Start Wearing Purple

I know, I know, I’m way behind. Anyway, somewhere in the comment boards at Scott Eric Kaufman’s excellent Acephalous–my favorite, er, can I call it an “academic blog”?–someone teased Kaufman, asking “d’you think you maybe like Gogol Bordello too much?“
Which made me immediately go and look ‘em up, and man am I glad I did. [...]

Hollyday?


Surely I’m not the only person who remembers this guy? Well, Christopher Hollyday now apparently works as a band teacher but still gigs occasionally.
(He was always a bit traditional/beboppy for me–I was more into freer, less tonal jazz–but even so I had to respect his tone and his chops.)

Nominated for a Golden Klog

Several, actually, much to my surprise… considering I haven’t been writing much at all about Korea. (Well, not since, oh, say, October, but still.)
The Golden Klogs are awards for Korea-based (mostly? all?) English-language blogs, being hosted at Korea Sparkle. I’ve been nominated (or co-nominated in one case) in a number of categories. If you [...]

Visa Run: Tokyo?

Okay, so Tokyo can be expensive, I know. But a guy I know from back in undergrad (yes, you Malcolm) suggested it probably wouldn’t be much more expensive to visit than Fukuoka or Osaka, and there is more to do in and around Tokyo. (And it turns out return flight tickets to Tokyo for mid-late [...]

Professored

Contract signed. I’m now on the tenure track, and somehow, subtly, professor describes my job title and not just my job.
I’ve just came back from having coffee with the two other foreign profs who got signed on at the same time I did, and we had a good talk about the whole thing.
It’s a two-year [...]

Random Things

Over the last eighteen months or so, I’ve become pretty good friends with my co-worker Gwen and her husband Mike. Well, they’ve just had their first baby, a little boy! (I’ve yet to visit, for various reasons including a niggling cold I wouldn’t want to pass on — though don’t babies have a strong immune [...]

You Have Nose Star Calipers? AKA Maybe I Should Practice Korean More?

Today’s fun conversation in Korean:
ME: You have a nose star calipers?1.
DOLLAR STORE CLERK2.: Huh? Nose star?
ME: Yeah, you know. Nose star calipers.3.
DSC: You mean a nose hair trimmer?
ME: Uh… maybe. Nose hair?
DSC: Yeah. Like, this? [Makes snipping motion.]
ME: No, no. I mean like this… [Makes a buzzing noise, and spins finger round in a circle [...]

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