Saturday (12 June, 2010) not only marked the date of Korea's first match in the 2010 World Cup but also the transition between the fourth and fifth months of the East Asian lunisolar calendar (태음력 in Korea, 太陰曆 in Chinese characters). While the fifth solar month is packed full of special days covering a variety of occasions the same cannot be said ( Read more... )

The end of October saw a reenactment of King Gojong's enthronement as head of the Korean Empire at Unhyeongung in Jongno-gu, Seoul that was an interesting experience to attend. Admission fees were waived on account of the special event, though the light rain that afternoon seemed to keep many people from attending. It was also a little ( Read more... )

There's a great description of the Sino-Korean expression "부처님 손바닥 안에 있다" / "You are on Buddha's palm" going on at Amanda Takes Off that's well worth checking out. For background I'll tell you that it involves Sun Wukong (孫悟空; known as Monkey King in the West) from the tale 'Journey to the West' (西遊記) -- but to learn the rest you'll have to follow ( Read more... )

Before moving to Korea in 2007 I lived in the Pacific Northwest -- Washington State in particular. While the state may be best-known for its apple and timber industries, the 1960s music scene is also worth noting. The I-5 corrider between Seattle, WA and Portland, OR saw a plethora of bands emerge, with three in particular achieving a large ( Read more... )

I've noticed a few mentions of (Korean) music popping up on blogs recently, with the most noticeable example coming from Roboseyo's two-part discussion of K-pop (here and here for those interested -- go check them out). Now, the majority of the LiveJournal users who read my blog probably know that I run an international music blog at radio_alouette, so it ( Read more... )

After mentioning chainsaws in my last entry - and avoiding any mention of a zombie apocalypse in the process - I thought it would only be fitting to make up for that by posting the following claymation video on the subject:

THEY are coming for your FLESH and BLOOD!Now the last hope of the family rests on a sexy faithful MAID! The most brutal clay ( Read more... )

The internet at my apartment has been very sporadic since last Friday, which is a bit of a disappointment. My apologies to anyone expecting an email or comment. This will be a short update so I can get to some of the email sitting in my inbox.

First off, I mentioned in this entry that the Victoria and Albert Museum was interested in using some ( Read more... )

I spent the better part of ten minutes chasing a centipede in my apartment, trying to get a good photo. Its initial path took it from the area near my sink to the front door before my appearance forced it into hiding; first behind the television before finally settling on the nook between my wardrobe and the wall. Most of that time it stuck to ( Read more... )

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Another video, this one featuring a student, Hye Jung, from Hangyeore (한겨레) Middle and High School in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The school is unique for the fact that its students come from North Korea; they either escaped with their families or were smuggled out individually. Students attend Hangyeore in order to ease their transition into ( Read more... )