Glad to see the milk of human kindness flowing forth in such quantities from you KiR. Yes, I certainly remember the BKK1 Peace Pub. Happier days for Finchie, certainly. In fact, I'd reckon that was the place I met both yourself and Playboy, among others. Always felt the move out of there was a big mistake (and not JUST because it was around the corner from where I lived so was also my local) and the beginning of the end for Dave.keeping_it_riel wrote:I think that there's been enough water under the bridge for me to admit that Dave Finch aka Peaceman was a top guy, (but perhaps a little sketchy towards the end). In fact, his BKK1 bar - the original Peace Cafe - would have to be a contender for one of the best PP bars ever. Does anybody else here here remember the Peace Cafe when it was on St 63?
Broken Bricks then and now
- Jacked Camry
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Wow. I'm speechless. I saw this this morning as I was getting my son ready for school. I showed him the picture and you know what he said? He said "I think Terry would like it"
I wasn't going to post on this thread just yet. I was going to sit and watch how it unfolded but my son's words really touched me. That of all the memories those photos bring back, my son's first thought was to my friend Terry. Wow.
It looks great. I am so glad that they didn't knock it down. I thought they would to be honest. A friend of mine was an engineer who did a survey of the place for the landlord. The whole of the first floor was dangerously derelict and at serious risk of falling down. He insisted that the cost of renovation was prohibitive. So it is nice to see it has survived (as have I)
There are a couple of things that I noticed about the new building. The first is that the side street looks new too. When I ran the bricks, the cyclo drivers made that corner their base and a couple of old women sold noodles there. They were good people who I always got along with.
On the photo of the new bar it looks like they have gone and been replaced with moto drivers. Can someone take a look and see if they are still there?
If so, give them my best regards and tell them that me and Heng are fine.
I must admit looking at the photo of the bricks brings a wicked smile to my face.
It was an incredibly photogenic place and it was great fun seeing the faces of tourists when they saw "bollocks" on the door. It fitted my reputation as the most notorious place in town.
The idea of that was to play around with the contrast between intellect and crassness, Edgar Allen Poe on the floor, Tom Waits on whores on the wall. Yates quotes and bollocks on the door.
I figured that the khmer's didn't understand it anyway (which was true) and the kind of westerner who was offended was probably a pompous twat anyway.
If you look closely at the photo you can also make out some of the crazy signage I hung around the place.
One of the signs was strangely prophetic. WB Yeats the second coming
"Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"
So true of my life there.
KIR thank you for your kind words. I will interpret it as an outstretched hand and, of course I would be happy to take it. Don't get too carried away though, I don't want to entirely lose my notoriety.
One final thing. I would like to ask that people please don't engage in speculation about the death of my wife Sokha and the impact of her death on my later self detructive lifestyle.
She was the love of my life, the mother of my son and her memory is still sacred to me. I still think of her everyday.
I have never used her death as a justification for my actions or my choices.
To me that would be like using her as an excuse and that would be an insult to her.
The truth is, there are no excuses. If she were to see me in the last few years in Phnom Penh she would be utterly ashamed of me.
Oh one final thing. I am still writing, everyday. I think I am about 2/3rds through and I should have something resembling a finished product in about 6 months.
It's offlline though so you will have to wait until pirate copies come out in the Central Market.
Peaceman
I wasn't going to post on this thread just yet. I was going to sit and watch how it unfolded but my son's words really touched me. That of all the memories those photos bring back, my son's first thought was to my friend Terry. Wow.
It looks great. I am so glad that they didn't knock it down. I thought they would to be honest. A friend of mine was an engineer who did a survey of the place for the landlord. The whole of the first floor was dangerously derelict and at serious risk of falling down. He insisted that the cost of renovation was prohibitive. So it is nice to see it has survived (as have I)
There are a couple of things that I noticed about the new building. The first is that the side street looks new too. When I ran the bricks, the cyclo drivers made that corner their base and a couple of old women sold noodles there. They were good people who I always got along with.
On the photo of the new bar it looks like they have gone and been replaced with moto drivers. Can someone take a look and see if they are still there?
If so, give them my best regards and tell them that me and Heng are fine.
I must admit looking at the photo of the bricks brings a wicked smile to my face.
It was an incredibly photogenic place and it was great fun seeing the faces of tourists when they saw "bollocks" on the door. It fitted my reputation as the most notorious place in town.
The idea of that was to play around with the contrast between intellect and crassness, Edgar Allen Poe on the floor, Tom Waits on whores on the wall. Yates quotes and bollocks on the door.
I figured that the khmer's didn't understand it anyway (which was true) and the kind of westerner who was offended was probably a pompous twat anyway.
If you look closely at the photo you can also make out some of the crazy signage I hung around the place.
One of the signs was strangely prophetic. WB Yeats the second coming
"Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"
So true of my life there.
KIR thank you for your kind words. I will interpret it as an outstretched hand and, of course I would be happy to take it. Don't get too carried away though, I don't want to entirely lose my notoriety.
One final thing. I would like to ask that people please don't engage in speculation about the death of my wife Sokha and the impact of her death on my later self detructive lifestyle.
She was the love of my life, the mother of my son and her memory is still sacred to me. I still think of her everyday.
I have never used her death as a justification for my actions or my choices.
To me that would be like using her as an excuse and that would be an insult to her.
The truth is, there are no excuses. If she were to see me in the last few years in Phnom Penh she would be utterly ashamed of me.
Oh one final thing. I am still writing, everyday. I think I am about 2/3rds through and I should have something resembling a finished product in about 6 months.
It's offlline though so you will have to wait until pirate copies come out in the Central Market.
Peaceman
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Would you believe that the pavement brick with "bollocks" written thereon is the only remnant that still exists of "Broken Bricks". It sits idly outside a new bike shop/cafe across the road. The Khmers are still trying to work it out.peaceman wrote:
bollocks
Last edited by Pst n Broke on Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
- hanky
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Good to hear from you Peaceman. I saw the place the other day and was surprised how bright it looked. Looking at the old picture it's hard to know which one I prefer, it certainly had a bit more character before. Anyway I'm looking forward to reading more of the story sometime, I can't think of too many people who have had such lets say "eventful" lives here. All the best.
Who Gives a Fuck?
Hey Dave, some of us cannot wait that long. Why not skip the book and go straight for the movie.peaceman wrote:
Oh one final thing. I am still writing, everyday. I think I am about 2/3rds through and I should have something resembling a finished product in about 6 months.
It's offlline though so you will have to wait until pirate copies come out in the Central Market.
Peaceman
Every empty bottle is my private crystal ball
Where I gaze into the future
And find nothing there at all.
Where I gaze into the future
And find nothing there at all.
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Hi Dave
You sound curious regarding the neighborhood, so I took a few photos last night.
The first pic is of directly across from the Bricks. The sub place is long gone and by all accounts the Khmer Chinese landlady of the building is exceptionally greedy and rapacious even by Khmer Chinese standards so the building was empty for some time. It's now a kind of hybrid bike shop/launderette/ cafe. Next door is a new Indian cafe owned by a bunch of young Punjabi guys.
Next we have the view northwards down St 5 and I doubt that much has changed there. On the next corner is a minimart which is popular with the all night drinking crowd. A while back and at about 4am, an English guy was attacked there by a couple of Khmers who were out to rob him and he beat the living shit out of the pair of them. But then rather than clearing off, he settled down to enjoy his beer and you can probably guess the finale. The fuckers came back teamed up and hospitalized him.
Finally, we have the early evening view southwards down St 5 and heading towards St 136. No sign of cyclos or noodle stalls, I'm afraid.
You sound curious regarding the neighborhood, so I took a few photos last night.
The first pic is of directly across from the Bricks. The sub place is long gone and by all accounts the Khmer Chinese landlady of the building is exceptionally greedy and rapacious even by Khmer Chinese standards so the building was empty for some time. It's now a kind of hybrid bike shop/launderette/ cafe. Next door is a new Indian cafe owned by a bunch of young Punjabi guys.
Next we have the view northwards down St 5 and I doubt that much has changed there. On the next corner is a minimart which is popular with the all night drinking crowd. A while back and at about 4am, an English guy was attacked there by a couple of Khmers who were out to rob him and he beat the living shit out of the pair of them. But then rather than clearing off, he settled down to enjoy his beer and you can probably guess the finale. The fuckers came back teamed up and hospitalized him.
Finally, we have the early evening view southwards down St 5 and heading towards St 136. No sign of cyclos or noodle stalls, I'm afraid.
Twitter: Not my circus, not my monkeys - I sold #K440
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Thanks for posting the photos. Street 5 does look a lot quieter than it was. I loved the scruffiness of that little side street with its muddy pot holed road and cyclo's .It had a real City of Ghosts feel that fitted the bar.
I remember tourists would photograph the street and the cyclos etc and you could see them trying to frame the photos to avoid the nice paved roads on 130. You could imagine them going home and telling their friends how all of Phnom Penh was like that.
It would be nice to see inside. Does anyone know what they intend to do with the place? Hotel? Rent it out as apartments?
Andy, if you do manage to get inside, have a look on the floor behind where we had the bar counter. See if there is still a loose tile there. If you can lift it up there is 5 grams of quality crystal meth and a gram of coke hidden there. Can you send it to me?
(just kidding)
I remember tourists would photograph the street and the cyclos etc and you could see them trying to frame the photos to avoid the nice paved roads on 130. You could imagine them going home and telling their friends how all of Phnom Penh was like that.
It would be nice to see inside. Does anyone know what they intend to do with the place? Hotel? Rent it out as apartments?
Andy, if you do manage to get inside, have a look on the floor behind where we had the bar counter. See if there is still a loose tile there. If you can lift it up there is 5 grams of quality crystal meth and a gram of coke hidden there. Can you send it to me?
(just kidding)
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