Sunday, July 31, 2005

Naughty Boys

I just had the tv on for a moment, and caught sight of some serious punk rockers who appeared to be in some kind of trouble cause they were being ushered into the back of a police car. Turns out these bad boys had been on a weekly program which showcases underground music talent and during their live performance they had, well, taken off their pants and done a little dance for all the nation to see. The broadcast was cut after about four seconds, but the damage had been done - scores of upset viewers made phone calls and hit the message boards to complain about this terrible affront to common decency. Naturally the broadcaster's head-honchos were mortified: immediately a public apology was issued and the show cancelled. Though the pair weren't obviously impaired by drugs or alcohol, samples of their hair has been sent off for further drug testing, because clearly these two are seriously deranged. This picture is not the two who actually exposed themselves, they're muscicians who happened to be onstage at the time of the unveiling, but they're pretty funky looking nonetheless. Oh those nasty boys!

Look where I'm not!

Sigh. One of the nice things about living in Busan is the beaches within the city. One of the not nice things about being really busy is not having the chance to visit them. Anyway. Here's a picture taken this weekend at Haeundae Beach, arguably the most popular beach in Korea. Anywhere between 800,000 and a million visitors show up on a hot sunny day like it was yesterday.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Look how her garden grows...!

I love plants, I really do. But I've had terrible experiences with them. I've killed 'easy' plants such as spider plants and cactuses. Finally I'm ready to try again. And I think the growing conditions are very much in my favour this time. I have a very sunny, enclosed veranda, which means it's basically a green house. So, I've bought a geranium and a few pots of herbs - lavender and some mint. Last week I got even bolder and planted some seeds. In the first picture you can see the wee tiny sprouts of basil and spinach. In the next picture you can see the cat-grass I specially imported for Fat Kitty. See how he's enjoying it!

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Something for the foodies

Are you one of those lovers of hummus that insists on making it the authentic way with tahineh**? Do you find that after using a tablespoon or so of tahineh for your batch of hummus that the tahineh just sits lonely like in the cupboard or fridge until it's time to make some more hummus? Have you ever wondered to yourself what the heck tahineh is good for besides making hummus? Well folks, let me tell you I have found a FANTASTIC way to use up that tahineh. Somewhere in some airport on my way back to Korea last month, I picked up a cheap little mag called 'Everyday Food'. This issue has a featurette on tahineh. Of course there's the obligatory hummus recipe, but there's another recipe for a dressing which is just so good I've dressed almost everything in my fridge with it (salads, rice, fish, grilled veggies) though the suggested pairing is with a cucumber and tomato salad.
Here's how it goes:

1/2 cup tahini (well stirred)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (or bottled but use a little less)
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Blend it up and put it on anything and everything edible!

** sometimes spelled 'tahini', tahineh is a thick, creamy, sesame paste found mainly in Middle Eastern cuisines.

Where the heck did she get to???

I've not disappeared off the face of the Earth, just suddenly become a little busy. Let's see, I'm about a month behind on a paper for my linguistics studies (don't worry I've been granted an extension), we've currently got Summer Kiddies' English Camp on the go which means more working hours and oh, I had to assemble a a math curriculum for the kids on a weeks notice, and finally I've been asked to give a presentation on how to teach phonics to a group of elementary teachers as part of an english teaching workshop being offered at the university towards the end of August (my boss is apparently not aware that my main strategies for teaching phonics consists mainly of hangman and tic-tac-toe). Phew!!! As you can understand, I've been a little too stressed to allot much time to creating posts about my usual shenanigans as of course I've also had to reduce my shenanigan making time due to my stress about having too much work to do! Ah a vicious circle. Things should be a little calmer come September...

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Huzzah!

One of my former students was recently published in the Korea Times.
Congratulations Professor Chung!

Culture Shock or Cultural Indifference

Thursday, July 07, 2005

And now for something completely different

I dunno exactly what you'd call this. 80's verité music? Freezer pop? It's pretty durn amusing though, and I'd say a step up from the original. And man if that guitar player's beard ain't somethin' else. Bum-tastic!

(Courtesy of co-worker Coffin)

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Hurra Torpedo

Long time coming...

It's been years since reality TV has been popular and I've always stringently resisted. 'Survivor' did nothing for me, as did countless other shows since they always seemed to glorify the basest aspects of human behaviour. Well, maybe since my English viewing choices are somewhat limited in Korea, or perhaps I've just sunk to new lows in my standards, but last night I truly enjoyed TWO episodes of two different reality shows. The first was, 'Pimp My Car'. This airs here on MTV and features some lucky bloke who gets his ride remade by pros. It might have been because the guy who was chosen was kinda was kinda cute, but it was also because the way the guys talk on this show is highly entertaining. They speak in the highest grade of West Coast hip-hop street-wise English. Hence the title of the show. The second show was (to my shame) 'Manhunt'. The premise of this show is to take 20 good looking, well built guys, transform them into models and then have them compete via a series of differently themed photo shoots. They're evaluated on the basis of their photos and slowly eliminated till the most model-rific one remains as the victor. This show is truly a guilty pleasure - the fellas are for sure juicy and seeing them dress up and pose in a variety of ways is delightful. I keep wondering if I'd enjoy the same show but with female wanna-be models and I'm fairly sure I wouldn't, but hey what can you do! It's "reality" TV!!!