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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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....
Read more →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...
Read 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? ME: No, no. I mean like this… [Makes a buzzing...
Read more →Mainstream writers don’t trust their readers to make connections. Sf understands that the human mind is an intrinsically metaphorizing machine, and that therefore you do not have to labor the connections to make your point. That’s why Suzy McKee Charnas’s work or Le Guin’s better novels are better and more intelligent and persuasive about...
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