I haven't really kept abreast of movies this past year, but apparently this was the best 2007 had to offer. What qualifies a movie for Best Picture? There are lots of good movies that will never win Academy Awards. It seems that a movie has to have some sort of a message or important sounding theme. A couple of years ago, Crash out-preached ( Read more... )

I just watched 시간 (Time), directed by Kim Ki-duk. I only really know three Korean directors, Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, and Im Kwon-Taek. Each of them does well in a certain area. Park is probably my favorite director; for my money it doesn't get much better than JSA and the Vengeance trilogy. Kim's movies are distinct, however. He creates a ( Read more... )

As real as it gets, anyway ( Read more... )

Well, my traveling, which has been going strong since after Christmas, is about to come to a crashing halt. After South Africa, I went back to Korea where I met my friend Michael, who happens to be touring Asia at the moment. We traveled around Korea a bit, and then I followed he and his wife to Taipei ( Read more... )

I have now moved on from Southeast Asia to South Africa to visit my friend Sam. I arrived here last Thursday in Durban, which is on the east coast. So far, it's been a fairly relaxing time ( Read more... )

I've now been in Saigon for a little over twenty-four hours. I haven't done too much yet, I'm mostly recovering from my long trip from the Central Highlands to the Mekong Delta. Six days of four to six hours on the back of a motorcycle can take a little bit out of you ( Read more... )

I've now been in Vietnam for some number of days. It's New Year's Eve, so that number must be five. I've already moved on from Hanoi down to Hue, which is in central Vietnam. I spend two nights in Halong Bay, with its beautiful karst topography. (Thank you, Physical Geography 101 for that term ( Read more... )

Merry Christmas, faithful readers and world at large ( Read more... )

It was Election Day in Korean today, a public holiday (we worked anyway). There were 10 candidates running for president. I don't know who won, but I know who my favorite was. With my students' help, I spent the morning coming up with slogans for 허경영 (Heo Gyung Young). See if you can spot these:

• Mongolia Misses Us
  
• Because the Japanese already ( Read more... )

Pretty basic, but here's a fun website ( Read more... )