Imagine participating in a political landscape where you run a blood drive so that you can use the blood to douse the offices of the ministers you oppose, as part of your effort to drive them out of office. No, really. And better: The next day, they will collect 1,000 more liters and target the prime minister’s residence, the demonstrators said. You know, I just don’t really know what to say about that except that sometimes the real world really does make the job of the speculative fiction writer a little more demanding.
Tag: weird
One Up, One Down, Part 1
I have resolved not to whine and bitch without mentioning something positive. Sometimes this means telling two stories, but I think today’s example fits both. Man, delivery guys… I know their jobs are not so fun or easy, but sometimes, they just drive me crazy. The guy dropping off my box of Emart groceries called me so many times during class that although my phone was on silent mode, I finally had to pull out the battery. When I called him after my class ended, to confirm that he’d delivered the box where it was supposed to go, he yelled …
나비 and Shower Heads: Should I Just Ask A Korean?
A few questions occurred to me today. I don’t know whether anyone who reads this blog will know the answer, but I’m going to post them anyway.If nobody seems to know, I’ll go ahead and Ask a Korean, and see if that guy can come up with any sensible answer… but first, I’ll post here. The first thing I’m wondering about is the cat name “나비.” (For those of you not living here in Korea, the stereotype name for a cat is 나비. The Korean word for butterfly is the same.) I’m wondering: Is the name actually butterfly, or just …
Marslympics?
Kate Baker called this “Your WTF Video of the Week“, with good reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZl165WDjDA It is definitely the background soundtrack I’ll be listening to when I finally get around to writing that Marslympics story I’ve been thinking about the last few years… the video? Heh. WTF?
Korean Who?
No, Korean Rush. You know, the horrid prog-rock band? Actually, I haven’t sighted a Korean version of the whole band, though, doubtless, somewhere on the peninsula, such a thing exists. But I have sighted a Korean doppelganger of their lead singer, Geddy Lee. (Incidentally, I know someone who saved Geddy Lee’s life, by the way. They were driving along in a van, if I remember right, and they sighted Lee up ahead, crossing the road with his arms full — with boxes, I think. This person I know stopped his friend from driving over Lee for his sins against music.) …
Things You Learn Grading Student Essays
No, really. This is not a litany of typos and mistakes and the like… instead, this post is made of meat… that is, of truly interesting facts I learned grading essays this week: Everyone knows that the world leader in sex-change operations is Thailand. But did you know that the runner-up is Iran? Wikipedia says so, therefore it must be, er… plausible? Now, why is Iran so big on sex change operations? For some reason, John McCain singing, “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” comes to mind. That’d probably be the biggest mass death of transsexuals on earth. And then, sadly, …
It Worked
If you’re a Boing-Boing reader, no point in trying — you know what’s in this video and it won’t work. But if you aren’t, then watch this video once, paying careful attention to how many times the balls are passed between people. Count ’em up. Make sure you get the exact number of passes. Here’s the video. Then click and see what to do next. DON’T read this until you’ve counted up the exact number of passes.
Love Detector Phone Test and Voight-Kampff Job Interviews
So there’s a new service available in Korea through cell phone operator KTF that will supposedly analyze voice patterns to see whether a lover is honest, attentive, passionate, or whatever. The first response most people have is one I share: yeah, right. As in, I doubt we’re quite at the point where such an analysis can reasonably be made from a single cell phone call. But that’s not such an interesting observation. I mean, someday we doubtless will be at that point. We’ll be able to analyze voice prints (and other peripheral sound, like breathing patterns, for example) and compare …
Bananagirl Wins the Prize
Back in the days when I still played with Dabang Band, we used to joke about hiring telephone girls to dance for one of our shows. You know, the girls in vinyl skirts who get hired to dnace when new phone shops or hardware outlets open. (See here or here for examples. There’s girls with a dancing soju bottle here, too.) I never took the idea seriously, but seeing the video below, I now think Dabang should have permanently hired on a troupe of such young ladies, contracting them always to wear blonde wigs and zebra-print hot pants. (And a …
Zohar Studios
Stephen Berkman is a very weird man. But, you know, in a cool way. Wacky camera obscura/photographic oddity. My friend Jack would probably love some of this, though you’d never know it from his pictures. Via Boing Boing.