Hey, Humans. How's it going? Susan Ruth here. Today, I'm talking with Todd Davis, Expat American now living in Thailand. He was a mover in shake in Los Angeles in the tech world back in the day, and he checked it all in and decided he could live with 100 things. Well, 300 things, but who's counting. So off he went on a new adventure and a new life. An interesting story. Maybe it's your story. Here we go. Hi Tab. I Susan. How are you doing? I'm well. How are you? You I'm well.
Thank you for being here in the outside that we're recording outside. Yeah. Thank you being here in the world. It's a rare, cooled day it I'm during my stay in Nashville. So yeah. Right. Is this cool? You this is covid. I'm wearing a jacket. I guess. I serious to Thailand being. This... Yeah. This has been the whole thing. The whole trip here, like, not only here, but in Florida every place I go to air conditioned. Oh, I know. It is... It's ridiculous for me.
I mean, I'm freezing. Yeah. That's why people get sick, You know, they go from the outside warm hot and then they come inside the. It's really cold and then they go back outside in your body's. I don't know what. What else 3 doing right now. Yeah. Well, that's how I fell. I... Well, I got cold... I got sick the first week I was here. So... Oh, you did. Maybe that was it. I... I don't know if it was... The because it it was, like, 20 hours. Oh.
Yeah. Like, they... The to get from tokyo... I think I wanna do for 20 hours straight. Yeah Not even sleep. Well, that's where Xanax and red wine comes in Andy. Yeah. 10 a red wine. Go to sleep just outside of Hong Kong. Can wake up in Melee. So... Different than Ambient. Right? Ambient that makes you hall. Yeah. Ambient can do Really crazy. Sleep walk king and yeah Yeah. To be kind of exciting on a plane house. No. I'm tell folks and find folks. I yeah. Hello friend folks.
Tad lives in Thailand, but I. But he did not always live in Thailand. You began your life in... Oh, Mail, Ohio? To state with the most... We have the most astronauts. Are you kidding? Yeah. Ohio. Okay. I think the most presidents too. I'm, I could be wrong the most astronauts. The most astronauts from our from... At least it used to be... Who know... Do we have so many astronauts now. Wow, because, you know, Now they've been sent up all the scientists or something that.
I think that's changed. But I think back in the the astronaut days, They're good take off back Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Apollo and stuff like that. I think we had the most astronauts were from Oh ohio Oh my goodness. I need to go to Ohio. Yes. Exactly. You saying You Lance bass. You can... Oh, yeah. But he doesn't play my team. So he quit. He he quit my team? No. He quota Yeah. I quit in sync. I don't think he was ever wrong... No
You know he was... He paid the the russians when they were running out money, paid them a couple million dollars, and then he dropped out for health, well, yeah. It's pretty hardcore on you to go into space. Yeah. I've been. Definitely the muscles and, you know, it's. Yeah. I'm for a week, though. I bad could it peak. No gravity for a week. Got it. Maybe you just couldn't handle the cheese or whatever. I used to think it would be nice to do but now, like, I'm the 40 and
you know, sometimes standing up too quickly. Yeah. I'm like, whoa. Yeah. Yeah. They're I I would love to try on 1 of those anti gravity rooms sometime. And that be so cool. You mean in the plane where they open up and down? Wherever it is when you get to float? Yeah. So eat. That's cool. Let's die Although. I might vomit. I don't know. I who knows. Most people do is what they say. Really? Yeah. That is your inner ear can generally. Yeah. Not enough drama I mean on the planet for there.
Yeah. So, okay. Born in a while, and Yeah. Born Ohio. We moved around a lot. My dad was, his job, we was with a major hotel chains, so we moved all over the East Coast, some a little bit in the Midwest. Yeah. Ended up doing high school in Florida, don't do it. It's Florida oh. Lovely state. I'm sure. So... And went to College in Boston, ever college, Jay Len. That's the... Jay Len went. And he was not an astronaut. He was not an astronaut he's letting the team down.
I was thinking up I my miami alley Florida the other day, I was nursing that the at the the call sign for landing there. Is m mia. It's not interesting. That people go to Miami to get lost and it Well there's Osaka is k. Oh, goodness news. Yeah odd. Yeah. Sort of strange. Know I think they've run out of letters. No everybody gets the the the best ones. The best ones early on. Yeah. Anyway. See, Seattle where on from is c. Sea. Yeah. And That's a good 1. Easy.
Always like, a bangkok is Bt k, which I think is pretty cool. It's a good 1. Makes me think of hamburgers. Like burger cambridge. I front of them. Yeah. Y'all all can send me a check. No So you moved around. You went to. Moved around went to school and Austin, wanted to be in the film business moved out to La. Was in the film business. What a short time. And you made movies or... Well, no. I I studied screen writing and with the intention of becoming a producer director.
I went out there, and I just took the first job I could find which was foreign building Not born. But not porn now if that that was the last job I could find. It's a competitive porn. I'm kidding... I think it is. It it well not for men. It's not. No. I guess. Yeah. There's the... Yeah. Men are of dime it dozen. I think women are 2, I just Rash Jones and documentary Great documentary. Everybody should watch this. Goodness. That's it's oh. It would... That's depressing. Much that. Yeah. It was
anyways so... Anyways... I got into the film. I got into the film industry just building sets for Hbo. That's pretty long. It was cool. But, like, I felt, like I could do better, so I quit that and what do you mean? In... Well, just that they were we were working 14 hour days. Oh, 6 days a week for 500 bucks a week. Exhausting. It it is exhausting, and did that for about a year. And so I'd decided to quit and look for something else and it I took a what I thought was gonna be a
interim job. At the house of Blues, they were opening up the new house of Blues it was the corporate headquarters right on the sunset strip. And it's what year was this? This was 94 95, I guess. U. Let's see. I graduated. Yeah. So around 94 95. And that when I ended up staying a house of Blues for a number of years because I into there. This was before anybody knew what Internet was... Well, we ever had a base concept of
Internet, but nobody knew what email was. It was before the world what web was known by anybody. Yeah. And we had a... We're hanging out. Yeah. We were hanging out in the... In the foundation room. Yeah. No. It was this 1 of the guys of the staff talked the Isaac Tiger. It was the man who was also behind Hard rock cafe. Okay. And he... So he he had started house of blues and this... So you were at House of blues of the ground floor? I was at the ground floor. I was a host. I was, like,
you know, is so amazing. I well they had already opened 4 or 540, okay. But this was gonna be the big 1. Yes. It's the big deal with all the movie starting California. It was... And it was a big deal. Was amazing time to be there on the... Like, early nineties on the sunset strip which was insane. I mean, it's just crazy party all the time and, you know, that was right around what River Phoenix was 1 of the investors a house of Blues, and he died just like, a couple months before it opened. So
sad. Yeah And what a talent inside? Yeah. Well, well, his brother's done him good. Yeah. Yeah Joaquin amazing. Yeah. And anyway, with the guy Was working for. Talked Isaac Tiger into starting a new media division, which was gonna deal with all this stuff called email and worldwide web and I said I know computers. So I was... Went in immediately corporate management. I just... I had computers from when I was young.
And I, in college, we we used some computers, but it's like, all the way, Ellen and I were talking about this, Ellen, your our jewel the acquaintance. It's trying to relate to kids nowadays. Like, all the way through... I didn't... When I graduated college, I was still working on a type writer, and I would do research in a library. I know these are things this, you know What's a love. It's people are listening to this kids say, Other library crazy magical places.
I love libraries. I go to every library. I'm a big fan of real books. You cannot sniff a kindle. And I'm a big sniff. I am a love great. Oh Yeah. God, especially old book. Right. So Sorry for everybody out there in the audience who's sniffing their I ipod and not getting anything out of it. That'd be a good mention a scratch and snip. Just. Pod Just sort of sprays out whatever scent. Somebody come. Somebody will happen that So you said I know I know computers,
so we got into this. We did the second streaming concert... Streaming video concert ever. Who was? It, Spear, which Michael Front. I don't know. I don't know who that. It was a Charity event. It was really cool, but we did it 2 weeks to the day after the rolling stones did theirs. So, of course, they get all the credit. Sure. We got the... We had the first Is phone line or 1 of the first Is phone lines in Los Angeles, and it was, you know, Is is... Somebody out there is gonna know what you're
talking about Yeah. I really slow, You know that Oh, the This was, like, the next step up, which nowadays people would call and complain if they had these speeds the sound that he makes and he's calling home. Yes. On the speaker spell. Yeah. Okay. I got it. That's the 1. But, yeah, this phone line, it was you know, AAA hundredth of the speed most people have today, and It took up a
whole closet of equipment. Well. Yeah. That with 3 guys install it, and it took 2 days and it's just ridiculous yeah. But we did always fun stuff. You... I can take shit on the Internet. Okay. Yeah. Internet if Okay. Okay. Cool. And so then I'm I went along the Internet route, and that was cool. And it was... Because it was Call. Of that. It was also entertainment. Yeah. I fell into it. And this is just when it was taken off. I mean, literally,
I... People did not you'd say, when I work on websites, and they they say, what's a website. He say, well, I have an email address and they... What's an email. Like just that nobody knew this stuff. You're not even that old. So... And No. It's not that long ago. It's really not 20 years. How far we've come. Short time is phenomenal. Yeah. It's amazing. And in the in the way... How fast things are now. You know, this is, you know, what my phone can do in my pocket
I used to dream about. You know, some day, maybe my children will be able to watch streaming video on their phones. Now here it is. So, yeah, I moved there, I went to, I left house of Blues reluctant, but I got a really good offer from Gt interactive television where they were doing, the first, you know, you with your remote, you could play quiz shows and do all this kinda stuff that was kinda fun, but it was really... It was it was a 19 eighties idea.
Mh. But nowadays you would just laugh at it, know, know, press a on your remote. Press b on your remote. It worked pretty well, and it... But I don't think it ever got out of the test market area. And then I got hired by Aol. Time Warner. Well, it was Aol at time. And out for those of you who are from, like... America on line, which... People still use Aol. Do people say... My parents are still aol? I they took my email address away from when I left it Was nearly upset about
that. Yeah. Yeah. It's so Aol. That was a dial up service. And it just... So you came in at the ground believe aol. No. No No. Aol was well established when they hired me, but they were opening this Los Angeles division. They had actually bought a entertainment asylum, which was a website. That was already doing putting entertainment content on the web Right? And so Aol wanted to get into this, so they just bought this company out outright.
But Aol was because Aol had its own a browser that lived on your computer and you got all your stuff that you didn't go... It didn't... It wasn't using websites. It was using Aol content. Oh, sure. So they didn't really know that much about the web. So I was the first... This is what they told me. I'm the first web master that was ever hired by Aol. How my god. Which was cool. Your picture is probably there somewhere. Oh, yeah. Maybe. Yeah. I doubt it. That's really cool. It one's really cool.
The time. And and they gave me oh, I hell of a lot of money because back then, everything Internet was a lot of money. Yeah. So did that for a couple years. And the best part about that job, looking back on it. Is here we were in Los Angeles and a big part of my job was talking to people from movie studios and, a record companies and Tv production company. And you could already speak that lingo because you were because I
had the entertainment background. Yeah. And with the music stuff, I learned it house of blues. And... What was that like to be in California the boom of computers and making hand fed's money wise. We know it. Well, it was... It was... I wasted as much as I got. You. You you you... There's this... I there's gotta be AAA term for it, but you spend what you earn. Immediately. Immediately. It's, like, I was waste. That I was going to stupid sushi every other night and stuff like that. No. So I I
mean, it did... You're keeping up with the... Keeping up with the culture. I mean, it out there It's a it's a tried Kardashians. So keeping up with the, like, Kris Brink. I don't know it's big and Oh, but everybody was the it's everybody at that time in in La, Like, it was a it was kind of a boom time. Yeah. And everybody's making money. So it's always a a lot of cooking bigger car. Off. IIII managed to dodge that bullet.
Yay. We were working so hard. Because of the Internet business also this thing where he you kinda had to work all time. Because, like I was saying, part of my job, big part of my job, was convincing these record Tv and, movie studios to put stuff on the Internet. Because they thought we were nuts. They they... You know, they'd say, who who's gonna listen to, you know, music off the Internet. Who was gonna look on the Internet to find out what's on Tv?
Who was gonna, you know, read movie reviews on the Internet or watch movie trailers on the Internet? They thought we were crazy. They they they humor us. They gave us stuff to, you know, the the same stuff that they were handing out to people in newspapers. So we have to scan in photographs. And stuff like, no nothing was digitized. And they just... They thought we would be gone in a year. And so they just kinda of, you know, rolled their
eyes and handed stuff over. Please tell me that they gave you stock for the whole time. Oh, I did get a lot of stock at Aol. That's what it at the end of the day. I mean, this during this period so went from nobody... Aol was at the time when people... Oh, everybody knew what the Internet was, but nobody was gonna last to... Then by the time I left Aol, Aol had made so much money that they bought the largest media company in the world, Time Warner. Right. Which set the stock through the roof and
was probably the... But, I think it's it as the worst business decisions and it was ever made in the history of... Really? Business this is Yeah because it almost immediately started fa because, aol well, they had no knowledge of how to run a media company.
And, Time warner and they were both really inflated and then the the the second bursting of the Internet bubble what happens, you know, where everybody said, hey, you know, this company is valued at a billion dollars, but it doesn't make anything. Happened still there? And I was still there when that started. Yeah. That was the thing my, you know, the stock it it went to really high. Aol time warner and then in this space of year, it went really low. Did you sell nice I sold it an okay time
but not at the best time. I have some friends who sold the day that they could... The first... The day of this the purchase, and they made out like bandit. I'm that. But then again, they probably spend all their money too. Yeah. Like, at this point, I've spent all that money. So now you're you're at the kind of the heyday California's Internet stuff. You're going through the the craziness. And yeah. So then I got Well, the when Aol when all the value got lost, they started laying people off.
And I got laid off, there was belt tightening type of stuff. Did you know that was gonna Well, we kinda knew because there was 1 round of lay and a lot of people left, and then we we got wind that there was a second round coming. And we... At that point worked really producing that much because we had established such a... Well, now there was competition. Yeah. Because it 4, nobody was doing it because they thought we were crazy and it later on, they saw how much, you know, money in marketplace
we'd taken advantage of. And so then everybody started doing it. So then it was competitive. So, you know, we weren't as busy as we used to be. So we, you know, you look around and everybody's got the feet up and hanging out. You know it's... Something's gonna change. And it did. And I got laid off, and they were very nice about it. And I got a lot of money out of it, And but then I didn't... III didn't wanna work because I was young and stupid So I just kicked back and I had a lot of money.
So... And you had a house a car. I had a house and a car. While, I was still renting at that point. I should've have bought the the house I was renting, they offered it to me for 300000 dollars And My guy, He mentioned would be worth today? It's worth about 2 and a half million the in the spot where it is. Because it's in the Hollywood Hills in the that... Yeah. There's a dozen. I was talking with my ex girlfriend just a couple weeks ago.
There... We we used to... Just for fun go out on the weekend open houses. And if we bought any of the houses that we looked at, we it would have been, you know, a huge... A great investment because date is through the roof. Yeah. Exactly. It's all Su woulda. You can't try over that. So you're laid off, you're spending you're having a big... Taking my... I take an acting classes. I'm directing classes, you know, comedy classes. I was with the ground links for a little mile. That was fun. That's
a that's a... That was a good time. Acting classes were great. I was at Play house west, which 1 of the instructors is Jeff Gold bloom. Wow. 1 of their most famous. I mean, Jim Carrey went there. Wow. Not when I was there. Ashley Judd. Yeah. And, but James Franco is their number 1 guy. He's... I think he's still... Oh, he's a billion other things city he days. Yep Rent Franco that... Yeah. The man who doesn't sleep I guess. Yeah. He must not. He must
not. Yeah. He's like my, seventh grade art teacher who only slept 3 hours and Night. Really mister La. Yeah. He only had 3 fingers on 1 hand. I think he probably was tired. But, yeah. When he lost the other 2 Guessing. Shopping care. It's right halfway. Maintaining all his fingers so far, which is good. Yeah So yeah. It's... So wow, You're living it up. I was living it up, and then I decided it, and then I ran for Hollywood City council. Which? There wasn't 1 Then I was 33
something. Any And I yeah. Maybe 32. And counsel of Well, somebody had this bright idea, Hollywood's only a neighborhood. I don't think a lot of people know that that Yeah. A lot of people don't. It's like... City in the world it's not really a city. Yes. He always figured that all the parts all their own cities, but, you know, Had mentioned earlier that Yeah. Los Angeles is, like, the biggest city in the world. With, like, the 8 acreage wise, I guess. You can fit.
I found this picture the other day you can fit, like 12 major metropolitan in American cities inside the boundaries of Los Angeles. And so each of those like Hollywood and Hollywood. The brand Silver. Hollywood all that stuff. Except for, like West Hollywood is its own city, which is really, you know, Burbank city pasadena in its own city. Okay. But outside of that, everything's kind of in Santa Monica.
But everybody else is all lumped together, and Hollywood was putting 75000000 dollars per year into the kitty more than it was getting back in services. So this idea came about. Well, let's separate Hollywood. Well I put it up to a vote. We'll separate Hollywood, and then Hollywood will be its own city. We'll have 75000000 extra dollars to spend on it because I don't know if you been to Hollywood. It's a little ghetto. It's been changed a lot in the past the the 10 years, I was just there.
It looks a lot nicer, but at the time, it was pretty ghetto. And yeah. And then we'll have a City council. And so they had a... They had a... What is it? On the it was should Hollywood would be a city. And if Hollywood a city, who's gonna be on City Council. Who gets a vote for that the... Everybody in los Angeles. Oh my god. It's the thing. And if we're outnumbered because Hollywood a tiny little neighborhood in a big city, and they'd used, I learned so much about politics.
Like, they, you know, there were show or the scare tactics were just out in style, and they're telling people who lived in Hollywood, you know, oh, well, you not gonna get fire service. The police won't come... You know, if say there's a a natural disaster the police from the you know, ing. I'm gonna come up to Hollywood and help you, and it and it was all bull. Yeah. But nobody knows this kinda is you know, you're talking about, California constitutional law and stuff like this and nobody
knows that. So they can flyer in their mailbox. Get. It says that they're not gonna... You won't have firefighters. It's like, well, we're gonna have 75000000 dollars more. To spend on all this stuff that we do right now. Yeah. It means including fire... The money that are currently spending on fire and police. That's not gonna change. Anything that they still don't you know, scare tactics and
politics. Yes. That's right. I'm mean, glad everybody has turned around and now they only tell the truth and everything's fact paced. Yeah That's really interesting coming factoring an election years. Oh how crazy. This yeah. The rest of the world things work. I am look get. I'm running touch well but. Yeah. I wanna... Never England because yeah down there because they can't say anything. Yeah. So so you're running for counsel.
City Council so they said should Hollywood would be a city and if So who's gonna be on City council. And I was 1 of the guys. There were, I think there were 14 or 15 us us on the ballot. It was gonna be 6 people on city council. I came in 7. Yeah. I know. But I beat Angel. Ja. And yeah. Angel and the girl the And the girls on all of the. The the boot and the pink corvette last name. Yeah. I her by a couple hundred votes of reach out very proud. Absolutely.
Because she's famous this. Yes. Exactly. Wow. So that's that's my claim And... And Had only killed 1 other person. I could've had. Did Hollywood cater did they? No. They didn't. They voted it against it. They've they... All this this tactics worked. I they often do. And they were funded by the anti succession campaign was funded by a big well, I... I wanna say any names with big property developers.
Got most of their money, and now you go back to Hollywood now and you see all these new developments going up and guess got all the contracts. Yeah. Yeah. Shocker. Yeah. Well, tail as all this time. Yeah. Exactly. So would do after that... So then I needed a break. So I went... I took a holiday to Asia, and I went to Thailand because, I was told Thailand the easiest place to start, like, a backpack, adventure if you've never been I have not been. To Asia on a backpack venture. But
you... If you do, start in Thailand. Yeah. That's it's daisy. That they're wonderful people, Really nice. It's really geared towards tourism and it too. Wow. It's a really beautiful laid back tropical country. Yeah. And I loved it, and I never ended up leaving Thailand in 2 months that I was traveling. Oh, see. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I was supposed to go to a number of places, and I never left Thailand because I was having so much fun. Next year, I went back, and I stayed for 4 months.
And then the next year, I went back. I stayed for 6 months. And How were you... Oh, you had money? I had money, and, I was I was, you know, Yeah wasting it. They were flushed. It was flushed. And but I wasn't so flushed that I could afford to pay car payments and insurance and rent and this I'm back home and a place this before Airbnb. Like, nowadays, I could just rent it out. Yeah. Sub it. But so I'd decided, You know what? Let's take a grand adventure, cash out in the states Sell Alma junk and
move forward to Thailand. Are he's scared to do that. I mean, Yeah. I was terrifying. Yet. But at the same time, I... Well, I've been there 3 or 4 times in a row. Yeah. I established French ships. I had a good grounding, and I I knew where I was gonna stay at the beginning and stuff like that. So it was all it it a irrational fear. I like, oh, no. What if it all goes wrong. Which you could say that about anything... I. I don't know if that's an irrational fear.
That's and a pretty... Well, I could always just hop back and complain back in America and get a job at Starbucks and you like, life would go on. They're okay with Americans coming to... Yeah. I. They've got a lot of foreigners Yeah. Living over their ex expat. There's a... It's a little bureaucratic and jumping through Hoop. Yeah. But every time III get frustrated with it and or you know,
complain about it. I just... I brought my, about 4 years ago, I brought my girlfriend at the time who was tied here to America. And just for her to get a holiday visa To come to America was ridiculous American stuff on the American side. Americans are really Somebody thai person to come here and live here. Just ridiculous. All I had to do is fly into Thailand and get off the
plane. Yeah. And that was it. And then I could change my Visa afterwards and establish not residency, but, like, temporary. Yeah. We're not really based on letting people come in. No. Not just can't just walk in. Yeah. Especially And, well, this was post 09:11. Yeah. When I was going over to Thailand. Yeah. So you cashed in all your chips and you... Sold the car sold all my sessions, you know, what I could sell, Craigslist. That must have been liberating.
It was it was really liver. Right. I sent, like, 3 large boxes over to Thailand ahead of myself, but that was about it. And so... And that stuff since been lost. So how do... What do you mean? Oh, I've I've definitely sent to Thailand Yeah. It's... I had some friends who I went into business with, and they were... Their business was on somebody else's property and When I was somewhere else they had a falling out with the people whose business was on the... Who owned the
property. Yeah. So they got kicked off the property, but the people own the property were very nice to me, and they said, hey, we kept all your stuff. Oh, don't worry about it. And then I... The next time I was back. I it, hey where's my stuff Oh, it's around here somewhere, and then it did you have months go by in years go by and eventually, I see, you know, a gift that I got from an next girlfriend is in somebody's bun somewhere. On the wall. And, yeah. And but that was also liberating In all
the stuff I felt, like desperate. This was I had whittled everything down, like, to only the things that were the most important and most necessary. And then those were And those were taken away and they everything life went on. I think it's such a huge lesson in that. Is that we're so... And my parents, for example, they have, I think 3 store lockers packed. Yeah. Pull of crazy. I mean, it's a cold here and Been like, you know, their lives are in there, but being in here now.
Is just nuts. Yeah. Like because I still have really minuscule amount of stuff. Yeah. I've I've even thought about. You seen this thing on hey that they Internet. I don't know if it's on the Internet or Fixed right. Yeah. Let me explain it to you. You wanna advertise with us. That the hundred hundred things. Is this kind of philosophy life? You need is this thermos volume remote control. Exactly. Yeah. And it's a hundred things The. They're saying, just whittle your life down to a hundred
things. Just a hundred material positions. Go through everything you own and pick out. What does your house things Well I suppose? No. I don't know. It's just material possession. Just things you can pick up and move out. So and and including clothes. So maybe you have, like... About this. I think there was a guy on a podcast I listened to was talking that. Yeah. Yeah. I've thought about doing it, but I I think I'm... I'm probably down to
300 things, and I'm happy with that. I don't wanna I I kind of like the little bit of convenience, but it just goes to show you how little of this consumer culture, you must have it now. Oh, it's so... We don't need. It's such brainwashing. It is crazy. Isn't buying new cars every Yeah. Year or 2 and, yeah. Oh it's ridiculous. Right. We're, from the day we're born, we're told why we're not good enough that we don't have enough stuff why our stuff isn't as good as is that guy
stuff. Why we should look like this or be like like this or own this or... Nowadays, I I think I find it even more insidious, and I don't think it's a... I don't think it's planned this way, but, marketing is an advantage of this is, everything in news seems to me to be be be afraid. Be afraid be afraid agree with. Time's going down, but still, you know, there's 4 murder reports That some purpose. I definitely that's Well, And then for a speaker all. I I really know I
I think it's... What's a means of control. Yeah. Absolutely. And and then the marketing side of it is... Oh, this this will make it better. It's to make it better. Sure. I are you stretched anxiety? Yeah. It the... I remember you know, 8 years ago when I came back. To America. To America from living overseas, and I don't even living there a couple seeing every other ad on Tv was... Do you have nervous lake syndrome and while you're sleeping?
And you buy this and there were 2 or 3 different products out there to treat your nervous leg syndrome. What happens to that epidemic of nervous like syndrome? Because I don't see any ads for that stuff now? But apparently, it was like the worst thing ever happening. And it... It's just... You if you buy this. Right. Everything will be better. And thing ever is. It's no Because it's the... As dealer chuck canon, some writer. He's it hit some in town, you wrote a song called God shaped hole.
If that you can't fill a god shaped hole. In other words, you know, we... We're constantly on the outside of everything trying to make ourselves to to pla kate and to soothe and to solve and it's to go within. I mean he's very buddhist and they to go within and be like, you know what? I I don't... I don't need this latest greatest thing to feel better about myself, but it... It's a real thing. I mean... It it is and that if people are
making... Somebody's make killing. When I was 20 and would get depressed I would go shopping, and I would feel so much better done by shopping. Your releases is Dopamine. I mean it's an actual factual things. The hunting gathering. Yeah. Yeah tapped into that. Yeah. That's why Amazed so many shopping malls are going out of business. But now you can do it from you know, with your fat ass on the
big couch. Maybe they should combine the hunting with the shopping mall, so you, like, they've released Gaze down the the be I some of these place. Is really king. Very awesome. We just solved have the world's from. This no. It's the homeless. See. Just hunt the homeless. Oh, we got plenty of them. The movie was that. That was moved be. Oh, that's a man bunch. Yeah. Very dystopian future where you on the. It's not just... Oh, how even get me started about... Oh, it's it's very
horribly we treat. We're in this d. I know. A age with the social media, and You don't have to go anywhere. We were talking today about how kids don't really, it's not a big deal to get your driver's license. Right? Because they're not going anywhere. Yeah. They interact with everybody online. They don't ever have to... We used to we used to walk 4 miles to to beat our friends. I used to ride the bus. Yeah. I was in Los Angeles. I I had a I had I have, my, credit card. I had some snap
that... But I had reserved this rental car. When I arrived at the airport, and they wouldn't give it to me because my credit card had some sort of problem. So I had to take 2 subway trains and then but, I need to take 2 buses and 3 subway connections to get from L lax to Hollywood. We're Staying with a friend. And it was... This is fascinating. Great people watching. Great. Well, not just that. But and this is something I... I've ever
seen anywhere else in the world. There there were... I saw 3 conversations between strangers started. Because yeah, yeah. You barred you're just like Bar. Yeah. I'm a bartender or 2. Have you ever worked to bubble on these yeah. Yeah. On the subway. I love that. Guy with his bike started talking to me. I was on the phone with my dad and he overheard me said where are you coming from? You just got off the 12 hour plane flight. And we start we talked for
10 minutes. And I saw a bunch of people who... I feel like think we're desperate for human interaction. I... Will see. I think these people who are on public transport are I they're they're in it. They're they're living their lives and every person that all my friends in Los Angeles who would come and pick me up in their or and you pick me up from the train station for that whole week. I just used public transport for to
get around different parts of La. And they would all tell me how impossible it was to get around La. I'm transport Night. I just did it. Yeah. People do it. People do it all the time. Sure. And but we can't... It's... Yeah. Well we've been told we can. Yeah. It's back to that marketing thing. We've been told that... Only core people do it. Yeah. I... That's now I don't I don't think my friends think that way. But, yeah, it's
your car so much more comfortable. Yeah. You sit people in their cars are hilarious because they... They're, like in a bubble of solid tube. They don't realize that you can see them pick in their nose, and scratch in so... But we're driving on the 01:10. I know is people. Really... Oh, yeah. I've seen that 1 for a while. Wow. Yeah See that's when 4 g becomes a problem. I think I you think this gonna be masturbating bidding in that car. Talk about a distraction
me and drive me to work. You're just jacket it. Right? Well, man I think about the self driving cars. I get... I say 10:20 years at most with all gonna be self driving cars, and then, yeah, people are gonna be jacking it all the time. Yeah. Well, they'll probably have a special thing in the car that... You can close. You can Yeah. Looks like it just sort of. Protein rich. There you go, baby cell. There you. Yeah. Genius. We should. We should we should be along the highway for
looking. I just want to apologize to my mother right now for... Susan dirty mouth. If you're listening mom, you're that's great because you figured out how to work the computer. Your mother, it knows my mouth. Tries I have been many of the dinner at Ellen alex for your mom has been there. That's alright. Don't... It's not even go. My best friend, Ellen is ted's cousins. So Yes. So congratulations. Talk about... I love I love. So talk about Love too.
You're you're now in Land. You've you've become Yeah. So I moved over there, I did. You a hundred things or so 3 everything thing. I had the best job when I moved to Thailand. Doing? Censoring European porn for Japanese port. Pardon? Yes. But in Japan, porn is censored. It's... Yeah. It's pixelated. They... Yeah. They're the kin people the world that they don't, well, maybe the germans. But but... Yeah. But they don't try. They just yeah. Really. They they pixel all the the naughty bits. Wait.
That people are watching. Yeah. Oh, yeah Yeah. Yeah. You can go on online and trend look for Japanese poor nowadays. Picks up... Except for export. Like, they can show it, but anything inside of Japan. I didn't know that. Is completely pixelated. Wow. So This is the place that sells panties and vending machines. Yeah. Oh, all that's... Yeah. I just came from Japan. I could tell you a story. But maybe on a different pot. Maybe different vodka. But I...
This company from Europe, it's the largest porn company in the world. They make a lot of American importance of of that. But they're trying to export the the European pork to Japan and the Japanese are like, what, we can unless it's pixelated. So is bangkok cock. It's just the bits. It's a it's just the the bikini area. Shall we say. On both the man man and the woman which are okay. Movies are. Right. Everybody loves. Yeah. But, you know, any place that the,
you know other stuff. The... Yeah, The Pan or the... I don't know what that works. The Ko coupe. Yeah. The thanks. Yeah. None of these. Oh, it's gonna be pixelated, but, you know, and I thought it was the goal. This is awesome. Was close traveling in the world. They did it in Bangkok because Bangkok labor cheap. And but it's got Internet, and it's a high speed technologically advanced city for the most part. So years. And it's close to Japan, so they hired me. I Craigslist. Craigslist once
again I... Yeah. You signed out a frame computer. In 1 frame at a time, I pixelated European porn. And you would think. Whoa. So best be to work ever. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. Because we're in a room that that's 20 of us, You know? So everybody's doing the same thing sense? No it is the... No. It's the least sexy thing. You've ever... It's, you know, of what watching porn a frame at a time. Yeah. Is, like, watching a surgery. Yeah. I. Yeah. It is and you have to make sure it's
all covered up. So you're looking at that stuff. Right? It's a little squares. So... You do it with Photoshop. Okay. You know, you just draw a circle, and there's a pixel pixelated to filter anything. Yeah. And you get paid for that an more. Let's see. I made... Well, this is Thailand, So I think I made about 500 dollars a week. Still, that's... That's pretty good in Bangkok. But bangkok was expensive. Maybe we'd, it might have been 500 dollars every 2 weeks.
First job he... Yeah. It was nuts. That's No pun intended yeah It's... Oh my god. I didn't know. And so... But that was just... I have this little island that I live on, and it was the 1 of the first places that I went when I moved to Tyler were when I've visited Thailand originally. But where you live now? And it's where I live now. Yeah. It's the same place. And... But I thought I'd move up to Bangkok and make a lot of money in bank cock with some high
at this point porn century job. And then I'd save that money and moved down to the island. But a big butter. The... Yeah. It doesn't work out. It's the same as los Angeles. You spend what you make. Yeah. Bangkok a big City. There's nightlife life. There's lay 80 boys boy. 80 but boys. Yeah. I didn't spend IIA lot of money on Lady boys. But... They're beautiful. They're they're are looking than the women Most of the time. That's how you could tell. If if a thai woman is really
good looking. She's probably not. A girl. Yeah. Not a girl. Or not born girl. Not born girl. Yeah. They're update 5 I watched a... And lady boy is what they call themselves. Right? Yeah. Lady boy. Not derogatory. That's... All. That's the and it's... I think it's Southeast Asian. Okay. Because beautiful yeah. South like, all southeast. And they have the I watched a beauty pageant, a lady boy beauty pageant, and I stunning herbs the
miss tiffany fed. You would never a billion years been the tell that that's a guy. It is national Tv that pageant. Is it? Yeah. Yeah Prime time on what 1 of major networks in Thailand. Yeah. We could learn a lot. It's not it's it's a beauty pageant. Not. There's nothing sal suspicious about it. And then there's the prostitution into things, but, lady boys are out in public in Thailand. They Thailand and they don't...
Like, if a little kid shows an affinity for dressing like a girl, they Like, yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. And they don't... They have, you know, transgender bathrooms crazy idea. I know. In schools. Yeah and these lady boys are everywhere. They're working at 07:11, and they're working in of, you know, transgender and Thailand just by a fluke Is very interesting are because it's such an accepting society, all the people they say in America where we're so rep proud. This is
some... Somebody told me something interesting. Where where the tie are very accepting of transgender. U. They're not so open about gay. Oh. So, like, at home with sexual males. Like, a lesbian females, they they view that as a phase. Oh, And like, a like college? Like college. Yes. And and you know, when if the girl goes on with it, Well, okay. We lost her anyway. Because it's a very patriarch society. So the man Is. Yeah. Big deal. Sure. Sure. So sexual man who I know male? Well,
that this is me. What a friend of mine is told me is it the prevalence of, like boys in Thailand. A lot of it has to do with, you can't be not can't be, but it's harder to be an out game man. Oh, that it is to be out transgender man. So there are gay guys who are very feminine, and they'll do that extra little bit. Of dressing out. So they can live openly and their chosen sexuality. Sure. And That's really interesting. Dressing like a woman makes that easier for them.
It's that crazy. Yeah. It's fascinating. Yeah. Someday we'll get to a point in the world where nobody will care about any of that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'll play another thousand years. And we'll probably help me dead. I mean, we'll be dead for day. I've no. I plan to live forever. Do you? Yeah. I think that's something exhausting. And that. I know. Really do. Probably. But living swear living in Thailand, I'm gonna can use longer. Yeah. Because the stress is... They don't...
It's about quality of life over there, or not. Yeah. Quantity of possessions. It's starting to creep in. The western modernization, and all that is starting to erode away this whole idea of you know, wow, Just living be happy. You don't really need all this crap. But now we've got some of the largest shopping malls in Asia in Bangkok. The Bangkok somewhere where you live. I don't live in Bangkok. I live. I I did the I did the my time in, in Bangkok. This that's prison.
But I lived in Bangkok for about a year and a half, and then I decided, you know, screw this. I'm just kind of you know, spinning my wheels. I wasn't go... I wasn't going back, but I wasn't moving forward. So just decided to move down to the island of Ko, which is where I live. Right. It's a little bit off the beaten path, but it's really close to a couple of well known tourist destinations. Outside my my front porch, I'm, I have a house on the beach, and from my the rent there.
230 dollars a month, and I can see P islands. If they would retire p. And there's a c cool too for the children vpn Laugh Yeah. No. Yeah I am toilet No We do too it we we... It's at people say, I I need to go to the bathroom. Do you have a ticket? So the to p? 50 P. But I can see it from house. And that's where the Leonardo cap, the the beach was filmed.
So I probably getting crazy. It's well. If you go there and it's you and, you know, it's the most beautiful beach in the world or whatever, and it's you and 10000 other people. That doesn't selling like no. I don't really like know. Yeah. I'm not big on the crowd thing. It's... I don't blame dig it to be top list? Nope. No. No. It the area I'm in is pretty muslim. Oh, which is Southern Thailand is is majority Muslim in a lot of places. Oh, okay. Yeah and my island is 80 percent Muslim. Okay. And
lovely people. I have some dear friends that are muslim. Oh no. They're great. You know what This. You know what in America, we have this sort of idea that that means you're probably gonna Yeah. That's. Well, they had weird ideas about me when I moved down there as an American. They're keeping an eye on me. I thought I was a plant from some government an agency well. You probably are. Yeah baby. Who knows? Yeah. So you... All in my cover. That's so you would to Ko.
Yeah. And you said I'm gonna... What am I gonna do? Now I And I did nothing for long time. You're gonna that. Yeah look. I'm it's gonna love. Like my prime skill in a couple years. No. I started with the filling people's ipod with music? This year your job. But that that was my first business. Oh, okay. But that only lasted did a year because then everybody started filling their own, then we had the Internet.
When I first moved to where I moved where to where I live in my part of Cola, we didn't have Internet. We didn't have telephone. We didn't have cell. That sounds amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was. It but it was also kind of a pain because if you need to say somebody to go up the island yeah. But there was Internet, but it was settle like Internet, and you had to pay... So the equivalent of, like, a penny a penny for every 10 minutes. Okay. I mean, it wasn't that expensive.
Sorry for that car horn in the background. Somebody Probably gonna go insane. Yeah. Yeah. Modern convenience on the speech. Right? I mean, you have... Well, at that time they didn't. But now... Well, yeah. We had electricity. Stuff. I mean, I'm thinking like self or something. Oh, no. Holly. There were workplaces that didn't that chose not to have electricity early on. But now it's... Now we've got a 07:11 and And fiber. I've got fiber optic Internet and my little beach hut. It's really it's
ridiculous. Yeah. And we've got everything. We got... I've got 4 g intern it on my phone. Wow. All this kind of stuff. So and that happened just in the space of, like, 8 years. Amazing. So you started doing the ipod thing. Searching the ipod thing, but then went in a year, everybody had Internet and everybody had iphones. So they're downloading their stuff their itunes. They don't need to get it off a hardware anymore. Yeah. But I got out of it right before that happened because it was
boring. Sitting watching somebody sit on your computer for 3 hours while they check out the 5000 songs they want is a awful job. Yeah. So open to clothing store, also an awful job. Oh, why watching people try clothes. We're not watching them tres. You know, waiting for somebody to show up all day. And then when they show up, they, you know, what kinda of clothing did you sell? We... My girlfriend and I went up to Bangkok and we would go... Clothing because Bangkok does have a huge...
What's the... Where would you call the industry fashion industry. Before export, there are a lot of young designers Who will open up their own t shirt shots something like that. So you could go down there and get your average f ball now knock off t shirt from any place, but we went to young artistic designers and would buy stuff from them and sell that. So everything we had was different. Yeah. And when year we went to Indian, bought a bunch of stuff. Yeah. Ill. Don't never go to India.
I'll let's. I apologize to my Indian friends, but... Yeah, thanks again, I'm not big on the crowds, so I probably wouldn't. That's not top so I culture is fascinating to me. I'm fully and actually, 1 of my it's a fascinating culture. Now they just pee on it. Oh All day lot of people. Yeah. But they can find a hole Someone... I don't... Oh, I'm not even on in India. I just said. I I I'm not not a fan. We were there for holiday,
and I... Did not enjoy it. Yeah. III decided that, like, there's a reason the Comedy came from India. Because I've never wanted to kill so many people in in my life. So not that's that I can understand why the non violence movement Yeah. You know, started their out of. It's... And it's not and I don't mean like, I don't like indian people It's just the way that the the the culture runs over there is just, oh, it's grading. Yeah. It should be chill down thailand to go
to India must be. Yeah. And insane. But I know people love it. And God bless him, and I'm just not going back in Hollywood. And I and I love I love Indian people. I love Indian food. I just can't stand being in in India, and Most, like, I know a lot of indian people who feel the same. Sure. That's why they're here. Most... Yeah. Most of my Indian friends live here instead of an India so. They probably agree with you maybe I don't know.
So we had this clothing clothing store, and then girlfriend, she is a chef and she has restaurant, so I worked with her for her restaurant for a number of years, and then, we parted ways. And... You got a new girlfriend. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's working... So free advice for anybody living and working together for 24 hours a day is... Yeah not a good recipe for a a free relationship. Yeah. So young people really love that. Some people yeah. Some people are crazy too.
I don't know. I, it's yeah. We... It worked for a while. Yeah. It works for a while, but Okay. It just... Yeah. So... But we're we're we're we're good friends now and we're happy and we and right across the street from her restaurant. I've have opened my bar. Did that happen right away? Yeah. Within the space of 6 months. Oh, I had to do something. K. I wasn't at the restaurant anymore. And The bar like
a a cliche fit. Well, I had had the building the whole time Because it it was the building that was originally the ipod shop and then the clothing store. Okay. Now transformed it into a bar. And that's been great. The bad penny if you're out there on Facebook. Look it up. I think it's the bad penny dot com. We... Yeah. It's... That been really interesting. It's cliche, though. I think I put it off by opening a bar for so long because of an American who who retire to a tropical island in
it's a bar. Is same about that. And Yeah. It but people come in and they're still Oh. This is so cool. You it America's as far is it a... Well, I I... It's it's it's American. That mean, it's really like an English pub or is it? I think it's got a style of its own. Okay. It's kind of like a pub. Okay. It's the only bar bar in this area. Everything else is attached to a hotel. Oh,
okay. Yeah. And either has live music or is, a, beach thing, and they do fire shows every night, and this is the only kind of bar bar. It's a regular bar. And I did it specifically for... There are a lot of people who are like me living over there 4 owners. Yeah. And they wanted a place to go where they weren't in the tourist crush. Sure. So it's telling come all my friends. Yeah. So it's like a local saying. Out. Yeah. And then we get
tourists. They bring in their customers because they're all working in different industries like restaurants or mostly scuba diving and stuff like that out and they'll bring in their customers who are... And we get... We've got the... 1 of the top resorts in Thailand is just down the beach. Oh, see. They're overflow? Well, we get the the people are slum. You know, they're... I mean, these rooms started, like, a thousand dollars a night. Holy moly.
Yeah. They're... They have rooms there that go for 10000 dollars a night when it comes to the private butler and the Princess of Thailand stays there, and, you know, I've seen oliver her stuff and there's other people. But they never tell us who the celebrities are, because that's what the celebrities wanted... Yeah. Exactly. But you'll get people, you know, who wealthy people who are looking for a real feel of the island, and they come in, and
that's cool too. And they're it's just... Everybody's So. People are people. It's like cheers. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But it can be... I don't know if if you've ever run a bar but have never our center. I'm never it can be rough It's It's hard. On just. Yeah. Well wouldn't no. It's the drinking. Oh, drinking. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Not your don't. But you're not in Sam. Alone. You're not the. Not able but Sam malone is starting to become my my goal. Yeah. Because he's sober. He's so very.
It's hard to do though. Yeah. It's really hard to do because everybody wants to buy drinks. Yeah. So I... There's that drink Also everybody's tearing. Yeah. And have it be like so and there's around a shots or something like, yeah. The Your head... I did that for a month this year. III didn't drink for a home. Month and that worked out well. Yeah. You got a little bit of really ridicule from the friends and whatever. Right. But at the end of the day, it was all fine
and good. And that was the best I've felt the whole year. Yeah. Because... It's in Thailand, you work 7 days a week. Like you... Especially if you own your own business. It's more chill. It is more chill, but we have... We're seasonal. Yeah. So we get 6 months within to make our money. Oh. So you gotta make it. Yeah. But I think in the future, I'm gonna just take that down to to not 7 days a week, put down to 6 days a week. Which day will be off? Monday. Sounds like a museum. Like.
Yeah. I think Air is off on Monday. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. So... Yeah. It's That's. Alright. So looking back now over your life thus far. What do is the the pros and the cons of doing what you did becoming this sort of this A x expat and just saying, sting grit it sell my crap, get rid of everything and... Well, that's a big pro. I I feel like... I've kind of, like we said, earlier liberating? Yeah. I don't... I hope Feels so tied into this rat race.
Alan Watts talks about this. Love. You know, they hear kitty kitty kitty, you know, in school. They oh, here kitty kitty kitty. You go up to the elementary school, and then they say, oh, you do this well. Here getting Kidding, you go to high school, and then you go to university and you graduate university and you get a job, and then and you get a
job and then you retire. And and then at the end, you'd, like, been through your whole life and there there was no... That that thing that you were chasing was never... You never got it, and it was never there. It was all just... Oh, if you do this, it'll be better. If you do this, it'll be better. Yeah. So now I feel more like I'm just living my life. Yeah. I'm not chasing Sarah you're not manufactured concept. Yeah. A dangling carrot. Dangling carrot. Yeah. So, cole,
the... Bad man. Bad any. You're on Facebook. I'm on Facebook. And on the internet's dot com. Yeah. Right? And single. The bad girls. Yeah. On pixelated women apply. Yes Thank you. Thank you, Susan. This is So.