Scribblings of the Metropolitician

Violent Ice Cream

Well, not really, but it's a funny thought. Check out the antics of two Turkish guys yukking it up with the passersby and showing some serious slinging skills with this special kind of extra-sticky Korean rice cake ice cream.

Do you scream for ice cream?

"UCC Cafe"

I'm inaugurating a new kind of content here call "SeoulGlow QuickCuts." To me, these are like snapshots, except everything's moving. I think of them as slices of life, Seoul, what have you – stuff that's not quite SeoulGlow episode material, but needs to be seen/heard in motion. No real editing, intros, in-depth interviews, but just pleasant little slices of life.

I came across this place called a "UCC Club" called "Drunken Memory" in Hyehwa, where culture and the Internet come together (in the club, not Hyehwa, although maybe there's some of that going on, too). These two young folks are "UCC Stars," the latter of whom is apparently vocal group Big Mama's vocal trainer.

More on them later – I don't have links or anything, but I sure will in the future. I think both the girl is pretty good, along with the trainer guy, who seems less of a performer himself than someone who understands the theory and can technically deliver the notes, especially in this song that seems designed for a female vocalist. Remember Dream Girls? That's it.

So – a "UCC club," where you can get your drink, dance, and digital debut on, all at the same time. Seems like an interesting adaptation of "UCC" to the particulars of Korean way of socializing and showing off; perhaps offering a stage, recording equipment, and a venue where socialized drinking and acts of creating stronger group bonds – which seems to me pretty Korean style – will be a popular way to get down on video.

And perhaps you might even be "discovered." Who knows?

And another "perhaps" – as Acts of UCC™ become more bold, perhaps we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of over-sensitivity about cameras and a perceived (and overblown) sense of permanent peril to one's reputation related to the "right to one's image."

Is the age of Dog Poop Girl paranoia Hongdae Honey Horror finally coming to an end?