About John McCrarey

Born and raised in southern California. My career exodus has taken me to Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, DC. And as of 23 January 2005, Seoul, Korea. Married with 6 grown children (blended family). First grandchild is in the oven! I created this blog to document my adventures as an expat living and working in Korea. I'm also pretty confident that I will on occasion feel the need to express my views on current events and other matters I find of interest.

“Best” of 2006

Posted on 14/March/2010 by John McCrarey

OK, once again I have braved the archives here at LTG looking for some golden nuggets to share as the “best” of the year. Man, it was a journey through some pretty pathetic drivel, but these two tied for least worst of 2006:

Stupid is as Stupid does recounts the sad tale of some firsts for me in Korea–my first blackout, my first ambulance ride, and my first stitches.

A Clean Well-Lighted Place I think nicely captures the quiet desperation of the mundane life I was living as my second year in Korea came to an end.

And this picture from that same time period reflects my emotional state of being. 2007 brought some changes good and bad, but my outlook was definitely more positive.

Finally, I call Greetings Earthlings! the best of my photo-essays from 2006. Partly because for some reason my server dropped most of the photographs from my posts back then. Anyway, I have photos of Namdaemun Gate and the marketplace, vintage Dolce Vita shots, pics from a Busan trip, and also the DMZ tour.

Stay tuned for 2007 once I get around to wading through the muck and mire of my so-called life…

Obama in Wonderland

Posted on 13/March/2010 by John McCrarey

Maybe it’s all a dream…er, nightmare.

Yoja of the week

Posted on 12/March/2010 by John McCrarey

The beautiful Korean woman for this week is singer, model, actress Park Soo Jin.

Not too shabby, eh?

She was a member of the popular K-pop group “Sugar”. You can watch her perform with Sugar here.

And Ms. Park also does lots of commercials. I couldn’t decide if I liked this one or this one best. Heh, it’s all good, right?

Dog bites man!

Posted on 11/March/2010 by John McCrarey

NASA knew climate data was flawed, used it anyway.

Some might call it science, but back in the day I think they called it a circle jerk. Or cluster fu*k.

Blast from the Past–Kevin Lee

Posted on 11/March/2010 by John McCrarey

You gotta love those 80’s hairstyles, don’t you?

Well, Kevin was quite a bit younger then. And as of today, he’s older still.

I’ll give him this, he wasn’t late for the first birthday party. Came into this world early in the morning (a little after 6 a.m.) on his due date.

I got to be in the delivery room for his arrival and it was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever witnessed.

Of course, he’s made his daddy proud ever since.

Happy Birthday Kevin! I love you.

Jacob from ROK Sojourn and Sean Penn: Separated at birth?

Posted on 10/March/2010 by John McCrarey

So it turns out that K-blogger Jacob has a long lost twin brother, none other than Hollywood do-gooder Sean Penn.

They act alike, they think alike, at times they even talk alike, what a crazy pair! (sorry Patty!)

Evidence? You want evidence? I’ll give you evidence:

Jacob to those who don’t agree that AGW is settled science: “shut the hell up and get out of the way”

Sean Penn to those who call Hugo Chavez a dictator: “there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.”

And if anyone has the audacity to challenge these “progessive” thinkers? Well, let’s hear how caring liberals respond to their critics–

Jacob: “I have zero respect for you people and I hope you all contract cancer and die painful and slow deaths.”

Sean Penn: “Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah. You know, but I’m not going to spend a lot of energy on it.”

But wait, there’s more! Note the similarities in whom they worship:

Sean Penn with Venezuelan ~~dictator~~ ~~President for life~~ socialist Hugo Chavez.

Jacob with ~~The Messiah~~ ~~one term President~~ socialist Barack Obama.

But the biggest thing they have in common of course is hatred. Hatred for all those who do not share their world view. Hatred of the freedoms and values that celebrate a diversity of opinion. It is a scary thought to imagine a world where the Jacobs and Sean Penns actually held power.

Fortunately, their ignorance is transparent and easily mocked. But shhhh! They think WE are the rubes.

Oh and one last thing. I’ll give Sean Penn credit for at least standing behind what he believes with his name. Jacob is a typical “keyboard warrior” who likes to spout off but has no conviction in his words, at least not enough to put his name to what he writes. I won’t be a dick and call him a pussy, although an asshole would call him out as a coward.

Hmmm, well it turns out I’m a dick after all. Go figure. And what pray tell, are you?

Naturally…

Posted on 10/March/2010 by John McCrarey

So, yesterday I take my winter coat to the dry cleaners in preparation for putting it away until next winter.

And of course, I wake up to snowfall this morning. Appears to be 3+ inches of thick wet snow on the ground and it is still coming down.

Ah well.

Actually, when I dropped the coat off I wondered when I might ever have the occasion to wear it again. I don’t expect to have much need for any of my winter clothes there. Or my suits for that matter…

Don’t take my advice

Posted on 08/March/2010 by John McCrarey

The truth about dogs…

Posted on 08/March/2010 by John McCrarey

…as a dinner meat option here in Korea. The photo above is a joke of course, but the real photos of dog slaughter are not so pleasant to look at.

Anyway, I don’t eat dog meat. Some Koreans do and it is culturally acceptable for them to do so. I would not want a Korean judging me for liking tacos and so I cut them the same slack. Ask a Korean has a fantastic post up about the whole man eats dog phenomonom here in the Land of the Morning Calm. Have a read, it is rather fascinating.

Meanwhile, here in Korea…

Posted on 07/March/2010 by John McCrarey

For those of you watching at home, here’s what’s been going on:

I had some dinner guests, Tom and Yuli who you will recall introduced me to Bali. Tom is also the captain of my dart team.

This is the aftermath of what was my standard grilled rib-eye steak dinner.

The highlight of Tom’s visit was that he set me up with this keen system that allows me to watch content I’ve downloaded from the internet in the comfort of my living room on the big screen TV. It is really awesome!

“Let’s see, this wire plugs in here, and then…”

So, I’ve been looking for good quality entertainment on the internet (hey, there’s more than porn there, who knew?). I’ve managed to watch “The Blind Side” (which I found to be quite excellent by the way) and an old favorite “The Prince of Tides”. But where I’ve really be spending my time is on watching the Showtime series “Dexter”. Just finished season one and I am hooked. Great show.

So dear readers, I need your help. I know how to search for visual entertainment, but I’m not at all sure what to search for. I mean, Tom suggested I try “Dexter” which I had otherwise never heard of. So, what else is out there I should be watching. Leave your suggestions in the comments. Thank you very much.

Last weekend my blog buddy Jenn of I’ve Got 2 Shoes fame came up from Ulsan for a taste of big city life. I fear she may have been a little disappointed because other than dinner and a short bar hop on Saturday night, I couldn’t motivate my sorry ass to get out of the house much. Well, we did the usual base tour. Anyway, she said she enjoyed chillin’ here at the LTG abode and she’s always welcome to sample the mellow life in Seoul.

Friday night we had the going away dart tourney for Chris Hayes at Dolce Vita. Yep, I came out of semi-retirement for the event. And yep, my game is still crap.

Chris is returning to the USA after 12 years in Korea. He has a new job and is excited about heading home and starting his new life. He’ll be missed here of course. Monday nights will be a tad quieter, that’s for sure.

Rex, CH, Ace, and Lucky…

Chris brought a couple of newbies out with him…

Alistair brought his pretty wife Juri and her pink darts. She’s actually getting to be a pretty good darter. She and her partner Ace took a second place at the tourney.

Jim an Chris figuring out the brackets…

Ron, Doug and Lonnie talk it over…

My theory is if you aren’t throwing well, drink more!

Juri and Jee Yeun agree that there is nothing more exciting than Friday night darts at Dolce Vita!

Anyway, it was a pretty good night all in all. When didn’t have many of the boys from the UK with us, I guess because they were resting up for their mate Ciaran’s wedding on Saturday. I had the honor of attending the event and it was well done.

The understandably happy Ciaran with his lovely bride Eun Jin.

Ciaran is a very nice young lad from Wales and I wish him and Eun Jin much happiness in the future.

So, today I’ve been playing with my iPod (I somehow managed to delete my library and I’m slowly rebuilding). Got a pot of chili cooking and my nephew Justin will be joining me later this evening.

And that brings y’all right up to the minute in my thrilling life….

What’s it all mean Mr. Natural?

Posted on 07/March/2010 by John McCrarey

I’m always assuming I should be learning and understanding. But I’m pretty dense I suppose and sometimes I just don’t get it.

So, they say that winners never quit and quitters never win. I got that. But then I think, winning isn’t everything. So now what?

But really, if something is bad or causing you pain, uncertainty, or otherwise creating unpleasantness it is pretty much a no-brainer–you simply walk away.

Then again, if that something is none of those things, but rather simply something other than what you desire it to be–is that a valid reason to let it go?

And so I suppose it just comes down to what you value most. Four months or four years, all or nothing or take what you can get?

I think sometimes I get disappointed in others not so much for what they do but from a lack of understanding their motivations. But truth be told, I’m not even sure I understand mine.

Running is an easy option after all.

So, what’s it all mean Mr. Natural?

“Don’t mean shit”.

Do you care about climate change?

Posted on 07/March/2010 by John McCrarey

Seriously, it’s time to take a deep breath here folks and assess where things currently stand. I’ve been thinking for quite some time that you almost need a scorecard to keep up with what is truth and what is fiction. And now comes this definitive article in The Weekly Standard that sorts out the sordid details of what has led us to this strange brew of science, politics, and religion known Anthropogenic Global Warming.

If this is an issue you care about I highly recommend you read the article. And you should care.

What could go wrong?

Posted on 07/March/2010 by John McCrarey

Many supporters of government run health care point to the model program in the UK as an example of what we need in the USA.

Be careful what you wish for…

A man of 22 died in agony of dehydration after three days in a leading teaching hospital.

Kane Gorny was so desperate for a drink that he rang police to beg for their help.

They arrived on the ward only to be told by doctors that everything was under control.

The next day his mother Rita Cronin found him delirious and he died within hours.

She said nurses had failed to give him vital drugs which controlled fluid levels in his body. ‘He was totally dependent on the nurses to help him and they totally betrayed him.’

The longest suicide note in history?

Posted on 06/March/2010 by John McCrarey

The Obamacare bill.

(concept shamelessly stolen from Paul Mirengoff at PowerLine)

China owns the United States…

Posted on 06/March/2010 by John McCrarey

…and plans to send her to the scrapyard.

Hate to see that happen. I used to spend quite a bit of time in Philadelphia and saw the United States when she was first docked there. It seems a shame that she can’t live on in some useful capacity. I lived in California when they brought the Queen Mary to Long Beach. Seemed like a great idea at the time, but I don’t think it has ever proved to be financially viable.

Old ships are invariably destined for the scrapyard, but they live on in our memory and imagination of a bygone era.

Nice video of the United States in her glory days here.
Via BoingBoing.

Who says women don’t grow on trees?

Posted on 05/March/2010 by John McCrarey

from a Tara Murphy Facebook post

Yoja of the week

Posted on 05/March/2010 by John McCrarey

You guys are going to have to help me out. I found this image at Crunchyroll.com where there is a poll of “Top 5 Korean female celebs”. I liked this image enough to make her our Yoja of the Week, but damned if I can find her name.

I’m I sucker for the knee socks/short skirt look, that’s for sure.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Jenn, our mystery Yoja has been identified as Lee Da Hae, the star of “My Girl” and “Hello Miss.”. This is actually somewhat of a relief, because when I noticed her rather large “Adam’s apple” I was afraid I may have inadvertently posted a “ladyboy” photo…

On treason and global warming

Posted on 04/March/2010 by John McCrarey

Great post by Walter Russell Mead at The American Interest Online taking the NY Times to task for its late arrival to the conclusion that maybe there was good cause to be skeptical of global warming (blessed be thy name) science after all. It’s a pretty important piece, not so much for whether or not man is causing the planet to warm, but that our press has lost what we depend on most–skepticism.

Of the two, I’d say a compliant and unquestioning media is the more immediate threat to life on Earth.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

The things you get in email…

Posted on 04/March/2010 by John McCrarey

Offered without approval or comment:

When I was 13, I hoped that one day I would have a girlfriend with big
tits.

When I was 16 I got a girlfriend with big tits, but there was no passion,
so I decided I needed a passionate girl with a zest for life.

In college I dated a passionate girl, but she was too emotional. Everything
was an emergency; she was a drama queen, cried all the time and threatened
suicide. So I decided I needed a girl with stability.

When I was 25 I found a very stable girl but she was boring. She was
totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so
dull that I decided that I needed a girl with some excitement.

When I was 28 I found an exciting girl, but I couldn’t keep up with her.
She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. She did
mad impetuous things and made me miserable as often as happy. She was
great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless. So I decided to
find a girl with some real ambition.

When I turned 30, I found a smart ambitious girl with her feet planted
firmly on the ground, so I married her. She was so ambitious that she
divorced me and took everything I owned.

I am older and wiser now, and I am looking for a girl with big tits.

What are the odds?

Posted on 03/March/2010 by John McCrarey

So, I finally got around to getting an iPod. Hey, I wanted to be sure it wasn’t just a passing fad, ok? Anyway, my pal Tom shared his song library with me and they now reside on said iPod. Over 22,000 of them.

So, just now I’m getting ready to climb on the treadmill and I sat the iPod on shuffle. And what song do you think came up first?

Long Time Gone. I figured that odd coincidence was worthy of a blog.

So, I suppose to answer my question, the odds of that happening are one in over 22,000.

Is my life amazing or what?