The World Monuments Fund recently released their 2006 Watch List of 100 Most

Endangered Sites around the planet.

The good news is that not one temple

in Cambodia is on the list, but the bad news is that the Ellis Island Baggage

and Dormitory Building in New York is.

Several other noteworthy

endangered sites include: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Expedition Hut in Antartica,

the Helsinki-Malmi Airport in Finland, the Wonderful Barn in Kildare, Ireland,

and Watson's Hotel in Mumbai, India.

** A Chinese monk sporting

well-turned robes is visiting Phnom Penh this month. He carries a photo album of

a temple in Anhui province damaged by recent floods and is looking for donations

to help repair it. He carries official documents, one of which reads in

English:

"CERTIFICATE: The now there Chinese the donger Xingchan temple on

Anhui outs the family go to the expensive country temples three visit the mutual

study Exchanges experience, worship Buddha the knot yuan, ask expersice country

government to give convenient."

One willing contributor of limited means

gave the monk 500 riel, to which he responded with a grim-faced grunt and walked

off without even a thank you.

** Casual observers were at a loss for

precise words for how to describe the blogger confab that took place at the

Cantina restaurant on the riverfront last Sunday.

Proprietor Hurley

Scroggins was comparing the meeting to a 60s-style Be-In.

There were

murmurs that it might have lasting import equivalent to the secret central

committee meeting that took place at the Phnom Penh Railway Station back in

1962.

The name "The First Annual Phnom Penh Bloggers Convention" was

tried on for size, but in the end, one of the mysterious bloggers on hand, who

said he goes by the code name "Jinja", described it as a "pub night".

"We're just mapping out the blogosphere," said Jinja, who added that he

thought there were about 20 blogs in Cambodia.

One key item learned at

the event was that those who work for newspapers are called "dead tree

bloggers".

** One social scientist has examined the "I don't know"

syndrome and determined that it can be described in psychological terms as an

Informational Black Hole. Data goes in and then is lost forever.

** The

BBC has been cut from the CCTV cable system, but the company says it has to do

with ongoing negotiations about the fee structure and is not related to any

political concerns over content. At least, that's what they say.