Scribblings of the Metropolitician

Crap, Crap, Crap!

Was out and shooting, when some random cart handle in Seoul Station veritably reached into my bag and pulled the camera out by its strap and seemingly threw it onto the ground.

Plasticky crash, thud, tumble, tumble later, my prime lens (Canon 10-22 EFS) had a crushed filter (it took most of the hit) and the lens moves funny. It has to be looked at. But the glass seems to be fine. Still, I think she's in critical condition. At least my new 40D seems to be OK. That'd be all I needed now.

Shit, shit, shit!

It was a $700-and-change lens, but with the yen getting a bit stronger, it's now nearly a grand, I hear.

Bye, bye, baby.

Not a good night. I think I'm going to go eat some Mentos and Diet Coke and roll about on the floor to put myself out of my misery.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArgh!

But It Was Obvious!

Wait. This is a controversy?

Sorry, but I simply assumed that she had been lip-syncing, since it was so damn obvious. I watched this through Korean television, but I assume that everyone else in the world had the same feeds from the closeup cameras. I thought, "That's a cute kid. Too bad she's lip synching. I guess they went for cute over talented."

She over-gesticulated with her mouth and seemed to be concentrating on her super-smile the entire time. I didn't know anyone had been "fooled."

Were we really watching the same feed in Korea as in other countries?

I'm Blogging in Korean...

"I'm blogging in Korean...I'm blogging...in Koreeeeeean!"

Sung to the tune of the Colbert show's "Singing in Korean."

RIP, Bernie Mac

One of the funniest men alive, who died all too early. He'd had a debilitating lung disease, and died from complications from pneumonia, somewhat unexpectedly. RIP to one of the world's truly unique men and warm sense of humor.

He had a way of assuming this curmudgeonly uncle, the one who says what everyone is afraid to say, but they're thinking. In a way, he was the ultimate in ajussi humor. The "character" he assumed was just too funny and stylized to be real, but he seemed as real as the uncle who made everyone laugh so hard every time he came to visit. A true original. RIP, Bernie Mac.

Dark Knight Parodies

Not really a spoiler, since no actual facts about the movie are revealed that can't be gleaned from the trailer, but again, if you're a purist, don't watch.

Hehe. Picked up on the only quibble I really have with the movie, which is more about the sound design than the content. I think the mixers got a bit aggressive with the Batman's voice in parts. I have the distinct feeling, however, that they actually lightened it up a bit since I saw it at the press screening weeks ago and the copy that was in the IMAX last week. Digital copies can be updated and resent fairly easily, and I definitely felt like they pulled the growliness of Batman's voice back a bit.

Still, even in another theater, I had to really strain to make out what was being said in the final seconds of the film's end. Was pretty frustrating. I did manage to make it out the 3RD time, though. Good stuff.

Sound mix guys -- chill out with the mixers there.

Now, this next one...

I like the spirit of this one -- doesn't have the glitz of some high-tech YouTube spoofs you see these days, but all the heart:

"It's simple. Kill the black man."

Awesome.

Gimme My Coffee 몰카

To this post on Korea Beat, I wrote the following comment:

So just film them with non-hidden cameras.

This is inane and stupid. It's a public place. So filming/snapping pics of people in a public place, exposing parts of the body that are *GASP* readily visible to anyone -- that's a crime?

Yeah, getting up in people's grill and continuing to take pictures while violating their personal space, or continuing to photograph after being asked to stop -- that's harrassment. You don't need a camera to harass. Or sneaking cams into saunas, bathrooms, or sticking special equipment up skirts -- that's private space and wrong. And illegal anyway.

But calling taking a picture of someone on the beach in a public space "sexual violence" is a bit much. Sure, it might not be "nice" or you might be accused of being a dick, but it's not the same as groping someone against their will.

This is what makes people, in a land where everyone and their dog has DSLR's and other photo equipment, scared to take pics of other people. And why people continue to largely use the $5,000 cameras and $6,000 lenses to take pictures of their cream sauce spaghetti, cafe au lait swirls, and flowers.

Seriously. This country needs to get some cops who know the law. And as a real photographer who wants to actually get down to Haeundae to take some Martin Parr-esque pictures, I could do without the additional photo paranoia that could land me in jail. Especially when I could be mistaken for the apparent Pakistani paparazzi.

Oh, that's right. He's a Magnum photographer. Which I guess automatically means he's not a pervert. Well, we all know that Koreans like brand names. God forbid -- had Martin Parr been walking down the beach in Haeundae with his 60mm macro lens and ring flash (which is usually used by dentists and in other medical photography), he might have been arrested as one of those foreign pervert photographers, too.

Well, until they found out that he's from Magnum. Because in Korea, the law's all still relative to who you are and whom you know, right?

The operative word in the original Korean article is '몰카' (molka), which is a word I absolutely hate. From the followup comment I made to Korea Beat's post:

As a photographer who has to deal with this word all the time (몰카), I'd say it doesn't really translate as what we think of in English as "hidden camera", as in a fiber-optic cable made for sticking under skirts, or cameras that look like tie clips.

"Molka" means "mol" (secretly, or without asking permission) + "ka" (the Korean abbreviation for camera).

Koreans use this term (and "도촬") to refer to ANY pictures taken without someone's expressed permission. So, as I point out to Koreans all the time, all the vaunted works of photographers from Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans, to Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, and Martin Parr, and including pretty much every great Korean photographer from the 50's to 80's, including the great Kim Ki Chan -- they'd all fall into that category as well.

Yet many of the people mentioned above grace the walls of museums around the world and have added a great deal to the quality and understanding of the world around us through their art.
In Korea, any picture taken of another human being without expressed consent is "molka." Which compresses everything from legitimate candid and street photography into the same category as sticking a fiber-optic cable up a woman's skirt in the bathroom.

So, to be clear, the article isn't talking about special devices, as "hidden camera" in English would imply, but simply taking pictures without expressed consent.

Which itself IS NOT A CRIME, even according to Korean law.

Damn skippy. This continued photo paranoia and lack of a proper understanding of the Korean law irritates me to no end.

Even when I attended the Magnum photo exhibition recently, the people next to me were clicking their teeth and going, "몰카 찍었네."

Aaaaargh!

Great Olympic Pics

Over here at Boston.com.

Some good stuff. Check it out.

Dizzam, China

Source: NYT

I was watching the Olympic opening ceremonies today, August 8, 2008, at 8:08 PM (Chinese time). I was expecting big, but damn. China opened that shit right, while effectively saying not just that China's on top of the world (like when the runners were literally trotting sideways and upside-down all across it in that amazing spacewalk sequence), but more along the lines of what my Chinese friend exclaimed: "Chinese are just EVERYWHERE!" She giggled in glee.

Indeed.

Time to learn Chinese, bitches.

Let's see...umm...ee, ur, san, sur...

Batman the Second Time

[POSSIBLY very, very minor spoilers here if you are a movie puritan.]

Umm. I'm still digesting.

Strangely, I was nearly as tense the second time around, and time passed equally fast as the first time I saw it (review here). I could take more time to enjoy the performances, especially that of Heath Ledger's. That Joker is a sick mofo, but entrancing as hell.

"Do you wanna know how I got these scars?"

Here's a link to a discussion of the little "social experiment" the Joker conducts in the film. There's a lot there to dissect and chew on, and even more to put in the fridge for later. The link is a spoiler, so only click over if you've seen the movie.

And the film is doing VERY well in South Korea, where word-of-mouth means everything. A 9.5 rating by netizens, too. I think Batman (and copies of the first film, Batman Begins) will be undergoing a real renaissance here, now that the public has finally been exposed to the true, darker version of Batman that defines the original from the 40's and the brilliant restart Frank Miller gave him in the 80's.

I will be seeing this film a third time.

That Joker is just so crazy he's hilarious. In that wincing, peek-between-your-fingers sort of way.

"Why so serious?"

Hahahahahahaha.....

Get 'Em, Paris!

Haha. Paris Hilton swings back at McCain.

Paris Hilton is a better speaker than John McCain. And she has a better energy policy! Booyah! ㅋㅋㅋ