It's getting to be that time of season.

Here's a cheerful little christmas video for you.



(and here are my real thoughts about what you just watched:)

Snowed this morning in Seoul.

Here are more thoughts about Christmas music, especially ... dum da da dum!

My dream Christmas Playlist!

Photo Dump

More of the cool light show at the Jens Lekman concert.

Ahh hongdae.  How I love you, and not just your one, but your FOUR ho bars.

Odd, vaguely dirty sign of the day.
Obviously they pulled up the sidewalk blocks, and then put them back down in the wrong spots, creating this funny, exploding zebra effect where there used to be parking lines.
Problem with living in the city: when you KNOW there's a gorgeous sunset going on somewhere, but the buildings are just blocking it all up anyway, so the best you get is a gorgeous cloud's edge and some lovely light on the side of a building, and a monster-tease.

This empty house, on the edge of a construction site, probably slated for destruction, and hollowed right out, had a really melancholy feel.  I had to set the lens and exposure time on maximum, and hold the camera perfectly still for eight seconds (harder than it sounds) to get this clear picture: it was actually dark as a mushroom farm out there.  Meanwhile, I had the most melancholy song on my entire MP3 player buzzing in my ears, just to make the whole thing a little sadder again.

My humidifier looked nice in the morning sunlight.


From the Hire a Proofreader, Nimrod! files:
:)

that's all for now.

-roboseyo

Jens Lekman Continues to Make Me Happy

Two topics I intentionally shy away from blogging about are music and food, because if I DO start talking about them, I'll cease to talk about anything else.

But, inspired by Jens Lekman's concert on Saturday night, I downloaded a bunch more Jens, and man, he makes me happy.  The torrent included a whole whack of rare stuff and eps, which is fun, because it means I can go through it all, and my new, super-big computer hard drive (350 gigs is more than I can even imagine needing, unless I decide to download the entire AFI top 100 films or something silly like that), along with an 80 gig IPod, means I can load up on stuff, where I used to have to delete things in order to avoid topping out my old laptop.  And it's fun having music on your Ipod that isn't all already familiar to you: there's the potential something will surprise you.

Plus, when walking around town, it helps to have entire albums, or even several entire albums, from an artist, instead of just the one song you like, because the after hearing a single song, you have to go find another album you want to hear, so it's GOOD to have more by your artists, instead of just keeping the best two or three songs.

Now, I don't have a lot of musical training, other than a semester of voice lessons, two semesters of choir in university, and a lot of hours in the shower annoying my brother, I couldn't really tell you which musicians are using the most interesting time signatures or harmonic intervals: I respond to music primarily emotionally, kind of like a more nuanced Beavis and Butthead: "This sucks.  This is cool."

So, while I respond to poetry and lyrical excellence (strangely enough, in the laced rhymes and rhythms of an Eminem song as much as in a poem/song by Leonard Cohen), I couldn't care much less about Steve Vai's technical skill as he shreds on his guitar, unless those 64th and 128th notes have an emotional impact that creates a feeling in me.  

So, all that said, Jens might not be the best singer or musician, and I don't really care...but I know that, walking around at night alone, I have felt EXACTLY the way this song sounds.

(I've set it to some of my favorite roboseyo photography moments).

Enjoy it.

Recently, 

Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom

Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics

Polyphonic Spree: The Beginning Stages Of...

Mugison: Mugiboogie

Camper Van Beethoven: Key Lime Pie

David Byrne: Grown Backwards (especially his duet with Rufus Wainwright, Au Fond du Temple Saint)

are some of the albums/releases that have been bringing me much joy since I revisited them, or gave them another try.

(Yes, David Byrne, from The Talking Heads, founder of "The David Byrne School of Dancing" [where you dance as weirdly as you can] features on that list.  Give it a try.)

Here's david, weird dancing in what might be his most famous song.

More from Korea's Favorite International Journalist

Joo Hee Cho, known for smearing English teachers on ABC News with the kind of junk that's usually reserved for the local media (profile here), is back, with this hard-hitting report on road safety in Korea.

(warning: innocuous puff piece ahead)


Good to know when she isn't bandying about stereotyped retreads (read her article, "English Teachers Bring Drugs to Korea"), Ms. Cho is asking the tough questions about Korea's domestic issues as well.

ht to Rate My Hogwan

I'm trying to think of a way to link the story above to this next one without being rude...but I got nothing.

What a headline, though:

Survey: Korean Men World's Most Selfish In Bed

naw. not gonna say it. too easy.

Where's Kim Jong-Il?

Kim Jong-Il lives! Kim Jong-Il is alive and well! I have photo evidence! I have documentary proof! (My favourite new internet meme.)

OK. Here's the deal.

Kim Jong-Il sightings have been popping up ever since reports about his deteriorating health made headlines in August. This is funny to me, because I actually used to teach him back in my Kindergarten Teaching days.

It's time for a repository.

3 Alley Pub hired a new bartender.

RateMyHogwan reports on a Mr. Kim who opened a new English school near Kangnam.

An official photo.

The latest official batch.

Theme Magazine

Photoshop contest from SomethingAwful

More.

From Worth1000

My personal favorite: the first documented evidence that Kim Jong-Il is a disco demigod!


If you have seen Kim Jong-Il, please fire me an e-mail, or post it in the comments. Dang, that video was great!

Jens Lekman at Freebird

Yesterday night I saw Jens Lekman sing at Freebird in Hongdae. It's rare enough that the kinds of artists I like play in Korea, because I generally go for the indie, undergroud, DIY songwriter stuff that doesn't show up on a noraebang playlist, so when Jens came, I had to try and catch him.

He was good. First off, if I can rock a receding hairline as well as he does, I'll be in good shape if I ever lose my hair. Second, that mopey crooney voice, along with fun arrangements, some bouncy twee pop and a light touch, made for a night of good music, if not the kind of thundrous arena rock which has people spinning out their car tires in the concert hall parking lot.

Finally, I swear, two thirds or more of the females there had epic crushes on this cat... which goes to show what you can do if you have a moon-spoon-croon kind of voice. If you don't know Jens Lekman, you should give him a try: his last two albums have both been listenable, clever, fun music that isn't too intrusive on your Sunday afternoon tea.


It was fun; I for one, particularly enjoyed the light show, and of course, I made a video.


He's playing again tonight at 7pm in FF Club, a few doors down from Jokerred, in Hongdae, if you're in the area. Catch him if you can: who knows when the next time a sensitive but fun hipster whispery white-bread crooner-songwriter my-girlfriend-has-a-huge-crush-on-this-pop-singer-with-widows-peaks-who-wears-plaid-collared-t-shirts-in-publicity-photos will come to town. (Sufjan Stevens, anyone?)

Ssomi and Roboseyo

For you, Joe. I liked this one a lot.

You probably got here by googling "Robosayo"

But my name's "Roboseyo"

Regardless, enjoy the website.

:)

The final say on How To Order Takeout In Korea

So Tuesday's Borrower and her fiancee sent me a video breaking down the "ordering takeout" conversation that is very informative, and funny, and I edited it to be a bit less chatty, and added a bit of roboseyo spice, because DB don't do that video editing stuff too good. (She's a very good writer, though).
Watch it. It's cute.


then they did a final run-through of the conversation, so you can hear what to expect.


These are a nice companion to the stuff I posted earlier, found by Otto, and done by Mr. Ed.

FIle under WTF: Toys in Dongdaemun Market, Bum Jokes in Korea

Bum and poop jokes are a refined art here in Korea:

see Zenkimchi and Brian for more.  (Especially this one.)

Knowing this makes it no less surprising to come across something like this.

Found in Dongdaemun Market.

Uhh... yeah.

And that's all for today, folks.

Stay warm.

-Rob