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Announcing mid-term and NEW signups for the Multimedia Production classes! The course is 8 weeks, divided between photography in the first half and multimedia in the second. The classes are 3-hour seminars, once per week, mostly conducted in my studio but with a couple spent out in the field.
My studio has an 80-inch projection screen fed by a superfast Mac, as well as a secure wireless Internet connection, and 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS surround sound in order to make group work truly professonal.
Interested? Send me an email from the link at the top of this menu.
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Want to keep the "real" Korea experience with you always? Prints of any documentary/art photo I have taken on this site are 175,000 KRW ($175 USD), signed, numbered, and framed. For the print only, you need only pay 125,000 KRW ($125 USD) for the same without the frame. Please contact me directly via email for orders.
I can't stand when so-called "conservatives" try to get all historical, yet know less history than the average grade schooler. Especially when it's the crux of one's point. Look it up on Wikipedia at least, fer chrissakes., before going on national television and making an idiot of oneself. Or, alternatively, shut the f**k up.
This tool got owned on national television. I'm sure he'll go back to his radio show and whine about how he got railroaded or something -- but in the end, he's just stoopid dumm.
According to ZDNet.de, Intel Germany CEO Hannes Schwaderer confirmed that Apple would be using the Intel Atom processor in a future version of the iPhone. The new model will reportedly be a larger model with a larger display, correlating with circulating rumors about a mini-tablet (720x480) device rumored to be coming from Apple.
720x480? Doesn't that look just about the size of the patent application diagram? Hmmmmmm...
For those who read FeetManSeoul.com, you know that Steve Aoki -- perhaps the world's most famous DJ -- came to Seoul. If you went to the show, you also might know that he rocked the house.
Also, Cut Chemist, formerly DJ for the Jurassic Five and who really tore up the turntables, was in total effect.
Both the Chemist and Aoki definitely kept the crowd entranced.
I also got snapped by the (in)famous, super-duper party photographer, The Cobrasnake. It's an honor to have been shooting with him, and to make the Cobra Snake party page. He definitely has a Zen style to his shooting, and gets some really fun stuff -- check it out!
FMS is getting invited to some cool stuff these days, and I'm having a ball shooting both folks of fame, as well as folks just having fun. It's a salve to get some people actually paying more attention to my pics these days, instead of just continuing to be the ignored street photographer.
And it's a hard job getting the word out there about a new kind of magazine, in a new medium, but we're learning, and building, and having a great time.
Check out the full, ongoing coverage of this and more fun stuff at FeetManSeoul.com.
In our 15th episode, Jennifer and Michael talk with a Korean lesbian who tells us what many people want to ask, but never get the chance. "Are there REALLY gay people in Korea?!"
For those of you who don't know, our Bomb English project is going pretty well, where we provide good conversational English content along with a transcript for free. We keep it frank, honest, and real as can be. No Arirang, EBS English here -- recommend it to your Korean friends for their intermediate/advanced study, and listen in yourselves as native speakers, since we treat the topics as real topics and not just awkward, superficial conversations about things we don't care about.
This is real English, with Korean content. So there's something for everyone.
The "five mistakes" are kind of telling, in that these are not the kind of mistakes that I would have wanted a potential president to make. And when I say "deserve," I mean it -- look at the frickin' delegate count lead Obama has, which has remained constant for far longer than Hillary should have been in the race. Time Magazine's list:
Obama's come a long way, too, and more than earned the right to shake of the "all talk" jabs by holding his own against anything that Clinton threw at him, by taking the high ground, by actually not engaging in the dirty pool that he claims to not want to play. His money came from average people and not old money, he planned ahead, he had a pulse on the sentiments of the people.
How is he not completely and obviously better qualified than Hillary to be nominated? What remaining reservations are there? Ah, he's not a realist, we need a connected political animal to get things done? She has "more experience?" Pshaw. Is that all that's left?
In a way, it doesn't matter. Obama's done the do-diligence. He's run the political gauntlet, even as people (including myself) were half covering their faces and hoping that he wouldn't fall flat on his face, and as he not only didn't, but continued to display his appropriateness for the job, and many on the side of the fence who might actually vote for him have continued to be emboldened enough to be more vocal about their support for him.
Many African-Americans were initially quite skeptical about his prospects at the beginning -- and did not offer the kind of blind support that many seem to assume was given only because he was black (umm, Jesse Jackson was also black, but let's not nitpick...) Now, Obama's completed the tough task of convincing these final cynics -- us.
What people fail to realize in this myopic, horse-race way of dealing with political races in the US, is that Obama has already changed a lot of the rules of the game, has raised the level of political discourse, has already raised the bar again for what can be hoped for in politics. Is the job done? No.
But the man ain't even President yet. And prognosticating naysaying aside (since he's made it through a whole heaping helping of that and come out rosy), what if...just what if...his candidacy actually reflects what he does as president?
Imagine that!
My vote's right where it's been since December, 2007.
FMS is starting a series on Korea's most famous and influential fashion designers in the field of Korean fashion! This first episode kicks off with Hwang Jae Bock, a leading fashion designer and head of the Seoul Fashion Designers' Association. Check it out!
For those who prefer the YouTube version (compatible with more browsers):
What I really liked about the interview was the fact that I was able to stick in one of my little working theories about Korean fashion -- as the balance between a pressure to break out from the crowd as powered by a new boldness largely enabled by the Internet in constant tension with a a very Korean "social monitoring" that keeps people generally within the socially-acceptable range of the crowd -- and she saw it exactly the same way. Having one's observation be confirmed by someone much more knowledgeable is a very reassuring feeling and gives a certain boost in confidence.
At the end, I liked the fact she bought it in terms of my "Korean street fashion is ready-to-wear" and "Japanese street fashion is couture" metaphor. And I think I got a lot of credit for that one in her eyes. I thought it was a good interview to lead off the series with. And you might have noticed ExpatJane's voice in there, as she had arranged all the interviews for the show. Major hat tip to her!
Get more into Korean fashion by going over to FeetManSeoul.com and taking a look around!
Good stuff. I guess his profile got big enough with Speed Racer that they thought of a way to bring him on without a translator. That line when Rain entered was a sample from the movie, I think. Clever. [HT to Ggamssi!]
I saw Iron Man. It rocked. Explanation? Downey, Jr., good script, written with a set of balls. And I mean that in the non-PC sense of the word. Key to rockingness? A script and cast good enough to make me want to watch the movie and not roll my eyes while waiting for the next action sequence. Wired is spooging all over itself about it. Well, it's good enough to, so it's cool.
But what my Korean friends teased me for -- a silly movie about a "철인" (an "iron man") -- will only be #2 best movie this summer, since The Dark Knight is going to absolutely fucking own everything this summer. Reasoning? Partially the same as the last one: Bale as the Bat, Caine as Alfred, Freeman as Fox, finally taking Batman seriously and not some Happy Meal joke. And for the present one? Ledger as the Joker, introduction of Two Face, the Batman gets darker. Oh, and the new trailer!
Looks gooood.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be #3 best blockbuster of the summer. Why? Jones is back, the movie admits he's old, they tried not to use much CGI for the stunts, and there's something about aliens. Why #3? Because Spielberg's become a big pussy and he's gonna cheese it up somehow. But it won't suck -- we'll just roll our eyes a few times. As for the place in the Indy pantheon, my hunch is that it'll go Raiders, Skull, Grail, and Temple. Listen -- the quest for the Holy Grail wasn't actually THAT good -- it doesn't stand up to many close watchings.
And many parts of that scary-ass Temple were pretty good, and I liked Short Round. That kid was hilarious. I almost placed Grail last, but I realized that that would have totally shot my credibility with certain people. Even though the opening sequence rocked, the banquet scene is legendary, the removal of a still-beating heart by a Thugee priest and lowering the still-living victim into a lava pit scared the pee-pee outta me and scarred me permanently all were friggin' AWESOME, and it was the only one in which Indy actually somewhat confronts the fact that he is actually not so different from his former nemesis Belloch, in terms of being an overblown grave robber, some people still think it was "too dark." I think it was awesome, with the only detriment being the annoying Girl Friday. But she was supposed to be annoying, so was it so bad? And did I mention the banquet scene? Oh, yeah. I did. "Chilled monkey brains!" Oh, yeah.
After that? Well, who cares? I'll still go see stuff, but it won't be a party. And as I said, we're going to be having some events, baby. Movie nights -- Dark Knight and Indy. More on that later.
But I've called 'em. Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Indy, in that order.
Speed Racer? I think it's gonna kinda suck as a film, from my viewing of the trailer -- and I'm pretty good with the trailers, baby. But I think John Goodman and Christina Ricci will be good, and the picture will be a visual treat -- that trailer looked fuckin' sweet in HD! -- but I think the movie is gonna be limp overall. Sorta like Lost in Space, which looked great, but made me yawn. Hopefully I'll be wrong -- and if the racing sequences are as good as they say, I think it'll be well worth seeing, but I still don't think it'll be top 3. And Rain? Who cares? His English is still awkward and will make everyone wince, from what I saw. I think he's just a nod to lock in Korea as the 3rd-largest movie market in the world, right behind Japan, which will be sporting the very talented and gritty Hirouki Sanada as its entry in the film. He was great in Sunshine, though -- and he certainly doesn't make you wince.
The new Hulk flick with Edward Norton? Well, restarting franchises has been a good idea, what with Superman and Batman getting renewed lives. But the first/last Hulk was like, not even 10 years ago, dude. Right? Norton's cool, what with his complexity and raw talent, yadda yadda. But the Hulk will pass without much notice.
These are my calls. Let's see how they pan out, and let's just go see 'em!
Before you say this site is "anti-Korean" or bashing Korea – read this: "Why Be Critical?" Chances are, if you're simply angry because I am a social critic in Korea but not actually Korean, see if your argument isn't just a kneejerk response that follows these patterns.
As for my photo book (now in limbo due to editorial differences with the publisher), you can see the representative chapters from the "Seoul Essays" posts below. Note that Chapter 3 remains undone and in limbo on my computer:
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