Blog changes

I have turned on anonymous comments. I hadn't realized that you needed to be a blogger.com member to post under the default setting. Post away!

NANTA

Last Wednesday I went to see a play that was an interesting take on the "Stomp" phenomenon. NANTA, which nobody can provide me with a translation of, is presented as an evening in a restaurant as the chefs attempt to prepare for a party. The owner's nephew shows up, wants to be a chef and is given the opportunity. Hilarity ensues. There are only a handful of spoken lines in the play, which makes the performance popular among the tourist crowd, mostly Chinese and Japanese. The "lines" are mostly in English and never constitute a complete sentence. They're more along the line of "Six o'clock!" "Onion" and "Nephew." The performance is tailored to be understood through facial expressions and actions, and the story isn't really all that complex.

The catch is that all the actions are choreographed and set to the rhythm of the kitchen. They chop vegetables in unison, they toss plates across stage, they beat sinks and trashcans with spoons and mop handles. At one point they actually start stir frying on stage and the smell of the sautéing vegetables wafts out into the audience, adding another dimension to the performance.

All in all a very enjoyable experience. Nothing to mentally taxing, but Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton's films weren't mentally taxing and they're considered geniuses today

Blog Blackout

From Sunday through Tuesday afternoon I'd been having trouble viewing anything hosted by blogspot.com, including my own. Interestingly, you write your blog at blogger.com and it's published to blogspot.com. I had no trouble creating and editing, I just couldn't view.

Apparently this has happened before. Last year in order to "protect" the Korean people from a video of a Korean national being beheaded in Iraq the Korean Ministry of Information and Commerce ordered all Korean ISPs to block access to blogging sites. While there has been no formal announcement this year, the block appears to only implemented by Korea Telecomm and only affects blogspot.com and typepad.com blogs. The current theory is that this coincides with Korean Independence Day (Monday, 15 Aug) and is to show solidarity with the North by not allowing people to view comments critical of their neighbors.

Marmot (a good one-stop shop for Korea info) has more.

A quiet day at the beach

This weekend I went to Pusan, the second largest city in Korea. The city is situated on the southeast coast of Korea on the East Sea (know to non-Koreans as the Sea of Japan). In the summer the city of overrun with thousands upon thousands of people going to the beach. The most popular beach is Haeundae, which is a stretch of beach approximately 1 mile long and 200 feet wide. During the peak summer months there are approximately 100,000 people there on a single day. That's about 10 square feet per person on the beach and considerably less in the water as lifeguards prevent people from moving more than 30 feet from the shoreline. Standing in the water (and that's about all you can do, unless you rent a tube and float) you can not stretch your arms out without touching someone. It was definitely an experience.

Following the beach I experienced two other pieces of Pusan. The first was an amusement park. As anyone who knows me can tell you I am a huge roller-coaster fan. When I lived in Texas I bought a Six Flags season pass just so I could drop by and ride Mr Freeze or the Texas Giant once or twice on my way to the airport or if I just happened to be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So even though it wasn't The Outer Limits at King's Dominion or The Beast at King's Island, I stood in line for the Diving Coaster at Me World. About halfway through the wait I caught a glimpse of some of the coaster's machinery. I've been in Korea for almost seven months now and I've seen my share of Korean maintenance practices. Generally those practices involve plastic tubing, tape and a hammer. This did not deter me, however, and needless to say, the ride went without incident.

After narrowly cheating death I was treated to a unique dining experience. Pusan has a live fish market, like many oceanside cities. But this one had a twist. The first floor of the building was lined with aquariums overflowing with water and dozens of varieties of fish and other sea creatures. I recognized flounder, but that's where it ended. I immediately wished I had my camera with me. People who are squeamish or vegetarians may wish to avert their eyes at this point. A red pail was produced and three small fish were placed in the pail. The fishmonger then indicated that I could have a worm-looking creature for free. Instead I chose a shelled animal of sorts, paid, and got into an elevator headed to the 8th floor. The fish weren't too pleased with their mode of transport and made that displeasure known to everyone in the crowded elevator by violently flipping about in the bottom of the pail, sending drops of water over the occupants of the elevator. When the elevator arrived at the 8th floor the pail was traded for a table and a few minutes later the fish were…dispatched…and re-appeared on a plate as sashimi. The fish was excellent, although the experience was the part I'll remember.