That laugh, oh man~~ that laugh.
Crisp autumn afternoons, relaxed hand-clasped walks through Jeong-dong and that laugh!
Caught in a Dali-esque golden frame of wind blown leaves on Nam-san and man~~ that smile!
Quixotic scene of old and new Jung-gu apartments with us just loungin' above, staring boy~~ at those eyes!
Carried to the altar in our loves warm embrace, we stand and hold hands, I love you and oh~~ that laugh!
2014년 11월 16일 일요일
2014년 11월 10일 월요일
2014년 10월 29일 수요일
2014년 10월 27일 월요일
Semantic Satiation
The cross-roads of epistimeological history lay not in the re-thinking of every-thing - a particularly blockheaded Brockman-esque thought - but in what may very well be considered the ultimate bellicose act conceivable; the forgetting of everything to namelessness.
2014년 9월 11일 목요일
2014년 9월 9일 화요일
Home
I hope, that anyone who feels that they are alone in any crowd, can find brethren and sisters within this little world we have right here.
I hope every mother fucker that visits this space aspires to be a FM member. Because you will be able to create the content that expresses who you are, and as such speak to others who share such likes and change their lives accordingly.
More 'yous' than you think exist.
I hope that what you create changes more than what I wrote; you will change more than the world.
The future: be you.
Welcome home.
I hope every mother fucker that visits this space aspires to be a FM member. Because you will be able to create the content that expresses who you are, and as such speak to others who share such likes and change their lives accordingly.
More 'yous' than you think exist.
I hope that what you create changes more than what I wrote; you will change more than the world.
The future: be you.
Welcome home.
2014년 8월 31일 일요일
Opened Door
Wow. You didn't think you would see her again. After that night.
That night. You could hear her breathing grow heavier; almost gasping. Your lips on her scented neck. Her long, silky hair tickling the nape of yours, whilst her hips thrust against your searching hand. And then, then the frightened click click click of her heels on loose asphalt is all you are left with. Running, she rounds the corner onto Forbes, and disappears.
Now, she is standing in your doorway for a first time. Office hours last another 45 minutes, but you order her to her knees, with the door left open.
That night. You could hear her breathing grow heavier; almost gasping. Your lips on her scented neck. Her long, silky hair tickling the nape of yours, whilst her hips thrust against your searching hand. And then, then the frightened click click click of her heels on loose asphalt is all you are left with. Running, she rounds the corner onto Forbes, and disappears.
Now, she is standing in your doorway for a first time. Office hours last another 45 minutes, but you order her to her knees, with the door left open.
2014년 7월 28일 월요일
Fuckin' Isotopes
The sky is full of smoke
And fuckin' isotopes.
Do I sit back and toke
Because I haven't hope?
Now: so dope, so dope.
And fuckin' isotopes.
Do I sit back and toke
Because I haven't hope?
Now: so dope, so dope.
2014년 6월 15일 일요일
Something
On a mild, mid-summer's morning, awakening in the penthouse suite to a panoramic view of the morning calm, he feels a cold sweat begin to spread up his body and nip at the nape of his neck.
--------------------
"Sir, shall I take your order?" Snapping out from the velvety fog of distraction he briefly glances at the menu cover, and rotely rattles off the same combination of dishes he always has: A++ Hanwoo tartare to start followed by a sardine sashimi, light on the pepper. Shaking his head softly as the waitress sprints back to the pass, he raises his arm, platinum watch scraping lovely against the wooden beads of his Buddhist bracelet, and begins to massage his temples, eyes closed tight. Aside from his beating Swiss heart, the world fades from view and again he falls into that warm gray sphere of nothingness. The clatter of the first course being laid out snaps him back to reality; and then he sees her.
--------------------
"Sir, shall I take your order?" Snapping out from the velvety fog of distraction he briefly glances at the menu cover, and rotely rattles off the same combination of dishes he always has: A++ Hanwoo tartare to start followed by a sardine sashimi, light on the pepper. Shaking his head softly as the waitress sprints back to the pass, he raises his arm, platinum watch scraping lovely against the wooden beads of his Buddhist bracelet, and begins to massage his temples, eyes closed tight. Aside from his beating Swiss heart, the world fades from view and again he falls into that warm gray sphere of nothingness. The clatter of the first course being laid out snaps him back to reality; and then he sees her.
2014년 6월 9일 월요일
2014년 6월 1일 일요일
Novel Idea
They say that the Industrial Revolution began in the first mines. Today, all that could be mined is ours. But now all the mines are in our skies. The year is 2033. Technological advancements dealing with mineral extraction and the capture and resolidification of spent combustible fuels that began some 10 years or so ago coalesced early last year. Following the United Nations admonitions, each individual nation signed up for energy independence. Due to the beneficent 'G' Corporation, the first and last supra-national corporate entity, every country has received it's very own A.I.R. PP a.k.a. Atmospheric Impurity Re-uptake Processing Plant (or Air Purifying Plants as they are sold to the masses) and with that the guarantee that through hard work any dream can become reality.
2014년 5월 15일 목요일
Words on tap
What are you doing? Or, what are you really doing? And, what do you really want to be doing?
Walking across once well worn floors, now brittle and frail, their creaks shriek for time to leave them be, and so I leave.
In dark basement, beer in hand, words on tap, I channel my 李白 and illuminate the secret affinity between τέχνη and ροίησις, all the while violence rages outside and past the borders beyond...
What are we doing? Or, what are we really doing? And, what will we be (really) doing?
Walking across once well worn floors, now brittle and frail, their creaks shriek for time to leave them be, and so I leave.
In dark basement, beer in hand, words on tap, I channel my 李白 and illuminate the secret affinity between τέχνη and ροίησις, all the while violence rages outside and past the borders beyond...
What are we doing? Or, what are we really doing? And, what will we be (really) doing?
2014년 4월 29일 화요일
2014년 4월 17일 목요일
2014년 4월 16일 수요일
Fuckwitedness
A day with dangerous levels of air pollution is like a tornado heading your way. While you can't really avoid it, you're better off staying indoors (in the basement or preferably a storm cellar in the event of a tornado) as opposed to walking outside into it.
2014년 4월 13일 일요일
명동 불금의 어느 외국인 관광객 이야기
불금이 끝나갈 새벽 12시 무렵 그들의 눈빛이 우연히 마주친다.
3명, 모두 중동이나 어디 아세안 나라 출신으로 보이는 미인들.
근데 이거 뭐지?
외국인 관광객 중심인 명동거리 입구 앞에서 택시를 잡으려고 하는 그들은 택시를 못잡고 헤매고 있다.
헐.
이미 몇번이나 잡으려 했나 본데. 택시 하나가 속도를 늦추며 태워줄 듯 한데 마지막 순간에 (왠지) 승객의 낯선 외모에 엔진을 심하게 밟아 빨리 도망가버린다.
승객이 없었는데도 말이다. 아휴 답답하다.
이러니 그들은 얼마나 더 답답할까.
다음에 더 용기(?) 있는 택시가 다가서더니 한국말로 어디까지 가느냐라고 기본적인 질문을 던진다.
처음 한국을 방문한 그녀들 (국빈이라고 하자) 에게는 아무 말도 없이 무시하고 지나가는것이나 다름 없는 말이지 않는가.
양쪽은 잠잠히 침묵하며 서로가 서로를 그냥 쳐다보고 있었다.
이 순간에 내가 나섰다. 그들이 가려는 목적지를 파악하고 기사한테 우리말로(한국말로) 당당하지만 실망섞인 말투로 이렇게 말했다.
'아저씨, 여기서 유턴해서 남산 1호 터널으로 가시고 한남대교 건너시면 신사사거리에서 우회전하시고 한 300미터 이후 오른쪽에 ㅇㅇㅇ관광객호텔에서 세워 주십시오. 아저씨, 잠시 교류 중인 저희 나라 국빈들을 잘 부탁드립니다.'
아 아~예 알겠습니다라는 말이 당황한 기사 입 밖으로 나오자마자 난 앞으로 우리 나라를 방문한 국빈을 더 잘 챙겨달라는 의미를 실어 내가 뒷문을 세게 닫았다.
몇분 뒤에 인천공항으로 향하는 공항버스를 타고 이 나라를 영원히 떠났다.
3명, 모두 중동이나 어디 아세안 나라 출신으로 보이는 미인들.
근데 이거 뭐지?
외국인 관광객 중심인 명동거리 입구 앞에서 택시를 잡으려고 하는 그들은 택시를 못잡고 헤매고 있다.
헐.
이미 몇번이나 잡으려 했나 본데. 택시 하나가 속도를 늦추며 태워줄 듯 한데 마지막 순간에 (왠지) 승객의 낯선 외모에 엔진을 심하게 밟아 빨리 도망가버린다.
승객이 없었는데도 말이다. 아휴 답답하다.
이러니 그들은 얼마나 더 답답할까.
다음에 더 용기(?) 있는 택시가 다가서더니 한국말로 어디까지 가느냐라고 기본적인 질문을 던진다.
처음 한국을 방문한 그녀들 (국빈이라고 하자) 에게는 아무 말도 없이 무시하고 지나가는것이나 다름 없는 말이지 않는가.
양쪽은 잠잠히 침묵하며 서로가 서로를 그냥 쳐다보고 있었다.
이 순간에 내가 나섰다. 그들이 가려는 목적지를 파악하고 기사한테 우리말로(한국말로) 당당하지만 실망섞인 말투로 이렇게 말했다.
'아저씨, 여기서 유턴해서 남산 1호 터널으로 가시고 한남대교 건너시면 신사사거리에서 우회전하시고 한 300미터 이후 오른쪽에 ㅇㅇㅇ관광객호텔에서 세워 주십시오. 아저씨, 잠시 교류 중인 저희 나라 국빈들을 잘 부탁드립니다.'
아 아~예 알겠습니다라는 말이 당황한 기사 입 밖으로 나오자마자 난 앞으로 우리 나라를 방문한 국빈을 더 잘 챙겨달라는 의미를 실어 내가 뒷문을 세게 닫았다.
몇분 뒤에 인천공항으로 향하는 공항버스를 타고 이 나라를 영원히 떠났다.
2014년 4월 1일 화요일
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms seem to engender a near mythical appreciation. They are the definitive message bearer to the masses that the long, hard Winter has fallen to the sudden, surprise, early thrust spear of Spring. The blossoms themselves will lead any casual observer to those memories - or fantasies for those as-yet-uninitiated - of youth when one first becomes aware of the opposite sexes surfeit of supple, unblemished smoothness. This in turn is also, apart from being the place of their actual origin, probably what leads many to associate the blossoms with Japan and its culture.
That said, many other countries as well, including South Korea and the United States, have unofficial periods wherein the blooming of these trees is announced, celebrated and enjoyed by its citizenry. These celebrations are more natural in that they are informal and lacking governmental or organizational auspices - which is to say that they do not take place within a conspicuous human enframing. It is nature itself that calls to man as it were, to come hither to catch a glimpse of perfection, which if the blossom itself is any indication only occurs in youth. Those so lucky to actually witness that moment, and it really is The Moment when the blossoms are in full bloom - and by full bloom I am not talking about the early, awkward stages of blooming when their skinny, pointed limbs are all too clearly visible and I am especially not talking about the later stage when the ugly, green leaves, the body hair if you will, poke through the perfect skin of blossoms that just form a complete, seemingly impenetrable orb of angelic whiteness around those awkward limbs - is to be bestowed with and at the same time burdened by Truth. And it is probably for this reason why many will simply pay it no mind and miss it altogether.
We lateborn, unfortunately, are no longer able to readily receive Truth let alone begin to comprehend it. Just try asking yourself what you believe Truth is or means. A few mental stuttering starts heading nowhere, probably followed by an anecdote of modern usage that goes something like the following: truth is something agreed upon, ideally based on fact, and that upon hearing or reading usually elicits a "Yeah, (I think) that is true" or something to that effect. Or maybe those of you who hail from institutions with latinate mottos (full disclosure: the motto of my alma mater, Korea University, is 'Libertas, Justitia, Veritas') will pay heed to the fact that Truth as spoken today in most romantic languages at least, derives from the Latin 'Veritas'. (The etymological origins of 'truth' as spoken in English, it should be noted, shares a closer affinity than we would like to admit with 'faith' and even 'loyalty', which is food enough for thought itself). That said, I don't know of anyone who actually knows let alone can indicate how exactly Veritas was thought of when it was still part of a living vernacular.
Veritas was not an original, thoughtful construct in Roman times, however, it was the translation of the Greek 'Aletheia' into Roman thought and as a result this thoughtful Greek Word has been brought into our modern language in an equally violent manner being called 'Truth'. To put it simply, the Greek word speaks of an "unconcealedness" or literally "the state of not being hidden". Moving fore, treading closer to the danger, and not for the mere purpose of highlighting etymological similarities, although such similarities cannot be said to not exist, I would like to briefly touch upon 眞理 or Zhenli or 진리. There are probably many ways to think through this word, or set of characters, and the argument could probably be made as to whether one should even try to think through the couplet or instead focus on one character at a time or even if such an attempt should be made at all!
Shall we not at least try to take a leap, perhaps even a leap of faith towards what may be true? A good place to start along a way to thinking, generally, is through the thoughts of an actual thinker. Regarding '眞', Zhuangzi (莊子) has already thought this character through as meaning 'Every-thing as it is' or '있는 그대로' in Korean. The second character, a compound of the radicals 玉 + 里, that when taken in isolation respectively indicate a precious gem and a village. Together, nowadays, when combined the resulting '理 ' is translated as either 'control' or 'logic', but these translations, especially the former, are ex post facto derivations. Derived from what? In both cases, the original gem and village denote the 'explicit implicitness' or the concealed nature of both objects. In the case of a precious gem, actually what is emphasized and always apparent first is the rough stone with the gem itself being unseen and only revealed later. A village is always only a village, and an area only comes to be called a village by virtue of the inhabitants that often exist in obscurity, or concealedness therein. So to be clear, the aspect of control that the above character has come to embody happened after, and only after the rough exerior of the gem or the nameless inhabitants of a village were forgotten in the sense that it became so simple to control the attaining of the gem itself or the groups of contained people.
The above attempt at beginning to think through '眞理', which now that it is safe to say is an approximation of Truth in both Chinese, Japanese and Korean, was given solely as food for thought. In this moment the matter at hand, however, is Cherry Blossoms. Cherry Blossoms, as mentioned at the outset, tend to evoke associations of Japan and its culture. As a matter of fact, the Japanese have for centuries made it a practice to picnic or sojourn under blooming Cherry Blossoms. In their traditional poetry, Cherry Blossoms were expressed reverentially by the single character denoting all flowers '花' for more than a millennia and some centuries. Why? Well, I guess, since '花' is composed of '艹' a radical simply demarcating something as a plant and '化' symbolizing man becoming man from man, then the Japanese must therefore have had an original, intimate experience wherein the Cherry Blossoms, and particularly Cherry Blossoms in full bloom came to represent not just plants that become unconcealed from out of the concealement that exists and is protected within plants which they in turn again appear within, but also that opening into what is concealed in man that allows man to become unconcealed as such. Or were you asking why Japanese picnicked beneath Cherry Blossoms in full bloom? Or did I answer that question too?
Unconcealedness needs concealedness. What is concealed is therefore no less true than what is unconcealed. The long, hard Winter that is now forgotten, out of sight and mind, has allowed the Beauty of Unconcealment to shine forth in full bloom by concealing itself. Does the poetry of the Japanese mean as much when they employ '花' to represent Cherry Blossoms? Who can say? Some light may befall our blind struggles fore if we remember poetry has always been Song. Laudes is the Latin name for songs. Laudare is a eulogy or praise. Maybe the ancient Greek myths were just long poems that were singing, praising, eulogizing, remembering what has been and thus what could be again and Japanese Poems are myths along the Same vein. If so, and even if not, I like to think of Cherry Blossoms as our Myth of Life, a life that may oft be forgotten, but will always be remembered, if not knowingly.
P.S. The Japanese call and know 'word' as 言葉 or petal(s) of saying...
That said, many other countries as well, including South Korea and the United States, have unofficial periods wherein the blooming of these trees is announced, celebrated and enjoyed by its citizenry. These celebrations are more natural in that they are informal and lacking governmental or organizational auspices - which is to say that they do not take place within a conspicuous human enframing. It is nature itself that calls to man as it were, to come hither to catch a glimpse of perfection, which if the blossom itself is any indication only occurs in youth. Those so lucky to actually witness that moment, and it really is The Moment when the blossoms are in full bloom - and by full bloom I am not talking about the early, awkward stages of blooming when their skinny, pointed limbs are all too clearly visible and I am especially not talking about the later stage when the ugly, green leaves, the body hair if you will, poke through the perfect skin of blossoms that just form a complete, seemingly impenetrable orb of angelic whiteness around those awkward limbs - is to be bestowed with and at the same time burdened by Truth. And it is probably for this reason why many will simply pay it no mind and miss it altogether.
We lateborn, unfortunately, are no longer able to readily receive Truth let alone begin to comprehend it. Just try asking yourself what you believe Truth is or means. A few mental stuttering starts heading nowhere, probably followed by an anecdote of modern usage that goes something like the following: truth is something agreed upon, ideally based on fact, and that upon hearing or reading usually elicits a "Yeah, (I think) that is true" or something to that effect. Or maybe those of you who hail from institutions with latinate mottos (full disclosure: the motto of my alma mater, Korea University, is 'Libertas, Justitia, Veritas') will pay heed to the fact that Truth as spoken today in most romantic languages at least, derives from the Latin 'Veritas'. (The etymological origins of 'truth' as spoken in English, it should be noted, shares a closer affinity than we would like to admit with 'faith' and even 'loyalty', which is food enough for thought itself). That said, I don't know of anyone who actually knows let alone can indicate how exactly Veritas was thought of when it was still part of a living vernacular.
Veritas was not an original, thoughtful construct in Roman times, however, it was the translation of the Greek 'Aletheia' into Roman thought and as a result this thoughtful Greek Word has been brought into our modern language in an equally violent manner being called 'Truth'. To put it simply, the Greek word speaks of an "unconcealedness" or literally "the state of not being hidden". Moving fore, treading closer to the danger, and not for the mere purpose of highlighting etymological similarities, although such similarities cannot be said to not exist, I would like to briefly touch upon 眞理 or Zhenli or 진리. There are probably many ways to think through this word, or set of characters, and the argument could probably be made as to whether one should even try to think through the couplet or instead focus on one character at a time or even if such an attempt should be made at all!
Shall we not at least try to take a leap, perhaps even a leap of faith towards what may be true? A good place to start along a way to thinking, generally, is through the thoughts of an actual thinker. Regarding '眞', Zhuangzi (莊子) has already thought this character through as meaning 'Every-thing as it is' or '있는 그대로' in Korean. The second character, a compound of the radicals 玉 + 里, that when taken in isolation respectively indicate a precious gem and a village. Together, nowadays, when combined the resulting '理 ' is translated as either 'control' or 'logic', but these translations, especially the former, are ex post facto derivations. Derived from what? In both cases, the original gem and village denote the 'explicit implicitness' or the concealed nature of both objects. In the case of a precious gem, actually what is emphasized and always apparent first is the rough stone with the gem itself being unseen and only revealed later. A village is always only a village, and an area only comes to be called a village by virtue of the inhabitants that often exist in obscurity, or concealedness therein. So to be clear, the aspect of control that the above character has come to embody happened after, and only after the rough exerior of the gem or the nameless inhabitants of a village were forgotten in the sense that it became so simple to control the attaining of the gem itself or the groups of contained people.
The above attempt at beginning to think through '眞理', which now that it is safe to say is an approximation of Truth in both Chinese, Japanese and Korean, was given solely as food for thought. In this moment the matter at hand, however, is Cherry Blossoms. Cherry Blossoms, as mentioned at the outset, tend to evoke associations of Japan and its culture. As a matter of fact, the Japanese have for centuries made it a practice to picnic or sojourn under blooming Cherry Blossoms. In their traditional poetry, Cherry Blossoms were expressed reverentially by the single character denoting all flowers '花' for more than a millennia and some centuries. Why? Well, I guess, since '花' is composed of '艹' a radical simply demarcating something as a plant and '化' symbolizing man becoming man from man, then the Japanese must therefore have had an original, intimate experience wherein the Cherry Blossoms, and particularly Cherry Blossoms in full bloom came to represent not just plants that become unconcealed from out of the concealement that exists and is protected within plants which they in turn again appear within, but also that opening into what is concealed in man that allows man to become unconcealed as such. Or were you asking why Japanese picnicked beneath Cherry Blossoms in full bloom? Or did I answer that question too?
Unconcealedness needs concealedness. What is concealed is therefore no less true than what is unconcealed. The long, hard Winter that is now forgotten, out of sight and mind, has allowed the Beauty of Unconcealment to shine forth in full bloom by concealing itself. Does the poetry of the Japanese mean as much when they employ '花' to represent Cherry Blossoms? Who can say? Some light may befall our blind struggles fore if we remember poetry has always been Song. Laudes is the Latin name for songs. Laudare is a eulogy or praise. Maybe the ancient Greek myths were just long poems that were singing, praising, eulogizing, remembering what has been and thus what could be again and Japanese Poems are myths along the Same vein. If so, and even if not, I like to think of Cherry Blossoms as our Myth of Life, a life that may oft be forgotten, but will always be remembered, if not knowingly.
P.S. The Japanese call and know 'word' as 言葉 or petal(s) of saying...
2014년 3월 27일 목요일
Blinding Effluvium
Blind:
All this motherfucking pollution,
Effluvium:
All wants, desires; E Pluribus Unon.
All this motherfucking pollution,
Effluvium:
All wants, desires; E Pluribus Unon.
2014년 3월 25일 화요일
2014년 3월 23일 일요일
An Old Man and his Old Dog
As we came to a stop in front of Embassy Row, enjoying a shallow respite before crossing the Han, I glanced over to my left and saw them. They were about to walk over the crosswalk, but wavered as if they were waiting for something, or someone. Despondently, resigned to being alone for yet another day, they took off as only an Old Man and Old Dog can do. Slowly. The Old Man took the lead early and never relinquished it. Behind, gingerly the Old Dog struggled valiantly to keep up, pushing his creaky limbs harder than he had in years through the leg holes in his brand new red pleated, nylon jacket. Looking ahead, towards something, the Old Man's eyes sat staidly, sunk within sockets entombed by two coke bottle lenses. As we began to lurch forward, I craned my neck to watch the Old Man and Old Dog fade from view. They were continuing fore; slowly, shakily, but surely.
2014년 3월 20일 목요일
Lewis Mumford
In society man faces himself and realizes himself; and in a free society...each citizen has an oppurtunity to plumb all his potentialities: the specialized fragments are re-united in the whole man.
사회에서는 인간 자체가 타인이랑 생활하면서 자기 자신을 마주볼 수도 있고 자기 자신을 인식할 수도 있다. 개방사회 (free society)는 시민들에게 각자 본인의 가능성을 그들의 한계까지 시도할 수 있는 기회를 제공한다. 그러므로 개방사회에 이제까지 전문화된 혼재되어있는 개인 각자는 시간이 지남에따라 완전한 하나의 인간으로 재성장할 수 있는것이다.
사회에서는 인간 자체가 타인이랑 생활하면서 자기 자신을 마주볼 수도 있고 자기 자신을 인식할 수도 있다. 개방사회 (free society)는 시민들에게 각자 본인의 가능성을 그들의 한계까지 시도할 수 있는 기회를 제공한다. 그러므로 개방사회에 이제까지 전문화된 혼재되어있는 개인 각자는 시간이 지남에따라 완전한 하나의 인간으로 재성장할 수 있는것이다.
2014년 3월 18일 화요일
You Know You're Homeless When...
A faint ruffling ~phew phlew~ stirs your senses in the early morning only to become aware of a damp coldness rockhard against your left cheek. An intoxicatingly unpleasant odor then...you open your eyes. A pigeon, greasy from the city slime and less one leg, approaches your face.
2014년 3월 17일 월요일
Landmine in the Present
This is not Fallujah. Nor is this anywhere in the Middle East or any other high-conflict, war-torn area. This is the epicenter of our future world, today. Of course I am speaking of Northeast Asia. Granted, tensions among these neighboring countries are not as low as they should be; but then again no one has knives at one anothers throats. Aside from the unsavory mix of memories regarding past war-time atrocities that tend to receive the most lip-service today, there is also the sloppy bowl of spaghetti politics that currently exist wherein conflicting ideologies and future objectives are disjointedly tied up amongst themselves and set at a low boil. Then there is the whole North Korean issue, but that is more of a red herring - in my honest opinion - than anything else at this particular moment. That said, what if there existed an invisible landmine, buried by no-one following WWII and forgotten by everyone?
Yesterday was a beautiful day; on paper. Blue skies with a high of 18 degrees, Spring finally peaked out from behind the changing room curtain, much to her chagrin. You see, the atmosphere was saturated with poison smog laden with ultra-fine and fine dust. However, that was not enough to stop people from breaking out of their winter caves to enjoy the nominally great weather enmasse. Only a few or so individuals could be seen wearing any mask let alone the very specific mask that I was wearing that prevents one from inhaling the fine and ultrafine particulate matter. Maybe this is because no one watches the news. Or because the news seems to downplay the deadly seriousness of this ish. Or maybe it has more to do with the fact that unless you live up on the 18th floor and can see the extent of the stagnant effluvium stretching out for kilometers and kilometers around, nothing really looks amiss from ground level other than the fact that things are a bit hazy when you look out into the distance.
Looking ahead...who does that anymore? Live in the moment, man. YOLO. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. And other pea brained, dimwitted, cowboy-ish American sentiment parroted around the world seem to explain why this is so. But let's think forward a bit, shall we? As all the Kurzweilian Village Technolidiots are apt to do, let's suppose the course we are on is unalterable. Populations will continue to grow, albeit at lower rates due to the lowered birth rate in this part of the world. Still the base population will be massive with several densely populated megalopitan areas. Consumption growth will follow at either an equal, slower or faster rate depending on the trajectory of per capita GDP. The crude, polluting factories of today that share much of the blame in terms of creating and accelerating the production of domestic and regional pollution will no doubt be substituted in favor of hi-tech factories that spew forth less pollution quantitatively, but will instead add a richer diversity of heavy metals to the atmosphere.
One need look no further than Suwon City, home to massive Samsung Electronics semi-conductor plants to get an indication of our future. It's not so much the direct pollution from such factories that is such an issue, although to be sure it can be at times,¹ but the sum total of related externalities from the conglomeration of staff and workers required to run such operations and their own externalities such as energy consumption and transportation emissions, that when scaled up to meet the future trajectory of Chinese growth and global demand should give everyone reason for pause. To be sure the endemic energy shortages that South Korea experiences every summer and 30~40% of the toxic smog plaguing Seoul as of late have their origins in the insane cooling demands of the factories and citizenry as well as the clogged arteries of Seouls transport system and it's own factories dotting the eastern coastline respectively.
Like yesterday and the pardox of the deadly nice weather, the impact of the shitty smog isn't always readily apparent. It begins with the unseen inocuous self-limiting of behavior by a minority who are keen to the potential ramifications of staying outside too long and/or not wearing a mask. Slowly but surely awareness will grow and spread. People, most likely infants and young children, will develop respiratory or skin related diseases at higher rates than average or worse, be born with certain defects similar to those born to mothers who smoke through pregnency. Unfortunately many will need to be personally affected before they feel the need to take action. Maybe it will happen on one of those early, unseasonably hot stretches of spring or early summer. A week straight of dangerous levels of yellow sand tainted fine dust smog lingering past its usual early spring schedule will imprison the citizenry, bringing their collective anger to a boil. Then on the fifth or sixth day something will just snap and a hitherto unimaginable violence will be unleashed upon the Chinese embassy. In self-defense numerous Koreans will be shot dead and the anger will both intensify and be redirected inwards at the South Korean government due to their impotence in dealing with the problem for so long...
Possibly, but who is to say how things will unfold? That, however, is the nature of old forgotten landmines. No one knows that they lay here or there until it is too late. This, to be clear, is not owing to mans inability to predict the future nor is the essential unknown that is wrapped around the future and its impregnability to speculation to be blamed. No one wants to know because no one wants to admit to the possibilty that such a deadly future feature is already embedded in their collective present. Fuck the cowboys and their myopic concept of an unpredictable future that they in turn interpret to mean that they have full license to make a shit show out of the present. It's not about the future, it's about the right now and the landmine we are all blindly burying.
¹ http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130215000728
Yesterday was a beautiful day; on paper. Blue skies with a high of 18 degrees, Spring finally peaked out from behind the changing room curtain, much to her chagrin. You see, the atmosphere was saturated with poison smog laden with ultra-fine and fine dust. However, that was not enough to stop people from breaking out of their winter caves to enjoy the nominally great weather enmasse. Only a few or so individuals could be seen wearing any mask let alone the very specific mask that I was wearing that prevents one from inhaling the fine and ultrafine particulate matter. Maybe this is because no one watches the news. Or because the news seems to downplay the deadly seriousness of this ish. Or maybe it has more to do with the fact that unless you live up on the 18th floor and can see the extent of the stagnant effluvium stretching out for kilometers and kilometers around, nothing really looks amiss from ground level other than the fact that things are a bit hazy when you look out into the distance.
Looking ahead...who does that anymore? Live in the moment, man. YOLO. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. And other pea brained, dimwitted, cowboy-ish American sentiment parroted around the world seem to explain why this is so. But let's think forward a bit, shall we? As all the Kurzweilian Village Technolidiots are apt to do, let's suppose the course we are on is unalterable. Populations will continue to grow, albeit at lower rates due to the lowered birth rate in this part of the world. Still the base population will be massive with several densely populated megalopitan areas. Consumption growth will follow at either an equal, slower or faster rate depending on the trajectory of per capita GDP. The crude, polluting factories of today that share much of the blame in terms of creating and accelerating the production of domestic and regional pollution will no doubt be substituted in favor of hi-tech factories that spew forth less pollution quantitatively, but will instead add a richer diversity of heavy metals to the atmosphere.
One need look no further than Suwon City, home to massive Samsung Electronics semi-conductor plants to get an indication of our future. It's not so much the direct pollution from such factories that is such an issue, although to be sure it can be at times,¹ but the sum total of related externalities from the conglomeration of staff and workers required to run such operations and their own externalities such as energy consumption and transportation emissions, that when scaled up to meet the future trajectory of Chinese growth and global demand should give everyone reason for pause. To be sure the endemic energy shortages that South Korea experiences every summer and 30~40% of the toxic smog plaguing Seoul as of late have their origins in the insane cooling demands of the factories and citizenry as well as the clogged arteries of Seouls transport system and it's own factories dotting the eastern coastline respectively.
Like yesterday and the pardox of the deadly nice weather, the impact of the shitty smog isn't always readily apparent. It begins with the unseen inocuous self-limiting of behavior by a minority who are keen to the potential ramifications of staying outside too long and/or not wearing a mask. Slowly but surely awareness will grow and spread. People, most likely infants and young children, will develop respiratory or skin related diseases at higher rates than average or worse, be born with certain defects similar to those born to mothers who smoke through pregnency. Unfortunately many will need to be personally affected before they feel the need to take action. Maybe it will happen on one of those early, unseasonably hot stretches of spring or early summer. A week straight of dangerous levels of yellow sand tainted fine dust smog lingering past its usual early spring schedule will imprison the citizenry, bringing their collective anger to a boil. Then on the fifth or sixth day something will just snap and a hitherto unimaginable violence will be unleashed upon the Chinese embassy. In self-defense numerous Koreans will be shot dead and the anger will both intensify and be redirected inwards at the South Korean government due to their impotence in dealing with the problem for so long...
Possibly, but who is to say how things will unfold? That, however, is the nature of old forgotten landmines. No one knows that they lay here or there until it is too late. This, to be clear, is not owing to mans inability to predict the future nor is the essential unknown that is wrapped around the future and its impregnability to speculation to be blamed. No one wants to know because no one wants to admit to the possibilty that such a deadly future feature is already embedded in their collective present. Fuck the cowboys and their myopic concept of an unpredictable future that they in turn interpret to mean that they have full license to make a shit show out of the present. It's not about the future, it's about the right now and the landmine we are all blindly burying.
¹ http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130215000728
2014년 3월 14일 금요일
Hearing Simplicity, Simply Saying
Can anyone hear their own voice as others hear it? Along a similar vein, how many people hear their own voice when they write? Of that written voice - that literary voice - how many people actually hear that? Questions abound today for me, it seems.
People listen to people. People don't pay attention to phonies, fakes and fraudsters; intentionally that is. To rephrase: People listen to people who are human. Being human means not to be phony, fake or feigning ones real intentions. Kendrick Lamar says it best: I'm not the next pop-star, I'm not the next socially aware rapper. I am (a Human fucking being over dope-ass instrumentation) Kendrick Lamar.¹
People who are listened to must have something to say. How they say that something is important. Important means to be heavy, to be weighty. Not like a rock that you can feel weigh down your pocket; more like a boulder that is leaning against you and you against it. What is important for me may not be for you, not because it isn't important for you too, but rather you just can't or don't feel it the same.
How can I make others feel what I say? Most importantly, how can I make the masses feel what I say and maybe even eager to feel what I say? Many may say Ethos, Pathos and Logos, the three pillars of Aristotelian Rhetoric, are key, but such explanations are half-measures. Instead let's listen to someone who embodies the aforementioned rhetorical appeals: I know some rappers are using big words to make their similes curve but my simplest shit be more pivotal. I penetrate the hearts of good kids and criminals...²
There is an indescribable weightiness inherent within simplicity. Simplicity begs to be heard. One must strain to hear what is simply said. In this sense simplicity speaks. In it's own way, simplicity is the hardest complexity; the weightiest of all. So then is complexity or difficulty or speciality less important than simplicity?
What is commonly held to be complex or difficult or specialized is not complex or difficult or special, essentially. They are simply confusing or misleading. Confusion is in it's own way simple because there is always a reason at root for such a confusion to arise. But, it is not direct. It is not simple. Therefore, a distance exists that must be traversed in order to get to the root simplicity. Sometimes the root to simplicity is easy or hard and sometimes it is known or remains unknown. There remains always a relation.
Most if not everybody wants to be heard. Only a minuscule minority are ever truly heard, and of that group an even smaller percentage penetrate the hearts and minds of the many. It is that later group I too am struck by and feel compelled towards. I can't help but feel that what and how they speak is anything other than simple.
So why can't I simply speak simplicity?
¹ Lamar, Kendrick. Section.80 "Ab-Souls Outro feat. Ab-Soul"
² Lamar, Kendrick. Section.80 "Poe Mans Dreams ft. GLC"
People listen to people. People don't pay attention to phonies, fakes and fraudsters; intentionally that is. To rephrase: People listen to people who are human. Being human means not to be phony, fake or feigning ones real intentions. Kendrick Lamar says it best: I'm not the next pop-star, I'm not the next socially aware rapper. I am (a Human fucking being over dope-ass instrumentation) Kendrick Lamar.¹
People who are listened to must have something to say. How they say that something is important. Important means to be heavy, to be weighty. Not like a rock that you can feel weigh down your pocket; more like a boulder that is leaning against you and you against it. What is important for me may not be for you, not because it isn't important for you too, but rather you just can't or don't feel it the same.
How can I make others feel what I say? Most importantly, how can I make the masses feel what I say and maybe even eager to feel what I say? Many may say Ethos, Pathos and Logos, the three pillars of Aristotelian Rhetoric, are key, but such explanations are half-measures. Instead let's listen to someone who embodies the aforementioned rhetorical appeals: I know some rappers are using big words to make their similes curve but my simplest shit be more pivotal. I penetrate the hearts of good kids and criminals...²
There is an indescribable weightiness inherent within simplicity. Simplicity begs to be heard. One must strain to hear what is simply said. In this sense simplicity speaks. In it's own way, simplicity is the hardest complexity; the weightiest of all. So then is complexity or difficulty or speciality less important than simplicity?
What is commonly held to be complex or difficult or specialized is not complex or difficult or special, essentially. They are simply confusing or misleading. Confusion is in it's own way simple because there is always a reason at root for such a confusion to arise. But, it is not direct. It is not simple. Therefore, a distance exists that must be traversed in order to get to the root simplicity. Sometimes the root to simplicity is easy or hard and sometimes it is known or remains unknown. There remains always a relation.
Most if not everybody wants to be heard. Only a minuscule minority are ever truly heard, and of that group an even smaller percentage penetrate the hearts and minds of the many. It is that later group I too am struck by and feel compelled towards. I can't help but feel that what and how they speak is anything other than simple.
So why can't I simply speak simplicity?
¹ Lamar, Kendrick. Section.80 "Ab-Souls Outro feat. Ab-Soul"
² Lamar, Kendrick. Section.80 "Poe Mans Dreams ft. GLC"
2014년 3월 13일 목요일
Blink
Standing on the precipice, with the horizon at it's widest looking out wondering what will unfold upon it, he stares starry eyed. I push him off.
After years sojourning in the academe constructing scaffolding to support her left-leaning intellectual conception of new Marxish thought, she climbs atop. I topple the structure.
Returning to the shanty town after dumping last nights vile concoction of food scraps and feces in the dried out river basin she pauses, and sighs. I burn the village down.
Having erected the tallest phallus, its tip penetrating the clouds, the contractor rides the elevator to the top, and smiles. I initiate its implosion.
Sitting here typing this while nothing happens around me, I continue typing, while being swallowed by the nothing. And then I blink.
After years sojourning in the academe constructing scaffolding to support her left-leaning intellectual conception of new Marxish thought, she climbs atop. I topple the structure.
Returning to the shanty town after dumping last nights vile concoction of food scraps and feces in the dried out river basin she pauses, and sighs. I burn the village down.
Having erected the tallest phallus, its tip penetrating the clouds, the contractor rides the elevator to the top, and smiles. I initiate its implosion.
Sitting here typing this while nothing happens around me, I continue typing, while being swallowed by the nothing. And then I blink.
2014년 3월 12일 수요일
Piercing Thought
I can only hope that one day, one thought may, if given one opportunity, pierce the conciousness of our collective society.
2014년 3월 10일 월요일
2014년 3월 4일 화요일
크림반도, 꿈 같은 나의 크림반도
어렸을 때 나에게는 꿈이 있었다. 매일 밤 고된 하루로 무거워진 눈꺼플이 내려앉자마자 난 그 꿈속으로 떠나게 되었다. 거기가 어디이였냐면 바로 크림반도.
말 그대로 달콤한 크림으로 만들어진 곳. 머리 위에 솟아치는 높은 하늘부터 발 밑 부드러운 풀까지 다 크림으로 조성된 곳이었다.
말 그대로 달콤한 크림으로 만들어진 곳. 머리 위에 솟아치는 높은 하늘부터 발 밑 부드러운 풀까지 다 크림으로 조성된 곳이었다.
내가 비록 어렸을지라도 일찍부터 꿈과 현실의 차이가 뭔지 알았기에 꿈은 꿈대로 남긴채 유년시절을 보낸 난 이제 성인어른이 되었다.몇일전 뉴스를 보던 중 특집뉴스를 듣자마자 감짝 놀랐다. 내 꿈이 현실이 되었기 때문이다.
놀랐던건 나뿐만 아니 다른 사람에게도 똑같은 꿈이 있었다는것이다. 더구나 나보다 더 빨리 그 땅을 찾아낸 사람이 있다는 사실을 그 방송을 통해 알았다는것이다.
그분은 바로 세상에서 운이 제일 좋은 푸틴 왕이다! 그리고 그 분이 바로 내가 거의 30년동안 원했던 크림반도를 자기 혼자만 독점하고 싶어서 지난주에 점령했다는 소식이다.
놀랐던건 나뿐만 아니 다른 사람에게도 똑같은 꿈이 있었다는것이다. 더구나 나보다 더 빨리 그 땅을 찾아낸 사람이 있다는 사실을 그 방송을 통해 알았다는것이다.
그분은 바로 세상에서 운이 제일 좋은 푸틴 왕이다! 그리고 그 분이 바로 내가 거의 30년동안 원했던 크림반도를 자기 혼자만 독점하고 싶어서 지난주에 점령했다는 소식이다.
이기적이라기보다 누구나 다 그렇게 할 것이라고 본다. 남녀노소 모두 크림을 좋아해서 그렇다.
업데이트: 종종 헷갈리는 분들이 이 블러그에 잘못된 댓글을 올리는 경우가 있다. 내가 말하는 곳은 크림반도이다. 우크라인에 위치한 크름 (우크라이나어: Крим, 영어: Crimea) 반도가 아니다. 왜 그런지 모르겠지만 크름반도와 크림반도가 같은곳이라는 혼란이있다. 동일한 곳이 아니다라는 사실에 대해 주의하시길 바란다.
2014년 3월 3일 월요일
A True Thinking
Is the mark of a true thinking not that it was said by someone, but rather that it was spoken through somebody?
2014년 3월 1일 토요일
Kanye Heidegger
"Everything in the world is exactly the Same."
"The ἐνέργεια which Aristoltle thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, of ἐόν, the ἰδέα which Plato thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, the Λόγος which Heraclitus thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, the Μοῖρα which Parmenides thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, the Χρεών which Anaximander thinks is essential in presencing - all these name the Same. In the concealed richness of the Same the unity of the unifying One, the Ἒν, is thought by each thinker in his own way."
These quotes are from two thinkers from different continents seperated by two generations, both world wars, the Atlantic Ocean and common conception. I don't know why, but no one has yet thought through the Same vein of thought these two titans of truth thrived in and thrive in, respectively.
The first quote was originally laid down in speech; as all teachers have done throughout the ages. As a saying then, the onus is upon us as listeners to hear what is said. But, do we hear properly? Do we even know what proper hearing is? Heidegger said proper hearing is paying thoughtful attention to simple things catching what is essential.
Unlike the time of Heraclitus - which is to say past times - the present remains for a time in popular memory until it is forgotten. Therefore the context of the first quote, having appeared a few days prior on Late Night with Seth Meyers, is still fresh. The quote is a response by the polymath musician/designer/citizen-of-the-world Kanye West to a question that went as follows: "What's the difference between how you approach fashion and how you approach music?" The response was given with unexpected stern seriousness and focus. It didn't seem to answer the question and was casually laughed off. Thus it's initial classification as a response must be revoked according to mass consensus (democratic opinion?) and so it becomes an orphan clause: a fragment.
For many ancient thinkers too what is left of their sayings more often than not take the form of fragments.* As fragments they necessitate closer listening to what they say. Upon closer listening to what Heraclitus says in his famous fragment concerning Λόγος Heidegger hears this: ὁμολογεῐν σοφόν ἐστιν Ἓν Πάντα, "the fateful comes to pass insofar as One All." What is to be thought here is Ἓν Πάντα': One: All, All: One. Likewise we must consider what Kanye himself says in his fragment. "Everything is the Same." Is this not even more proper for what is thought here, and it's nature as a fragment?
There is something dangerously simple about this saying. Dangerous in the sense that it may lead others to believe the speaker is seeking to re-present a universal formula and/or make him seem crazy; which he is not. Rather, this Heraclitean saying conceals this thinker's first steps which initiated all of the following steps in the fateful course of his thinking.
"Everything is the Same" lets things stand together which usually are not thought of belonging together - which is to say things that are separated from one another - such as the sun and moon, light and dark, sobriety and intoxication, evil and the good, Heidegger and Kanye. But how can such opposites, separated by that seemingly insurmountable distance between presence and absence, come to stand together? The answer: through the Sameness that pervades or runs through All.
As everyone today seems all too ready to admit - whether prompted or not - Kanye is no teacher, let us accept this. Instead let us see him then as a thinker. As such he only gives us to think. That is his gift to us. As the Giver, he has no need for whatever bounds we try to keep him within, for he has transcended them already. We, on the other hand, are not only behind him, but we still have no idea how to be thankful to him and by association to all thinkers past, present and soon to be.
Reference:
ἐνέργεια - energia
ἐόν - eόn
ἰδέα - idea
Λόγος - Lόgos
Μοῖρα - Moera
Χρεών - Chreôn
Ἒν - En
* This does not mean to imply that their remaining as fragments is due to the fact that the context surrounding them was completely superfluous as well, not by a long shot.
"The ἐνέργεια which Aristoltle thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, of ἐόν, the ἰδέα which Plato thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, the Λόγος which Heraclitus thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, the Μοῖρα which Parmenides thinks as the fundamental character of presencing, the Χρεών which Anaximander thinks is essential in presencing - all these name the Same. In the concealed richness of the Same the unity of the unifying One, the Ἒν, is thought by each thinker in his own way."
These quotes are from two thinkers from different continents seperated by two generations, both world wars, the Atlantic Ocean and common conception. I don't know why, but no one has yet thought through the Same vein of thought these two titans of truth thrived in and thrive in, respectively.
The first quote was originally laid down in speech; as all teachers have done throughout the ages. As a saying then, the onus is upon us as listeners to hear what is said. But, do we hear properly? Do we even know what proper hearing is? Heidegger said proper hearing is paying thoughtful attention to simple things catching what is essential.
Unlike the time of Heraclitus - which is to say past times - the present remains for a time in popular memory until it is forgotten. Therefore the context of the first quote, having appeared a few days prior on Late Night with Seth Meyers, is still fresh. The quote is a response by the polymath musician/designer/citizen-of-the-world Kanye West to a question that went as follows: "What's the difference between how you approach fashion and how you approach music?" The response was given with unexpected stern seriousness and focus. It didn't seem to answer the question and was casually laughed off. Thus it's initial classification as a response must be revoked according to mass consensus (democratic opinion?) and so it becomes an orphan clause: a fragment.
For many ancient thinkers too what is left of their sayings more often than not take the form of fragments.* As fragments they necessitate closer listening to what they say. Upon closer listening to what Heraclitus says in his famous fragment concerning Λόγος Heidegger hears this: ὁμολογεῐν σοφόν ἐστιν Ἓν Πάντα, "the fateful comes to pass insofar as One All." What is to be thought here is Ἓν Πάντα': One: All, All: One. Likewise we must consider what Kanye himself says in his fragment. "Everything is the Same." Is this not even more proper for what is thought here, and it's nature as a fragment?
There is something dangerously simple about this saying. Dangerous in the sense that it may lead others to believe the speaker is seeking to re-present a universal formula and/or make him seem crazy; which he is not. Rather, this Heraclitean saying conceals this thinker's first steps which initiated all of the following steps in the fateful course of his thinking.
"Everything is the Same" lets things stand together which usually are not thought of belonging together - which is to say things that are separated from one another - such as the sun and moon, light and dark, sobriety and intoxication, evil and the good, Heidegger and Kanye. But how can such opposites, separated by that seemingly insurmountable distance between presence and absence, come to stand together? The answer: through the Sameness that pervades or runs through All.
As everyone today seems all too ready to admit - whether prompted or not - Kanye is no teacher, let us accept this. Instead let us see him then as a thinker. As such he only gives us to think. That is his gift to us. As the Giver, he has no need for whatever bounds we try to keep him within, for he has transcended them already. We, on the other hand, are not only behind him, but we still have no idea how to be thankful to him and by association to all thinkers past, present and soon to be.
Reference:
ἐνέργεια - energia
ἐόν - eόn
ἰδέα - idea
Λόγος - Lόgos
Μοῖρα - Moera
Χρεών - Chreôn
Ἒν - En
* This does not mean to imply that their remaining as fragments is due to the fact that the context surrounding them was completely superfluous as well, not by a long shot.
2014년 2월 24일 월요일
Time, Money and Buses in Seoul
Hypothetical:
You leave work around or slightly before peak rush-hour. The narrow subway cars that remind you of cattle chutes because of how cramped they are plus the ambiguity of where they may lead makes the Metro a non-choice. That leaves you with the buses. Five buses provide direct service to your destination: 140, 408, 470, 471 and the 1005-1 with two types to choose from: regular (blue) or express (red; 1005-1). There are usually (99% of the time) no seats available at this time on the blue buses, but the express bus always has a seat open. Also, the express buses have a base fare of 1,850 KRW with the blue buses running a far cheaper 1,050 KRW. There is a digital billboard that provides the time until arrival for all buses. Yesterday you decided to take bus 140 because all other blue buses were 10+ minutes out, and the express bus was 9 minutes out. While you were 4 minutes out from reaching your destination, still standing in a tightly packed 140, with no stops before you disembarked, you saw the 1005-1 pass by full of open seats.
Standing at the bus stop tomorrow at around the same time you see that a blue bus again will arrive around 10 minutes earlier than the 1005-1 express bus. Which bus will you end up taking, the blue bus or the express bus? Why?
There are a number of factors here, and organizing them briefly will help us find a way to an answer. The facts are as follows: 1) you took the blue bus yesterday, 2) the blue bus is 800 KRW cheaper than the express bus, 3) the blue bus will most likely not have an open seat while the express bus will, 4) despite the 9~10 minute head start, the two buses will arrive at your destination at essentially the same time. While it was not said whether this was the first time for you to take a bus from this spot, however, given the intimate knowledge you have regarding the bus routes available from that particular departing point, it is safe to assume the choice described above was a repeated behavior. In memory formation, there is a concept known as re-consolidation. When confronted with a reminder of the past (in this instance a memory of a particular circumstance or situation), the original memory becomes "unstable" for a brief time. If nothing is done (differently) that memory will stabilize for a second time and will in turn become ingrained. Therefore, when posed with the same situation again, based on the previous memory of what action you took, it can be surmised that your behavior is also likewise "ingrained" and thus you will take the blue bus again.
Ok, that is obvious, but what is interesting to me is this: what were the original factors that influenced your decision to take the blue bus the very first time you were posed with this situation? Time is obviously the dominant factor, that is the belief that the blue bus, being 10 minutes ahead of the express bus, would negate the fewer stops and thus more direct and quicker route of the express bus. The other factor - latent I suspect - is the comparative cheapness of the blue bus. It gets interesting when the second confrontation of this situation occurs. Because then, the factor of time saving due to the earlier arrival of the blue bus becomes illusory - non-existent thus a non-factor - which then leaves cost savings as the de facto dominant factor that influences the final decision at precisely the time when the original memory wavers and is most malleable. So then, we are left with cost savings - and minimal savings at that - being perceived by you as a greater benefit than both guaranteed comfort and the knowledge that either choice will result in arriving at essentially the same time. Or, is Time still the dominant factor since you repeat the same choice, thus ingraining the original memory in its entirety (including original influencing factors) regardless of ex post facto knowledge of the original circumstances sorrounding the memory?
Interesting, huh? Ok, now that this intellectual masturbatory excercise has concluded, I'd say it's time to get back to work.
You leave work around or slightly before peak rush-hour. The narrow subway cars that remind you of cattle chutes because of how cramped they are plus the ambiguity of where they may lead makes the Metro a non-choice. That leaves you with the buses. Five buses provide direct service to your destination: 140, 408, 470, 471 and the 1005-1 with two types to choose from: regular (blue) or express (red; 1005-1). There are usually (99% of the time) no seats available at this time on the blue buses, but the express bus always has a seat open. Also, the express buses have a base fare of 1,850 KRW with the blue buses running a far cheaper 1,050 KRW. There is a digital billboard that provides the time until arrival for all buses. Yesterday you decided to take bus 140 because all other blue buses were 10+ minutes out, and the express bus was 9 minutes out. While you were 4 minutes out from reaching your destination, still standing in a tightly packed 140, with no stops before you disembarked, you saw the 1005-1 pass by full of open seats.
Standing at the bus stop tomorrow at around the same time you see that a blue bus again will arrive around 10 minutes earlier than the 1005-1 express bus. Which bus will you end up taking, the blue bus or the express bus? Why?
There are a number of factors here, and organizing them briefly will help us find a way to an answer. The facts are as follows: 1) you took the blue bus yesterday, 2) the blue bus is 800 KRW cheaper than the express bus, 3) the blue bus will most likely not have an open seat while the express bus will, 4) despite the 9~10 minute head start, the two buses will arrive at your destination at essentially the same time. While it was not said whether this was the first time for you to take a bus from this spot, however, given the intimate knowledge you have regarding the bus routes available from that particular departing point, it is safe to assume the choice described above was a repeated behavior. In memory formation, there is a concept known as re-consolidation. When confronted with a reminder of the past (in this instance a memory of a particular circumstance or situation), the original memory becomes "unstable" for a brief time. If nothing is done (differently) that memory will stabilize for a second time and will in turn become ingrained. Therefore, when posed with the same situation again, based on the previous memory of what action you took, it can be surmised that your behavior is also likewise "ingrained" and thus you will take the blue bus again.
Ok, that is obvious, but what is interesting to me is this: what were the original factors that influenced your decision to take the blue bus the very first time you were posed with this situation? Time is obviously the dominant factor, that is the belief that the blue bus, being 10 minutes ahead of the express bus, would negate the fewer stops and thus more direct and quicker route of the express bus. The other factor - latent I suspect - is the comparative cheapness of the blue bus. It gets interesting when the second confrontation of this situation occurs. Because then, the factor of time saving due to the earlier arrival of the blue bus becomes illusory - non-existent thus a non-factor - which then leaves cost savings as the de facto dominant factor that influences the final decision at precisely the time when the original memory wavers and is most malleable. So then, we are left with cost savings - and minimal savings at that - being perceived by you as a greater benefit than both guaranteed comfort and the knowledge that either choice will result in arriving at essentially the same time. Or, is Time still the dominant factor since you repeat the same choice, thus ingraining the original memory in its entirety (including original influencing factors) regardless of ex post facto knowledge of the original circumstances sorrounding the memory?
Interesting, huh? Ok, now that this intellectual masturbatory excercise has concluded, I'd say it's time to get back to work.
2014년 2월 23일 일요일
Pyeongchang 2018 Covered in Toxic Sino Ejaculate?
So today in a Bloomberg Opinion piece Adam Minter raised his criticism against China for pursuing its bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games to be held in Zhangjiakou city.¹ For those of you who don't know, that city happens to be located in Hebei Province, the most polluted province in all of China.
Ok. That is bad, but what about the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that will be held in Gangwon Province, South Korea? Seoul and Gangwon Province to be sure are right smack dab in the middle latitudes of Hebei and are separated only by the West Sea. So for example on a day like February 24th 2014, when winds from the northwest - and more importantly all the shitty ultra-fine and fine dust floating in the atmosphere around mainland China's polluted eastern coast (e.g. Hebei Province) - ride the high pressure system over the West Sea and mix with all the pollution already conveniently on top of the Korean Peninsula, the result is toxic air for Korea. To be precise the recorded high so far today (13:00) from Gangwon Province and Seoul in terms of fine dust is 203㎍/㎥ and 218㎍/㎥ with averages at around 111㎍/㎥ and 146㎍/㎥ respectively.² The recorded highs are both "very bad" according to the scale of fine dust levels that ranges from 0~201+㎍/㎥ with both averages falling in the "kinda bad" category of 81~120㎍/㎥.
As I indicated above, the host province of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics sits uncomfortably in the line of fire of these periodic Sino-ejaculations of toxic smog that seem to flare up in the Winter months for reasons I have mentioned in a previous post.³ While the argument will surely be made that the air levels are better in the mountain areas where the competitions will take place, even if levels are in the "normal" range of 31~80㎍/㎥, I can tell you from first hand experience from running outdoors during "normal" 76㎍/㎥ - on the side of a mother fucking mountain mind you - for a duration of no longer than 18 minutes at a speed of approximately 13km per hour, blows hard. From the yellow/greenish snotty discharge in the hours immediately following the run to the wheezing that lingers into the next day (full disclosure: I have had asthma since I was a child, but had not experienced symptoms as an adult, until now) it is no for those of us who are sensitive to toxic smog.
In conclusion I just want to take my hat off to Mr. Minter for raising awareness on the issue of China's toxic smog. At the same time, more attention should be paid to those nations that are affected by it as well, like by those same nations themselves! It kills me how Viktor Ahn (a.k.a. 안현수 선수) can become a top national agenda pursued by the President herself,⁴ but toxic smog receives mere lip-service from apathetic talking heads during the news discussed like some necessary evil that we should learn to live with (or more likely die from).
¹ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-23/goodbye-sochi-slush-hello-china-smog-.html
² http://search.naver.com/search.naver?where=nexearch&query=%EB%AF%B8%EC%84%B8%EB%A8%BC%EC%A7%80%EB%86%8D%EB%8F%84%ED%99%95%EC%9D%B8&sm=top_hty&fbm=1&acr=2&acq=%EB%AF%B8%EC%84%B8&qdt=0&ie=utf8
³ http://kayageetheworld.blogspot.kr/2014/01/air-pussy_4.html
⁴ http://news.sbs.co.kr/section_news/news_read.jsp?news_id=N1002238284
Ok. That is bad, but what about the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that will be held in Gangwon Province, South Korea? Seoul and Gangwon Province to be sure are right smack dab in the middle latitudes of Hebei and are separated only by the West Sea. So for example on a day like February 24th 2014, when winds from the northwest - and more importantly all the shitty ultra-fine and fine dust floating in the atmosphere around mainland China's polluted eastern coast (e.g. Hebei Province) - ride the high pressure system over the West Sea and mix with all the pollution already conveniently on top of the Korean Peninsula, the result is toxic air for Korea. To be precise the recorded high so far today (13:00) from Gangwon Province and Seoul in terms of fine dust is 203㎍/㎥ and 218㎍/㎥ with averages at around 111㎍/㎥ and 146㎍/㎥ respectively.² The recorded highs are both "very bad" according to the scale of fine dust levels that ranges from 0~201+㎍/㎥ with both averages falling in the "kinda bad" category of 81~120㎍/㎥.
As I indicated above, the host province of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics sits uncomfortably in the line of fire of these periodic Sino-ejaculations of toxic smog that seem to flare up in the Winter months for reasons I have mentioned in a previous post.³ While the argument will surely be made that the air levels are better in the mountain areas where the competitions will take place, even if levels are in the "normal" range of 31~80㎍/㎥, I can tell you from first hand experience from running outdoors during "normal" 76㎍/㎥ - on the side of a mother fucking mountain mind you - for a duration of no longer than 18 minutes at a speed of approximately 13km per hour, blows hard. From the yellow/greenish snotty discharge in the hours immediately following the run to the wheezing that lingers into the next day (full disclosure: I have had asthma since I was a child, but had not experienced symptoms as an adult, until now) it is no for those of us who are sensitive to toxic smog.
In conclusion I just want to take my hat off to Mr. Minter for raising awareness on the issue of China's toxic smog. At the same time, more attention should be paid to those nations that are affected by it as well, like by those same nations themselves! It kills me how Viktor Ahn (a.k.a. 안현수 선수) can become a top national agenda pursued by the President herself,⁴ but toxic smog receives mere lip-service from apathetic talking heads during the news discussed like some necessary evil that we should learn to live with (or more likely die from).
¹ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-23/goodbye-sochi-slush-hello-china-smog-.html
² http://search.naver.com/search.naver?where=nexearch&query=%EB%AF%B8%EC%84%B8%EB%A8%BC%EC%A7%80%EB%86%8D%EB%8F%84%ED%99%95%EC%9D%B8&sm=top_hty&fbm=1&acr=2&acq=%EB%AF%B8%EC%84%B8&qdt=0&ie=utf8
³ http://kayageetheworld.blogspot.kr/2014/01/air-pussy_4.html
⁴ http://news.sbs.co.kr/section_news/news_read.jsp?news_id=N1002238284
Supermen of Sadness
I guess we're all supermen and superwomen, now. So what's your super power?
Are you one of them whizzes who develops those confounded algorithamajigs that saves millionths of a cent a million times because you were able to initiate a trade or buy or whatever of millions of whatever a thousandth of a second quicker than a million other people?
If so, well then that's cool, it's just - how should I put it - after you die, computers, or robots with computer hearts, will probably do what you do, right? So you are the last superman of your kind. You will have just been a man; that is when people look back upon you from the future. Assuming that you will be remembered at all.
As for me? I am the Superman of Sadness. You heard me right, I see sadness everywhere.
In the 76 year old grandmother's eyes sitting behind the grill peddling spicy rice cakes along the side of the street. Or in the forced laugh of that highschool senior as he tells me he doesn't have an opinion on this or that or even that and that other thing. I even see it in the unfortunately located restaurant tucked slightly too far around that corner alley which specializes in so-so Italian cuisine, whose 55 year old owner is sitting in the window looking defeatedly out from the patronless space he sunk every last cent he painstakingly saved over the last 27 years of his life in the dream grinder that is a top-tier Chaebol.
I see sadness and feel sadness everywhere, always and forever. Forever.
But, when I am dead and gone, another Superman of Sadness will walk this earth!
Are you one of them whizzes who develops those confounded algorithamajigs that saves millionths of a cent a million times because you were able to initiate a trade or buy or whatever of millions of whatever a thousandth of a second quicker than a million other people?
If so, well then that's cool, it's just - how should I put it - after you die, computers, or robots with computer hearts, will probably do what you do, right? So you are the last superman of your kind. You will have just been a man; that is when people look back upon you from the future. Assuming that you will be remembered at all.
As for me? I am the Superman of Sadness. You heard me right, I see sadness everywhere.
In the 76 year old grandmother's eyes sitting behind the grill peddling spicy rice cakes along the side of the street. Or in the forced laugh of that highschool senior as he tells me he doesn't have an opinion on this or that or even that and that other thing. I even see it in the unfortunately located restaurant tucked slightly too far around that corner alley which specializes in so-so Italian cuisine, whose 55 year old owner is sitting in the window looking defeatedly out from the patronless space he sunk every last cent he painstakingly saved over the last 27 years of his life in the dream grinder that is a top-tier Chaebol.
I see sadness and feel sadness everywhere, always and forever. Forever.
But, when I am dead and gone, another Superman of Sadness will walk this earth!
2014년 2월 20일 목요일
Prelude to Spring in Seoul
April 20, 2013
So I just saw this. No, peeped would be a more apt past participle verb to employ in this instance. From my prime seating on the blue 408 bus - usually taken as a back-up plan to the express 1005-1 since it comes in fucking 20 plus minute intervals (thereby negating any express benefits unless the hand of fate decides to intervene on those rarest of rare occasions) - I spot them. Although a good 70~85 meters away, my blue-greens focus squarely upon the towering twin peaks.
For those readers who may not know, in Seoul, while not exceedingly rare - as say weed - exsquisite breasts demand attention of the highest order. How can I say this? Dear reader, these breasts were not locked down. By that I want to say that the fortunate transporter of said breasts did not constrict them in order to "blend in" with the local habitat. Unlike so many amply endowed transportors (and they are, like a valet of a stretch limo, merely carrying those marvelous expressions of perfection around from 'a' to 'b' for all to see; but I digress) who treat their otherworldly sisters not unlike how former generations of Chinese did in regards to women's feet - fucking disfiguring the shit out of them - this wise woman announced them to the world in their full glory.
A well worn, washed-out purple, high thread count cotton shirt, with the following words inscribed on the upper portion in what I believe to be Akzidenz Grotesk font: "NOT SILICONE."
All caps. Nuff said.
So I just saw this. No, peeped would be a more apt past participle verb to employ in this instance. From my prime seating on the blue 408 bus - usually taken as a back-up plan to the express 1005-1 since it comes in fucking 20 plus minute intervals (thereby negating any express benefits unless the hand of fate decides to intervene on those rarest of rare occasions) - I spot them. Although a good 70~85 meters away, my blue-greens focus squarely upon the towering twin peaks.
For those readers who may not know, in Seoul, while not exceedingly rare - as say weed - exsquisite breasts demand attention of the highest order. How can I say this? Dear reader, these breasts were not locked down. By that I want to say that the fortunate transporter of said breasts did not constrict them in order to "blend in" with the local habitat. Unlike so many amply endowed transportors (and they are, like a valet of a stretch limo, merely carrying those marvelous expressions of perfection around from 'a' to 'b' for all to see; but I digress) who treat their otherworldly sisters not unlike how former generations of Chinese did in regards to women's feet - fucking disfiguring the shit out of them - this wise woman announced them to the world in their full glory.
A well worn, washed-out purple, high thread count cotton shirt, with the following words inscribed on the upper portion in what I believe to be Akzidenz Grotesk font: "NOT SILICONE."
All caps. Nuff said.
2014년 2월 19일 수요일
Welcoming Solitude
What is most certain in our time? To my mind it is the "Always heading forward." The "where to" is not determined - not by a longshot - but, set in it's fixedness; that is the Certainty.
In such a time what thought is most radical? Is it not the unthought - that which is not thought? Namelessness. Silence. Not silence for something; rather silence awaiting silence. Silence that is ready for silence.
In such a time what thought is most radical? Is it not the unthought - that which is not thought? Namelessness. Silence. Not silence for something; rather silence awaiting silence. Silence that is ready for silence.
Post-Modern Progress
Ubiquitous Connectivity
How it shits on Life: Reason No. 63
You are crossing the Han River on February the 19th 2014; after leaving work early - which is to say on time - for the first time in ages. Traffic is not bad. The air quality is the best it's been in months. Slight cloud cover ahead but, you see this passionate, pale crimson hue tinging the sky in the west. Northbound, sitting in a two person seat, by yourself, near the rear door, you are about half way across the river, and you see the setting sun, again, for the first time since the long winter nights took hold; and... it is beautiful! Dipping half-way down the horizon and bold! This is beaut ~ ring ring ~ 아 여보세요? You try to steal one last glance, but alas, you are asked if you will come back to the office again tonight. Now you are on the other side of the river. And the beautiful is gone. Again.
Progress.
How it shits on Life: Reason No. 63
You are crossing the Han River on February the 19th 2014; after leaving work early - which is to say on time - for the first time in ages. Traffic is not bad. The air quality is the best it's been in months. Slight cloud cover ahead but, you see this passionate, pale crimson hue tinging the sky in the west. Northbound, sitting in a two person seat, by yourself, near the rear door, you are about half way across the river, and you see the setting sun, again, for the first time since the long winter nights took hold; and... it is beautiful! Dipping half-way down the horizon and bold! This is beaut ~ ring ring ~ 아 여보세요? You try to steal one last glance, but alas, you are asked if you will come back to the office again tonight. Now you are on the other side of the river. And the beautiful is gone. Again.
Progress.
2014년 2월 13일 목요일
어느날의 드라마 한편
에피소드 1
시간 : 퇴근시간
장소 : 370번 버스 (서대문 역에서 다시 종로로 돌아가 노선을 재시작하기 직전)
여승객 : (어색하고 조조한 미소를 풍긴 표정으로 일어나고 평균 잃었듯이 어렵게 뒷자리에서 기사님까지 걸어감) 죄송한데 혹시 광화문 지나갔나요?
기사님 : (루드하지 않지만 개무시하듯한 목소리로) 예~
여승객 : (마치 도듬거리 자주하는사람인데 왠지 이번에 단 한번만 도듬거리 없이 명확하게 말하도록 결심 냈듯이 몇 초 동안 준비해 보인데 동시에 다른 사람입장에서 보인다면 그 여자가 몇 초 동안 모음해서 완전 어색해 보임) 과.과. 광화문 다시 지나가세요?
기사님 : (여전히 개무시하고 아까처럼 똑같은 목소리로) 예~
나 : (기사님 얘기하자마자 정차하고 뒷문열고 서대문역에서 매일 하는 것처럼 아무 문제가 없고 기사와 그 여자에 대해 아무 인정없이 그냥 내려버림)
시간 : 퇴근시간
장소 : 370번 버스 (서대문 역에서 다시 종로로 돌아가 노선을 재시작하기 직전)
여승객 : (어색하고 조조한 미소를 풍긴 표정으로 일어나고 평균 잃었듯이 어렵게 뒷자리에서 기사님까지 걸어감) 죄송한데 혹시 광화문 지나갔나요?
기사님 : (루드하지 않지만 개무시하듯한 목소리로) 예~
여승객 : (마치 도듬거리 자주하는사람인데 왠지 이번에 단 한번만 도듬거리 없이 명확하게 말하도록 결심 냈듯이 몇 초 동안 준비해 보인데 동시에 다른 사람입장에서 보인다면 그 여자가 몇 초 동안 모음해서 완전 어색해 보임) 과.과. 광화문 다시 지나가세요?
기사님 : (여전히 개무시하고 아까처럼 똑같은 목소리로) 예~
나 : (기사님 얘기하자마자 정차하고 뒷문열고 서대문역에서 매일 하는 것처럼 아무 문제가 없고 기사와 그 여자에 대해 아무 인정없이 그냥 내려버림)
2014년 2월 12일 수요일
Thursdays
So. What's the deal when you approach an open urinal and, due to the fact that there are only two urinals to begin with, the guy occupying the other one all of a sudden stops his flow?
I'm talking stops - apparently out of some fear that has been with him since childhood, which he has somehow learned to fight, unsuccessfully - and so tries to start again but only manages an awkward drizzle-stop-drizzle-stop effort.
Finally, after soaking a Kennedy silver dollar sized area on the front of his beige trousers, obviously without having sufficiently emptied his bladder, he stuffs himself back inside borderline angrily, and then with a forced cough simply walks out probably thinking to himself, "Well, I'll try that again later."
Thursdays, I guess.
I'm talking stops - apparently out of some fear that has been with him since childhood, which he has somehow learned to fight, unsuccessfully - and so tries to start again but only manages an awkward drizzle-stop-drizzle-stop effort.
Finally, after soaking a Kennedy silver dollar sized area on the front of his beige trousers, obviously without having sufficiently emptied his bladder, he stuffs himself back inside borderline angrily, and then with a forced cough simply walks out probably thinking to himself, "Well, I'll try that again later."
Thursdays, I guess.
A Mountain and City
There is a mountain and a city. The mountain is the star and the city the backdrop.
Above all is the mountain's peak; ascending out of the mountain base the city is high too, but less so.
Solitude is up there if you seek it. Down here? No time for that.
Paths run through, up and down the mountain with hidden trails for all. Boulevards, streets and alleyways grid my city too, but they aren't for me or you, so much.
Even the air is better up there, except when the city makes it sick.
But.
Sparkling at night the city shines! The mountain must too, and was thus stabbed with a tower that now hypnotizes the city bats with brilliant LED hues...
Above all is the mountain's peak; ascending out of the mountain base the city is high too, but less so.
Solitude is up there if you seek it. Down here? No time for that.
Paths run through, up and down the mountain with hidden trails for all. Boulevards, streets and alleyways grid my city too, but they aren't for me or you, so much.
Even the air is better up there, except when the city makes it sick.
But.
Sparkling at night the city shines! The mountain must too, and was thus stabbed with a tower that now hypnotizes the city bats with brilliant LED hues...
2014년 2월 9일 일요일
Chicks Without Dicks
What's the deal with the leitmotif of chicks pretending to be dudes in popular(?) Korean tele-dramas?
Like for reals. Nowadays with SBS's < 잘키운 딸 하나 > or MBC's 2007 super-hit < 커피프린스 1호점 > starring 윤은혜 as well as probably a few or so other dramas that I am probably omitting, both female protagonists are compelled to conceal their gender for the sake of their entire immediate family's survival, no bullshit. The similarities don't stop there; it never fails that there is always a hetero male lead who, despite not having a single clue that the androgynous "male" is really a female, always manages to fall madly in love despite his deeply ingrained Korean attitude to view homosexuality as both socially unacceptable and personally repulsive.
In all likelihood, this is probably not a purely Korean creation. I am sure the Japanese thought of it first and had a more empowering story-line for women to boot. Something along the lines of a girl who pretends to be a boy in order to gain admission to a certain prestigious all male high school, or something to that effect. Now, why would I make such an assertion? Because I saw a Japanese porno parodying that exact plot line, that's why.¹
Ok, that said, for the sake of starting an arbitrary argument let us posit that the Korean contribution to this pseudo-social phenomenon is the creation of the 'conspicuous absence of a viable male bread winner' to serve as the plausible impetus for the gender concealment to take place in the first place. Again, this is in direct contra-distinction to the notion of 'autonomous female empowerment' that serves as the driving factor for gender concealment in the example of the Japanese drama.
Now then, let's move beyond the fact that the shared sexual affinity to androgynous males between these two nations could serve as a potential diplomatic plank towards reconciling historic animosities; instead let's focus on what light is shed upon Korean society, it's gender politics and just because we can how about we try to make a stark connection with life in general.
Obviously the deeply engraved subordinate role of women in society is the most glaringly obvious fact made clear through such stories; to the extent that as long as a woman is seen as being a woman she is for whatever reason thought to be incapable of supporting a family.
Boring.
This issue has been brought up over and over again, with no real change unfortunately.² It is easy to harp on the social strictures (both implicit and explicit) that reinforce the subordinate social role of Korean women: beginning with the resignation from birth that a daughter will inevitably "leave" the family to enter her future husband's family, to the "experiential points" added to men's resumes upon completion of their compulsory two year military services that potentially could give them an advantage during the interview process for a future job where applicants are "scored," all the way back to the subordinate role she will enter into after marriage to her husband's family where she will be at the mercy of her mother-in-law.
The interesting corollary to all this, however, is that any man in Korean society, regardless of how effeminate or actually feminine they either appear or act, is seen as no less a man within society at large.³ There is no denying that there are limits to how masculine a woman, especially a woman like 윤은혜 - a sex symbol if I may say myself - can hope to portray. In the diagetic world of the drama as well, no attempt is made to deny the lack of traditional masculine signifiers when it comes to the male guise the woman is attempting to inhabit. However, in the Korean context, as well apparently for the Japanese and most likely Chinese, it doesn't matter and moreover realism is not sacrificed because of it.
To repeat: Despite Korea's total lack of acceptance when it comes to homosexuality, straight men in Korea - because there is no alternative - have an amazing breadth and range of socially acceptable "gender personas" that they can inhabit. No one seems to have even come close to broaching a discussion, let alone a dialogue as it pertains to this aspect nor (getting back to the Korean dramas we were briefly discussing) the love that develops between the male protagonist and the other lead character who, except for the viewer, has only been seen, thought of and interacted with as a Korean man.
Despite all the talk in the US as of late of "equality" and "progress" in securing same-sex couples the rights that had been unceremoniously hoarded by the antediluvian union of Men & Women - and believe me I am happy that this change occurred - the one thing that hasn't changed is the incredibly narrow range of both gender and sexual orientation identifying behavior an average American is allowed to exhibit. I am sure it has been changing, slowly, but I still get the feeling that men who for example take an interest in fashion or engage in certain grooming habits are viewed by many (both men and women?) as being "gay." Likewise, homosexual men who due to this or that gender identifier happen to strike many who see them as being "straight." What's more, from time to time I see debates regarding "Queens" and the attention that they draw away from the other "types" of homosexual personas(?) that people self-categorize themselves into pop-up on my Facebook feed.
To be clear: labels abound in Korea regarding individuals; the difference being that no secondary sexual assumptions underlie the initial label. Someone who is well manicured, wears tight, kinda preppy clothes is a follower of 간지 style and is thus 간지. Full Stop. This doesn't lead to an association with Metro-sexuality nor does it lead to a tertiary association with homosexuality. Huge generalizations being made here, but given the scope of what this blog aims for in addition to time constraints, what do we have at base besides our experiences?
Experience implies eundo assequi: in latin, literally going and being underway and the attaining or getting to something along that way. The above mentioned Korean dramas go to the (unconscious?) extreme in indicating the broad range of experiences a man can openly embody (albeit incredibly indirectly); and the man doesn't even have to be a man! Actual case in point: 하리수, a well-known Korean transgender (formerly a man) who some people label an entertainer.4 5 Now obviously there is a lot of tongue in cheek action going on here now, but there is something seriously refreshing and liberating about the fact that every member of a particular gender (unfortunately here we are only referring to Korean men) can live on a level plain without worrying about falling into the confining and segregating netherworld that sub-assumptions tend to create.
Granted, the "level plain" is more like a heavily fortified kingdom occupying a rather large body of land; with access not granted to open homosexuals most conspicuously. Despite deeply imbedded and reinforced attitudes that de facto determine social inclusion/exclusion - or at least what we have assumed to be both deep rooted and reinforced - the lotharios in the Korean dramas we have been talking about, at least for a fleeting moment within the narrative, all witnessed those divisions evaporate instantaneously the moment they declared their unequivocal love to another man; before those arbitrary divisions appeared once more after finding out the true identity of the man they thought was their man(love). The metaphysical implications for each and every individual on this planet, let alone a "conservative" country such as Korea, are so close and immediate that most people tend to walk past them: human society and it's effect on shaping the most basic assumptions about how we should live can disappear in an instant, with such an effect being wrought solely by the individual themselves, leaving everything completely different then it had been up until that very instant, but still unchanged at the same time. In that moment the two characters were not man and man, nor were the man and woman; they were the Same in that they were truly autonomous individuals led not by culturally ingrained patterns, but by themselves as lead actors of their own lives.
Of course, most viewers of any mass cultural product tend to walk away with experiences vastly different from mine, let alone one another. Even purportedly "deep thinkers" may assume a critical stance via a social/behavioural psychological critique wherein they point out how such dramas are nothing more than the product of a repressive modern society which exerts unbearable sadistic pressure on woman to the point that in pursuit of their goals, which are not actually their own but the internalized goals of men/male society, they direct destruction not only against themselves but towards their own gender as a whole and in the most drastic masochistic act possible they completely throw away their own real life in the attempt to become half of a man. A more cursory glance may even elicit the observation that you don't see or couldn't see a drama where a man conceals his identity to become a woman let alone one where a lesbian romance resulted. All true, and all points interesting enough to at least get you an 'A' on your next paper in you Asian Studies class.
In the end, such criticism, whilst valid, and maybe in some instances even helpful, does not seem to be a great deal different from the material is seeks to criticize, because to put it bluntly: What the fuck do they really expect to change? The dramas that we have been talking about were made, and their plot lines recycled for no other reason than people watch them, a lot of people. And a lot of viewers means a lot of advertising revenue. Period. Maybe this then is the answer to why people merely offer criticisms of everything "new" based off of or supported by recycled theoretical apparatuses. Or not. I suspect not, actually. Now I just hope more than a few people begin to approach thinking and open there eyes to what is and what is constantly looked over and passed by. Maybe that's the deal with chicks pretending to be dudes on Korean television nowadays.
¹ Despite my best efforts to identify the JAV (Japanese Adult Video) serial number, alas, I could turn up nothing. However, there are a number of Japanese original creations that did apparently set off this chicks with no dicks trend. A few notable titles include 2007's Hanazakari no Kimitachi e based on the 1996~2004 Manga entitled Hana-Kimi. The Japanese were actually behind the Taiwanese who serialized the same manga in 2006 under the same name the Japanese used a year later while using the Chinese title 花樣少年少女 (presumably meaning the same thing). What is more is that Korea ended up serializing the SAME manga in 2012 under the name 아름다움 그대에게.
² See here: (http://m.news.naver.com/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=076&aid=0002441944) and here: (http://ko.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%B0%95%EA%B7%BC%ED%98%9C) for notable recent exceptions, however, as nothing has notably changed in society at large, I wouldn't advise anyone to hold their breath waiting for a change to occur to the status quo.
³ (See example 1: 2am's 조원 or example 2: 광희, example 3: 이종석)
⁴ http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harisu
5 Random fact, the current Korean word processor I am writing this entry on doesn't even recognize 'transgender' as a word. Extrapolate amongst yourselves.
Like for reals. Nowadays with SBS's < 잘키운 딸 하나 > or MBC's 2007 super-hit < 커피프린스 1호점 > starring 윤은혜 as well as probably a few or so other dramas that I am probably omitting, both female protagonists are compelled to conceal their gender for the sake of their entire immediate family's survival, no bullshit. The similarities don't stop there; it never fails that there is always a hetero male lead who, despite not having a single clue that the androgynous "male" is really a female, always manages to fall madly in love despite his deeply ingrained Korean attitude to view homosexuality as both socially unacceptable and personally repulsive.
In all likelihood, this is probably not a purely Korean creation. I am sure the Japanese thought of it first and had a more empowering story-line for women to boot. Something along the lines of a girl who pretends to be a boy in order to gain admission to a certain prestigious all male high school, or something to that effect. Now, why would I make such an assertion? Because I saw a Japanese porno parodying that exact plot line, that's why.¹
Ok, that said, for the sake of starting an arbitrary argument let us posit that the Korean contribution to this pseudo-social phenomenon is the creation of the 'conspicuous absence of a viable male bread winner' to serve as the plausible impetus for the gender concealment to take place in the first place. Again, this is in direct contra-distinction to the notion of 'autonomous female empowerment' that serves as the driving factor for gender concealment in the example of the Japanese drama.
Now then, let's move beyond the fact that the shared sexual affinity to androgynous males between these two nations could serve as a potential diplomatic plank towards reconciling historic animosities; instead let's focus on what light is shed upon Korean society, it's gender politics and just because we can how about we try to make a stark connection with life in general.
Obviously the deeply engraved subordinate role of women in society is the most glaringly obvious fact made clear through such stories; to the extent that as long as a woman is seen as being a woman she is for whatever reason thought to be incapable of supporting a family.
Boring.
This issue has been brought up over and over again, with no real change unfortunately.² It is easy to harp on the social strictures (both implicit and explicit) that reinforce the subordinate social role of Korean women: beginning with the resignation from birth that a daughter will inevitably "leave" the family to enter her future husband's family, to the "experiential points" added to men's resumes upon completion of their compulsory two year military services that potentially could give them an advantage during the interview process for a future job where applicants are "scored," all the way back to the subordinate role she will enter into after marriage to her husband's family where she will be at the mercy of her mother-in-law.
The interesting corollary to all this, however, is that any man in Korean society, regardless of how effeminate or actually feminine they either appear or act, is seen as no less a man within society at large.³ There is no denying that there are limits to how masculine a woman, especially a woman like 윤은혜 - a sex symbol if I may say myself - can hope to portray. In the diagetic world of the drama as well, no attempt is made to deny the lack of traditional masculine signifiers when it comes to the male guise the woman is attempting to inhabit. However, in the Korean context, as well apparently for the Japanese and most likely Chinese, it doesn't matter and moreover realism is not sacrificed because of it.
To repeat: Despite Korea's total lack of acceptance when it comes to homosexuality, straight men in Korea - because there is no alternative - have an amazing breadth and range of socially acceptable "gender personas" that they can inhabit. No one seems to have even come close to broaching a discussion, let alone a dialogue as it pertains to this aspect nor (getting back to the Korean dramas we were briefly discussing) the love that develops between the male protagonist and the other lead character who, except for the viewer, has only been seen, thought of and interacted with as a Korean man.
Despite all the talk in the US as of late of "equality" and "progress" in securing same-sex couples the rights that had been unceremoniously hoarded by the antediluvian union of Men & Women - and believe me I am happy that this change occurred - the one thing that hasn't changed is the incredibly narrow range of both gender and sexual orientation identifying behavior an average American is allowed to exhibit. I am sure it has been changing, slowly, but I still get the feeling that men who for example take an interest in fashion or engage in certain grooming habits are viewed by many (both men and women?) as being "gay." Likewise, homosexual men who due to this or that gender identifier happen to strike many who see them as being "straight." What's more, from time to time I see debates regarding "Queens" and the attention that they draw away from the other "types" of homosexual personas(?) that people self-categorize themselves into pop-up on my Facebook feed.
To be clear: labels abound in Korea regarding individuals; the difference being that no secondary sexual assumptions underlie the initial label. Someone who is well manicured, wears tight, kinda preppy clothes is a follower of 간지 style and is thus 간지. Full Stop. This doesn't lead to an association with Metro-sexuality nor does it lead to a tertiary association with homosexuality. Huge generalizations being made here, but given the scope of what this blog aims for in addition to time constraints, what do we have at base besides our experiences?
Experience implies eundo assequi: in latin, literally going and being underway and the attaining or getting to something along that way. The above mentioned Korean dramas go to the (unconscious?) extreme in indicating the broad range of experiences a man can openly embody (albeit incredibly indirectly); and the man doesn't even have to be a man! Actual case in point: 하리수, a well-known Korean transgender (formerly a man) who some people label an entertainer.4 5 Now obviously there is a lot of tongue in cheek action going on here now, but there is something seriously refreshing and liberating about the fact that every member of a particular gender (unfortunately here we are only referring to Korean men) can live on a level plain without worrying about falling into the confining and segregating netherworld that sub-assumptions tend to create.
Granted, the "level plain" is more like a heavily fortified kingdom occupying a rather large body of land; with access not granted to open homosexuals most conspicuously. Despite deeply imbedded and reinforced attitudes that de facto determine social inclusion/exclusion - or at least what we have assumed to be both deep rooted and reinforced - the lotharios in the Korean dramas we have been talking about, at least for a fleeting moment within the narrative, all witnessed those divisions evaporate instantaneously the moment they declared their unequivocal love to another man; before those arbitrary divisions appeared once more after finding out the true identity of the man they thought was their man(love). The metaphysical implications for each and every individual on this planet, let alone a "conservative" country such as Korea, are so close and immediate that most people tend to walk past them: human society and it's effect on shaping the most basic assumptions about how we should live can disappear in an instant, with such an effect being wrought solely by the individual themselves, leaving everything completely different then it had been up until that very instant, but still unchanged at the same time. In that moment the two characters were not man and man, nor were the man and woman; they were the Same in that they were truly autonomous individuals led not by culturally ingrained patterns, but by themselves as lead actors of their own lives.
Of course, most viewers of any mass cultural product tend to walk away with experiences vastly different from mine, let alone one another. Even purportedly "deep thinkers" may assume a critical stance via a social/behavioural psychological critique wherein they point out how such dramas are nothing more than the product of a repressive modern society which exerts unbearable sadistic pressure on woman to the point that in pursuit of their goals, which are not actually their own but the internalized goals of men/male society, they direct destruction not only against themselves but towards their own gender as a whole and in the most drastic masochistic act possible they completely throw away their own real life in the attempt to become half of a man. A more cursory glance may even elicit the observation that you don't see or couldn't see a drama where a man conceals his identity to become a woman let alone one where a lesbian romance resulted. All true, and all points interesting enough to at least get you an 'A' on your next paper in you Asian Studies class.
In the end, such criticism, whilst valid, and maybe in some instances even helpful, does not seem to be a great deal different from the material is seeks to criticize, because to put it bluntly: What the fuck do they really expect to change? The dramas that we have been talking about were made, and their plot lines recycled for no other reason than people watch them, a lot of people. And a lot of viewers means a lot of advertising revenue. Period. Maybe this then is the answer to why people merely offer criticisms of everything "new" based off of or supported by recycled theoretical apparatuses. Or not. I suspect not, actually. Now I just hope more than a few people begin to approach thinking and open there eyes to what is and what is constantly looked over and passed by. Maybe that's the deal with chicks pretending to be dudes on Korean television nowadays.
¹ Despite my best efforts to identify the JAV (Japanese Adult Video) serial number, alas, I could turn up nothing. However, there are a number of Japanese original creations that did apparently set off this chicks with no dicks trend. A few notable titles include 2007's Hanazakari no Kimitachi e based on the 1996~2004 Manga entitled Hana-Kimi. The Japanese were actually behind the Taiwanese who serialized the same manga in 2006 under the same name the Japanese used a year later while using the Chinese title 花樣少年少女 (presumably meaning the same thing). What is more is that Korea ended up serializing the SAME manga in 2012 under the name 아름다움 그대에게.
² See here: (http://m.news.naver.com/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=076&aid=0002441944) and here: (http://ko.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%B0%95%EA%B7%BC%ED%98%9C) for notable recent exceptions, however, as nothing has notably changed in society at large, I wouldn't advise anyone to hold their breath waiting for a change to occur to the status quo.
³ (See example 1: 2am's 조원 or example 2: 광희, example 3: 이종석)
⁴ http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harisu
5 Random fact, the current Korean word processor I am writing this entry on doesn't even recognize 'transgender' as a word. Extrapolate amongst yourselves.
2014년 2월 2일 일요일
The Good Life
What is the function of a city? More precisely put, what should the human function of a city be?
This is a question that I presume will have a vast array of possible answers that are predicated in no small measure upon each persons respective position in life. Moreover, for most people the city is something that has long since transcended the limits of individual conception, leaving a mere sliver for them to inhabit let alone conceive of. This conception - or rather misconception - allows individuals in turn to view the city simply as a sort of rudimentary means towards fulfilling singular needs. For example, Manager Kim has a home in Mok-dong¹ in order to secure educational opportunities for his children. (full stop). Any other advantage(s) secured by happening to reside in a specific space is simply the happy result of pure coincidence. To this mind at least, such binary 'choice making' - because to consider this sort of behavior as something even approaching thinking would merely indicate how much one is not thinking to begin with - is a direct refutation to (of?) life itself. Like, why are you even living, guy?
The simple answer to why we are living, why we who have been afforded the accident of life at this particular juncture in this particular form with the sum total of human actions so far (i.e. history) serving as our latent potentiality + α is simply thus: to have our total life etherialize² into impact itself. What this abstract statement looks like is quite simple: an idea, usually in written form, that aims to better life or put simply, the pursuit of the good life³. It was in ancient Greece that this idea of the city as the container of this so called 'good life' found it's own voice, and as the fates would have it, it was none other than Aristotle who said, "People come to the city to live; they stay in order to live the good life." Of course ancient Greece is respected more for the fact that this ideal was allowed to form, conspicuously within Athens, but no less in Cos or Rhodes for example, as opposed to serving as a direct model because, err well, slavery.
Obviously the good life cannot be static; it must be something inherently dynamic and organic in the sense that it can only exist and can only be brought about through a continuous, free dialogue between citizens and the city itself. This dynamic presupposes a few things: Firstly, both the psychic and physical possibility of withdrawal and return and Secondly, a truly autonomous city. From the collapse of the medieval guild societies the ancient universitas⁴ for long was the means for withdrawing and returning to society. The layout of Oxford in super blocks, quite nearly another world within a world, not only allowed for physical freedom from the city at large but existed for the mind to focus on concerns completely other than the normal (for that particular period) day-to-day matters at hand. Today, are not the university and city itself just two cogs in the wheel of global capitalism? This is not to imply that the pursuit of capital ipso facto is inherently negative; this is merely a call to resuscitate the dialogue of what the good life can or should be, and towards that end the collective as well as individual questioning of our basic assumptions that must occur, for questioning is the piety of thought.
¹ 'Dong' or '洞' refers to a single administrative area whose amalgamation with other similarly demarcated areas make up one of the twenty-five larger municipal districts or 'gu(區)' of Seoul.
² Etherialization, according to Arnold Joseph Toynbee (A Study of History), is the counterpart of 'Materialization' wherein a (material) idea is refined closer into its essential aspect (e.g the church was the etherialized form of the ancient city that allowed the culture of a particular city to be transposed across long distances as well as through time, or the mp3 file as the ultimate etherialized form of music itself, etc.).
³ The 'good life' spoken of here is none other than that earthly place where everything that is good co-exists as the Same, in that everything benefits life, or what is known as eutopia which is derived from the Greek εὖ + τόπος (meaning literally the good place); differentiated from the purposefully abstract and ambiguous conception of utopia (οὐ + τόπος literally meaning 'no place') as that ideal which has no earthly counterpart.
⁴ Universitas being the collective name for all guilds, originally.
This is a question that I presume will have a vast array of possible answers that are predicated in no small measure upon each persons respective position in life. Moreover, for most people the city is something that has long since transcended the limits of individual conception, leaving a mere sliver for them to inhabit let alone conceive of. This conception - or rather misconception - allows individuals in turn to view the city simply as a sort of rudimentary means towards fulfilling singular needs. For example, Manager Kim has a home in Mok-dong¹ in order to secure educational opportunities for his children. (full stop). Any other advantage(s) secured by happening to reside in a specific space is simply the happy result of pure coincidence. To this mind at least, such binary 'choice making' - because to consider this sort of behavior as something even approaching thinking would merely indicate how much one is not thinking to begin with - is a direct refutation to (of?) life itself. Like, why are you even living, guy?
The simple answer to why we are living, why we who have been afforded the accident of life at this particular juncture in this particular form with the sum total of human actions so far (i.e. history) serving as our latent potentiality + α is simply thus: to have our total life etherialize² into impact itself. What this abstract statement looks like is quite simple: an idea, usually in written form, that aims to better life or put simply, the pursuit of the good life³. It was in ancient Greece that this idea of the city as the container of this so called 'good life' found it's own voice, and as the fates would have it, it was none other than Aristotle who said, "People come to the city to live; they stay in order to live the good life." Of course ancient Greece is respected more for the fact that this ideal was allowed to form, conspicuously within Athens, but no less in Cos or Rhodes for example, as opposed to serving as a direct model because, err well, slavery.
Obviously the good life cannot be static; it must be something inherently dynamic and organic in the sense that it can only exist and can only be brought about through a continuous, free dialogue between citizens and the city itself. This dynamic presupposes a few things: Firstly, both the psychic and physical possibility of withdrawal and return and Secondly, a truly autonomous city. From the collapse of the medieval guild societies the ancient universitas⁴ for long was the means for withdrawing and returning to society. The layout of Oxford in super blocks, quite nearly another world within a world, not only allowed for physical freedom from the city at large but existed for the mind to focus on concerns completely other than the normal (for that particular period) day-to-day matters at hand. Today, are not the university and city itself just two cogs in the wheel of global capitalism? This is not to imply that the pursuit of capital ipso facto is inherently negative; this is merely a call to resuscitate the dialogue of what the good life can or should be, and towards that end the collective as well as individual questioning of our basic assumptions that must occur, for questioning is the piety of thought.
¹ 'Dong' or '洞' refers to a single administrative area whose amalgamation with other similarly demarcated areas make up one of the twenty-five larger municipal districts or 'gu(區)' of Seoul.
² Etherialization, according to Arnold Joseph Toynbee (A Study of History), is the counterpart of 'Materialization' wherein a (material) idea is refined closer into its essential aspect (e.g the church was the etherialized form of the ancient city that allowed the culture of a particular city to be transposed across long distances as well as through time, or the mp3 file as the ultimate etherialized form of music itself, etc.).
³ The 'good life' spoken of here is none other than that earthly place where everything that is good co-exists as the Same, in that everything benefits life, or what is known as eutopia which is derived from the Greek εὖ + τόπος (meaning literally the good place); differentiated from the purposefully abstract and ambiguous conception of utopia (οὐ + τόπος literally meaning 'no place') as that ideal which has no earthly counterpart.
⁴ Universitas being the collective name for all guilds, originally.
2014년 1월 18일 토요일
Yesterday 2014
Yesterday was Saturday, January 18th 2014.
By all accounts a seemingly ordinary day - an ordinary day, mind you, that was free of the acrid effluvium that has tended to drift yonder from the "factories of death" that mainland China kindly incubates at the behest of the Devil him/herself (itself?); which is to say it was a good day. I woke up twice. The first time at about 6:20. Two things happened : First, I blindly stumbled over to my kitchen island to find my 'scrip of pills to combat my aching belly (the result of minor food poisoning from a Wednesday luncheon with the CEO smh) and Secondly, just as I was about to lay back down the vibration from my year 2019 LG smart phone drew my attention to one of those weekend ruining text messages - the "you have to come into work on your Sunday for no apparent reason other than the fact that your boss has to come into work" kind of message. Shaking my head again I collapsed under my covers.
In an anxiety induced early-morning dreamscape, I literally demo'd the future most tits version of all video games. It went like this: I awoke in a realm that was identical to my childhood neighborhood save for the fact that instead of being an oval it was in the form of a square, perhaps because the scale was about the size of a single floor in an average, generic corporate office building. This magnified scale essentially meant that each house was a little bigger than a normal bedroom and instead of a grassy front yard there was for some reason (cover perhaps?) the equivalent of a counter-top. Also, some apparently seedy elements appeared to have taken over the upper half of the neighborhood while leaving my lower side intact (there was a visceral feeling of sunshine and happiness on the lower side while the upper side was wrapped in fear and a dark, foreboding cloud).
Of course I decided to take a stroll around my neighborhood and upon entering the limits of the upper side I saw I was about to be summarily jumped so I proceeded to sprint all the way back to my house while being pelted with threats like "we're gonna kill ya" and "our connections run deep" and so on ad nauseam. I actually felt scared when I arrived at my home because I knew someone was following me, but all of a sudden I had this revelation that I alone would have to take on the upper crust scum and fight for my life - so with a kitchen knife in my left hand and a pointed pair of scissors in the right, I squeezed both hands tight. When some goon entered I started off with some verbal sparring leaving him dazed, but still cognizant enough to let me know that if I were to put up any more of a fight I would face swift and severe retribution.
After said Nobel Prize winning speech concluded I proceeded to stab him in the face with the kitchen knife, and then the chest with the scissors partly opened. This later action sent him to the floor whereupon I dislodged the scissors with a *THWACK* only to slam them in his throat and after a little *SNIP SNIP* his trachea was in two. Knowing then that I would have to preempt any other visitor that made their way to me, I ducked under my front yard, err desk, and somehow without even thinking positioned the dream-cam(?) across from me where I could see what was coming my way from either side of my position. I saw one woman menacingly advancing towards my position from the left carrying a knife in one hand. Two things were certain: First, her name was Natasha and Two, I would jump up at the right time and simultaneously restrain the arm in which she held her knife and stab her in the face. It was then that I awoke for the second time.
Needless to say I took the rest of the remaining time in the world by the balls. I watched Heat (1995) for the first time, ran two and a half kilometers in the park across from my house - located on the side of a mother fucking mountain - and before I met my girl to go grab some Cuttlefish Mari (rice, soaked in octopus ink, spread across a square leaf of seaweed laver with 1~2 long, chewy slices of cuttlefish placed in the middle before all being wrapped up into a long roll) I casually read a bit of 孫子's 兵法.
That was my yesterday, how was yours?
By all accounts a seemingly ordinary day - an ordinary day, mind you, that was free of the acrid effluvium that has tended to drift yonder from the "factories of death" that mainland China kindly incubates at the behest of the Devil him/herself (itself?); which is to say it was a good day. I woke up twice. The first time at about 6:20. Two things happened : First, I blindly stumbled over to my kitchen island to find my 'scrip of pills to combat my aching belly (the result of minor food poisoning from a Wednesday luncheon with the CEO smh) and Secondly, just as I was about to lay back down the vibration from my year 2019 LG smart phone drew my attention to one of those weekend ruining text messages - the "you have to come into work on your Sunday for no apparent reason other than the fact that your boss has to come into work" kind of message. Shaking my head again I collapsed under my covers.
In an anxiety induced early-morning dreamscape, I literally demo'd the future most tits version of all video games. It went like this: I awoke in a realm that was identical to my childhood neighborhood save for the fact that instead of being an oval it was in the form of a square, perhaps because the scale was about the size of a single floor in an average, generic corporate office building. This magnified scale essentially meant that each house was a little bigger than a normal bedroom and instead of a grassy front yard there was for some reason (cover perhaps?) the equivalent of a counter-top. Also, some apparently seedy elements appeared to have taken over the upper half of the neighborhood while leaving my lower side intact (there was a visceral feeling of sunshine and happiness on the lower side while the upper side was wrapped in fear and a dark, foreboding cloud).
Of course I decided to take a stroll around my neighborhood and upon entering the limits of the upper side I saw I was about to be summarily jumped so I proceeded to sprint all the way back to my house while being pelted with threats like "we're gonna kill ya" and "our connections run deep" and so on ad nauseam. I actually felt scared when I arrived at my home because I knew someone was following me, but all of a sudden I had this revelation that I alone would have to take on the upper crust scum and fight for my life - so with a kitchen knife in my left hand and a pointed pair of scissors in the right, I squeezed both hands tight. When some goon entered I started off with some verbal sparring leaving him dazed, but still cognizant enough to let me know that if I were to put up any more of a fight I would face swift and severe retribution.
After said Nobel Prize winning speech concluded I proceeded to stab him in the face with the kitchen knife, and then the chest with the scissors partly opened. This later action sent him to the floor whereupon I dislodged the scissors with a *THWACK* only to slam them in his throat and after a little *SNIP SNIP* his trachea was in two. Knowing then that I would have to preempt any other visitor that made their way to me, I ducked under my front yard, err desk, and somehow without even thinking positioned the dream-cam(?) across from me where I could see what was coming my way from either side of my position. I saw one woman menacingly advancing towards my position from the left carrying a knife in one hand. Two things were certain: First, her name was Natasha and Two, I would jump up at the right time and simultaneously restrain the arm in which she held her knife and stab her in the face. It was then that I awoke for the second time.
Needless to say I took the rest of the remaining time in the world by the balls. I watched Heat (1995) for the first time, ran two and a half kilometers in the park across from my house - located on the side of a mother fucking mountain - and before I met my girl to go grab some Cuttlefish Mari (rice, soaked in octopus ink, spread across a square leaf of seaweed laver with 1~2 long, chewy slices of cuttlefish placed in the middle before all being wrapped up into a long roll) I casually read a bit of 孫子's 兵法.
That was my yesterday, how was yours?
2014년 1월 8일 수요일
Phillyish child-ish: Prequel 1.0
So let me take you back before the accident. But not before the drugs and excess. Or is it excess of drugs? Anyways, I was introduced to Thomas auspiciously one early autumn afternoon in the city. I had just disembarked from the R5 at University Station and was about to make my usual leisurely trek to Penn's main library to meet my dealer Jamal, when a familiar voice beckoned from behind.
"Frederick, brother? Is that you man?"
This guy. Turned out to be Patrick Rothman. I'm pretty sure everyone knows this type of kid : adopted, Jewish family, went through a "Black" phase, graduated from said "Black" phase into some kind of hybrid frat/lacrossey phase, only friends that he has steal from him when they get invited to his house, drug addict social misfit. Long story short, turned out good ol' Patty had come across some pretty strong K (a.k.a. Ketamine a.k.a. Horse Tranquilizer) earlier in the day and was just then falling into the velvet hazy K-cave of no return. Luckily, or unluckily for him, he was being supported by some helpful passerby.
"You know this guy? Then give me a hand and help me set him over there on that rank bench."
With a good 'thwack' Patty's head cracked atop the wooden bench. Our mutual burden absolved, I turned to head towards Franklin Field when I noticed my new friend was heading in the same direction. Having no agoraphobic tendencies I decided to broach the sphere of casual conversation.
Turns out he was going to meet the same Jamal to buy the same weed. Then, in classic Thomas-fashion, this sly-ass grin began unfolding across his face and he proceeded to reach into his impeccably tailored Italian slacks grabbing a fat wad of cash along with a veritable Halloween bag full of every pharmaco pill imaginable that he had snatched out of Patty's pocket moments earlier. We both took a knee - right there in the middle of the platform - and raised our pointed index fingers to the sky.
Patrick, it turned out, had been drugged by angels sent down from upon high so that Thomas and myself would not only meet, but have our souls welded together in what turned out to be an epic, narcotic fueled autumn afternoon of absolute debauchery replete with hookers, at least one potential case of grand theft auto, numerous misdemeanors, one dead hooker and the odd poetry reading (Blackthought if you must know). Needless to say it was from that day on, Thomas and I embarked upon our inseparable friendship. We were both 11 years old. And Thomas is a doll.
Previous Story :
http://kayageetheworld.blogspot.kr/2011/02/phillyish-child-ish.html?m=1
"Frederick, brother? Is that you man?"
This guy. Turned out to be Patrick Rothman. I'm pretty sure everyone knows this type of kid : adopted, Jewish family, went through a "Black" phase, graduated from said "Black" phase into some kind of hybrid frat/lacrossey phase, only friends that he has steal from him when they get invited to his house, drug addict social misfit. Long story short, turned out good ol' Patty had come across some pretty strong K (a.k.a. Ketamine a.k.a. Horse Tranquilizer) earlier in the day and was just then falling into the velvet hazy K-cave of no return. Luckily, or unluckily for him, he was being supported by some helpful passerby.
"You know this guy? Then give me a hand and help me set him over there on that rank bench."
With a good 'thwack' Patty's head cracked atop the wooden bench. Our mutual burden absolved, I turned to head towards Franklin Field when I noticed my new friend was heading in the same direction. Having no agoraphobic tendencies I decided to broach the sphere of casual conversation.
Turns out he was going to meet the same Jamal to buy the same weed. Then, in classic Thomas-fashion, this sly-ass grin began unfolding across his face and he proceeded to reach into his impeccably tailored Italian slacks grabbing a fat wad of cash along with a veritable Halloween bag full of every pharmaco pill imaginable that he had snatched out of Patty's pocket moments earlier. We both took a knee - right there in the middle of the platform - and raised our pointed index fingers to the sky.
Patrick, it turned out, had been drugged by angels sent down from upon high so that Thomas and myself would not only meet, but have our souls welded together in what turned out to be an epic, narcotic fueled autumn afternoon of absolute debauchery replete with hookers, at least one potential case of grand theft auto, numerous misdemeanors, one dead hooker and the odd poetry reading (Blackthought if you must know). Needless to say it was from that day on, Thomas and I embarked upon our inseparable friendship. We were both 11 years old. And Thomas is a doll.
Previous Story :
http://kayageetheworld.blogspot.kr/2011/02/phillyish-child-ish.html?m=1
2014년 1월 4일 토요일
Air & Pussy
I would like to speak with you for a moment, if you would kindly allow me, about this subject we both hold so dear to our lives; this air we breath.
It is getting richer. Not richer in the sense of those individuals or nations who, in pursuing ever increasing margins by either flouting more costly "advanced" methods or utilizng the cheapest (read : dirtiest) materials, are stacking massive reserves of foreign currency; but rather richer in the sense that stacks of cancer causing caustic particles are proliferating and spreading throughout the atmosphere. While the cross-border movement of capital is viewed as a positive, the later is decidedly less so.
Winter in Seoul has always been harsh. But, this harshness has always been tempered by the beauty of the high, open blue skies and spirit-warming communal engagement found within various market-places. No longer. Now we are on the receiving end of flagellation from not only Mother Nature but from our own hand; well only 30% of "our own" as in "Korea's fault" in terms of the carbon-dioxide emitted from the vastly overpopulated pool of automobiles that seem rather to prefer remaining stationary in the middle of freeways, perhaps due to their own misinterpretation of the meaning of the name of the road they roam that they apparently take to mean "free to stay in the way." Of course, the remaining 70% of the pollution that enjoys lingering in the winter skies of Korea being the bastard offspring of China, conceived somewhere along the course of that nations re-ascent to dominance and thrown away out of sight without even a second thought.
Lovely. Now we are the ones who are left gulping down the putrid, coal-blackened effluvium. And yet, it seems that no one is throwing up their hands at China demanding something be done to rectify this situation. Why is this? Of course there are numerous rational explanations that seek to provide some semblance of an answer - an answer, mind you, that provides no hint of a possible solution - but this is the rambling of an obscure blogger, so I will opt instead for an explanation of a controversial and comical nature. While politicians are often caricatured as being a bunch of Dicks - some more so (and less so) owing to their own, un-coerced disclosures - the current leader of Korea is a Pussy. Literally.
While Dicks may rear their heads in places they are not welcome, it cannot be said that they lack fortitude (unless they do, in which case they lose the title of Dick and fall into the category of Penis (of the flaccid variety)). Pussies on the other hand, well, they are known to just 'take it.' They take it standing up, sitting down, in the shower, and, whether they are conscious of it or not, when they are sleeping. Not to seem unfair or god forbid sexist, I want to make it clear that everyone in Korea at this moment is a Pussy. We are, in a sense, engaging in perpetual gokkun (look it up) with the pollution that China has ejaculated all over us; is still showering on us. Also, the 'pussy metaphor' need not necessarily conjure up merely negative associations; in our lives there are times we too must take it. For example, when we seek to console another in their grief or suffering, by virtue of the process that is sympathizing and empathizing, we very literally not only take the other's upset condition, but we take it upon ourselves. You see, 'taking it' is both a passive and active act, it can imply heroic virtuosity and effeminate feebleness; it is essentially both masculine and feminine. Interesting, huh?
For our case however, we are Pussies of the effeminate, feeble, passive kind. You know we are because everyday we are told how to deal with the micro-dust. We need to wear a mask. Right, just like pussies apply pads to themselves to deal with the monthly flows of menstruation. However, this proscription not only clearly illustrates the sarcastic point being made, it unfogivably misses the seriousness of the problem at hand. Save for newly constructed buildings that intalled energy-saving double paned, gas filled windows and top-end air filtration systems, which is to say no building in Korea, no one is immune to the infiltration of the micro-dust. Since the micro-dust is ever present in our houses, we are constantly sucking it down. On top of that, the dust lingers, if not in the air then on the surface of everything for days after serious bouts of micro-dust phenomena. Wind and other activities will continue to stir up the micro-dust until the natural air purifier that is rain occurs.
So, this is the state of things. Again to reiterate, I too am a Pussy. I lack not only fortitude but the authority to affect any kind of change to the circumstances we all find ourselves within. That being said, bearing in mind the fact that Pussies can take on Dick characteristics, we must not forget that if we all come together and 'take on' one another's burden, which is to say our own burden, we will become engorged in the masculine virtuosity capable of toppling empires. To rephrase John Dickinson's (pun intended) famous quote from 'The Liberty Song' I shall end this post thusly: United we can be Dicks! Divided we are only Pussies!
It is getting richer. Not richer in the sense of those individuals or nations who, in pursuing ever increasing margins by either flouting more costly "advanced" methods or utilizng the cheapest (read : dirtiest) materials, are stacking massive reserves of foreign currency; but rather richer in the sense that stacks of cancer causing caustic particles are proliferating and spreading throughout the atmosphere. While the cross-border movement of capital is viewed as a positive, the later is decidedly less so.
Winter in Seoul has always been harsh. But, this harshness has always been tempered by the beauty of the high, open blue skies and spirit-warming communal engagement found within various market-places. No longer. Now we are on the receiving end of flagellation from not only Mother Nature but from our own hand; well only 30% of "our own" as in "Korea's fault" in terms of the carbon-dioxide emitted from the vastly overpopulated pool of automobiles that seem rather to prefer remaining stationary in the middle of freeways, perhaps due to their own misinterpretation of the meaning of the name of the road they roam that they apparently take to mean "free to stay in the way." Of course, the remaining 70% of the pollution that enjoys lingering in the winter skies of Korea being the bastard offspring of China, conceived somewhere along the course of that nations re-ascent to dominance and thrown away out of sight without even a second thought.
Lovely. Now we are the ones who are left gulping down the putrid, coal-blackened effluvium. And yet, it seems that no one is throwing up their hands at China demanding something be done to rectify this situation. Why is this? Of course there are numerous rational explanations that seek to provide some semblance of an answer - an answer, mind you, that provides no hint of a possible solution - but this is the rambling of an obscure blogger, so I will opt instead for an explanation of a controversial and comical nature. While politicians are often caricatured as being a bunch of Dicks - some more so (and less so) owing to their own, un-coerced disclosures - the current leader of Korea is a Pussy. Literally.
While Dicks may rear their heads in places they are not welcome, it cannot be said that they lack fortitude (unless they do, in which case they lose the title of Dick and fall into the category of Penis (of the flaccid variety)). Pussies on the other hand, well, they are known to just 'take it.' They take it standing up, sitting down, in the shower, and, whether they are conscious of it or not, when they are sleeping. Not to seem unfair or god forbid sexist, I want to make it clear that everyone in Korea at this moment is a Pussy. We are, in a sense, engaging in perpetual gokkun (look it up) with the pollution that China has ejaculated all over us; is still showering on us. Also, the 'pussy metaphor' need not necessarily conjure up merely negative associations; in our lives there are times we too must take it. For example, when we seek to console another in their grief or suffering, by virtue of the process that is sympathizing and empathizing, we very literally not only take the other's upset condition, but we take it upon ourselves. You see, 'taking it' is both a passive and active act, it can imply heroic virtuosity and effeminate feebleness; it is essentially both masculine and feminine. Interesting, huh?
For our case however, we are Pussies of the effeminate, feeble, passive kind. You know we are because everyday we are told how to deal with the micro-dust. We need to wear a mask. Right, just like pussies apply pads to themselves to deal with the monthly flows of menstruation. However, this proscription not only clearly illustrates the sarcastic point being made, it unfogivably misses the seriousness of the problem at hand. Save for newly constructed buildings that intalled energy-saving double paned, gas filled windows and top-end air filtration systems, which is to say no building in Korea, no one is immune to the infiltration of the micro-dust. Since the micro-dust is ever present in our houses, we are constantly sucking it down. On top of that, the dust lingers, if not in the air then on the surface of everything for days after serious bouts of micro-dust phenomena. Wind and other activities will continue to stir up the micro-dust until the natural air purifier that is rain occurs.
So, this is the state of things. Again to reiterate, I too am a Pussy. I lack not only fortitude but the authority to affect any kind of change to the circumstances we all find ourselves within. That being said, bearing in mind the fact that Pussies can take on Dick characteristics, we must not forget that if we all come together and 'take on' one another's burden, which is to say our own burden, we will become engorged in the masculine virtuosity capable of toppling empires. To rephrase John Dickinson's (pun intended) famous quote from 'The Liberty Song' I shall end this post thusly: United we can be Dicks! Divided we are only Pussies!
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