Top 10 Indie Korean Music for 2010

IndieROK's latest post reveals the 2010 Bugs Awards for Korean Indie Music. They are:

1. Lucid Fall - 고등어
2. 10cm - Good Night
3. Springloll - 허밍
4. Dalmoon - 옥상달빛
5. Kyu Won - 기찻길
6. Misty Blue - 하나
7. Daybreak - 팝콘
8. Dr.Core 911 - The Escape
9. Mono Diary - 추억이라 부르는 이름의 노래
10. cheezstereo - 화성 로맨스

You can watch the YouTube playlist of all the songs below:

The Eb and Flow of Friends

Over the last few weeks I've seen many old friends and had many farewells.

About three weeks ago I went to the farewell party of Leo. He worked as a director of sorts (I forgot what his actual title was) for the big nationwide language institute for which I worked the first time I came to Korea. He was one of the people responsible for my training during the first two weeks I was in Korea. Leo is a South Africa and after about ten years of living in Korea is now returning to South Africa to resume his position as a school teacher.

Another South African I saw at Leo's farewell was Mimie. I met Mimie at Kangnam Institute where I worked that first round in Korea. She took me under her wing and showed me the ropes. Mimie has been told that her contract will not be renewed. At around 70 years old she is still fit as a fiddle and put many younger teachers to shame. Unfortunately the retirement age in Korea is 65. She really enjoys her mission in Korea and is sad to leave, but I know she will be a blessing wherever she goes. She told me that she may take up tutoring mathematics again when she returns. She's not the type of person to sit around doing nothing.

At the party I also saw another South African friend with whom I worked at Kangnam Institute and who has also left Korea for the time being. She doesn't like to be talked about, so I won't say much more.

Patricia is yet another South African I know from my first time in Korea. We started together as part of the same batch of teachers and went through orientation together. We also worked together for a short time at the same language institute (in Kangnam). Patricia and I were instant friends. Both of us had come and gone and come back again to Korea – Korea does that to a person. Patricia's contract is finishing this coming week. The two of us had lunch today – decadent grilled mackerel. She is a fish lover from the Cape and when I visit South Africa I hope to meet up with her and her family, while I visit my one brother living in the Cape.

Laura is a mutual friend of Patricia and I. Laura also worked at the headquarters of the language institute with Leo and was one of the instructors during my orientation in Korea. With time, we too, became friends. She has finished her time in Korea around three years ago but still visit Korea annually, at which time we usually meet-up, enjoy good food and hang out together. We did so recently as well.

Two Saturdays ago Patricia, Laura and I went to the Kangnam Institute where we worked together for a while, there to meet up with many of our old colleagues. It was wonderful to see so many of them and was quite nostalgic to be back there. Although the language school had had a facelift since I've been there the previous time, it still smells the same and feels the same. Many happy memories of my time in Kangnam flushed back. I had lots of fun there, although I can undoubtedly say that my current job as a university lecturer is much better. That afternoon we went to a choir festival – a number of churches in the Kangnam area came together with each performing one or two items. A close acquaintance happened to be the conductor for one of the choirs. It was nice to see him and his wife again too.

Laura and I have a favourite restaurant in Daehangro that serves traditional Korean food with lots of side dishes at a very reasonable price where we always go. This past Saturday night, Laura, a friend of hers named Susan, Patricia and I went there. Afterwards we went to a Starbucks. Students of mine gave me a Starbucks voucher so I treated the lot of us to some drinks and deserts.

There after we decided to go to Tteoksam Resort, there to find a street food vendor that Laura always fafs about. It's been three years since the last time Laura's been there, resulting in us getting completely lost both on our way there and back.

Nonetheless, it was one of the most fun evenings I had in a long time. Getting lost in Seoul is always an interesting experience. For instance we stumbled into the street where every store has in front of it a sofa or two.

  Getting lost resulted in us missing the last subway train. It took us quite some time before we could get a bus – probably the last bus too – on which to worm ourselves in as it was so overcrowded. The bus only took us so far and we had to eventually take a taxi to get all the way home. Laura has returned home, to America, in the meantime.


Yet another friend, Christine (from Bookish-Bohemian aka Korea Has Seoul), finished her contract in Korea at a public school and decided to return to America. She's considering taking up a master's degree. We never worked together, but did work for the same company and moved in some of the same circles. Christine left me with two and half suitcases of books that I'll keep for her in case she returns. If she doesn't return, we'll work something out. Having some extra books around will help me stave of the temptation to buy more books.

On Monday I went for lunch with a colleague of mine. Chonghee and I became friends after her first semester work in our department and it has been a joy. Our offices were next to each other (basically one room partitioned in two) but luckily we have similar taste in music so we didn't bother each other too much. Chonghee and I often went to concerts together. For instance we went to see Rent, Jamie Cullum and Mika together. Her contract finished and she decided to go back to America. I will surely miss her, but completely understand why she decided not to extend her contract. While she worked here for the last two years her husband has been in America, visiting every couple of months.They need to be together and since they recently bought a home in Pittsburg, that is where they will live for now.

A week back I saw my friend Chanyang who recently went to America to study. While there he decided that that particular major is not for him, not to mention the exuberant study fees in America. He returned a couple of weeks back. I saw him last week at the Taekwon-dojang and was surprised at how happy I felt to see him again. I've really grown fond of him and am happy that he is back.

Another Korean friend who studies in America is also currently in Korea. Unfortunately Young is only here for a visit and will return to America within two weeks or so. Young and I also worked together at the Kangnam Institute where we both taught English. His fun-loving character was a great compliment to my moments of seriousness. He enjoys my creative side and when we are together we usually have lots of “silly” fun. Young and his wife, and their baby daughter came to Korea to attend Young's brother's wedding, to which I also went last week. It brought back memories of Young's wedding during which I functioned as an MC and other best-man activities like the Han-ceremony. I'm really happy to catch up with Young again, but am also quite sad that he will be leaving soon again.

But then again, so am I. I'll be visiting South Africa for a couple of weeks coming January during which time I will get to see many of my loved ones. I'm very much looking forward to it, even though I know I'll be quite exhausted from all the travelling. Nonetheless, it's worth every kilometre of dreaded public transport. A year is a long time not to see your loved ones and I'm eager to see them again.

Some Christmas Thoughts

Last year I mentioned why I do not celebrate Christmas as a holy-day. The following little animation illustrate my points in an entertaining way.



As the video points out, there is a beautiful message to Christ-mas, and although I don't consider December 25th as particularly special, I do have great appreciation for the historic event when Love became embodied in a human being who would have it as part of His mission to demonstrate to us what love-in-action is. And by implication also to demonstrate to us our sinful nature -- that when Love foils our selfishness, we would kill Love to silence it. Luckily, Love, like Truth (for the two are intimately related), cannot stay dead, and even if we were to bury it, eventually it will always come out again -- it will always rise from the dead.

Incidentally, we see this motif in the WikiLeaks-saga. When the Truth of corrupt governments come to light, the messengers of truth are persecuted. But Truth, like Love, will eventually prevail.

North Korea -- A Rocketboom Perspective

Mollie from Rocketboom gives a nice little contextualized overview of the recent North Korea / South Korea incidents.

Gedig: Wie?

 Image Source

Wie, hier, kan vir my sê

waar die westewind

haar kop neelê;

waar die oostewind

haar skuiling vind;

waarom my mooi liefling

weggegaan het,

waarom sy my hier

agter gelaat het?

Wie?

Mmm

"Information is the currency of democracy." -- Thomas Jefferson

WikiLeaks and the Fight for Internet Freedom

Molley from Rocketboom gives a rundown on the WikiLeaks debate in the video below.



An important point she is making is that Julian Asange's arrest has nothing to do with Wikileaks, but regards a sexual assault allegation. So why are WikiLeaks being bullied? It's servers are attacked. MasterCard, Visa and PayPal are all pressured to discontinue sources of income to Wikileaks, and even their Swiss Bank Account has been shut down. This is clearly an outright attack on WikiLeaks.

Since I support WikiLeaks, I am in favour of the backlash. The powers-that-be has gone to war against WikiLeaks, so they should not be surprised if hackers all over--who holds at heart the principle of free access of information--start to rise up and fight back. The most important hacker-ethic is that information should be freely available and free access to information has a positive effect on society. They thousands of hackers out there, Wikileaks embodies this ethic of free access to information. An attack on WikiLeaks is an attack on everyone that holds to this core value of free information and freedom of speech. The "unjust restrictions [governments] impose on [WikiLeaks] . . . will . . . only strengthen . . . [the] resolve [of people adhering to the value of freedom of information and freedom of speech] to disobey and rebel against [ such governmental] tyranny":

Corrupt governments of the world, we are anonymous. For some time now, voices have been crying out in unison against the new ACTA laws. The gross inadequacies of the new laws being passed internationally have been pointed out repeatedly. Our chief complaint is that such measures would restrict people's access to the internet.

In these modern times access to the internet is fast becoming a basic human right. Just like any other basic human right, we believe that it is wrong to infringe upon it. To threaten to cut people off from the global consciousness as you have is criminal and abhorrent. To move to censor content on the internet based on your own prejudice is at best laughably impossible, at worst, morally reprehensible.

The unjust restrictions you impose on us will meet with disaster and only strengthen our resolve to disobey and rebel against your tyranny. Such actions taken against you, and those you out source your malignant litigation too, are inevitable, unavoidable and unstoppable.

We Are Anonymous,

We Are Legion And Divided By Zero.

We Do Not Forgive Internet Censorship

And We Do Not Forget Free Speech.

We Are Over 9000,

Expect Us!

Sufjan Stevens -- "You Are the Blood" and "Joy to the World"

I recently discovered Sufjan Stevens' music. I definitely plan to get much more acquinted with this artist. The song above is a cover of "You Are the Blood," originally by Castanents. And seeing as it is the Christmas season, below is a rendition of "Joy to the World" by Sufjan Stevens.

Flower Arrangement

Last month when I was father-of-the-bride, I also made a flower arrangement (the one above) for the celebration. It was my first time to make an arrangement of this sort.The closest I have come to it was to pick some flowers and bundle them together in a rough bouquet. Making an actual arrangement was a new and fun experience. I have this dream for retirement one day. I want to open a little shop that combines a flower shop, a second hand book shop, an arts-and-crafts shop and a coffee shop. I guess my little flower arrangement last month is the first step in that direction. After all, I'm  not getting any younger.

Handtekening

Soms, wanneer ek na iets luister (byvoorbeeld 'n preek of 'n seminaar of so iets), dan teken ek graag. Ek is een van daai mense wat beter luister terwyl ek "doodle." Die probleem is dat ek nie altyd papier byderhand het nie. Dis nie noodwendig 'n probleem nie aangesien ek altyd 'n hand byderhand het. Onderaan is 'n tekening wat ek gemaak het, sommer so op my linkerhand.

My Korea -or- Why Am I in Korea?

 [Image Source]

I'm sometimes posed with the question, Why did I come to Korea? This question is not to be confused with why am I working abroad, but very specifically what made me choose this particularly country; why didn't I go to, say, Japan or Taiwan? Why Korea?

The answer is actually quite simple. Around 16 or so years ago I took up the martial art Taekwon-Do. My brother and I were actually searching for a kung-fu school—we were very much into kung-fu movies growing up. Quite accidentally we saw a flyer advertising Taekwon-Do and promoting it “as seen in Best of the Best.” We had seen the film and was impressed by the techniques we saw. Although it wasn't kung-fu, it was significantly different enough from Karate. We knew we were not interested in Karate. My brother and I attended a class and the rest, as far as me becoming a serious martial artist, is history.

In the version of Taekwon-Do that I do there are things called “teul,” translated into English as patterns. They are movements arranged into a sequences of attacks and defences against imaginary opponents. The purpose of teul is to teach you combinations of movements, certain ways of manoeuvring, fighting strategies, and so on. Each teul has a name with a special meaning somehow related to Korean culture and history. Some are named after historic figures like Korean kings, philosophers, scholars, freedom fighters; others are named after philosophical or ideological ideas that are part of Korean culture. It was inevitable, as I learned the teul and the people and things they represent, not to become enchanted by Korea.

Then one day my sister-in-law told me about the possibility of going to Korea. There were different options. One could go through a church organization as a teacher-missionary. Or you could go through an educational institute as a teacher—usually an English teacher. As soon as I had finished my master's degree I was on the plane to Korea.

[Image Source]

It was nothing as I had imagined it. My imaginings were based on the Korean folk heroes I learned about in Taekwon-Do, media-based conceptions about the Far East, and readings of Oriental philosophy. After a year and a half in Korea, and with a black belt in another Korean martial art (Hapkido), I returned back to South Africa. Even while I sat on the aeroplane I knew that I was not yet finished with Korea. About a year later I returned to Korea once more and I am here still.

In all, I have been in Korea for about four years now. The honeymoon phase is long over and I've been thoroughly disillusioned. I have an enigmatic love-hate relationship with this country. And while I think that my time here is slowly drawing to a close, I also know that as of yet, I am still not finished with it. Eventually, when I do depart, I know that I will always have strong ties with Korea. My Korea.

WikiLeaks: Stop the Crackdown

The vicious intimidation campaign against WikiLeaks is a dangerous attack on freedom of expression and the press. Top US politicians have branded WikiLeaks a terrorist organization, and urged corporations to shut it down. Commentators have even suggested assassinating its staff.

Whatever we think of WikiLeaks, legal experts say it has likely broken no laws, and the group works with leading newspapers (NYT, Guardian, Spiegel) to carefully vet what it publishes - so far less than 1% of the cables leaked to it.

We urgently need a massive public outcry to defend our basic democratic freedoms. Sign the petition to stop the crackdown!

I Support Wikileaks

In a world where governments lie to their citizens on a near constant basis, a group dedicated to exposing the truth is of crucial value. How can we hold our governments accountable if we don't know what atrocities they are committing? Such lies like "weapons of mass destruction" that cost the lives of thousands of innocent people could have been avoided had the truth been known.

For his resolute purpose to make truth available Julian Assange is under attack. Prominent people in government has called for his assassination. Some even call him a terrorist. Comparing Julian Assange to a terrorist just shows how corrupt these governments have become. It is only in an Orwellian world where one could liken someone dedicated to the truth to a terrorist. Corrupt politicians, torturer-presidents and spying-encouraging ministers get off scott free, but those fighting for truth and justice are called terrorists.



Personally I believe Mr Assange's arrest is linked to a smear campaign, if not a set-up. It is unprecedented -- read, "never hear off!" -- to put out an Interpol warrant on a person suspected of sexual harassment or rape. And since when is it illegal to have consensual sex without a condom? Does it even matter that the first woman involved in the rape charges is "a known radical feminist in Sweden who wrote a blog post on Seven Steps for Legal Revenge." Now would it surprise you to hear that she may be a CIA operative?

Whatever the case may be, most people know in their gut that his arrest has little to do with his promiscuity or being a sexual predator and everything to do with him being an activist for truth.

Wikileaks is supposedly participating in illegal activities. What makes it illegal? The fact that it makes available the truth to the general public? These are truths that are in the public interest. The Wikileaks-documents are embarrassing to many governments, particularly the United States, and that is why they want him muzzled. It is embarrassing because the governments ought to be embarrassed. They want to keep these things quiet because they know that they are in the wrong and ought to be ashamed. The leaks demonstrate their killing of innocent people, their torture tactics, their extortion, their manipulations, their briberies not only in wartime but even at international meetings like the Climate Change Summit. Governments are involved in despicable spectacles, never letting the citizens of those governments in on what they are doing. This is absolutely contrary to everything that democracy stands for. Governments, contrary to the term's original meaning, do not govern its citizens. In a democracy it is the citizens that have authority over the government. Democratic governments are supposed to perform the will of the people, not the other way round. Instead governments are involved in acts that are shockingly contrary to the will of the people it is supposed to represent, and for this very reason they are keeping their dirty deeds secret. And for this very reason, organizations like Wikileaks ought to be praised as they are returning the power to where it belongs, with the people, not with a deceiving oligarchical elite!

Does the information released on Wikileaks put some people at risk? Possibly. Still, we cannot keep silent as to the multiple thousands of people that have already been harassed, tortured, and killed and conveniently kept quiet about. Nor can governments be allowed to think that they can continue to act in this manner. We do not live in ancient times where we are governed; the foundation of democracy is that we, all citizens of a democratic nation, are the governors. As such, we ought to have access to all information related to the government.

In the meantime the domain name for Wikileaks is taken down and the host for the site is changing frequently. The direct FTP-address is http://213.251.145.96/ . Attempts to shut down Wikileaks is a direct attack on all Internet freedom.

"Whatever you think of WikiLeaks, they have not been charged with a crime, let alone indicted or convicted. Yet look what has happened to them. They have been removed from Internet … their funds have been frozen … media figures and politicians have called for their assassination and to be labelled a terrorist organization. What is really going on here is a war over control of the Internet, and whether or not the Internet can actually serve its ultimate purpose—which is to allow citizens to band together and democratize the checks on the world’s most powerful factions." -- Glen Greenwald.

The (cyber-) attacks on Wikileaks is just the beginning. These governments, the United States of America in particular, will use the Wikileaks incident to pass legislation to tighten control over the Internet. In the name of "Cyber Security" they will take away Net Neutrality and the free access to information and with it freedom of speech. Their excuses for doing so will range from "Cyber Bullying" to "Cyber Terrorism." They will convince, in other words deceive, the public into thinking it is for their own safety. Nonsense! They are just megalomaniacs that will not be satisfied lest they control every facet of your life and turn you into a serf, if not a slave.

I support Wikileaks!

Hallelujah!

I wish I was there.



Better yet, I wish I was part of this.

Bankrun2010; Now What?

So maybe you joined Bankrun 2010 and withdrew your money from the bank? Now what?

First, put aside the money you need to pay your basic bills. Pay it in cash. Many general bills like phone bills, water & electricity, and the like can be paid at convenient centres like the Post Office, or certain shopping centres.

Second, take what ever you have remaining and buy gold. If you cannot afford gold, buy silver. Precious metals are generally safer than monetary currency as their value is much stabler. Also, whenever normal currencies are unstable (as is the case at present), physical currency, i.e. gold, increases in value. Such great financial and trend forecasters like Mark Faber and Gerald Celente have been warning of the economic collapse for a very long time (long before it occured) and have also held gold up as a safe investment. Looking at their track records and considering the logic, I agree. I've suggested buying gold on this blog before and to my family and friends I've been recommending this for probably two years now. I hope they listened, for if they did, they would have increased their savings quite a bit buy now. Once you have your gold, find a safe place to keep it.

Third, for most people it has become too difficult to live without the functionality and convenience of the banks. Nonetheless, remember that banks do not have your best interest at heart. Banks are businesses that try to get as much money from you as they possibly can. They will do it through exuberantly expensive services, but also through immoral exploitation. Yes, we cannot function in a bank-dependent society without using banks, so I'm not suggesting closing down your bank accounts and never using banks. However, see how you can use banks less, by saving in physical assets (gold, property, etc.) and using banks only as necessary.

Fourthly, be frugal. Don't waste your money. Saving in gold may help you in that because you are less likely to convert your gold into currency on the whim. The global economy is still far from on its way to recovery, no matter what the big banks are telling you. In fact, quite the opposite is true. If you are going to spend money, do so on quality -- things that will last long and truly bring value to life.

Lastly, if you want to spend money on yourself, do so on things that will improve you. Invest in yourself. Consider investing in your education, health and long term happiness. If you are American I strongly suggest that you do not study in America. American colleges and universities are ridiculously over-priced. You can get just as good and sometimes even better quality education in other countries for cheaper.

Finally, some thoughts on the value of Bankrun2010. In my previous post I did not comment why I see value in this. And I don't have the energy to do so now. (It's late, I need to get to bed.) However, I believe that anyone with one ear to the ground (i.e. proper information sources), and a little insight into the global economic collapse, will know that the big bank cartels are hugely (although not exclusively) to blame. A bank run will not only show these banks that they ought to be service providers, not manipulators, it will also send a clear signal to other oligarchical systems and would-be plutocracies that we will have none of that. The big bank systems have been manipulating economies and made serfs of the common man for far too long.

Another reason why it may be good to withdraw money and invest it somewhere else (like gold), is because many prominent economist and trend forecasters think that if things are continuing as they are, we could see a bank holiday. What does this mean? A bank holiday is when the bank temporarily closes, say for a week or two, during which time you cannot withdraw any money. When it reopens, the monetary economy will have been revalued (read devalued), and your money will be less worth than what it was before the bank holiday. It is therefore pertinent that you have some savings invested somewhere other than banks. Remember that money in the bank is not the only way one can save and in times of economic and global unrest like now, it may not even be the most secure place to have your savings. With the "currency war" going on, you stand the risk of losing your banked money anyway; why not take it out and invest in gold and silver?