Thai Buddhist teen Nene Royal wins (A7x)

How did metal guitarist-singer win AGT?

(America's Got Talent) 15-year-old Thai Buddhist rockstar Nene Royal (now 16) is shy...until she starts rocking a heavy metal version of the ditty "Zombie" by the easy listening Irish rockers The Cranberries

• Avenged Sevenfold: Ego death by 5-meO-DMT
• Avenged Sevenfold on Wisdom Quarterly

Nene Royal joins Avenged Sevenfold

(Knox Hill) Collaboration of Year (2026): Nene Royal pulled on by A7x

(Ake Dalmans) Nene Royal and Avenged Sevenfold perform "Bat Country" and "Unholy Confessions" live in Singapore, Oct. 23, 2026, as Asian mosh pit forms | multi-camera fan edit

• VIDEO: White man's powwow: slam dance mosh pit
• VIDEO: Into the PIT: Mosh Pit Meditation
• PHOTOS: How to get in mosh pit | Wisdom Quarterly
• VIDEO: Mosh Pit Meditation, Pt. 1 | Wisdom Quarterly

Who is 16-year-old rockstar Nene Royal?

(Classic Celeb Rewind) America's Got Talent didn't tell viewers this about Nene Royal

Best new rock guitarist and singer of 2026, 16-year-old child Thai Buddhist Nene Royal

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Nene Royal opens for A7x, 2026

Nene Royal [b] (born Rattikarn Amloy [a] on March 14, 2010 [1]), nickname Praew [c], is a Thai rock musician and singer who became world famous on America's Got Talent (AGT).

She is best known for winning the 21st season of America's Got Talent in 2026.

Biography

Phuket province (map)

Nene was born on a small island in the Thai province of Phuket [2, 3] in the southern Thailand, which is not pronounced with any F sound whatsoever.

It is pronounced /pooh-kett/, home of infamous Patong Beach and the massive Taoist gorefest of self-torture to show supernatural endurance, a bloody display called the Vegetarian Festival or the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.

• Self-purification: In addition to eating pure vegan food, festival participants keep their thoughts pure, wearing white as a symbol of purity. Devout festival participants also abstain from sex, alcohol, and stimulants during the festival. More

But can Nene Royal actually sing?

(The Charismatic Voice) 15-year-old is going places | vocal analysis

• Can anyone else win AGT now?!
• No one expected 15-year-old's audition | Vocal Coach

Plays Metallica better than a teacher

Nene Royal chops it up with her band Ozone at Phuket Night Market

(Taylor John Hardin Reactions) Metallica's best song is "Master of Puppets"

Palm tree at dawn, Patong Beach, Phuket province, Thailand (Rene Ehrhardt/flickr)

"Big Buddha" overlooks beach in Phuket province, Thailand, Feb. 2014 (wiki)

Taoist vegfest fire-walking, rite of cosmic renewal, washing away sins, bad luck, misfortune

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I won? I beat everyone in America?

Her parents are Narong Amloy and Chuanpit "Oom" Poonkerd [4, 5, 6]. Known by the nickname Praew [7], she has a brother 12 years her junior [6].

She began playing guitar at six or seven years old and, according to her bio, is largely self-taught through YouTube videos [8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12].

Linkin Park lavishes praise on Nene

(TalentShowPulse) What Linkin Park said about Nene Royal

Nene Royal live in Singapore

• New Nene Royal DVD — Live in Singapore 2026 🇹🇭🔥 | The Complete Concert Experience

• "Small like the teen spirits" Nirvana cover, Nene Royal

I've been playing since I was a child of 6 or 7.

Her parents had hoped she would take up a career in business [13]. She wanted to study computing as a co-curricular subject. However, she learned that there were no more spaces in the computer class, so she enrolled in music instead [14]. When she played her first chord, she was hooked, she claims.

She adopted the stage name "Nene Royal" when she began playing in public at age 12 [8]. In 2022, she participated at the Thai talent program Super 10, performing with Thai rock artist PooH Anchalee [7].

In 2023, she competed in the Overdrive Guitar Contest and won second prize, being named "Best Musician" and "Best Vocalist." That same year, she received the Trang Music Award [15].

In 2025, she appeared at the King Power Band Competition and given an "Outstanding Player" award [16, 17]. More

Will teen rockstar Nene die soon?

(Golden Hollywood Stars) What happened to Nene after AGT 2026 win?

Theravada Buddhism in Thailand

Ancient gold covered Buddha statue in Sukhothai Historical Park, Thailand

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Thailand is next to Cambodia and Laos.

Theravada Buddhism is the largest religion in Thailand, followed by around 92.5% of the country's population as per 2021 [2].

By sheer numbers, it has the world's largest Buddhist population followed by China [which has 1,000,000,00 (one billion) uncounted Buddhists, who are all officially "communist atheists," even though nearly everyone in China follows the Three Teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, which blend seamlessly] and Burma, which has more than 67 million Buddhists [1].

Religion in China: Three Teachings

The Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius (China's Three Teachings)

 

Confucius hands Lao Tzu the baby Buddha

The Theravada tradition is practiced by most Buddhists and shares many similarities with Sri Lankan Buddhism [3, 4].

Buddhism in Thailand has also become integrated with Hinduism from millennia of Indian influence [5, 6], and other Chinese religions (folk, animism, pantheism, polytheism, Taoism, Confucianism) from the large Thai Chinese population [7, 8].

Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterized by tall golden stupas (reliquary mounds), and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is similar to that of other Southeast Asian Buddhist countries, particularly Cambodia and Laos, with which Thailand shares cultural and historical heritages.

性命圭旨 三聖圖: Three Sages

Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Laos are five countries with Theravada Buddhist majorities.

Buddhism is believed to have arrived in what is now "Thailand" (formerly Siam) as early as the 3rd century BCE [9], in the time of the Indian Buddhist Emperor Ashoka (who built the empire of "India" by amalgamating many South Asian territories and republics on the subcontinent), two centuries after the life of the Buddha.

Since then, Buddhism has played a significant role in Thai culture and society. Buddhism and the Thai monarchy have often been intertwined, with universally beloved Thai kings historically seen as the main patrons of Buddhism in Thailand.

Nene Royal's 15 best guitar solos

(Tim Malcolm) Top 15 face-melting Nene Royal guitar solos

Thai Forest Tradition Dhamma Wheel

Although politics and religion were generally separated for most of Thai history, Buddhism's connection to the Thai state would increase in the middle of the 19th century following the reforms of King Mongkut that would lead to the development of a royally-backed sect of Buddhism (Dhammayuttika Nikaya of which the Thai Forest Tradition is a part) and increased centralization of the Thai monastic community (sangha) under the state, with state control over Buddhism increasing further after the 2014 coup d'état.

Playing Phuket's Naka Night Market

Thai Buddhism is distinguished for its emphasis on short-term ordination for every Thai male and its close interconnection with the Thai state and Thai culture.

The two official branches (nikayas) of Thai Buddhism are the royally backed Dhammayuttika Nikaya and the larger Maha Nikaya. More

Little Thai girl shocks metal fans

(CINEMATIC LEGEND) Nene Royal joins A7x in Singapore (AI version)

LA, Japan go berserk for baseball (live)

How many Angelenos came out to line the streets of LA with fans?

WATCH: Live coverage of victory parade

LIVE: Watch the Dodgers World Series victory parade in Downtown Los Angeles traffic and stadium

• Japan celebrates Ohtani's World Series triumph
• Fernando Valenzuela mural is officially unveiled in Boyle Heights. But wait, there's more! | LAist
• City leaders to join unveiling ceremony for mural honoring late Mexican Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela [on side of building being erected to honor Shohei Ohtani?]
• What it means for Asian Americans to have LA Dodgers represent them

Buddhist rockstar, new All-American hero Shohei Ohtani helped his team: The LA Dodgers

The news channels are all over it:

• Dodgers fans lining parade route ready to salute the champs
• Live updates: Dodgers and fans celebrate world series title with victory parade (after night of rioting)
• The countdown to the Dodgers parade is on as fans line-up along the route
• Dodgers and fans celebrate closing chapter of storybook season with parade
• Public advised to stay out of these Los Angeles County beaches (due to pollution)
• Tickets to the baseball World Series Celebration at Dodger Stadium sell out
• Another Carmageddon, Los Angels traffic gridlock
• VIDEO: Japan celebrates as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto win World Series with Dodgers
• What time is the Dodgers parade on Friday?

Meanwhile, baseball fever hits Japan

Disorderly Japanese fans go crazy, raising voices, almost touching elbows

SKY5 coverage of Dodgers World Series Championship rally and parade

I must have THIS ball: Shohei's 50th

Who's Shohei Ohtani? Is that that cute Thai pig Wuhan? He's not a pig, and his name's not Wuhan. Thailand's Top 5 cutest baby animals (Bangkok Beyond)

Have you been living under a rock?! His name is Woo Deng, and he's a hippo! I will not have this miracle of Mother Nature defamed. Moo Deng the baby hippo finds fame as a small Thai zoo's online "bouncy pork" sensation (CBS News)

Are we talking about Show Hey or Wood Heng?

The Fix Is In (Brian Tuohy)

I don't remember. All I know is that Decoy's human, Shohei, hit a 50/50 ball, some lady guy in a green shirt (see below) dropped it after almost catching it, and now it's going up for auction. Ohtani’s 50th home run ball heads to auction (MSN) And the short and long of it is, I must have THIS ball.

Why this one? I'll get you one just like it from the Dodger's souvenir shop, and if you really want, I'll forge his signature like his translator would in a situation like this.

Are you mad?! Are you insane?! Are you bonkers?! It has to be this one, different than all the others in all the universes in all the world. He's the Great Golden Hope!

Don't gamble. The Fix Is Still In

Golden?

Yellow, gold, whatever! He is the pride of Japan, the pride of Los Angeles, the pride of baseball! And a bat he was holding dented and nearly knocked the stuffing out of this precious globe, and if I don't get it, I will -- no, no, there will be no contingency plan. I have to outbid everyone on the auction block. That's all there is to it.

He's married, you know? (See video below).

WHAT?!?! Nooooo! We were supposed to best buds bonded in baseball glory, for the love of the game, boys only! Or he could marry my sister so we could always hang out!!

What is your back up plan just in case someone else steals the grand prize and outbids you?

I do have one, sadly. I just don't know if it'll catch on among millions of fans and create a viable market to profit from selling in the future: 

• Dodgers selling dirt from the feet of Shohei Ohtani at bats. Order you hallowed foot dust now, only $99 dollars US

• CBS News; I. Rony, Team Fanatic, Number One Fan, Wisdom Quarterly

Baseball: Ohtani sets record then beats it

Dare to try. Dear Mr. Ohtani, if you need a co-wife, I am available by mail order on Temu.

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I love my Japanese fans! - Taylor Swift

Japanese baseball player, legend, and $700,000,000.00-LA Dodger Shohei Ohtani, 30, becomes the first major league 50/50 player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing out of town in Miami today, he's injured but still playing, and he chooses today to hit a homerun ball into the stands -- a ball that would become a coveted souvenir worth an estimated $3 million for anyone selling it -- when a woman attending the game catches it! And the crowd goes wild. Then she dropped it.

• Tens of millions of Japanese were watching the game live in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, but in Florida the stadium was only half full. The Dodgers play tomorrow in Los Angeles, and ticket sales are skyrocketing as some businessmen in Japan catch flights across the Pacific to see it. And Asian Angeleno go crazy get online and snap up all available tickets. For anyone holding an Ohtani and Decoy the Dog bobblehead, it time to get on eBay and make a small fortune.
• Buddhist sports? Does it strike anyone as odd that the world's greatest golfer was Asian and Black, not a privileged white man in an almost all-white sport? How did Theravada Thai Buddhism help Tiger Woods? Then the LA Lakers basketball team keeps winning even as the Black players keep changing until someone notices it's the white coach and his Zen Buddhist practice. Good on Coach "Zen Master" Phil Jackson. If dancing-while-singing were a sport, all the J-Pop and K-Pop stealing the spotlight from our artificially-created and synthetic boy bands and all-girl bands shows that Asian agents, producers, and promoters do it better. Or say car building were a sport, could the US even dream of holding a candle to Japan? Now Japanese Buddhist Ohtani takes American baseball to new heights previously undreamt of, why, how, huh? 🎵"Anything we can do, Japan can do better, because Japan is just better whatever we do."🎵

For all its good, Japan still kills whales, dolphins

Whoops, she drops it and watches it fall into the dugout to profit no one. Maybe now it will go to a museum or a glass case in the ballpark so attendees can gawk and it and wonder how that ball, identical to all the others in play, got itself hit by the GOAT ("greatest of all time") and almost into the hands of fan.

Not satisfied with his accomplishment, Ohtani (Number 17) soon hit another homer after having stolen a base earlier. He has done more in one game than most do in a season. He has risen to be the best living player, possibly not human, and destined to be the apex of ability. More

Impossible feat

I want to marry a player, no, a rich baller.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) — Shohei Ohtani [the 700-million-dollar man] became the first major league player to exceed 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season during the most spectacular game of a history-making career for the Los Angeles Dodgers star, going deep three times and swiping two bats today (Thursday) against the Miami Marlins. [IS OHTANI HUMAN? NO.] Ohtani hit his 49th homer in the sixth inning, his 50th in the seventh, and his 51st in the ninth. He finished 6 for 6 with 10 RBIs (runs batted in), while becoming the first major league player to hit three homers and steal two bases in a single game. More

Punk rock w/ Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys; Finn McKenty (Punk Rock MBA), 12/10/23; Jello Biafra (alternativetentacles.com); Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Jello, founder and former frontman of the Dead Kennedys, has new material coming out soon: Patrik Fitzgerald/Jello Biafra with Motorpyscho - "Punch" – AlternativeTentacles

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The Strange History of the Dead Kennedys

(The Punk Rock MBA) From their early years to Plastic Surgery Disasters, Holiday in Cambodia, and Frankenchrist to the government trying to stop them by bankrupting them with a frivolous but very expensive obscenity lawsuit, the Dead Kennedys breakup and messy reunion without frontman and major songwriter Jello Biafra, it's been quite a history. Playlist

Edited by Tim Gilli: bit.ly/tmgprmba -- 🎉 PATREON: thepunkrockmba 🕹️ DISCORD: discord 🎮 TWITCH: finnmckenty -- 🔊 PODCAST (Spotify): bit.ly/prmbapodcast.

Get the performance package 5.0 Ultra for 20% OFF + FREE international shipping this holiday season with promo code PUNKROCK at manscaped.com/punkrockmba #manscapedpartner #LM5Ultra

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(Kozlaranton) Live at Altavoz Fest 2016: Jello Biafra sings Dead Kennedys material including the first hit he wrote with them, "California über alles." He won't perform with the original members because they are sellouts out for a paycheck now, and he still has principles (and a record label called Alternative Tentacles), so the band tours with other singers and Jello does his own thing. WWJD? What would Jello do? Whatever he wants, so long as it is in keeping with the principles that have guided his whole life, like not participating in events that promote beer and other BS. It's ain't easy being cheesy, but it ain't that hard either. Jello isn't cheesy. He's principled, and that's not a popular thing to be. Hooray, Jello! The DKs were once one of the fastest bands, and they were always the most principled with their Bay Area politics and California style. Other bands and then fans got to hate them when they got a bit preachy (rather than the satirical and sarcastic bunch they started as), but that's how it goes. They influenced the direction of hardcore and speed metal and ultimately grindcore and other subgenres of the hardest music, which is why a lot of musicians wear DK tees.

• 00:0 - California über alles
• 04:32 - F* Donald Trump
• (prelude to) Nazi Punks F*ck Off
• 05:40 - Holiday in Cambodia

Αποποίηση: Το βίντεο δεν προορίζεται για παραβίαση πνευματικών δικαιωμάτων. Το ακουστικό περιεχόμενο δεν ανήκει σε εμένα και δεν έχω κέρδος από αυτό το βίντεο. Δεν είμαι κύριος πνευματικών δικαιωμάτων του περιεχομένου. Είναι από την προσωπική μου συλλογή και είναι καθαρά για Διασκέδαση.

All audio and visual parts are the sole property of their respective owners. This video is purely for entertainment and recreational purposes. No copyright infringement intended. All rights belong to its rightful owners.

Celebrities who dated lucky normal people

Starsinsider.com; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

These celebrities have dated regular people

Lesbian Cynthia Nixon

We all probably have a celebrity crush, but the chances of actually ending up with one of them are one in a million [or more like one in 330 million, the approximate population of the country, now that the planet is supporting more than 8 billion]. Well, there's hope. Click through this gallery for a look at just who those lucky few are who have dated the stars. That's right, there are totally ordinary people out there who fell into the Hollywood limelight because of the person they are dating or married to—an A-list celeb! More

• Celebs have crushes, too, like Tom Cruise loves Shakira
• What is computer vision syndrome, and how to cure it?
• History's most shockingly brutal acts of revenge

Best chance: be a groupie

How to be happy: Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll?

Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley, Bedazzled (2000) via Radiocklataberna; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Let's make a deal, Devil

The Devil (Liz Hurley) told me to do it! Bedazzled are two great movies (a better original British version from 1967 and a duller American copy from 2000) based on the classic Faustian bargain.

(Radiocklataberna) In an eliminated scene from the movie Bedazzled (the devil with The Devil) wherein the great Elliot desires to become a famous rockstar and, as in all the movie, that desire also backfires on him! Ha ha ha! (Una escena eliminada de la pelicula BEDAZZLED (Al Diablo con el Diablo) donde el gran Elliot desea ser un Rockero famoso y como en toda la pelicula tabien ese deseo le sale de la chingada! Jajajajajajaa!)

• What's the way to happiness, Jim?
• Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, Bitch!
• Who you callin' a...I mean, is that really what you think?
• Think?
• I mean feel. Is that really what you feel?
• It's what the TV, mags, and radio shows say, so I guess.

See anything you like, Stanley? (Raquel Welch)

Well, that is what they say. Let's see what happened to the latest incarnation of Stanley Moon (Bedazzled) as "Elliot" (played by a young, handsome whale named Brendan Fraser) when he tried it.

Willie Nelson's 90th birthday celebration concert (Hollywood Bowl, April 29-30)

It's called "Bedazzled" because of the better song the Devil sings to unseat popstar Stanley Moon ("Faust") when he wishes for stardom to win the love of his life, a fact lost on the remakers of the American version, replacing it with the song "Take the Hit" (shown above) then deleting the scene altogether.

The sheer genius of Peter Cook and partner Dudley Moore created a comedy cult classic.

Alan Watts on meditation in Buddhism (audio)

Alan Watts (Archive.KPFK.org, Pacifica Radio); Dhr. Seven, Ananda M., Wisdom Quarterly

British-American Alan Watts teaches Buddhism to Westerners from California in the 1960s

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What is "reality," Alan?

This morning's Alan Watts episode (Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, 8:00-8:30 AM on KPFK) was astoundingly good.

This show that Watts is one of the few to have correctly grasped the Dharma. He was an early adopter among Westerners, who studied with D.K. Suzuki. Moreover, he had the rare power -- as a "spiritual entertainer" not a priest or guru -- to effectively teach his subtle understanding of Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, and Christianity.

 

Too much thinking gets in the way. People who think too much have only thoughts to think about.

To listen FREE for the next 59 days, go to archive.kpfk.org and search for Alan Watts, Dec. 3

 

Just focus on one thing and LET GO.

What Watts is saying decades ago is so prescient as to lead many to think he was saying it this very morning. (Watts passed away many years ago, but his show lives on exclusively at Los Angeles Pacifica Radio, KPFK 90.7 FM).

Thanks to Roy of Hollywood Tuckman ("Something's Happening"), Los Angeles (and anyone streaming the station online worldwide) still gets to hear Watts twice a week, Sunday mornings and Thursday nights (after midnight, which is technically early Friday mornings).

Meditation?

Yogic dhyana in Sanskrit from India is jhana (in Pali, the exclusively Buddhist language) is zen in Japan, chan in China. It is "meditation," literally "absorption," "right concentration," the Noble Eightfold Path factor that precedes "right mindfulness."

What is reality? It is not words and symbols and therefore cannot be expressed in words and symbols. It is just this [he then bangs gong or singing bowl]. We can arrive at reality by zen/jhana, by absorption in meditation. Listen

• Practice what Watts taught, L.A., Thursday 7:00-8:30 PM