King Father Norodom Sihanouk has issued a flurry of notes and communiqués in the last ten days.

On Sept 25 the King Father issued a communique saying that he did not want "Personalities, People, Khmer and foreigners to address to me letters, telegrams, emails, etc ...with greetings and wishes" for his upcoming birthday.

On September 27 the King Father wrote that he will be staying in Beijing until 2007, but that people can send him mail requesting that they not receive the BMD at: 15, Dong Jiao Min Xiang, Beijing 100006, PRC.

Then on October 2, Sihanouk circulated a message addressed to Senator Ieu Pannakar in which he said "there are not nor will there be any more film productions from NSihanouk".

But palace watchers are puzzled, because on Sept 27 Sihanouk also released the hand-written screenplay for a new film comedy called Excuse me, Madame, I am 'Homo'. The story is about a woman who falls in love with a man she meets in Siem Reap only to be told by him that he is gay. She leaves his bedroom in a huff.

** Finland is one of the best kept secrets on the planet. Imagine this: A country with five million people ranked least corrupt in the world, where even punk rockers wait at crosswalk lights for the "Walk" sign, even when there is no traffic; a country pegged at Number 2 in the world in terms of the ease of doing business; a country that exports Euros 28.8 billion worth of paper, printed matter and timber products per year while its growing timber stock actually increases by 83 million cubic meters per year.

In recognition of Finland holding the presidency of the EU this year, the EU should fund a study tour for the entire Cambodian Department of Forestry to visit Finland and stay there for three months to figure out how a nation can get rich from tree products.

** How's the water treatment facilities in Sihanoukville? A visitor to Serendipity Beach says he swam into a "chunk of human turd" and now is having second thoughts about ever going back.

** Trivial pursuits: When was the last time (besides now) that Cambodia had a democratically-elected government and Thailand was run by the military as a result of a coup d'etat?

** The Son Sann Foundation, LICADHO, CCHR, CDP and CSD are sponsoring a conference to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements (remember those?). It will take place on October 22/23 at Hotel Le Royal.