the thick and thin

the tragicomic garage

2009-01-26T08:15:00.002+09:00

my second CD

2008-12-16T14:15:00.004+09:00

a kite and ancient tombs

2008-11-20T20:51:00.003+09:00

2008-10-19T18:18:00.000+09:00

home again home again jiggity jig

2008-08-28T09:54:00.005+09:00

This isn't really a belly-dance blog, but...

2008-07-05T04:01:00.003+09:00

A friend of mine has expressed an interest in catching a few performances if she can, so I thought I'd post these photos. I lifted them from another friend's Facebook page but they are performance stills and I'm also posting a program for the performance which happened in April. I hope I can be at their next show!

Belly-dancing Takes Off in Korea

2008-05-27T20:42:00.002+09:00

Shrimp Spaghetti

2008-05-10T21:11:00.002+09:00

'nuff said

2008-05-04T12:39:00.003+09:00

Naysayers be Danged

2008-03-23T11:31:00.003+09:00

How My New Computer Sees Me

2008-03-10T14:02:00.003+09:00

Another Canadian Film in South Korea, Finally

2008-03-03T11:32:00.001+09:00

juno poster by the wedding hall, originally uploaded by kodeureum.

A Snowy Day in Seoul

2008-02-27T08:06:00.002+09:00

Dining with my students

2007-12-12T13:19:00.000+09:00

Ten years haven't changed me that much.

2007-10-19T18:56:00.000+09:00

before sunrise

2007-09-30T21:54:00.000+09:00

charming young ladies

2007-09-13T09:19:00.001+09:00

The brass and woodwind orchestra of the University of Ulsan Music Department had a performance Tuesday evening. You can see the poster for it in my previous post. I found out about it from a young lady I met walking back from the supermarket Sunday morning. I actually saw her inside the supermarket and waited at the door to meet her as I had been trying to discover the quickest route back to campus through the maze of side streets and I figured that if she was a student she would probably know all the shortcuts. She did and as we chatted I discovered that she played the trumpet and asked her about her next performance.

I had no idea how to get to the Hyundai Arts Centre but Anne in the Language Education Centre office found out about a bus going there from campus at 6:00 pm. My class finished ten minutes earlier and I just caught the bus in time. It was full of students who I thought to be the musicians but as it turned out they were mostly vocal music students with a few pianists here and there. We chatted on the half-hour bus ride and several of the ladies invited me to have dinner with them at McDonald's before the concert. We sat together for the performance which included orchestral suites from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Pirates of the Caribbean. My favourite piece was something called Alladale by Phillip Sparke, part of his Highlands suite.

On the bus back to campus Eunjong and Jinyong, the two ladies on the right in the picture, invited me to join them for fried chicken and beer at a late-night restaurant near the dormitories and my apartment. They paid so I promised to treat them to a delicious meal the next time we meet. Charming ladies and fine sopranos as well, I imagine. Their concert will be in November.

Why do I post photos?

2007-09-11T23:57:00.000+09:00

1. I have a lot of them.

2. I think some of them are quite good.

3. I wonder what other people think of them.

4. I'm too lazy to type much these days.

5. There's nothing I could write that could describe them accurately.

6. They're colourful.

7. I have to do something with them.

8. They format well.

9. They're eye-catching, sometimes.

10. It's my blog and I can do as I please!

poise

2007-09-05T08:34:00.001+09:00

I was at my daughter's ballet teacher's wedding last Sunday. I didn't plan to be in any of the group photos as I was only wearing a short-sleeved Indian print shirt and jeans but her niece came over to my pew and asked me to stand with the friends of the bride and groom. I was at the back behind some guys in suits and managed to sneak this photo. Wonmi, the bride, was calm and smiling the whole time. It must have seemed simple after all the ballets she had performed. All she had to do was walk, talk and stand still a lot.

i like bikes

2007-09-01T10:50:00.001+09:00

morning sunlight

2007-08-26T09:52:00.000+09:00

ugly yet elegant

2007-08-25T16:04:00.001+09:00

lazy saturday

2007-08-05T09:02:00.000+09:00

Our train arrived at 5:37 am. Nene and I strolled past the stragglers from the night before to the beach. We selected a sandy spot at the south end to nap.

The beach umbrellas started going up around 8:00. We kept snoozing for a few hours then went for a swim when the sun came out. Grapefruit for breakfast, fried chicken and beer for lunch.

After seven hours of sunny relaxation we strolled to the north end for a salad and a bottle of iced red wine.

wading birds

2007-07-29T08:25:00.001+09:00

a study in contrasts

2007-07-27T08:25:00.000+09:00

This is Nancy. She is nineteen and a freshman at university majoring in statistics.
I am 186cm tall. She weighs 42kg. Any suggestions for a circus act?

Morning Glory

2007-07-22T14:33:00.000+09:00

Looking North

2007-07-16T16:45:00.001+09:00

My second cousin Quintin visited Korea for two days.
We had dinner in Insa-dong Saturday night:
kimchi jigae, doenjang jigae, jugomi bokkeum and complimentary japchae.

Sunday morning we toured the DMZ. We ended the day by climbing Namsan and ascending to the observation deck of Seoul Tower.

I think the view from Seoul tower is much better than the sealed steel door at the end of the 3rd infiltration tunnel, but that's just my own humble opinion.

Guess what!

2007-07-08T09:42:00.001+09:00

Did you check Saturday's date?

2007-07-08T09:07:00.000+09:00

A more auspicious calendar concurrence couldn't be imagined. I had a date with a lovely young lady and we watched Ocean's 13. I think perhaps my luck is about to change...maybe I should be kicking a tree when I say that.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2007-06-30T13:02:00.000+09:00

I Saw My Daughter Yesterday

2007-06-22T07:38:00.001+09:00

for the Big Pondering Giant

2007-06-03T22:37:00.000+09:00

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW???
Something, umm, or other.

WHAT DO YOU MISS???
She's not a what, she's a who.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION???
Property is theft but I dig my new powder green stratocaster copy.
Let's just say it has good karma.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL???
Freshly harvested mugwort that's been drying in the sun.

DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC???
Only in confined spaces.

DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK???
Nope.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOGNE / PERFUME???
Old Spice. It's heriditary.

COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS???
What is an energy drink, exactly?

IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE???
Either cheshire cheese toasted on whole grain bread or some hommous.

WHO IS THE LAST PERSON WHO MADE YOU MAD???
Hmm. My ex-wife's third floor neighbour. He's a nouveau riche, lazy dolt.

DO YOU SPEAK A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE???
Only one? Try French, German, Korean and some Polish.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL SOMEONE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU???
Flowers? A Hallmark card? A phone call? A hug? I dunno, what?

SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED
I did.

BLONDES OR BRUNETTES???
Leffe Blonde has .1% more alcohol than the Brun, and a fuller flavour.
Jet-black is my preferred feminine coif couleur.

WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN???
555-0241

HAVE YOU BEEN TO ANOTHER COUNTRY???
Yes.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN???
Etobicoke

FIRST JOB???
Paper Boy

WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST???
My looks? No, probably my sense of humour.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALCOHOL BECAME ILLEGAL???
Reconsider marijuana.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY???
A cake with ice cream and some presents.

HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT???
The one I've got should do.

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE???
Millions were named before me.

DO YOU WISH ON STARS???
Saturday morning, three-thirty am. It almost came true.

WHICH FINGER[S] IS YOUR FAVORITE???
The one[s] that hits the right string or fret.

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING???
Sure. I'm the most illegible bachelor I know. (Thanks, Billy.)

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT???
Used to be capicollo but now it's just ham.

ANY BAD HABITS???
I find it hard to keep smoking once I start.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING CD ON THE SHELF???
Probably my own. That's why it isn't on the shelf.

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU???
How could I? I'd be the other person then.
I guess I'd be friends with them...

WHERE IS YOUR SECOND HOME???
A narrow boat somewhere in England.

DO YOU TRUST OTHERS EASILY???
It's a given.
I take it away rather reluctantly but it's irretrievably gone once I do.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD???
Trees.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A MOSH PIT???
No. I used to slam.

DO YOU UN-TIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF???
Sometimes. It depends on the shoes.

THING YOU ATE???
Tuna sandwich, then the tuna on its own. I ran out of bread.

SIBLINGS???
Yes. Just chatted with him for an hour. It's his birthday.

YOU LIKE SUSHI???
I prefer sashimi, especially lightly seared tuna crusted with cracked pepper.

ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT???
No, but I'm too shy to go all the way on a first date.

PEOPLE YOU TAG: They're all grown up now but okay, you're it.

buddha's 2551 now

2007-05-25T07:41:00.000+09:00

here there be dragons

2007-05-21T19:20:00.000+09:00

where I want to study

2007-05-12T18:54:00.000+09:00

where I rested

2007-05-06T07:52:00.000+09:00

where I read

2007-04-28T10:11:00.000+09:00

Wedding Belle

2007-04-22T08:27:00.000+09:00

No Photo Today

2007-04-20T05:13:00.000+09:00

I found this comment in the Globe and Mail this morning. Thank you, Paul.

Paul F. from Toronto, Canada writes:

In any horrible event or castastrophe, we should try to learn something from it. Of course dozens of families have been hit with an irretrievable loss and many young people who were just discovering their potential will never live their lives and that is more than horrible, and we should think of and care for the victims. But we need to also understand why such a thing can happen.

I know that the tabloid press likes to harp on the theme: "in the mind of a killer" or "the heart of darkness" or "the devil's mind". But what do we have here? Was this 23 year old a hardened criminal? What picture do we see? I don't see evil. I see a human being who was clearly traumatized over and over. He suffered from serious mental health problems. How does someone get to the point where they refer to themselves as "piece of sh*t"? Clearly the guy was abused somehow, whether sexually, emotionally, or because he was Asian. It was VERY telling that reports indicated that Korean students at Viriginia Tech basically evacuated the campus on hearing that the killer was Korean because they were afraid of reprisals. It would be useful for us to find this out.

It is hard to watch this stuff, and of course the media business has its own selfish interests here, but I think it is time that we in North America start to actually take problems with mental health issues (sic). It is easy for people to dismiss him as an other: "lunatic", "wacko", "nutcase", etc. The sad fact is that he was a human like anyone of us. And we don't know what pressures, what abuse he suffered. If there was less stigma about seeking help, or people who cared enough about the guy to compel him into therapy, we might have avoided this. What makes me sad is how clearly red flags were apparent to the people around him; he was evaluated, but apparently he was not being treated. Hopefully we can somehow use this catastrophe to learn something.

Here's what I posted as a comment on a friend's blog on Wednesday:

There's more behind the massacre-gunman's make-up than just TV violence. He's South Korean. I must have taught a few hundred kids like him over the past ten years. Here in Korea, they fit right in, as a sort of norm. In America, they either act goofy and clog (a type of step-dancing) while singing Achey-Breaky heart on game shows, or fade right into the shadows hoping to be ignored. Online First Person Shooter games are quite popular but funnily enough, real pistols cannot be purchased in any store here in South Korea.

It's very lucky this sort of thing hasn't happened before. The Korean communities in North America are extremely close-knit. The church my parents attend has a Korean-language service in the afternoons, as do many churches in Toronto. The sort of isolation engendered by these types of communities can be nurturing but also extremely alienating when young people attempt to emerge into a broader society. I wish I had had a chance to interact with that young man. Some awareness of the strict Confucian culture he was most likely raised in could have helped his fellow students or professors break through his shell before he finally cracked. Just before final exams in his senior year. What an odd coincidence.

I found this in an article interviewing the Korean relatives in the International Herald Tribune early Saturday morning.

A pastor at a Korean church in Centerville, Virginia, where Cho grew up, told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper he had once advised Cho's mother to take him to a doctor to check for autism. The mother disagreed, but prayed in church for her son to crawl out of his shell.

Kindergarten Graduation Hairdo

2007-04-17T07:08:00.000+09:00

Homage

2007-04-16T08:15:00.000+09:00

Shoes

2007-04-15T08:20:00.000+09:00

I just realised I have six pairs of shoes. For a guy who occasionally rode the subway barefoot as a teenager, that's far too many.

Father-Daughter Craft Day

2007-04-14T11:05:00.000+09:00

Up a Tree

2007-04-12T05:26:00.000+09:00

Dusty Day Family Fun

2007-04-02T06:19:00.000+09:00

Early Morning Magic

2007-03-28T16:56:00.000+09:00

Wait for the Pigeon

It Completely Disappears

Sunday Wash and Dry

2007-03-17T22:39:00.000+09:00

The Guy who Thinks I'm a Jerk

2007-03-16T04:40:00.000+09:00

"I adapted my piece Looking to Get Laid. In LTGL I made these tiny little surveys that fit into little plastic nametags that were essentially sexual profiles not unlike something you might see on Lavalife or whatever. I would go around a party, survey people and then pin the survey onto them. People would read each other's surveys and determine if they were compatible."

Spirographic Uni-verse

2007-03-13T03:55:00.000+09:00

charting the course of events
the blue thread in a celestial tapestry
unraveling and fraying at stars
painted by writ and numerology
cosmopolitan in complexity and limitless
in telephonic scope
show the rope and anticipate the lariat
secretariat, sire

Don Quixote

2007-03-05T06:33:00.000+09:00

It's Spring in Fukuoka...

2007-02-23T06:08:00.000+09:00

...and my heart's all a-flutter there.

They're not clowns - they're actors!

2007-02-16T07:17:00.000+09:00

Junyoung/Sancho is on the right. That's Ilu, Kitri's father, on the left.

It's that day again

2007-02-14T06:20:00.000+09:00

More Rehearsals - The Return of the Clowns

2007-02-10T17:28:00.000+09:00

This week the actors came back: Kitri's father, the man he wants her to marry, and Sancho Panza. Complete clowns, all three. Not that I don't respect them, but they do bring out the clown in me. On Tuesday Won Mi even had to tell us to stop goofing around while she was rehearsing one of the dancers. I didn't realise how much I missed having them around. It would take too long to relate all of the shtick and pratfalls we bounced off each other, and you really had to be there to get the jokes. Suffice it to say we often had the gaggle of dancers in stitches. I just hope Won Mi doesn't get fed up with our shenanigans. We're starting to hit the doldrums where we've learned the better part of our roles and are just rehearsing and re-rehearsing. It's still three weeks until the performance. I'll try to behave, but dancing an addle-pated septuagenarian does take an awful lot of concentration.

Third Rehearsal - Presence

2007-02-04T07:41:00.000+09:00

The third rehearsal was actually last Tuesday but I took Ella to Seoul to stay with her mom for a while on Wednesday and I've been sick. I'll try to remember a bit of what happened. I know I was joking with Won Mi about making a step chart or whatever those diagrams they use for teaching where to put your feet in the foxtrot are called. I've borrowed the video of the Bolshoi production because I'm convinced the waltz is where everything's going to fall apart and I don't want that to happen. I know I won't look as big on stage as I do in this picture but I'll certainly feel it, and I don't want to overshadow the wonderful dancing (after hours, weeks and years of hard work) of the students. They're all very patient with me, especially Won Mi the teacher and choreographer who asked me to dance the role. I just have to build up a bit of confidence in myself. Knowing where my feet are supposed to be while I'm waltzing will definitely help.

last day of class luncheon

2007-01-31T07:16:00.000+09:00

discombobulation

2007-01-29T22:05:00.000+09:00

ambulation

2007-01-27T22:55:00.000+09:00

Second Rehearsal - Waltzing with Kitri

2007-01-26T06:32:00.000+09:00

Here's an annotated synopsis of my role, and what I've rehearsed so far.

Prologue: Driven by the vision of Dulcinea, the tarnished, yet inspired, Don Quixote begins his adventures with his trusty squire Sancho Panza in tow.

Tarnished, yet inspired. Story of my life, really. The first rehearsal was a lot of fun working out this scene with Sancho. I enter with a large tome and candle, sit at a table and leaf though two pages before I clasp my hand to my heart and gaze off into the hair, grasping at a vision with my right hand. I blow out the candle and nod off. Sancho has stolen a roast chicken from the kitchen and runs in to avoid the scullery maids. He ducks under the table and the tablecloth conceals him. I shoo off the maids with a gesture after they wake me up. Sancho creeps into view and I seize him by the scruff of the neck. I laugh when I realize whom I've caught, and then have an idea. I show him a few lines from the book, draw my sword from its scabbard, and gesture to him to kneel. He cowers as I dub his posterior and then rises to his knees. I proffer the blade to kiss after kissing it myself and he smooches it. He helps me into my armour and helmet, hands me my lance and shield, and we saunter off upstage right.

Act I: Sevilla. Kitri, Lorenzo's daughter, is in love with Basilio. Much to her chagrin, she learns of her father's plans to marry her to Gamache, a foppish nobleman. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza enter the village, causing great commotion. Noticing Kitri, Don Quixote wonders if he has, at last, found his Dulcinea. At the height of merriment, Kitri and Basilio, aided by their friends, Espada and Mercedes, sneak off followed by Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Gamache and Lorenzo attempt to pursue the young couple.

Here I have a waltz with Kitri which we rehearsed on Tuesday, our second rehearsal and the first with just me and the ballerinas. I think I did okay, but watching Won-mi correct her students and dance my role made me realize that my job is just to make them all look good. That's going to be easy!

Act II. Scene 1: Gypsy Camp. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza discover the fleeing couple in a friendly gypsy camp. All are inspired by the romance of the night. As the vision of Dulcinea appears to him, Don Quixote realizes Kitri is not his "ideal", but indeed belongs with Basilio. Suddenly the wind gains momentum. Don Quixote foolishly attacks a windmill, believing it to be a giant threatening Dulcinea's safety. Failing miserably, he collapses into a deep sleep.

We haven't rehearsed this yet. I can't wait to get at that windmill!

Act II, Scene 2: The Dream. Don Quixote has an enchanted dream of beautiful maidens in which the image of Kitri symbolizes his Dulcinea.

We rehearsed this scene on Tuesday as well, and if you've ever been in love, in love with a dancer, or just loved dancing, it would tug at your heartstrings as it did at mine. I am asleep on my back and rise to a vision of ballerinas dancing me here and there. I just walk, luckily enough, which is pretty straightforward: left foot, right foot and repeat. Stop, turn, hold my arms out, and walk again. I think I've got it.

That's as far as we've rehearsed. No rehearsal last night as Won-mi's gone to Seoul. She thinks she'll be back in time for Ella's kindergarten performance on Saturday, so I'll call her then and invite her to join us for dinner afterwards. I want to talk about my motivation. Do dancers do that?

Act II. Scene 3: Sunrise. Lorenzo and Gamache interrupt Don Quixote's dream. Sympathetic to the plight of the young lovers, Don Quixote attempts to lead Lorenzo and Gamache astray.

Act II, Scene 4: A Tavern. Finally discovered, Kitri is forced by Lorenzo to accept the attentions of Gamache. The thwarted Basilio commits "suicide". Upon learning of the farce, Kitri implores Don Quixote to persuade Lorenzo to wed her to the "corpse". Instantly Basilio comes to "life"! Triumphantly, Kitri leaves to prepare for marriage while Don Quixote and Basilio salute Lorenzo and Gamache for stoically accepting the inevitable.

Act III: The Wedding. The village celebrates the marriage. Don Quixote congratulates the couple, bids them a warm "farewell", and resumes his ever-lasting adventures.

First Rehearsal

2007-01-19T07:34:00.000+09:00

Last night Ella's ballet school began rehearsals for their production of Don Quixote, and guess what I'm doing? Yes, indeed. I will be miming the role of the delusionary superannuated hispanic gentleman himself. All went well and I think it's going to be a lot of fun working with Sancho Panza for the next six weeks. I tried to explain to Won-mi, the choreographer and Ella's teacher, that I hadn't danced on stage since 1993 and she said that I had done very well. I hope I don't drop the lance!

For BPG - Be sure to read the fine print!

2007-01-14T06:49:00.000+09:00

saturday afternoon at daegu station

2006-12-31T05:42:00.000+09:00

"Do you always have your digital camera with you?" Jiyoung asked.

Ella and I had walked downtown to get some sketchbooks and film for Ella's new Hello Kitty camera at Homeplus. We had put our purchases in a locker there and strolled on to Daegu station to get tickets for Ulsan, where we'll be attending a New Year's Eve party at Barry and Justyna's.

Jiyoung found us in the basement of Lotte Department store while I was looking for some apple juice. She was dressed up and had her hair loose so I didn't recognize her at first. Ella didn't recognize her at all until I reminded her that Jiyoung had gone with us to the Buddhist temple in Palgongsan and shown Ella how to bow and 'make a wish'.

Jiyoung was meeting 'just a friend' coming into town on the train from Kyongsan. He turned out to be a tall young man, and though I had asked Jiyoung a few times whether it was actually a date she kept on shyly denying it. I gave her two of the discount coupons I had for Lotte Cinema anyways, and recommended that she suggest seeing Casino Royale, the new James Bond flick. I'm sure any guy would be impressed by a lady who did that.

"Do you always have your digital camera with you?" Jiyoung asked.

Come to think of it, now that I have my new 1GB SDRam card, perhaps I will.

즐거운 성탄절 되세요

2006-12-25T10:24:00.000+09:00

CV for Gordon Foster, BFA York 1996

2006-12-25T07:10:00.000+09:00

Since December of 2001 Gordon Foster has been developing a living installation and interactive performance investigating cultural anomalies in South Korea and tentatively titled Where's Your Mother?

In March of 2005 he staged an intervention during the opening performance of A Suicide Site Guide to the City at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto, which was inspired by the collaborator in his work-in-progress who staged her own impromptu intervention during a Ballet Jorgen performance at the Premier Dance Theatre.

An extreme interdisciplinary artist, Gordon Foster has created a body of work that transcends disciplines, incorporating post post-modern theatre, dance, music, performance and visual art practices into his recurring interactive text-based installation sponsored by Kyungpook National University in Daegu, South Korea and entitled English 101.

During a brief stint in Toronto in the fall of 1998 he created a month-long work incorporating found-object multiples into a dissertation on consumerism entitled Stocking Shelves at Loblaws.

During a two summer residence in Poland in 1998 and 1999 Gordon Foster began incorporating more extensive language into his practice and was able to stage several conversations cycling around the theme Not Exactly Who You Think I Am. His favourite one-off remains to this day Csesc, Jestem Jez, Lubje Jablko i Borowki.

In March of 2006 he staged a one-and-a-half person protest outside the gates of an American military base, subtly taking the military-industrial complex to task for the ongoing occupation of Iraq entitled Nostalgia - Old School.

Actively participating in invigorating the cultural life of South Korea's third largest city, he has continued to perform songs of love and dismay interspersed with self-evasive comic monologues as The Suburban Cowboy and his Broken-Necked Round-the-World Guitar.

Enamored of Japan since his first visit there in February of 1998, Gordon Foster has consistently developed interventions and explorations on the islands of Kyushu and Honshu, most notably the cycle of walks in his 2002 Fukuoka exploration entitled Missing the Boat.

An avid naturalist and photographer, he has found himself concentrating increasingly on creating micro-nexes linking the natural environment, habitable space, and cyber reality. These have been accessible to several hundred million participants in the project since January of 2006.

His most recent traditional work, an intentionally unfinished acrylic, is an evocative pibroch to discarded and discredited materials, methods and subjects.

In the past month he has begun working in the film media, retracing its development from black-and white silent stills to its highest pinnacle, the music video.

an afternoon in seoul

2006-12-23T06:11:00.000+09:00

some of my paintings, annotated

2006-12-20T11:04:00.000+09:00

there goes a tico

2006-12-18T06:48:00.000+09:00

do i know some great artists

2006-12-11T06:35:00.000+09:00

Teresa van Neste's show began on Saturday in Toronto.
Click on the painting for more info.

lost lady love

2006-12-06T07:10:00.000+09:00

what do I know about business?

2006-12-05T05:11:00.000+09:00

You (gordon foster, from Daegu, South Korea, Canada) wrote: There's an honest explanation for all of this: let's assume companies only grant options when their stocks have plummeted in value, and do so in order to provide their executives with an incentive to pay attention to the bottom line and the interests of investors thereby turning the share prices around. I know it's a big assumption. When was the last time anybody trusted a businessman?
Posted 01/12/06 at 4:03 PM EST

I think there might be a missing comma, between 'investors' and 'thereby'.
Why not check with Rogers?

What do you think, BPG? Am I ready for an MBA? This was posted as a comment to an article in the business section of The Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper.

a gentle tap to the nostalgia nerve

2006-12-04T07:27:00.000+09:00

I guess it's time to start posting my published comments to the Globe and Mail again. The very next comment after mine referred directly to something I mentioned. Gee, it's nice to be read!

You (gordon foster, from Daegu, South Korea, Canada) wrote: To the SONY MD owners who have posted: it seems only a true audiofile understands equipment. My MD player is in it's original packaging in storage while I work through my first 1GB Shuffle. Why? Because it was affordable and versatile, and I want my daughter to be able to enjoy it the same as I enjoyed my father's Nordmende tube-amplified stereo. I have a stack of blank discs, and now I think I'll buy a few more. It doesn't have mp3 capability, but I can use it with my SONY Walkman to record non copy-protected CDs diigitally. It also records actual sound! And it doesn't require a thousand-dollar plus computer interface to operate. And for the person wondering what to do with their turntable, unfortunately you are going to need a pre-amp for the output, but even without that you could still try recording straight to MD by upping the level on the input. My SONY turntable has a pre-amp to allow headphones to be plugged in directly, a prescient feature that was built-in already in 1982! It's really too bad SONY became involved in manufacturing computers and especially batteries, but as long as they keep on innovating and producing quality audio products I'll remain a fan. Since when has Apple had a reputation for hi-fidelity? Remember those old five-dollar portable AM radios? They're now called iPods and cost upwards of three-hundred bucks, but it's still the same idiots buying them.
Posted 01/12/06 at 3:46 PM EST | Link to Comment

Scot Affleck from Prince George, Canada writes: I remember getting my first hand held little transistor radio back in 1958. It had 7 transistors! Had it for years. Oh, to be young again.

Scot, I'm sorry I implied you were an idiot.

old droopy eye

2006-12-03T07:55:00.000+09:00

I posted a comment to the Globe and Mail recently criticizing their article on the sale of a Cornelius Krieghoff painting. It garnered about $300 000 CDN at auction and the person responsible for the headline had the audacity to infer that the Canadian art market was 'hot'. This after a Warhol Mao portrait sold at auction for $17 million. In my comment I mentioned one Michael Snow and the need to wait until twenty years after he was dead in order to determine the true temperature of the market. Snow was a founding member of Fluxus, if I recollect correctly, the same group that included the recently deceased Paik Nam-Jun, Korea's most famous post-modernish artist and an innovator in video art.

The first time I encountered Paik's work in Korea was at Seoul Grand Park a few months after the currency crisis in 1997 and the huge tower of televisions had been turned off, apparently to save on electricity. More recently I was able to view photographs of his collaborations with Josef Beuys at the Shilla Gallery here in Daegu, and I was delighted to encounter his twin television structures at the Sejong Cultural Centre in Seoul a few months ago. One of the videos of Paik repeatedly pushing over an upright piano while a group of men waited to lift it into position again had me grinning for some time.

Now I have never met Michael Snow even though he had monthly appearances with a jazz performance group at The Music Gallery where one of my friends named Steve worked while I was still living in Toronto. I did encounter his sculpture while still an impressionable teenager, though. His most famous work, Walking Woman, seemed to me initially to be nothing more than a feeble tribute to Woman's Liberation and I paid closer attention to the Group of Seven and other more traditional artists while wandering around the AGO.

One day, however, when I was sixteen and on a date with a lovely young lady named Valerie Bernard who was studying at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, I happened across a book of Snow's work in the gallery store. I was glancing through it not expecting much when I came across a series of preliminary drawings for one of his Walking Woman renditions. Valerie was browsing close by and I had been showing her everything of note that I found. Would I show her this? The last of the drawings had an additional figure, that of a man, walking in the opposite direction. Both figures were outlines and they nested perfectly. The man could best be described as rampant, and the woman had an additional element: a cavity extending upwards from her groin in the distinct form of an erect penis. Now even just standing next to an attractive young lady could have been enough to arouse a sixteen year old boy. Valerie was not only young and attractive, she also apparently liked me a lot. I don't remember if I showed her the drawing but between Valerie Bernard and Michael Snow, I was turned on to Art.

I haven't been able to find a picture of Valerie, but here's Michael. I like to think he's winking at me.

where I live and where I never want to be caught dead

2006-11-15T05:42:00.000+09:00

November 11th

2006-11-11T08:13:00.000+09:00

cindy's roommate's cartoon

2006-11-03T06:33:00.000+09:00

no more adsense nonsense

2006-11-02T05:35:00.000+09:00

dis 'a' bled

2006-10-30T07:28:00.000+09:00

my desktop

2006-10-22T06:46:00.000+09:00

my card

2006-10-09T07:02:00.000+09:00

Pojdzze, kin te chmurnosc w glab flaszy.

2006-10-07T08:50:00.000+09:00

Nine diacritics not included and it's still easier to spell than to pronounce. Come on and drop your sadness into the depth of a bottle. Polish is fun!

canadian politics aficionados only

2006-10-06T05:44:00.000+09:00

It's been a while but I did it again!

You (gordon foster, from Daegu, South Korea, Canada) wrote: Well, it's getting close to a year now since the opposition parties forced an unnecessary election. It's about time the Conservatives stopped finishing every excuse with 'it began when the Liberals were in power.' If they don't like a policy, don't blame the Liberals. Why not just hold a vote on the matter in the house and change it, or are they too afraid that a majority of members might vote against them?
Posted 05/10/06 at 4:15 PM EDT (Thursday, October 5th)

Comments are closed

Good old Globe and Mail! They also posted my comment about Mark Foley's importunate impromptus. I'm even hitting a lot of former Words of the Day at Dictionary.com. Perhaps I should submit that short story I wrote to the CBC literary awards.

Oscar Tusquets Blanca

2006-09-23T13:43:00.000+09:00

If a young aspiring architect could have chosen which titan of twentieth century art to collaborate with, Salvador Dali certainly would have been high on his list. And if a rank amateur blogger wanted to post an image of an artwork he found intriguing and inspirational, over-zealously enforced copyright laws would squash his adulation.

why shoot the teacher?

2006-09-21T12:11:00.000+09:00

if'n you don't mind turning your screen sideways

2006-09-15T19:33:00.000+09:00

symbiosis

2006-09-02T08:26:00.000+09:00

Teenage Poetry Correctly Recollected I

2006-08-30T08:38:00.000+09:00

i live in buildings

i eat, sleep and breathe in buildings

and when i die
they will lock me away
inside wooden walls

and i will never be free

(Rather grim, isn't it?)

Once I had a ladyfriend...

2006-08-13T08:23:00.000+09:00

...who wrote me a love-letter.

I guess there are a lot of scenes like this...

2006-08-06T08:59:00.000+09:00

...being pulled from www.artcyclopedia.com these days.

sketches from a hiker's album

2006-08-02T13:39:00.000+09:00

there were actually a lot of people but they wouldn't all sit still

king munmu hasn't moved for over a millenium

the rains have finally stopped...

2006-08-02T11:42:00.000+09:00

...and now it's too darn hot.

Wish You Weren't Here

2006-07-26T21:07:00.000+09:00

Pink Floyd: The Illustrated Discography says:

"During the Wish You Were Here sessions a fat, shaven-headed person wearing grey Terylene trousers, a nylon shirt and string vest wandered into the studio. The band ignored the visitor and kept on playing and it was the visiting Andrew King who finally recognised their guest: 'Good God, it's Syd! How did you get like that?' To which Syd replied, 'I've got a very large fridge at home and I've been eating a lot of pork chops.' The whole event was slightly un-nerving since the theme of the album was based on Syd and his subsequent madness."

Rick Wright said: "The whole album sprang from that one four-note guitar phrase of Dave's in Shine On. We heard it and went, "That's a really nice phrase." The wine came out, and that led to what I think is our best album, the most colourful, the most feelingful. Shine On was in the process of being recorded, the lyrics about Syd were written. I walked into the studio at Abbey Road, Roger was sitting, mixing at the desk, and I saw this big bald guy sitting on the couch behind. About 16 stone. And I didn't think anything of it. In those days it was quite normal for strangers to wander into our sessions. Then Roger said, You don't know who that guy is, do you? It's Syd. It was a huge shock, because I hadn't seen him for about six years. He kept standing up and brushing his teeth, putting his toothbrush away and sitting down. Then at one point he stood up and said, Right, when do I put the guitar on? And of course he didn't have a guitar with him. And we said, Sorry Syd, the guitar's all done."

I haven't had this much fun since recess.

2006-07-12T10:58:00.000+09:00

I was tagged by Bipolar Daily(ish)

It's the 4 Meme:

4 Jobs I've had in my life:
1) Pastry Cook
2) Squirrel Guarder
3) Art Director for music videos
4) Butoh dancer

4 movies I would watch over and over:
1) Withnail and I
2) Amarcord
3) Why Shoot the Teacher
4) Quadrophenia

4 Places I have lived
1) Rural Poland - as a summer camp EFL instructor
2) College Station, Texas - for my first year of high school
3) Oxford, England - working as a pizza cook
4) Pusan, Korea - near the beach for the millenium

4 TV Shows I love to watch
1) House - because Hugh Laurie is a dead ringer for my best friend
2) Love House - a Korean show about charity architecture
3) Man About the House - the British inspiration for Three's Company
4) Doctor Who

4 Places I have been on Vacation
1) Japan
2) Canada
3) Scotland
4) Kampo - the nearest beach here in Korea

4 Websites I look at daily
1) The Globe and Mail - I'm a free subscriber
2) Match.com - I like to tease the ladies
3) Yahoo Mail - to answer e-mails from my students
4) that's about it

I tag Cathartic Blithering and Cindy's World 2.

kindred spirits

2006-07-09T13:19:00.000+09:00

Here's something I recently posted as a comment to Bipolar Daily. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

- I talked myself out of jail in Oxford, England
- I kicked out the rear passenger window of a police car while in custody in Toronto
- I lost my virginity age seventeen to a woman who picked me up at a punk gig after I had drunk a litre and a half of cheap white wine
- I dropped out of high school and am now a visiting professor at a university
- my SAT score at age fifteen was higher than George W. Bush's on his acceptance to Yale
- I have been compensated for professional work in at least five art forms
- I danced with druids on the Winter solstice at Stonehenge. I also fell asleep in the centre of the circle on my first visit there
- on my first visit to Japan I arranged a Valentine's Day date with the lovely young lady seated beside me on the plane
- the only girlfriend I ever cheated on married me and bore my child
- I watched the LiveAid concert in Toronto from a window of the lock-down wing of the psychiatric ward at age seventeen
- I've appeared on television knitting at least twice
- my only published writing is still a poem written when I was eight
- I've had one gay acquaintance inform another that I'm a flaming heterosexual
- I learned how to scuba dive with the crown prince of the Netherlands in a murky lake in Ontario
- I've purchased illicit drugs in four countries and sold them in two
- I punched my brother in the forehead while he was talking on the phone
- I've taken LSD, morphine, lithium, librium, shot synthetic heroin and smoked hashish all within a three-hour span
- my preferred shaving cream is Pollena Lider from Poland
- the only times I have set foot in Germany have been at rest stops on overnight buses - four times
- I took a ski-lift to Czech and back
- I punched a cop in Korea and he was ordered to apologize to me
- my favourite guitar has travelled around the world with me twice, once in each direction
- I have been asked for my natural daughter's adoption papers at Canadian immigration. We are both Canadian by birth.
- I was in a high speed collision age fourteen, smashed my head against the windshield, and walked away from it
- I have never had a car accident while driving
- my newest car was a fifteen year old BMW
- I painted it myself
- the last NHL game I attended, I snuck into

This is all perfectly true!

treasure

2006-05-23T06:01:00.000+09:00

is there for the bold

after I buy a house

2006-05-13T20:58:00.000+09:00

i'll need some art to go in it

a cantankerous hankering for fresh air

2006-05-13T20:39:00.000+09:00

here's a hint: click on the pictures

this one must be moved

a good place to plunk it

rainy river

something to say?

2006-05-13T09:15:00.000+09:00

nope. apparently no-one's listening.

kind of a book report

2006-05-04T05:49:00.000+09:00

The poor girl. She's only a sophomore at Harvard and she just lost her half-a-million dollar book deal for plagiarism. She must be crushed.

two girls and their dogs

2006-05-03T10:40:00.000+09:00

read about any good books lately?

2006-05-02T10:20:00.000+09:00

The Cloud Bread
I bought this book before Christmas last year and gave it to Ella's long-time babysitter Hyesuk as a present when she had to stop babysitting at the end of March because she was beginning her fulltime job at a daycare.

It's good!