While it doesn’t surprise me to see a dancing stormtrooper video from Japan: … I must say I was surprised to see such a thing from Korea: and indeed there’s a whole channel of dancing Stormtrooper vids from Seoul. Anyone know who these people are?
Month: September 2010
“Ya!”
(This post was written during my flight home, on 6 Sept. 2010.) Before I came to live in Asia, I’d hear people explain how a phrase like “so desu ne” could mean all kinds of things from “I see,” or “really?” all the way to, “I’m glad you see it my way, and acknowledge the responsibility that falls upon you in this position given your involvement with my enemies, and the inevitability of this confrontation between us.” I’m alluding, of course, to the ambiguity of language which is universal: “Uh huh” can denote all kinds of things in English, and …
Crazy Korean Phrase Book
Those who remember my post English Made Difficult, about a crazy series of English textbooks (widely) used in Korea during the 1970s will enjoy the look at this ridiculously useless travel phrasebook for visitors to Korea that looks almost as if it is from the same publisher and author. Check it out. (And a tip of the hat to Josh Brandt, who posted about this on a mailing list.)
The Taste of Melbourne: Beers Part 1 (Around Town)
Well, actually, I could rant about the horror of the meatpie I had at the Aussie Rules football game we went to, but instead I’m going to talk about beer. I had a lot of different beers in Melbourne this week, and many of them are worth talking about: Carlton Draft: This was plain old terrible stadium lager. Pass it, or pass out. I had one cup and shuddered at the idea of drinking more, but it was the stuff that everyone at the football game was having. Apple Cider — Bulmer’s? Mangan?: I’m not sure which brands I tried, …
Monash Utopias 4 Conference/WorldCon 2010 (AussieCon 4) Review
Most of what was great about this week in Australia was personal stuff — seeing (however briefly) old friends, spending time, meeting new cool people, and of course having a brief bit of time outside of Korea, because it was about the time when I was needing a break. Also, Melbourne has some really good beer, and I highly recommend the Belgian Beer Cafe Eureka, which is down near Dockside. It was amazing. (More about that latter place in posts yet to come.) Most of what was good about the conference and convention had to do with regular conference/con stuff: …