I haven’t seen the HBO series yet, but these photos are pretty awesome…
The war in the Pacific
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Category Archives: Asst. Misc.
Political Correctness can be deadly…
And all I can say to the person who reported this incident is “ashes and scorn and vomit on you!”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
Ah, Springtime in Korea! Really the best of the famed 4 seasons of Korea. Perhaps this year feels all the sweeter with the knowledge that this is my last spring here. Bittersweet is probably more accurate.
Anyway, these pics were taken outside my office. Literally. Not the best possible location for photography, but it will suffice. Actually, the blossoms will probably peak in a couple of days, so these shots are a bit premature.
Magnolia flowers starting to open…
A cherry tree with the Korean War Memorial building in the background…
A Yongsan Garrison street scene…
During the occupation, this was a Japanese military base. Rumor has it they planted these cherry trees. I don’t know if that is true or not and I guess it doesn’t matter either.
They sure are purdy though, don’t ya think?
Yoja of the Week
This week our yoja has a Gamecock connection, tenuous though it may be. More on that later.
Allow me to present Korean model Hwang Mi Hee for your consideration.
You usually see her at motor shows, but this horsepower ain’t bad either…
And I’ve got a little YouTube action going if you want to see more of Ms. Hwang.
So, the Gamecock connection I mentioned comes from this fansite, which had the photo of Ms Hwang above.
And this, which is pretty funny:
Holy Days
It is no secret that I am planning to move to the Philippines after I retire later this year. My reasons are varied and numerous, but I do appreciate and have a comfort level with a predominately Christian, English speaking population. Pretty much the only place you’ll find like that in Asia.
I recall my first visit to Cebu back in 2008 coincided with Easter week celebrations. I was somewhat surprised to discover that Maundy Thursday (which I had never even heard of) was a national holiday, akin to Christmas in the USA. Everything was basically closed up tight and I was left to spend a pretty boring day in my hotel room.
Of course, Maundy Thursday is just a warm up for the Good Friday festivities. Well, if you can call being crucified festive. No kidding, I’m talking being nailed to the cross here folks.
The Daily Mail from the UK has a fascinating article (from which I borrowed these photos) about the amazing demonstration of faith by the devoutly Catholic Filipino people.
During my Cebu visit I did not witness anyone being crucified (nor do I think I’d want to) but I did see a huge procession being led by someone like this:
You know, I’m not Catholic or even particularly religious, but I obviously respect the faith of others. And to be honest, people who live their faith I think are most worthy of honor. Still, demonstrations of faith by reenacting the suffering of Jesus Christ are pretty impressive don’t you think?
Certainly preferable to the suicide rituals of those whacked out followers of the pedophile Mohammad. Just sayin’.
Yoja of the Week
Another week, another yoja. This week I am pleased to present Korea’s sweetheart, Lee Jee Yuen.
Ain’t she sweet?
Democracy and stupid people to blame for Global Warming (blessed be thy name)!
Well anyway, according to this scientist, climate change can’t be appropriately addressed until we get rid of the stupid people and demoncracy. Man, I couldn’t make up stuff like this if I tried!
Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock, the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist who developed the Gaia theory.
It follows a tumultuous few months in which public opinion on efforts to tackle climate change has been undermined by events such as the climate scientists’ emails leaked from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit.
“I don’t think we’re yet evolved to the point where we’re clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change,” said Lovelock in his first in-depth interview since the theft of the UEA emails last November. “The inertia of humans is so huge that you can’t really do anything meaningful.”
One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is “modern democracy”, he added. “Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.”
First Snow…
…of Spring! What’s up with that Al?
Anyway, as they are wont to do this time of year, the storm brought humongous snowflakes…I’d reckon them to be the size of silver dollars, if any of you out still remember silver dollars…
They snowflakes looked like this from the back balcony:
In other news, I took my nephew Justin (an exchange student at Yonsei University) to see Nanta. You know, expose him to real authentic Korean culture and all. Always an enjoyable show…
That would be Justin…
The stage is set….
The audience murmurs in anticipation….
…and photography is not allowed during the show….sorry about that.
So, yesterday caught a little break in the weather and took a stroll along the Han riverside…
Much of Saturday’s yellow dust had dissipated…
…and the bicyclists took full advantage…
…as I walked along the Seven Bridges Road. Er, well kinda sorta.
Youngdonggyo (one of many Hangang crossings). Gyo=Bridge. Gang=River. The Gyo, we’ll build it now, it may take a lot of time….
I do believe this is the International signage meaning “Oh Shit!” Or judging from the eyes, don’t take drugs and work in high places. Or something like that…
After spending an hour and a half on my river hike, I decided to save these steps leading to a little park for another day….
So instead I hopped the #110 bus back to Itaewon and a late lunch at 3 Alley Pub. And I was reminded why I rarely go there anymore. Food is fine, but. See I order a Miller Lite and a menu. They both arrive. The waitress ask if I’m paying now. I say, well I’m gonna order me up some lunchee. She asks for a credit card. I say forget it and give her a cash for the beer. She brings my change. I order my lunch (wings and goulash). She asks me to pay in advance, so I do. She brings the change. I order another beer and so on…
I guess Albert has a reason for this policy, but I hate it and so I’m pretty sure I’ve spent my last money in his establishment…
And thus ends another chapter in the life and times of LTG.
Call out the instigators…
….because there’s something in the air.
Change we can believe in. Let’s hope so.
Obama in Wonderland
Maybe it’s all a dream…er, nightmare.
Who says women don’t grow on trees?
from a Tara Murphy Facebook post
Yoja of the week
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…
Blast from the Past–Desert Rats
That’s my dad and his friend Mac out somewhere in the Southern California desert, mostly likely looking for gold. Growing up we were often taken along on these expeditions. I’ve always loved the openness and solitude that comes with being out in the middle of nowhere. It’s hard to top the Mojave for that experience.
I really dig the Coleman stove, but it’s placement at the campsite seems a little haphazard.
Blast from the Past–The Road Not Taken
KaraLynne Pope (the redhead in the back). An Arizona girlfriend. Actually more than that. She was a crossroads.
It occurs to me that occasionally in life we make a seemingly insignificant decision that ultimately changes everything. These changes I suppose can be good or bad or maybe both. But mainly they represent a change in direction. A new road to a different destiny if you will. I’ve not lived a planned or well-ordered life by any means, but even by those standards meeting KaraLynne and everything that has subsequently flowed from that event has taken me places beyond my wildest imaginings.
By my reckoning it would have been August of 1981. I drove up to Flagstaff, Arizona to participate in a softball tournament. I was camping out with my teammates at a campground adjacent to the ballpark. It was a Friday night. Around about 8 p.m. we did a headcount and determined we were one player short of a team. So, it was decided to head into Flagstaff proper, find a bar, and try to a recruit a player for our Saturday game. I initially declined to participate in the quest, saying I would stay and tend to our camp. But as the car was pulling away I impulsively changed my mind and shouted “wait a minute, I’m coming with you!” Nothing has been the same since.
We pulled into a country-western honkytonk called the Pioneer Club. There was a live band and it was crowded. Although I had decided to come to the bar, I was not going to participate in the recruiting effort. So, I ordered up a beer and looked for a place to sit, finally spying an open spot on a bench along the wall. After plopping down a woman I hadn’t even noticed said “I’m sorry, that seat is taken”. I grinned and said, “ok, I’ll just sit here till they get back”. And that’s how I met KaraLynne.
It turns out the seat was not taken (or whomever never came back for it) and we sat and chatted for an hour or so. I recall her being irreverent, witty, and funny as hell. Eventually my teammates completed the recruitment mission and it was time to go. I invited KaraLynne out to see us play the next day, and she was non-committal in her response. So, when she showed up at the ballpark with her friend Edie, I was really jazzed.
They stayed and watched us play until we were eliminated from the competition late in the afternoon. I offered to take her and Edie to dinner as a reward for being such good fans and they accepted. Over the course of dinner I learned that KaraLynne was a recent graduate of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and that Edie had been one of her professors. KaraLynne was entering the graduate program at Idaho State University in Pocatello in a couple of weeks. She lived in Phoenix and was in Flagstaff visiting her friends before departing for Idaho.
After dinner Edie said her goodbyes, but KaraLynne agreed to stay awhile longer. We drove out to Mormon Lake, looked up at the stars, and talked until sunrise. And then we fell in love.
So, the next two years were a whirlwind. I’d do the all night drive up to Pocatello to spend the weekend once a month or so. We had spring break, summer vacation, and Christmas recess. Lots of letters (this was before email if you can imagine that) and huge phone bills. I became good friends with Edie and another NAU professor, Judy, and we spent a lot of time together skiing and just hanging out. So, it was a pretty exciting life in many respects.
Also a hard life. Hard, because I had custody of Renee and Kevin and single parenthood is every bit as tough as they say it is. Hard because the woman I loved was most of the time far away from me. Hard because KaraLynne’s teenage brother died tragically following minor surgery. Hard because I sent the kids to stay with my parents on the farm in Oklahoma. And hard because in the end KaraLynne broke my heart.
I’ll get over it eventually, it’s only been 30 years. Of course, I’m being facetious. Mostly.
But here’s the thing, loving and losing happens all the time. In the grand scheme of things what matters is what you learn. And what is important is what you do with those lessons. And that is really my point in telling this story.
Because by making friends with university professors, I came to understand that my lack of education did not equate to a lack of intelligence. I gained the confidence that I could hold my own with anyone intellectually and so I went back to school. It took me ten years, but I earned my Bachelor’s degree in 1991.
In my sorrow, I sold everything I owned and moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Initially, I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life in leaving Arizona. But in time, my work as the union shop steward caught the attention of the HR Director. Which put me in the position to earn my first promotion and begin my career in management.
The kids got to experience the joys of a rural farm life surrounded by people who loved them, like my mom and grandma Pernie.
I learned to country dance and had a great time being single and experiencing the true charm of Southern women (a story in itself).
So, do I ever wonder what would have happened if I had stayed behind at the campground? No, not really. At the time I wasn’t even aware that I was making a life-altering choice. Still, the words of Robert Frost resonate:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
When it rains on the planes in Spain
Actually, no Spanish airport is included on this list of the world’s 18 strangest airports. There is Gibraltar, but to Spain’s chagrin, that’s UK territory. The only airport on the list I’ve actually visited is Denver.
Not on the list is Washington’s Reagan National Airport which is the hairiest place I’ve landed–lots of twists and turns on the way in and a relatively short runway. But there is a little park on the bike path where you can experience watching a landing almost like this. But for a freakout scary landing it would be hard to top this. Unless you were landing here.
Yikes!
Jesus Christ
Althouse links to this story about the above drawing depicting Jesus smoking and drinking beer that appeared in a handwriting textbook in India.
Although I agree the picture has no place in a schoolchild’s textbook, I don’t find it otherwise offensive. Truth be told, joining the Savior for a smoke and brew should I pass through the Pearly Gates (unlikely as that may be) sounds like my idea of heaven.
If the depiction offends you as a Christian may I suggest turning the other cheek. Lord knows (heh) I ain’t above posting unflattering images of Muhammad.
Have a beer with JC or a blast with the pedophile. You choose.
UPDATE: This just in–Elton John says Jesus was gay. Yeah, right. And Mary was a virgin…
Cheers to good health!
Somebody’s Mother
for Evangeline–
The woman was old and ragged and gray
And bent with the chill of the Winter’s day.
The street was wet with a recent snow
And the woman’s feet were aged and slow.
She stood at the crossing and waited long,
Alone, uncared for, amid the throng
Of human beings who passed her by
Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eye.
Down the street with laughter and shout,
Glad in the freedom of ‘school let out,”
Came the boys like a flock of sheep,
Hailing the snow piled white and deep.
Past the woman so old and gray
Hastened the children on their way.
Nor offered a helping hand to her-
So meek, so tired, afraid to stir
Lest the carriage wheels or the horses’ feet
Should crowd her down in the slippery street.
At last came one of the merry troop,
The gayest laddie of all the group;
He paused beside her and whispered low,
‘I’ll help you cross, if you wish to go.”
Her aged hand on his strong young arm
She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,
He guided the trembling feet along,
Proud that his own were firm and strong.
Then back again to his friends he went,
His young heart happy and well content.
‘She’s somebody’s mother, boys, you know,
For all she’s aged and poor and slow,
‘And I hope some fellow will lend a hand
To help my mother, you understand,
‘If ever she’s poor and old and gray,
When her own dear boy is far away.’
And “somebody’s mother” bowed low her head
In her home that night, and the prayer she said
Was, ‘God be kind to the noble boy,
Who is somebody’s son, and pride and joy!”
…Mary Dow Brine
