So instead, here's a slide show and some great pictures of the gorgeous little town of Damyang in Jeolla Province, where I travelled last weekend with Girlfriendoseyo.
It's a pretty town, with a gorgeous (but crowded on Saturdays in Autumn) Bamboo Forest, and a riverside park right next to the forest. Perfect place to rent a bike. The food was fantastic (it being Jeollado) and as Brian mentioned in a facebook message: it's kind of a travesty that there isn't a Korea food blogger living in Jeolla-do and exploring the local specialties down there. (However, whenever Tourism Jeolla offers me a six figure salary (in Euros, thanks), I'm their man!)
At night, we walked back into the forest, now empty, with green lights planted all along the paths, creating ghostly, lovely shadows between the bamboo stalks. And it was silent. Almost dead silent. I haven't heard true silence (other than "I've stuffed my head under five pillows" silence) in Seoul just about. . . ever . . . so being able to actually not hear anything was a bit shocking, and glorious.
Great place. Wonderful. Can't wait to go back.
That slide show, then. The song is "The Naming of Things" by Andrew Bird, a favorite artist of mine.
rented bikes and hit a biking trail
in the forest proper: it's a popular movie filming location, too. can't imagine why.
this street was just MADE for couples.
the photo doesn't do a single iota of justice to the scene in the forest after dark.
Then suddenly, you have baby inflatable signs. It's all very mysterious, little grasshopper.
In other news. . . spotted this "Travel Korea" ad next to the CNN Election news.
A little closer up:Now sure, they could have said, "How about your vacation" which would have even MORE awkwardly told us, "This ad was conceived and written in Korean, and a native English speaker may never have been consulted during any step in the process of creating it, except as a token whose advice we don't follow" but the fact is, native English speakers pretty much never use the question, "What about your..." to introduce new conversation topics. "What about" is used to explore a different aspect of a topic already under discussion. On the other hand, my Korean students love to start sentences with "What about" or "How about," whether it's appropriate English usage or not. Then again, given that the ad was up on CN-freaking-N Online, I don't think they're trying to convince Korean esl students to travel to Seoul. . . in which case. . .
Korean highway rest stops are THE GREATEST PLACE to buy Trot, 트로트 music, in the world. There was a song I heard in a taxi and found catchy enough to sing, and get it stuck in my friend Amy's head. . . I went down to the Trot Music Stand which EVERY Korean rest stop has, and sang a bit of the song, and the lady pulled out just the CD. Cheap, too -- a double-CD - two full hours of cheesy musical goodness -- for only ten thousand won (and the way the won's going, may as well spend it these days).
This is the song: a goofy, great, silly, catchy as hell song to accompany your drive.
I don't know why they ONLY have Trot at the rest stops -- you'd think dropping in a few other genres would make sense . . .but I'm not gonna go looking a blessing from heaven in the mouth, now, am I?
장윤정 - 이따이따요 Chang Yoon Jung - Later,Later
You know you wanna dance.
The other great thing about trot music is this: it is absolutely the best noraebang (karaoke) music in the world. It's simple, not hard to sing, and instantly familiar for everyone around. I swear these songs are written to head straight for the Karaoke room, but buddy, it works.
and now you're gonna have that song in your head all day.
Now, the SECOND goofiest version of the song. (by the bliss-out band, polyphonic spree, with sock puppets)
Thanks to No-Brain, the Korean punk band, (makers of this song, which I like) and the album of Nirvana covers by Korean punk bands slipped to me by Gomushin Girl. (thanks, eh?), we have a new champion for goofiest version of an awesome song (Lithium is one of the greatest Noraebang songs EVER too, just so's you know.) This is pure beauty: wait for the chorus, and listen to the dude's pronounciation.
Geek in Korea experienced the entire grab-bag of Korean traits that annoy foreigners (short of a discussion about The Islands Which Shall Not Be Named) in a single wedding. Go read about it.
P.S. Trot music (the stuff he was forced to listen to for two hours on the bus) sounds like this: (music from a CD I got at a rest stop on the way down to Damyang).
Turn your computer volume up to maximum, and then imagine being trapped on a bus with this for two hours, to drum up some sympathy for Geek In Korea, and maybe leave a kind comment on his blog.
Here's the video Geek In Korea himself uploaded. Pretty awful. It's like the worst elements of disco, the worst elements of polka, and the worst elements of Indian pop music, all rolled into one.
And..two pictures from Damyang, to tide you over until I can write it up properly.
If the complaining expats thing is still interesting to you, go check out the conversation-starter/comment pertaining to that topic, which I posted at the Hub Of Sparkle. It takes a stance different than most of the others I've read, and might be worth discussion.
I'll put up more about Damyang once I get the pictures sorted, adjusted, and slideshowdafied. Until then, I want to tell you about David Smeaton, an amazing photographer I discovered through The Grand Narrative's James linking him. Scroll through his photos: they're amazing, and here's a picture he posted from another photographer that stopped me in my tracks.
I'm going to travel down to Jeollado this weekend, to see the Bamboo Forests. That will be good.
In the meantime, I really liked this photo essay over on Galbijim about Chilseong Market in Daegu: an amazing looking market of a type that's slowly vanishing from the cities, and also the kind which, if you don't know how to find it, you probably never will.
Video: Batman meets somebody with real superpowers. This is funny. Up there with "How Lord Of The Rings Should Have Ended" as movie-related viral videos go.
And as far as actual human superpowers. . . last night, for my birthday, I went to see Cirque du Soleil's Alegria with girlfriendoseyo. Some of you might remember way back in April '07, when I saw Quidam and came back gushing that if Cirque comes to town, save up, borrow, beg, steal, and go see it, because you'll never regret the sheer wonder of the show...
and yeah. I think I'll just have to reiterate that.
somehow Cirque manages to take familiar elements and look at them in a new light, or combine elements in a way you'd never think of, and then top themselves, and top themselves again, and top themselves again, and again, and again.
Here were two highlights of the show -- who thinks up this stuff? "Hey... let's do something with hula-hoops. . . but instead of just doing hula-hoops, let's, like, use a contortionist! And then dress her like a frog!" It's like those comic book fan fictions where Superman teams up with The Incredible Hulk, and Batman borrows Iron Man's super-strength robot mecha shell and they all join James Bond to bring down the Evil Russian empire (ruled by astrally projected horror-wraith Hitler, military run by robot clone Napoleon), establish democracy in China (re-killing Zombie Chairman Mao), solve world hunger, and invent three new card games that are better than anything in existence, and then, since they ended crime anyway, they form a pop band that outsells the Beatles. (the one in our show was dressed like an angel, not a frog, but you get the point).
Adding the music and the dancing and the character clowns with the textures and interactions they bring, creates an experience that just goes beyond impressive.
This was another of the best parts, for the sheer thrill: as always, watching a video of a show like this compares to the real thing about the way a third-grade drawing of a flower compares to your wedding bouquet, but you'll just have to live with it, until you get a chance to see the show.
The only other performance company I can think of (though I'm sure there are others out there) that puts on such an impressive display is Stomp, which seems like it was formed by a pair of of jazz drummers and a dancer who found themselves working as janitors, and started composing rhythmic compositions using the tools and objects in their maintenance shed.
Be amazed, dear readers, at the things creative humans can do!
Girlfriendoseyo also gave me a nice sweater for my birthday, and after Cirque du Soleil, I bought a new set of juggling balls. I'm a happy old cat.
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