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Author Archives: John McCrarey
It takes a lot of balls to live life like this guy…
He could have surgery but he prefers to be “famous”. He’s being kind of a dick about it if you ask me. Or maybe he’s just nuts.
A visit from Sydney
So we’ve been occupying our time babysitting granddaughter Sydney while her parents enjoy a Bahamian cruise. She’s been a joy so far. Only 9 months old but she is easily entertained and sleeps through the night. The only downside I suppose is I’m watching a lot of Nick Junior on TV. But hey, it’s a chance to relearn all those life lessons I’ve forgotten (or ignored).
Anyway, as a proud grandpa (aka “Papa John”) indulge me a few photographs of my sweet little girl:
Beating the notorious South Carolina summer heat in her very own redneck swimming pool.
She caught a whiff of Jee Yeun cooking up something Korean and crawled into the kitchen for a closer look. No doubt she’ll be eating kimchi soon.
Who, me?
Interstate 60
I took a little trip down Interstate 60 this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Oh, and I was riding my couch the whole way.
Yes, as surely you have guessed by now, I’m talking about the movie, not the highway. Which doesn’t exist. Well, the movie exists, but there’s no I-60.
The film is from 2002 but I’d never heard of it. I’ve always enjoyed road trips and movies about road trips are maybe the next best thing. Although actually now that I think about it, many movies in this genre are notoriously bad. But Interstate 60 has Gary Oldman and he’s almost always good. Plus, this one has a surreal alternative universe vibe going that keeps it interesting.
I enjoyed it anyway. Maybe you will too.
Cremains of the day
It’s Father’s Day so of course I’m remembering dad.
Home more than a week now and still adjusting to my American life. For example, in Korea I stayed up until 2 a.m. and slept until 10. Now, I sleep at 10 p.m. and wake up at 6. I guess 8 hours is 8 hours, but I seem more tired these days.
Here’s what has been happening since my return:
The house was still standing. All the plants I planted last year are dead. All the weeds Jee Yeun pulled grew back.
At some point during my absence the GFCI in the garage tripped. Which shut down the refrigerator/freezer in the garage. Ever smelled really rotten fish? Not pleasant at all.
Grocery shopping. I confess I do enjoy the quantity of selection of foods I really like at my local Publix supermarket. Seven bucks for a huge watermelon put a smile on my face. I paid W20,000 for melons 1/3 this size in Korea.
And Jee Yeun was similarly happy shopping at the Korean market.
Made a pulled pork bbq dinner for the kids.
Played and won at darts.
Caught up on A LOT of TV shows, including watching both seasons of Game of Thrones. Still have a shitload of stuff in the queue.
Started pulling the “additional documentation” requested by the Immigration Service together. This included getting Jee Yeun’s family documents translated and printing a boatload of photos from Facebook to demonstrate the long term nature of our relationship. Uncle Sam is such a worry-wort. Anyway, should have everything ready to mail next week.
Spent time with the newest grandchild, Sydney. She likes her watermelon just like granddad.
Paid my property taxes. Which were due in March. And which I tried to pay before I left in February, but the assessment “wasn’t ready”. So, I got socked with penalty and interest fees.
Watched it rain for a couple of days. And got the oil changed in the car.
And I picked up dad’s “cremains” from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. It was a strange feeling carrying what’s left of dad home in a box.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Korean gals really love cola
I’ll fly away…
Not in the permanent sense that Allison Krause sings about. At least I hope not. But it’s back to the USA for me and my sweetie. My kids and grand kids are awaiting our return. And I reckon my lawn is going to need a good mowing after all these months.
It’s always sad to leave my Korean home. I had some good time this trip, that’s for sure. But truth be told, I’m tired and it will be good to rest and relax soaking that smooth, slow Southern lifestyle for awhile.
I finally heard something from the United States Customs and Immigration Service regarding Jee Yeun’s fiancee visa. A cryptic email saying they had sent me a letter requesting “additional documentation”. It’s frustrating that I waited six months for that piece of news. Well, I’ll sort it all when I get home.
I expect to be back here in Korea sometime in the fall. Unless I have the misfortune of flying away in the sense of the song. But I’m counting on another 20 years or so in this life, so don’t hold your breath!
Blogging will continue from the USA. Who knows, I might even have something interesting to say. Hey, it could happen!
We always carry a suitcase of kimchi home with us. Makes me nervous going through customs. I always declare it and they’ve never said anything. But if the were to confiscate Jee Yeun’s mother’s kimchi, well, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Had my last Korean BBQ last night with the in-laws and my nephew Justin who is here teaching English. Dwaegi galbi, of course!
We are the champions…
…and we kept on fighting till the end…
Hell, you know the rest.
A classic battle tonight against the boys from Scrooge Pub. We were tied 6-6 after the singles. We were tied 9-9 after the first round of doubles play. Scrooge went 2-1 in the next doubles match to go up 11-10 (13 legs required to win the game). Against all odds, Greg and I took the next doubles match 3-0 (with Greg hitting a sweet 50 out) to secure the championship for Dolce Vita’s proud Ride it In team.
It was an honor playing with Jacob, Greg, Cory and Bridget. Special kudos to Bridget, our fearless Captain, who kept us focused on victory.
Great job everyone!
updated to correct my doubles partner’s name. I’m guilty of blogging while drunk! Sorry, Greg!
Winding it down…
One week left to go in this segment of my Korean life. It’s been a nice stay. Reconnected with some good friends, ate lots of good Korean food, had a great time playing darts, and drank plenty of OB beer.
Still on tap is a big dart tourney on Saturday, the dart league championship on Monday, and I reckon we’ll slip in a few more grilled meat meals between now and Incheon.
One of my accomplishments, if you can call it that, has been to finally accept and embrace this life of unemployment. It’s been 18 months since retirement and I’ve struggled to find meaning and purpose in my life. I still haven’t found any, but I’m embracing the freedom of workin’ at nothing all day.
I also wanted to get my dart game back and I’ve pretty much done that. I wound up ranked 5th in “B” division, which I suppose is just about right given my general inconsistency. I’ve hit some good marks, including a couple ton-80s, and won 2 of every 3 legs I threw, so yeah, I’m satisfied.
It’s always sad to leave this country I’ve come to love, but I’m also looking forward to a taste of my American life, which includes my kids and grandchildren. Not to mention on-demand television.
It’s interesting to live part time in two countries. It’s also easy to feel like you are always in between two lives, never quite being a part of either. I’m working on that though.
Another one bites the dust
Ride it In moves to the championship round of the Seoul International Dart League “B” division playoffs with last night’s hard fought victory over the Blue Bulls.
The final score was 13-6, but the match was closer than that score might indicate. Singles was a dog fight, but we managed to scratch out a 7-5 lead going into doubles. The games were all close in the first round of doubles, but we won five of six, and it was pretty much over after that.
Next week we will meet the winner of Scrooge Pub and Gecko’s. Stay tuned.
Oh, and here’s a little Queen.
Happy birthday Buddha!
Exclusive to LTG is this rare birthday photograph:
Ok, so maybe that’s not the Buddha after all. But that’s definitely the body of a God! Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful…
God Bless America
Lord knows, we need it.
In other unrelated news I observed a young man on the subway yesterday wearing a T-shirt celebrating his uniqueness. Or, as stated on his shirt, his “indivisualism”. I can see that.
Monkeying around
Got this bit of wisdom via email today:
If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage, hang
a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs under
the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the
banana.As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold
water.
a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs under
the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the
banana.As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold
water.
After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result … all the
other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey
tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put the cold water away.
Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.
The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs.To his
shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another
attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be
assaulted.
The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs.To his
shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another
attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be
assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new
one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes
part in the punishment…… with enthusiasm, because he is now part of the
“team”.
one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes
part in the punishment…… with enthusiasm, because he is now part of the
“team”.
Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by the
fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he
is attacked.
fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he
is attacked.
Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not
permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they are
participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they are
participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining
monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, not one
of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana. Why, you ask?
monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, not one
of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana. Why, you ask?
Because in their minds…that is the way it has always been!
This, my friends, is how Congress operates…and this is why, from time to
time, ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME.
time, ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME.
Remembering Private First Class Frank D. Foltz
My Great Uncle Frank occupies the small piece of ground in Hamm, Luxembourg pictured above. He was the brother of my Grandmother Pernie, and she spoke about him frequently enough when I was growing up that I still recall his story. My brother Keith who is the keeper of family history also reminded me of a few details of Uncle Frank’s life.
Frank Daniel Foltz was born on the family farm in Goltry, Oklahoma on August 25, 1910. He was the youngest son and the 11th child of John and Mary Foltz. He was just a little more than six years old when his mother died, but by all accounts, he grew up to be a fine man. Handsome and good natured, he was a star athlete in high school, especially in baseball.
Frank was married with a young son and working as a Railway Mail Clerk when he was drafted into the Army in 1944. He was trained as a mechanic and shipped out to England in December of 1944. When General George S. Patton was making his great push into Germany he called for “men, more men, more men!”. Frank was deployed to the 3rd Army as a replacement and on March 3, 1945 was killed by a German sniper, just a few short weeks before the war was to end.
Grandma Pernie was a good Christian woman with love in heart and forgiveness for all–except she could never quite bring herself to forgive “Blood and Guts” Patton. As she was wont to say–“Patton’s guts, Frank’s blood”. Of course, this was unfair, soldiers in war get killed, that’s just the way it is. Frank was just unlucky. He had been deferred from the draft for most of the war because of his job and child. When manpower shortages necessitated expanding the draft, he was taken at the relatively old age of 34 (the maximum was 38). But mostly I think he was unlucky because he had the misfortune of being a “replacement” troop, a group that suffered a notoriously high casualty rate. As Army historian Rich Anderson noted:
“At the other end of the replacement pipeline, replacements were trained by replacement centers (or stripped from divisions), shipped as anonymous replacement increments to a theater of war, and held at the repple-depple until needed by units. These men were military orphans with little esprit de corps and no cohesion. Many thought of themselves as replaceable parts in the giant army “machine,” or as rounds of ammunition. The sole virtue of this system was that it allowed divisions to stay in near continuous combat for days on end, theoretically without eroding their numerical strength. As casualties left, replacements came in. However, the reality became that replacements came in, and with no combat experience and no one in their new unit looking out for them (the “I don’t know him and don’t want to know him, he’s only gonna be a casualty” syndrome), they quickly became casualties.”
So, that’s Uncle Frank’s story. Just one of the 416,800 Americans killed in action during World War II. But on this day we set aside to remember all the men and women who have answered the call to duty and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation, I wanted to honor his memory.
Thank you for your service.
And he’s one more arrow, flying through the air
One more arrow landing in a shady spot somewhere
Where the days and nights blend into one
And he can always feel the sun
Through the soft brown earth that holds him
Forever always young.
Brett Kimberlin: Domestic terrorist
In 1978 Brett Kimberlin, aka The Speedway Bomber, set off several bombs in and around Speedway, Indiana. He was convicted for his felonious activity and served time in Federal prison.
But the sad fact is, Kimberlin doesn’t want you to know about his criminal history. Several bloggers who have done so have been subjected to various forms of legal intimidation, harassment, and threats. Some have reportedly lost their jobs, another found it necessary to change his state of residence in order to ensure the safety of his family.
You can get lots of background on what Kimberlin has been up to since leaving prison here. You might also want to watch a YouTube video telling the story of Kimberlin’s exploits.
So, today has been designated for a “blogburst” wherein bloggers large and small stand together to tell Kimberlin we will not be intimated. This is a classic example of why we need to stand up and defend our First Amendment rights.
Ace of Spades said it better than I can:
“Either Americans have the right to state that Kimberlin was convicted of the Speedway Bombing Spree or they do not.
If I no longer have this right, I would like Congress to pass a law stating that I no longer have this right. If we’re repealing the First Amendment, let’s make it official.
If, on the other hand, I retain this right, I would like members of Congress to reassure me on this point, by stating so on the floor of Congress, and entering the long and sordid history of Brett Kimberlin, aka the Speedway Bomber, into the Congressional Record.
And then let him try to claim that no one is permitted to mention this.”
You set off bombs in an American city, you are a terrorist. You go after people who note your criminal past, you are an asshole. Them’s the facts. Deal with it.
UPDATE: How bad is it? This bad.
UPDATE 2: I keep good company, apparently. Here’s a list of blogs that have exposed Kimberlin.
UPDATE 3: And the hits just keep on comin’!
Slam dunk
Or the equivalent in darts.
First round in the playoffs last night saw Ride it In from Dolce Vita take out Dillinger’s 13-5. The playoff format is the first team to take 13 legs wins the match. We came out of the singles round up 10-2 and there was really no stopping us after that.
The Dillinger’s folks are a good bunch of fellas and we had some laughs along the road to victory. YJ treated both teams to a round of shots after the match which is always a nice touch.
Onward and upward in week two is our plan.
The steaks are high…
…but they are tasty!
Dined at the Tabom Brazil, a Brazilian steak house in Itaewon the other day. It’s like a South American barbecue, with the meat cooked on skewers, rotisserie style. The bring various cuts of meat, seven in all, including beef, chicken, and pork. Hell, they even brought out some pineapple on a skewer. It was all quite delicious. Best thing of all, it’s all you can eat and they keep bringing it around until you beg for mercy.
It’s relatively pricey, at about W30,000 each. But we had a nice table overlooking the street and we left stuffed and satisfied. I’d call that good value for the money.
Trivial pursuit
Not the board game, the bar game. Yes, it was trivia night at Bless U Pub and I participated. Now, I am by no means a trivia buff and to be perfectly honest I’m not particularly a fan of these contests. Suffice to say, there are other things I prefer to do in a bar and I would normally not even make an appearance on Trivia Night.
But last night I encountered a last minute cancellation of a planned dinner at a Brazilian steak house in Itaewon. So plan B lead me to Bless U.
I imagine most folks are more familiar with the in’s and out’s of trivia gaming than I am. This Bless U version was decidedly low tech. Basically, you’ve got an MC reading questions and teams of players reaching agreement on an answer and writing that answer on a score sheet. These were last night’s categories:
1. This land is your land, this land is my land
2. Tarantino
3. Before they went solo
4. The Olympics
5. Acronyms
Some of the questions were pretty difficult–for example, naming the five countries that currently have laid claim to land in Antarctica. Others were pretty easy like in which current state is the Hopi nation located. I enjoy Tarantino films, but I had no idea what “The Bride’s” real name in Kill Bill was, nor did I know the combination of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. With the combined knowledge of my teammates, we managed to do pretty well with the Olympics and Acronym categories, although we couldn’t remember what the second “A” in NAACP stood for, even though it was pretty obvious after hearing the answer. I hate when that happens.
Anyway, I excelled in the “Before they went solo” category, knowing such tidbits as Kenny Rogers was with The First Edition and Linda Ronstadt played with the Stone Poneys. The MC was very surprised we knew those answers and one of my teammates, bless her heart, shouted out “that’s why we have an old guy on our team!”. Ah well.
I also knew that Rod Stewart and Ron Wood had played together in the Jeff Beck Group. The MC insisted the correct answer was Faces. Which is just as correct as the answer we gave. After the contest was done, we looked it up on the internet and showed that Jeff Beck was also a correct answer. To his credit, the MC gave us the points.
So, when it was all said and done we were good enough for second place. Our prize was two free pitchers of beer, Of course, I was pretty much beered out by then and needed to catch the subway home, but it was nice to do well regardless. We gave one of the pitchers to a non-winning team for their creative answer on what the M-G-M acronym stood for. They said “lions and tigers and bears”, which was pretty funny when you think about it. Our maybe it was just funny to us.
Anyway, I wound up having a good time and as a bonus got some material for this blog post. I’d call that a win-win situation.
Peace out.
Bully pulpit
I’ve mostly been confining my political rants to Facebook, but a recent issue had a (slight) Korean angle, so I’m going to run with it here at LTG.
It starts with the Washington Post running an expose hit piece on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Yes, the paper that brought you Watergate used all the powers of investigative reporting to discover that Romney may have been a bit of a prick. In 1965. In high school.
The other night at darts, a friend’s Korean wife who is just about as apolitical as you can be, expressed outrage that anyone could be held accountable for adolescent behavior occurring half a century in the past. Her husband, who doesn’t like to talk politics but leans well to the left, was equally nonplussed, saying “That is just wrong. If people are going to be judged based on how they acted in high school, no one will be qualified to be president.”
Of course, their anger at this smear job is understandable. They have the good fortune to be living in Korea where they are not subjected to “news” stories that read like press releases from the Democratic National Committee on a daily basis. Otherwise they might not have been so surprised at just how low the Fourth Estate has fallen. The press cannot fulfill its historical watchdog role when it is in the tank for the party in power. Jennifer Rubin, the token conservative blogger at the Post, has a nice column up showing just how one sided “reporting” has become.
What always gets to me though is the blatant hypocrisy. It was just days ago that presidential adviser David Axlerod was making the rounds saying how outrageous it was for Obama to be criticized for eating dog. After all, Axlerod reminded us, he was just a child.
But it is worse than that really. See, it turns out that Obama has some bullying in his past to account for as well. In his so called autobiography Dreams of my Father, Obama recounts how he shoved a girl because he was being teased by his classmates that he was her boyfriend. Hey, I’m all in favor of what happens on the playground, stays on the playground. But it’s got to cut both ways. That’s just basic fairness.
Anyway, the latest attempt to demonize Romney was not particularly well received. Even the leftist left leaning Time magazine felt compelled to offer a lukewarm defense of Romney, noting that Obama wasn’t disqualified from office based on his admitted pot-smoking, coke-snorting past.
Anyway, I think bullying is bad and wrong and that it has been a part of the socialization of children since the beginning of time. So I’m not attempting to condone the behavior of either man when I say that of the two, Obama comes off worse in my view. It sounds like Romney was a smart ass instigator. Obama was pushed into his abusive behavior by peer pressure. To the extent it matters (and of course, it doesn’t), I know who I would rather see as the leader of the free world.
In the end the Post failed in its attempt to change focus from the abysmal Obama economy to Romney’s alleged bad character as a high school boy. You can’t really blame them for trying, because after four years of utter destruction, Obama has nothing else to run on.
UPDATE: A musical accompaniment.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Hope all you mom’s out there have a great day. That means you Renee and Lauren!
I surely am missing my mother.
Camping on the Kern River circa 1958.