Scribblings of the Metropolitician

What a compliment!

The "Cutest Girl in Space."

I'm sure she'll like that one.

Looking for Interns

SeoulGlow is looking for interns to assist with video production, editing, transcription, translation, and subtitling for the video podcast. Ideal candidates would be able to work for up to 10 hours a week or so, and be students in the Seogang, Ewha, Yonsei, or Hongdae areas, since my home studio is quite close by.

You would be able to learn the basics of video production and post-production, as well as working with Macintosh computers, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro. Also, for sound production, GarageBand, Audacity, and SoundTrack are the programs that we would be using, in addition to all kinds of other multimedia production.

Also, you would be somewhat bilingual, and potential Korean applicants should note that since I and many of the people I work with are American, English skills will be important. I do speak Korean, but many of the people and talent we will be working with won't. So the chance to get to free talk in English should be an added draw here.

Finally, the intern will be paid a stipend of 3,500 won an hour – not much, but then again, this is one of those internships that could be actually worth doing for free, considering the concrete production, video editing, and other skills being taught in an English environment. So the small stipend should be considered a gesture of appreciation for your time, rather than a wage.

If you know anyone interested, please tell them to come to this blog, click my contact link in the top right-hand corner, and get in touch with me right away, with a resume in MS Word format.

– One position will be a combined intern/assistant, and should be reliable, smart, and somewhat bilingual. This person will learn and also help train a second intern.

– The other position will be primarily an intern only.

Dear readers, if you are connected to some smart, savvy students, tell them not to dawdle. I need two interns fast!

SeoulGlow #4.2 – Dinner With Soyeon (Part 2 of 3)

It's past 3 AM and I've died another day in front of my computer. But the second episode is done, and something I think you'll find even better than the first, if you've seen that one already.

Man – I think that girl is cut out to go to space, which is why I think I'd be rooting for her even if she weren't already my friend. Soyeon is both mentally and physically fit for it, she has a vision of where she wants Korean space technology to be, and has been able to keep her feet on the ground even as her mind dreams of space.

SeoulGlow #4 - Dinner With Soyeon (1 of 3)

I've technically not broken SeoulGlow's Tuesday deadline for uploading, as the iTunes podcast version of the podcast went up some minutes ago, well before midnight. And the video's on YouTube now, but these days, the old 'Tube has been taking hours to actually process and stream the video, even after it has gone live.

I apologize for the delay, but this was one tough podcast to put together, because it's a good story, a good interview, and lots of subtitling. Carpal tunnel syndrome is in the stars for me.

This podcast has actually been in the works for the longest of any of them, from all the way back in the summer, when my friend Soyeon was still getting through the major weeding-out rounds of the Korean Astronaut program. I had a feeling she was a strong contender, so I just decided to start filming her, since she was already a winner in my book.

So I did two interviews before the big Christmas Day announcement that she had made it, and one a few weeks ago, as she prepares to leave the country for Russia, where she will train for a year before just maybe being the first Korean to go into space, and one of only a fraction of human beings on the planet who ever has.

I tried to have fun with the editing, fun with the space theme, and slog through the subtitling. I personally liked the direct, first-person style interview, and the goal was to be casual, let Soyeon's charm and personality shine through, and to make the viewer feel like they are having the conversation with her. I hope I was able to accomplish those things.

In other news, I've decided that I need a student intern. More on that later, but if you know any smart and motivated students going to Yeondae, Idae, Hongdae, or Seogang (all in my area, and the latter in walking distance of my house), I've got a desire to teach a motivated person video editing on a fast Mac, subtitling, and many other aspects of video production. Being pretty good at English is a must, not so much for communication with me, but because of subtitling. I still plan on doing the English=>Korean translations myself, but need a lot of other help.

We've got other shows coming down the pipe, so the greater our production capacity, the better. I'll be putting up a blurb in an upcoming episode.

And be sure to watch the next two parts to this video – I plan to get these out maybe Thursday or Friday nights, but don't be surprised if these are about 1/2 a day late. It's a one-man production show here.

Subscribe through iTunes directly, or download an MP4 directly.

Enjoy the series, and don't forget to let your Seoooooooul glow!

"onBeing"

This is one of the most creative, interesting, and fresh applications of video and Internet technologies into a single, seamless application I've ever seen.

Washington Post, you still got it.

I just had a tingle when I saw this – not just because it's one of the coolest implementations of video since YouTube, but it so seems like part of the next step of something.

Try resizing one of the boxes in HD as it plays. Jumpin' Jehosaphat, that's cool.

Trust me – I'm percolating on a way to apply something like this into an episode of series of SeoulGlow. It's so along the lines of what I was trying to do in the first episode of the series.

Man, this was mindblowing when I watched it.

SeoulGlow #3 - College Entrance Exam

I went last November to wait in the cold outside a school where kids were taking the big test, and asked them a few questions about it. I got a variety of interesting responses.

작년 11월달에 수능시험날의 아침에 어떤 학교에 가서 애들한테 수능과 한국의 교육제도에 대해서 막 물어봤어요. 그들의 여러가지 대답이 재밌었어요.

Click to view or download a higher resolution file to save, and click here to subscribe to the podcast directly through iTunes!

더 높은 화질 버전을 원하시면 직접 파일을 다운 받으시려면 클릭하시고, 만약에 iTunes통해 우리 포드캐스트에 등록하고 싶다면 클릭하시죠.

SeoulGlow #2 - Street Stand (Revver)

This is a test of posting higher-quality videos with Revver, Here's our most recent episode with their service.

Now, here it is on YouTube.

Any questions?

SeoulGlow #2 – Street Stand

Thee second episode of SeoulGlow is up!

I visit a Seoul street stand with VJ and professional food critic Susan Choung, also a friend of this blog.

Did you enjoy the video? We'd really like to get your feedback. Head over to SeoulGlow.com for comments and questions. Please click here to subscribe directly in iTunes to a much clearer and cleaner version of the podcast episodes.

Susan is a TV chef for the children's cooking program, I Can Cook, on SkyLife television.

Her past culinary experience includes being an editor at Food & Wine magazine in New York City; and working with the legendary Alice Waters at Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California where she also completed a pastry internship.

She is currently a DJ for Life Magazine on Arirang Radio. In between her DJ gig, freelance writing and voice acting for radio and TV, Susan searches for delicious food adventures...partly out of curiosity...but mostly because she is greedy for good eats.

Visit her blog at suddenlysusaninkorea.blogspot.com.

And never forget to "let your Seoooooooooul glow!"

Korea's First Video Podcast!

It's been a long time in the making, the bane of my existence, but yet its raison. I purposely turned down full-time work from the summer on and subsisted on the most ramen I've eaten since college. yet my waistline has expanded from countless hours sitting in front of the computer. I'm nearly 35 and veritably circled the drain of financial insolvency to set thing up to push this baby out, as well as line up other aspects of the project.

And the time has come to let my "Seoooooul glow!!!!!"

You'll see what I mean. Do kindly watch the video below and bookmark SeoulGlow.com, and leave comments about the video itself over there.

The goal here is to get a different kind of voice out there, to set a better example through action and not mere words, and to make a difference if we can.

New episode every Tuesday. And we want your feedback, show ideas, and actual video submissions on the site.

Do tell all your friends about it, blog it, put the YouTube video on your site, and link back to SeoulGlow.com.

Let's build a base to do cool things, people. This single episode and even video podcast is but a tip of the iceberg.

And don't forget to "let your Seooooooooooooul glow!"