Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
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but I’m still not believing the basic premise of “Squid Game.”
Gary Larson, the cartoonist who’d had gonzo success drawing his absurdist, one-panel cartoon The Far Side, talked in one of his retrospective books about how he’d drawn a cartoon of a husband mosquito coming home from work, hanging up his hat, and complaining about what a tiring day he’d had spreading malaria. People wrote in to complain that it’s actually the female mosquito that goes around biting people. Larson’s reaction was that these people were incensed about the unrealism of a male mosquito spreading malaria, but they were totally fine with a mosquito wearing a trench coat, pants, and a hat—and speaking English while living in a suburban house. Some people miss the point by latching on to their specific hangups, thus preventing themselves from appreciating the story.
Not that I’m a defender of Squid Game, nor would I ever pressure you to accept what you’re not accepting. But maybe just relax, realize the thing is fiction, and appreciate it for its message, whatever that message might be. Personally, I don’t think Squid Game is meant to be plausible any more than The Matrix was.
…but you never know. Consider Epstein Island. Who’d’a thunk?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/February/2025 @ 3:18 am
Next on the agenda was my appointment with Dr. Jo. She gave me this week’s chelation injection and then removed the remainder of my facial skin tags.
I don’t see any bleeding this time. What a difference from last time! Must be nice to have those things outta there. Just keep managing the nose hairs and the unibrow!
A filet mignon dinner for 499 pesos.
Looks like a meager airplane meal, but hey, you do you.
Another episode of “Squid Game” leaves one more to go before Season Two is complete. Then I can read Kevin Kim’s review!
This season is basically “Season 2, Part 1,” which is why it’s so short (only seven episodes). I don’t know how many episodes Season 3 will be (a.k.a., Season 2, Part 2), but it’s supposed to be the final season of the main story. There are spinoff shows in the works, as well as non-Korean versions of Squid Game coming. I doubt I’ll watch any of those unless the reviews are spectacular.
Congrats on 36.6 pounds lost. Great job.
Trivia: the number of fat cells in your body is “set during adolescence.” Fat cells can die and be replaced, but generally, the number of fat cells in your body is fixed. “Losing fat” generally means shrinking fat cells, not making them disappear. This is why regaining weight is so easy, why the system is rigged against us: regaining weight is just a matter of reinflating shrunken fat cells. As I’ve said on my blog, true commitment to fitness means getting on a hamster wheel that you can never really leave.
It’s the year of the snake, and that makes me think about those slimy creatures when I hike through the grasses.
but this is Tim’s last night in town, so I’ll join in the fun.
Damn, I thought he was already gone. How many goodbye parties can the man have? He must have been fun to be around. Has he picked out a half-year residence yet for when he comes back?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 31/January/2025 @ 11:42 pm
So! Wednesday was a good day for calories and creek crossings. Looks to have been a very nice trail.
When will we hear about chelation therapy’s effectiveness? I need numbers!
Enjoy your eternal summer.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/January/2025 @ 5:22 pm
Here’s a couple of minutes inside the Royal Duty-Free supermarket:
Ah, continued success with filming in landscape! Nice. You have the hang of it. I need to break my own bad habit of filming in portrait.
Royal seems like any American store, an island of American-ness. What was the problem with living in/on/at SBMA, again?
And here’s a five-minute beach walk on the way to our weekly Kokomo’s floating bar visit:
I’m hearing a lot of labored breathing on these beach walks (which are beautiful, by the way). You practicing for a Vader role? When I film my short, little vignettes, I normally try to breathe quietly through my nose.
I’m looking into purchasing some better equipment and some software that will allow proper editing.
That’ll put you ahead of me. I’m still educating myself on still-photo cameras. If you don’t want to shell out, I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of video-editing software online that’s free to use. Just look up “free video-editing software,” and you’ll find something. Be sure to look up commentary on what the best editing software is, free or not. Beware of online services that are free, but that feature a ton of ads and maybe other hidden obligations.
I was a little surprised those smoothies didn’t put me over the top.
As was I. Congrats on staying under budget.
It was the last time we were all together. L-R around the table: Me, wife Jee Yeun, daughter Renee, nephew Joshua, son Kevin, daughter-in-law Lauren, brother Greg, nephew Jason, and his Filipina wife, Rosie.
You’ve got a bunch of J-nephews. Isn’t the Korean-speaking one Justin, or am I going senile? Why wasn’t Justin there for that pic? In Korea at the time?
Anyway, here’s to beaches and family gatherings. And to pole dancers with bony asses.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 29/January/2025 @ 9:38 pm
Looks to have been a great Hash. Lots of lovely scenery.
Whatever became of those lessons in reading and writing Korean from 2005? I also noticed all the language errors in Carol’s comment, and how they nicely complemented your own. You two were made for each other!
re: to, two, too
“And what else to note, Troi? Your two are too visible, too!”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 28/January/2025 @ 9:32 pm
When you don’t know how to do something, look up the question online. Type in “how do I make videos in landscape on my Samsung [name and model #] phone?”, and you’ll find your answer. “Portrait” refers to screen images that are in a vertically aligned rectangle, like painted portraits. “Landscape” refers to horizontally aligned rectangles, like landscape paintings. With your cell phone, you can make videos in portrait or in landscape. Most of us are lazy and stay in portrait mode, probably because it’s a little easier to grip the phone that way.
I guess burning the garbage is better than just tossing it in the creek bed and leaving it.
Seems the locals couldn’t be bothered to make sure the garbage is all in the fire. Nor did they seem to care about the fire possibly spreading.
Swan’s sausages
Sausages and brownies look good.
Squid Game
Season 2 seems to be slow going. Episode 3 finally takes us back into the games.
Great sunset shots as usual.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/January/2025 @ 6:19 pm
Sorry. All of those “yes”es and “rights” sound as if I’m interrogating you viciously.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/January/2025 @ 3:32 am
Happy Birthday to Long John. I assume that’s his Hash name.
Swan getting back to her roots
That’s a Dao tree, yes? With “buttress roots”?
Hike buddy Tim is leaving soon for his journey back to the USA.
You said he’s planning to spend part of his year in the PI, yes? So this “journey” isn’t some permanent thing, right…?
Looks to have been a good forest walk.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/January/2025 @ 6:13 pm
So I guess that, between the first lopsided video and the second corrected video, you’d figured something out. Most excellent.
Yikes, a lot of uphills on that walk. I’d have been one tired mofo. Hats off to all of you.
She said it reminded her of the paper packet in the “Squid Game” initiation. Hmm, if I disappear, you’ll know what happened.
Looks like the origami pattern one sees in ddakji, but thicker.
Just make sure you never lose your income stream from Uncle Sam.
Here’s a short video clip I took of the host bar’s routine:
You obviously zoomed in on your favorite.
But I drank from 4:00 until 8:00, which proved to be too much of a good thing.
Admitting you have a problem is the first step to solving it! This happens way too frequently. I should troll your archives just over the past two years to see how often you’ve written about being flat-on-your-ass drunk. But I’m sure you’ll find a rationalization.
That only happens a couple of times a year, usually when I deviate from beer.
And let the rationalizations begin! “Only.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/January/2025 @ 4:34 am
Kev, I am no fan of AI voiceovers, but what I’m seeing more and more is faked photographs created by AI.
That entire video was put together by AI—the video clips and everything. I recently used a video-generating site to see whether it could produce a video about the Four Rivers trail in Korea. It was a shit-show.
And AI photos definitely have a certain unnatural look that makes them easy to spot when you know what to look for.
Take the Britannica “real or AI” quiz here. I got 10 out of 10.
re: mouth-farting
I bet your mom was always griping about why you couldn’t be normal like other kids.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 25/January/2025 @ 9:22 am
Our host, John, skillfully manning the grill.
From that angle, John looks a lot like Chef Andy.
According to the caption on this Facebook post from seven years ago, it was -13, and the wind was blowing.
And I see you were still doing that lip-puffing, mouth-farting nonsense. So weird.
Today’s YouTube video discusses three morning habits that can prove fatal to older folks like me. Well, maybe.
I love the AI voice. More and more, this is the norm.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/January/2025 @ 5:37 pm
I wrote:
What if you were to design a walking tour of Barretto that included legitimate tourist sites/sights and other sites/sights of interest (e.g., natural formations, etc.).
There should be a question mark at the end, not a period. Whoops.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/January/2025 @ 5:27 am
Just to keep things in perspective
Interesting how the Democrat pardons always seem to outstrip those of neighboring Republican presidents on that list: Carter beats Reagan; Clinton beats both Bushes; Obama and Biden both beat Trump. I assume that that “238” figure for Trump comes from his first term. He’s begun his second term with around 1,500 pardons, which still puts him under Obama and Biden.
Living the dream
Guy really needs to watch those cabin-building videos on YouTube to learn how to make a proper domicile.
A litter-free hike wasn’t in the cards
With lunar new year coming up in Korea, I might do my yearly “crazy walk” of 60K from my place to Yangpyeong. Maybe this time, I’ll take photos that focus purely on trash and litter. There’s a lot that I leave out when I normally take photos on the path.
My chelation treatment with Dr. Jo went without a hitch
One or two more treatments from now, I hope we hear about whether there’s been any progress, any changes.
I agree with him about the litter but disagree that the bars are the only reason to come here.
True: along with drinking, you write about walking! But, seriously: can you give a list of other activities one can engage in while in Barretto? Let’s start you off:
1. walking
2. drinking/bars
3. darts (bars)
4. pool/billiards (bars)
5. eating Western/Filipino food (bars, bar-restaurants)
6. …?
7. …?
8. …?
9. …?
10. …?What if you were to design a walking tour of Barretto that included legitimate tourist sites/sights and other sites/sights of interest (e.g., natural formations, etc.). Maybe you’d have to design more than one route, e.g., if you included Black Rock as one of the places to visit. Hell, a guide to “the real Barretto” updated yearly might actually sell! (You might have to interview locals, including fellow expats, about what counts as “the real Barretto.” This could prove surprising.) Making this guide will give you a chance to see Barretto less as a setting and more as a resource.
Almost as bad as one of my blog posts
Reminds me of a 2022 post of mine.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/January/2025 @ 10:31 pm
Nice video of the walk along the beach. Turn your camera 90º and give us a more cinematic view! I’m still trying to break the same bad habit myself.
I thought one of them (the cop) had been killed in Season One, so it was a bit of a surprise to see he had survived a gunshot and a fall off a cliff into the ocean.
It wouldn’t have been a surprise had you read my reply to your comment on my blog.
He says, “Hi[,] darling[. Y]our parents have come to visit us, so let them stay in our bedroom. Did you say hello?”
I think there’s a word missing after “so.”
Enjoy that beach life.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/January/2025 @ 2:09 pm
Let’s hope it’s the start of a better era. I hope Trump gets certain balls rolling, but I may be more eager to find out what JD Vance is capable of, how he keeps those balls rolling, and what his own ideas are. If I live to see all that.
I hate to say it, but I enjoyed that man-boob tattoo as well.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/January/2025 @ 2:11 am
We’ll also be doing two nights in Hong Kong, another place I’ve never previously visited.
You’re a braver man than I am. I wouldn’t risk setting foot on Chinese soil if you paid me. Watch YouTube videos by SerpentZA or LaoWhy86 (who are friends) to see why.
I’m flying budget airlines (Cebu Pacific and HK Express)[,] and I hope I don’t regret it.
Yeesh. I hope you don’t, either.
There’s something in the air
But it’s producing a nice visual effect.
A horny goat
No relation to Ed or to Helen, I hope.
Sand and water
I like the dog napping in the foreground.
That’s me thirty-five years ago, half the age I am now.
Suckin’ down a cold one, as usual. The world is unjust, man. I’m the one who had a stroke and a heart attack, and you’re the one with the shitty habits of drinking and, for years, smoking. And all you’ve got are stiffened heart valves and under-control COPD? For God’s sakes.
The stories I could tell from my seven years as a letter carrier.
Sounds like a new feature for the blog:
• Tales from the Mail Bag
• Letter-carrier Chronicles
• Neither Rain nor Snow nor Open Legs
• Shit You See on the Route
—etc., etc.And now[,] it is time to prepare for another Hash Monday.
I hope it went well.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/January/2025 @ 9:18 pm
The high view
Great view. A postcard shot.
The next ‘hood to serve
That’s a lot of tarp-y roofs. High winds and rain…
This guy is always hanging around here
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum (INRI)I guess view is to die for…
Who needs a “the” when you can speak like Uncle Roger?
the other day, I came across a post about my first haircut in Korea
You had a very different cast of commenters back then.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/January/2025 @ 7:37 pm
I notice you did give allowances for the show’s outlandishness by bringing up the real-world Epstein Island, which is not for morbid games, per se, but is definitely designed for “play.” I wouldn’t take “Squid Game” seriously as a literal tale rooted in reality, but rather as figurative social commentary on the order of a fable for adults. The show is more interested in saying something than in being realistic. Does it succeed on that level? Personally, I’m not so sure. And remember: as I noted in that review, Hwang himself claims the series isn’t that profound. Like a lot of Hollywood directors, he may simply have been trying to package and put out a jumble of ideas that don’t necessarily cohere with each other.
That said, we both agree that an operation this huge would be noticed by someone, then by more someones, so the implausibility could be bothersome. Even Epstein Island eventually got discovered.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/January/2025 @ 4:53 pm
Jeremy Jahns reviews Season 1 of Squid Game.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/January/2025 @ 6:30 am
Sounds like an awesome day. That’s twice, now, that you’ve mentioned agreeing with my review “for the most part.” I hope you focus on the disagreements. I’d be interested in your point of view.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/January/2025 @ 6:22 pm
And that’s all there was to it
Episode 8 brought the number of remaining contestants down to two, and sadly, my favorite character isn’t one of them.
I knew it—you’re sweet on Sae-byeok (meaning = “dawn”), the North Korean defector with the little brother that she wants Gi-hun to take care of. She’s the one I called “underage” in a previous comment. Why “underage”? Because you’re almost 70, you lecher. Stop lusting after little girls. That’s the American left’s job.
You burned over 2300 calories after not even 1700 steps? Do tell. I’m not sure your various machines are giving you the true story. Or was “2346 calories” the figure for everything (activity + rest) by the end of your day? The screen does say “Yesterday,” after all. That might be plausible.
The rich VIPs coming to witness the violence was more than the usual over-the-top this series seems to strive for.
Did you enjoy the stilted dialogue as the foreign VIPs talked? I talk about them in my review. Nobody liked them, and a lot of people thought they almost ruined the show.
At least I didn’t overeat to compensate for my boredom
Congrats, I guess, but I’m starting to be leery of your devices’ and apps’ accuracy. Only the bathroom scale is to be trusted at this point.
My health insurance from the USA isn’t accepted in my hospitals here (I have to pay and then submit for reimbursement), but if need be, I have a credit card I can use to pay for treatment.
So as someone who is on a tourist visa, you can or can’t get Filipino health insurance? Or are costs generally cheap enough to be affordable for foreigners with money, even if they don’t have insurance?
“My boyfriend has a very small dick.”
Hey, at least you’re stickin’ with him, girlie. He must be good with fingers, lips, and tongue. A friend once looked at my large fingers and said, “Dude, you don’t even need a dick!” Personally, I don’t think my fingers are that big.
I had a day today completely opposite of yesterday’s nothingness. I’ll tell you all about that tomorrow!
We’re all waiting with balls on, I’m sure.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/January/2025 @ 1:22 am
I had to find the relevant post. Good usage, but still no why. This is the thing you keep avoiding. If you can’t explain it, you haven’t mastered it, which is why you’ll continue to make the same mistakes over and over. Richard Feynman made that clear: to show understanding of a topic, you have to be able to teach it back to me. And without Grammarly for help.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/January/2025 @ 7:14 am
Well, you got the skin tags (not tabs) off, so that’s a good thing. They’re often caused by obesity/and or diabetes. Make sure they don’t grow back!
Do you really think reading glasses will help with blindness? The doc needs to understand how serious the situation is. Unless you’re okay with functioning with just one eye. And I’m not clear on whether the doc was sure you’ve got a cataract in there, or whether he was just hypothesizing.
Some roast beef and gravy, with coleslaw and salad on the side.
I hope that roast beef wasn’t as dry as it looked.
There are three more episodes to go in Season One, and hopefully, it will begin to make more sense to me by then.
What’s not making sense? I mean, I get that the villains’ motives might seem inscrutable, but surely you can at least guess at some possible motives. Well, maybe the mystery will drive you to watch until the end. Don’t let Episode 7 ruin the series for you, though. A lot of people complained about that episode, with its distractingly bad acting and poor dialogue.
I’ve booked rooms and paid for two Hash events in La Union
Do the locals pronounce it the Spanish way, i.e., “lah oon-YOHN,” or do they do it the sloppy American way, i.e., “luh YOON-yuhn”?
Congrats on the caloric expenditure.
re: dialogue with Carol
Did you have a roving eye back then despite being married? That would explain a lot re: serial marriages.
Good luck with your other eyelid. Here’s to no more skin tags.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/January/2025 @ 8:03 pm
YBC definitely seems to be your store. Here’s hoping they never cheese out on you, or at least do so only rarely.
How old was Johnny Tango when he died?
Good luck with the docs.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/January/2025 @ 6:49 pm
Anonymous,
Nicely done. Now, I need to see John’s two sentences.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/January/2025 @ 5:58 pm
Everything [bracketed] is a corrected error. You’re very close.
Doctor: You need to take one of [these] pills [every day] for the rest of your life[.]
Him: But [there are] only 3 pills[,] Doctor[.]
Doctor: Exactly[.]As to whether “3” counts as an error… it’s normally considered better English to write out low numbers, but there’s a huge dispute as to when to start using Arabic numerals. After 10? After 20? After 50? After 100? It’s very open-ended. Anyway, considering the fact that memes are super-informal, I wouldn’t count “3” as an error, especially given the much worse errors visible in the image. But I won’t ding you. That was the only iffy “correction.” Otherwise, you got all the rest. I did notice, however, that you lumped all the period errors together into one error. I was counting each missing period as an individual faux pas.
But here’s the question: do you know why “every day” has to be two words?
Homework: write two sentences, one using “everyday” and another using “every day.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/January/2025 @ 11:25 am
Actually, that doctor/pills meme has seven errors. Amazing how much retardation one can cram into a single meme.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/January/2025 @ 12:28 am
then opted for a walkaround Black Rock and the final up.
walkaround = compound noun
to walk around = phrasal verb
walk around = noun phrase (noun + preposition)I took a walk around town. It was a nice walkaround.
A pleasant riverside stroll to kick things off
What does that purplish cloth on the left signify? Or is it garbage?
Up and at ’em!
Would you say Tim is improving?
I’ve been lamenting the rape of that hillside which is visible for miles around.
I’ve written about the ugliness of West Virginia strip mining before. It’s depressing when people simply rip open or shave clean natural features like that. I’m no greenie, but we all could make more effort to live more harmoniously with nature. And that certainly includes being more mindful of our litter. And maybe not ripping layers and layers off mountainsides.
And the hard and easy meet again!
The sign on the building says “Subic Slaughterhouse.” Does it stink? Is it really a literal slaughterhouse?
Greetings[,] Lick and Spit
I guess she’s the local “hawk tuah” girl. Did you see that that chick is in trouble for a possible crypto scam? She didn’t set up the scam, but she lured lots of people into it, maybe inadvertently. That’s when brains would’ve helped.
Hmm, I’ll be seeing Dr. Jo this afternoon…
In that doctor/pills meme, there are six errors. Can you find them all?
If Tim’s planning on living in the PI six months out of the year, he has to know he can’t act like a two-week millionaire every single day.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/January/2025 @ 5:35 pm
Only fifty bucks a night!
Sounds amazing for such luxurious accommodations. I guess Tim likes living large, but $50/night is cheap by Korean standards. Tim looks too young to be retired, though. Is he? And how long is he in town for?
My attempt at a [low-cal] lunch
Take away the breading on the fried chicken, and it’d be a low-carb lunch.
already identified my favorite. Can you guess who?
No doubt one of the underage girls.
If you’re three episodes into “Squid Game,” you ought to understand the basic premise by now. Poor, desperate people are lured into playing children’s games for money, but if they lose, the penalty is death. As the series goes on, there’s an exploration of why the games are occurring, as well as a few plot twists regarding the identity of some of the players. All is not as it seems. Once you finish Season 1, go back and read my review.
Speaking of reviews, did you miss my recent review of “12 Angry Men”? Or was it just not your thing?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/January/2025 @ 7:56 pm
Winding our way through another day
«« Back To Stats PageHope she had fun Chu-ing on her meal.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/January/2025 @ 4:52 pm