she posts to O Group's chat with the caption "I can go on because you are by my side. Babbling." Of course Foon is on her phone looking at the picture and is not happy that Peun is still spending time with Prim.

Prim and Peun then get in a conversation about tattoos. Peun considers them tramp stamps, but Prim argues they are pieces of art with the body as the canvas. Still, she says she is too timid to get one. I think this just may be a "kids, whatever you think about 'em, don't get tats" message added to the show.

We cut to Go's bar that night where Peun comes out of the bathroom to join Art, Prim and Chompoo. Prim noticed that Peun washed his part of her drawing off. She mentions it and he givers a rather feeble reason why. Prim looks like she is increasingly sensing something is wrong.

They then start talking about Foon's upcoming birthday. They decide not to have a surprise party, but to buy her something. Instead of directly asking Foon what she wants, they think the question needs to be subtly asked. Peun volunteers to do the asking and that really catches Prim's attention. I do believe our oblivious one is slowly starting to add two and two together.

Foon is not a happy camper

We cut to Foon at her house. She gets a call from Peun and, considering all the time he's recently spent with Prim, she isn't too happy to hear from him. He says he is outside and has medicine for her. She goes out, but is still snapping at him. Then she notices that he washed Prim's drawing off his arm. She chastises him a bit for washing off Prim's artwork, but you can tell she's not that bothered.

He then just blabs all their birthday plans to her. I guess that is what passes for subtle with Peun. She makes fun  of him for doing that and he asks for her to pretend to be surprised by what they get her. However, she never actually tells him what she wants. Instead she tells him anything they get her will because it will come from her friends. She adds that she'll tell Peun what she wants, but only on her birthday.

The next morning they all message Foon to wish her happy birthday. She is turning 19. She invites them all to her house that night where she'll provide the food and drinks. When the messaging is over Prim calls Peun and tells him to come to her house because she has an idea for Foon's present.

Crib? Stroller? Bassinet? Haha, I kid, I kid. I'm sure a soap opera would never, ever go down the Foon is preggers storyline.

Peun gives it his all while working on Foon's present

Anyway, when Peun arrives at Prim's house she is folding a piece of cloth to prepare it for tie dyeing. Peun is basically doing nothing but flirting with Prim. Does it even cross this idiot's mind what Foon is going to think when she finds out about this?

We cut to that afternoon at Foon's house. Art arrives first and Foon joins him on the patio. The maid comes and, unlike Ong-art, she serves him coffee. Foon asks him where Peun is and he tells her he's with Prim. Foon pulls the ol' "sooo… you and Peun share everything" card on Art and starts pumping him for information about where she and Prim stand with Peun. He, not wanting to get in the middle of that lunacy, dodges her questions.

Finally Chompoo arrives. Art thinks he's off the hook, but Chompoo soon starts babbling about all the time Peun and Prim are spending together. That gets Foon going again. She directly asks Art if Peun and Prim are dating. He says he doesn't know, to ask them that instead of him. At that point Prim and Peun arrive. Prim gives Foon her present as Chompoo observes two people came together with one present. Foon has noticed that too and doesn't look thrilled.

They all move inside where the sing Happy Birthday, in English, to her. Foon starts opening presents. She opens Art's first. It is a drawing of Foon. Chompoo's is next. It is a gift certificate for 1,000 baht (~$30) to Go's bar for food and drinks, but not alcoholic drinks. I'm not sure what that joke was, but they all thought it was funny. Last is Prim and Peun's joint gift of a tie dyed shawl. The 'joint gift' part has the expected effect of dismaying both Foon and Art.

Fake tattoos isn't the only thing these two have in common

Then Chompoo brings out some temporary tattoos she bought. Prim and Foon each put one on and are delighted that they both have the same star pattern. Feh, what's a mere tattoo? You've got the same boyfriend as well ladies.

How to win friends and influence people

They are soon interrupted by the noise of a motorcycle revving outside her house. They all go outside and see somebody burning rubber on Foon's driveway. It's Ong-art, who gets off his bike and swaggers up to Foon and tries to hug her. She pushes him away.

She tells O Group he is her ex-boyfriend and she tells him that he is annoying. He's burned a heart into her driveway. I'm sure her parents will enjoy paying to get that eyesore removed. He tells her he flew all the way from London to do that, and he seems puzzled that she's still mad at him.

Then he notices Art and Peun. Art has an absolutely murderous look on his face while Peun is just standing there looking stupid as usual. Ong-art latches onto Peun and, as the episode ends, he asks "does Mr. Beanpole here have a problem with me?"

[Episode 16]

Ong-art's masterpiece of true love

Only You

Get ready for a dedicated weekend with NelsonTYC.

  

Spinning levers

O-Negative (back to the beach after another year's hazing is done)

An embarrassing moment

Episode 14 of the Thai TV show O-Negative (Episode 13) starts where the previous episode ended. Peun and Foon are in the front seat of her car making out when suddenly a light shines on them. It is a cop, who snuck up on them on what had to be the world's quietest motorcycle. He is checking to see if they're old enough to be engaged in such shenanigans.

Peun gets out and shows him his ID, but resists the cop's request for Foon's ID, telling him that Foon is the same age and his friend. They argue for a bit, with Peun repeatedly insisting Foon's a college friend and the same age as he is. Eventually the cop gives up trying to get Foon's ID and drives off. Way to make sure underage Thai girls are safe officer Ponch.

When Peun gets back in the car he's laughing. He tell Foon that he had kept telling the cop that they were friends and when the cop, who had seen them smooching, finally gave up he made a sarcastic remark about keeping good care of his 'friend'. They both get a good laugh out of that. When Foon drops him off he asks her what classes she has the next day. She has none, but he was an afternoon class. Foon says she'll come to the university anyway to see him.

Ong-art's charms fall on deaf ears

Meanwhile Foon's parents are entertaining Ong-art who is waiting for her to get home. After a bit of Tiger Balm product placement Foon finally arrives. When she gets there her parents excuse themselves so Foon and Ong-art can talk. When the two are alone she more or less tells Ong-art to buzz off while he, not exactly taking the hint, tells her he hasn't agreed to ending their relationship.

I've got to give props to the actor who plays Ong-art (I could not find his name). Without too much scenery chewing, he has his character dripping ooze every minute he is on the screen

The next morning we cut to Art calling Peun to meet him to go to school. Peun says he may be late because he is at Prim's house meeting her to take her to school. Prim's house? Uhh... Peun, remember last night? The car? The lip-lock? Foon saying she'll go to the university to meet you this morning? Art's disgust with Peun grows, as does ours.

The three end up meeting at a bus stop. Peun and Prim sit together and Art is in his usual third wheel role. After they get off the bus Art excuses himself to go to the bathroom (or as the closed captioning so delicately puts it "to take a dump"). As an aside, in the banter on this show there is a lot, and I mean a lot, of bathroom and scatological humor.

Chompoo interrogates Prim and Peun

As they go to class Prim and Peun run across Chompoo. She immediately asks them if they came to school together. Prim says yes. Chompoo then asks them if they are seeing each other. They both are coy, with each deferring to the other and neither answering. When they leave for their class Peun asks Prim why she told Chompoo they came together. She says it was just to tease Chompoo and that she'll gossip about them anyway, but Art will set her straight when he tells Chompoo he also came with them.

We jump to a painting class that Foon, Chompoo and Art are in. Wait, I thought Foon didn't have classes this day? Whatever. Chompoo tells Foon and Art that Prim and Peun are seeing each other. Foon wonders how she knows that and Chompoo says it is because they came to school together. Art pops her bubble by telling her that he was with the two and they all come to the university together.

Chompoo goes on a bit more about Prim and Peun acting weird, but Art and Foon point out to  her that Peun was just winding her up because he knows Chompoo is a gossip. Surprisingly, Foon even adds that Prim and Peun make a nice couple. Art will tell Peun about that comment a little later. When he does Peun then tells Art he's surprised she would say that because Foon said she was going to wait for him. Gah... these goofballs are making things far more complicated than they need to be. However, such is the life of a soap opera character.

We cut to the Freshman Workshop. which I guess is now the Sophomore Workshop, where Art is drawing when Chompoo arrives. She asks where the others are and he tells her Prim and Peun are on the roof. This sets Chompoo's gossip reflex off and she starts to head up, but Art stops her by reminding her usually people go to the roof when they want to be alone. Shortly after Foon arrives and asks about the other two. Art and Chompoo nervously look at each other.

Prim blocks Peun's move

Meanwhile, up on the roof Prim is giving Peun a hair cut. When she's done they start brushing his hairs off of each other. In the process their faces get close to each other. Peun starts to lean in as if to kiss Prim, but she puts her hand over his mouth and laughingly pushes him away. They continue their horseplay with each other.

Naturally Foon is standing in the doorway watching all of this and looking unhappy. She leaves, but later she comes back to tell them Chompoo has some barbeque ready. As she does, she runs across them on their way down and she puts on a cheerful face as she banters a bit. Prim goes down first and as Peun heads down Foon grabs his wrist and then slides her hand across his palm as a reminder she is still around and waiting.

When we cut to the barbeque it is back on the roof. The continuity of this day's sequences has been awful (the continuity director of this show must have been the producer's nephew or something). Anyway, when Peun arrives Foon moves over so he can sit between her and Prim. Foon is trying to figure out Peun and Prim's relationship so she starts teasing Prim that she gave Peun a special haircut because he's a special guy to her. Laughing, Prim denies that while Peun look hugely uncomfortable and as usual Art looks miserable.

Later Art is sitting outside of the Sophomore Workshop when Peun approaches him for advice. Art says it looks like Foon is getting over him, but Peun tells him Foon is still up to her nutty behavior of acting one way when they're alone and another when the group is around. Peun says he feels bad for Foon. Art says he does as well, and then adds that he feels bad for anybody who falls for Peun's BS. Peun looks a bit offended by that well deserved insult.

Chompoo reveals she is a fake Freshman

We're back to the auditorium where the hazing is taking place. Chompoo is missing. The Seniors are yelling at the Freshman asking them where she is. Suddenly she comes prancing down the aisle and tells them she was gone because she was making her dress. She was making the dress so she could wear it when she revealed that she was a fake Freshman. She tells the Freshman that she is really a Sophomore fashion design student. The hazees don't seem all that amused by it, but they gamely clap at the reveal.

We cut to the stands where the other four members of O Group are sitting. Prim is saying that she actually doesn't like the fact that the freshman were fooled for so long. She adds that she doesn't like being fooled because it makes her feel horrible. Gee, I wonder if that's a plot point that's going to come into play later? Anyway, Peun and Foon understandably both look mortified when she says that.

Will we finally see the inspiration on the panels?

Later we see the Freshman, with blindfolds on, being led out of the auditorium to stand in front of the panels with their inspirational messages. Will we finally find out what's on those damn panels that so moves the Freshman? Of course we won't. It must be a Thai state secret or something, because again all we see is the Freshman gawking at something in wonderment when they take their blindfolds off.

We join them the next day in front of the bus waiting to board to go to the beach hazing. Chompoo has gotten a call from Go who is making sure what she's wearing is not too revealing. She jokingly complains that her boyfriend is turning into her dad. When they board Peun sits with Prim and Art joins Foon. Chompoo is naturally in the aisle doing wild Chompoo dancing.

That night, before introducing Mr. and Mrs. Freshman they drag out last year's couple, Prim and Peun, and make them walk hand in had. Of course this gives Foon and Art ample opportunity to look sad and wistful. Then they introduce  this year's couple, Petch and Mork. When they're done with their walk Chompoo shoves Mrs. Freshman aside so she can take selfies with Mr. Freshman. She's asking for people to take pictures of them when Go shows up. No harm. no foul, he just gives her a good natured teasing.

She only has eyes for Peun

Later they're by the campfire when Art brings out his guitar. Since Violette Wautier, the actress who plays Prim, is a singer they ask her to sing some songs. As she sings Foon spends most of her time stealing glances at Peun.

Peun leaves to go to the bathroom. After a bit of bathroom banter with Chompoo he returns to find Foon gone. He leaves Prim to her warbling to find Foon. He finds her alone on the beach. She tells him that she left because she didn't want to see him and Prim together. She tells him that part of her thinks there is nothing between Peun and Prim, and part of her thinks she is losing Peun to Prim.

She directly asks Peun if he confessed to Prim yet. In Asian dramas to confess is to tell the other person you like, that is have feelings for, them. It is a big deal and usually, like in this show, it can be dragged out for several episodes because the characters are too uncertain as to how their confession will be received.

He answers that no, he has not confessed to Prim. She asks why and he says it is because he is not sure. She steps closer and says, "then I still have a chance, right?" Remembering the scene from Dumb and Dumber I inadvertently start giggling.

As I'm giggling she steps in even closer and they start kissing. As Prim sings away on another section of the beach, on their section of the beach Peun and Foon heat up as they keep kissing. They lay down together. Before long their clothes are flying hither and yon as they doff them as the episode ends.

[Episode 15]

Peun is so cool his kisses with his hands in his pockets

Unknown certainties

Getting the news out

The trouble with rumors was that they had the tendency to stick. To coat over your logic like tea stains on teeth. What was even more troublesome was that there had been times in the past when they turned out to be accurate. ― Tanaz Bhathena

 

Cooking and memories

In my earlier post A Sunday breakfast from the Great Depression Clara cooked some Depression era dishes and reminisced about her youth. This post features several Japanese grandmothers doing the same. Although, unlike Clara's videos they don't contain actual recipes, they just cook as they talk. The videos are beautifully filmed. They also are captioned.

O-Negative (a failed intervention and a heap o' two-timing)

The last person Foon wants to see calling her

Episode 13 of the Thai TV show O-Negative (Episode 12) is the half way point of this series. Look at the bright side, you've got 13 more if these ridiculous recaps to wade through. At any rate, the episode picks up where the previous one ended. Art, Prim, Chompoo and Go are upstairs in the bar guzzling booze when Peun returns alone.

After he had told Foon he wasn't ready to date her, Foon, no doubt considering the sudden uptick of pictures of Peun and Prim together, asked him if he was seeing somebody else. He employed his usual first strategy when confronted with a difficult question -- he just stood there looking stupid and didn't say anything. Foon guessed what that meant and she told him to take the squids and stick them where the sun don't shine. Well, that's what she should have said. Instead she told him to take the squid to the rest of the gang. Then she turned and left as she tried to maintain her composure.

When he got to the bar alone the others wondered where Foon was and if she was OK. Peun then deployed his usual second strategy when faced with a dilemma -- he lied through his teeth saying he didn't know why she left. Art is looking increasingly disgusted by Peun's actions which just keep making a bad situation worse.

Prim decides to call Foon to see if she's OK. As you can imagine, Foon, who is crying her eyes out in her car, is less than thrilled to see Prim, of all people, pop up on her phone. She doesn't answer.

It's late, so they all head home. Peun says he'll  take Prim to her house. He can tell she is bothered by something, so he asks her what it is? She says that she's worried about Foon. That Foon seemed a little mad at her. Oh, sweet oblivious Prim, if you only knew.

Peun than asks Prim is she has given her mother the phone number of the psychologist he recommended. Yea Peun, put Prim's mind at ease by reminding her that her mom is nuttier than a fruitcake. That'll do the trick. Prim tells him she's just going to give her mom time. She says she thinks her mom is gradually getting better.

Prim's mom starts her trip around the bend

We flashback to the aftermath of Prim's dad's death. Prim's mother is disconsolate. Prim goes to get her some soup, but when she returns to it her mom has moved to her father's study where she's knocking back some whiskey. Prim offers to bring her the soup, but her mom says she'll wait to eat until Prim's now deceased dad joins them.

Prim tells her that dad's not with them anymore and Prim's mom says she knows -- that he's at work and will be back soon. It begins to sink into Prim just how delusional her mother has  become. She reacts with a mixture of sadness and horror to the dawning realization.

Her mom is continuing to drink heavily and Prim tries to slow her down. In the process they spill a bit of the drink on a drawing of her father's. Prim's mom is furious as she wipes up the spill saying how angry Prim's father is going to be. Prim is breaking down, in tears as she tries to tell her mom that her father is dead. This just enrages her mother even more.

We jump back to the present where Prim and Peun are walking as she tells the story. We then have a very odd scene. It is almost as if whoever wrote it hadn't seen the first 12 episodes. They've clearly established that Prim knows her mom's delusions kick in when she's been drinking, and prior to the trip to Art's house we've seen Prim try to talk her mom into not drinking.

That said, the scene continues by having Peun theorize that her mom's delusions start when she's been drinking and maybe Prim should talk to her about stopping drinking. When he says this Prim acts like it is a monumental insight that she had never considered. Ka-boing! That's some really goofy writing just to push the plot along.    

I guess that intervention didn't go according to plan

When Prim gets home her mom is working at a table with an empty bottle of wine next to her. She asks Prim to get her some more wine. Instead Prim tells her she is worried about her and asks her mom to stop drinking. Prim's mom says she appreciates the concern, but then goes and gets another bottle of wine and ends by reminding Prim to say goodnight to her dad before she goes to sleep.

Well, that didn't go too smoothly.

Prim confesses to Peun that her plan failed

We cut to Prim sitting in her room looking sad. Peun calls him and she says it didn't work. She tells him she doesn't know what to do next. Try and try again comes to mind, but apparently in this soap opera's universe once something fails it is never worth trying again.

Prim then starts softly crying and Peun tells her to go ahead and blubber away. He tells her that shedding tears removes excess manganese, a substance that is related to stress, from the blood. Google shows that this isn't just a Thai ol' wife's tale, but something supported by science.

As long as we're talking about girls bawling their eyes out, we may as well jump over to Foon who is laying in bed with tears in her eyes as she remembers all the happy times she and Peun had. Then she remembers all the times she saw Prim and Peun together and she starts sobbing even more. This is interrupted by Prim messaging her asking if she is OK, which doesn't make matters any better for her.

The results of a night of Prim's mom's social drinking

The next morning as Peun leaves for school he checks the mail and finds Prim's postcard. Her message to him is pretty generic. When he picks Prim up he asks how her mom is. She points towards the garbage where we see a pile of empty wine and booze bottles that her mom drank last night. Gadzooks! Talking to her dead husband will be the least of her problems when she gets done dissolving her liver with all the alcohol she's been guzzling down.

Peun reminds Prim about the postcard. She gets hers, but she doesn't read it right away. Instead she puts it in her purse to read later.

We jump to Foon's house. Her eyes are swollen from weeping all night and she is trying a cold compress to make them look more normal. Her mom starts pestering her why she was crying the night before, but Foon's dad stops her mom from asking. When Foon leaves he points out to her mom that it is probably just boy problems.

Who could the scoundrel that broke Foon's heart possibly be?

We cut to a restaurant where Foon, who's wearing sunglasses, is waiting for the rest of O Group to join her for breakfast. When they arrive Chompoo makes fun of the sunglasses as a disguise and takes them off Foon. They notice her eyes are puffy from the night before. Chompoo and Prim realize she's been crying and ask her who did this to her. Peun looks nervous and Art, who also knows what's going on, tries to fade into the background.

The girls guess Ong-art, but Foon, staring straight at Peun angrily says no, it was a different jerk. She adds, as she continues to glare at Peun, that the asshole was seeing two girls at the same time. Further, he and this girl go every where together, take pictures together and even text message those pictures to her.

Hilariously, in spite of Foon glaring at Peun the entire time, neither Chompoo nor Prim can figure out who the two-timing guy is. They ask her who he is and Foon says Peun knows him well. They then start grilling Peun about the mystery guy's identity. Peun, who's covered in flop sweat at this point, can only answer "umm... err... well... uhh..." as his eyeballs frantically dodge around looking for an escape route.

Foon finally let's him off the hook by lying and saying it was a high school sweetheart. Strikes me that would bring us back to Ong-art, but the two girls are satisfied by that. Foon then says, as Peun sadly listens, that she is over the weasel and is writing the guy off as a complete scumbag. The girls then head off to art appreciation taught by Professor Napaporn while Art hangs back a bit and consoles Peun with his usual 'just wait and do nothing' advice.

In the class Art and Chompoo have fallen asleep. Prim is paying attention, Foon is looking sad and angsty while Peun is gawking at her from the back row. The lecture is about Salvador Dali's painting The Great Masturbator. Professor Napaporn alludes to the sexual nature of the work and at its hints of a meditation on infidelity. Peun picks up his phone and messages "I'm sorry" to Foon.

Foon drinking, crying and painting up a storm

Later that night we jump to Foon's room where she is weeping as she drinks wine and paints something. Perhaps if she gets drunk enough Prim's dad will visit her to sit for a portrait? Anyway, she gets more and more overwrought as she paints until she ends up wildly slapping paint onto the canvas. Eventually she ends up screaming and knocking the canvas over.

Her parents hear that, wonder what's going on, and end up shrugging their shoulders and deciding that whatever it is, it will pass in time. Although not shown, I like to imagine they then turned up the volume of their TV to drown out her screaming and sobbing.

She calls Peun and, through her tears, tells him she is drunk and can't take it anymore. She asks him to come over. Concerned, he agrees to visit her.

Later, back in Foon's room she hears a knock on the door. She happily runs to it, throws it open with a smile only to see Prim standing there. Prim? That's the same question Foon has and Prim tells her that she knows Foon was upset earlier in the day, and that she knows Foon couldn't get over it that fast. Prim than tells Foon that they'll always be friends. I'm not sure I would bet on that considering the real situation, but Foon seems to buy it.

They hug and Prim tells Foon about tears shedding stress causing manganese. When Foon asks her where she learned that Prim tells her from Peun. Foon doesn't like hearing that. They decide to go out and get some food because Foon has not been eating. They leave her room and when they get to the bottom of the stairs who should be standing there but Peun. Peun?

This is nowhere near as awkward as it should be

It turns out that Prim was with Peun when Foon called him. So, if I have this straight, Peun brought Prim, the girl he is trying to cheat with, to console Foon, the girl he is trying to cheat on. Some how, instead of this all leading to a huge three-way brawl, Prim's good-natured obliviousness ends up cheering Foon up. I've got to admit I am having a bit of trouble parsing that result.

After their late night snack Prim and Foon are back, at least for the moment, to being best of friends. Foon drives them home, dropping Prim off first. When she's alone in the car with Peun she tells him that she can see why he likes Prim. Then she asks him if he's asked Prim to be his girlfriend yet. He says no, that he doesn't think Prim likes him (in Asian dramas to confess you like somebody is to say you have feelings for them).

Foon pushes him to ask Prim, but Peun starts laying it on thickly about how he liked this one girl, even asked her to be his girlfriend, but it turned into a disaster. Oh Peun, if you weren't such a BS artist we might buy that line. It does work on Foon though, she pulls the car over, unbuckles her seatbelt, leans over and starts kissing him.

We jump to Prim's room. Again, she is a bit difficult read. It isn't clear how much she knows or guesses about Peun and Foon, but it seems that she is seeing Peun more and more as a potential boyfriend. She takes out the postcard he had written on the train. He is laying it on thick to her, talking about how her smile made the trip worth it. He ends it by saying he'll wait for her. She smiles as she reads that.

[Episode 14]

Peun's BS seems to work its magic