In the metaphysical sense, I am, anyway: Everyone knows, you shouldn’t just a book by its cover… but sometimes I think you can judge a city by its cabbies.
Tag: KOREA
Link Buffet
I’ve got some stuff to do today, but I figured I’d clear out some of the links in my “To Blog” bookmark folder, so here’s some interesting stuff I’ve run across. Some are old links, but I found them all interesting. Niebelungenlied: after reading this review, I want this book. I have a boxed DVD set of the operas sitting here, waiting for me to watch them. I’m thinking this winter, I will do it, but I’d like to read this translation as well. And while, yes, the Nazis misused Wagner, and Wagner was a gross individual, that doesn’t make the …
“Is Internet Censorship Compatible with Democracy?”
It’s quiet in Seoul. Nobody seems to know whether we should be heading for the hills, or going back to work as usual. One thing Miss Jiwaku commented to me is that the quiet itself is scary. After all, when the media has been quiet in the past, it wasn’t always because there was no news. Probably every expat in Korea has heard stories of how news was controlled by the government back in the bad old days, and probably everyone who reads my blog knows that the status of censorship and control of online exchanges in Korea is, well, …
An Indefinable Mood
Those who are watching the world news are likely discomfited by the action North Korea took today, or, rather, as it is now 24 Nov., yesterday afternoon on Korean time. I’m finding it harder right now to get a bead on the mood here than at any point during the last eight years. During my evening class, essentially nothing class-related got done: we got together, talked about the situation, and students got calls from their mothers and friends who were trying to hash out plans for the night. Since a number of my students are from Incheon (the coastal city …
To the Guy Who Presented Before Me at the Conference Yesterday
The thing about your presentation is that, well, it depressed me. It depressed me mainly because nobody seemed to realize it was a salesman’s pitch, peppered with little bits of personal experience. No, I don’t believe you actually made that gorgeous powerpoint. No, I don’t believe you’re a serious academic. No, I didn’t hear one revolutionary idea about teaching in your talk. I heard lots of interesting things, and indeed, the technology you’re trying to sell probably has some use. But it was obvious from the outset that you were out to sell something. As soon as you posed your …