Early in the morning on June 28, 1950, three war correspondents were about to cross the Han River Highway Bridge when it suddenly exploded in a deafening ball of destruction. They described it as:
“Lit only by the glow of the burning truck and occasional headlights, was apocalyptic in frightfulness. All of the soldiers in the [...]
Eric Lafforgue, to whose photos of North Korea we linked earlier, has posted some great architecture photos, including a ton taken in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, Mussolini’s African Art Deco capital.
For the Flickr slideshow, click here.
Say what you will about fascism as a ruling ideology, but at least it left behind an interesting architectural legacy.
You know it when you see it. The scale. The focus on line and order. Austere edifices devoid of curves or ornamentation. A mixture of Art Deco and rational neoclassicism, this [...]
Lee Kun-hee resigned as Chairman of Samsung Group back in April over allegations that he illegally manipulated the stocks of the company so his children can retain controlling ownership of the company without paying the proper taxes. Lee himself was never specific regarding the reasons, other than nebulously refer to “concerns of society.”
However, it [...]
Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt have contributed a timely essay on how the brain stores memories and “source amnesia” which seems to have much to do with how misinformation can be catchy.
Your Yongbyon Cooling Tower Demolition porn, courtesy Youtube:
[youtube]http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=r3UnhTDuQQc&feature=user[/youtube]
As a bit of a eulogy to the deceased cooling tower, I’d like to say it was fun picking up North Korean jeeps with the Russian helicopter magnet and dropping them into the cooling tower in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.
Cooling Tower, you’ll be sorely missed.
On June 25, Slate ran a series of photos taken during the Korean War. Pretty good stuff, even if the scare dance is a bit surreal.
(HT to reader)
“Every negative market factor possibly thinkable is in the picture, and with the U.S. sell-off thrown in on top of that, panic-selling has been triggered,” said Oh Hyun-seok, market analyst at Samsung Securities in Seoul.”, regarding the current sell-off in stock prices that reached a three-month low on Friday.
Gold rose to $913.85 an ounce and [...]
After warning other countries not to politicize the summer
Olympic Games in Beijing, China has come under criticism from the International Olympic Committee for doing just that. About time . . .
The Hanky reports that all 14 members of the National Police Agency’s human rights committee has decided to resign because the riot police kids kept letting themselves get pushed around by protesters cracked down on candlestick girls.
Fourteen fewer holdovers from the Roh administration hanging around? I certainly hope this starts a trend.
Somehow, I don’t [...]
I just got word, so sorry for the late notice. It’s TONIGHT.
Go to the Sponge House중앙 (near the Myeongdong Cathedral) and Death Proof’s at 6:30 while Planet Terror’s at 8:30. There are 20 seats under my name, so you have to tell ‘em “the Metropolitician” sent you. Ask for Minjeong if you have any problems.
It’s [...]
North Korea has handed over to China a dossier on its nuclear activities, and plans to destroy the cooling tower at its Yongbyon reactor complex.
The Bush administration will take North Korea off the State Department’s terrorism blacklist.
Secretary of State Condie Rice says the United States has the means to verify North Korea’s estimates of its [...]
Hugin is a great — if a tad buggy — panorama stitching tool that comes with Ubuntu Studio.
This is vista I never grow tired of — the downtown Gwanghwamun area, seen from the Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Here’s the panorama in its original size and 1024 x 290.
Park Soo-mee of JoongAng Ilbo writes about adopting abandoned pets and why summer is the worst season for unwanted pets. Even Lee Hyo-ri wants more people to save the dogs (see article).
What can I say? Milk does a body good… particularly if you are young.
Photo from the AP
Nice photo. Notice the contrasting composition of white clad protestors and black clad riot police in their disciplined ranks, water cannons, like artillery, held in the rear, reporters and camera men forming a pickett line in the middle. As many have correctly surmised, the latest beef deal hasn’t stopped the protests, although the [...]
Today’s Salon has an interesting article on hip-hop dancing in Korea. Apparently, in just a short time, Korea’s made a bit of a name for itself in the b-boy dance scene. Once seen as a strange fringe of American dancing and rejected by Korean government and society, it has now started to gain [...]
Interesting article from a recent Houston Chronicle telling things from the U.S. rancher’s perspective.
Per the article:
U.S. cattle producers facing skyrocketing costs and stagnant domestic demand say they need overseas markets like South Korea in order to avoid substantial dips in their bottom lines….
Before reacting to the first U.S. case of mad cow disease by banning [...]
Just some shots I took today at Gyeongbokgung Palace. Twas a good day for sky and reflections.
I really like the last one — almost Monet-esque.
Don’t forget the Flickr slideshow.
Korea News via Google