South Korea's demilitarized zone was pretty damn bleak. One can see how all the mountains on the northern side have been denuded, their trees made for firewood. One sees the sad, mad hope of the southerners as they built up all these facilities to prepare for what they thought would be reunification by now, swank train stations with hopeful slogans ( Read more... )

Happily enough I was able to poke around a few less known districts in Tokyo during thia latest visit, in particular Shimokitazawa and Daikanyama. The former had a great young artsy vibe to it, sort of a larger more commercialized cubao ex, where the dreadlocked/ponytailed twentysomethings unsure of what to do with their excess facial hair run ( Read more... )

Last year, for April Fool's, I lied by saying I'd found a girl that I wouldn't mind settling down with. I had a good laugh, and happily took in a few knowing grins from rightly disbelieving friends. I was smug in the knowledge that I was perfectly happy being single and available, and that while any girl could hurt me, none would ever again break ( Read more... )

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I found this to be pretty intriguing, as I'm currently going through Micheal Chabon's 'The Yiddish Policeman's Union' and my usual light reading of choice in unabashed unapologetic scifi. I've found they're the only kind of fiction books that stop talking about people's problems for a bit to focus on society's problems, and where/how we'll take ( Read more... )

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I asked Gabe once who among the spit workshoppers he most wished would've stayed on, and he mentioned Red and Gelo. I remembered him as the confident mohawk guy who signed up for the shows before most of us then trainees worked up the nerve to do so- and god, when he was on stage, he was on fire. Well, his style was more of a quiet, reserved fire, ( Read more... )

From io9.com ( Read more... )

Over the last couple of years serving on Vestry (an elected church governing council in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition), being the youngest member I've usually been able to observe and generally sit on the sidelines of the more passionately divisive issues. Not being directly involved in most of them, I've usually had the luxury of evaluating ( Read more... )

Today, the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar. The Hagia Sophia, in particular, was thought provoking, with the restored (upon scraping off a layer of paint applied when they converted it from Orthodox church to Muslim mosque) frescos of mother mary and the child Jesus right next to Islamic calligraphy and patterns. Its now a museum for all ( Read more... )